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, faith 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 higher powers, appease them and “lure” people to the side.
Deities
Before the baptism of Rus, all people on our land were pagans. Therefore, there are a huge number of deities in Slavic mythology . The main gods of the Slavic pantheon include:
- The god of thunder and warriors is Perun;
- The god of the other world and the protector of livestock - Veles;
- God of heaven is Stribog;
- Goddess of manual female labor (sewing, weaving) - Mokosh;
- The gods of the sun - Kolyada, Dazhbog, Yarila, God Horse.
Depending on the habitat of the Slavic people, the number of revered deities can vary significantly. God Horse (Horos, Horset), for example, is not found in all sources.
Idols
Archaeological and written sources indicate the existence of idols among the Slavs - wooden, stone, metal images of gods. God Horse, for example, was often portrayed in the form of a bearded man in a helmet, with a symbol of the sun - a swash in his hands.
Worshiping idols took place in open sanctuaries - often in forests. The temples - peculiar arbors - were arranged in the meadow, enclosed the place with a fence, and in the middle they necessarily made a fire.
In addition to the deities, the Slavs worshiped stones, rivers, swamps, lakes, springs springing from the earth with spring water, as well as the sun, month 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). What is the difference?
- 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 heaven, he opposes the forces of Navi (Darkness). Its symbol is a white light that always exists, even in cloudy and gloomy weather. Summer is considered its season. And the time of day is the day.
- Yarilo is rather a spring, morning God, or even a ritual character. It symbolizes the future fertility and the end of winter - Shrovetide.
- According to myths, the God Horse of the ancient Slavs was the brother of Veles and the son of Rod. He is the patron of yellow, golden sunlight, autumn and night sun. It is with his character that the movement of the Sun in the sky is most of all connected.
Sunday is considered to be Khorsa Day, as well as the autumn solstice day , 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.
Horse in myths and tales never appears alone, it, like the sun without a day, can not be without Dazhdbog. In addition to the light and heat of the sun, good rain is also needed for the crop. And then Perun with his thunderclouds and the lord of the wind Stribog will come to the rescue.
What does Horse look like?
According to ancient legends, this deity is depicted in human form. This is a bearded, rosy-faced man of about 35, who always smiles very restrainedly. He is dressed in clothes of cool shades: it is always a shirt, a raincoat and pants, sometimes a helmet. In his hands, on his head or in the sky, a heavenly luminary or the ancient pagan symbol of the sun is depicted - a rot.
The origin of the word round dance
Oddly enough, many words in our language do not appear by chance. Etymologists argue that the origin of most words in Russian has a special meaning. So God Khors (among the Slavs), a photo of the image of which is presented below, became the “progenitor” of such words as: “good”, “good”, “choir”, “mansions”, “round dance”, “ring”, “wheel” and others.
The thing is that the roots of “horo” (or “colo”), which used to mean “sun disk”, are directly related to the concept of “circle”, “circle”. And all the words that come from this root are connected with the circle. Mansions are a circular building. The word "good" in Russia was synonymous with round, well-fed words. 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 Horse, the names of such words as “bell”, “kolobok”, “stake”, “about” and “Kolovorat” (the most famous pagan symbol and amulet denoting the movement of the sun in a circle) occurred.
God Horse. What did they pray for him?
During ceremonies dedicated to this deity, cheerful mass celebrations, dances and games took place, they always made a big fire, in the winter they always bathed in the hole, and made sacrifices. No, these are not the public bloody killings of people and animals that Christians so much ascribe to the ancient Slavs and paganism. The sacrifices consisted of a variety of foods, pastries and a small portion of the recently harvested crop. One of the traditional dishes of these holidays was a round cake, which was called khoroshul.
This sunny deity was prayed for help in farming, blacksmithing, a good harvest and clear weather. Horse was asked to calm snowstorms and snowfalls, to give strength to fight the unclean forces from Navi.
Dark incarnation
The contrast of the God of the autumn sun is the Dark Horse. This is a creation of evil, which, although clearly weaker than a good double, but still brings people such troubles as avalanches, drifts, blizzards and severe frosts. It was believed that from the winter attacks of the Evil deity the amulet with the image of swastika symbols, prayer to the idol and appeasing the spirit with goodies will save.