The religion of Slavs is one of the least known religions of the Indo-European peoples.

In comparison with the developed religions of ancient Greece and Rome the great gods of
Slavs are less distinct, they are not accompanied by complex myths. We can talk about Slavic
gods, depicted and imagined as having human bodies, with the official cult, only towards the
decline of the Slavic religion: about X XII centuries. Some say that these depictions resulted
more from trying to imitate Christian civilisation than from the natural development of the
Slavic religion.
The scientists were able to identify some gods, like Perun, god of the sky and thunders, Wales
(or Woos), god of magic, Swarg, god of sun and fire, Swaroyc, god of the home and
sacrificial fire, and goddess Mokosza. Taking into consideration the poverty and ambiguity of
the sources it is already a great achievement. For example we know that all gods from the
seashore were endowed with strongly accented warrior features. It was probably the result of
constant wars of these tribes with Saxons and then with Germans. Moreover, we cant be sure
about range of the domains of life that were taken care of by these gods. So finding the
mystical stories telling of their activities, resembling the Greek myths, will probably be
impossible. It is also possible that such tales never existed.

PERUN witowit; Jaryo; Rujewit (Rugiewit)

The major role among the Slavic gods was assumed by god of thunders and storm Perun. He
was also the god of the light sky, and most of all, he supervised the existence of life as well as
the functioning of Earth and heaven. He was also worshipped as guardian of the tribe, who
ensured prosperity. As with all other Slavic gods, he was named differently in different parts
of the Slavic territory, but he was always the most important god that guaranteed the cosmic
order. In the seashore he was called witowit or Rujewit (Rugiewit). Jaryo, who was
worshipped on the territory of Byelorussia was probably identical with him as well.

Perun was pictured as a handsome man holding a bow and arrows. His name means
One that strikes (even though it may be mistaken as being derived from the word
piorun lightning, thunder).
Strike of a lightning in beliefs of Baltic and Slavic peoples sanctified the object struck
by it. The trees and hills where atmospheric discharges took place, as well as stones
with holes made by lighting were ascribed healing and magical properties.
According to Slavs Perun lived in old oak trees, in oak groves or on tops of hills. It is
characteristic that in the folk culture of Baltic people oak was worshipped as a holy
tree, in which lives Perun the god of lightings, still in the XVII century
Perun, called in the X century to swear international treaties, had the major place in the
pantheon created by prince Wladimir on a hill near the castle in Kiev. Perun also had
his role in Slavic cosmic order. There is a myth of the fight of Perun with the Evil,
which exists on more than one continent. It says about the eternal fight of good with
evil. Perun plays there a role of the defender of the human kind. He is the highest god,
ruling on heaven. He was also identified with the sun.
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witowit his name means One that disposes of beneficial power. The god of war
worshipped by the western tribes. Its attributes were a horn filled with mead, a sword,
a pennon, symbol of an eagle and a pike. He was the
only one that could and was able to mount his
magical white stallion, he also appeared on
battlefields to fight the enemies of his people.
The main centre of his cult was in Arkona, in the
north-western end of Rugia island. This temple,
surrounded by forests and placed on the edge of steep
seashore, survived until the 2nd half of the XII
century. In a wooden temple there stood a monument
of the god. He was a four-headed man with a horn in
his hand and a sword at his belt. He was dressed in a
long gown, there was a bridle and a saddle nearby,
which he used during his night trips on his white holy
horse. The four-faced character of the monument in
Arkona is the sign of the greatest power. It is a
sovereign deity, able to see and watch over the whole
universe.
The imposing temple, which survived until our times, was a part of a big settlement.
Archeological research showed that the place of cult was a square with 30 meters long
sides. It was built in the IX century and ceased to exist as a place of cult after it was
conquered by Danish king Waldemar in 1168.
Thanks to the chronicle by Saxon the Grammatician, who mentioned it in connection
with war expeditions of Waldemar, we have the exact description of the Rugia cult.
The temple of the god was placed in the exact middle of Arkona. Its walls were
decorated with paintings and sculptures, it was surrounded by a double row of walls
covered with a red roof. Inside there was a huge monument with four heads, who held
a horn made of precious metals. To his side of him there was a bridle, saddle and a
sword of unusually great size.
The main holiday took place right after the harvest was finished. The priest cleaned the
temple a day before. When he cleaned, he held his breath in order not to offend the
god. He could be distinguished from his tribesmen by long hair and moustache and he
was the only one able to enter the temple.
The next day, when everybody had gathered, the priest looked into the horn filled with
wine, and if there was less wine than a day before, he predicted bad crops next year
and ordered making food stocks. Otherwise he predicted a good year.
The main ceremony described by Saxon had two parts:
1) predicting crops from wine;
2) offering made to the god as well as gifts of bread and priests wishes for the
gathered people.

The priest told fortunes also from a special kind of cake. After finishing the ritual a
feast, much like a wild orgy, took place.
Also in Kiev in the end of the X century prince Vladimir ordered to build a temple of
Perun. Next to a wooden monument with a silver head there were also monuments of
gods named Chors, Dadbg, Strzybg, Siemarg and Mokosza. According to a
Russian chronicler a part of the rituals held there were sacrifices of people. When the
ruler became Christian, he ordered to chop and burn the monuments, and to drag the
monument of Perun through Kiev and drown in the river Dniestr.

Rujewit, according to Saxon, was ascribed war leadership and interference in matters
concerning sexual contacts. He punished inappropriate sexual intercourse with
vaginism. His name means The lord of Ruja, meaning Rugia.

Jaryo (Jarowit) Another god of war of the western tribes, as well as the god of
spring, love and passion, the symbol of male fertility and strength (from: jary strong,
passionate, strict). He was depicted as a handsome man wearing white clothes, sitting
on a white horse. He was especially worshipped in two places of the maritime regions:
in Woogoszcz and in Obla.

WALES (Woos); Trzygw (Trzygaw); Trojan

He is described by the mediaeval authors as the guardian of cattle (or the god of welfare, as
cattle used to be the symbol of wealth), the protector of salesmen and artists, but also the god
of magic and the beyond. He was also the ruler of the kingdom of the dead and the land of
happiness (Nawia?), guardian of souls of the dead, sometimes identified with devil. He could
acquire different forms, for example a black goat or an old man with a long, gray beard.
Some scientists think that near the seashore he was known as Trzygaw (Trzygw), in the
Balkans worshipped as Trojan. It was believed that Trzygaw was a god of war, with a black
prophetic horse, ruling over thunders. They depicted him in a monument with three heads
symbolizing the power over three worlds: earth, heaven and the nether world.
In the X century in Russia, during negotiating treaties, the Russian side was swearing both on
Perun and on Woos. Thus it is clear that Woos was also a warrantor of all oaths. The
differences between him and Perun become visible in rituals of oath ascribed to each of them.
According to a Russian treaty of 944 one that failed to keep an oath on Perun was to be
punished with his own weapon (he wouldnt be able to protect himself with his own shield
and he would be cut with his own sword). Those who failed to keep an oath on Woos would
be made into pure gold lethal pains caused by tuberculosis of lymph glands, from which
jaundice is developed.
SWARG Swaroyc; Dabg: Radogost

He was worshipped together with his son, Swaroyc. Both of them are identified with light:
Swarg, as the father, was connected with the sun, while Swaroyc, his son with fire. Slavs
considered the sun to be a kind and beneficial heavenly body. It was called the face or the eye
of god. People were not allowed to point fingers at it or turn their backs to it during the
harvest. The sunrise was greeted with taking the hat off and a prayer to the sun. Southern
Slavs knew also a folk oath on sun. Swaroyc, in Russia called Dabg, in the seashore
Radogost, was the god of home and sacrificial fire. The relation of Slavs towards fire was
based on reverence, fear and attachment. They constantly kept glowing embers in the home
fire and carried them to a new house, they also gave them to the son moving to another hut.

Swarg is a magnificent blacksmith and discoverer of metal, he forged his son

Swaroyc, a shield he hung in the sky. When winter cools the sun, he scares the frost
away with lightnings and heats it up anew.

Dadbg Swaroyc Swaroyc is either the son of Swarg, or a diminutive of his

name. He is the most important from the whole pantheon (????erm?), the god of
sun (from: swar sun in archaic speech), fire, sky and earthly matters, sending
happiness. Dadbg means the one who brings happiness (from: bg wealth
archaic as well). He was pictured as a man with moustache having a horn by his belt,
often on a white horse.
An Arabian record about Slavs from the 1st half of IX century summarizes the
knowledge of their beliefs in the following way: They all worship fire, they mostly
grow millet. After harvest they spill out some millet on a spoon, raise it towards the
sky and say: Oh Lord, you are who gave us food, please give us abundance as well.

MOKOSZA (Mokosz)
It is characteristic for Slavs that their gods were usually male. The only female god in the
pantheon of the most important Slavic gods was Mokosza, worshipped in Russia. She may be
called the Mother-Goddess, she ensured fertility, crops and material well-being. She was also
the patron of the female elements, of spinning and weaving. She took care of the water: rain,
streams, rivers. She was associated with wet, fertile ground.
ROD AND RODZANICE (Rodzenice)
The ruler of fate and destiny, along with his helpers Rodzenice assisted in labours and
assigned a fate to newborn babies, he gave them happiness and long life or sorrows and early
death. Rodzanice, the goddesses of fertility, were present at each birth, usually in pairs.
KUPAJO
The god of summer sun and passionate love.

It is much easier to determine names and range of activities of the less important spirits, the
good ones as well as the bad. Many of them, what may be characteristic of Slavs, were the
souls of the ancestors. Soul according to Slavic beliefs is a phantom, a copy of a man when
alive. After death it flows away with the wind, sometimes it comes back, it can eat and drink.
Slavs burned bodies of the deceased, put gifts for the journey into the afterlife in their graves.
In case of burial of someone more powerful and rich, his wife also killed herself, more or less
of her own free will. There is no evidence of the Slavs beliefs about the afterlife. There are
some stories, however, about the ways of getting to the beyond. One of them says about a
foot-bridge that the soul of the deceased has to cross, another one about having to cross a river
with a boat, another one of wading across it. It was the fate of those who died in a natural
way.
strzyga; strzygo; upir
(pl. strzygi; strzygonie; upiory)
The souls of those who died suddenly or too soon (suicides, miscarried children, drowned,
those dead on their wedding days etc.) became harmful beings, like strzyga (female),
strzygo (male) (vampire, lamia) or upir (ghost, spectre, phantom).

Upiory, sometimes called Wpierze (sing. Wpierz) lub Wampiry (sing. Wampir),
are people rising from graves after death to torment the living. It isnt fully clear how
they come to life, they probably are born, among others, from the souls of suicides and
wizards.
They come to villages by night to suck peoples blood.
They usually start with their own family, then they kill
the neighbours, etc. Others blood is necessary for them
to exist, without it they weaken and their bodies start to
decompose. People bitten by them after death become
wampiry as well.
Unlike strzygonie, upiory often join in groups and invade
peoples settlements in an organized way. Sometimes
they are helped even by those alive, who were threatened
by them, or promised power, and finally change into
upiory themselves as well.
Upiory hate the daylight and from dusk till dawn hide in their graves. It is easy to track
them there and kill by piercing their hearts with an aspen stake, or cutting their heads
and putting it between their legs. You can also attempt to kill an upir during the
night, when he hunts, but this is much more difficult because of his strength. You can
find some protection against them in consecrated objects.
Some wizards become wampiry of their own free will. They are then able to rule the
vampires they created, but these die the same moment when their lord dies.

Strzygi and Strzygonie unlike Upiory arent people who after death come back to
Earth, but demons born from the souls of dead infants. Such children can often be
recognized when still alive, they are born already with teeth, which often grow in two
rows, though the second one is not always easily
noticeable.
They can turn themselves into owls, apart from this,
however, they dont have any influence on their looks.
They invade peoples settlements at nights, strangle
people and drink their blood. They often kill the cattle or
pigs as well, especially cows. They never come in
groups, they appear individually.
It is very difficult to protect or defend yourself from
them, as they are resistant to blows. They are also able to
penetrate through all doors or walls. It is best to seek
shelter in some holy place, where no demons have access,
or at least protect yourself with a consecrated object.
To get rid of strzyga you have to find the body of the child, of whose soul she was
born, then pierce his heart with an aspen stake, or cut its head and put it between its
legs, preferably with the face facing down.

utopiec; wodnik; rusaka

(pl. utopce, wodniki, rusaki)
Especially in the area of lakes, rivers and moorlands you could encounter ghosts that were the
souls of people died in an unnatural way. They were called, among others, utopiec (from:
utopi si - to drown), wodnik (nix, water-elf) (from: woda water), rusaka (undine, waternymph).

Utopce, also called Topielce are water demons born of the souls of some drowned
(the ones drowned on a certain day after a storm, or when rye is in bloom), miscarried
children or those not allowed to enter the heaven
(Nawia?).
They look like tall, extremely thin people with green,
slimy, skin coated with mud, big head and dark hair.
They leave water to go to the shore only in the times of
new moon, and you can see them drying or cleansing
themselves of vermin then.
Sometimes they walk away from the water reservoirs, but
no matter how far they go, they always drip with water,
and leave a huge puddle in the place where they stop
even for a minute.
Alike wodniki, utopce love dragging bathing people
under water. They can also call them in such a way that they cant resist the desire to
6

enter the water and in result they drown themselves. The only thing that may help then
is intriguing utopiec with a riddle, which they love. The more difficult the riddle, the
more interested they get. They hate cheats though, whom they punish immediately and
with no mercy. They wont spare the animals wading across the river either.
They feed on moonbeams, broad bean and peas.

Wodniki live in all kinds of rivers, lakes or ponds, and even in wells and wayside
drain canals.
They are people-like creatures, a bit over half a meter high, with fishy, green coloured
eyes, wrinkled face and long, unkempt hair. Their
fingers and toes are joined by a web, and each of them
is ended with a slightly crooked claw. They usually
wear red, and in such a way that it is sometimes
difficult to distinguish them from little men. But
wherever they stop, they leave a big puddle on the
ground. They can also appear in the shape of a sheatfish, a pike or other fish.
Wodniki are famous for their habit of drowning people.
Sometimes they do it themselves, sometimes they
provoke the incautious people by hanging colourful
ribbons in the reed for children, or putting trinkets for
the girls on seaweed.
Wodniki love basking in the sun or sitting on all kinds of bridges or foot-bridges. In
such cases it is best not to even try to approach them and keep away from water as
well.
Fishermen and sailors were offering them gifts to protect their boats and ships from
sinking.

Rusaki, also known as Boginki (sing. Boginka)(a kind of lesser goddesses) or

Brzeginie (sing. Brzegini or Brzeginia)(from: brzeg shore), have the form of
beautiful young girls of light skin complexion and dark hair decorated with flowers
that after taking a close look occurs to be green. They usually wear no clothes or only
loose white gowns.
They love music, dance and singing, as well as the company of young boys, who they
lure and then tickle to death. They also like rocking themselves on tree branches by
hooking themselves on their long braids, and then you can hear their loud laughter
from miles away. It may also happen that they guard some hidden treasures.
They are born of the souls of drowned girls. Apart from Rusaki Wodne (from: woda
water), living close to the water reservoirs, there are also Rusaki Lene (from: las
forest), that live in hollow tree trunks. Both kinds dont like wormwood and rather
dont approach people carrying it with them.

borowy; boruta; Baba-Jaga; leny duch

(pl. borowi, lene duchy)

The areas of primeval forests, woods, that towards the Middle Ages were a communication
barrier almost impossible to cross, had their own ghosts, that rarely were souls of the dead.
Slavic folklore knows a lord of forests, called leny duch (forest ghost), but also borowy
(from: br wood) or boruta (it can be confused with one of the devils, who we also call
Boruta). It sometimes had a form of an animal, pastured herds of stags, roe-deers and hares.
This lord of the forest, usually hostile towards people, was sometimes given a woman, forest
mother, identified with Baba-Jaga (a kind of witch). Also the animals could be a subject of
cult, because of their strength and fear they awakened. The ones of greatest respect were bear
and wild boar.

Borowy, the guardian of forest and the forest animals, otherwise called Lasowy (pl.
Lasowi), Leszy or simply Leny Dziad (pl. Lene
Dziady) (old forest men).
He takes the form of either a bear or an old man with an
unnaturally pale face, whose height changes depending
on the height of the trees he passes the taller and
greater the tree, the taller and greater he becomes as
well. He can also be recognised by having no shadow.
His character can be called neutral, and his attitude
towards people depends a great deal on their attitude
towards the forest. He can guide the traveler deep into
the woods and then leave him in the thickets or in the
moorlands, but he sometimes also guides out of the
woods those who were lost there, and leads them to the closest human settlement.
He spills mushrooms and berries out of the childrens baskets, but at the same time he
guards them against the attacks of robbers or wild animals. It sometimes also happens
that he simply throws people out of the woods by threatening them with his gnarled
stick or throwing logs at them.
Shepherds were making an "agreement" with him by giving him food in order to
protect their herds from predators.

smok; chmurnik; panetnik

(pl. smoki, chmurnicy, panetnicy)
The air was inhabited by virgin creatures as well as human souls. An interesting example of a
virgin creature - smok powietrzny (air dragon) was created from an adder with clawed legs
and huge wings. These dragons were beneficial. Other air creatures are chmurnicy
(panetnicy) (from: chmura cloud) (hobgoblins, imps). According to various folk tales they
could be young people captured by a whirlwind to move the clouds, or souls of sleeping
young men or women who were to keep away hail or in times of draught bring rain.

Panetnicy, also called Chmurnicy or Obocznicy (from: obok a light cloud) are
people pulled into the sky by clouds during the storm. They carry clouds from one
place to another, gather water for rain and let it flow in specified places. They are
young but very robust and strong people. The sign that a boys fate is to become a
chmurnik are tiny wings that appear under his arms a year or two before he is pulled
into the sky.
When the clouds hang low over the ground you can you can hear panetnicys calls or
even see their huge hats or ropes, which they use to drag clouds through the sky. It
sometimes happens that a panetnik falls to Earth from the skies during the storm and
then lives among common people for some time.
There is also a different though much less common kind of panetnicy who
permanently live on Earth and they are pulled to the sky only during the time of storm,
and after its over a cloud carries them back to the place where they were taken from.

domownik; domowicha; dziadek; nocnica; poudnica

(pl. domownicy, domowichy, dziadki, nocnice, poudnice)
The areas of human settlements were inhabited by ghosts that were mostly the souls of
ancestors, helping in running the household and overcoming everyday problems of the family
or kin. The most important of them was domowy (from: dom house, home) (also called
domownik inmate - or dziadek grandpa). He was often imagined as a creature
resembling the head of the family or the deceased grandfather. Domowy often had a female
companion - domowicha. There could also be mean creatures in the household, for example
nocnica (from: noc night), who caused breast aches in mothers. In the summer on the fields
you could encounter poudnice (from: poudnie noon), who, although a bit mean, did a
useful thing they guarded crops. They all are usually invisible, but sometimes they show
themselves to children.

Poudnice are demons appearing in the fields on hot summer days just around noon.
They have the form of women wearing white with a golden sickle at their belts. They
are usually accompanied by a pack of seven black dogs.
Poudnice are famous for their dislike of children, who they kidnap from the fields, set
their dogs on or catch and burry in the ground alive. To the grown-ups that are in the
fields at noon they bring fainting, head and muscle aches. They can beat sleeping
people so much that they are unable to get up by themselves when they wake.
Some poudnice love asking strange questions and they make lives of their victims
dependant on the answer. They lure young harvesters with promises of feasts and
pleasure, and then they force them to cleanse them of vermin and eat the bugs.
Poudnice are born of souls of women who died just after their engagement but before
the wedding or shortly after it. In the summer they wander around the fields or sit in
the boundary strips between the fields, which are their favourite place. After the
harvest you can see them in the sheaves of the reaped rye, but they disperse in the
wind with first chilly days to come back next summer.
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 Latawice (sing. Latawica) are ethereal creatures taking on the form of pretty girls in order
to seduce married men. Their characteristic features are long, golden braid, shining
phantom wings, as well as tiny starry eyes, with which they prepossess their victims.
Latawice appear in the night, when the victim is asleep, and make him fall madly in love
with them. Then they come every night and slowly drive him insane with their caresses.
Latawicas lover loses his interest in the world, runs away from people and feasts, waiting
only for the next meeting. Such people dont live long, cause consumed with the unnatural
love and desire they soon burn out and die.
When Latawica waits too long with leaving, and she is still with her lover at dawn, she
loses her braid and wings, and she dies like a normal human being after 7 days and 3
hours. However, her lover is not free from her charm even after her death and dies of
sorrow soon after.
There arent many who are able to resist Latawicas charm. There is a certain chance to
free yourself from her by fumigating the body with cow dung and rubbing the infusion of
herbs: wonieja, stulik, lastowniczek into your skin.
It sometimes happens that Latawice are so touched by the great love of the husband that
they forsake their victims themselves, it is a very rare occurrence however.
There are also male Latawice Latawce (kites), beautiful young men with long, golden
hair, phantom wings and eyes starry like those of Latawice.
Mamuny (sing. Mamuna), sometimes called Dziwoony (sing. Dziwoona), are born of
the souls of killed or abandoned illegitimate children, as well as from intentionally aborted
foeta.
As a revenge for the wrong done to them they torment pregnant women that they kidnap
to their hidden burrows or caves. They turn illegitimate children into monsters when they
still are in their mothers wombs. They sometimes appear on the day of labour to kidnap
the newborn child who they turn into a Mamuna as well. They may also leave their own,
ugly, dull and unruly children in place of the kidnapped ones.
Mamuny have the form of thin, misshapen, hairy on their whole body women with
unnaturally long, drooping breasts, which they throw over their shoulders or backs for
comfort. They often wear red hats on their heads, and they are very attached to them.
They live in burrows hollowed in the shores, or, where possible, in caves, always close to
the water. After the sunset they sit in the rivers, dabbling and washing their underwear,
using their breasts to slap it. Woe betide the children who happen to be near then, as
Mamuny will do everything to drown them.
Zmory (sing. Zmora), sometimes called Kikimory, Wieczornice (sing. Wieczornica)
(from: wieczr evening) or Dusido Nocne (Night Strangler) are ethereal creatures
that strangle sleeping people at nights.

10

They especially love children and young people because of

their fresh and clean blood. After getting into the house they
sit astraddle on the chest of their victims and cause a strike
of blood to their heads by pressing their bony knees against
the chest. Then they drink blood flowing from their noses
until they quench their thirst.
Zmoras victims, unlike the victims of Upiory, dont die or
turn into Zmory themselves. They only lose their strengths
and energy, but they regain them with time in a natural way.
It can happen though that an especially starved Zmora
causes the death of her victim.
Person tormented by a Zmora moans loudly in their sleep and bathes in cold sweat. If they
are able to wake themselves and get up from bed, Zmora runs away immediately. A third
person may help by raking up the invisible for them creature with left hand from the head
down to the toes of the victim, right to the bottle held in the right hand. The bottle must be
plugged at once and thrown into the water as soon as possible. Then for many days you
will be able to hear crying of a little child coming from the water, but you cant react to it.
Zmory have the shape of tall women with unnaturally long legs. You can see all their
bones through their almost see-through body.
There are also Zmory Koskie (from: ko horse) and Zmory Bydlce (from: bydo
cattle), tormenting farm animals and bringing plague.
Wiy (sing. Wia?) are beautiful, hardly dressed women, seducing young shepherds. They
appear in groups, sometimes in the shape of swans, hawks, horses or wolves. Their habitat
are forests, moutains, waters and even clouds. In contacts with people they are quite
moody.
mij is a mythical winged being, a dragon-snake, friendly towards people. He was
associated with fire-like phenomena in the sky. It could appear as various birds or a man
with little wings by his shoulders.

As in every religion one can divide the cult and rites of Slavs into public ones, performed in
the presence of the whole village or tribe, and private ones house ones. The latter were
performed by a man the head of the family. In the name of one or more villages the offering
was made by old men - ofiarnicy (from: ofiara sacrifice, offering) or fortune-tellers.
Towards the close of the Slavic religion, along with temples with monuments of gods, a group
of temple priests appeared. Among the seashore Slavs their power exceeded above the sacral
things and reached the laic ones as well (eg. they decided of the beginning or of the end of
wars and concluding peace).

11

One of the main characteristics of the religious imagination of ancient Slavs seems to be the
dualism (clear opposition between good and evil). According to the medieval German
chronicler Helmold, Slavs believed that the good fate is governed by a good god, the bad one
by an evil god, and they called the evil one devil (or czarnobg blackgod). In the Slavic
onomastics and folklore you can also encounter white god, meaning bright, good, merry,
peaceful. Moreover, from many folk tales from the area of Slavic influences emerges a picture
of the world divided between the god in heaven and the devil in the nether world; in between
of this cosmos is Earth, which is a scene of fight before these two powers.
One of the most famous versions of the Slavic myth of creation of world is the one from Great
Poland, written down on the turn of the XIX century. It says that nothing existed in the
beginning save the sky, the sea and god who sailed by a boat and devil appearing from the
foam. The latter joined god and gave him an idea of creating Earth, as he was unable to do it
himself. Then the devil dived and got a handful of sand from the bottom. God threw it to the
water, creating the germ of Earth, so small that they were barely able to stay there together.
And yet god and devil inhabited Earth together. Devil tried to push sleeping Creator into the
sea, but god went to heaven, and he thrust the devil down into the chasm. In Russian and
Ukrainian beliefs devil, when he brought the sand to god, left a bit of it under his tongue.
When the Earth began to grow the sand started to burst his mouth, so he had to spit it out, and
in this way created mountains, moorlands and barrens.
There is also another version of this myth, written down in Russia at the close of the Middle
Ages. Devil is depicted as a sea bird here, and in the christianized version is known as
Satanael, who was thrust down from heaven by archangel Michael. In all variations of this
myth there is a motif of creating Earth by diving, the fight between god and devil, as well as
the cooperation of these two in the act of creation. One of the legends says about what
happened with the devil and the Earth later. After being thrust down to the chasm, the devil
was chained to a pole inside the Earth. He tries to free himself from the chain the whole year,
and when there is only one link left, the chain is being rebuilt anew around the Easter time.
When the devil manages to free himself, the end of the world will come, the Earth will be
flooded by water and burnt by fire.
The Slavic myth about the creation of man is also interesting. According to the medieval
Russian chronicle called The tale of the ancient years, man was created when god was
washing himself in the baths, he got sweated and dried himself with a wisp of straw and then
threw it from heaven to the Earth. The man was to come into being from this wisp. Devil
started a fight with god about who is to do the act of creation. Finally it is devil who created
man, but god put soul in him. This is why according to the chronicle after death body goes
to the ground, and soul goes to the god. This legend differs from the biblical and
Mediterranean myths of creation of man, where it is god the Creator, or one of the main gods,
or a hero who creates man, and not the embodiment of evil the devil.

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The fragments of myths and beliefs discovered by the scientists in historical and etnographical
sources allow to reconstruct a more exact picture of the Slavic cosmos and the way it
functioned. In the folk tales one can find convictions that it is animals or fish that support the
Earth. In Russia it was believed that the first what appeared from the water in the moment of
creation was Trigaw mountain, and that the sky rests on a nail. More often the copula of the
sky is made of stone, and stars, sun and lightnings shine through holes or cracks in it. This
copula rests on a pole that with its one end reaches the North Star (called the axis or shaft star)
the only static one thanks to which the whole firmament is able to turn. The other end of
the pole is placed inside the Earth. In Serbia it was believed that devil in form of a dog is
chained to this axis of the world, and when it jerked the pole, it causes earthquakes.
The myths of Slavic heroes are easier to put in order. You can find information about it in
Polish, Czech and Russian medieval chronicles. The heroes of the polish mythical tradition
are, above all, the founding heroes: Krak, the founder of Krakw, legislator and the first
legendary king of Poles and Piast, the ploughman, ancestor of the Polish royal dynasty.
The first missionaries that encountered the Slavic pagan mythology valued it as a primitive
one. Maybe this is the reason why it hasnt survived long, and Christianity that opened way to
the influences of civilization has been adopted among the Slavs without major resistance.

Holidays:

21st of March the first day of spring, a holiday devoted to the god Jaryo (Rod?).
The holiday of life returning after winter. There was the custom of decorating eggs
the symbol of vitality and life (then transferred to the Christian tradition).

21-22 of June the first day of summer, a holiday devoted to the god Kupaa
(Swaroyc?), a celebration of fire and life. Fires were lit, girls were letting their flower
crowns drift with the water, everybody was in search of the magical fern's flower that
blooms only on this one night during the year, lovers were forming couples.

23rd of September the first day of autumn, the harvest holiday, thanking gods for
the crops and asking for even better ones next year. Telling the future and organizing
ritual feasts afterwards. Devoted to Perun and Swaroyc.

21-22 of December the first day of winter, winter solstice. A holiday devoted to
ancestors and those who passed away in general. Fires were lit at the cemeteries to
warm up the dead, feasts were organised for them so that they dont starve. On the
crossroads grumadki (kind of logs) were burnt. Holiday devoted to god Weles.

Rituals:

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Kostroma the ritual of leading Kostroma, a young girl dressed in white, holding an
oak twig, who was a personification of spring and fertility. During funerals a straw
doll standing for Kostroma was burnt or burried among cries and laughters
Kostroma rises from the dead as a personification of spring.

Narodziny (birth) Rod and Rodzanice were asked for good fate for the newborn. A
feast was prepared and the food was shared with the gods, probably there were also
various fortune-tellings that were to predict its future. The baby was given a name by
its father or the tribal wochw (the shamen).

Postrzyyny (hair-cutting) the symbolic ritual of a boy becoming a man.

Maestwo (wedding/marriage) there isn't much information but probably it was a

joyful family celebration.

mier (death) Slavic people believe in an after-death land of endless happiness

Nawia to which the human soul wanders. Although Nawia was hidden somewhere
underground, the souls could sometimes come back to the world of the living their
relatives were supposed to greet them with honour then. There were fires burnt at the
cemeteries to warm up the souls of ancestors and a feast took place there as well.

Pogrzeb (the funeral) Slaves had great respect for the dead and were treating them
with honour. The body of the person who passed away was burnt on a pyre after it had
been dressed in the best clothes and given items of everyday use. The ashes were
placed in clay pots and buried in normal flat graves or in a hillock/mound.

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