Wind is an indispensable helper for a person. Now with its help they receive electricity, grow crops, etc. Therefore, in the legends and myths of different peoples, the wind has taken its rightful place. So, for many pagans, one of the most important characters in myths and legends was the god of the wind. However, each nation called and portrayed him differently.
Not the wind rages over the forest
If you explore the mythology of all nationalities, you can find more than a hundred different gods who were considered the patrons of the wind. Not the last place in the pantheon of gods of almost every nation is occupied by the pagan god of the wind - the ruler of one of the fundamental elements of the universe - air. The names of the lord of the air element cannot be counted, each nation called him differently, while bestowing similar powers and abilities. Boreas, Not, Zephyr, Aeol, Eurus, the Egyptian Amun, the Indian Vayu and the Slavic Stribog are an incomplete list of the names of the god of the wind.
The names of the lord of the air element are countless
Let's look at characters from the most famous pagan religions.
1. Ancient Iran. The wind god is Vayu. This is not even one god, but twins. Only the first Vayuevil, he tries to harm the souls of the dead faithful. This hypostasis of his corresponds to the evil north wind. And the second Vayu is kind, he transports them across the Chinvat bridge to the valley of eternal rest. This god among the inhabitants of Ancient Iran was associated with a warm spring wind that carries life. Such a plot is given in the Pahlavi sacred texts. And the hymn "Yasht" XV tells about Vayu - a formidable deity who is an intermediary between earth and sky. Among other things, the ancient Iranians considered him the patron saint of warriors and the entire military class.
2. Ancient India. The wind god is Vayu. Of course, the name of this deity is similar to the nickname of the ancient Iranian Vayu, but they are very different from each other. Vayu is a god with a pleasant appearance, distinguished by a thousand eyes and quickness of thought. The mount of this deity is a deer. But often Vayu rushes under the sky in a shining chariot along with Indra himself. The god of the wind is famous for his generosity, favor, we alth. White animals are sacrificed to him. In gratitude, Vayu often sends down a son to the donor (and in general, his house is filled with children's laughter), and this is the greatest reward. Also, the god of the wind does not deprive those who worship him of property, horses, bulls, fame, shelter and protection from enemies.
3. Ancient Egypt. The wind god is Shu. In Egyptian drawings, this deity was depicted as a man leaning on the ground with one knee and holding the vault of heaven with his hands. Shu is also one of the judges in the afterlife.
4. Ancient China. The wind god is Fengbo. This deity has no definite appearance. He was depicted either as a dog with a human face, or as a comet, or as Feilian, a spotted deer like a leopard with a bird's head and a snake tail.
5. Ancient Japan. The wind god is Fujin. He was depicted as a man carrying a bag behind his back, in which all tornadoes, winds and breezes are folded. According to ancient Japanese legend, at the dawn of the world, Fujin released one hurricane to disperse the fog between the earth's firmament and the firmament of heaven.
Wind is a windy element
The soul is not equal to the spirit, but close to it. Spirit is a breath, it is the movement of air, which means wind. That is why the gods of the winds are much closer to man than the rest of the elemental ones. They are already inside, already forming intentions, behavior, worldview.
It is interesting to see the genealogy of the wind gods here. Most often they are not included in the general hierarchical systems and are aliens. The god of the wind arrives with the wind and flies away just as unexpectedly. You can also think about the images of the gods of the winds. Almost everywhere (except China) they are winged and resemble angels. Or demons - the winged messengers of the gods among the ancient Greek philosophers were demons, regardless of the plus or minus in ethical motivation. It is tempting to continue the line god of the wind - angel - soul, but since this can lead to unnecessary thoughts and discoveries, it is better to simply accept this similarity as a given.
What is the name of the wind god and when is his name? Only at the beginning of the battle or so that the ships sail. God of the wind as the first patron of geopolitics. And this is also a reasonthink about it.
Wind deities in the system of the ancient world order
As you know, the most logical and known system of the world order, where each god has his own place and his own life stories, was among the ancient Greeks. Greek myths and legends are so detailed that even the Chinese and Japanese hierarchical divine systems cannot compare with them, where each deity has its own rank and the number of stars on shoulder straps. So, with someone's light hand, the goddesses of the breeze became harpies. In China and India, there were no special reforms in the kingdom of the gods, from the very beginning, the elemental deities are dangerous and hostile, in matters of divine government they belong to demons. The Vedic Maruta (comparable to our Mara-Morana) is not a god, but a demon of wind and bad weather. Try to figure out the name of the wind god here!
Wind on Olympus
Greeks have more than one god of the wind. Several deities were in charge of the Olympic winds. The most severe was Boreas, the god of the north wind. He was the son of the Dawn and the Starry Sky. The assumption of the Greeks about the connection of the north with the dawn is interesting. By the way, they had great respect for Hyperborea, a distant northern country where Russia is now located. From there, for example, Apollo appeared in Greece.
And in many sources (not quite official, of course) it is assumed that many Greek gods are Slavic deities who at some point chose Greece as their place of residence and assimilated there. It is not known how everyone is, but Borey definitely has Scythian roots. According to Greek legends, he lives in Thrace and turns into a horse. His brother Zephyr is the god of the western wind. Knownan affair with a harpy (again a windy lady) Gout, and from this marriage the horses of Achilles were born. God of the south wind - Not. It brings fogs and humidity. Eurus is the unexpected god of the southeast wind. There is no east wind in Greek cosmogony. He is not related to other gods, is devoid of human form and destroys ships. I wonder where he rushed to the Greek lands? And the most famous is Aeolus. Just a demigod of the wind. Ellin's son. A mysterious figure and seems to be from another fairy tale. He gave Odysseus a fur, in which the winds were hidden, with an order not to open it. Odysseus disobeyed.
Stribog and …
In Slavic mythology, the winds are not personified. The name Stribog is derived from the word "streg", meaning "paternal uncle", "senior". This god appeared thanks to the breath of Rod. Stribog is able to call and tame storms, and also turn into his assistant, the mythical bird Stratim. The god of the wind among the ancient Slavs is not so much the deity of the air element itself, but the grandfather of all winds. If you delve into his genealogy, then the Vedic and Indo-European roots of the name and behavioral features show his initial identity to God-Heaven. The only god, from the marriage with which Mother Earth bore nature and people.
Stribog much more than Perun can claim this function. He is a cosmogonic, antediluvian god, in contrast to the god of warriors and rulers of Perun. Stribog lives, as expected, on a black rock on the sea-ocean. What he does - the sources are silent. It threatens and blows, as it should be. The ships sink. Yet he is one of the gods of the strange andeclectic pantheon of Vladimir. To the question of why this particular set mentions The Tale of Bygone Years, none of the researchers seems to have found an answer.
God of the wind in fine arts
The mysterious Hyperborean Boreas appeared in one of the most famous paintings of world history, Botticelli's "Spring". In the mystical tradition of the Priory of Sion, this picture sees the arrival of Mary Magdalene in the South of France, after which she became the most revered female symbol of the esoteric tradition. And the spring-Mary in France is met not only by the nymphs and France itself (a lady in a dress dotted with blue flowers), but Boreas. In the picture, it is, however, small, but, interestingly, it flies from the east.
Dedicated poetry and prose to the winds
Interesting are the deities of the wind in one of Andersen's fairy tales. The path in search of paradise for a young man passes through the cave of the winds, where the figures of the North, West, East and South winds release storms from their bags that destroy humanity. Despite the fact that the winds brought the young man to Paradise, human nature prevented him from staying there forever, and he again returned to the cave of the winds. It is interesting that Maximilian Voloshin has a good phrase: "I am a pagan according to the flesh and I believe in the real existence of all pagan gods and demons, at the same time I cannot think outside of Christ." Here is the confirmation - the gods of the wind, the early gods of mankind, the demons recognize Christ and are ready not only to yield to him power over human souls, but also to accompany a person to the Kingdom of God, but a person is weak. And in myweakness, he becomes uninteresting even to the windy gods.
