Until now, on playgrounds of the Soviet era, we can find carved wooden figures. Now they are perceived as a simple decoration of parks in the Russian style, but in fact the tradition of carving such figures has existed for a long time and goes back to the pagan antiquity of Russia. Then these figures were chura Slavic gods. Read what it is in the article.
History of the Slavs
Slavic people are relatively young. In written sources mention of him can be found from the 6th century. n e., and the birthplace of this people, apparently, was the territory north of the Carpathians. The problem of the emergence and resettlement of the Slavs is still controversial in the scientific community, but in general the picture is as follows: in the middle of the first millennium AD, a circle of East Slavic tribes formed in Slovenia, Vyatichi, Krivichi, Dregovichi, and many others.
It cannot be said that they had a clear-cut circle of beliefs. There is currently no information about a certain unified mythology of the ancient Slavs, and it is unlikely to ever appear. Paganism of the Slavs did not reach the same high point as, for example, Greek or Native American, and did not develop their own myths and legends. However, fragmentary information about the lower representatives (gobbies, brownies and kikimors) and Slavic gods has been preserved. In the study of the beliefs of our ancestors - the ancient Slavs - scientists rely both on the data of ethnography and folklore, as well as on archeology. The latter often provides us with material evidence of those times when paganism was still alive and widespread - in particular, these are wooden statues of Slavic gods.
What is chur
But in fact, most likely, these statues were not called churs. There are different interpretations of the term "chur." In the XIX century, for example, it was believed that the deity of the hearth, which also protected the borders of the earth, was called chur. It is this form of the word, according to their version, that was preserved in another name of the ancestor - "ancestors". Thus, Chur guarded the border signs, and also contributed to the acquisition and accumulation of wealth. Chock is a synonym for this word, since chocks were also used as border signs before.
According to the interpretation of the ethnographers Zelenin and Strakhov, the word "chur" goes back to the Greek "master", and originally denoted an exclamation similar to "Lord!"
Later, a theory arose about the connection of chur with the phallic cult, which is still developing.
Chury Slavic gods
Nowadays, few people delve into the ethnographic subtleties, and by chura in the broad sense they mean the image of the Slavic gods, traditionally made in the technique of woodcarving.
About how the ancient temples were arranged, not much is known, but they were obviously made of wood, and there were chures of Slavic gods on them. Large chur were located in the open air and were the main element of the sanctuary. In addition, there were small churs, the place of which was in the house. Candles were lit for them; they were placed near the hearth.
Modern Gentiles
On the modern temples of the followers of Slavic paganism - the so-called Rodnover or neopagans - one can also meet such great chur Slavic gods for the temple. Traditionally, they establish the personifications of male deities - Svarog, Dazhdbog, Rhod, Veles and Perun, but sometimes you can also see Lada and Makosh on the temples, depending on who is worshiped more by the particular community that owns the open-air sanctuary. On them ceremonies, glorifications of native gods and ancestors are held. Rodnovers say that they revive the faith of the ancient Slavs in this way, recreating the chures of the Slavic gods, photos of which you can see in the article.
How to do it yourself
It is not necessary to purchase the statues of the gods from the masters, they can and even need to be made with your own hands. Chury Slavic gods with their own hands are made of wood. Ideally, they need to be created independently, but in urban conditions it is far from always possible to do so - problems with the availability of material and experience make themselves felt.
Working process
To begin with, of course, you need to decide on the image that you want to make, and sketch it on paper in the form of a sketch. Some try to choose a god close to their horoscope - this, of course, is absurd. To choose someone suitable for yourself, you just need to think about which of the gods is closer to you in spirit, or who could become your patron. You can make a pendant with the image of a deity and wear it on your chest as a talisman.
Next you will need various types of chisels and a sharp knife for carving on wood.
It is necessary in advance to make a workpiece of a suitable size - a piece of linden will be the ideal material for work. Here there may be subtleties: for example, some masters assure that for each deity it is necessary to choose a tree. It is believed that dark types of wood are needed for dark gods, such as, for example, Mara or Chernobog, respectively, light - for light forces. But it’s still better to focus on how accessible the wood that you have chosen to work, and, of course, how much it generally lends itself to carving.
And then, moving from coarser and more general details to smaller ones, you can begin to cut the chur, in accordance with the sketch. Of course, the first time you won’t get the perfect figure, in such a painstaking business you need skill. The main thing is to observe safety precautions: it is easy to get injured with sharp tools.
When the figure is ready, you need to give it a color. To do this, use a water-based stain, which can be further diluted with water to get the desired shade. After you cover the chur with a stain and let it dry completely, you need to go through the coarse and then fine-grained emery paper on the figure to brighten the protruding parts. This is done in order to make the product look more decorative and last longer, however, modern followers of Slavic paganism say that one should not cover the choirs of Slavic gods with varnishes and stains. The tree must breathe, and all kinds of coverings will prevent this.
Finally, the product must be covered with wax and polished with a soft cloth.
You can buy inexpensive Chur Slavic gods both in specialized online stores and at Slavic fairs.