Pre-Christian ideas about the creation of the world, about the essence of being and the meaning of human life are based on myths and legends, described in detail in ancient treatises. The basis of the beliefs of our ancestors was the worship and spiritualization of the forces of nature, the veneration of powerful ancestors, the belief in the presence of supernatural forces in human life. Much attention was paid to magical rites, idol worship, sacrifices and traditional holidays. All this was intended to help negotiate with the higher powers, to appease them and "poach" them to the side of the people.
Deities
Before the baptism of Russia, all people on our earth were pagans. Therefore, there are a huge number of deities in Slavic mythology. The main gods of the Slavic pantheon include:
- God of thunder and warriors - Perun;
- God of the other world and patron of livestock - Veles;
- God of the sky - Stribog;
- Goddess of manual female labor (sewing, weaving) – Mokosh;
- Gods of the sun - Kolyada, Dazhbog, Yarila, God Horse.
Depending on the habitat of the Slavic people, the number of revered deities may vary significantly. God Khors (Horos, Horset), for example, is not found in all sources.
Idols
Archaeological and written sources testify to the existence of idols among the Slavs - wooden, stone, metal images of gods. God Horse, for example, was often depicted as a bearded man in a helmet, with a symbol of the sun - a brace in his hands.
Idol worship took place in open shrines - often in forests. Temples - a kind of pavilions - were arranged in the clearings, enclosing the place with a fence and making a fire in the middle.
In addition to deities, the Slavs worshiped stones, rivers, swamps, lakes, spring water spouting from the ground, as well as the sun, moon and stars.
God Horse among the Slavs
This deity is the guardian of solar heat and light. But on the Russian land at the same time there were four Gods related to the sun: Kolyada, Dazhdbog, Yarila and God Khors (Kors). How are they different?
- Kolyada is the god of the winter or evening sun. Winter divination, songs and games - carols are dedicated to this deity.
- Dazhdbog personifies the light of the sky, he opposes the forces of Navi (Darkness). Its symbol is white light, which always exists, even incloudy and gloomy weather. Summer is considered his season. And the time of day is the day.
- Yarilo is rather a spring, morning God, or even a ritual character. It symbolizes future fertility and the end of winter - Maslenitsa.
- God Khors of the ancient Slavs, according to myths, was the brother of Veles and the son of Rod. He is the patron saint of yellow, golden sunlight, the autumn and night sun. It is with his character that the movement of the Sun across the sky is most connected.
Horsa Day is considered Sunday, as well as the day of the autumn solstice, which falls at the end of September. Metal - blackened silver. The tree of the mighty God is maple, it is designed to help people find peace, restraint.
Hors in myths and legends never appears alone, he, like the sun without a day, cannot be without Dazhdbog. In addition to the light and warmth of the sun, good rain is also needed for the harvest. And then Perun will come to the rescue with his thunderclouds and the lord of the wind Stribog.
What Horse looks like
According to ancient legends, this deity is depicted in human form. This is a bearded man, ruddy from frost, about 35 years old, who always smiles very reservedly. He is dressed in clothes of cool shades: it is always a shirt, a cloak and trousers, sometimes a helmet. In his hands, on his head or in the sky, the Celestial Luminary or the ancient pagan symbol of the sun - a brace is depicted.
Origin of the word round dance
Oddly enough, many words in our language do not appear by accident. Etymologists claim that the origin of most words in Russian has a specialmeaning. So God Horse (among the Slavs), whose photo image is presented below, became the "progenitor" of such words as: "good", "good", "choir", "mansions", "dance", "ring", "wheel" and others.
The thing is that the roots "horo" (or "kolo"), which used to mean the "solar disk", are directly related to the concept of "circle", "circumference". And all the words derived from this root are connected with the circle. The mansion is a circular building. The word "good" in Russia was synonymous with the words round, well-fed. And the famous ritual dance - round dance, as everyone knows, consists in the movement of people in a circle.
Also, on behalf of the god Khors, the names of such words as “bell”, “kolobok”, “kol”, “about” and “kolovorat” (the most famous pagan symbol and amulet denoting the movement of the sun in a circle) came about.
God Horse. What was he praying for?
During the rituals dedicated to this deity, there were fun mass celebrations, dances and games, they always made a big fire, in winter they always swam in the hole, and made sacrifices. No, these are not public bloody murders of people and animals that Christians love to attribute to the ancient Slavs and paganism in general. The offerings consisted of a variety of foods, pastries, and a small portion of the newly harvested crop. One of the traditional dishes of these holidays was a round-shaped pie called horoshul.
This solar deity was prayed for help in agriculture, blacksmithing, for a good harvest and clear weather. Horsa was askedcalm blizzards and snowfalls, give strength to fight the evil forces from Navi.
Dark Incarnation
The opposite of the Autumn Sun God is Dark Horse. This is a creation of evil, which, although clearly weaker than its good counterpart, still brings people such misfortunes as snow avalanches, drifts, snowstorms and severe frosts. It was believed that an amulet with the image of swastika symbols, a prayer to an idol and appeasing the spirit with goodies would save the evil deity from winter attacks.
