they believed the ancient Slavs?How the gods worshiped?What religion preached in those ancient times, when Christianity still never heard?Religion ancient Slavs, which is called paganism, includes a huge number of cults, beliefs and views.It got on how archaic primitive elements and the more advanced ideas about the existence of the gods and the human soul.
Christian Slavs originated more than 2-3 thousand years ago.The oldest religious beliefs Slavic peoples is animism.According to this belief, so everyone has a disembodied counterpart, shadow, spirit.Hence was born the concept of the soul.According to the ancient ancestors of the Russian people, the soul have not only people but also animals, as well as all natural phenomena.
Slavic religion rich and totemic beliefs.Totems animals - elk, wild boar, bear, as the sacred animals were worshiped.Subsequently, every sacred animal was the symbol of a Slavic god.For example, wild boar - a sacred animal of the god Perun, and the bear - Veles.There were also vegetable totems: birch, oak, willow.Many religious rituals are performed around freestanding sacred trees.
Gods in the Slavic religion.
Slavs there was one God for all.Each tribe worshiped different.The common religion of the gods of the ancient Slavs refers characters like Perun, Veles, Lada, Svarog and Makosh.
- Perun - God of Thunder, patronized by princes and warriors.Prince Vladimir of Kiev Svyatoslavovych worshiped as the supreme god of this.
- Velez - the god of wealth, "pastoral" god, patron of merchants.Less often considered the god of the dead.
- Svarog - god of fire and the sky, is considered the father of other divine beings, the presiding deity of the early Slavs.
- Makosh - the goddess of fortune, water and fertility, patron of expectant mothers.He was considered the personification of the feminine.
- Lada - the goddess of love and beauty.He was considered the goddess of "Rozhanitsy" patronizing year yield.
idols of the ancient Slavs.
religion of ancient Slavs not only had their gods and their idols - statues, conveys the image of a deity, which more than any other respected in the tribe.It was a wooden or stone statues were worshiped during religious ceremonies.Most often, the idols were installed on the banks of rivers, in groves, on the hills.They often wore in the hands holding the cup or horn, with them you could see a rich weapon.There were also domestic idols of smaller sizes, which were hidden in homes.The ancient Slavs identified by the god idols, so it was a great sin to damage the statue of an idol.
ancient "temples" and the Magi in the Slavic religion.
Eastern Slavs, who lived in present-day Russia has never erected temples: all the rituals and prayers are performed in the open air.Instead of the temple, they have equipped the so-called "temple" - a place where the idols were placed, was located the altar of sacrifice and implemented.And the religion of ancient Slavs allow any of the faithful to approach the idols to worship them, and to make any offering.As a sacrifice, usually used by various animals, human sacrifices are not practiced by the ancient Slavs.
As custodians of knowledge, healers and seers of the ancient Slavs there were magicians.They are stored and transmitted from one generation to the ancient myths were calendars, predict the weather, served as sorcerers and magicians.The wise men had a great impact on the Kievan princes that are in all important state issues consulted with them.
Thus, it is safe to say that the religious ideas of the ancient Slavs - a well-developed system that includes a huge number of various pagan beliefs professed by the Slavs before the adoption of the Christian religion.It has played a huge role in shaping the world, perception of the world and culture of the Slavic peoples.Its echoes are still present in our lives.
