Slavic paganism. Religion, mythology and gods of the East Slavs (Kyivan Rus)

What is Slavic Paganism? What do we know about the religious beliefs, myths, and ritual practices of the East Slavs? Who was their primary deity? This review talks about religious practices of Ukrainians, Belarusians, Russians and Rusyns before the Christianization of Kyivan Rus by the Great Prince Volodymyr. You will learn about their gods, culture, and other divine beings they worshiped (such as domovoy, vodyanoy, ovine, polevoy, leshy, etc.)
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#slavicculture #slavic #slavic_paganism #religious_studies #religiolog
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Pantheon: Perun, Svarog, Khors, Stribog, Mokosh, Volos, Veles, Simurgh, Simargl.
Bibliography:
Rybakov, Boris (1981). Iazychestvo drevnykh slavian [Paganism of the Ancient Slavs]. Moscow.
Froianov, I. Ia.; Dvornichenko, A. Iu.; Krivosheev, Iu. V. (1992). "The Introduction of Christianity in Russia and the Pagan Traditions". In Balzer Marjorie Mandelstam; Radzai Ronald (eds.). Russian Traditional Culture: Religion, Gender and Customary Law. Routledge. pp. 3-15.
Gasparini, Evel (2013). "Slavic religion". Encyclopædia Britannica.
Alvarez-Pedroza, Juan Antonio (2021). Sources of Slavic Pre-Christian Religion.
New Researches on the Religion and Mythology of the Pagan Slavs, 2019, by Patrice Lajoye (Author), Ji Dynda (Author), Alexander Ivanenko (Author), Kamil Kajkowski (Author), & 5 more
Анатолий Комков. Духовные проявления в культуре дохристианской Руси.
Васильев М. Язычество Восточных славян накануне крещения Руси. М.: Индрик, 1999. - 328 с.

[@zephlodwick1009]

I love the art in this film. I love the colors and the lighting. Slavic folk clothing is lovely.

[@religiologEng]

great! I'm glad you loved it.

[@robertfreid2879]

Aside from religious policy in totalitarian regimes, I study about the Northern Crusades of the Baltic region (Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia). These were the last paganistic peoples of Europe - with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania being the last formal pagan state, only accepting Christianization in 1387 A.D. The campaigns against paganism there were handled by militant Catholic knightly orders, like the Livonian Sword Brothers and the Teutonic Knights (who initially had their start out in the classical Crusades of the Levant). Christianization was handled there much more brutally than anywhere else in my view... But the Balts (particularly the Lithuanians) had an interesting pantheon of deities - like Saule (the sun goddess), Perkunas (related to the East Slavic Perun), etc. I hear that Rodnovery is making a comeback in modern Russia and Ukraine. According to Marlene Larauelle, the people who are becoming Rodnovers are those who are interested in the post-Soviet and post-State Atheism religious revival, but don't like the structure of the Russian Orthodox Church and other religions in modern Russia.

[@religiologEng]

thanks for sharing. It is a fascinating stuff. Yes, paganism is on the rise in Baltic nations, partially because they were the last to resist Christianization. It was quite painful for them. And yes, you are right that Rodnovers are in a strong opposition to Christianity and in particular to ROC.

[@kdg7247]

Great job! I'm really glad there is someone who's covering these topics with such high quality. Keep it up!

[@religiologEng]

Thanks for the inspiration!

[@philosoffoma7432]

Wery nice!

[@user-gp5nb8oo5p]

оо интересная тема, хотелось бы такое на русскоязычном канале увидеть)

[@religiologEng]

да, как-нибудь сделаем

[@kefirmroku4494]

I know two important facts little different: Svarog means "the scorching one", it is equivalent of Iranian Hvar (Xvar), it was solar diety, equivalent of the Greek Helios and Biblical Henoch of Seth's line. Svarog's son (Polish Swarożyc) was Dazhbog (PL: Dadźbóg), meaning "piercing god", who was equivalent of Latin Iapetus, of Greek Titan Japet and Biblical Japhet. In Slavic tradition all the Slavs, Iranians etc. were descendants of Svarog through the line of Dazhbog

[@religiologEng]

Thank you for sharing this perspective!

[@SlaviSokol]

I would like to know how is Dadźbóg a piercing god what is the connection ?

[@anthymidis]

Nice job!

[@religiologEng]

thanks for the comment!

[@herbalannie7707]

The visual art you chose was so inspirational.

[@religiologEng]

Thank you! I'm glad you liked it. 😀

[@SomasAcademy]

Why is Canada highlighted on the map of countries with major Slavic populations at 0:11?

[@religiologEng]

there are many Ukrainians in Canada

[@MistaHexHash]

We need a community/tribe to talk about this further and connect if there isn't one already!

[@kefirmroku4494]

Cool topic. One correction: the area/country is simply "Rus", and the word "Kievian" points to the statehood because the whole Rus had capital in Kiev back then.

[@raughboy188]

Are you refering to what was once called Kievska Rus?

[@marinabrodova2881]

Thank you for this video! It was super interesting to watch this detailed investigation of the forgotten religion. Дякую!

[@religiologEng]

радий, що вам сподобалося

[@user-ur2xk3hr2g]

Интересное видео о мифах

[@religiologEng]

thank you for the comment

[@zipperpillow]

Well done. I appreciate that you do not apply modern sensibilities and social politics retroactively to these pre-Christian beliefs and dieties. Keep up the good work. Thank you for your effort.

[@religiologEng]

I appreciate your comment. The channel has similar content.

[@Randy-1967]

When are you planning to do more videos on Slavic Paganism

[@religiologEng]

oh, sorry, I have in mind a video about Religion and Science, then William James on theory of religion and maybe then on Paganism

[@Gorboduc]

The only other video I could find dealing with the Slavic pantheon is some douchy guy making unfunny jokes, so your calmer and better informed approach is appreciated. 👍

[@religiologEng]

thank you for the comment!

[@user-zh3fn4zm3o]

Czekałem na kolejną piosenkę i co dostaję piękną piosenkę o moim ulubionym bogu który włada Nawią sława ci Egon oby tak dalej mordeczko

[@religiologEng]

Thank you for you Likes, comments, and support! Check out my other videos: Ukrainian Halloween - kzbin.info/www/bejne/d6Wuq6WMgah3lZY kzbin.info/www/bejne/aaa9opyhe76WZtU Please, support Religiolog with a one-time donation: www.paypal.com/paypalme/religiolog Or become my Patron: www.patreon.com/4religiolog

[@HumanWeapon-nh6xn]

Слава рідним Богам! 🇺🇦

[@that1metalhead792]

Slavs definitely had temples, Saxo Grammaticus of Denmark talked about the beauty of Svantovit's temple on Cape Arkona, how he was worshiped and celebrated. Slavs even constructed temples within a gord like how the temple of Rugiaevit along with the twins Porevit and Porenut were within the Karentia gord. Even the Serbs who settled Narentia and founded Pagania brought with them Svantovit from Central Europe and made a temple to him on the Adriatic.

[@mountaindewgaming2351]

Did Slavic pagans have any notion of infinite realities in there cosmology like in ancient vedism because I know the two religions are related

[@religiologEng]

Thank you for the question. Unfortunately we don't know much, what we know mainly comes through the biases of the dominant religion that arose in the opposition (which is Christianity). So, I dont think we have enough knowledge to claim whether its true or not.

[@mountaindewgaming2351]

@@religiologEng Do we know if slavs had fire shrines or temples where they lite flames or kept eternal flames

[@religiologEng]

@@mountaindewgaming2351 I've never heard of anything like that

[@mountaindewgaming2351]

@@religiologEng wasn't fire a sacred element associated with svarog I saw modern rodnovery practitioners having fire temples don't know if its historic though.

[@yaroslaw7300]

​@@mountaindewgaming2351вечный огонь поддерживали перед идолом Перуна

[@raughboy188]

I know you researched it in depth but i have to tell you that all slavs followed the same religion before christianization. My people are southern slavs but they were followers of slavic paganism too. You will find that chief or primary deity was same for all of us. We also mostly worshiped same gods but depending on people and where they're from some gods werent worshipped by other slavs same goes for mythological beeings and some rituals differed too. Closest to slavic paganism today is found in russia and goes by name Rodnoveria from old slavic word Rod which menas god and veria means faith or religion but i don't know where that vord comes from. To trully understand slavic paganism you need to track all slavs prior to christianization, you also need to know where they lived and if they migrated like my people. In old days things were different, slavs weren't situated like today, there weren't czechs,slovaks even russians, slavs were tribal people for centuries and were known by different names, you'll need those names as those names designate ancestors to modern slavs to trully understand slavic paganism.

[@religiologEng]

Thank you for the comment! Modern scholars say that Rodnoverie is a Modern New Religious Movement. It has almost nothing to do with the ancient slavic paganism. They draw inspiration from it but it is a completely new system of though, made up recently. Unfortunately we dont know much about the slavic paganism and many claims could not be historically verified. Too many speculations. I wish we could have more verifiable knowledge about that period.

[@raughboy188]

@@religiologEng When it comes to ancient slavic pantheon there is a wholle lot of unknowns so as i said to make some sense of how it work you'd need to dig deep to learn names of slavic people from whom todays slavs descended.

[@Soulute367]

Where was hubby dearest Chernobog in this?

[@iachtulhu1420]

I'm not sure whether there is any scholarly consensus regarding the nature of this deity or if it was a deity at all. One option is that the name refers just to one of Veles' attributes: "blackness", attributed to chthonic creatures of underworld or forests. (Veles is connected primarily with underworld, forests or dark places). The other option is that it's entirely different god from pagan times that shares some attributes with Veles. Third option is that it's Christianization of gods they saw as evil, a kinda folk version of devil but informed by Slavic folklore even after Christianization. I'm leaning towards Chernobog being either a Veles himself, or some aspect of Veles. There is also a linguistic curiosity regarding Chernobog's name, Cherno (meaning black) being also tied to poetic form "black beast" that was possibly one of Veles' nicknames from folklore and thus showing the equivalence of these two supposedly separate deities. But I dunno, to determine the truth of the matter with absolute certainty is hard thing given scarce (re)sources.

[@Soulute367]

@iachtulhu1420 I have literally invoked him multiple times and some are permanent. He is legit.

[@SlaviSokol]

I have a theory that all slavic gods can be reduced to two maby four. Over time people lost the meaning of traditions and start to invent new ideas. This fragmentation continued to the point where people worship nature deities. The confusion in religion hepled the conversion to christianity which i believe was mostly non violent. Also this moment was exploited by political intentions.

[@viccotine5633]

great video i would just recommend using the Ukrainian spelling and pronunciation instead of russian because most of these beliefs stemmed from now modern day ukrainian territories and there is always risk of russian propaganda and them falsely claiming to have connections to the kyivan rus and what not.

[@religiologEng]

Could you please give a specific example, so that I understand what you mean?

[@viccotine5633]

@@religiologEngyes so it would be called Kyivan Rus (now modern day Kyiv capital of ukraine) and Volodymyr the Great since Vladimir is the russian spelling and pronunciation and he had absolutely no affiliation with Russia and i’m not even sure if Moscow even existed at that time

[@viccotine5633]

@@religiologEngas well, the modern day Ukrainian language is the lineal descendant of the language spoken in the Kyivan Rus so it’s just historically correct and accurate to use the ukrainian spelling

[@religiologEng]

@@viccotine5633Thanks but haven't I use the same spelling? Did I use a different one?

[@viccotine5633]

⁠@@religiologEngno you used “Kievan” in the title and “Vladimir”. it should be Kyivan and Volodymyr. :)

[@TheDar666]

So where are Polish pagans Siemowit ?

[@religiologEng]

I dont know. This video is not about Polish pagans

[@buniomenio3284]

About 30 years ago on maps there was no such country like Ukraine and today they fight with Russia. Who are these people and where they came from?

[@religiologEng]

About 30 years ago on maps there was no such country like Russia.

[@buniomenio3284]

@@religiologEng Thought you know the answer if you tell us so much about much older nation like eastern pagans. Thank you

[@religiologEng]

@@buniomenio3284 Ukrainian culture and language exists for centuries. I'm sure there are introductory videos on that topic. Also you may check a course on the history of Ukraine by Timothy Snyder at Yale. It's available on KZbin

[@succubydoo9078]

@@religiologEng Подивіться на європейські карти до 19 століття. Ви легко знайдете на них Росію, але не зможете знайти там Україну. Прочитайте хоч книги написану до 19 століття. Як багато згадок про Україну ви знайдете? Гетьманщина і Малоросія, ось все що ви знайдете. Тому що слово Україна в ті часи була не більше ніж народним терміном описує південні землі і навіть іноді писалося в маленької літери. Почитайте Гоголя: він використовує слово Україна і Руська Земля як синоніми.

[@user-Vikta_8]

We say Kyiv so Kyivan RUS, and there was Prince Volodymyr. Vladimir putin, but our Ukrainian name is and was VOLODYMYR. It is very important not to spoil facts!

[@religiologEng]

Thank you! Updated!

[@user-xr4wu4rp2r]

@@religiologEng Ask this Ukrainian demagogue how it happened that Ukrainians do NOT have the legends of the "Kiev cycle"? If they are descendants of those who lived on the territory of Kiev and the surrounding area, then they must have legends of this period. But, there are none!!! And on the territory of Russia, ordinary peasants have legends of the "Kiev cycle" among ordinary peasants. They are found among the peasants of the Russian north and are found up to the Volga River. How did it happen? It's VERY SIMPLE! In 1240, Kiev was burned by the Mongols. The entire territory of modern central Ukraine is steppes. There was nowhere to hide from the Mongol raids. The entire Russian Slavic population of Kiev and the surrounding lands went into the forests of the north and east. There were SO MANY of them that they brought their legends to the Volga! Ukrainians have nothing to do with those who lived in Ukraine before the Mongol invasion. After the Slavs left the Kiev lands, the Kipchak Turks came to this land. The names of these hordes are known. This is the horde of Mansur, the horde of Egolday… The Kipchaks were driven out of the southern steppes by the Mongols to the north in the Kiev region. It is written about this in the Galician Chronicle. The southern half of modern Ukraine is the lands of the Crimean Khanate. The northern half was inhabited by Kipchak Turks, who were gradually assimilated by Polish colonists from the moment these lands became part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. What relation do the mestizos of Poles and Turks of Kipchaks have to the heritage of Kievan Rus? The Ukrainian language was created artificially at the end of the 19th century on the territory of the Austro-Hungarian Empire by a group of Poles. It was Austria's deliberate policy to combat pro-Russian sentiments among the Carpathian Ruthenians. They wanted to convince them that they were of Ukrainians and they had their own language. Everything in the history of Ukraine and Ukrainians is a blatant and primitive lie.

[@besconst]

@@user-xr4wu4rp2r cool story broyou forgot that Lenin create Ukraine with Austrian money, because he is a Jew😄

[@user-xr4wu4rp2r]

@@besconst Lenin and the Bolsheviks seized power with German money. This is known for real. There are official documents. The Bolsheviks were supervised by a German intelligence agent named Parvus. And yes, Lenin is a Jew.

[@user-xr4wu4rp2r]

@@besconst That's the way it is. Only the German special services invested money in the Bolsheviks.

[@peterpulis8198]

Slavs were not Pagan, it is “ROD BOŽÍ” means our ancestors are our Gods, because family is most important cell in society. You can call to there’s god who is Androgyna Hermaphrodit and become lizard or call family oriented Gods our ancestors? 😊❤️✌️

[@jerzy7118]

The Slavs had writing; Runes later Glagolitic. There wasn't much left because Christianity thoroughly destroyed it and gave a false narrative to the history of the Slavs. Evidence ; Take a look at the Polish 10 PLN banknote. there is a coin of the Polish ruler there - look closely.

[@religiologEng]

we aren't sure about it. This is 20th century concept. There are writings that claim to be ancient Slavic text but they are debunked by scholars to be fake

[@davidcurkic2357]

I think the same!.

[@mara3842]

It's "Belarusians" not "belaRUSSIANS" lol.

[@religiologEng]

oh, really

[@jerzy7118]

Nonsense ! this is the official Catholic narrative.

[@religiologEng]

what exactly? Which specific argument?

[@SlavicandScandinavianGirlLover]

Catholics and Christian’s are the same thing