Today the leading religions of the world are monotheistic. In other words, they are based on the belief in the only God. But once monotheism was rare, and most peoples believed in many higher powers. Monotheism before the spread of Christianity was among the ancient Jews, and even then in certain periods of existence
this people. Other nations revered many higher powers, including the Slavs. Unfortunately, in our time not so much information about the faith of our ancient ancestors has been preserved. It is known that the Slavic pantheon of gods included many bright characters. For example, Yarila, Svetovit, Kupail, Kolyada, who personified the sun. But the Slavic pantheon of gods also contained “functional” characters: Semargl, the lord of death, Veles, the lord of those who had gone to another world, the god Perun, whose activity made him something like the Greek Thunderer Zeus, and Stribog, the master of the wind.
Interestingly, all the celestials worshiped by our ancestors were considered one
family. The Slavic pantheon of gods came from Rod. He was the ancestor of other supernatural beings and the Slavs themselves, according to their beliefs. In other words, there was a supreme being, the rest of the celestials were his assistants. The entire Slavic pantheon of gods resembles a family tree. Ancestor - Rod, his sons - Lada, Semargl, Makosh, Svarog. The grandchildren were Dazhdbog, Yarilo and Khors. The next generation is people. Many Slavic tribes considered themselves children of Dazhdbog. The lowest level of this hierarchy is goblin, banniks, brownies, kikimors, mermaids and other mythical creatures. The Slavic pantheon of gods contained characters whose life activity was associated with solar activity. For example, Khorsa was revered during the period that began at the winter solstice and ended at the vernal equinox.
The most famous of these deities was Yarilo. Our distant ancestors associated their faith to a large extent with the Sun, which they revered. This explains the presence of "solar deities". The Slavic swastika, known as Kolovrat, symbolized the Sun.
The pantheon of Slavic pagan gods mainly consisted of light, good forces. But the dualism of the vision of the world was characteristic of most peoples, and ours is no exception. The Slavs revered Belbog (Svetovit) as the keeper of goodness, truth, purity. However, in their mythology there was also an antipode to him. Chernobog is the patron of dark forces. Both participated in the activities and life of nature.
Veles was known as the patron of animals and plants. In general, he personified all the forces of nature. They tried to appease him in order to increase the number of livestock and the harvest.
The Pantheon of Slavic gods personified the forces of nature. But, on the otherOn the other hand, he was anthropomorphic. That is, it was believed that the gods were in direct relationship with people.
Some of the lexicology will help to understand the faith of the Slavs more widely. The very word "god" in ancient times did not mean some kind of omnipotent and supernatural principle. It was used in the sense of "luck, happiness, share." This word retained this meaning for a long time. Hence, apparently, the wise statement attributed to A. Nevsky: “God is not in power, but in truth.”
