Religion of the Eastern Slavs: a brief description

The religion of the Eastern Slavs began to emerge a long time ago - another 30 thousand years before our era. At that time, it still slightly resembled some kind of belief system, since it was just a desire to explain the uncanny things to the supernatural. But with the development of society, the transition to livestock and the settled way of life, it began to acquire great importance.

The culture and religion of the Eastern Slavs is difficult to study. Firstly, not much information has reached our days. And secondly, the Slavic tribes always existed separately, and each had its own religious views and traditions, which sometimes intersected, but it is very difficult to unite them into a single system.

The religion of the Eastern Slavs: basic information

With the transition to a sedentary mode of life and the organization of social centers, religion became centralized and acquired immense importance for the Slavic tribes. The role of the priests was performed by the so-called Magi who sacrificed, took direct part in fortune telling and other religious events. It is not yet clear who exactly was the head of the temple, but there are guesses that they were the prince, since during the excavation of princely graves there were found many ritual objects: a knife for sacrifices, fortune-telling bones, etc.

Yes, the religion of the Eastern Slavs included the rites of sacrifice. As gifts, the gods brought food, slaughtered animals, and sometimes the victim was human.

As for the idols, they were usually made of wood. Such a statue looked like a wooden pillar with the head of a deity. The idols were placed in the center of the temple so that he could be worshiped.

There are some news about the ancient pagan temples. For example, they were divided into temples (places where it was possible to worship the gods), and tribes (places where sacrifices were made). Traditional temples were oval in shape and located either on the tops of hills, or on a large glade in the middle of the forest. The temple was fenced with a rampart and a moat. In the middle there was a wooden pole - the idol of the deity, near which was the pedestal for the sacrifice.

The religion of the Eastern Slavs: the pantheon of the gods

At present it is very difficult to define the hierarchy of ancient deities, since different tribes worshiped different gods. In addition, over time the religion of the Eastern Slavs evolved, but with the new beliefs literally layered on the old.

The religion of the Eastern Slavs in ancient times recognized the god Rod as the head of the pantheon. He defended the human race and helped him in this so-called parturient women - faceless and nameless goddesses, who helped women to lead a household, bear, give birth and bring up children. The representative of women in childbirth is Lada, who was considered the protector of the home.

But over time, the main god was Perun, who is often associated with the Scandinavian god Thor. His symbol was a hammer and an ax, he commanded lightning and thunder. Perun was the god who caused fear, because his power was boundless. That is why the ancient warriors tried to find his favor, since he helped during the war. Perun was a symbol of the heavenly power, which constantly struggled with the evil of the earth. His main enemy was the Serpent, which combined all the evil of the earth.

In addition, the religion of the Eastern Slavs praised Svarog, who was considered the god of heaven. His sons Yarilo and Stribog were also very important for the ancient peoples. Yarilo was considered the deity of the sun, while Stribog commanded the wind.

The only goddess of the Slavic pantheon is Makosh, who was the patroness of weaving. It was her women who brought gifts so that she would not tangle the yarn. They say that sometimes she even spun herself, helping the mistress of the house.

In addition to the main gods, the ancient Slavs recognized the existence of other, supernatural beings. They were leche, mermaids, kikimors, housekeepers and other representatives of the cult, each attributed to some forces and duties in nature.

It is believed that after the transition of the Slavs to Christianity, pagan cults completely disappeared. In fact, this is completely wrong, because Christians still celebrate some pagan holidays to this day. For example, it was on Christmas Day that the ancient Slavs celebrated Kolyada, and the traditions of this holiday have survived to this day. The pagan religion of the Eastern Slavs simply merged with Christianity and in some ways exists to this day.