Tag: Slavic

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The Lesser Known Runes of Europe

Most Pagans, Heathens, Witches and those who study Scandinavian history are familiar with the Elder Futhark Runes and other variants of them that evolved during and after the Viking Age. However there are many other types of Runes that can be found throughout Europe and even stretching into Siberia. I have been studying Runes for many years and find some very interesting commonalities between all of these different types of Runes which at some point I will share. But for now I want to share with you all some very interesting Runes you may have never heard of which are the Polskie/slowiańskie runy (Polish Runes), Venedské Písmo (Vendic/Slavic Runes), Székely-Hungarian Rovás (Hungarian Runes) and the Finnish Script (suomalainen kirjaimisto).

Polskie/slowiańskie runy (Polish Runes)

Most people dealing with runes have probably heard of the Scandinavian futhark runes. These are probably the most popular runes, also used in magic and runic tarot. However, they do not illustrate the complete alphabet, there are many sounds missing, not to mention Polish ones, such as “Ą”, “Ę”, “CZ”, “SZ”, “DZ”, etc. Therefore, it is impossible to write with them. in the Polish language. It is true that I found pages about how to write a name in futhark, but it is very shallow and simplified, where one rune should be assigned many different sounds, such as the rune Kenaz is assigned the sound “K”, as well as “C”. Probably because the Kenaz rune looks like the Latin “C”, and this letter is missing in the futhark. However, this is incorrect thinking, as “C” is pronounced completely differently than “K”. “C” is dental and “K” is pharyngeal.

As Winicjusz Kossakowski proves in his study “Polish runes have spoken”, each rune has its origin. Namely, the rune illustrates which speech organs should be used to pronounce a given sound. And so, reading the letter by sound, the word was pronounced. This means that the runes were not a predetermined script. The most important thing was to draw the organs of speech so that another person could read them. Therefore, the set of runes could be different, the signs assigned to the same letter could be rotated, slanted or vertical, as well as completely different from each other, but as long as the main rule was adhered to, it did not cause major problems. SOURCE

Venedské Písmo (Vendic/Slavic Runes)

Before the arrival of Cyril and Methodius, in pre-Christian times, our ancestors, like many other European nations, used the runic script. The old Germans called this script vendic runic. Among the ancient Slavs, runic inscriptions were preserved primarily on idols and objects of religious significance. The most significant archaeological discovery in this area was made on the territory of today’s Germany (where an advanced Old Slavic culture once resided) in the area of the city of Retra. On the found statue of Perún, the prayer “Percun Devve i ne ruse i v neman” is engraved with ancient Slavic runes, which in translation means “By steam, God, heaven to no one”, on the statue of Belboga is engraved “Licjevajam tim Bilbocg” which means “I represent herewith Belboga”, the words “Radegast” and “Rjetra” are on the top of the statue of Radegast, “Podaga” is written on Podaga’s sacrificial plate, and “Cernebog” is written on Chernobog’s sacrificial bowl.

A very interesting hypothesis regarding Slavic runes was elaborated by Antonín Horák in his work “About the Slavs completely different”, where he expressed the assumption that the Old Slavic runic inscriptions carved into the rock on the Velestúr hill are thousands of years old, come from the period of oppression of the Slavic population by Asian nomads and are alleged evidence autochthony of the Slavs in Europe and a clue pointing to their “dove” agricultural way of life (the effort to portray the nobility as descendants of Asian killers and the proletariat as descendants of peaceful Slavs was probably appropriate at the time). The work is certainly interesting in many ways and worth reading, although many of the claims need further investigation. SOURCE

One thing that rarely gets mentioned is that these Runes can and are used for divination magick but the use of these are always over shadowed by the Futhark. If this is something you want to explore further I recommend the following resources.

What does Slavic runes mean and their decoding

Slavic runes: meaning and scope

Székely-Hungarian Rovás (Hungarian Runes)

The Old Hungarian script (in Hungarian rovásírás) is the earliest known writing system amongst the Uralic languages. As early as the 6th century, Chinese accounts noted the Hungarian custom of writing with incised marks on small wooden tablets. The script may be derived from Old Turkic writing.

There is some discussion regarding the direction of writing; it appears that Old Hungarian was written both from right to left and from left to right. In very early times, when the script was written on wooden sticks, the stick was turned as each line was written so that the text appeared in boustrophedon style. The boustrophedon style was not used for writing larger texts on walls or manuscripts, which tended to be written from right to left. Significant discussion has centered around this issue in the context of encoding the script for use on computers. Academic preference used to be generally for a left to right directionality, but modern users are more likely to write it from right to left, and that is now regarded as the default.

There are 45 basic letters in the script, which are able to represent all the sounds of Hungarian. That is not to say the orthography was phonemic; vowels were only written where it was ambiguous to omit them. Letters could be combined to form numerous ligatures. Historically, ligatures were not standardized, but used freely and inconsistently throughout handwritten texts. The same sequence of sounds could optionally be written with multiple signs or with a ligature. The script employed a single case, although the first letter of proper nouns was sometimes written slightly larger than the rest. There were also some non-alphabetic symbols, the functions of which seem to be unclear. SOURCE

The Hungarian language is so foreign to its Indo-European-speaking neighbors that the distantly related languages of English, Russian, and Sinhalese (the majority language of Sri Lanka) share more in common grammatically and in word cognates with each other than Hungarian does with any Indo-European languages! Hungarian is a Ural-Altaic language spoken by about 13-15 million people worldwide. Most speakers are located in Central Europe, within the Carpathian Basin, a natural confluence point between the Balkan Peninsula, the Alps, and the Great European Plain.

Finnish Script (suomalainen kirjaimisto)

The Finnish script was invented by Sascha Mücke in an effort to create a writing system for Finnish that reflects the language’s phonological simplicity and clarity with its perfectly symmetric vowel harmony.

Notable features

  • Type of writing system: alphabet
  • Direction of writing: left to right
  • There is a one-to-one correspondence between its letters and the Latin letters of the Finnish alphabet currently in use. The symbols have some featural characteristics of their corresponding sounds, most notably:
    • High vowels (ä and ö, y) have a curve at the top while their corresponding low vowels (a, o, u) have a curve at the bottom; the neutral vowels e and i are not curved
    • The weak consonants v, j and h are smaller than strong consonants, e.g. p or k
    • Liquids (r and l) are longer at the bottom while (voiceless) fricatives (s, f) are longer at the top
    • letters that typically only appear in loanwords (b, c, g, w and å) are considered variations of similar sounding letters and marked with a dot (analogously to b and g also d is marked as a variation of t, though it appears considerably more often than the former two)
    • some other letters that typically only appear in loanwords (q, x, z, š and ž) are written as multiple letters (kv, ks, ts, sh and tsh)

Within a word the letters are placed directly adjacent to and connecting to each other, continuing lines should ideally be written with a single stroke (e.g. when writing no the diagonal lines of n and o should be written as one stroke). Words are separated by spaces, punctuation marks are the same as in the Latin script, optionally centered vertically (as in the example below). Also the script uses Arabic numbers. SOURCE

Further Resources:

Székely-Hungarian Rovás

Rovás, The Székely – Hungarian Alphabet

Unknown Polish/Lechite Alphabet?

Runic Inscriptions in Poland

Slavic Runes in the Research of Polish Scholars in the 19th Century


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The Slavic Mother Goddess Mokosh

The Gods and Goddesses of the Slavic pantheon are ones I feel connected to and have studied for years. maybe due to having Slavic blood running through me or perhaps how they resonate with my beliefs and spiritual path. Either way I want to begin featuring each of the Slavic pantheon with posts on my blog here and I have decided to begin with the most important Goddess which is Mokosh (Mokoš). She is such an important Goddess among the Slavic pantheon that she is still revered to this day as she deserves.So let us get into all there is known about this Mother Goddess.

Getting to know Mokosh

There are seven primordial gods in Slavic mythology, and only one of them is female: Mokosh. In the pantheon in the Kievan Rus’ state, she is the only goddess at all, and so her specific role in Slavic mythology is vast and varied, and, more aptly perhaps, foggy and damp. Mother earth and house spirit, tender of sheep and spinner of fate, Mokosh is the supreme Slavic goddess. 

In Slavic mythology, Mokosh, sometimes transliterated as Mokoš and meaning “Friday,” is Moist Mother Earth and thus the most important (or sometimes only) goddess in the religion. As a creator, she is said to have been discovered sleeping in a cave by a flowering spring by the spring god Jarilo, with whom she created the fruits of the earth. She is also the protector of spinning, tending sheep, and wool, patron of merchants and fishermen, who protects cattle from plague and people from drought, disease, drowning, and unclean spirits. 

The origins of Mokosh as mother earth may date to pre-Indo-European times (Cuceteni or Tripolye culture, 6th–5th millennia BCE) when a near-global woman-centered religion is thought to have been in place. Some scholars suggest she may be a version of Finno-Ugric sun goddess Jumala.

In 980 CE, Kievan Rus emperor Vladimir I (died 1015) erected six idols to Slavic gods and included Mokosh in 980 CE, although he took them down when he converted to Christianity. Nestor the Chronicler (11th century CE), a monk at the Monastery of the Caves in Kyiv, mentions her as the only female in his list of seven gods of the Slavs. Versions of her are included in the tales of many different Slavic countries. SOURCE

Mokosh, also called Mokoš, was worshiped by the ancient Slavs as the Goddess of the Earth and fertility. Mokosh is the Goddess who gives and takes life, spinner of the thread of life, giver of the water of life, fertility, and health in marriage. She is most likely a later and more strongly personified variant of the Slavs’ elder earth Goddess: The Damp Mother Earth Goddess.

Appearance and Reputation

Surviving images of Mokosh are rare—although there were stone monuments to her beginning at least as long ago as the 7th century. A wooden cult figure in a wooded area in the Czech Republic is said to be a figure of her. Historical references say she had a large head and long arms, a reference to her connection with spiders and spinning. Symbols associated with her include spindles and cloth, the rhombus, and the Sacred Tree or Pillar.

Some Slavic peasants felt it was wrong to spit on the earth or beat it. During the Spring, practitioners considered the earth pregnant: before March 25 (“Lady Day”), they would neither construct a building or a fence, drive a stake into the ground or sow seed. When peasant women gathered herbs they first lay prone and prayed to Mother Earth to bless any medicinal herbs. SOURCE

Key Takeaways: Mokosh

  • Associated Deities: Tellus, Ziva (Siva), Rusalki (water nixies), Lada 
  • Equivalents: St. Paraskeva Pianitsa (Christian Orthodox); loosely comparable to the Greek Titan Gaia, Hera (Greek), Juno (Roman), Astarte (Semitic)
  • Epithets: Goddess Who Spins Wool, Mother Moist Earth, Flax Woman
  • Culture/Country: Slavonic Culture, Eastern and Central Europe
  • Primary Sources: Nestor Chronicle (a.k.a. Primary Chronicle), Christian-recorded Slavic tales
  • Realms and Powers: Power over the earth, water, and death. Protector of spinning, fertility, grain, cattle, sheep, and wool; fisherman and merchants. 
  • Family: Wife to Perun, lover to Veles and Jarilo
Modern wooden statue of Mother Goddess Mokosh in the Czech Republic

October – The month of Mykosh

Home, calmness, softness, gratitude, feminine grace and creativity are the quiet feelings that permeate the month of Vinotok – October. This is the women’s month, ruled by the East Slavic goddess Mokosh, the great mother, the only goddess in Vladimir of Kiev pantheon, who watches over women. We meet her all over “Slavija” on traditional embroideries, where she is usually depicted as a female creature with birds (symbol of passage), carrying another creature. She is a protector of predicates, women’s affairs, midwives. Her holiday is the last Friday of October month. At that time she is already in the last trimester of pregnancy, when at the winter solstice – she gives birth to a “new sun”.

Mokoš leads us to tune in to ourselves in the fall. All the weaving and sewing of the new future can be successful in the long run only if we know how to look deeply and analytically into the past, learn from mistakes and then resolutely clean up with everything that no longer serves us now. Above all, it is also a time of women’s deepening, where it is important for a man to stand by her side. In the old days, people expressed their love by having a boy carry her spinning wheel home after finishing with spinning together with other girls. Continue reading HERE.

Slavic mysticism is mostly obscure folklore, which is a shame because some mythologies, like Egyptian, Indian, and Greek, have much-written information about them. Some myths came from Slavic lands before Christianity, while others came from complicated Christian bias. So, here is a list of gods and goddesses from Slavic cultures. By reading this book, you can find out about many Slavic goddesses such as Mokosh, Zorya, Lada, Vesna, Marzanna and Many More.

Mokosh, like Brigid, is associated with wells, springs and moisture; the name Mokosh comes from the root ‘mol’ meaning ‘moisture’, and is connected with the Slavic words mokry and moknut (‘wet’ and ‘to get wet’) . Mokosh brings the water of life and protects the life-giving waters on which human and animal existence depend. In this way Mokosh gives life to plants and animals, and is often portrayed with them. She is an important Slavic Mother Goddess, embodying fertility, femininity, prosperity, protection, health, good luck, abundance, and a successful future.

Mokosh is also a warrior goddess, in her fierce aspect as a goddess of protection. One of her epithets is ‘She who strikes with her wings’. The fact that she is a winged Goddess indicates her power and that which she grants to her priestesses and devotees, to travel between the worlds in trance, dream, and vision, for blessing and for healing on behalf of the community and all who are in need. Mokosh is also connected to butterflies, symbols of transformation, and bees, symbols of priestesses in antiquity. Continue reading HERE.

The symbol of Mother Goddess Mokosh

Why is Mokosh still important?

Today, Mokosh is popular as a powerful life-giving force and protector of women. She has a big following amongst Rodnovery women.

They often make small idols out of stone for prayer. The stones are called Mokosh-stones or breast-shaped boulders, and it’s believed that they hold power.

As mentioned above, many places can be found bearing the name of Mokosh, or a similar name. In Eastern Europe, we can find even more villages named after her, and stories that depict her as a woman with uplifted hands.

Mokosh is celebrated in the Rodnovery tradition twice per year, once in Spring around the first or second Friday of May, and once in Fall on the last Friday of October. SOURCE


Meet Mother Mokosh, the Slavic goddess of earth, fertility, love and growth. She is truly amazing, as not much is known about her origins – according to legends, she just appeared out of the blue. She is a creature of emotions – a lover, temptress, mother protecting her children. And her children can be found anywhere, as she was one of the gods who created humankind in Slavic mythology. The most important festivity when this Slavic deity is cherished is Kupala night. It takes place on the day of summer solstice and is an opportunity to find eternal love and a soulmate.

What is associated with Mokosh

  • Spinning yarn
  • Weaving
  • Shearing
  • Protection
  • Childbirth
  • Spell casting
  • Fate
  • Fertility
  • Horses
  • Earth
  • Water
  • Rain
  • Tending Sheep
  • Wool
  • Matron of merchants and fishermen, who protects cattle from plague and people from drought, disease, drowning, and unclean spirits.

Further Resources:

Mokosz/Mokosh – Slavic Great Mother and Protector of Women

The Ancient Earth Mother

Slavic Traditions & Mythology

Slavic Mythology

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Baba Yaga: The Famous Witch of Slavic Folklore

The Baba Yaga is the most famous Witch of Slavic folklore and in my opinion gets misinterpreted by many who know so little about who she is and what she symbolizes. The Baba Yaga is actually quite complex and even though most consider her a malevolent and evil Witch of the woods there are others like myself who believe there is a more benevolent side of her and this can be accounted in far older Pagan practices from the Slavic regions of Eastern Europe. Most of what we find describing her as this hideous old child eating hag only dates back to the 18th century but her origins are actually far older. In fact there are some sources that believe there are multiple Baba Yaga’s found throughout Eastern Europe but even beyond that there are folklore tales of other Baba Yaga like Witches in other parts of Europe and even the Middle East. I personally am fascinated with Slavic folklore seeing how I have ancestry from that region and have done some spiritual work with the Baba Yaga so I felt this was an important subject to bring to my readers.

Introduction

Baba Yaga is a powerful and terrifying witch depicted in Slavic folklore. She lives in a small hut, located deep in the forest. Her property is surrounded by a massive fence, decorated with human bones as if they were ornamental wind chimes. Often, her hut is described as being set upon chicken legs, an unsettling image any way it is illustrated. Her primary mode of transportation is a mortar and pestle set. She sits within the bowl of the mortar and uses the pestle like an oar to move through the sky. This shows attention to the practice of alchemy or herbal work, which is an integral part of witchcraft. It is said she appears as a long, skeletal figure with an enormous hooked nose which reaches the ceiling of her hut when she rests. Her legacy is as erratic as she is, as she is often said to be the guardian of her dark and wild land, a matriarch, and a wise teacher, but also a fickle and treacherous eater of men. The earliest recognizable mention of her is found in a Russian text written by Mikhail V. Lomonosov in which he presents a series of tales from Slavic tradition. Most surviving stories involving Baba Yaga don’t revolve around her, but around heroes or villains who come in contact with her. SOURCE

Etymology of Baba Yaga

Baba Yaga has been associated with ancient mythological characters (she’s like the Boogeyman in Russian mythology). In the Slavic languages, the word “baba” means “old woman” or “grandma” although this word was sometimes used as a term that would describe female demons or specific ailments like measles (also called “baba Sharka”).

In addition, the word “baba” was also used for some astronomical phenomena or concepts of time and seasons, such as “baba Gale” which described the moon, or “baba Marta” which was the other name of the month March. The origins of the word “yaga” are quite unclear although some experts suggest that the word means “evil” or “horror”.

The variation of the full name “Baba Yaga” can be found in the languages of the Eastern Slavs. As a reference to the Russian folklore, the word “baba” in Old Russian means “midwife”, “fortune teller” or “sorceress”. The modern Russian, on the other hand, defines the word “babushka” as “grandmother” or simply “old woman”.

In Bulgarian and Serbo-Croatian, “baba” means “grandma”, however, in many modern Slavic languages, the word “baba” is a pejorative synonym of the word “woman” (suggesting a foolish woman). The great number of associations related to the origin of the character of Baba Yaga created many theories that, nonetheless, support the main assumption that “baba” means “old woman” or “grandmother”. Moreover, “baba” was maybe added to distinguish the Baba Yaga from her possible male counterpart in the myth. As it was mentioned before, the second element of the name “Yaga” has a rather problematic etymology. Scholars have never made an adamant consensus over its meaning. “Yaga” appears in various Slavic languages. SOURCE credit Meet the Slavs

Origins of Baba Yaga

Many folklorists study Baba Yaga and argue over where she came from. This character appeared many centuries ago and tracking her true roots is a challenge. I’ve read many different versions, one that stood out to me is the ancient traditions of Finno-Ugric people.


It’s is believed that those people had a tradition that goes back to the paganism era when there were many ethnic religions. There was a group that believed in a ritual that was supposed to help them stay connected with their passed relatives. The ritual involved creating a doll (or baba – which means a women) out of sticks and dressing it in a fur coat called yaga. They would build her a “house” mostly out of wood. Since this house was only a symbolism and didn’t carry any functional purpose – it didn’t have any windows or doors. They also liked to raise it above the ground on sticks so that the animals would not get inside of it. SOURCE

It is said that Baba Yaga resides within a house that sits atop giant Chicken legs deep in thew forest and can move around to different locations.

My hands are tree roots,

My breath is the wind

I hide in your shadow till dusk comes again

Always seen, rarely heard and

Never quite understood

I’m the last person you come to when no one else listens

Seek me out by the light of the pink moon-

Whisper to me what you tell no one

I’m only remembered as

An ugly obscurity who keeps your secrets

An enigmatic monsoon-

Neither winter nor spring,

Death nor the moon.

Baba Yaga by L SOURCE

Is the Baba Yaga a Benevolent Witch?

There are some lesser known stories of the Baba Yaga actually being more benevolent depending on how you approach her and other stories where she is more of a neutral Witch and reacts depending on the situation to in a way maintain some sort of magical balance.

One of the most interesting details of Baba Yaga is that she is described as being neither malevolent nor “good.” Many folktales throughout the centuries differentiate between witches as being either good or evil, but stories of Baba Yaga illuminate that the true nature of a witch is more ambiguous, or even unpredictable. This Slavic crone is often helpful, willing to impart her wisdom unto those who seek it, but she is also a formidable enemy, should one incur her ire. Many times, she has been credited with the success or the downfall of heroes in Slavic lore. SOURCE

Discover ancient and modern Slavic magical practices through stories told by the legendary Baba Yaga herself. Learn about the magic of the sun, moon, and stars, as well as the magic of weather, animals, seasons, stones, food, beeswax, and more. Each chapter includes a piece of the fairy tale of Vasylyna, comments from Baba Yaga, and hands-on tips and techniques from author Madame Pamita.

Similar Baba Yaga’s

Babaroga (not to be mistaken with Baba Yaga!) is creature known among Southern Slavs. She is represented as very ugly, hunchbacked old woman with horn on head, who live in dark caves. According to folktales, Babaroga likes to steal naughty children and to bring them to her lair.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, and Macedonia, the Bogeyman is called Babaroga, baba meaning old woman and rogovi meaning horns, literally meaning old woman with horns. The details vary from one household to another. In one version, babaroga takes children, puts them in a sack, and then, when it comes to its cave, eats them. In another version, it takes children and pulls them up through tiny holes in the ceiling. 

Iraq’s ancient folklore has the saalua, a half-witch half-demon ghoul that “is used by parents to scare naughty children”. She is briefly mentioned in a tale of the 1001 Nights, and is known in some other Persian Gulf countries as well.

Black Annis was a hag with a blue face and iron claws who lived in a cave in the Dane Hills of Leicestershire. She ventured forth at night in search of children to devour. Grindylow, Jenny Greenteeth and Nelly Longarms were grotesque hags who lived in ponds and rivers and dragged children beneath the water if they got too close. SOURCE

Baba Yaga is an ambiguous and fascinating figure. She appears in traditional Russian folktales as a monstrous and hungry cannibal, or as a canny inquisitor of the adolescent hero or heroine of the tale. In new translations and with an introduction by Sibelan Forrester, Baba Yaga: The Wild Witch of the East in Russian Fairy Tales is a selection of tales that draws from the famous collection of Aleksandr Afanas’ev, but also includes some tales from the lesser-known nineteenth-century collection of Ivan Khudiakov. This new collection includes beloved classics such as “Vasilisa the Beautiful” and “The Frog Princess,” as well as a version of the tale that is the basis for the ballet “The Firebird.”
Today we go back and re-examine the tale of Baba Yaga, the Slavic wild witch of the woods.

Further Resources

Baba Yaga, Folk Tales From the Russian, by Verra Xenophontovna Kalamatiano de Blumenthal, [1903], at sacred-texts.com

Baba Yaga: Russian Folktales’ Classic Witch

Hedgespoken – Baba Yaga

On today’s episode, Charles and Crofty cross the thrice-nine lands to delve into the lore of one of Slavic mythology’s most enigmatic figures, and discover that her roots run far deeper than the wicked witch of popular culture.
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Slavic Mermaids and Water Spirits

Many years ago I began reading about and studying the folklore, deities and overall mythology of the Slavic culture mainly after discovering I have some Slavic lineage. What I quickly learned was how much I enjoy it and even to this day still am always on thew lookout for books regarding this subject. In particular, as I am all about anything with water, I especially enjoy learning about Beings that reside in or around the water of Slavic folklore and even Kupala who is the Slavic goddess of joy and water. If you enjoy Slavic folklore as much as I do then I hope you will enjoy this blog post I thoroughly enjoyed putting together for my readers.

The Rusalki, by Jane L. Mickelson

Beautiful, mysterious, deadly: mermaids of Russian folklore

They meet by moonlight, rising out of lakes and ponds or drifting down from the branches of birch trees, hair drip-ping with dew. Their corpse-pale skin reveals their inhuman nature. Their watery essence links them to ancient, elemental forces. In Russian and Ukrainian tradition they are called the rusalki, and they belong to the spiritual world of women, as the mythology surrounding them testifies. For not only do they bring the fertilizing spring rains when invoked by village maidens, but they also punish any man who chances upon them, using as a weapon the very element that the women so longingly call forth: they lure the interloper into the water and drown him.

In some versions of tales about them, the rusalki are portrayed as shape-shifters, most frequently appearing as unearthly and beautiful young women, but also as birds, particularly water birds such as swans or ducks. This aspect of their nature as a mixture of animal and human relates them to other female water-beings found throughout mythology and folklore around the world, from the sirens that tempted sailors to their doom in the Odyssey to the mermaids that continue to appear in popular modern films and literature. Joanna Hubbs, who has traced the lineage of the rusalki in her book Mother Russia: The Feminine Myth in Russian Culture, views them as the descendants of an earlier Slavic water elemental, a character part woman and part beast, “the beregina, [which] assumed in folk art the form of the half-woman and half-bird or fish-siren.”1 Hubbs states that the name of the rusalki’s ancestor finds its source in the word “bereg,” which may be translated as “shore.” Continue reading HERE.

Vodyanoy – Water Spirit/The Spirit of the Lake

Also known as Vodnik, the Water Spirit of Dvořák’s opera is better known in folklore as Vodyanoy (amongst other names, such as Wassermann or Nix). Dvořák appeared to be particularly fond of this Water Goblin, writing a separate symphonic tone poem titled Vodník.

Hailing from Slavic, German and Czech’s shared folklore, Vodyanoys were often depicted as humanoids with toad-like features, such as gills, webbed fingers, a greenish hue and anuran features. Usually found riding along the river on a half-sunk log, the Vodyanoy were generally viewed as elderly old men, in stark contrast to the youthful feminine Rusalkas.

Whilst not necessarily viewed as malevolent, Vodyanoy (along with Rusalki) were often blamed for drownings, with the Vodyanoy storing the souls of the drowned in teapots. Usually thought to be pretty lazy, they pass the time by playing cards, smoking pipes, and watching the water pass by. SOURCE

Дженеев Иван Алексеевич, Water Depths. Whirlpool, 1907

Waters and Sacred Spaces

We know from the accounts of chroniclers that pagan temples at Radegast (Rethra) and Wolin, both in modern Poland, were surrounded by bodies of water: swamps, moats and lakes [2]. Chroniclers tell of local beliefs about spirits in these waters, and we can speculate about their use in ritual: bathing and sacrificing in these waters during holy times of the year.

Veneration of springs is a well known in Slavic cultures and persists even to this day, in the form of cults of Christian saints, in many rural areas. But this practice is certainly ancient; aside from the desire for the health benefits of mineral water, springs were either the object of worship or accompanying shrines to gods among Slavic pagan tribes living near the Elbe river.

The Głomacze tribe’s spring was famed for its fortune-telling: it was coated with acorns, oats or wheat to predict peace, and ash or blood to predict war [3]. Acorns covering these waters meant nearby oaks to drop them: oak being a sacred symbol of the thunder god, Perun. Similarly, in Szczecin, a fountain at the base of a large oak tree was venerated as a shrine, to which god the chronicler does not name, but we might speculate it to be the thunderer [2]. Continue reading HERE.

“Ilya Muromets” by Nikolay Roerich

Surprisingly, the Slavs imagined their own Styx, a border river between life and the underworld, and in Russia, this river was called Smorodina, which translates quite clearly as “The Stinky One.”

The river is “stinky,” because it is made of constantly burning and fuming fire. Smorodina is the border between our world and the afterlife that a man’s soul needs to cross to get to the land of plenty (probably The Three Nines Kingdom).

“The melting river is ferocious, a fierce river, the angriest one of all. Its first trickle is like a fire, another one is a spark falling, and because of the third one, the smoke is coming down in columns,” an old Russian bylina (oral epic tale) “Dobrynya and The Serpent” relates. Continue reading HERE.

Russian sauna water spirit B’annik

It was also believed that in ba’nyas (Russian saunas) lived the water spirit named B’annik. He might do various evil things: to scare you while washing, throw stones from the oven or even to raw. He always washed after all the humans at night accompanied with demons, L’eshijs, mermaids & other minor spirits. To please Bannik people left a broom, a bar of soap & some water in a bathing barrel. Besides it was forbidden to build a house on the sauna’s place. This area was considered to be cursed. SOURCE

Another spooky story from SVP! We spoke of what happens when people are so bad, even hell spits them back out, but that isn’t the case with the Rusalka. The Rusalka are women who met untimely deaths at the bottom of the river, but return to lure more victims to a watery grave. Are they spirits seeking justice? Or vengeance? We don’t advise getting close enough to find out.
Vodyanoy Concept and Story Art. Story references inspired by: Nenad Gajic’s book “Slovenska mitologija” and Louis Leger’s book “La Mythologie Slave”

Further Resources

Monsters from Slavic Mythology: Mermaids, Water Spirits, Vilas

Slavic Folk

Slavic Mermaids: Water Ghosts and Goblins

Rusalka

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Slavic Paganism: An Introduction

Much like with Norse Paganism (Asatru), Slavic Paganism often in modern times gets a negative reputation by some mainstream sources and organizations as a result of a minority demographic that utilizes such spiritual beliefs for their own malicious intentions. However the more ancient native beliefs throughout the Slavic countries which can be in general described as Slavic Paganism has a rich history of traditions, ritual holidays and their Gods and Goddesses. Being that I myself have Slavic blood running through my veins I have been fascinated and studied this subject for years and even in my own crafts pay homage to Slavic Paganism and their Pantheon of Gods and Goddesses. In fact eventually on this Blog I plan to feature each Slavic God and Goddess in their own post.

I also with my personal practice of Galdur and Seiðr (Nordic Magic) have studied in some extent the practices of Slavic Witchcraft. Two books I have in my library were written by Author Natasha Helvin and her books I highly recommend. The two books I have she wrote are Russian Black Magic: The Beliefs and Practices of Heretics and Blasphemers and Slavic Witchcraft: Old World Conjuring Spells &Folklore. So with that said let us now dive into the amazing world of Slavic Paganism.

Yes, Slavic paganism is a reconstruction of the pre-Christian and pre-Islamic religion of Slavic peoples. Reconstructionism “…is a methodology used to build a cohesive belief system revolving around certain/specific ethno-cultural peoples, located in a specific era of time…” This methodology includes close study of primary sources about Slavic paganism: medieval chronicles, epic poetry, etc. But it also emphasizes Christian folklore (often a thinly veiled retelling of pagan oral tradition), linguistic analysis and comparison to other mythologies. Altogether, these different approaches compose a reconstructionist method which we employ to revive the Slavic pagan religion.

The use of this methodology in contemporary paganism is not new. It has proven its worth through the compelling reconstructions of the paganisms of other ethno-cultural groups, such as the Gauls, Anglo-Saxons, Greco-Egyptians and Norse, among others.

Slavic reconstructionist paganism includes three main objects of worship: the gods (Russian: Bogi), the spirits (Russian: Dushi), and the ancestors (Russian: Predki). We believe in multiple, distinct gods who are both immanent (appearing in the world) and transcendent (not limited to the material world). We believe that every building, every forest, every river or lake, the landscape itself is populated by countless spirits. We believe that our ancestors watch over and protect us throughout our life. SOURCE

Slavic Pantheon

The following list gives some of the more important Slavic deities known from older sources. Almost all of these are easily identifiable as Slavic cognates of other Proto-Indo-European Goddesses and Gods. The names used here are just some of the forms of the names which vary widely because of dialect differences in the Slavic languages as well as differences in the alphabets and the manner of their transcription from the Cyrillic alphabet. The element -bog seen in several of these names means ‘a god’ in various Slavic languages. The earliest references to specific deities are to Vladimir’s pantheon, the Gods and one Goddess worshiped by Prince Vladimir in about 980 CE before his conversion to Christianity. Most of the earliest references are from Christian sources and do not give much information, and even that is suspect. However many of these deities continue to be worshiped in the dual religion of the country people, and so they are well known from folk traditions.

Belbog, with the element bel- meaning ‘bright, white.’ This deity is known from early Christian sources.
Bereginya, mentioned in old sources, the bereginyi (plural) receive offerings among the folk, and there are folk stories told about them. Bereginya dolls are still made by Russians.
Dazhbog, a ‘Day God’ known from Vladimir’s pantheon and other early sources. In myths, he is the father of the morning and evening stars and of the Zoryi.
Khors, known from Vladimir’s pantheon, but little else is known about this God.
Koliada, the Goddess associated with the winter solstice and possibly a personification of it. There are many songs and dances known for her.
Kupalo/Kupala, a deity associated with the summer solstice. Kupalo, a masculine form, appears in early Christian references, while Kupala, a feminine form, appears in more recent folklore sources.
Lado/Lada. Lado, a masculine form, appears in early sources and is identified with Pluto and was the God invited to any occasion of merriment including weddings. Lada, a feminine form, appears in many folklore sources and is the Goddess associated with the May Day festival. There are many songs for her which people still sing. Although the linguistic relationship is uncertain, she appears to be the Slavic version of the Proto-Indo-European Goddess *Pleto.
Leshii, a personification of the forest fires which were a big concern for people who lived and worked in the northern forests.
Marzanna, a Grain Goddess known from early references and later folklore
Mesyats, a personification of the Moon, Mesyats appears in folk tales, where he or she marries Dazhbog, and they have lots of little baby stars together.
Mokosha, a Goddess from Vladimir’s pantheon, she remained important to people and is associated with water.
Perun, known from Vladimir’s pantheon, he is the Slavic version of the Proto-Indo-European God *Perkunos, a Storm God.
Poxvizd, Pogwizd are Wind Gods.
Priye and Porevit are Slavic versions of the Proto-Indo-European Goddess *Pria, Goddess of spring flowers.
Radigast at Rethra, known originally from Christian sources, the name Radigast is not well understood, but Rethra, the site of a temple appears to be the Slavic form of a standard Proto-Indo-European Goddess or God. The site of the temple described in old records is not certain, but it is probably south of the Tollense Sea (lake), where a wooden idol with two heads was found in 1968.
Rugavit, known from a confused description by the Christian Saxo Grammaticus, Rugavit was said to be a God of War. In later Slavic folklore she appears as Baba Rugen and similar names, meaning Rye Mother among the country people.
Simargl, mentioned in connection with Vladimir’s pantheon, the Simargl was often pictured in folk art as a supernatural bird with a long or braided tail. Various etymologies have been offered, but it may be borrowed from a Zoroastrian/Persian source. The Simargl was also borrowed into Islam and can be found as far afield as Indonesia where it is known as the Simurgh.
Stribog, a Wind God in Vladimir’s pantheon, also mentioned in the Lay of Igor.
Svantovit, is mentioned by Saxo Grammaticus but may be borrowed from Zoroastrian as one of the Amesha Spentas. It’s not clear because the name has been interpreted and reinterpreted in various languages, including as St. Vitus in Latin. The archaeological site for a major temple of Svantovit has been found at Arkona on the island of Rugen along the Baltic Sea. A proper dig was done by Schuchhardt starting in 1922.
Svarog, a God of the Sun or of the Forge in early sources.
Svarozhich, a son of Svarog, another name for a forge or smithy, also known from early sources.
Volos/Veles, though not specifically mentioned in Vladimir’s pantheon, it is known that warriors at that time (10th century) swore oaths by Veles and their swords. Veles is more widely known as the protector of cattle though he seems to take the form of a wolf.
Yarovit, one of the faces of Svantovit, and a deity of summer. Yaro means ‘summer.’
Zhiva is a Grain Goddess, and the Slavic version of the Proto-Indo-European Goddess *Devi.
Zoryi/Zorya, the Zoryi (plural) were personified forms of the sun at sunrise (dawn) and sunset and their names are cognate with other Indo-European names for the Sun, such as Surya. There is a third sister called Black Zorya who represents Night in folklore, or as some say, the Northern Lights. The three are the daughters of Dazhbog. They sometimes appear as knights on horseback as in the tale of Vasilisa and the Baba Yaga. SOURCE

This symbol represents the Hands of Gods that reach out to everything and everyone,  including our whole world, our galaxy and all universes.
It contains  all elements of life: Svarog – the heavenly smith, the creator of mankind (bottom right field), Mother Earth (bottom left field), the Sun and its life-giving force (upper left field) and Perun, the patron of mankind (upper right field).”
Slavic Paganism: History and Rituals

Further Resources:

Slavic Paganism

Slavic Paganism Posts from Elder Mountain Dreaming

Ancient Beliefs Among Ukrainian People From Slavic Paganism To Orthodoxy

Slavic Pagan Festivals

Resources about Polish and West Slavic mythology and paganism

Slavic Paganism: History and Rituals