views of medieval Slavs was closely linked with the surrounding natural forces.Old Russian gods personified the forces of nature.Besides deities, folk beliefs were present in many other fantastic creatures like devils, mavok, demons, Bereguinias, Bannikov and others.Some of them came from Russian folk beliefs to this day.
universe of ancient Slavs
about the outlook of the eastern Slavs we today know very little.Far less than on similar beliefs of many western and eastern nations.This was due to the lack of our own ancestors of writing a long enough period.Narrative sources, which give an idea of how ancient tribes, there is simply no.To a certain extent this tell other sources: stone idols, religious temples, the text mentions a later time, and so on.The general view of the universe, which saw its eastern Slavs, can give Zbruch famous idol, found in the river of the same name in Ukraine.This two-meter statue has four sides and three levels, each of which represents the Universe: Underground (the world of dark creatures), earth (the human world) and heaven (the world of the gods).As already mentioned, the object of worship for the Russian was itself the element in which they saw divine providence.
Etymology divine names
Even the very names of the gods of the eastern Slavs indicate their function and natural forces, for which they are responsible: Rod is the ancestor of all the gods, and in general all life on earth;Dazhbog - God gives the sunshine and abundant fertility;Mara - the goddess of evil and night, personifying the death of all life in the late autumn.It was an antagonist spring goddess Lada.Often old Russian names of deities were local variants are very similar gods of other European mythologies.So, Perun is one of incarnation is very popular among the peoples of Indo-European thunder god.Mara contacted by different authors with the Roman deities Tsetseroy and Mars.Name Veles some historians derive from the Baltic god realm of the dead Vyalnasa.
Baptism of
turning to paganism was the rule in the second half of X century Prince Vladimir of Kiev.Old Russian gods simply ceased to meet the conditions of the developing world.Powerful neighbors Russia (Byzantine, Roman Catholic coalition, the Arab Caliphate) at this time were monotheistic states.Old Russian gods did not contributed to the internal consolidation of the country, and thus hampers its strengthening and development.A few years before the adoption of Christianity by Vladimir attempted to spiritual unification of Russian lands.The Kiev temple collected the most popular gods of ancient Russian in six idols (Horsa, Perun, Dazhdbog, Stribog, Mokosh Semargl).However, it soon became clear that the reform will not give proper results.A close contact with powerful neighbors, especially with the Byzantine Empire, the prince pushed to adopt the Greek version of Christianity in 988.It should also be noted that not only mythical creatures were able to exist in the new system.Many of the gods of ancient Russian eventually turned into a local Orthodox saints Christianity.
