Slavic Paganism

The following information was gathered from around the web - please email me if you see any information here that shouldn't be

Slavic Pagan Beliefs

The Slavic peoples are not a "race". Like the Romance and Germanic peoples, they are related by area and culture, not by blood. Today there are thirteen different Slavic groups divided into three blocs, Eastern, Southern and Western. This includes the Russians, Polish, Czechs, Ukranians, Byelorussians, Serbo-Croatians, Macedonians, Slovenians, Bulgarians, Kashubians and Slovakians. Although the Lithuanians, Estonians and Latvians are of Baltic tribes, we are including some of their customs as they are similar to those of their Slavic neighbors.

Slavic Runes were called "Runitsa", "Cherty y Rezy" ("Strokes and Cuts") and later, "Vlesovitsa". The Cyrillic system ("Cyrillitsa") was created in the 9th century by Sts. Cyril and Methodius based on a combination of the Greek alphabet and the Slavic Runes. Vlesovitsa continued to be used by the Pagans, while Cyrillitsa was used by the Christians. During the "war" against Paganism, the Christians destroyed each document that contained Runic instead of the Cyrillic writing, usually along with its owner. This was done so effectively that according to most sources, the ancient Slavic peoples had no written language at all. Therefore the nearly all records of the rituals, temples and idols/gods of the ancient Slavs come from the very people sent to destroy them. This, along with the fact that very little information on Slavic Mythology and Magick has been translated into English, makes studying the subject extremely difficult.

Research must then be done through the study of folklore and folk customs. Fortunately, the medieval Slavic peasant did not embraced Christianity on any more than a surface level. This gave rise to what the Russians call dvoeverie (dvoh-ev-VAIR-ryeh) or "double-faith". According to one historian, Christianity so shallowly masked the surface of the true Pagan beliefs, many a peasant did not know the name of the man on the cross to whom he prayed.

Dualism & The Origins of Slavic Belief

The origins of Slavic belief, like that of the rest of the world's, rest in animism and ancestral worship. The first two types of spirit were called the beregyni - female spirits that bring life and are the forerunners of the Rusalki, and Upyr - the spirits of death who eventually became our modern Vampire (Wampyr). From this original dualism sprang belief in all of the nature spirits, and eventually in the Rod and Rozhenitsa, the God and Goddess who imbue the newborn child with a soul and his/her fate. Although nearly all deities were originally ancestral, Rod and Rozhenitsa eventually pulled the Slavic mind out of that way of thinking and opened the doorway for the later "Indo-European" way of thinking, although the original "Old European" way of thinking kept a stronger hold on the average Slav.

Dualism permeates all of Slavic Pagan spirituality and actually seems to be the basis for most of it. This should not be confused with the dualistic good against evil beliefs of the Christian religion which have unfortunately seeped into the Slavic spirituality of today. It is a system of complimenting opposites such as darkness and light, winter and summer, female and male, cold and hot more similar to the yin/yang. The God-brothers Bialybog "white-god" and Czarnebog "black-god" who rule the light half and dark half of the year respectively, are further illustrations of this polarity. Unfortunately, because of the introduction of Christianity, these two gods later became confused with "God" and Satan.

Other examples of dualism are - the two Rozhinitsy, the mother and daughter fates, the spirits of midnight, Polunocnitsa and noon, Poludnitsa - both times seen to be equally as frightening, and the Zorya - Goddesses of dusk and dawn. The Elements

The ancient Slavs had a deep sense of reverence for the four elements. Fire and Water were seen as sacred dualistic symbols on the horizontal or earthly plane. Earth and Sky were seen as a more vertical system of duality. High places such as mountaintops or treetops, especially birch, linden and oak, became sacred as meeting places the Sky father and the Earth mother. Where they met, they would join their procreative forces, usually in a flash of lightening and clap of thunder.

The winds were seen as the grandchildren of the God, Stribog. Water was refered to in mythology as the water of life and death and rivers were treated with respect lest they should drown you on your next visit. There are records of human, as well as other sacrifices being made to rivers such as the Dneiper and the Volga. Although many bodies of water had their own deities, most bodies of water were ruled by spirits known as Rusalki or Vodanoi. Fire was personified by the god, Svarozhich and it was considered nearly criminal to spit into a fire. Mati Syra Zemlja or Mother Moist Earth, however, seems to have been given the greatest amount of respect.

No one was allowed to strike Mati Syra Zemlja with a hoe, until the Spring Equinox, Maslenica, as she was considered pregnant until then. Earth was considered so sacred that oaths were sworn while holding a piece of her, sometimes in the mouth and ancient wedding vows were taken while swallowing a small clump of Earth or holding it on the head. The custom of asking the Earth's forgiveness before death was still being observed far into the 20th century and when a priest could not be found it was considered appropriate to confess sins to the Earth.

Totems

Like the native Americans, each Slavic tribe had a totem animal that the clan was usually named after. It was considered taboo to kill or eat this animal except for specific religious rituals. Each member of the tribe was thought to have an animal twin, and the death of that twin could cause the death of the tribe member. The World Tree

The Slavs believed that the world tree was divided into three parts; The roots existed in the realm of the underworld, "Nav", and were where the zaltys lived. The main section existed in the mundane world and the uppermost branches reached into the land of the sky Gods. A magical bird was said to live in the branches. Although the Slavs did have Viking influence, the world tree beliefs seem to come more from the native Siberians. These Asian peoples each keep a tree, usually a linden, near their home and see it as a sort of "telephone" to the other realms. Creation Myths

(Russian 1071 CE - the transcript of Lavrentij) - A Slavic magi was recorded as saying:
"We know how man was created: God was washing in the bathhouse and, after sweating,
he wiped himself with a towel that he threw onto the ground; then Satan entered into dispute with God as to who should make man out of this towel; and God breathed a soul into him, therefore after death man's body returns to the soil and his spirit to God."

A Christmas Carol from Galica explains:

When there was in the beginning no world,
Then there was neither heaven nor earth.
Everywhere was a blue sea,
And on the midst of the sea, a green plane-trees
On the plane tree three doves,
Three doves take counsel,
Take counsel as how to create the world.
"Let us plunge to the bottom of the sea.
Let us gather fine sand;
Let us scatter fine sand,
That it may become for us black earth.
Let us get golden rocks;
Let us scatter golden rocks.
Let there be for us a bright sky,
A bright sky, a shining sun,
A shining sun and bright moon,
A bright moon, a bright morning star,
A bright morning star and little starlets.

-Drahomaniv p.10

In other recorded versions of this song, there are two doves not three, two oaks instead of a plane tree or blue stones instead of golden ones. Much later versions have God, St. Peter and St. Paul riding the doves as the actual creators.

In the beginning, there were no earth and no people, only the primordial sea. Bielobog flew over the face of the waters in the shape of a swan and was lonely. Longing for someone to keep him company, he noticed his shadow, Chernobog and rejoiced.

"Let us make land" said Bielobog.

"Let us," said Chernobog, but where will we get the dirt?"

"There is dirt under the water, go down and get some," answered Bielobog, but before you can reach it, you must say 'With Bielobog's power and mine'."

The devil dived into the water, but said "With My Power", instead of what he was instructed to say. Twice he dived down and neither time did he reach the bottom. Finally, the third time he said "With Bielobog's Power and Mine" and he reached the dirt. Scraping some up with his nails, he brought it to the surface but hid a grain of dirt in his mouth in order to have his own land.

God then took the dirt from him and scattered it upon the water. The dirt became dry land and began to grow. Of course, the land in Chernobog's mouth also began to grow and his mouth began to swell. Chernobog was forced to spit and spit to rid himself of all the earth and where he spit, mountains were formed.

Angered that he was cheated out of his own land, he waited for Bielobog to fall asleep. As soon as the god was sleeping peacefully, Czernobog lifted him up to throw him in the water. In each direction he went, but the land had grown so much, he could not reach the ocean. When Bielobog awoke, Czernobog said "Look how much the land has grown, we should bless it."

..And Bielobog said slyly, "I blessed it last night, in all four directions, when you tried to throw me in the water."

This greatly angered Czernobog who stormed off to get away from Bielobog once and for all. In the meantime, the earth would not stop growing. This made Bielobog very nervous as the Heavens could no longer cover it all, so he sent an expedition to ask Czernobog how to make it stop.

Czernobog had since created a goat. When the expedition saw the great god Czernobog riding astride a goat, they couldn't stop laughing. This angered the god and he refused to speak to them. Bielobog then created a bee, and sent the bee to spy on Czernobog.

The bee quietly alit upon Czernobog's shoulder and waited. Soon, she heard him say to the goat "What a stupid god! He doesn't even know that all he has to do is take a stick, make a cross to the four directions and say 'That is enough earth'. Instead he wonders what to do."

Hearing this, the bee buzzed off in excitement. Knowing that he'd been heard, Czernobog yelled after the bee, "Whoever sent you, Let him eat your excrement!".

The bee went directly to Bielobog and said "He said All you need to do is make a cross to the four directions and say 'That is enough earth.' And to me he said 'let whomever sent you eat your excrement'.

So god stopped the earth from growing and than said to the bee "Then forever after, let there be no excrement sweeter than yours."

This myth is a combination of myths from Bulgarian and Ukranian sources. Although the
versions of these myths use God and Satanail as the dual creators, Slavic scholars agree that the myth is a later form of the original dualism of Czernobog and Bielobog. Because of this I have replaced the names.

The World Tree.

Some Slavs believed that the Earth was an Island floating in water that the sun was immersed in every evening. At the center of this Island stood the world tree or mountain. The roots of this tree extended deep into the underworld and the branches reached high up into the realm of the sky gods, Irij.

Nav was the underworld, realm of the dead from whence it gets its name. Weles/Wolos, the God of cattle and wealth and Lada, Goddess of springtime were also said to reside here. This is not really surprising, considering that most cthonic deities, such as Pluto, Saturn and Ops were also associated with wealth and that the crops are pushed upward from inside the Earth. Also, Lada would return from the underworld in the spring, much like Kore, Persephone and Ostara of the Teutons did.

Origin of Witchcraft - a story

Long ago, when the world was still fairly new, a young woman ventured into the woods to pick mushrooms. In no time at all, the skies opened up upon her and narrowly escaping the rain, she ran beneath a tree, removed all of her clothing, and bundled them up in her bag so they would not get wet. After some time, the rain stopped and the woman resumed her mushroom picking. Weles, Horned God of the forest happened upon her, and asked her what great magick she knew in order to have kept dry during the storm.

"If you show me the secret to your magick, I will show you how I kept dry." she said. Being somewhat easily tempted by a pretty face, Weles proceeded to teach her all of his magickal secrets. After he was done, she told him how she had removed her clothing and hid under a tree.

Knowing that he had been tricked, but had no one but himself to blame, Weles ran off in a rage, and thus, the first Witch came into being.

Back to the Slavic Paganism & Witchcraft home page.

Copyright 1999 to Ainsley Friedberg

Slavic deity. One of the gods mentioned in Kiev's Primary Chronicle as being worshipped officially by the Russians before their conversion to Eastern Orthodoxy. Generally mentioned as the protector of seeds and new plant growth. Simargl was depicted as a winged lion (sometimes a winged dog); both his name and image suggest strongly that he was borrowed from the Scythians or Sarmatians, who worshipped him as Simurgh, the divine gryphon of Persian mythology.

The Little People: Can be helpful, but are easy to annoy, normally resulting in disfigurement or death.

The number three: Slavs really like the number three, and tend to group things in threes whenever possible. Nine is the second most popular, being three threes. Many folk tales are about three brothers, with the youngest always winning. Heaven-Earth-Underworld, Rod-Lada-Svarog, Svarog's sons, Zemlya-Kupala-Veles, the Zori, the Bogatyri, all triads.

Rod's Egg: The Slavs continue to honor the Egg by incorporating it into the celebration of Easter. The ultimate expression of the Egg are those created by the House of Fabrege for the Tsars, used as Easter presents beginning with Aleksandr III.

Burial rituals: The early Slavs cremated the dead to help the soul rise up to Heaven, also a reasonable practice when bears and wolves live in the area. The Christian practice of burial can't have been an easy sell, a grave was closer to the Underworld, further from Heaven, and not easy to dig six months of the year because of frozen ground. I would not be surprised to find that for an extended period after the Baptism of the Rus, locals told the priest that a bonfire was needed to thaw the ground for burial, whereupon they cremated the body in secret and buried an empty coffin with the priest in attendance.

Hell must have been another problem, as fire was sacred to the Slavs, and cold was death. I'm not sure how much of a threat burning in Hell was to most Slavs. It was probably similar to imprisoning a Orthodox monk. Prison would be a general improvement in living conditions for most Orthodox monks, who tended to live in hand-dug caves with barely enough room to crouch in.

Death: Homicide and suicide were the only types of death that were not considered natural. All other causes were considered the will of one god or another.

Sacrifices: The usual ritual sacrifice amounted to a barbeque, with the animals burned, and then eaten by the congregation. Most gods were satisfied with a 'cockerel past crowing', but sometimes, goats, sheep, and cattle were needed. (Veles wasn't into poultry.) Human sacrifice was not a feature of the old Slavic religion.

Temples: Early 'temples' for most ritual sects consisted of an oak grove surrounded by a circle of stones, or a moat. Some featured statues, but there didn't seem to be an absolute requirement for images. It was much later, near cities, that buildings were constructed for worship, and images became a regular feature. The early circles tended to be for a single god, while the buildings were polytheistic.

Oak trees: The hardwood oak tended to be struck more often by lightning, provided long burning fuel for the winter fires, was the source of charcoal for forges, and provided animal feed in the form of acorns. It was sacred to all the major gods.

Perun: By the time of St. Vladimir, Perun was more war-like, probably the Viking/Thor influence. While always a god of warriors, Perun was more of a Defense God, than a War God in earlier times.

Bears: I'm surprised that there aren't more bear stories. I guess familiarity does breed contempt. Bears have been trained by the Slavs for centuries. The primary use of bears in elder times was to locate bee hives. The Slavs traded honey to the Vikings, who used it to make mead, and the wax was traded to the Byzantine Empire, to be made into candles. The Russian word for bear is Medved, a compound word derived from the roots of Honey and Seer/Witch, reflecting the bears use in the search for honeycombs. The United States spent years thinking of the Russian Bear as a Grizzly, when it was closer to Winnie the Pooh.

Major Holidays: The Equinoxes were the major Slavic holidays. The people witnessed the battle between the White God (Belobog) and the Black God (Chërnobog). Of course, the White God always won in the Spring, and the Black God in the Fall. Rations would have been short for the Spring Equinox, but people would celebrate the coming warmth and begin their preparations for planting. There was more food in the Fall, but the Black God's victory was a warning of the hard times to come.

All information is believed to be accurate, but it is, after all, only the opinion of someone born more than a millennium too late to check the facts. This is not an academic paper, so I don't intend to 'defend' my conclusions. It is based on talking to Slavs, reading folk lore, reading Campbell, copies of original documents, surfing the 'Net, and allowing things to percolate. There is no way to reach definitive conclusions, especially concerning goddesses. The Slavs lived in an area of transit and were affected by the waves of people who came through on their way to Europe, to and from the Byzantine Empire, and traders with the East. As the Slavs didn't have a written language during the period of the old gods, most of what is known depends on oral tradition. Most early documents were produced by the Church, which means unbiased descriptions cannot and should not be expected.

Looking for information on the Norse religion faces the same obstacle: by the time things were written down, the people doing the writing were Christians discussing mythology. There are no real sources from believers. The Greek and Roman religions are better understood because believers wrote about them.

Dazbog was a major trans-Slavic god associated with the sun and daylight. Different and sometimes conflicting accounts give us a somewhat vague picture of his character, role, and geneology, but a conglomerate view suggests he was originally the Slavic 'clear sky god', though he perhaps later overlapped or was synonymous with the sun-god in many regions. A sixth-century Byzantine chronicler equated him with the Greek sun-god Helios. In the 'Russian Primary Chronicle', his is one of the idols erected by Vladimir at Kiev, along with Perun, Khors, Stribog, Simargl, and Mokosh. His festival was at the summer solstice, when his 'heavenly wedding' to the moon- or dawn- goddess was celebrated. Today this celebration has been Christianized as St. Ivan's day. In Slavic tradition, people swore oaths to him, as the sun was omniscient. As such, Dazbog was the god of law and moral order. His interest was in ensuring justice serves the good and that evil be punished.

In one Russian myth, his attributes were the sword and the cudgel, found with the 'clear-sky' war-god and 'storm-god', respectively. His identity with the latter is also found in Polish mythology as the son of Svarog, the Slavic 'heavenly sky father', and either the dawn-goddess Zorya Dennitsa or the summer- and love-goddess Lada. The Russians seem to have him as the son of the thunder-god Perun and the mermaid ('sea nymph') Ros. Other attributes include a fiery shield and a diamond chariot - both of which identify him with as a sun-god. Dazbog is served by four beautiful maidens: Zorya Utrennyaya, the Aurora of the Dawn, opens the palace gates in the morning. Zorya Vechernyaya, the Aurora of the Evening, closes them in the evening. Vechernyaya Zvezda, the Evening Star, and Zvezda Dennitsa, the Morning Star, tend Dazbog's horses.

As the Slavic sun-god, he lived in a magnificent golden palace to the east, the land of eternal summer. From his gold and purple throne he has no fear of neither shadows, nor cold or discomfort. Indeed, he was called the god of summer and of happiness. Each morning he rides out as a young man in his golden, diamond-studded chariot, pulled westward by a team of twelve white, golden-maned fire-breathing horses. He rode through his twelve kingdoms (zodiac signs?) before ending his day as an old man in the sunset.

Dazbog presides over the twelve signs of the zodiac. The virginal goddesses of the rising and setting Venus, by his uncle and counselor the moon (sometimes known as his goddess-wife), his seven judges (the planets?), and his seven fiery-tailed messengers (comets) all surround and serve him.

In some myths, as the sun-god he is married either to the moon-goddess Myesyats or the morning star goddess Zvezda Dennitsa. In one Russian myth, however, he is thrice married: first to Zlatogorka ('Golden Hill'), daughter of the Underworld god Vij; then to the winter- and/or death-goddess Marena, and finally to Zhiva ('Life').

Of these three, Marena is interesting because her role closely parallels that found in Welsh myth as Blodeuwedd. Both wives conspired to kill their husbands. In Welsh myth, this was Llew Llaw Gyffes, as sun- and summer- fertility god with many similarities to Dazbog. In Russian, it was the death-god Kashchej who sought to destroy Dazbog, aided by Marena, who drugged him before her paramour threw him into the abyss, and finally nailed him to a mountain in the Caucasus. In Welsh myth, meanwhile, Blodeuwedd also tricked Llew into a compromising situation, whereupon her paramour, the death-god Gronwy, wounded him. Llew and Dazbog both survived their misfortunes and finally took revenge upon their persecutors.

The etymology of Dazbog's name is uncertain. The second part bog definitely means 'god', but the first part is open to interpretation. We might be tempted to relate it to Skt. Dyaus, Baltic Dievs, Roman Dies Piter (Jupiter), the Hittite sun-god Tiwaz, and so on. However, cognates of these words that are associated with daylight are unknown in Slavic languages. Still, some scholars are wont to translate his name as the 'day god', and see him as a war-god. Though arguable, this theory is not widely accepted.

According one account, the name should translate as 'god of gifts', or the 'giving god', or some such connotations that identify Dazbog as a provider, protector, and even fertility god. This translation also may relate Dazbog to the Irish god Dagda who, though his name is popularly translated as 'the good god', I believe may actually mean 'the giving god'. The 'gift' may refer to the light that Dazbog brought to the world. Indeed, he has been described as the creative power of nature, 'whose rays give nature its fecundity'.

In one Russian myth, he and his wife Zhiva ('life') created the world and people, with Russians calling themselves his 'grandchildren'.

His name is also transliterated as Dabog (Serb), Dazhbog (Russian), Daszuba, Dazhb', Dassuba, Dazva, and Dajdbog. He may be synonymous with Bielbog ('the White God') Khors, and the fire-god Svarozich. The latter is also known as his brother.

Alkonost	(Russia) Goddess of the land of the dead. She is pictured as half-woman, half-bird.
As-ava	As-ava (Russia) Goddess of fresh water.
Bab’e Kasha	‘Lady Gruel’ worshipped in Kursk province; she arrives the day after Koliada, the midwinter birth festival that worships ancestors and casts off the forces of darkness. She is probably the same as Koliada.
Bannick	Bath house spirit. Like the house and barn, bath houses (saunas, really) had their own particular domestic spirit residing there. Bath houses were a traditional berthing place, and in IE tradition spirits had to attend this event. It was customary in some places to offer every third or fourth firing of the sauna to the Bannik. The Bannick could also be propitiated with offerings of soap, fir branches, and water. If he became annouyed, he might throw hot water on his tormentors or even use his sharp claws to flay his victim alive. If he makes himself visible, the Bannik usually appears as a family member or friend.
Bereginy, Bóginki, The	Slavic Fertility and hunting goddesses; nymphs of rivers, lakes, and forests; half-woman and half-bird or half-fish. In Poland they were called the Bóginki ('little goddesses'). They were served by a female priesthood who performed rituals and sacrifices to propitiate them. They seem wrapped up in the complex of female nature spirits and related to the Rusalki and other benign, benevolent, and malevolent nature spirits all of which seem variations of the primordial fate goddesses. They were said to steal human babies and leave behind changelings called Odmience in Poland and Oborotni in Russia.
Blaise, St.	From the horse-god Vlaise, or Vlas, or Volos: a consort of the lunar Diana; he functioned as a patron of animals.
Bolotnyi, Bagnica	Female spirits of marshes and swamps. There name is derived from "boloto" or "bagnu" - swamp. They were variations of the Slavic nature spirits.
Bozaloshtsh	Wendish destroyer goddess of fate.
Byelbog, Bielbog, Belbog, Bielbog, Byelobog	The "White God", god of daylight, brightness, whiteness. Bielbog is also the god of wealth, goodness, and fertility referenced by Gelmold in the 'Slavonic Chronicles'. He seems to equate with or be a development from the Slavic 'clear-sky protector' god also known as Khors and Dazbog. However, he is depicted as a venerable old man with a white beard, dressed in white and carrying a staff. He appeared only in the daytime. He guides lost travelers out of the woods and helps peasants in their fields. His opposite is Chernobog, the 'Black God' of shadows and the night. This was perhaps under early Persian (Scythian or Sarmatian?) influence, where the supreme god Ahura Mazda is destined to battle his dark twin brother and nemeses the underworld god Aryaman in the final battle. Bielbog is the god of the waxing year. He would defeat his brother, Czarnobog in battle every Koliada (winter solstice) to take his place as ruler of the waxing year. At Kupalo (summer solstice), they would battle again. Chernobog would win to rule the waning half of the year. This annual cycle of winter and summer, darkness and light gods taking turns defeating each other was also a favorite theme of Celtic mythology. He is known from the Elbe to Russia; also known is Slavonic as Byelun, the 'White One'.
Carati, Carovnik (Rus), Carani (Slvk), Czarownica (Pol)	Witch, sorceress, enchantress. Probably synonymous with the Charodei/Charodeika.
Chernobog, Tschernobog	The 'Black God', adversary of Byelbog, the 'White God'. He equates to the Zoroastrian Ahriman who is opposed to Ahura Mazda. As the Slavic 'Lord of Death' he equates to several gods throughout the Indo-European pantheons and beyond, including Aciel in Chaldea, Saturn in Rome, Balor in Ireland, and so on. Chernobog brings bad luck and affliction; the cause of all calamities. He is associated with shadows, darkness, night and death.
Charodei (Pol), Charodeika (Rus)	Sorcerer, witch
Chuma	'Fate'. Slavic Destroyer Goddess of Fate. Clothed in white. She is similar to Kuga and Mara.
Colleda	Serbian goddess of winter solstice (Koliada). She is the keeper of the yule log.
Cuvto-ava	(Russia) A tree goddess. When one cuts down a tree, or trims it, one must ask forgiveness of her.
Danica, Danitsa (Serbo-Croatian) , Denica (Russian)	Variations of the Russian 'morning-star goddess' Zvezda Dennitsa. Their name also recalls the Celtic primordial cosmic goddess Danu and the Hindu goddess Danu. Danica, 'day-star', was the name for the planet Venus. In Slavic mythologies, the planet Venus was commonly recognized as a maidenly goddess and attendant of the sun-god or sun-goddess, depending on the region. She was viewed as the sister or daughter of the sun. Danica was seduced by the moon-god Myesyats.
Datan, Lawkapatim, Tawals	Polish field guardian gods.
Devana, Debena, Dilwica, Dziewona	Polish Dziewona, Serbian Dilwica. Czech Devana or Debena is the goddess of the forest and of the hunt, equating to the Roman Diana in name and function. Depicted as a beautiful maiden, she rides through the forest on her steed accompanied by her retinue, including her hounds. Some suggest she is a late addition to the Slavic pantheon adopted from the Romans' Diana, perhaps via Romania. However, her many parallels in the IE mythologies suggest she was the Slavic representative of the IE virginal hunting goddesses including Artemis, Arduinna, and so on. Besides, Diana was hardly a major Roman goddess by the time the Slavs were making contact in central Europe, and why this one goddess should become so widespread in Slavic lands is inexplicable. Also, all these names translate as or are cognates with Slavic words for 'The Maiden'.
Dive Zeny	'Demon Woman'; spirit of the woods. She is the same as the Polish Mamony and equivalent to the Divje Devojke.
Divi-te Zeni, The	Bulgaria 'Demon Women'; spirits of woods and mountains. They are also known there as the Samodivi or Samovili.
Djabeleks (Pol)	Mischievous little spirits that enjoy playing practical jokes on humans. Today is means devil or demon. It is also a term of endearment to describe mischievous little children.
Doda, Dodola	Serbian rain goddess (<doit, 'to give milk'). A South Slavic cloud/rain goddess. Rain was thought to be a form of divine milk, either from Dodola or Mokosh. Rain clouds were seen as heavenly women or even cows. Slavic ceremonies were made to Dodola during droughts, invoking her to replenish the earth with her nourishing rainwater.
Dogoda	The gentle west wind
Dolya (Rus)	This fate-goddess was believed to live behind the stove. She was the little old lady who brought good luck. In Serbia she could be either good or malicious. When annoyed, she was Nedolya, a shabbily dressed old hag who brought bad fortune. Occasionally she appeared as a young woman rather than the usual gray-haired crone. In either shape she presided over birth.
Dola	Protective fate goddesses synonymous with the Russian Dolya. They equate to the Norse Dises, Persian Fravashis, Roman Lares, etc. They may appear in the form of man or woman, cat, mouse, etc. They can torment people for making bad decisions.
Domovoi, Domowije, Domovik	House spirits (their name is derived from dom, 'house'). They were the ancestral gods of the home in Russian myth. They are partly derived from previous tribal ancestral spirits and equate to various notions in the IE religions such as the Dises in Scandinavia and the Lames in Rome. In the Ukraine, Domovik was the god of ancestors. Polish Domowije were male house spirits. Called Dedushka Dobrokhot ('grandfather well-wisher'), the Domovik usually lives in the attic, behind the stove, under the threshhold, in the stables, or in the barn. He presides over domestic prosperity and tranquility. He might complete unfinished family chores. The Domovoi are propitiated nightly with food offerings left on the stove or table. Neglecting the Domovoi might bring misfortune to the family. Domovoi are not like the family ancestral spirits of other IE peoples, where each family household had one whose patriarch 'inherited'. Domovoi had to be invited into a house and, if not treated well, he might leave. If a family moved, the Domovoi was asked to moved to the new house, too. The Domovoi would also look after the flocks, herds, and barnyard animals. The Domovik is usually thought to resemble a household patriarch, living or dead. This suggests that the Domovik originated in ancient ancestral worship. When he appears, it is usually to warn of an impending death. He can be heard weeping when death approaches a family member. He will also wail and moan to warn of approaching trouble. He can be heard laughing if good times are ahead, or strumming a comb when a wedding in the future.
Drude	Moravia, Witch. Same as Wendish Murava.
Dvorovoi	Russian male yard spirits (<dvor, 'yard'). Like the domovoi, he usually resembles the male head of household and has preferences as to the color of pets and livestock. He was invoked to look after the livestock and propitiated with food, wool, or a shiny object left in the barn.
Dzidzileyla, Dzidzilia, Didilia	Polish. goddess of love and marriage and of sexuality and fertility. She equates to Venus, Aphrodite, and so on.
Dziewanna	Polish virgin huntress goddess of the forest, she is also associated with the moon, spring, agriculture, and weather. She equates to Diana in name and function. To the Czechs she was Devana, to the Serbs she was Diiwica. Alternate names were Zievana, Zievonia, Zylvie, Bogoda.
Elena	Heroine of a Russian folktale about a firebird.
Erce	The earth-mother who was honored each spring by the pouring of milk, flour, and water into the newly-turned furrows of the tilled farm.
Erisvorsh	Weather-god.
Fates, The	Called The Narucnici in Bulgaria, The Sudice in Poland, The Sudjenice in Serbia, The Sudicy in Bohemia, The Sojenice in Slovenia.
Fevroniia	Russian fertility- and tree- goddess.
Firebird, The	Deity who is the mother of all birds, the sun, and the hearth fire; appearing in many myths, including Persian.
Gervit, Gerovit, Gerovitus	Sacred shield. Better known as the spring fertility- and protector- god Jarovit or Jarilo.
Gromniczne (Pol)	Polish purification festival held on February 2nd. It equates to the Irish celebration of Imbolc. This is a traditional day for making candles in a rite meant to herald the coming spring and invoke protection of peoples' health, and their homes and fields from winter's weather.
Hov-ava	(Russia) The moon goddess.
Iarila	(Russia) Iarila was a fertility goddess of spring. She was the feminine counterpart of her brother Iarilo. She was depicted as a maidenly white goddess, riding a horse and carrying flowers. At the summer solstice festival, Slavs would dance around her and her brother, celebrating the spring bounty they had bestowed. As the spring growing season was ending and the ripening was underway, their time of year had passed. So, effigies of Iarila and Iarilo were burned.
Iarilo	Iarilo was the Russian fertility god of spring. He is associated with the sun wheel. He was depicted as a youthful, white god mounted on a horse. He was associated with his sister, the spring goddess Iarila, in Russian myth. He also is synonymous with the western Slavic war- and spring- god Yarilo, Jarilo, and Jarovit. With his sister, he seems to equate to the Norse god and goddess Frey and Freya.
Ilya Muromets	Russian mythical hero. With supernatural powers he functions as the peoples' protector. His horse rode through the air. Some attributes connected him with Perun, the Slavonic thunder-god.
Irij	The Russian heavenly abode of the gods, equating to the Norse's Asgard, the Greeks' Olympus, the Hindu's Meru, and so on.
Jarovit, Jarilo, Dzarowit	Sky- and war-god of the western Slavs (<jaru, 'young, springtime, bright, rash, strength, fury'). His Latin name was Gerovitus. His name may be a cognate with the Greeks' Ares and the Aryans ('noble ones'; also > Eng earl). His name is synonymous with the eastern Slavic spring/ fertility god Iarilo/ Yarilo. These are not mutually exclusive concepts. After all, the Roman war-god Mars was originally a protector-god of fields and whose eponymous month also fell in the Roman spring. Jarilo was also a god of youth and fertility. He was a dying-and-ressurection god whose funeral was celebrated at Kupalo, the summer solstice. In Norse mythology, this date was the funeral of Balder, the god of the spring and summer sun. Jarilo is a handsome, barefoot youth wearing a long white robe. His head is crowned with a wreath of flowers. He rides a white horse while holding wheat ears in his left hand. He thus seem parallel with the Norse god Frey who was also known as a god of both springtime fertility and a war god. The historian, Herbord, equated Dzarowit with Mars. His sacred symbol seems to have been the shield, suggesting he was a protector of the people. When his Elbe Slav temple at Wolgast was destroyed in 1128, only a gigantic shield was found inside. Dzarowit is thought to be one of four seasonal aspects of the four-faced Svantowit. He would be the aspect ruling springtime and looking towards the West. Dzarowit seems synonymous with Jarilo/ Iarilo. His priests were recorded as invoking him as the 'god who covers the plains with grass and the forests with leaves. The produce of the fields and woods, the young of the cattle and all things that serve man's needs'.
Jesza, Iesse, Jessis	Poland. An early Slavonic god. Chief god. Some identify him with Jupiter. If so, he is the Slavonic representative of the 'heavenly sky god' and also equivalent to the Celts' Esus, the Nordic Aesir, Hindu Asuras, and Persian Ahuras.
Jezibaba, Jedza	Czech (Jezibaba) and Polish (Jedza) was the demon mother of malevolent spirits. She is found in Russia as Baba Yaga. Her name and character closely recall the Zoroastrian demoness Jeh or Jahi
Jezinky, The	Czech demons of the demon mother Jezibaba that live in caves. They blind and eat children. They are found in Zoroastrianism as the Jaini.
Jurata	Polish sea-goddess 'Queen of the Baltic Sea'. She equates to the Lithuanian sea-goddess Jurate in both name and myth. In folk tales Jurata loved a human fisherman. When the thunder-god Piórun found out, he became enraged at this blasphemy. He conjured a great storm in which the fisherman was chained to the bottom of the sea and Jurata's amber sea-palace shattered. Amber was thus recognized as pieces of Jurata's palace washing up on the shore after a storm.
Kaldas	(Russia) Goddess of cattle.
Kamennaia Baba, The; Kamennye Baby	'The Stone Mothers', from Slv kamy, kamen, 'stone'. This name was given to the monolithic stone menhirs in southern Russia. These were possibly of Scythian origin and engraved with serpent and animal images, hold a horn, and are flanked by horsemen.
Kikimora, Shishimora	Female house spirit and counterpart of the Domovoi, to whom she is sometimes wedded. She lives in the cellar or behind the stove. At night she comes out to spin and help with the housework in a well-tended home. She is depicted as an average woman with hair undone, sometimes with chicken feet. Sometimes she might appear, spinning, as a portend to one about to die.
Khitka	Russian kidnapping spirit; an aspect of the Rusalka.
Khopun	Slavonic river god. He drowned people in retribution for their misdeeds.
Khors, Korsha, Korssa, Chors, Corsa, Xors	Kiev, Poland. A sun- or daylight-god, he may be synonymous with Dazhbog and Bielbog. However, along with Dazhbog he was recorded in the Russian 'Primary Chronicle' as one of the state gods in tenth-century Kiev. He was invoked him for hunting and against diseases. He is depicted with a dog's head and horns, suggesting a connection with Volos and the IE hunting gods such as Cernunnos. Nevertheless he seems derived from Khursun, an Iranian sun-god (> Av huar, Skt dina-kara, Farsi khorsheed,'sun'), and revered by the Scythian and Sarmatian steppe pastoralists of the Classical era. Some link his name to Ossetic xorz 'good'. The Alans, the medieval ancestors of the Ossets, also had a god named Xorz, recognized for his goodness. However, chorosij means 'good, kind' in Russian, so we need not look too far for Chors' etymology. Conversely, other Slavic languages' words for 'good' are derived from Slv dobru, with Russian dobrota translating as 'goodness'.
Koliada, Koljada, Kolyada	Goddess of time and personification of the winter solstice. Her identity as a spinstress identifies her as a cosmic fate goddess. She can also be male, known as the 'god of winter' and the origin of the Slavic St. Nicholas. In Kiev he was associated with agriculture, and his consort may have been Kalda. Thus she/ he may represent the androgynous primordial deity vaguely known to the Norse as Orlog and the Persians as Zurvan. Similarities may be found with the Celts' Cailleach and the Hindus' Kali, though this may be only coincidental in name. Kolyada's name means 'wheel' . She was the deification of the cyclical nature of the year, which was recognized to begin and end at the winter solstice. A procession was held for her in which she was depicted as a white girl with torches. At the winter solstice Kolyada disappeared (i.e. died) and was searched for. At this time she was reborn. This concept is familiar in western culture today, with the year-god born on New Year's day, going out as an old man at the end of the year.
Koshchei	Koshchei the Deathless for his supposed invulnerability; noted for being the abductor of beautiful princesses. He is a powerful wizard or demigod who gains immortality by keeping his fiery soul hidden. He kidnaps Marena (Mara, Marya Morevna), the Russian goddess of death. He tells her the location of his soul, which she tells the story's hero (usually a son or husband: Dazhdbog, Prince Ivan, Prince Astrach, etc.). Koshchie is the son of Vij, lord of the Underground, and travels on a war-horse or as a whirlwind.
Kostroma	Russian benevolent and malevolent fertility goddess; like the Greeks' Persephone, she is a dying and reborn daughter. She symbolised the life and death of vegetation. She was associated with the fertility- and dying-god Kostromo. On June 29 the 'burial of Kostroma' was celebrated, accompanied by games and lamentations.
Kostromo, Kostrubonko	A dying-and-ressurecting spring fertility-god. With his sister Kostroma he seems synonymous with the spring fertility brother and sister deities Iarilo and Iarila.
Krak	Legendary founder of Cracow. He rescued the people from control of a dragon.
Krasnyi	'Red' or 'Beautiful'; Russian epithet to a girl and the sun.
Krukis	Patron god of smiths and domestic animals.
Kubai-khotun	'Great Mother'; she dwells in the 'tree of life' or under its roots and protects and supports humans and animals. Her milk is the origin of the Milky Way. She was the primordial mother-goddess. Her association with the tree of life also identifies her with IE fate goddesses. He milk forming the Milky Way recalls Hera in Greek mythology. Her name and character may also recall the Anatolian 'Great Mother' goddess known variosly as Kubaba (Hittite), Kubebe (Lydian), and Cybele (as adopted in Rome).
Kuga	Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia. 'Fate'. She equates to Chuma and Mara.
Kupal'nitsa	Russian Mother goddess of the southwest, consort of Ivan Kupalo. She seems synonymous with Kubai-khotun and Kupalo/Kupala.
Kupalo, Kupala	Russian and Balkan midsummer goddess associated with water, magic, fertility, trees, flowers, and herbs. She is honored at the summer solstice, one of the four major festivals. At this time fire and water, both primal cosmic elements, played prominent parts in the holiday. In Slavic lands the pagan worshippers gathered the 'dew of Kupala' on Solstice eve, wetting their garmets with it and so on. Bonfires were also lit, with celebrants jumping over them in purification rites. They also drove their cattle through them is purification rites that recall similar rites in other IE traditions. In Russia and Poland her effigy is made of straw, in the Balkans she is made of birch. She could be dressed up like a doll with garmets and ribbons. In the Balkans she was thrown into a river in a purification rite to take away evil. Elsewhere, she was burned or drowned at sunset for the same purpose. Women would ritualistically fell a birch tree, then strip it of its lower branches. The tree was then carried to the village, decorated with ribbons, and set upright. This tradition recalls the Maypole of Celtic tradition. It represented the 'Cosmic Tree' known as Yggdrasil to the Norse, Gaokerena to the Zoroastrians, and so on. Wreaths made of Kupala's sacred herbs, flowers, and plants were woven and tossed into the water. Among these were purple loosetrife which repelled demons, saxifage, and ferns. Thus she is used in a purification ritual to ensure bountiful harvests. Her name may be a cognate with the Greco-Anatolian Cybele, the Lydian Kubebe, and the Hittite Kubaba.
Lada	Kievan Underworld god who presided over marriage and merriment. His nature and functions seem similar to the Greeks' Pluto and Dionysus.
Lada, Lada-Didi	Lithuanian, Polish, Russian goddess of beauty, spring and love; she presides over marriage and happiness. She is the 'Lady of Flowers', associated with the beginning of summer in May. Like various 'great goddesses' of IE myth, her sacred tree is the linden (lime-blossom), and like Kupala, her sacred flower is the purple loosestrife. Lada resides in Vrij, the Slavic underworld, until Maslenica, the Vernal Equinox. When she returns, she brings the lark and springtime with her. Lada may be synonymous with the goddess Iarilo, for Lada is often portrayed as a goddess who is born and dies yearly. Her sacred tree is the linden, supposedly because its leaves are shaped like hearts. One myth has her married to the heavenly sky-god Svarog. Together they created the world. Other sources give her a brother/lover named Lado which could equate them to such twins as Apollo and Artemis and Frey and Freya. There is a tradition of her being the mother of the divine twins Lel and Polel, and occasionally that of a daughter, Liuli.
Lada, Leda	Poland. War god. He was probably also a springtime fertility god, synonymous with the Russian fertiltiy god Lado and complimenting the role of the spring fertility goddess Lada. He was also probably synonymous with the spring fertility Iarilo, who likewise compliments the spring fertility goddess Iarila.
Lado	The divine husband, who with his wife Lada personified marriage, pleasure and happiness. Lado is comparable to Frey and considered by some to be a solar deity. He also seems synonymous with the spring fertility god Iarilo/Jarilo, as Lada is with Iarila.
Lakanica (Pol), Lugovnik (Rus)	Polish field spirit. She is the female counterpart to the Luguvik.
Lascowiec	'Lord of the Forest'. He A Slavic wood-spirit that protects wild animals. He is called 'master of wolves' by the eastern and southern Slavs. He is portrayed as a wolf, or a stag riding on a wolf. The Czechs call him Borowiec. He seems related to the IE hunter gods such as Cernunnos and the myths of the "Wild Hunt". He was probably the original version of the forest spirit also called Leshy, Lesovik, and so on (see below).
Lel	Kiev, Poland. Divine twin. He compares to the Greek 'Castor'.
Leshy, Lesiy, Lesovik, Leszi	'Forest' (< Slv lesu, 'forest'). The spirit of the forest. He is the 'Green Man'; the protector of the forest and all its animals. He is said to weep when one of his trees is cut down. His main attribute was his club, symbol of sovereignty over the forest animals. His totemic animal was the wolf, though bears were another favorite. He was depicted with a long, green beard, green eyes, and casting no shadow in the sun. He was also a shape-changer, becoming as small as a mouse or blade of grass, and as tall as the tallest tree. He often appeared in the shape of a peasant either without a belt or with shoes on the wrong feet. Sometimes a malevolent trickster, he would lead hunters and travelers into losing their way in the woods. Before entering his forest domain, Slavs invoked him in prayer to propitiate him. Leshy could also be propitiated with offerings of food left on stumps or logs. Leshy could also be befriended, afterwhich he could even teach his secrets of magic. Sometimes he could appear as a familiar person, leading Slavs astray into the woods. Once there, he might tickle his victims to death. Sometimes he had wings and a tail, and covered in black hair. Some said he had goat's hooves and horns, recalling the Greek Pan. Leshy could also become a forest fauna or flora: hare, wolf, bear, raven, pig, horse, rooster, flaming fir tree or even a mushroom. Leshy were also recognized as a class of wood-spirits who functioned in the same manner.
Lesni Zenka, The	'Woodland nymphs'. Commonly benevolent, though they could also be dangerous to mortals.
Lesovikha	Female versions of the Leszi, or forest spirits. She is sometimes depicted as an ugly woman with large breasts, sometimes a naked young girl, or as a woman in white as tall as the trees.
Liada, Leda, Lada (Slovakia)	Kiev. Goddess of beauty. Leto, Leda or Latona.
Likho	Evil goddess with only one eye. She may be a triune form the Greeks' Graie.
Ljeschi	The Slavonic version of the satyr and the faun. The name is derived from ljes, 'forest'. He is depicted as identical to the satyr and the faun, although he can alter his size at will. Some of them are corn spirits as well as wood spirits. They seem to be multiple versions of Volos.
Luguvik	Spirit of the meadow (<lugo, 'meadow').
Makosh, Makosi	Water- and fertility-goddess, she presides over food production.
Mamony	Polish 'Wild Woman' spirit of the woods. She seems to recall nature goddesses such as Artemis.
Maras, The	Nightmare spirits in Germanic and Slavic mythology.
Marena	Russian goddess of winter and the earth; equivalent to Polish Marzana. In one Russian myth, she is a sorceress who forces the sun-god Dazhbog to marry her after she turns him into an ox. Later, she conspires with her paramour to (unsucessfully) kill him. This myth recalls that of Bloedwydd and her husband Llew Llaw Gyffes in Welsh myth. Despite this unbecoming character, Marena was adopted into Christianity as St. Mary/ Maria, the consort of St. Ivan (Dazbhog).
Maruchi	Russian old woman who weaves at night similar to Mokosh.
Mary, St.	Mary is the Christian version of the ancient winter- and death-goddess Marena. She is the consort of St. with Ivan, the Christian version of the ancient sun-god Dazhbog. On St. Ivan's Day (summer solstice), Mary bathes together with Ivan in a ritual purification. Mary sits on a stone or a golden throne and sews, suggesting a very ancient origin as a fate goddess of death. Mary is also associated with swans.
Mary-rusalka	Russian tree goddess, mistress of animals and birds. She is also a spinner, associated with the birch tree and water. She was somewhat assimilated with the virgin Mary.
Marzana	Polish death- and winter- goddess; equivalent to the Russian Marena. Her name seems derived from Slavic words for 'to freeze, frozen'. She appeared dressed in white, a color of winter but also death in eastern Europe. Her effigy, including her broom, was carried through the village and thrown away on the outskirts or ritually drowned as a purificaiton rite either to welcome spring or after a death. The meaning of the Polish month of Marzec (March) is 'to freeze'.
Marzanna	Poland. Agriculture-or war-god, recalling the Roman Mars.
Marzyana	Polish goddess of grain. She presides over the harvest and equates to Demeter.
Maslenitsa	Russian fertility-goddess. Her festival at the winter solstice is also called Maslenitsa. In some areas, her straw effigy is carried through the village and taken to the fields, where it is pulled apart and burned or scattered as food for the new growth.
Matergabia	'Woman fire'. The goddess of the household presiding over its care. Her name suggests she may have been derived from the IE hearth goddess with parallels in the Roman Vesta and the Greek Hestia, and especially with the Baltic goddess Gabijia.
Matrioshka	Russian early mother goddess continues as the Matrioshka doll, a debased deity. She is identified with Mokosh.
	Slavic 'Fate'. In her death aspect she was a tall white woman who was also a shape-changer. During a plague she was a slim black woman with long breasts, snake eyes, and cow or horse legs. She was similar to Kuga, Chuma, Mara, and Smert. Her name seems to be a cognate with the Greek triple fate goddesses known as the Moirai (also 'Fates').
Marena	Bohemian winter- and death-goddess. She equates to Hecate, Hel, and so on. She is found in Poland as Marzanna, Russia as Mara (etc.), Wendish Murava, and Slovakia as Morena.
Marena, Mara, Marya, Morevna	Russian winter- and death- goddess. In one myth, she is a sorceress and enchantress who turned the sun-god Dazhbog into an ox. She refused to change him back until his father Perun agreed that they should marry. However, she later left him for Koshchei, son of the Underworld lord Vij. They conspired to kill Dazhbog, who was searching for her. She drugged him, and Koshchei threw him down a well. Finally, she nailed him to a mountain in the Caucasus, but the goddess Zhiva rescued him. Dazhbog finally had his revenge. This tale recalls the Welsh myth of the goddess Bloeddewedd, who left her husband Llew Llaw Gyffess for the Underworld god Gronowy. Despite this unsavory tale, Marena survived into Christian times as St. Mary, the consort of St. Ivan, who is Dazhbog.
Miesiac	Polish moon deity. In most Polish traditions, Miesiac is a god, married to Zorya Zwezda Dnieca, the 'celestial goddess' of the planet Venus. The moon is also known as a goddess with magical healing powers and married to the sun-god. In Russian some myths the Sun-god marries her at the beginning of summer, abandons her in Winter, and returns to her in the Spring.
Moarvaya Panna	Slavic 'Black Woman'. Goddess of disease and pestilence who disguised herself in black.
Morena	Slovakian death-goddess equating to Mora.
Munya	Goddess of lightning.
Murava	Wendish witch born with one tooth, probably the death-goddess also known as Mora, Morana, Morena, etc.
Musail	King of the forest spirits, he is probably synonymous with Leshy. He was associated with the Rowan tree.
Myesyets	Slavic moon-goddess (Russia, Serbia). She is sometimes recognized as the consort of the sun-god Dazhbog, and by him the mother of the stars. The sun marries her in the spring, and their children fill the sky through the summer. However, he progressively moves away from her and she must wait until the next spring for him to return to her. In other versions HE is the moon-god, uncle of Dazhbog, and consort of the sun-goddess (Ukraine, Byelarus). Associated with the waning and waxing moon, he died and then revived. He also had the power to heal. In folk songs Myesyats appears as a man. Myesyats was white Myesyats was a healer (healer). In one myth, Myesyats was married to the sun-goddess but seduced the Venus-goddess Dennitsa. As punishment, Perun struck him, breaking his face to account for the phases of the moon. In another version, the sun-goddess was unfaithful to him, and his phases are his shame as he turns away from her. His festival seems to have been Midsummer's Day.
Najade	Slavonic water nymphs. In name and function they are similar to the Greek Naiads.
	Bulgarian fate- and birth-goddess. She equates to the Russian Rozhenitsa.
Nari	Slavic demonic beings.
Narucnici	Bulgarian fate-goddesses. They appear as old women dressed in white. They attend births, announcing the fate of the newborn. They thus parallel the Norse Norns, Greek, Moirai, Roman Parcae, and so on. In Croatia they are called Rodjenice, in Slovenia Sojenice, in Bohemia Sudicky, in Poland Sudice, in Serbia, Slovenia, and Croatia Sudjenice. Alternate forms: Orisnici, Suzenici, Udelnicy, Uresici, Urisnici.
Nastasija	Russian goddess of sleep.
Nav, Navi, Navki, Navky, Novjaci, Nejky	Slavic malevolent spirits of the dead said to be the souls of people who died prematurely and tragically, including those of children who died at birth or of pregnant women who died violent deaths. Nav is also the Slavic name for the Underworld. It equates to the Norse's Niflheim or Nidhog, the Greek's Tartaros, and so on. Alternate forms: Faraony, Majky, Mavje, Mavky, and Vodianiani.
Nedolya	Serbian malevolent shape-changing spirit represented as an ugly and poor woman. She bestows bad luck.
Nemodilky	Czech water spirits dressed in red with black hair and white skin. These are the three cardinal colors of the IE Triple Goddess with this color motif found on pottery, tapestries, and other media of iconography both prehistoric and historic. The Nemodilky were beautiful maidens that appeared at night to search for young men and entice them into their underwater world. The are synonymous with the Ruslakai.
Nocnitsa	Russia, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia. 'Night Hag'. Nightmare goddess also known in Bulgaria as Gorska Makva. Also known as Kriksy, Plaksy.
Norov	Russian corn god.
Nya, Nyia	Slavic god of the dead. In Poland he is the Underworld-god equating to Pluto.
Ovinnik	Slavic 'barn spirits' (<Ovin, 'threshing barn'). Ovinnik appeared as a huge disheveled black cat with burning eyes. He could sometimes be heard laughing or barking like a dog in the corner of the barn. Offerings of blini or the last sheaf were left to him. Barn fires were blamed on angering him.
Oynyena Maria	Slavic 'Fiery Mary'. A fire goddess who assisted and counseled the thunder-god.
Paraskeva	Russia. "Friday". Fertility goddess associated with spinning, water, health, and marriage. She seems synonymous with Mokosh and thus the Slavic 'cosmic ocean goddess' with parallels in the Norse Frigga, the Greek Aphrodite, and so on. She is also known as Paraskva Griaznaia and Piatnitsa.
Peperuna	Peperuna was a thunder goddess and possibly the mother of the sun-goddess Solntse. Her twin brother was the thunder-god Perun, and their association could recall various other pairs in IE mythology such as the Norse's Frey and Freya and the Greeks' Apollo and Artemis, though these are not thunder deities.
Perchta	Fertility goddess.
Percunatele	Polish 'mother of thunder'.
Pereplut	Balkan goddess of drink and changing fortune.
Perkun Tete	Balkan goddess of thunder and lightning identified with the planet Venus. Each night she receives the sun, then returns it the next morning washed and shining. Her name recalls Percunatele, who is described as the Polish 'mother of thunder'.
Pagoda	Slavic 'Giver of Favorable Winds', a weather- and agriculture- goddess. Cattle and sheep are sacrificed to her. Also as a male deity.
Poldunica, Polednica, Poludnica, Psezolinica, Prez-poludnica, Polednice, The	Lady Midday (<poluden, 'noon'). She can be malevolent, even stealing children. She is also known as Prez-poludnica. To the Czechs and Serbs she is Polednice, the Serbian Prezpolnica and Zitna-atka. The Poludnica may appear as a 12-yr old girl, a beautiful maiden or a crone. She is only seen at the hottest part of a summer's day, when heat exhaustion or heatstroke might fell a field worker. She could also steal children or lead them astray. She was one the 'bogey women' used by the IE peoples to scare their children into behaving. She carries a scythe and will stop people in the field to either ask difficult questions. If the person fails to answer a question or is evasive, the Poludnica will strike them with illness or cut off their head. The Wends, German Slavs, called her pscipolnitsa and pictured her as carrying shears, an attribute of the crone death goddess. When not in the fields or streets, the Poludnica was said to float on the winds.
Polel	Polish and Kievan 'divine twin' along with Lel. He equates to the Greek Pollux.
Polevik	'Mistress of the Field'. Slavonic field spirit. She is a trickster who can be propitiated through sacrificial gifts. She no doubt parallels the malevolent Polednica.
Poledvoi, Polednitsa	Green-haired Russian field goddess (<pole, 'field'), and the white-robed field goddess.
Polevoi	'Field spirit'. He appears at noon or sunset as a hideous dwarf with grass for hair and two differently colored eyes. He usually wears either all white or all black. Like the Leshy forest spirit, he will lead astray people who wander in the fields. If they fall asleep there, he gives them diseases or rides over them with his horse.
Poludnitsy, The	Ukranian moon-goddesses.
Polunocnica	'Lady Midnight'. She was a demoness said to frighten children at night. She seems to have originally been the third Zorya of midnight with sisters 'dawn' and 'sunset'.
Poluvirica	This forest spirit probably derived from pre-Christian spirits. Her name, 'half-believer', was due to the belief that non-Christians returned after death as various home and forest spirits. She appears naked, with a long face, pendulant breasts and three braids of hair down her back. She is usually seen carrying a child.
Porentius, Porevit	The 'Powerful Lord'. One of the heads of the West Slavonic four-headed god Swiantovid whose image was found at Karentia. Each head faced one of the four cardinal directions. He is thought to be one of the four seasonal aspects of Swiantovid, facing South and ruling over summer. The Danish King Waldemar destroyed his temple in Garz in the 12th century by.
Pozemne vile	'Earth spirits'. They live underground in mines and caves. They have hoards of precious metals and jewels. They recall the 'Dark Elves' of Norse mythology. Indeed, they usually appear as small people carrying mining lanterns, or as small naked children, glimmers of light, human miners, or as salt people. They can be beneficient to miners lead them to rich veins of ore and protect them while they mine. They can also be malicious and punish people by causing tunnels to collapse on them or by pushing them into dark chasms. Whistling, hurling rocks into dark chasms and uncovering one's head are taboo to them. Offenders might be warned with a pelting of clumps of soil.
Pozvizd, Poxvist, Pogwisci, Pagoda, Dogoda	Kievan and Polish air- or weather- god
Prabah	Chief god of Slovakia. He was closely associated with the life-goddess Zivena. His name also seems to be a cognate of the Elbe Slav god Prove.
Prove	Elbe Slavs god noted at Oldenburg. He was the god of the land.
Psotnik, Psotnica	Polish elf-like mischievious spirits.
Radegasta	War goddess.
Radogast, Riedegost, Redigast, Radegast	Slavic sun-god.
Rarog (Pol), Rarich (Ukr), Rarach (Cz)	Demonic spirit of the whirlwind. He can also take the shape of a falcon, hawk or fiery dwarf. From the Elbe to the Urals it was a Slavic custom to throw a knife into a whirlwind in hopes of killing the demon inside.
Rodjenice, Rodenica, Rozhenica, Rozhenica, Rodanica (Pol), Rodienitsa (Croat)	The spirits of deceased female ancestors considered as being fate-goddesses and fairies. As a triad they appear at the cradle of newborns and decide their destinies by writing the life span in invisible letters on the baby's head. They also determine how wealthy (or not) the individual will become. In Serbia they are the Rodjenice or Rojenice, recognized as deceased mothers. The Rodjenice also attend births, with one spinning, one measuring, and one cutting the thread of life in the tradition of the IE 'Three Fates'. Rodjenice is also recognized as a singular goddess grouped with her fate sisters Sudnice and Sunjenice. In Russia she is called Rozhenitsa of the Rozanice (triple fates_ and in Bulgaria she is Rozdenici.
Rod	The cosmic creator of the world. He created Heaven, Earth, and the Underworld. Rod emerged from the primordial Egg, bringing Fire. He created Rodenica (or Lada), who represented the water element. Together they broke the Darkness. Svarog later succeeded Rod, seemingly with his aquiescence. Still, Rod seems to have the ultimate authority over all creation, as his will decides fate. He seems comparable to similar nebulous deities found in Persia as Zurvan and Norse religion as Orlog. The Hindus recognize a nondescript force somewhere beyond the dome of heaven where also resides the ultimate power in the universe. Rod survived as a sort of Slavic penate, or ancestral and household god. His worship was at the center of the older ancestor cults. Rodenica, with various cognate forms, survived as a mother-daughter team of glowing white fate goddesses who visited children at their birth and determined each baby's fate. Rodanica were cosmic birth and fate goddesses personifying the stars. Slavs believed that all new births were reincarnations of ancestors; no new souls are ever created. Birth itself was tied to two elements, both water and fire. This was even symbolized in the bathhouse (sauna), the traditional birthing room in Slavic culture. In a 10th century manuscript, "God" (presumably Rod) created the first man in his bath house, breathing life into a towel he was using.
Rodnaia Motushka	A sun-goddess presiding over birth.
Rorag, Roc	Phoenix-like eagle with fiery plumage, it is associated with Rod's Egg. It seems synonymous with the Russian fire-bird.
Ros	In one Russian myth, she is the 'mother' of the sun-god Dazhbog. This myth has the thunder-god Perun shooting his golden arrow at her across a river, hitting a nearby rock that begat Dazhbog. This myth seems to recall the myth of Zorya Utrenna, the goddess of dawn who sits on her fiery stone Alatuir, from which flow the four rivers of the Otherworld. Ros originated as the primordial goddess associated with the cosmic waters and consort of the Rod, the primordial fate god associated with the cosmic fire. She is found in all the Slavic mythologies as the brith and fate goddess or goddesses of similar names, including the Rusalka, Rozanice, Rozhenitsa, and so on. She is also found in Russia as the river Ros and may be the eponymous goddess of the Russian people.
Rozanice	Russian fate-goddess.
Rozdenici	Bulgarian fate-goddess. She determines destiny, including the time and manner of death.
Rozhenitsa	Russian fate-goddess who determines the destinies of newborns. She was also known as Rodeinitsa, Rozenitsa, Rozhdenitsa.
Ruevit	The god of autumn, named after the Slavonic autumnal month when mature animals mated. He was worshipped on the Island of Rugen and is thought to be one of the four seasonal aspects of Swiantowid ruling Autumn and facing East.
Rugievit	Elbe Slav 'Lord of Rugen'. He may be the same as Ruevit. He is noted for his seven heads and a sword, and is thought to have been a war-god. His image was found at Karentia (Garz). His temple at Garz was a large wooden structure with an inner room. It had four posts and a roof that was decorated with purple hangings. His oak statue had seven heads (or faces) and his belt held seven swords, while an eighth was in his hand.
Schastie	Russian goddess of good luck.
Seewa	Russian 'Mother Friday', a harvest goddess.
Semargla	Weather-goddess; she presides over cold and frosty weather.
Semik	Russian chthonic deity who rules the souls of the dead. Her name seems derived from various IE words for 'earth, soil', including Baltic zeme, Slv zeme, Thracian semela, Av zem, Skt jmas, and so on. Her sacred tree is the birch.
Seryï Volk	'Grey Wolf'. A shape-shifter with great wisdom.
Siliniez	A wood-god from Poland to whom moss was sacred. His altar fire was kept burning only with moss.
Simargl, Simaergla, Semargl', Simorg, Symaergla, Simurgh, Simariglu	One of the state gods mentioned in the Primary Chronicle in Kiev. He is referenced as the protector of seeds and new plant growth. He is known as the 'Guardian of Vegetation' and protects the Slavic 'World Tree', the source of all nuts and seeds. Indeed, his name seems derived from Slavic words for 'sow seeds': Slv seme, Rus semje, Pol siemie, Srb-Cro sjeme, etc. Simargl was depicted as a winged lion (or a winged dog). His name and depiction suggest links to the Scythians or Sarmatians, who worshipped him as Simurgh. He also seems to have been the divine griffin of Persian mythology where he was known as Simurgh, Simorgh, or Senmunw . In Norse mythology he might recall the eagle that sits atop the World Tree. In one Norse myth Loki took the form of an eagle to rescue Nanna, whom he changed into a nut before carrying her away. In Sarmatian myth, Simurg guarded the tree which produced the seed to every species of plant (i.e. the World Tree). He also was responsible for the dispursement of these seeds and thus is connected with vegetative fertility. According to some, Simargl is a fiery bird and may be the orignal firebird of Russian myth.
Siriny	Demi-animals and nature spirits, they assume the form of 'fish women' or mermaids. In name and character they seem related with the Greek Sirens.
Siva, Ziva, Zhiva, Zivenna	West Slavic goddess of life (< Slv zivu, 'life'). She was invoked for good health and long life. She equates to the Polish Zywie, Slovak Zivena. In one Russian myth, she flies out of Irij, the Slavic Olympus, as a dove, spotting the sun-god Dazhbog nailed to a mountain in the Caucasus. She rescues him, carrying him back to Irij to heal him. The two later create the world and all life, including people.
Sjantaik	Russian 'Birth Mother' who presides over humans and animals.
Smert (Rus), Smierna (Pol), Smrtnice (Cz)	'Death, fate'. Slavic death-goddesses worshipped in groves. She equates to the Serbian Kuga and the Bulgarian and Russian Chuma. She seems synonymous with the death-goddesses Mara, Mora, Marenna, and so on.
Sojenice	Slovenian fate goddesses.
Solntse	Slv 'Sun'. Her husband is the moon-god Myestas; their children the stars. Solntse is red and clean. Solntse's main daughters were Zvezda Dennitsa and Vechernyaya Zvezda - the Morning and Evening Stars (planet Venus). Her solar ship is pulled by swans. Solntse is also a cow goddess.
Spor	The Slav spirit or spirits of growth. They made corn grow and cattle mature. They were invoked in families along with the other protective nature spirits.
Sreca	Serbian personal fate-goddess. She protects the individual's fields and flocks. She equates to the Russian Dolya.
Sudbina	Croatian birth- and fate- goddess; equates to the Polish Sudice, Russian Rozhenitsa, and so on.
Sudice, The	'The Fates'. Polish fate-goddesses. They appear dressed in white at the cradle of newborns where they determine the child's fate.
Sudicka, Sudicky	Czech fate- and birth- goddess in triad form. They appear as three women dressed in white, deciding the fate of each newborn.
Sudjenice, The	'The Fates'. Serbian, Croat, Slovenian fate goddesses.
Sudzenici, The	'The Fates'. Bulgarian fates.
Svatog	Slavic 'Lord of Light' (< Slv svetu, 'world', also 'holy, sacred'; or Slv svetilu, svetiti, Pol swiet, 'light, bright, shine'; Skt sveta, 'white'). Slav sky-god and chief of the Slavic pantheon. He was associated with war, fate, and fertility. He seems synonymous with the Russian Svarog.
Svredel	He was the patron god of masons. In a surviving Slavic myth, Svredel ('the borer') seems to have been a star-god, who at the time of creation worked with 'God' (Svarog or Rod?). His original identity might be parallel to the 'Divine Smith' found in other IE mythologies. In any event, as a 'heavenly mason', as it were, he might be identified with the 'dome of heaven', which was commonly thought of as being made of stone in the IE mythologies.
Svyatogor	Russian warrior-hero. He was a giant living in the Holy Mountains after which he was named (sviato, 'holy, sacred', gor, 'mountain'). His glory days all passed, he is doomed to fade away.
Syen	South Slav guardian spirits.
Tapio	Russian forest-god.
Tshuma, Chuma	Russian 'Plague'; goddess of disease, she appears as an owl
Uroda	Slovakian goddess of the fields.
Utrennyaya	Slv utro, jutro, 'morning'. Goddess of the dawn. One of the three Zorya, the Slavic triple goddesses of the universe. In Poland she is called Zorya Wieczórniaia. She opened the gates for her father the sun-god Dazhbog (other myths her mother) every morning. She sat under the World Tree on the fiery-stone Alatuir, from which ran the four rivers of the Otherworld.
Varpulis	The storm-wind god. He was associated with Perunas and a grandson of Stribog.
Vasillissa	Slavic swan maiden. She is the daughter of the sea king.
Vechernyaya Zvezda	‘The Evening Star’. She and her sister Zvezda Dennitsa, the morning star, are companions (or another aspect) of the Zorya, two other daughters of Dazhbog, the sun god.
Ved’ma	Slv vedeti, 'know, wise, etc'. Slavic witch. She has been changed from a goddess to a flying witch on a broom or rake. She can change her appearance with her magic to look old and ugly or very beautiful; she can also make herself invisible. She can produce rain and storms, and she knows medicinal plants and keeps the water of life and death.
Veles, Wila	Fairy-like female spirits of the wilderness or sometimes the clouds. They could take the shape of swans, snakes, horses, falcons, or wolves. Normally, however, they were beautiful maidens either dressed in white or naked (like the Rusalki), and had long flowing hair. A human could gain control over a Vila by taking her feathers. This is paralleled in Norse mythology where men could capture and force to marry Valkyries that had come to earth to bathe. Other times they can seduce young men into dancing with them. Like the Valkyries also, the Veles are fierce warriors. The earth is said to shake when they do battle. Although the names of the Norse version are translated as 'choosers of the slain', the character similarities suggest that the Slavic and Norse names are related. Veles are also huntresses, riding on their horses or deer with their bows and arrows drawn. They can also punish men who defy them or break their word. They also have healing and prophetic powers and are sometimes beneficient to mankind. Again in Norse mytholgy we find Valeda, a prophetess whose name also seems related to Veles/ Wila. Veles could be propitiated with round cakes, ribbons, fresh fruits and vegetables or flowers left at sacred trees and wells and at fairy caves.
Verlioka	A one-legged and one-eyed demon-god.
Vesna	Slv vesna, Rus vesna, Pol wiosna, 'spring'. Slavic goddess of spring. The Czechs knew her as Wesna.
Vestice, The	Czech ‘wild women’. They can assume the form of every animal and steal newborn babies.
Vila, The	Srb-Cro, Cz vila, 'fairies'. Wind- and storm- spirits who can cause rain, hailstorms, and whirlwinds. Winged women with long hair, they are said by some to be the souls of unbaptized maidens and can transform themselves into animals: swans, horses, or wolves. In human form they are beautiful and eternally young. They teach people how to grow crops, plow, and bury the dead. The northern Slavs thought they enticed young men to their deaths in a manner similar to water spirits. Overall they somewhat recall the Norse Valkyries. Also known as Samovila, Samovily, Vily, Vile, Wili, Willi, and Judy.
Vlkodlaks	Slv vluko, Rus volk, ‘wolf’. Slavonic werewolf.
Vodyanik	Slv voda 'water'. Water spirit who usually appears as an old man with a fat belly. He can be benevolent or malevolent.
Vodanyoi, Vodni Panny, Vodyanoi, Vodonoi, Wódjanoj (Pol)	Slv voda, 'water'. Malevolent water spirits. They may take the shape of logs, fish, old men. They age and are then rejuvenated according to the waning and waxing moon. Master shape-shifters, they sometimes appear as old men with long green or white beards, sometimes as creatures with huge toes, claws, horns, a tail and burning eyes in a human face. At times they look like fat old bald men and other times like mossy looking fish or flying tree trunks. Vodonoi are believed to live in underwater palaces made from the treasures from sunken ships and often marry Rusalki, their female counterparts. They are usually malicious and are believed to drag people under the water and drown them. A Vodonik may be propitiated with the first fish caught or by throwing a piece of tabacco into the water and invoking his aid in fishing.
Vukadlak	Vukadlak was a menacing wolf that followed the clouds and devoured the sun or moon. He is paralleled in Norse myth, where the wolves are destined to devour the sun and moon before Ragnarok at the end of time.
Walgino	Guardian god of cattle. He is probably synonymous with Weles/ Wolos/ Veles.
Wesna	'Spring' Czech summer goddess. She is the same as the Russian Vesna.
Yarilo, Iarilo, Jarilo, Erilo	Slavic god of love and of agricultural fertility, Yarilo is married to the earth-goddess Mati-Syra-Zemlya. He is depicted as a young man on a white horse wearing a white cloak and crown of flowers, holding sheaves of wheat and corn. His name may be a cognate with Eros, the Greek god of love. In the east he is associated with the sun, and as such he has parallels with such sun- and fertility-gods of spring as Apollo, Lugh, Frey, and so on. Still, Iarilo became most prominent as a deity worshipped during the late spring and early summer in orgiastic rituals. He was thus the patron of Spring sowing -- especially of corn and wheat, his sacred crops. As the summer progressed he aged before dying late in the season.
Yarovit	Slavic god of victory. He is the same as Yarilo
Zaltys	'Snake'. The world serpent who lay coiled at the roots of the great World Tree. He recalls both the Nidhog serpent of Norse myth, who also was found at the root of the World Tree, as well as the World Serpent Jormungander. Zaltys was the arch enemy of the thunder-god Perun and the object of many of his thunderbolts.
Zarya	Slavic goddess of healing waters.
Zhiva	Slavic spirit of the dead worshipped by the Elbe Slavs. She is associated with the cuckoo. Friday is her sacred day.
Zimarzla	'The Frozen' (< zima, ‘winter’). Russian weather goddess. Her breath is ice-like. She is clothed in hoarfrost and snow and crowned with hailstones.
Zitna-atka	Midday spirit; equivalent to Poldunica. She appears in the cornfields at noon and kills anyone who cannot answer her riddles.
Ziva	See Siva.
Zizilia	Polish goddess of love and sexuality.
Zmey	'Snake'. Also known as Zaltys, he is the Slavic version of the 'World Serpent' and archnemesis of the thunder-god Perun. He is depicted as a fire-breathing dragon in the IE tradition.
Zlotababa	Russian "Golden Old Woman". Kindly grandmother.
Zorya, Zarya : Verchernyaya, Utrennyaya	The Slavic ‘Three Fates’. ‘Three little sisters', they included Verchernyaya ('she of the aurora of Dusk/ Twilight', Pol. Wieczorniaia), she of Midnight, and the dawn-goddess Utrennyaya ('she of the aurora of Morning’, Pol. Dnieca). Utrennyaya and Vechernyaya were the most prominent, being daughters of the sun-god Dazhbog. Utrennyaya was identified with the morning star, Vechernyaya with the evening star. The latter was also a warrior-maiden. Zorya Utrenyaya sits under an oak tree (i.e. Slavic 'world tree'?) on the fiery stone Alatuir and under her seat flows the healing river. Each day Zorya Utrennyaya opens the sky-palace gates for her father, who rides out across the sky. At the end of his daily travel, Zorya Vechernyaya closes the opposite gates. Like the Norns of Norse mythology, the Zorya kept the doomsday wolf fettered to prevent it from wreaking destruction on the world. The Slavic wolf was bound to the pole star in Ursa Minor. When the chain breaks it will herald the end of the world. In fact, one of the Norns, Skuld, also was known as a Valkyrie ('warrior maiden'), paralleling Vechemayaya. Thus the Zorya are guardian goddesses of the universe. An Egyptian parallel of the three Zorya was the goddess Reret, who also kept the powers of destruction fettered by a chain. The Zarya rule in Bouyan (or Bonyan), the Slavic otherworld paradise equivalent to the Celtic Avalon, Greek Hesperides, and so on. There are four streams issuing from under the magic stone Alatuir in the island paradise of Bonyan.
Zuarasiei, Zuarasiz (Radegost); Svarozhich, Svarozhitsh, Svarogitch	Elbe Slavs, Rethra. ‘Holy light’ or 'Lord of Light'. His sacred white horse was kept at Rethra. He has some parallels with the sun-god Khors or Dazhdbog.
Zvezda Dennitsa	‘The Morning Star’. Daughter of the sun god, Dazhbog. She is synonymous with Zorya Utrennyaya. She is known to some as the wife of the moon god. She helps Vechernyaya Zvezda care for their father’s horses that he drives cross the sky each day.
Zvezda Vechemyaya	Slavonic goddess of the Evening Star. Another name for Zorya Vechernyaya.
Zytniamatka	Prussian corn mother.
Zywie	'Life'. Polish health- and healing- goddess. (See Siva)

Veles

Festival of Perun marks the beginning of spring at the vernal equinox. Festival of Svantovit and ritual to foresee prosperity of the harvest. Ritual to Mati-Syra-Zemlya to foresee prosperity of the harvest. Festival of Yarilo marking the beginning of spring.

Celebration of Dazbog's marriage to Myesyats at the summer solstice, the beginning of summer.

Sacrifice to Mati-Syra-Zemlya for good fortune. This date coincides with the Irish festival Lughnasad.

Mourning of Yarilo's death at the end of summer on the autumn equinox. "Curling Volos' Hair" and festival at the end of the harvest.

The winter solstice marks the festival of Stribog at the beginning of Winter. It is also the time of mourning for Myesyats' departure.

Perun: chief deity of Slavic pantheon; god of thunder, lightning, storm, violence, and war

Dazhbog: a sun god; responsible for creative and economic aspects of the sun (light, life, and a bountiful harvest)

Simargl: winged griffin or divine bird-dog that guards the sacred tree which supplies the seed for every plant

Mokosh: protector of women and women's work: goddess of fertility, childbirth, and all the animal world

Iarilo: son of Dazhbog and Lada, married to Mokosh; god of passionate love, fertility, spring germination and regeneration

-- offerings were sometimes made to this spirit at the building of a new bathhouse

variously thought to be the mother of Lel' and Polel', a god of the underworld and marriage, or not a deity at all (14); Rybakov considers her the goddess of spring and mother of Lelia (17)

only female deity included among Vladimir's idols, possibly associated with Moist Mother Earth (14); Rybakov associates her with fertility, bounty, mositure, women's work, the protection of maidens (16), October 28 (Saint Paraskeva-Friday) (17, 35)

chief of the pagan gods, god of thunder and lightning and of war (13); Rybakov associates him with July 20 (Elijah the Prophet) (17)

minor god of birth (14); Rybakov sees him as an early primary god of the east Slavs, a creater and god of fertility and light, associated with the winter solstice and July 20, who was replaced by Perun shortly before the tenth century (17)

minor goddess of birth (14); Rybakov associates her with the harvest (September 9) (17)

a winged dog, guardian of seed and new shoots; Iranian influence (13); associated by Rybakov with rusal'naia week (17)

possibly an important god of the west Slavs, god of light, bounty, and divination regarding the harvest (14)

god of cattle (skotnyi bog), commerce and possibly the dead (14), associated by Rybakov with the winter solstice and spring equinox (17)

Original content copyright © 1997-2004 by David J. Birnbaum, Dan Criss, Suzanne Daly, Lisa di Bartolomeo, Meg Eberly, Helena Goscilo, Seth Graham, Julia Sagaidak Houkom, John Kachur, Olga Karpushina, Carrie Marquette, Gerald McCausland, Petre Petrov, Alton Post, Aleksandr Prokhorov, Irina Reyn, Sara Schwartz, Dawn Seckler, Sarah Slevinski, Sabrina Spiher, Ben Sutcliffe, Toni West, Ricky Wilson, and Yingying Xu. All rights reserved.

Slavic mythology

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Old Slavic religion evolved over more than a thousand years and some parts of it were from neolithic or possibly even mesolithic times. However, mainstream scholars would probably regard it as an off-shoot of Indo-European religion. Very little is known about any of this religion during the centuries before the Christianization, however some think that the Book of Veles is a sacred text of this religion. Others believe the book to be a 20th century hoax.

It recognized three worlds: Jav, Prav and Nav, Jav being the material world, Nav the immaterial and Prav being the laws that govern them.

The supreme god of Slavic pantheon is Svarog a.k.a. Triglav. But exactly because of his nature he was not the most worshiped: that was Perun, while tribes that were occupied mostly with cattle could pay most attention to Veles and so on.

Pantheon From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Belobog

In Slavic mythology, Belobog (Polish: Bialobóg) is the benevolent god of the waxing year.

Belobog was said to appear in the form of a long-bearded old man, carrying a staff and dressed in white. He was said to assist travellers.

Belobog was said to fight his evil brother Czernobog twice a year for control of that year, with Bialobóg gaining control of the waxing half of the year and Czernobog control of the waning half.

Crnobog

In Slavic mythology Crnobog (pr. Tser-nah-bog, to rhyme with There-are-not, in its Balkan spelling) was the god of evil and darkness, in opposition to Belobog. His name means "The Black God" (Balkan Crno "black" and Bog "god", existing the word bog in many Slavic languages). Other spellings: Chernobog (in Latin characters, transliterated from Cyrillic).

Radagast (god)

Radagast (his name also appears in variations "Radogost", "Radegost" and similar) is Slavic god of fire. His name means "glad guest" - someone for whom you are glad to have him in your house as a guest - which fire certainly was.

Stribog

Stribog, in Polish mythology, is the god and spirit of the winds, sky and air; and is said to be the ancestor of the winds of the eight directions.

Horos

Horos, khoros (χορός) means "dance" in Greek language. This word occurs in the names of numerous Greek dances. Sometimes the word may be omitted, e.g., both "Hasapiko choros" and Hasapiko may be seen in use.

Dajbog

Dabog, Dajbog; son of Svarog(according to russian legends he is a son of Peurn, Sun-God, lord of the land). He is a god of war, fertile god, god which gives wealth, god "The doorman" of the underworld, god of precious metals, god of mines. He often appears in shape of crippeled wolf or as crippeled Daba. Becoming a Satan with appearance of Christianity. Emperor on the earth.

Triglav

The Triglav area is also the origin of a old Slovene legend of a chamois buck (steinbock, ibex, capricorn) named Zlatorog (»Goldhorn«), that is nowadays used as a brand mark of a Slovene brewery.

Svarog

In Slavic mythology Svarog (Polish: Swaróg) is the Slavic god and spirit of fire; meaning bright and clear. So sacred was the fire that it was forbidden to shout or swear at it while it was being lit. Folklore communicates him as a fire serpent, a winged dragon that breathes fire. Other mythos describes him as a smith god, identified the generative and sexual powers of fire. He is the father of and divine light of celestial and Earthly fires. He is associated in Christianity with Saint Damian, Saint Cosmas, and Saint Michael the Archangel. His animals are a golden horned ox, boar, horse, and a falcon named Varagna, as well as a shape-shifter into the wind.

Perun

Perun - the highest god of Slavic pantheon, model example of the Lord of Thunder (cf. Thor), in classification of Dumézil the god of 2nd function (physical and military power), members of Slavonic squads swore on his name (Russ.); attributes: mountain, oak, firmament (in Indo-European languages was joined with notion of ?sky of stone?), horse, cart, weapons of stone - then metal ? (hammer, axe, arrow), fire.

Myth - reproduced on the ground of folkloristic given: the fight of Perun against demoniac opponent (main - &#379mij? Veles?, aerial dragons and crowd of smaller ghosts: biesy, sing. bies, czarty [ czart ], latawce[ latawiec ], poro&#324ce [poroniec] etc) stealing waters, cattle, divine partner of god (see: Perperuna), hiding before anger of Thunderlord under/in a man, horse, cow, tree, stone, at last in to water (a fish with red eyes). Perun is helped by p&#322anetnicy (sing. p&#322anetnik), chmurni-cy(-k), ob&#322oczni-cy(-k) (Pl.), stuh(-y), zduh(-y), stuhac(-e), zduhac(-e), vjetrogonj-e(-a), jedogonj-e(-a) (Serb.) and, after to carriage names from demoniac enemy to the helper, zmaj(-e), zmej(-e) (Bulg.) and &#380mij(-e) (Pl.) (spirits, living peoples and even animals with spirit or with body being raised to sky during storm) fighting with smok(-i) ("a dragon") (Pl.) zmej(-e) (Russ.), a?dah-a(-y) (SouthSlav. from Pers. A?i Dahaka), (ch)al-a(-y) (SouthSlav.).

Perun was represented with silver hairs and golden moustaches (Russ.), his weapon: stones, stone - arrows, their remainders according to folk beliefs are fulgurites and belemnites, and sometimes archaic tools, all they are called (in Poland): kamie&#324 piorunowy, kamie&#324 gromowy ("stone thunderbolt"), klin piorunowy ("wedge thunderbolt"), strza&#322 a piorunowa ("arrow of thunderbolt"), piorunowiec, iskra pérunova ("spark of thunder"), palec diabla, palec czarta ("devil's finger") but also: God's finger, and even Mother of God finger (compare to: Lith.: "Berkun's finger" - sic!) - after that also a hammer and an axe. Thunderbolt stones are sometimes transferred back to skies (by wind or p&#322 anetnik). Weapons of Perun protected before bad luck, bad powers, disease and thunder itself.

Like Thor, Perun's vegetable hypostasis was oak (about of what one mentioned higher), especially distinctive (the oldest, greatest, growing on a hill)- a space under - general place of worship and folding of sacrifices (with a bull, an ox, a ram, eggs); marked oaks stood on country borders - communities, these "stations" were visited during holidays of village late spring and summer (SouthSlav.) (compare to: Iupiter Quernus, see also: Perkunas). Perun is also connected with other plants: perunika, perin (Serb., Russ.).

Primary relations with almost identical Perkunas from Latvian mythology show the close affiliation between, and common origin of, the Balto-Slavic tribes. In Vedic religion this god is called Varuna. The similiarities between Perun and the god Thor in Norse mythology caused an amalgamation of the two Gods in Kievan Rus.

Svetovid

SVETOVID,SUVID,SVANTEVID,SVANTOVIT,SVENTOVIT,ZVANTEVITH Svetovid, Swiatowit, Sutvid, Vid. Sometimes referred to as Beli (or Byali) Vid, Beli = white, bright, shining (as in the folklore poem Vojevao Beli Vide/Tri god'ne s kleti Turci/A cet'ri s crni Ugri... - Beli Vid waged war/three years long against the Turks/four years long against the Hungarinas). Associated with fighting wars and forseeing. Described as an four-headed god with one on the front, one on the left, right and back. These four heads represent gods Perun, Svarog, Lada and Mokoš. Joined like that together, they see all four sites of the world( sve = all, vid = sight ; Svetovid = allseer). He had a white horse which was kept in his temple and taken care by monks. It was believed Svantevid in battle rides this horse. Horse was used for forseeing. The victory in battle, merchant travels and succsessful harvest depended on Svantevid. He always wear his sword(sometimes bow) in one hand, and in the other drinking horn. In Croatia:island of Brač, highest peak is called Vid's Mountain; Mountain Dinara-peak called Suvid, and church of St.Vid; also are often churches with his name. Among the Serbs, the cult of Svetovid is partially preserved through the Feast of St.Vitus - Vidovdan, one of the most important annual events in Serb Orthodox Christian tradition.

Lada and Lado

In old Slavic religion, Lada is the goddess of harmony, merriment, youth, love and beauty. Her time is in the year of May; and is known as the Lady of the Flowers. Sacred to her is the linden and purple loosestrife. She is also the Goddess of order and manifested beauty. She is represented as a girl with a flower wreath on her head, dressed in white carrying flowers. She and her brother Lado are credited with creating the fertility of the greening world as they join May festivals in spirit with the people. They dance in each other’s embrace, and each place their feet touch springs forth new flowers in full bloom. They are also lovers.

Lado is the god of marriage, mirth, pleasure and general happiness. The divine husband of Lada whom together they represent marriage, pleasures and happiness. He seems synonymous with the Spring fertility god Jarilo as Lada is with Jarila. Those soon to be married make sacrifices to him to ensure a satisfactory union.

Golden Hind (mythology)

In Greek mythology, the Golden Hinds (or golden-horned deer: Elaphoi Khrysokeroi) were five immortal beasts, deer-like but larger than bulls. They were described by Callimachus, in "Hymn III to Artemis", and by others.

Four of the Hinds were captured by the goddess Artemis to pull her chariot. The fifth (the Kerynitian Hind, or the Hind of Cerynes) escaped, and was later captured by Hercules as a gift to Artemis.

In a recent television dramatisation of the life of Hercules, the Hinds are shown with the upper bodies of women. They had the ability to heal, but this took a lot of energy. They could assume human form. In both the real mythology and the television series, their blood was poisonous to the Greek gods, by nullifying their ichor.

It is sometimes thought that stories about Gold-horned deer may be the based upon tales of the now extinct Megaloceros giganteus, aka the Irish Elk.

The Irish Elk, Megaloceros, is misnamed, for it is neither exclusively Irish nor is it an elk. It is a giant extinct deer, the largest deer species ever, that stood up to seven feet at the shoulder (2.1 meters), with antlers spanning up to 12 feet (3.65 meters). The Irish elk evolved during the glacial periods of the last million years, during the Pleistocene Epoch. It ranged throughout Europe, northern Asia and northern Africa, and a related form is known from China. The name "Irish" has stuck because excellent, well-preserved fossils of the giant deer are especially common in lake sediments and peat bogs in Ireland. The skull on display at the old UC Museum of Paleontology (figured below) came from such a locality, 18 miles north of Dublin. Such skulls, with their enormous racks of antlers, adorn the walls of castles and hunting lodges throughout Ireland.

FROM SLAVIC MYSTERIES TO CONTEMPORARY PSI RESEARCH AND BACK, Part 1
by Larissa Vilenskaya
Menlo Park, California

The Light of Knowledge: Healing and Divination in Slavic Wisdom Teachings and Practices Upon the shores of a far sea
A mighty green oak grows,
And day and night a learned cat
Walks round it on a golden chain.
When he goes right--he sings a song,
Left--tells a wonder tale...

... There I have been,
There drank the golden wine.
I saw that sea, I saw that oak,
I saw the learned cat.
He sang to me,
He told me wonder tales

Alexander Pushkin, Ruslan and Ludmila

Introduction

I would like to share some of my observations, findings, and insights into Russian (Slavic) spiritual traditions. In this paper, I focus primarily not on Siberian shamanism1 but on ancient world views, wisdom teachings, and healing rituals of the Slavs. I prefer to use the word "Slavic" instead of "Russian" because my research includes an exploration of myths, legends and traditions whose roots originate in the distant past, before the emergence of what is now called the Russian (or Great Russian) nation. Traditional Slavic spirituality seems to be close to what are called Earth religions or Goddess religions in this country (e.g., Gimbutas, 1995). I will discuss some elements of the tradition I learned during my trips to Russia in November/December 1993, September/December 1994, and May/July 1995.

Return to the Roots

Last year, when preparing to travel to Russia, I had two lines of research in mind, one being a more formal scholarly study, and another representing a continuation of my personal search for the knowledge and wisdom in shamanic and folk healing traditions.

The idea of the first project is easy to describe. In the course of my research into the state of experimental parapsychology in the former Soviet Union in 1992-1994 (May and Vilenskaya, 1994; Vilenskaya, 1993, 1995; Vilenskaya and May, 1995), I found that Russian researchers primarily focus on studies of "distant mental effect" or "distant influence," in other words, psycho-kinesis (PK) and bio-PK phenomena, or the possible effects of human consciousness on the surrounding world, including physical and biological systems. These studies are carried out in such prestigious institutions as Moscow State University, St. Petersburg State University, and several research institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences. During my research in Russia, I also came across preliminary data suggesting that the roots for this broad and genuine scientific and popular interest in "distant influence" and alternative healing approaches in the former Soviet Union can be found in traditional Slavic spirituality and world views. Thus, I decided to undertake a more formal study to elucidate this relationship.2

The second part of my search is more intangible and not easily defined. In the Fall of last year, I started feeling a need (a calling, if I may put it this way) to return to my roots. For many years I was deeply interested in various spiritual traditions, including Native American beliefs, rituals, sacred songs, dances, and healing practices (Vilenskaya, 1992). Now I felt it was time for me to tap into the wisdom teachings, the light of knowledge of my homeland.

The Light of Knowledge

In my early childhood in Riga, the capital of Latvia, my mother once read me a beautiful old legend translated into Russian from the Latvian language. I loved it dearly and asked my mother to reread it several times, although I had not grasped its full significance. I did grasp its meaning very recently, when I had a chance to read it again during my trip to Russia. It went like this:

In a small village in Latvia, near the capital city of Riga [which is incidentally my birthplace], there was once a father who had three sons. Two were thought to be clever fellows, but the third was so simple everyone said the lad was a fool.

One day, the father decided to build a hut at the edge of his pasture. When the small house was finished, he called his sons together and said, "I will give this hut to the one who can fill it completely. Not even a corner is to be left empty."

Without a moment's hesitation, the oldest son said, "I know the very thing that will do it." And off he went to buy a horse. When he brought the animal into the new hut, the horse filled only one corner of the place.

At once, the second son hurried off, saying: "I know the very thing that will fill this hut." He returned with a load of hay, which he hauled into the new hut. The hay filled only half of the little house.

The youngest son scratched the top of his head.... "I suppose it's my turn to try my luck," he said slowly and trudged off to the village. There he wandered about for the rest of the day. Toward evening, as the lights began to shine from the cottage windows, the young lad suddenly slapped his thigh and laughed out loud. "Now I know the very thing that will do it!" he exclaimed.

He bought a candle and hurried to the new hut. Once inside, the lad lit the candle--and the whole hut was filled with light, every corner, nook, and cranny. And so the simple son, whom everyone thought was a fool, won the new little house for himself (Niedre, 1958).

While riding a train from Moscow to the heart of the Ural Mountains in my search for the wisdom of the Russian past, I remembered: no amount of material possessions can fill our lives completely, can totally satisfy us. To feel whole and to enjoy happiness, we also need the light of spiritual knowledge.

Multiple Realities
Notes on Shamanic Views in Russian Art

In his provocative book, Dreaming with Open Eyes: The Shamanic Spirit in Twentieth Century Art and Culture, British scholar Michael Tucker (1992) reminded us of "a shamanic sense of music as transformative myth" (p. 208) in the works of the Russian composer Alexander Skriabin (1872-1915). Through his music, Skriabin, who gave the world the Poem of Ecstasy (1908) and the Prometheus (1910), was able to experience his version of shamanic flight--"light ... rapture ... soaring flight ... suffocation from Joy" (Machlis, 1963:99). He designed his music to be seen as well as heard, for it was for him "an orgy of visions ... an astral world of emotions" (Bowers, 1973:127). He intended Prometheus to be performed in synesthetic conjunction with a "light keyboard" or "color organ":

Scriabin planned a final meta-composition, Mysterium, which would embrace all the arts. At the projected climax of what was to be a seven-day festival in the Himalayas, music would dissolve the world in an abyss of flame, returning all being to its spiritual essence within "the plane of unity" (Bowers, 1973:125). The language of music also acquires shamanic overtones in Igor Stravinsky's (1882-1971) ballet The Rite of Spring (1913) about the spring rituals of prehistoric Russia.

Similar vision of ecstatic flight is found in Osip Mandelstam's poetry:

One can also remember the Russian Futurist poet and dramatist Velemir Khlebnikov (1885-1922) who became fascinated by the possibilities of a new "transrational" language in poetry. In the language of zaum ("nonsense") new meanings would be created simply out of the sound of each element of the word. Thus in Khlebnikov's famous "Invocation to Laughter" the whole composition is a series of variations on the Russian word smekh (laughter). In contrast to the sheer "materiality" of this poem's pursuit of magic, Khlebnikov's "Numbers" reveals a curious and profound blend of Platonic philosophy and shamanic consciousness (Khlebnikov, 1968:98):

Khlebnikov's poetry reminds us of secret and sacred language of spirit communication in various shamanic traditions.

"Secret Language" and Unity with Nature

As several researchers pointed out (e.g., Eliade, 1972), in the course of his initiation the future shaman has to learn the secret language that he will use during his seances (flights) to communicate with ancestor spirits and animal spirits. He learns this secret language either from a teacher or directly from the spirits. At times, such a language is given to the shaman during his initiation. Each shaman also has his particular song, which he intones to invoke the spirits. The existence of a specific secret and sacred language has been verified among the Lapps, the Ostyak, the Chukchee, the Yakut, and the Tungus in Siberia. During his trance the Tungus shaman is believed to understand the language of all nature. (Eliade, 1972:96).

Often this secret language is actually the "animal language" or originates in animal cries. During shamanic seances among the Yakut, the Yukagir, the Chukchee, and others, wild animal cries and bird calls are heard (Eliade, 1972:97). Unity with the elements of nature and nature spirits is also the key aspect in Slavic mythology and world view.

The World Populated by Spirits: Elements of Slavic Mythology

The exact origin of the Slavs is not known, but by about 800 BC Slavic tribes were scattered in a region east of the Carpathian Mountains and west of the Don River (Gimbutas, 1987:353). Around the 6th century AD, the Slavs began separating into three groups, the West, South, and East Slavs. The ancestors of today's Russians, Belorussians, and Ukrainians, the East Slavs lived in the area bounded by Lake Ladoga, the upper Volga and Don, and the Dnieper. When Christianity was introduced into Russia in 988, the rural population continued to worship the thunder god Perun and all manifestations of nature, producing dvoyeveriye, a "double faith," in which traditional (I intentionally avoid "Pagan") deities and festivals merged with Christian figures and holidays (Gimbutas, 1987:354; Hubbs, 1988:91-93).

Few written sources remained from these distant times, except for myths, legends, and folk tales which were conveyed orally from one generation to the next. According to one of Slavic creation legends, once upon a time, there was no light, and pitch darkness permeated the world. In this total darkness, there was an immense ocean, and there was Rod, or Bog,3 our ancestor, the Source of the Universe, Father of Gods. Rod was confined in an egg, it was a seed to be sprouted. When the time was right, Rod appeared from the egg and created Lada, Goddess of Love. Together with Love, Light immediately came into being. Then the three worlds, or kingdoms, Nav', Yav', and Prav', were created. Nav' represented the Kingdom of Darkness where the God of Death, Veles, and Baba Yaga, his faithful servant, had their hearth, and where the souls of the dead dwelled; Yav' was the name for our world, Mother Moist Earth, with its plants, animals, and people; and Prav' was the Kingdom of Light, the Skies, or Heaven, where higher Gods abide. The Sun God Yarilo, who was one of the Higher Gods, and his four incarnations--the Spring God Khors, the Summer God Dazhbog, the Autumn God Stribog, and the Winter God Simargl--regularly visited Mat' Syra Zemlya (Mother Moist Earth), for Gods and spirits possess the power to travel freely between the Worlds.4

Simargl, often depicted as a winged dog, occupies a particular place in Slavic mythology: he is an intermediary between the Skies and the Earth, the Sky Messenger dispersing the seeds of abundance. Sometimes he is also portrayed as a seven-headed warrior who guards the entrance to the Upper World. Mother Moist Earth (the Middle World) is guarded and protected by the Earth Goddess Makosh and at times is visited by mighty Perun, the God of Thunder and Lightning. Veles, the God of Death and the underworld, is also believed to be related to music and poetry and at the same time reputed to be a god of cattle, wealth and commerce (Gimbutas, 1987:357; Shuklin, 1995:47-48).

In the Slavic past, Earth, Air, Fire, and Water were all worshipped in various ways. The winds were called the "grandsons of Stribog" and often greatly feared. Earth was considered so holy that solemn oaths were sometimes taken while holding a clod of soil. The custom of visiting holy springs or wells whose waters supposedly have healing powers is still preserved in some villages. Visitors bath their eyes in the water and cast a coin in as payment, or tie ribbons and pieces of clothing associated with their illness in the branches of trees overhanging the water.

Over all elemental deities reigned Svarog, god of the sky. He had two sons, Dazhbog, the sun god and Svarozhich, the god of fire. Svarozhich lived in the oast-houses where a fire was set in a deep pit and sheaves of corn laid on a grating over it to be dried before threshing. Offerings were brought there to the fire god, and even in the last century it was still customary to cast a sheaf into the fire "for luck." Long after Svarozhich had been forgotten, beliefs in the power and holiness of fire remained and no Russian would spit on the fire or speak disrespectfully of it. It was even believed that fire could cure certain illnesses. "Dear father, Tsar-Fire," runs a nineteenth century spell, "be gentle and kind to me, burn away all my aches and pains, fears and worries." During serious outbreaks of cattle disease bonfires were lit with "living fire," a flame obtained secretly by revolving a wooden peg very fast in the round holes of a special block of wood, and the cattle were chased through the flames in the hope that they would be cured. Some healing rituals also evoked the power of lightning.

Modern Wizard: Some Practices of a Lightning Healer

There is a wide-spread belief in many Russian villages that an individual can heal another through the use of zagovory (magical incantations, spells, charms, or prayers), ritual actions, and/or by combination of thought and will alone (Shapiro, 1992:109; Yeleonskaya, 1994:123-125). Similarly, it is often believed to this day that a person (koldun or ved'ma--sorcerer or witch) can cause harm, including epidemics, cattle plagues, and poor harvests, as well as numerous individual illnesses, through magical practices called "porcha" (spoiling), or by his/her glance alone ("evil eye") (e.g., Maksimov, 1989:71-72, 79-82).

Magical healing and sorcery represent two lines going back to the ancient volkhvy (men and women of wisdom), whose function was both to cure others and to make contact with the spirit world for purposes of insuring a good harvest and predicting the future (Ivanits, 1989:122). Some of these world views and practices are still preserved in Russian villages, and the traditions are usually conveyed from mother to daughter, from grandmother to grand-daughter, and in some cases from an older sister to a younger one (Yeleonskaya, 1994:103). It should be noted that, while the matrilineal transmission of sacred knowledge and healing powers has been encountered more often, the patrilineal link is also not excluded.5

When visiting several villages in the Oryol province this summer, I was introduced to an old znakharka (a village healer or medicine woman, if I may use this term to honor her). The word originates from znat' = to know, and thus means a woman of knowledge, although it was often given a negative connotation during Soviet times. Therefore, the word babushka (grandmother) is preferred instead by the villagers.

Yelizaveta Yefimovna or Baba (Babushka) Liza, as she is called by the villagers, is a stout, energetic 76-year-old woman who looks younger than her age and has quietly continued to practice her art through the turmoil of the Soviet times and the current turbulent time of transition. She is happy to talk, somewhat nostalgically, about the past shrouded in mystery and the no less mysterious present. Sitting at the dinner table in a semi-dark room in her old wooden house, she spun the narrative of fascinating old legends. My friend Natasha and I were sitting in front of her, and I felt that the presence of the past filled that room as palpably as the heady aroma of dried herbs that pervaded the house.

"Not many mortals are endowed with this mighty gift of walking the rainbow6 up to the Skies, or traveling down, to the ancestor world, but my grandmother possessed that power. She was born in Belorussia and, in her teens, was caught by a terrifying thunder-storm in the woods. She was nearly hit by lightning and was frightened out of her wits, but Perun, the god of thunder and lightning, rewarded her with the power to travel to the Skies and to heal in his name."

"My grandmother was also able to summon spirits in the time of need, and they never failed to come to her aid. They gave her power and wisdom, helped her to vorozhit' (predict the person's fate) and to heal. She was friends with rusalki (water spirits) dwelling in lakes and rivers, beregini-zashchitnitsy (spirit protectors) living close to water,7 and lesoviki (forest spirits) who inhabit the woods. They sometimes come to me as well when I call them with juniper smoke. But the real power my grandmother gave me is from thunder and lightning. My two daughters, Maria and Vera, also possess that power and continue learning the medicine ways from me but my son is not interested."8

Yelizaveta Yefimovna is not the first village healer I encountered in my travels throughout the Russian countryside, but I found her stories and rituals the most fascinating. She invited me to spend several days in her house and allowed me to sit in when she received clients. Unexpected to me, she vehemently objected to my tape recorder and camera, not allowing me to take a single picture of her. Picture taking, she believed, may allow evil spirits to capture the soul. I was surprised to find such an attitude in our enlightened times but had to respect it. Babushka Liza's features softened, though, and sometimes a shadow of smile appeared on her face when she looked at me as I was sitting in a corner of the small room with my ever-present notebook and pen. Notebook in hand, I often forgot to take notes, because Babushka Liza fascinated me not so much with the rituals she performed but by the almost tangible aura of presence and confidence emanating from her while she worked with her clients.

I was fortunate enough to see some of these healing practices firsthand. In the morning after that intriguing night when we had listened to Babushka Liza's stories, a young woman with an infant entered her house. Nadya (the mother) explained that the boy was crying a lot and asked Babushka to see whether something was wrong with him. Later I learned that Nadya had taken her seven-months' old boy to the doctor first, and the doctor apparently did not find anything wrong with the child, but the mother was not satisfied with the outcome of her visit to the doctor's office. Babushka Liza asked Nadya to lay the boy down on a couch covered by a clean sheet and to sit on a nearby chair. The medicine woman lit a wax candle and placed it on the table. With semi-closed eyes and an expression of intense concentration on her face, she stood near the boy for what seemed to be a long time, without touching him or saying anything. I felt as if an invisible connection, a "bridge" or "thread" between the old woman and the young boy was being created.

Then Babushka Liza took a twig in her hands, bent towards the boy, and started moving the twig slowly, in a circular motion, in the air above the child's stomach. In a quick, almost inaudible whisper, with a regular, measured hypnotizing rhythm, she pronounced what sounded like an ancient zagovor. From our previous discussion, I knew that the twig was from a tree which had been hit by lightning. Such twigs were broken off from the tree with a special charm/prayer, as Babushka Liza was taught by her grand-mother. Like the Buryat and Native American "lightning shamans" (Kalweit, 1992:46-51), she draws on the power of lightning in her healing work.

During the whole procedure, the boy was quiet and looked to be soundly asleep. Then Babushka Liza poured off some water from a large jar into a smaller bottle, then sat down and recited another charm or prayer, with the same look of intense concentration. She offered it to Nadya, saying that the water was from a sacred spring and that both she and the boy should drink it, several sips two or three times a day. Then the medicine woman spoke with Nadya for almost an hour about many aspects and details of the family life (largely unknown to me as an outsider), e.g., Nadya's husband, her parents, her brother, and their neighbors. They did not object to me sitting in but did not include me in the conversation, except for several brief questions/answers at the end. I could see that Nadya clearly respected the older woman healer, and there certainly was an implicit shared world view and trust between the two.9 It would be clear to any impartial observer of this scene that if the doctor would spend more time simply talking with the young mother she probably would not be seeking alternative help. Here the healer seems to combine the roles of a therapist, mentor, and priestess, restoring harmony not only in mother/child, mother/ family, mother/villagers, and mother/healer relationships, but also in the whole village, similarly to ancient mothers who "protected the entire community against diseases" (Hubbs, 1988:60).

Babushka Liza also explained that she often uses oberegi, i.e., certain charms and/or amulets or talismans for protection. Even now, before a wedding celebration, table cloths are sometimes put on the tables inside out to ward off the "evil eye" or sorcery. Babushka Liza remembered that in the past, poppy seeds were used as oberegi from witchcraft, because it was believed that it is hard for the "dark forces" to count the seeds; so, when "they" are busy counting, the villagers can attend to their everyday activities without interference from "them." (It was customary not to call "dark," "black," or "evil" forces by name, for the words might attract "them"; thus, "they" and "them" were used instead.) "Orlov kamen" (an eagle's stone, i.e., a dark-red or gray stone found in an eagle's nest) was also used for protection, especially during childbirth. For this purpose, the stone was tied to the left wrist or left ankle of the woman. The best oberegi, however, were embroideries with intricate abstract patterns, believed to protect everyone around them and to have a healing effect as well.

While the Russian Orthodox Church classifies all nature powers and spirits as "unclean" (not necessarily evil but not Christian and therefore forbidden), the village medicine men and women make a clear distinction between helping/healing (white) and harming (black) magic, the major difference apparently being the conscious intent of the practitioner.

To summarize my observations of the healing practices of Babushka Liza and several other village healers,10 in addition to plant medicines, zagovory (charms, verbal formulas) still appear to be used often by folk healers in the European part of Russia. The charms are viewed as being effective not by themselves but in conjunction with a ritual which usually involves a vivid visualization of the words repeated in the verbal formula. In other words, if a znakhar' says in the healing formula that a symptom of illness has disappeared, he/she is taught to see it happening in his/her inner vision.

The healing power of zagovory is believed to be amplified by elements of nature, in particular, by water, fire, and stone. Thus, the rituals are frequently performed in the presence of a candle, a vessel with water, a power stone (sometimes found at a spot indicated in a dream) or crystal. The power of crystals, especially of quartz and carnelian, to provide protection and to facilitate healing is also often acknowledged. Malachite is believed to possess strong "positive power" that can neutralize external negative effects (including those of purported witchcraft and sorcery) while black tourmaline is claimed to be able to deflect and dissipate undesirable influences in a somewhat different but no less effective way.

Is Reality Changeable?
Slavic Views of Divination and Prophecy

In old Russia, before Prince Vladimir converted the Russians to Christianity at the end of the first millennium and for many years afterwards, there were volkhvy (wizard-priests) who new the secrets of the ancient ways. They were believed to have the gift of prophecy and were consulted by all levels of society. Princes asked about the most propitious time to begin a military campaign, merchants sought advice about business deals, and everyone was curious to learn about and everyone was curious to learn about the time and manner of his death.

According to the Russian Chronicles, which later became the basis for a famous poem by Alexander Pushkin, Prince Oleg of Kiev, who died in 912, once asked a wizard if he could tell him how he would die.

Learning that his favorite horse would be the cause of his death Prince Oleg had the animal banished. He ordered his grooms to feed and care for it but never to bring it into his presence again. Some years later Oleg suddenly remembered about the horse and wondered what had become of it. When he heard that it was dead he was greatly relieved and went to see the skeleton where it lay, picked clean by birds of prey, out in the open steppe. Triumphantly placing one foot on the skull, Oleg mocked the dead creature that was to have brought about his death. As he did so, a poisonous snake slithered out from the skull and bit his foot. Oleg sickened and died of the wound and the prophecy was fulfilled.

Some divination rituals are still practiced in Russia, and I was fortunate to observe one of the techniques in my interaction with Babushka Liza. She asked her client (a girl in her late teens or early twenties named Valya) to gaze at a candle flame and at the same time to roll a small ball of thread (a clew the size of a thimble) over a blue table plate, while the healer went on whispering barely audible words in a regular, measured manner. Then she asked Valya to close her eyes, to continue rolling the ball of thread and to see whether the boy's image would appear in her mind's eye. When Valya whispered "yes," Babushka Liza asked (sounding like an experienced therapist) if the image was moving and whether the movement was toward her or in the opposite direction. As I learned later, when the client rolled the clew toward herself, the inner picture was supposed to indicate a scene from the past; if it were rolled forward (away from the client) these were pictures of the future. Babushka Liza mentioned another interesting point: by changing these pictures in her mind's eye, the client could change the events of her life. There were some indications which situations or events could be changed and which were immutable but I did not understand the intricacies of how the healer/diviner could make this distinction. Surprisingly, changing past events was supposed to alter the person's present. It was fascinating to watch Babushka Liza's enchanting and powerful presence as if she truly was in touch with the forces which create a person's fate and alter its course.

This reminded me of a divination technique related to me by another healer, Mikhail Miller, in Moscow several weeks earlier. Mikhail spent some time studying with village "sorceress" Mariya Vladimirovna, and she explained to him how she could "clear the road." When she had to ride a bus on narrow icy roads, she closed her eyes and saw the road in her mental vision. If the road was clear and free of obstacles, it was safe to continue; no trouble was lurking. If the road was covered with black/dark fog or an obstacle in the way was in sight, she had to "clean" (or clear) it in her mental picture--and was convinced that this ritual action opened up for her a safe passage without troubles or accidents.11

Conclusions:
Interconnectedness and Global Unity

Traditional Slavic spirituality implies the sense of "relatedness" (Hoeller, 1994:15), interaction, interconnectedness, and global unity. Similarly, shamanic practices among many non-Russian ethnic groups are based on inherent connection in the world, between the worlds, and with the Earth itself, as is expressed in an ancient grace still repeated in the region of Tuva in Siberia:

In Slavic rituals and folk healing practices, gifts of the Mineral Kingdom--crystals and stones in general--are viewed not as inanimate objects but rather as living creatures which are an inherent part of living nature. The world of stones, of plants and of animals is believed to represent those intermediary links through which we are attuned to our planet and the Universe. We will discuss this issue in more detail in the next paper of this series.

Acknowledgments

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Dr. Ruth-Inge Heinze, Dr. Marilyn Schlitz, and Dr. Edwin C. May for their continuing support and caring. I am thankful to all my friends and colleagues in Russia, old and new, for their open sharing, generosity, and kindness. And last (but not least) my thanks go to Charlotte Berney, a volunteer editor, colleague, and dear friend.

Notes

1. Some Russian archeologists and folklore researchers (e.g., Rybakov, 1994:59-71; Larichev, 1972, quoted in Kritov, 1995:223) discuss connections between some ancient Slavic beliefs and practices and shamanic traditions of non-Slavic peoples in the Urals and Western Siberia, along the Ob and Yenisei rivers. These detailed scholarly discussions, although clearly outside the scope of my paper, suggest a possible continuity between the traditions.

2. This study, conducted primarily during my May/July 1995 trip to Russia, was funded, in part, by the Institute of Noetic Sciences, Sausalito, California. A version of this paper was presented at the 12th International Conference on the Study of Shamanism and Alternate Modes of Healing, San Rafael, CA, September 2, 1995.

3. The word rod means kinship, extended family, and is the root of such words as priroda (nature), rodina (motherland), urozhay (harvest), rozhat' (to give birth) and roditeli (parents). Bog is Russian for God.

4. Personal communication from Yelizaveta Yefimovna, the Oryol Province, July 1995. See also Dvornik, 1959:48-50; Famintsyn, 1955:145-157; 205-291; Gimbutas, 1971:162-168, 1987:355-357; Rybakov, 1989:413; 1994:530-531, 547; and Shuklin, 1995:39-47.

6. The motif of the Tree of Life or World Tree as a means to travel between the worlds is more wide-spread in Slavic mythology than the rainbow (e.g., Hubbs, 1988:10; Platov, 1995:16-23).

7. The word beregini can be derived from bereg = bank or shore, and also from berech' = to take care, to spare, or to protect. Note the same root in the word oberegi = protection talismans.

8. Personal communication from Yelizaveta Yefimovna, the Oryol Province, July 1995.

9. An analysis of Yelizaveta Yefimovna's healing work shows that, without being aware of it, she incorporates the four fundamental principles of healing identified by Torrey (1973) and emphasized by Villoldo and Krippner (1987:192), i.e., (1) a shared worldview between the healer and her client; (2) positive personal qualities of the healer that facilitate the client's recovery; (3) client expectations of recovery that assist the healing process; and (4) specific techniques, materials, and healing procedures that are conducive to recovery.

10. Personal communications from Nadezhda Babayeva, Moscow, July 1995; Maya Bykova, Moscow, Nov. 1994; Alexander Char, Moscow, June 1995; Dunya Kovshova, Oryol Province, July 1995; Mariya Krasno-noska, Oryol Province, July 1995; Valentina Parkulab, Yekaterin-burg, May 1995; Nataliya Sugrobova, Moscow, Oct. 1994, July 1995; Nataliya Sukhodolova, Oryol Province/Moscow, July 1995; Yelizaveta Yefimovna, Oryol Province, July 1995.

Bowers, Faubion. The New Scriabin: Enigma and Answers. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1973.

Dvornik, Francis. The Slaves: Their Early History and Civiliza-tion (Vol. II). Boston: American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1959. (First published, 1956).

Eliade, Mircea. Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1972.

Famintsyn, A. S. Bozhestva Drevnikh Slavyan [Deities of the Ancient Slavs]. St. Petersburg: Aleteiya, 1995 (in Russian).

Gimbutas, Marija. "Learning the language of the Goddess," Voices from the Edge, eds. David Jay Brown and Rebecca McClen Novick, Freedom, CA: The Crossing Press, 1995, pp. 7-24.

Gimbutas, Marija. "Slavic religion," The Encyclopedia of Religion, vol. 13, ed. Mircea Eliade, New York: Macmillan, 1987, pp. 353-361.

Hubbs, Joanna. Mother Russia: The Feminine Myth in Russian Culture. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 1988.

Kalweit, Holger. Shamans, Healers, and Medicine Men. Boston, MA: Shambhala, 1992.

Kritov, Alexander. "Ancient hystory and mythology of the Indo-Europeans," Mify i Magiya Indoyevropeitsev [Myths and Magic of the Indo-Europeans], ed. A. Platov. Moscow: Menedzher, 1995, pp. 212-228 (in Russian).

Larichev, V. Ye. Paleolit Severnoy, Tsentral'noy i Vostochnoy Azii [The Paleolithic Period in the North, Central, and East Asia]. Moscow: Nauka, 1972 (in Russian).

Machlis, J. Introduction to Contemporary Music. London: J.M. Dent and Son Ltd., 1963.

Maksimov, S. V. Nechistaya, Nevedomaya i Krestnaya sila ["Unclean," Unknown, and Christian Powers]. Moscow: Kniga, 1989 (in Russian).

Mandelstam, Osip. Collected Works. Struve, G. P., & Filipoff, B. A. (Eds.)., Washington, D.C.: Inter-Language Literary Associates, 1967.

May, Edwin C., and Vilenskaya, Larissa. "Some aspects of para-psychological research in the former Soviet Union," Subtle Energies, 3(1994):45-67.

Niedre, I. Latyshskiye Narodnye Skazki [Latvian Folk Tales]. Moscow: Detskaya Literatura, 1958 (in Russian).

Platov, Anton. "The Indo-European myth about the structure of the world," Mify i Magiya Indoyevropeitsev [Myths and Magic of the Indo-Europeans], ed. A. Platov. Moscow: Menedzher, 1995, pp. 8-41 (in Russian).

Pushkin, Alexander. The Song of the Wise Oleg. Transl. by A. L. Pogosky. Leningrad: Aurora, 1991. (Original work published in 1825.)

Rybakov, Boris A. Yazychestvo Drevnikh Slavyan [Paganizm of the Ancient Slavs]. Moscow: Nauka, 1994 (in Russian).

Rybakov, Boris A. Yazychestvo Drevney Rusi [Paganism of Ancient Russia]. Moscow: Nauka, 1989 (in Russian).

Shapiro, Boris M. Sovremennaya i Drevnyaya Tselitel'naya Magiya v Rossii [Modern and Ancient Healing Magic in Russia]. Moscow: MKS Plyus, 1992 (in Russian).

Shuklin, Vladimir. Mify Russkogo Naroda [Myths of the Russian People]. Yekaterinburg: Bank kulturnoy informatsii, 1995 (in Russian).

Torrey, E. Fuller. The Mind Game: Witch Doctors and Psychiatrists. New York: Bantam, 1973.

Vilenskaya, Larissa. "Physical mediumship in Russia," Incredible Tales of the Paranormal, ed. A. Imich. Bearsville, NY: The Bramble Company, 1995, pp. 159-187.

Vilenskaya, L. "When science and spirit intersect: Parapsycho-logical research in the former Soviet Union," Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on the Study of Shamanism and Alternate Modes of Healing, ed. R. I. Heinze. Berkeley: Independent Scholars of Asia, 1993, pp. 158-172.

Vilenskaya, Larissa. "The Sacred Fire: Healing among Cherokee Indians--a personal perspective," Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on the Study of Shamanism and Alternate Modes of Healing, ed. R. I. Heinze. Berkeley: Independent Scholars of Asia, 1992, pp. 133-143.

Vilenskaya, Larissa, and Edwin C. May. "Anomalous mental phenomena research in Russia and the former Soviet Union: A follow up," Subtle Energies, 4(1995):231-250.

Villoldo, Alberto and Stanley Krippner. Healing States. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1987. (First published, 1986).

Yeleonskaya, Yelena N. Skazka, Zagovor i Koldovstvo v Rossii [Folk Tales, Charms, and Sorcery in Russia]. Moscow: Indrik, 1994 (in Russian).

The Slavic world is an endlesly fascinating, troubling, dramatic, and dynamic one. Slavic mythology has a strong focus on the sun, warmth, light, birds, fire (and firebirds), epic victories, and brightly painted cosmic bird-eggs. The opposing polarity, the dark, the dead, the cold, the gloomy forests, snakes, drowned spirits (usually female or children), and ruthless hags are feared, even demonized (especially under the influence of Christianity), yet many fairy tales indicate that if this darker world is treated with cautious respect, one will fare well. . . .

Doll Folktales of the East Slavs:
Invocation of Women from the Boundary of Space and Time

Ph.D. Dissertation
Philippa Rappoport
University of Virginia, 1997

Doll folktales were published in collections from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Poland, from the 1830s through at least the 1970s. This dissertation interprets the tales and their origins and places them within a cultural context using data from life-cycle and agrarian ritual, as well as related artifacts, such as traditional icons, ritual embroideries and nesting dolls.

The Slavic tales here under consideration feature dolls which aid, comfort, and advise the heroine. In most of the tales, the dolls open up the earth to enable the heroine to sink through to the underworld and escape an impending incestuous marriage to her father or brother. These tales are analyzed as stories of initiation. The heroine grows up through the course of the tale, performing various initiatory tasks, acquiring adult attributes, and subsequently marrying. The heroine's magic doll is an East Slavic variant of the fairy godmother. She is a talismanic incarnation of the heroine's dead mother, who provides life, nourishment, care and advice from the next world. The doll also embodies the "fairy" or sacred aspects of ancient Slavic earth goddess-spirits by acting as a guide in the crossing between the perceived worlds of the living and the dead.

An investigation of the heroine's descent leads to the hypothesis that the doll tales are related to narratives from agrarian rituals held between the winter and summer solstices. In these rituals, the burying of a vital female leads to her symbolic rebirth in spring, as evidenced in crop growth, marriage, and human fertility. On another level, the tales articulate the history of the Christianization of the East Slavs during the second millennium. The descent of the heroine into the earth depicts the submersion and subversion of pagan traditions under the influence of the newer religion. With the introduction of Orthodox Christianity in the tenth century, the use of dolls as votive objects literally went underground in the East Slavic lands, while the image of the female helper transformed and came to be represented instead from within the gilded frames of Christian icons.

If It Dries Out, It's No Good: Women, Hair and Rusalki Beliefs

Philippa Rappoport, University of Virginia

SEEFA Journal, vol.4, no.1 Spring 1999 pp. 55-64

There is something instinctual about communicating social behavior and intentions through hair. I have spent summers in Russia with my hair pulled back demurely, trying to remain inconspicuous, the observer rather than the observed. I noticed how, almost uniformly, little girls wear hair ribbons which are bigger than their heads; how mod young women in mini skirts wear their hair loose; how relatively reserved women pull their hair back; how the older ones keep their heads covered in kerchiefs. In his article "Magical Hair" (1957), Edmund Leach discusses hair as a prominent feature of rites of passage across cultures. He writes:

From [an] anthropological point of view, [rites of passage] reflect the progression of the individual through set stages in the social system; these stages correspond to different degrees of maturity, different types of permitted sexual behavior, different allocations of social power...Even the most skeptical anthropologist must admit that head hair is rather frequently employed as a public symbol with an explicitly sexual significance ...Marked changes in hairdressing very commonly accompany the changes in sexual status that occur at puberty and marriage, but the pattern of change varies.(1)

In Russia today, age and sexuality are expressed through hair, but the type of expression has changed, reflecting changes in society and worldview.(2) This paper examines earlier manifestations of East Slavic beliefs about hair and sexuality as expressed in the traditional wedding ritual complex and in customs related to the rusalka. In the wedding ritual, the bride is "sold" to her new husband and his family, and must leave her home and village. As part of the ritual, she "sells" her braid to her new husband, and is valued for the thickness of her braid. I will argue that this act is symbolic of a woman's giving over her sexual potency and autonomy to her husband and to her new marriage. In addition to discussing the role of hair in ritual, I will suggest an interpretation of the wedding as a sort of a blueprint of the history of the wedding ritual itself. The ritual itself, in my opinion, reflects a transition in the role of women in a society increasingly influenced by the Orthodox Church.

As with all folklore, beliefs are articulated in a variety of ways. Traditionally, young girls and women were distinguished from each other by dress; they were also distinguished by hair and headgear. Customs and rituals involving hair portray a system of social position. A young girl wore her hair either loose or in one braid on the back of her head. The single braid may have been adorned with ribbons, flowers, beads, or feathers. A girl's headdress did not completely cover her hair, and was open on top. Married women, on the other hand, wore their hair in two braids which were hidden in a headdress. Their headdress was covered with a white or red kerchief, decorated with embroideries of birds and animals. In her article "The Woman in the Ancient Russian Family (Tenth to Fifteenth Centuries)," Natal'ia Pushkareva describes eleventh and twelfth century practices which permitted married women to show their hair only to their husbands, or which prohibited people from removing a woman's headdress, on penalty of a large fine, because such an act was considered an affront to a woman's honor. By the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, married women were supposed to keep their hair covered because uncovered hair was believed to bring unhappiness.(3)

In his book about the folk costume of Moravian Slovakia, Petr Bogatyrev discusses women's headgear. He maintains that the maiden-costume of some Moravian-Slovak communities functioned not only to show the age and status of a woman, but her sexual morality as well. He states that when an unmarried girl lost her virginity, she was required to wear the married woman's headdress, and in some cases, she suffered the disgrace of having her hair cut off.(4) The link between sexual conduct and hair is also evident in East Slavic customs. As recently as 1998, Natalie Kononenko interviewed a Ukrainian woman who stated that if a woman is not a virgin, she must wear a married woman's headdress.(5)

Pushkareva maintains that the wedding rituals of the tenth through fifteenth centuries show the diminishing domestic and social status of women with the increasing influence of the Church. This diminishing status is articulated in many ways, one of them being rituals related to hair and head apparel. During the wedding ritual complex, hair is treated in two ways. It is controlled, through covering, braiding and concealing. It is also "sold" to the new husband. All of these acts represent a type of submission.

According to some of the major works on the wedding ritual, by folklorists and musicologists such as D.M. Balashov, Iu.I. Marchenko, N.I. Kalmykova, G.S. Maslova, N.V. Zorin, and M. Zabylin, the wedding ritual complex begins with the securing of a match. Once the engagement is agreed upon, the first act done to the bride is the zaporuki, or covering. Other names for this act include zaporuchivat' (to cover lightly), zakryvat' (to cover in the sense of closing or locking) and zaveshivat' nevestu (to cover in the sense of curtaining off the bride). During the zaporuki, the groom, the matchmaker and the father of the bride pray together, light candles before the icon, hold hands and drink tea and wine to seal the agreement. The bride is covered with a kerchief by her father, and she begins to lament.(6) In some areas, the kerchief covers only the bride's head; in other areas, it covers her entire body.(7) This act signals the beginning of the wedding period for the bride, and from this moment on, she ceases to be a functioning member of the household. She is relieved of all her household duties, and instead spends her time preparing her dowry. Although customs vary by region, this usually sets off a period in which the bride stays only with her girlfriends, save for an occasional visit by the groom.(8) Thus the covering or concealing of the bride's hair is a symbolic separation of her from her family.

In terms of hair, the next important time of the wedding complex is the final week, or weeks, before the wedding. The bride's hair is repeatedly washed and combed, sometimes greased with honey and butter, and braided (often with kopecks) by her girlfriends or brothers.(9) Again, there is a lot of regional variation. Balashov writes of "the appearance of the bride before the table." He describes this event as the most solemn moment of the ceremony because it is the first time that the bride is shown publicly to the groom. During this encounter, the bride laments the loss of her krasota (beauty), and volia (will), which Balashov describes as symbols of virginity. Often the bride asks for some light, saying she wants her beauty back. In response, someone turns down the head covering, and the bride leaves. She may also throw away her will (volia) in the form of flowers, and then ask for them back, only to despair that it is no longer her fate to wear them.(10) The terms used for items that cover the hair show a direct connection to free will, beauty and sexual potency, as does the attempt to control the potent hair not only by covering it, but also by washing and combing.

One of the more chilling aspects of the braiding is as a means of protection. Ethnographers I.M. Kolesnitskaia and L.M. Telgina note a sequence in the ritual complex in which the bride requests that her friends unbraid and replait her hair, weaving the ribbons in tightly, so that her new mother-in-law will never be able to undo the braid. This motif appears often in wedding laments from northern Russia, with the image of metal knives or locks, which the friends must plait into the hair, to lock the braid. This imagery suggest that the braid is directly symbolic of the girl's sexual organs, which she requests to be locked up, to protect her from the groom and his family. (11)

The bride's hair is also washed and rebraided during the devishnik, or bachelorette party, which occurs on the night before the wedding, and it may be braided on the morning of the wedding itself. This grooming often occurs while the bride is washing herself in the bathhouse (for the first time since the engagement), and is accompanied by more lamenting over the loss of her beauty. According to one description, the bride tells her girlfriends that she has hidden her beauty in inaccessible places such as the stove under the threshold, but that if they can find it, they can have it. She then gives them her hair ribbons. There is a sense in these rituals that the bride is bequeathing her premarital will to her girlfriends through her hair ribbons, and also through her bath water. The girlfriends drink the water in which the bride has bathed, perhaps as a magical act, so that they, too, will marry.(12)

The next part of the ceremony is extremely interesting for the way in which hair used to articulate power and danger. The whole wedding party goes to the church. This segment is considered to be a dangerous time, because the bride is believed to be the most susceptible to sorcery -- or perhaps it is those around her who are susceptible. Significantly, her hair is loose, and she is covered with the pokryvalo, a cloth which covers the bride's head and sometimes her whole body.(13) According to Balashov, Marchenko and Kalmykova, the groom places this covering on the bride and puts her in the cart to take her to the church. Presumably this is done in the belief that if the bride does not leave of her own power this time, she will be unable to leave on her own in the future.(14)

Again, there are regional variations on this theme. Maslova writes that the bride's covering is removed in church by a member of the groom's family or party, and she is then covered again with a shawl or bridal veil. Maslova emphasizes that uncovering the bride and significantly her hair somewhere other than in the church was dangerous and could invite spoiling or sorcery. Zabylin writes that in Perm, the matchmaker leads the bride and groom to a corner of the church where she places the married woman's headdress on the bride's head and rebraids her hair. When they leave the church and arrive back at the house, the matchmaker leads the newlyweds away from the rest of the guests and rebraids the bride's hair into two braids - the signal that she is now a married woman - and places the proper headdress on her. Then everyone is called to the table for the meal. In some areas of Ukraine, the bride's hair is done in two braids before the groom arrives in the morning.(15) One of the culminating events of the wedding is the okruchivanie (winding up, or wrapping around). Having said a ritual farewell to her braid, the bride now has her hair braided in two and wrapped up under the headdress.(16)

The one time when the hair is not controlled is during the trip to church. Pushkareva notes a distinction between the folk part of the ceremony and the church part, stating that the popular ritual was considered indispensable to the validity of the marriage, while the church ceremony was not essential.(17) It is crucial that, at the juncture between the folk and the church segments of the ceremony, the bride's hair is loose. This ritualized journey to the church, considered to be the most "dangerous" sequence in the entire ceremony, may represent and document a transition in ritual and in history from pre-Christian to Christian influence. The loose hair of the bride at this point may be a remnant of a former, pre-monogamous society and symbolic of the bride's sexual fertility, and of her freedom, which she is about to relinquish upon partaking in the church service. Pushkareva also states that the emphasis on virginity is a Church influence rather than a folk custom.(18) Is it possible that the ceremonial switching of the crowns that is typical of the Orthodox Church wedding represents a reversal of the power structure between a woman and a man? It is probably no coincidence that the bride, who is valued for her reproductive ability, is considered to be sold to her husband under the symbolism of selling her braid. Maslova notes a belief that the symbolic sale of the braid to the new husband is an indication that he is the master and the bride is his slave.(19) This symbolism is only barely hidden in the wedding ritual complex. Is this why the bride laments?

In contrast to the bride, there is a female folk figure in traditional East Slavic lore whose hair is permanently loose and uncontrolled; she is the rusalka. The rusalka of traditional beliefs is a powerful and enticing figure. She is described as a pale, lithe, often beautiful female spirit who lives in the water, forests and fields. She sits with other water spirits on the shore, yelling and laughing, or dancing and singing in the moonlight of clear, summer nights. She is known to swing on tree branches, waiting to entice an unsuspecting male passer-by, whom she often attacks and (perhaps inadvertently) tickles to death. The rusalka's characteristic physical attributes are her long, light-brown, blond, or green, loose hair, her blazing eyes, and her magnificent breasts. She is noted for her beautiful voice and melodious laugh. On the rare occasions when the rusalka is dressed, she wears white. In addition, some sources report that if the rusalka, and especially her hair, ever dries out, she will perish.(20)

The rusalka was believed by many nineteenth century peasants to be the soul of an unbaptized or stillborn baby, or the wandering soul of a young, unmarried but often betrothed woman who had died an untimely death, or who had become pregnant out of wedlock and drowned or hanged herself. In this way, she may be seen as a symbol of potent yet not-quite-tapped fertility, and as such is celebrated and feared during the spring festival, Rusal'naia nedelia (mermaid week), during which people played music, danced and sang to celebrate new vegetation. It was during this week that the rusalka was believed to leave her watery home to wander in the forests and fields, and bring moisture to the crops. Peasants decorated their homes with fresh green birch branches (the rusalka's tree), and young girls often went to the woods and decorated actual trees with cloth, thread and garlands, and then danced the khorovod (circle dance) and swore vows of friendship and sisterhood. But the water creature was also feared at this time. To appease her, peasant women left offerings in the woods of scarves and linen. Others attempted to minimize the rusalka's harm by using the sign of the cross, magic circles, garlic, wormwood, incense, pokers and charms.(21)

At the end of Rusal'naia nedelia, village girls escorted an effigy of the rusalka out of the village and back towards her forest or water home. In some areas they burned or tore up and distributed pieces of the dummy in the grain field. In other areas, they pretended to be priests and blessed the dummy. In still other areas, they combed her hair, bid farewell to her at the local body of water, fastened stones to her coffin, threw her into the water, and danced the circle dance. Interpretations of these rituals acknowledge both the frightening aspects of the rusalka in the need to banish her, as well as her moist, life-giving attributes and the attempt to renew the cycle of fertility and vegetation.(22)

The rusalka is considered by some to be a remnant of goddess worship. In some Ukrainian sources, she is called bohynia (goddess).(23) Accordingly, she is a powerful, yet playful, female figure who can be tamed by a cross, baptism and marriage. At this point, she makes a lovely wife. Otherwise, apparently out of loneliness, she tries to bring men to her home to live, which for a human man, implies drowning.(24) The rusalka's description shows very handily the inversion which occurs to an important pre-Christian figure with the growing influence of Christianity. What was once sacred becomes profane; what was positive becomes negative. The rusalka is probably a descendant of Mokosh', the goddess of fertility, bounty and moisture, and the protectress of wome