Title: Slavic Mythology
1Slavic Mythology
The Raróg 'raruk in Slavic mythology is a hawk,
falcon.
- Presented by
- Katerina Dimitrova
2Early history
- What is myth? Myth is derived from the Greek word
µ???? mythos, which simply means 'story'. A story
that holds religious or spiritual significance
for people in a particular community. It
contributes to express systems of thoughts and
values for people by implying neither the truth
nor the fairness of the narrative. - It is believed that the slavic mythology was
created due to their polythiestic religion
practice prior to Christianisation. Despite some
controversial theories, it cannot be proven that
the Slavs had any sort of writing system prior to
Christianisation therefore, all their original
religious beliefs and traditions were likely
passed down orally over generations, and
potentially forgotten over the centuries
following the arrival of Christianity. - For this reason, sparse records of Slavic
religion where mainly written by non-slavic
Christian missionaries who where not very
objective in their descriptions of pagan beliefs.
3Early history
- During the 6th century was written the first
definitive reference to the Slavs and their
mythology by the Byzantine historian Procopius.
He described the beliefs of a certain Slavic
tribe who crossed the Danube river by worshiping
a single God who crafted lightning and thunder.
Although the historian does not mention the name
of deity explicitly, it can be derived this is a
reference to a God called Perun in later historic
sources, since in many Slavic languages today
Perun simply means "thunder" or "lightning bolt".
4Folklore connection
- Between the 7th and 12th century various Slavic
populations where Christianised. In that period
the Christianity was introduced as a religion of
the elite, flourishing mostly in cities and
nobility. Amongst the rural majority of the
Slavic population the old myths remained strong. - From the perspectives of the Slavic peasant
Christianity was not seen as the replacemen of
the Slavic mythology, but rather addition to it
because Christianity have offered a hope of
salvation, the old religious system with its
fertility rites, its protective deities, and its
household spirits was taken to be necessary. - Folk songs, stories and festivals long ago lost
their original sacred, mythical character, as
well as their original meaning, and were
downgraded to a level of mere superstition or a
meaningless tradition that was continually
repeated and passed down over generations who,
for the most part, did not know what they were
doing. People entertained a general vague idea
that some festivals must be celebrated in a
certain way, some stories must be told or some
songs must be sung, because that was the way it
has always been done.
5Folklore connection
- Fairy tales where created about various
fantastical characters and creatures such as,
Baba Yaga,, Firebird, Svarog- the God of Heavens,
Dazhbog - God of the sun, Yaro/Yarilo - God of
Spring/fertility, Stribog - God of winds, Seryï
Volk (Grey Wolf) - a shape-shifter.Also
superstitions about various demons and spirits
such as, vilas, vampires, rusalkas etc. Many of
these tales and beliefs may be quite ancient, and
probably contain at least some elements of old
mythical structure. They lack a deeper, sacral
meaning and religious significance, and
furthermore they tend to vary greatly among
various Slavic populations.
6Pictures of Gods
Perun - God of lightning, warriors, and storms -
became identified with St. Elias.It is
represented as the Supreme God of Slavs
Svarog - Chief god of the heavens.
7Pictures of Gods
Lada - Mother of the gods.
Stribog - God of winds
8Calendar and Festivals
The Slavic myths were, repeated every year over a
series of festivities that followed changes of
nature and seasons. Thus, to understand their
mythology, it is important to understand their
concept of calendar. On the basis of
archeological and folklore remains, it is
possible to reconstruct some elements of
pre-Christian calendar, particularly major
feastivals.
- The names for the last night of old year and the
first day of new year are reconstructed as Velja
Noc(Velja Notj)/Velik Dan(Veliku dini) (Great
Night/Great Day). After Christianization, these
names were probably passed onto Easter. In Slavic
countries belonging to Orthodox Churches, Easter
is known as Velik Dan/Great Day, while in
Catholic Slavs, it is known as Velika Noc/Great
Night. The names blend nicely with the
translation of the Great Week, the Christian term
for the week in which Easter falls. - Another holiday similar like Helloween certain
people shamans placed masks in their faces and
created coats of sheep wool, roaming around the
villages during the Great Night because it was
believed that the spirits of the dead travelled
across the land, entering villages and houses to
celebrate the new year with their living
relatives. Consequently, the deity of the last
day of the year was probably Veles, god of
Underworld.
- A large spring festival dedicated to Jarilo which
is the God of vegetation and fertility was
introduced. Processions of young men or girls
used to go round villages on this day, carrying
green branches or flowers as symbols of new life.
They would travel from home to home, reciting
certain songs and bless each household with
traditional fertility rites. The leader of
procession, usually riding on horse, would be
identified with Jarilo. - Another custom was the creation of Pisanki or
decorated eggs just like the one we decorate for
Easter. It was a symbol of new life and later was
passed on Christian Easter.
The spring fertility festival of Maslenitsa,
rooted in pagan times and involving the burning
of a straw effigy is still celebrated by Slavs
all over the world, as seen here in Melbourne,
Australia.
9Further Developments
After the Proto-Slavs the first subsequent
developmnet occurred. That development split the
Slavs into East, West, and South Slavs. Each
branch of the Slavic family devised disparate
deities associated with crafts, agriculture, and
fertility.
- At the level of abstract personification of
divine functions, we have such concepts as
Pravda/Krivda (Right/Wrong), Dobra Kob/Zla Kob
(Good Fortune/Evil Fortune). These concepts,
found in many Slavic fairy tales, are presumed to
have originated at a time when old myths were
already being downgraded to the level of legends
and stories. - The next level of development is a
mythologisation of historical traditions.
Beginning in pagan times, it continued well after
the advent of Christianity. It is characterised
by tales and songs of legendary heroes, ranging
from purely legendary founders of certain tribes.
- On an even lower level, certain mythical
archetypes evolved into fairy-tale characters.
These include Baba Yaga,Vodyanoy, Zmey Gorynych,
and so on. At this point of development, one can
hardly speak of mythology anymore. Rather, these
are legends and stories which contain some
fragments of old myths, the structure and meaning
are not so clear. - The lowest level of development of Slavic
mythology includes various groups of home or
nature spirits and magical creatures, which vary
greatly amongst different Slavic nations.Some of
the beliefs nevertheless have a great antiquity.
As early as the 5th century, Procopius mentioned
that Slavs worshipped river and nature spirits,
and traces of such beliefs can still be
recognised in the tales about vilas, vampires,
and witches.
10Slavic Paganism today
- For the last few decades, Slavic paganism has
gained limited popularity among the Russian
public, with many web sites and organizations
dedicated to the study of Slavic mythology and
some who openly call for "returning to the
roots." - Most of those activities take place in Russia and
Belarus, but they also take place in other Slavic
countries like Bulgaria, Poland, Croatia,
Macedonia and Ukraine.
11Thank you for your attention!
Veles, Volos, Weles, or Voloh is a major Slavic
god of agriculture, animal husbandry and the
dead.