“Speaking of dragons. One ten-year-old child showed me his drawing.
I told him: "You made some sad dragon in the rain."
And he told me: "This is not a dragon in the rain, this is the essence of time, absorbing space. But you do not
Fedor F.

Slavic spirits

Slavic spirits of air elements

G amayoun- fabulous bird of paradise. Flies in the sky, but lives in the sea. She has a feminine face and breasts. Sometimes they are simply depicted as a large bird taking off from the depths of the sea. If the Gamayun bird screams, it prophesies happiness.

Alkonost- a fabulous bird of paradise of sadness and sadness. She was depicted as a half-maiden half-bird. Carries eggs on the seashore and, plunging them into the depths of the sea, makes it calm for six days. Hearing the singing of this bird forgets about everything in the world: the name, relatives, home.

Evening, Dawn, Midnight- three heavenly heroes, heroes of Russian oral traditions and fairy tales, symbolizing the main motifs of the daily solar cycle: evening, dawn and midnight. Chief among them is Dawn. He defeats dragons.

Sirin- a bird of paradise that has a human appearance. Bird of joy, good luck, glory. The beautiful singing of the Sirin bird makes people feel good; at the same time, only a happy person can hear her singing. Not everyone can see her: she disappears as quickly as fame and fortune.

Beregini- air maidens protecting people from ghouls. They try to stay close to human habitation. They are cheerful, playful, attractive creatures, singing enchanting songs with beautiful voices. In early summer, under the moonlight, they circle in round dances on the banks of reservoirs.

Cloud demons. These spirits reside in rain clouds, control their movement. They pull the clouds across the sky, graze them, with the help of a rainbow they push the ice, turning it into hail. They send rains to the earth or hold them back, punish with hail for sins. They can appear in the form of an eagle, a snake, a dragon.

Pitchfork- female spirits, beautiful girls with flowing hair, in light clothes, living in the mountains. The pitchforks have wings, fly like birds, own wells and lakes. If you take away their wings, then the pitchforks become ordinary women. Whoever takes away the clothes from the pitchforks, they obey him. They treat people friendly, help the offended and orphans, know how to heal, predict the future.

Spirits of the animal world

Arys field- fabulously fast, like the wind, a creature into which a young woman, enchanted by an evil witch, turned. Arys-pole became the leader of the animal pack and only occasionally, at night, ran home to feed her child. Three nights a year, she could only use to turn into a woman, and then she had to flee to the Far Far Away kingdom.

vulture bird- half bird (head and wings of an eagle), half beast (torso and legs of a lion). The feathers of this bird-beast are pointed like arrows; his claws and beak are iron. He is the size of a mountain. Flying fast like the wind.

Volkodlak- A werewolf with the ability to transform into a wolf. Sorcerers could wrap entire wedding trains with wolves. Tirlich-grass helps them in transformations.

swan maidens- half-maidens, half-birds, creatures of special beauty, seductiveness and things of power. Daughters of the Sea King. The bogatyr Potok married a swan maiden, but could not control her, she flew away from him.

The bird is a black bird with snake heads and tail, the embodiment of a terrible disease - cholera. At night it flies over the villages and, where it touches the water with an iron wing, there begins a pestilence.

In the culture of each nation, there are their own legends that explain the emergence of life and the creation of the world. Slavic mythology is a unique phenomenon. Despite the fact that no written evidence of its existence has survived to this day, we still believe in ancient folk superstitions and adhere to many rituals that were invented in pagan times. Slavic mythology, creatures and gods, evil monsters, good fairies and insidious spirits take us to an amazing, bright and fantastic world.

Roots of Slavic mythology

The ancient Slavs had a clear idea of ​​the structure of the divine world. The center of life was a magical island - Buyan, whose name can often be found in folk tales. The endless ocean foams around him. A mighty oak grows in the center of the magical land. A wise raven lives on its branches, and an insidious serpent lives in thick grass. A life-giving stream flows nearby and there is a sacred stone.

Once the Universe was divided into 2 worlds: the earthly one, where mortal people live, and the heavenly one, invisible to the human eye, whose inhabitants are the almighty gods, their helpers and enemies - magical spirits.

In Slavic mythology, several categories of magical creatures can be distinguished:

• the highest deities endowed with great power and controlling life on earth;
• warrior gods - protecting the world and people from dark forces;
• divine forces that command the natural elements and are responsible for certain crafts;
• spirits - malicious and good creatures living in a certain place (forest, water, earth, house);
• magical creatures are magical animals, helpers of the gods;
• mythological characters - inhabitants of the magical world.

In the old days, Russians believed that the gods watch how a person lives, help or punish him. The fate of any living being was in the hands of the celestials. The mythical Thunderers, who control the elements (fire, water, air, earth) and natural phenomena (rain, drought, hurricane), were revered especially strongly. These gods were prayed to grow crops, feed the family and not die of hunger.

In ancient Russia, people brought sacrifices to the gods as a gift, hoping for protection from evil forces.

Mythical spirits were feared and respected. According to popular beliefs, the happiness of a person depended on them. They possessed their own magical powers and were able to get rid of diseases, give a rich and happy life. If the spirits were angry, they could severely punish fools who dared to challenge them.

Russian people attributed human character traits to spirits: mercy, deceit, kindness, cunning.

To this day, not a single written evidence has survived that would contain texts and images of the heroes of Slavic myths. The only source in which there are legends associated with pagan beliefs is Old Russian literature.

Even after the adoption of Christianity in Kievan Rus and the prohibition of the pagan pantheon of gods, the Slavs retained and transferred their views to the new faith, thanks to which many saints who began to pray in churches borrowed character traits from their predecessors. For example, the old Slavic Perun began to bear the name of St. Elijah, the god of the sun and spring Yarilo - George, and the wisest god Veles turned into a revered church saint Blaise.

Divine pantheon among the Slavs

Rod was considered the main ancient deity among the Slavs - the ruler of heaven and earth, who gave people life. From the name of God came the word "genus", uniting such concepts as family, people and homeland. This deity was revered by many ancient peoples. People believed that he sits on a cloud and throws thunderstorms to the ground - this is how a new life is born.

Ancient Russian legends have preserved legends about bright deities (Yasuns) living high in the sky, and dark magicians (Dasuns) inhabiting the lower world. The pantheon in the mythical beliefs of the Slavs is represented by deities related to the main luminary, and the so-called functional gods.

How many seasons, so many guises of the sun god. In turn, 4 deities changed their power over the world. Kolyada reigned in winter, Yarilo came in spring, Dazhbog ruled the world in summer, and in autumn a period began during which Svarog became the main one. The day when the gods succeeded each other depended on the position of the sun in the sky. Ancient people carefully tracked the movement of space bodies.

The gods responsible for various natural elements and patrons of crafts included Tara, Volokh, Chislobog, Indra, Radogost, Ruevit, and others.

1. Perun is the mighty leader of all gods. The Thunderer moved on a golden chariot, armed with fiery arrows and an axe. If he was angry and angry, clouds would gather in the sky and thunder would be heard. Perun was a wise leader of the divine army. He brought light to the earth, protecting people from evil forces and misfortunes.
2. Veles is an evil deity who rules over the earth and water elements. Ancient people believed that he wanted to seize power over the world, therefore he was at enmity with the Thunderer Perun, who protects people from evil spells. Veles fought his dark side all the time, patronized people involved in art, supported talents, protected wanderers. He possessed great inner strength and wisdom, was one of the most powerful gods. Despite the fact that Veles was considered not very good, many revered him. As a sign of respect, people built temples where they worshiped this god.
3. Mara is the mistress of death. This goddess was considered the most just. They turned to her for help in witchcraft and divination, the souls of dead people obey the goddess. Although the Slavs were afraid of this goddess, they represented her in the form of a young and beautiful girl. The tall, stately, black-haired queen of the underworld was the epitome of restraint and coldness. The Slavs believed that Mara comes to the world of people in winter, when snow falls on her, and ice binds human hearts. With the advent of spring, it was customary for the Slavs to burn an effigy of Mary. Today, these traditions are embodied in another holiday - Maslyanitsa. The main symbol of the goddess is a frozen running water stream, which embodied the energy sleeping in every living being.
4. Yarilo - the name of this deity was associated among people with awakening after a long stagnation, he embodied a beautiful, life-affirming spring. The Sun God illuminated the world, exuding unprecedented strength and vitality. By his nature, Yarilo was a sincere, joyful and active deity, so he was portrayed as a young man with blue eyes and blond hair. The reckless god of the Sun embodied the image of youth, which is characterized by fleeting hobbies and loves.
5. Stribog - was considered one of the main divine beings. He controlled the air elements. In his submission were ethers - incorporeal spirits, as well as birds - faithful magical assistants. God descended to earth in the form of a Stratim bird. The Slavs represented Stribog as a gray-haired man who possesses inner strength and unprecedented physical strength. Stribog was armed with a golden bow. You could recognize him by the sky-colored clothes. Plowmen and sailors especially respected the god of the wind.
6. Lada is the mistress of love. This goddess was the embodiment of beauty, joy and happiness. She protected comfort in every family. Another goddess, Makosh, was considered the mistress of the house. Lada is a symbol of a girl preparing for marriage, blossoming for love. The goddess was young, beautiful and cheerful, and it is easy to recognize her among others by her long green hair. Faithful companions of Lada are butterflies of amazing beauty.

In Slavic myths, gods, like people, know how to love, hate and be friends. In many legends, good opposes evil, and solar forces do not allow darkness to devour the world.

Mythical creatures

In Slavic mythology, many creatures are not only helpers of the gods, but also have magical abilities themselves. People were afraid of evil monsters and believed in the kindness of spirits.

Bestiary - a collection of ancient beliefs that has come down to our days, describes mythical creatures in the form of intelligent animals. Some human imagination has awarded various virtues - fidelity, courage and courage, others - pettiness, malignancy and envy.

1. The giant serpent Aspid - this creature was at the head of the dark army. Aspid looked intimidating - a huge flying monster, with a beak and two long trunks. His wings were on fire. The beast dwells in the sky alone, as no one can bear a creature with such a black heart. He is invulnerable, he cannot be defeated even by the most powerful weapons. Aspid was capable of insidious deeds, he was eaten by inner anger, which pushed him to crime.
2. The Gamayun bird is the singer of divine news. The Slavs loved this creature very much. Only a select few could see it. The magic bird had a good disposition, acting honestly and fairly towards people. Gamayun is a very smart creature who knows the answers to all questions, deep secrets and knowledge are open to him. The bird acted as a wise adviser, the main thing was to ask the right question. A magical creature lives on Buyan Island. The ancient Slavs believed that Gamayun is an animal with the head of a beautiful girl and a bird's body.
3. Yusha is a snake that carries the planet. Although this creature was of an intimidating gigantic size, it had a kind disposition. Yusha has much in common with the Scandinavian Jermungand. Our ancestors believed that the serpent was wrapped around the planet and did not allow it to fall into the abyss. As long as the creature holds the earth, stability and tranquility reign in the world. According to beliefs, if a mythical creature in a dream tossed or sighed, earthquakes occurred.
4. Ghoul - this is how the Slavs generally called the malicious creatures that frightened them. Once they were people who strayed from the righteous path and stepped onto the dark side. After death, they turned into monsters capable of harming a person. It's not easy to fight a ghoul. This will require not hefty strength, agility and magical weapons made of silver. According to another version, ghouls are dead people who have not found rest and are not buried properly. To protect themselves from these evil creatures, our ancestors wore a red woolen thread. They used fire and magic spells. Ghouls are alien to feelings of compassion and pity. They killed people by drinking their blood.
5. The fiery falcon Rarog is a magical creature depicted on the coat of arms of the Slavs. This bird was not chosen by chance. Falcons never attack their enemies from behind and never harm an opponent they have defeated. In Slavic mythology, Rarog is a divine messenger. He was the first to learn important news and bring them to the world of people. This amazing bird helped to communicate with each other and with divine beings.
6. Giant Gorynya - this mythical creature helped create the world. He stands guard over the underworld, carefully watching so that not a single evil spirit breaks free. The name of this creature embodied an allegory - as huge as a mountain. The Slavs believed that power without the mind is worthless and brings only misfortune and destruction. In the myths Gorynya, responsibly approaching the task entrusted to him, saves the world from chaos.

The world of spirits among the Slavs

According to the ancient Slavs, fields, forests, water and air were inhabited by various spirits.

They embodied various fears and information about the world around them.

1. Kikimora. Evil spirit in the mythology of the Slavs. The souls of dead people became kikimors, they did not want to leave this world, so they settled in human housing, scared and did nasty things. Evil spirits lived in the basement. They loved to make noise and scare the owners of the house. Kikimora could attack a person in a dream, from which he began to choke. To protect themselves from the evil spirit, the ancient Slavs read magic spells and prayers.
2. Goblin. Our ancestors were afraid of the goblin and treated him with apprehension, expecting meanness. The spirit of the forest has never attacked people for fun and offended them. He made sure that wanderers did not violate the rules of forest life. To teach the violator a lesson, the goblin lured him into an impenetrable thicket, from where he was not able to get out on his own. The traveler could ask for help from the forest spirit. They portrayed the spirit in the form of a little old man, overgrown with herbs and moss. Goblin possessed magical abilities and easily reincarnated as forest creatures. Birds and animals were his faithful companions. Before going to the forest to hunt, the Slavs cajoled the goblin, leaving gifts for him.
3. Water. The ruler of the reservoirs likes to dive deeper into the pool. This spirit lives in bad water. In beliefs, the merman is described as a shaggy and bearded old man with green hair and a large tummy. All of it is smeared with mud. The lord of the river waters is hostile towards people, so he arranged all sorts of dirty tricks for them. To appease the spirit, it was necessary to sing beautifully on the shore of the reservoir.
4. Mermaids. Spirits of drowned girls. With their beautiful appearance and charming voice, they lured travelers deep into the river waters. Slavic mermaids differ from similar mythical creatures invented by other nations. They are young and beautiful, outwardly similar to the most ordinary girls (without a fish tail). On a moonlit night, they like to frolic on the shore, seducing wanderers.
5. Brownie. A spirit invisible to the human eye that lives in people's homes. He protects the family from troubles and misfortunes, helps to manage the household. The brownie's favorite place is behind the stove. The ancient Slavs revered and respected this spirit, and were also afraid: if he was angry, he could do harm. It was customary to cajole a brownie with delicious gifts and bright objects. When moving to a new home, the spirit must be taken with them.
6. Babai. Spirit that appears at night. This is a malevolent creature that lives in dense thickets near rivers and lakes. At night, the babai gets out and sneaks up to people's homes. At the door, he makes noise, groans, screams and scares small children who are mischievous and do not want to sleep. Babai can kidnap a child.

Conclusion

Orally transmitted Slavic myths have survived to this day. They tell about an amazing and magical world inhabited by omnipotent deities, fabulous creatures and capricious spirits. Ancient legends are an inexhaustible source of folk rituals and beliefs, pagan ideas about the structure of the world, magical symbols. Slavic mythology does not lose its popularity. Many people today worship the ancient gods.

Avsen- Bausen, Ovsen, Tausen, Usen - the god of autumn and harvest, the rite associated with him - crossing the bridge when they shout "Tausen has come."

Albasty - Lobasty or Lopasty - mermaids living in a swamp, along river banks in reeds

Alkonost is a bird, a bright embodiment of Horos. Controls winds and weather. When this bird on the edge of the sea gives birth to children, the weather is calm for 7 days.

Alvy is the Slavic analogue of the elves.

Bannik is a spirit that lives in a bathhouse. He is invisible, but can sometimes appear in human form. Lives under the floor or behind the stove and can pour boiling water or throw a hot stone at the bather. You can propitiate him with a piece of rye bread or a sacrificed chicken. Bannik should have left water, soap and a broom, as he washes last. Refers to "lower mythology".

Bausen - see Avsen.

Belobog - Sventovid, Svyatovit, Svetovik, Svetich - a real ("good") god, a god of fertility, opposing Chernobog, one of the sides of the Family. God of the White Light, god of gods, supreme god, horseman god fighting the night. “In the temple itself stood a large idol, exceeding human height, with four heads on the same number of necks, of which two came out of the chest and two - to the ridge, but so that from both front and both rear heads one looked to the right, the second - left. Hair and beard were cut short... In his right hand, the idol held a horn made of various metals, which was filled every year with wine from the hands of a priest, for divination of fertility; the left hand was likened to a bow. Outerwear went down to the berets .... Svyatovit was symbolized by various signs, including carved eagles and banners, the main of which was called Stanitsa ... ".

Beregini - female spirits, protectors from evil forces, opposing ghouls. They guard against everything unwanted and unexpected. The ancient Slavs perceived the coast as the giver of moisture, rain, necessary for the fertility of the earth. Refers to "lower mythology". Often associated with mermaids.

Blazen - a ghost, a ghost. Refers to "lower mythology".

Boda - Water - the image of this god in the form of a man dressed in armor is known. Sometimes called in the Polish chronicles the son of Zhiva and the brother of Perun.

A swamp is an evil spirit that lives in a swamp and tries to drag a person into a quagmire. Refers to "lower mythology".

Veles - otherwise Chernobog - navi ("evil") god, according to Helmold's "Slavic Chronicle". Refers to the old gods, i.e. original. Has military functions. The “Slavic Chronicle” says that when the evil god Chernobog was honored at a feast among the Slavs, then when the guests were carried around with a cup, everyone uttered a curse, not words of blessing. Al-Masudi describes the sanctuary of the Black God (10th century) on the black mountain: it was a large idol in the form of a man, represented as an old man with a crooked stick in his hand, with which he moves the bones of the dead from the graves; under the right naked there are images of heterogeneous ants, and under the left - black crows. Veles, Volos, Vlas, Vlasiy - "cattle god", i.e. god of wealth (through cattle) and wildlife. God of forests and arts. Also one of his names is Mokos. His day is Wednesday, stone is opal or obsidian, metal is lead or mercury, wood is spruce, walnut or ash. Veles days are celebrated on January 2 and 6, as well as on the days of honoring Yarila. The Universe was represented by the ancient Cow, the Milky Way is also her milk. Veles is the son of the Cow of the universe. Elk - the constellation Ursa Major - the palaces of Velesov. Refers to the first, oldest gods.

Viy - among the Eastern Slavs, Niy among the Western Slavs - the god of the Navi underworld and a posthumous judge, an ode from the incarnations of Veles is possible. They honored him in the evening, asking him after his death for "the best pacification of bad weather." In the future, it may merge with the image of Koshchei - the son of Mother Earth. Initially, this is an agricultural god, then - the king of the dead, the god of death. The duck, as the keeper of the egg with the death of Koshchei, was revered as his bird. In Orthodoxy, it is replaced by the evil Saint Kasyan, whose day is celebrated on February 29. Undoubtedly, it is associated with seasonal necrosis, is the enemy of Mokosh-Yaga, who leads the hero into his world - Koshcheev's kingdom. Interestingly, the name of the heroine kidnapped by Koshchei is Marya Morevna (mortal death), i.e. Koschey - death without rebirth. Refers to the new gods. It was believed that Niy had a deadly look, so his eyes were closed with heavy eyelids, eyelashes or eyebrows. He had the image of an old man.

Pitchfork - cloudy Maidens (associated with mermaids).

Volosyns are the wives of Veles, the constellation Pleiades.

Vodyanitsy - in the mythology of the Eastern Slavs, female spirits of water. Drowned. They are similar in function to mermaids. Refers to "lower mythology".

Water - a spirit that lives in the water, in other words, the lord of the waters. It can also be called: vodovik, water devil, water grandfather. This is a spirit that personifies the water element. It can take on various forms: either a large fish, or a child, or a horse. Among the Eastern Slavs, the water one is a grandfather with a long gray or green beard, covered with swamp grass. Often he is represented as a devil with horns and a large belly. It lives in whirlpools, likes to settle under a water mill. Catfish is attributed to him as a favorite fish, on which he rides and which delivers drowned men to him. For this catfish is called a devil's horse. It is believed that the merman has power over mermaids. The patron saint of fishermen. If you don’t please him, then he can ruin the mill, disperse the fish, and sometimes, they say, encroach on a person’s life. A part of the caught fish is sacrificed to him. Refers to "lower mythology".

Volkh - he is also Volkhov, Volkhovets - the son of the Lizard, acted as a god werewolf, a god of hunting similar to Veles (Chernobog), perhaps also a god of war and the owner of the waters. Gray Prophetic Wolf from Russian fairy tales. Hypostasis of Veles.

Raven - a bird that personified all the dark forces, is associated with the Black Serpent.

Gamayun is the incarnation of Veles, a prophetic, talking bird. Lives on Makariysky Island, where the sun rises, near paradise.

Gmurs are the Slavic analogue of gnomes.

Dazhbog, Dab and Radegast - Svarozhich, the god of fertility, sunlight and life-giving power. The progenitor of the Slavic family, according to the "Word of Igor's Campaign". He is Radegast, Radogost - among the Western Slavs, Radigoshch and Radogoshch - among the Vyatichi. Son of Svarog, grandson of Krat. His day is Sunday, the metal is gold. His stone is yahont. The celebration may fall on the day of Rodion the Icebreaker. The largest cult center of Svarozhich was located on the lands of the Lutichi-retarians, was repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt again, in 1147-1150 it was completely burned down by the Germans. The sacred animal of Dazhdbog-Radegast was considered a lion. Svarozhich was depicted either with a lion's head or riding a chariot drawn by lions. Radegast, like Vishnu, also had a boar as a sacred animal. Refers to the gods of the new generation.

Dennitsa is the goddess of the dawn, the sister of Khors.

Jevana - Devana is the daughter of Perun and Letnitsa, the goddess of forests and hunting.

Divia - Diva - the goddess of the earth, the wife of Diya. Goddess Mother-Cheese-Earth, fertilized by the heavenly waters of Dyya. Refers to the old gods.

Dogoda - Weather - the god of variability, probably also the god of the wind, like Posvist, but favorable, southern or western. Grandson of Stribog.

Share - also Srecha, Sryashta, Meetings, Happiness - a spinner, assistant or younger sister of Mokosh-Yaga, the mother of the lot.

Brownie is an invisible spirit, wingless, incorporeal and hornless. He lives in every house, in winter he often lives near the stove, his favorite place is the kut - the corner of the house near the stove. They say that the brownie does not like mirrors, also goats, as well as those who sit near the threshold or under the threshold. The brownie is considered the eldest in the house, so in conversations he is usually called the grandfather, the owner, the big one, or himself. He is both kind and dangerous. If he likes the owner, then the brownie helps him, if not, he harms him. Those whom he loves, the brownie curls their hair and beard, braids the manes and tails of horses, and if he dislikes anyone, he beats them hard at night and torments them. The brownie protects the cattle, sometimes “naughty”, the first one senses the owner’s death, anticipates trouble in the house, then the brownie howls, sometimes even shows itself to someone from the family, knocks, slams doors, etc. It is better to appease the brownie, leaving food - bread, salt, porridge. Sometimes two brownies start up in one house, then they start to quarrel. The brownie also has other names: yard, baker, zhikhar, barn, old man living with horses. Refers to "lower mythology".

Druds are the Slavic analogue of the Druids.

Dy - Div, Diy - the god of the sky, he is also the Div bird from the Tale of Igor's Campaign. Perhaps the god of heavenly waters - the next primordial sky, and not the one that was forged by the divine blacksmith - Svarog. Refers to the old gods.

The Firebird is a fiery bird the size of a peacock, its feathers glow blue, and its armpits crimson. You can get burned on her plumage. The fallen feather retains the properties of the Firebird's plumage for a long time: it glows and gives warmth. And when it goes out, it turns into gold. The firebird guards the fern flower.

Zhelya - also Zhlya, Zelu-Zhlya - the goddess of sadness, crying. Jelly, pity is mourning for the dead, sacred funeral rites. Among the Slavic Vyatichi wives performed the rite of suicide by hanging after the death of her husband. This rite could correlate with the veneration of this goddess.

Zhiva is the goddess of life and fertility. According to medieval Polish sources, the daughter of day and night.

Zlata Maya is Kolyada's mother, according to Verkovich's Veda of the Slavs. Wife of Yarila, Khors or Dazhdbog.

A serpent is a creature that combines the properties of a reptile and a person. Refers to "lower mythology".

The Skoropeya Snake is a snake that lives in a field, forest, swamp and dominates other snakes. Refers to "lower mythology".

Kvasir - Kvasur - the spirit of intoxicating mash

Karna - also Karina, Kara, Kruchina - perhaps the goddess of funeral rites.

Karachun - Korochun - a seasonal god from the retinue of Veles-Moroz. Kerechun or Korchun evening - Christmas Eve or Christmas time. Perhaps somehow connected with the ancient cult of the Mole.

Kikimora - otherwise Shishimora - according to the mythology of the Eastern Slavs, the evil spirit of the house, appearing in the form of a woman. Some researchers of the life of the Russian people believe that the kikimora is the wife of a brownie. It was believed that she helps skilled housewives, and harms the lazy. For example, confusing yarn at night, scaring small children or stealing chickens. There were various conspiracies to rid the house of kikimora. Refers to "lower mythology". A variety of kikimora - swamp kikimora. She lives in the swamp. He likes to dress up in moss furs and weave forest and marsh plants into his hair. Rarely appears to people, only screams from the swamp in a loud voice.

Kitovras is a winged centaur. He acquires wings, and they are not in the area of ​​​​the shoulder girdle of the horse, but behind the back of the human torso. The first mention of centaurs dates back to the 11th century.

Pantry - the spirit guarding the treasures, refers to the "lower mythology".

Kolyada - Kaleda - a seasonal god, a festive god. Son of Golden Maya. Diametrically opposite to Kupala. It marks the seasonal turn - the arrival of light, the dying of the old, the arrival of the strong - the young. Associated with the cult of Veles and shamanism. There is a ritual sex change and werewolf, dressing up as a fierce beast - Ber, tour, etc. Perhaps Kolyada is the son of Dazhdbog, the husband of Golden Maya, the god of light.

Cow death is an evil spirit that kills cows. Refers to "lower mythology". Appears as a black woman or animal.

Koruna is the mother of the gods, perhaps one of the epithets of Lada or Diva.

Krt - Krodo - the son of Sytivrat, the god of sacrificial places, the father of Svarog. Refers to the old gods. He was depicted as an old man with a bare head, standing on a fish with bare feet, girded with a woolen, white bandage, in one hand a wheel, and in the other a vessel with flowers and fruits. Associated with the cult of ancestors and the burning of corpses. He was honored on March 9 and May 1.

Kupala is the summer god, the god of moisture (dew). It has received an unusual distribution among the Eastern Slavs, on the night of Ivan Kupala there is a combination of fire and water (with the obligatory appearance of life-giving steam and boiling water) and miracles happen.

The swan is the bird of sorrow, opposed to the eagle and falcons.

Lad - Lado, Lyado, Ladon - the god of war, the god of fun, the god of marriage, the god of hell. A deity with clear signs of hermaphroditism. Refers to the old gods.

Lada is the goddess of love and marriage. Her month is April. One of the Elk Ancestors, Rozhanitsa. Lala's wife, or some deity with indistinguishable gender. Metal - gold, copper or bronze; the stone is an emerald. Refers to the old gods.

Lel is the son of Lada, likened to Cupid.

Lelya - Lyalya - the goddess of fertility, according to the Synopsis, the second Rozhanitsa, the daughter of Lada, the goddess of childbearing. On the embroideries it is presented as one of two moose moose, between them is Makoshch. Her day is Monday. Her tree is rowan or birch. Metal is silver. Refers to the old gods.

Lesoviki are the children of Leshy and Kikimora bog. They play pranks, knock travelers off the road, pour dust on their heads and wrap them in cobwebs. They have several names: Auki (Looks), listins and shishigs.

Letnitsa is the wife of Perun.

Goblin - a mythological image of the spirit of the forest, belongs to the so-called "lower mythology". It is considered the owner of the forest thicket and the animals living in it, dense reeds or a forest slum suggest its dwelling. The goblin can appear to a person in different forms, but most often it is shown as a decrepit old man or a bear. He can change his height - become high, like trees, or low, like grass, and take cover under fallen leaves. It is considered a wolf and bear shepherd, guards the forest and forest animals. This spirit rarely enters the fields and villages, respecting the rights of brownies and the field spirit. The goblin makes various sounds: whistles, laughs, auks, cries, beats his hands like people. It rarely harms a person. True, the "jokes of the goblin" are evil and often scare people. For example, he leads people into such forest jungle, from which it is very difficult to get out. However, the goblin does not bring a person to death. It is believed that a lost person should turn his clothes inside out and then he will leave the forest, if several people get lost, they should exchange clothes. There is a belief that on the day when the goblin is furious (October 4) it is better not to go into the forest.

Famously - the spirit of evil, misfortune. It can also be an ancient god, both independent and hypostasis. Depicted as one-eyed and one-legged.

Fever - a spirit in the form of a woman, possessing someone and causing illness. Refers to "lower mythology".

Patchwork - Patchwork is a special kind of mermaid.

Mavki - also referred to as mermaids.

Makosh - Mokosh, Mokusha - the goddess of all Fate, the eldest of the spins, the goddess of fertility and is associated with the harvest, has 12 annual holidays, sometimes depicted with horns. Mother of the gods, possibly the wife or incarnation of Veles-Mokoma-Makosh. In the lower incarnation, she is known as Yaga, the mother of the winds, the goddess of death. Her day is Friday. Its metal is silver, its stone is rock crystal or "moonstone".

Marzhana - Martsana, Morena, Morana - the goddess of fertility and harvest, she is also Mara - the goddess of death. For the expulsion of mara, a poker and plowing were used. Pestilence, haze, sea, like a hostile element, a nightmare.

Memosins are a water spirit in the form of a woman.

Mogul is a powerful bird that took part in the revival of Perun with the help of the divine drink of suritsa, an analogue of the Vedic soma.

Mokos is the husband of Mokosh, the posthumous judge, the god of magic, the god of Navi. It is he who bears the name of Chernobog among the Slavs, although he also has an embodiment in Prav. One side of Rod. See Veles.

Nedolya - Nesrecha, Nesryashta, Misfortune - a spinner, assistant or younger sister of Makoshi-Yaga, the mother of the lot.

A werewolf is a creature that has the ability to turn into a person or animal (usually a wolf). Refers to the so-called "lower mythology".

A barn is a house spirit that lives in a barn and protects bread from spoilage. Refers to "lower mythology". They represented him as an old man. He made sure that there was no fire in the barn during the drying of the sheaves. He did not allow work in the barn on big holidays and during strong winds. He punished negligent owners, he could even hit hard. The ovinnik can laugh, clap and bark like a dog. Before starting work in the barn, it was necessary to ask permission from the barn.

Ovsen - see Avsen.

The eagle is one of the incarnations of Perun. Sometimes God flies on it, sometimes sends it with errands.

Perun - he is also Perunova - the god of thunder and lightning, like heavenly fire. Svarozhich. He is mentioned in the "Tale of the (Mamaev) Battle of the Grand Duke Dmitry Ivanovich Donskoy" together with Mokosh among the pagan gods of the impious "Tatars". His day is Thursday. Its metal is tin. His stone is belemnite (devil's finger - Perun's arrows), sapphire, lapis lazuli. His tree is oak, beech. Associated with fertility. God of the new generation.

Podaga - perhaps the female hypostasis of Fire-Svarozhich or Dazhdbog.

Pozvizd - also Pohvist, Pokhvist - the god of the north wind.

Field - the spirit of the field.

Log is the son of Lada, the god of a successful marriage.

Polkan - "Semi" - "horse". Mentions of centaurs in the Russian written tradition begin in the 11th century. Polkan was often depicted as a half-man-half-dog with a club, but more often as a half-man-half-horse. In witchcraft verses, Polkan is the savior of the "Sun Maiden" from the snake. Refers to the new gods.

Porvat is the goddess of spring.

Porevit is the five-headed god of prey.

Porenuch - Porenut - a kind of five-faced god.

Priya is the goddess of love or the goddess of spring. Her day, like Mokosh's, is Friday, the metal is copper or bronze. The stone is an emerald.

Prono - Provo, Provs - the god of law, the god of oak groves. His day is Tuesday. Revered by the Wagrams, the god of the Aldenburg lands.

Radegast, Radogost - see Dazhdbog.

Radogoshch - see Dazhdbog.

Rarozhek - see Semargl.

Rarog - a falcon, a fiery bird, the incarnation of Svarozhich. According to popular beliefs, Rarog could be born from an egg, which a person hatches on the stove for nine days and nights.

Rod - Existing, One, progenitor of all gods and creator of the world. Almighty, cares only about the affairs of heaven, the other gods obey him, perform the duties assigned to them. Judgment is one of the hypostases of the Sort. Possibly also called Stribog.

Women in labor are the maidens of life and destiny.

A mermaid is a spirit in the form of a woman who lives in the water. Bereginya, rescuing drowned people, or showing the right way to the house, sitting on a tree in the forest. In ancient Russia, half-woman, half-fish. Mermaids became prematurely dead girls or brides who did not live to see the wedding. Mermaids are associated with the cult of fertility, they appeared in the villages on their holiday “mermaid week”, which later coincided with the Trinity, when rye began to bloom. It was impossible to work this week. Violators of the prohibition of the mermaid were punished by trampling their crops. Mermaids can be found in many places: in the field, near the water, in the trees. In dance songs, people call on mermaids to help the growth of bread. Thursday on the Trinity week turned into a “mermaid day”, on this day the girls wove wreaths and left them in the forest for the mermaids. In a number of places, on the last day of the “mermaid week”, the ceremony of “seeing off the mermaid” was performed. On this day, they dressed one of the girls in a green outfit, put wreaths on her and took her out into the field or to the river, where they tore off the wreaths from her and threw them into the water or the fire, after which they ran away. In Russian folklore texts, mermaids often listen to the singer, but she herself almost never sings. The Russian mermaid entices with bewitching laughter or frightens with wild laughter. She's more terrifying than beautiful. Her long hair looks like a tow. The mermaid is always simple-haired and not combed, no matter how hard she puts into it. She is depicted with long flowing hair. With the advent of Christianity, it began to be regarded as an unclean force, like a ghoul. It is also the spirit of "lower mythology".

Svarog - Sovarog - a blacksmith god, one of the sides of the clan, a descendant of Sitivrat and Krat, owns light, fire and ether. Refers to the old gods. God the creator and legislator, the father of the Svarozhichs, the demiurge. He creates not with a word, not with magic, unlike Veles, but with his hands, he creates the material world.

Sventovid - see Belobog.

Svetlonosha is the goddess of love, according to Mater Verborum. The Vendians were also called the spirits dancing in the meadows.

Svoba is the goddess of forests.

Semargl - Simargl - is mentioned in Russian chronicles, presumably from the word "smaga", i.e. flame, Fire-Svarozhich, half dog, half snake. Probably a mediator between the real world and the world under heaven. Penezhny (fiery) snake from conspiracies. He is also Rarog, Rarozhek is the son of Svarog according to Czech sources. Then, already in Orthodox times, according to academician B. A. Rybakov, Pereplut was named - the god of soil, plant roots, and plant strength. Probably, there is a connection with the firebird, which ultimately brings happiness.

Siwa is the goddess of winter.

Sirin is a dark bird, the embodiment of Veles or the Serpent, the owner of the underworld. From the head to the waist, Sirin is a man, and from the waist, a bird. Whoever listens to the voice of this bird will forget everything in the world and die.

Spozhina is the goddess of summer.

Srecha - see Share.

Sryashta - see Share.

Stratim - Strafil - a giant bird, they call the mother of birds, but do not consider her to be them

progenitor. They portrayed her as a giant bird with a small head on

Long neck, hooked beak, long narrow body and one raised

Up wing (right, under which she "holds the whole White Light"). Lives on

The sea-ocean, where she takes the children out, if she starts up, then the roosters sing

Worldwide. Considered the bird of Stribog (god of the winds), she controls the winds. Perhaps one of the names of Alkonost.

Stribog - Stribo, Striba - god-father, old, ancient god, grandfather of the winds. Deity of the sky, air and wind. Probably one of Rod's names. His day is Saturday. It's no accident that Saturday is Parent's Day. In later sources, it was depicted as a single head, acquiring the features of Viya-Vey. Associated with the Lunar cult.

Sytivrat - Sytvrat is the god of fertility. Refers to the old gods. God of sowing and seeds, father of Krat. A whirlpool of light, a god who turns the sun wheel for the summer and restores the power of fertility to the earth. Its celebration falls on December 17th.

Targitai is the blacksmith of Svarog.

Tausen - see Avsen.

Triglav - the highest deity, according to Ebbon, the historian Gerbord rules over three worlds: heaven, earth and the underworld, is involved in divination by means of a black horse. Perhaps the hypostasis of Chernobog. Among the Western Slavs, many deities are many-headed and many-sided, but only this one is named by the number of "heads".

Troyan - in the "Word of Igor's Campaign" the path of Troyanov, the centuries of Troyanov and the land of Troyanov are mentioned. Later Serbian sources say that Troyan is afraid of sunlight and has goat ears. Perhaps one of the hellish gods, hypostases of the Black God.

Ghoul - not dead (living dead) - a lower spirit, a demonic creature in the mythological representation of the Eastern Slavs. Ghouls suck blood from people and animals. They were identified with the dead, coming out of the graves at night, watching and killing people and livestock. According to popular beliefs, people who “died an unnatural death” became ghouls - a violent murder, a drunkard, suicides, etc., as well as sorcerers. It was believed that the earth does not accept such dead people, so they were buried outside the cemetery. In order for the ghoul not to leave the grave, he should have been “calmed down” - dig up the corpse from the grave and pierce it with an aspen stake. Legends about ghouls (vampires) from the Slavs spread among all the peoples of Europe.

Usen - see Avsen.

Delight is the god of love

Pharaohs - Pharaoh or Pharaoh - sea people.

Finist is a falcon, a bird-warrior, the embodiment of the local god of war - Volkh.

Horos - he is Khors and Hars - the god of the solar disk, mentioned in Russian chronicles - the pantheon of Prince Vladimir. Refers to the gods of the new generation. Welcoming Khors, the Slavs danced and built Sanctuaries for him - mansions, mansions. This is the god of the world order associated with the course of the sun. The image goes back to ancient times. Perhaps, among the Skolts, Koloksai (Sun-King) is the son of Targitai, and then Khors is Svarozhich. His day is Sunday, like Dazhdbog, the metal is pure gold.

Tsetsa - Tsiza - the goddess of marriage. She is the seasonal goddess of summer among Belarusians.

Chernobog - see Veles.

Chur - guardian spirits, associated with the cult of ancestors.

Shishimora - see Kikimora.

Shchur is the god of the boundary, on the other side of which is death.

Yarilo - he is also Yarovit and Jaromir - the god of fertility, the ardent god of awakening nature and spring light. Refers to the gods of the new generation. The son or obvious hypostasis of Veles, who acts as Frost in winter, and Yarilo in spring. His day is Tuesday, his month is March. His stone is amber, ruby, garnet, hematite. Its metal is iron.

Lizard - Yasha, Yassa, Yesha - hellish god, according to the Polish Chronicle by Jan Dlugosh. One of the incarnations of Veles-Chernobog. Probably the owner of the depths and the kingdom of minerals, the Sea King. The wife is a whitefish. It is believed that the Lizard married a drowned girl.

In Slavic mythology, a character living in a certain space (house, outbuilding, forest, pond, field, location of the treasure, etc.) and having the function of the owner, guardian or protector of his habitat. The spirit of the place punishes the violator of the rules of ritual and everyday behavior in the space subject to them and helps the one who reveres him. The difference between the types of spirits of places that have developed in individual traditions are determined by a different understanding of their main function and status.

The Eastern Slavs

Among the Russians, in eastern Ukraine and northeastern Belarus, most of the mythological characters belong to the spirits of the place. These are the spirits of the house and outbuildings, as well as all natural loci, which, as a rule, have names according to their place of residence or function and are interpreted as undivided masters, owning a certain space, regulating all life in it and managing its wealth (animals, fish, berries, etc.).

The owner of the house is Russian. brownie, Belarusian damavik, domnik, hatnik, Ukrainian domovik; yard - Russian courtyard, yard, Belor. yard; baths - Russian bannik, Belarusian laznik; barn - rus. barn, yard, Belor. barn; sheep - rus. barn, Belarusian evnik, ёўnik, Ossetian, Assetnik, Ossetian; rigs - rus. rigger, rigger, threshing floor - Rus. bean goose, hayloft - Belor. punnik; mills - rus. mill, well - Russian. well man. The owner of the forest - Russian. goblin, white lisavey, lyasun, Ukrainian fox; reservoirs - Russian. water, white water, water, Ukrainian crowberry; swamps - Russian. swamp, Belarusian swamp, Ukrainian swamp; fields - Russian field, field worker, Belor. fawn, field worker, Ukrainian field worker; meadows - Russian. meadow, Belarusian meadow Hvyadosiy; boundary - rus. mezhevichok, boundary, podmezhnik, Belor. squire, etc.

The system of East Slavic spirits of the place, along with the patrons of the main spaces, also includes smaller spirits: the owner of the bush is a shrubbery (Rus), mushrooms are in charge of a mushroomer (Rus), a boletus (Russian), a mushroom man (Belarus); Moss mushrooms live in the moss (Russian), a baker lives behind the stove (Russian), in the underground - an underground (Russian), etc. Often, along with a male character, there is a parallel female character, which can be comprehended as an independent character (the mistress of the house - Russian domaha, ovina - Russian ovinnitsa, rigi - Russian rigachnitsa, fields - Russian palyakh, etc.) or as the wife of the corresponding spirit: the wife of a brownie - Russian. lady's hazyayushka, housewife, housekeeper, goblin - Belor. goblin, lyasunikha, fox; water - Russian vodyanikha, etc. Daughter of a brownie - Rus. domovinka; children of the merman - rus. vodnyat. Often in the East Slavic tradition, such spirits are called by their function: the owner of the brownie, the owner of the water, the owner of the forest, etc., and also by their status: the king of the brownie, the king of the water (usually when referring to them). The spirits of the place among the Eastern Slavs are also adjoined by spirits - guardians of treasures, but they are comprehended more as a guardian of treasures than as their owners.

The relationship between a person and the spirit of a place in East Slavic traditions is built on reverence and is determined by a number of prohibitions and regulations: a person must respect the “master” status of the spirit, ask him for permission to be in this space and do something there (for example, they ask permission from the goblin pick mushrooms or berries, hunt in the forest; at the merman - catch fish); a person must appease the spirit of a given place, make sacrifices to it, otherwise the spirit harms a person, punishes him or expels him from his space.

The southern Slavs

Among the South Slavs, the spirits of the place are represented by three types of characters. The first includes host characters who take care of various spaces associated with human activity (house, village, well, field, vineyard, boundary), and associated with the idea of ​​​​dead ancestors. The second group includes spirits originating from a building sacrifice laid in the foundation of a building (a house, a bridge, a well, a church, a city wall, as well as a treasure), constantly present next to it and being its watchmen.

The third group includes atmospheric demons that have the function of defenders protecting a given locus - usually the field of a certain village - from bad weather and fighting evil demons - the leaders of hail-bearing clouds.

The Western Slavs

Among the Western Slavs, the idea of ​​the spirits of the place is less pronounced and concerns characters belonging to different spheres. Firstly, it is a house spirit originating from deceased ancestors (see Domestic snake). Such a spirit is most often named after its function as the master and protector of the house: gospodarz-wąż (Pol.), domový ochránca, had-gazda [“master”] (Slovak.), had-hospodářiček (Czech.), gospodar and gospoza (n. .-puddle). His presence in the house ensures the well-being of the family. Natural loci in the West Slavic tradition do not have their own master spirits, and the characters inhabiting them are not their patrons.

Secondly, the spirits of places include various mountain spirits of late origin associated with mines, mines, and mineral deposits. They are the owners or guardians of underground treasures, dispose of them at their own discretion and are considered the souls of the dead miners, who are usually at the place of their death and in some cases help living comrades in difficult situations, show ore deposits, in others they harm, scare, leave the miners without prey. Usually they look like a miner in a dirty robe with a miner's lamp or a man in the ceremonial uniform of a mining master. Such, for example, are the Polish skarbnik, the Czech perfumes permon, permoník, permočník. The Poles associated spirits with salt mines: Biala Pani, bielinka, placzka, etc. The Western Slavs also know spirits guarding treasures and treasures in the dungeons. In part, the spirits of the place include dwarfs living in a house, a barn, in a mountain, etc. and owning underground treasures.

Occasionally, West Slavic characters can be named after their place of residence (for example, Czech škalnik - a spirit that lives in the rocks), but they are not understood as guardians of this place

Levkievskaya E.E. Spirits of loci // Slavic Antiquities: Ethnolinguistic Dictionary / Ed. N. I. Tolstoy; Institute of Slavic Studies RAS. - M.: International relations, 1995. - T. 1. - S. 155-157.

Slavic myths. World creation.

At the beginning of time, the world was in darkness. But the Almighty revealed the Golden Egg, in which the Family was enclosed - the Parent of all things.

Rod gave birth to Love - Mother Lada and, by the power of Love, destroying its dungeon, gave birth to the Universe - countless star worlds, as well as our earthly world.

The sun then went out of His face.

A bright moon - from His chest.

Frequent stars - from His eyes.

Clear dawns - from His eyebrows.

Dark nights - yes from His thoughts.

Violent winds - out of breath ..

"The Book of Kolyada", 1 a

So Rod gave birth to everything that we see around - everything that is with Rod - everything that we call Nature. The clan separated the visible, manifested world, that is, Reality, from the invisible world, the spiritual from Novi. Rod separated Pravda from Krivda.

In the fiery chariot Rod was approved by thundering Thunder. The Sun God Ra, who emerged from the face of the Family, was approved in a golden boat, and the Month in a silver one. Rod emitted from his mouth the Spirit of God - the bird Mother Swa. By the Spirit of God, Rod gave birth to Svarog - the Heavenly Father.

Svarog finished peacemaking. He became the owner of the earthly World, the lord of the Kingdom of God. Svarog approved twelve pillars supporting the firmament.

From the Word of the Most High, Rod created the god Barma, who began to mutter prayers, glorifications, and recite the Vedas. He also gave birth to the Spirit of Barma, his wife Tarusa.

Rod became the Heavenly Spring and gave birth to the waters of the Great Ocean. From the foam of the waters of the Ocean, the World Duck appeared, giving birth to many gods - yasuns and demons-dasuns. The clan gave birth to the Cow Zemun and the Goat Sedun, milk spilled from their nipples and became the Milky Way. Then he created the Alatyr stone, with which he began to churn this Milk. Mother Earth Cheese was created from the butter obtained after churning.

Spirits of nature in folklore

Let us present a brief description of some characteristic creatures from Slavic mythology.

Goblin is a mythological image of the spirit of the forest. Ideas about the goblin have survived to this day. Goblin is the owner of the forest thicket and the animals living in it. He changes his height - he can become tall like trees, or low like grass, and take cover under fallen leaves. Goblin rarely enters the field, respecting the rights of the field spirit - the field worker. He does not look into the villages so as not to quarrel with the brownies. The goblin makes various sounds - whistles, laughs, hails, cries, beats his hands, like people. A goblin rarely harms a person. True, the "jokes of the goblin" are evil and scare people. He can lead a person picking mushrooms and berries into such forest jungle, from which he cannot get out for a long time, circling through the forest, constantly returning to the same place. However, the goblin does not bring a person to death. There are various problems of getting rid of the goblin's leprosy. So, a lost person should undress, turn all the clothes inside out and put them on again in this form, not forgetting to change shoes from one foot to the other. If several people get lost, then all of them should change clothes. But it is not always possible to cope with the goblin. There is a belief that on the day when the "goblin is furious" (October 4) it is better not to go into the forest. Legends and myths about goblin have been preserved by all peoples for many centuries.

Water - the lord of the waters (swamps, lakes, rivers and seas). He was called differently - "water devil", vodovik, water grandfather, etc. This is a spirit that personifies the water element. The merman can take on various forms: either a large fish, or a child, or a horse. Among the Eastern Slavs, a water man is an old man with a long gray or green beard. Often it is presented as a devil with horns and a large belly. It lives in whirlpools, likes to settle under a water mill. He is able to destroy the dams, so he must be able to propitiate. Vodyanoy is considered the patron saint of fishermen, who sacrifice part of the fish they caught as a sacrifice to him. In fairy tales and epics, the merman is often identified with the "sea king", who lives at the bottom of the sea in a crystal palace. In the mythology of the Eastern Slavs, female spirits of water are also known - waterwomen, which in their functions resemble mermaids. Vodyanitsy are drowned women who have turned into spirits of the water element.

Brownie (Housekeeper, Housekeeper, Domovik) - usually an invisible inhabitant, owner, yard and house - he has many names. Some of them indicate the place of residence of the brownie (hut, ward, barn, etc.) or not the form of his appearance or the nature and main occupations. He is the eldest in the house, family member, ancestor and invisible master. The image of a brownie, with outward simplicity, can be very complex, endowed with all sorts of properties, looks, and abilities. The main tasks of the brownie are caring for cattle, predicting the future of the inhabitants of the house *. Is the lowest spirit of Slavic mythology; legends about the brownie have been preserved among the Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian peoples. Brownie is considered the patron of the house, the breadwinner. Among the Eastern and Southern Slavs, it is believed that at night the brownie "knocks and commits various pranks." Two brownies can start in one house, then they begin to quarrel. Brownie helps a hardworking owner, harms a lazy one. It is better to appease the brownie, leaving food - bread, salt, porridge. When moving to a new house, the Slavs performed a certain ritual, with the aim that the brownie moved with the owners and helped them in a new place.

Bannik is a spirit that lives in a bathhouse. He is invisible, but can sometimes appear in human form. The role of the bannik was determined by the importance of the bath in Russian life. In order to protect oneself from a bannik who lives under the floor or behind the stove and can pour boiling water or throw a hot stone at the washing one, he must be propitiated with a piece of rye bread or a chicken should be sacrificed. Bannik should have left water, soap and a broom, as he washes last.

A barn is a house spirit that lives in a barn and protects bread from spoilage. They represented him in the form of an old man to whom they brought gifts. In the barn, the peasants dried sheaves of hay, and the barn made sure that there was no fire. He did not allow work in the barn on big holidays and during strong winds. He punished negligent owners, he could even hit hard. The barn clapped his hands. He laughed and barked like a dog. Before starting work in the barn, it was necessary to ask permission from the barn.

A ghoul is a lower spirit, a demonic creature in the mythological representation of the Eastern Slavs. The "Word about idols" speaks of the ancient veneration of ghouls by the Slavs. In popular beliefs, these are evil, harmful spirits. Ghouls (vampires) suck blood from people and animals. They were identified with the dead, coming out of the graves at night, watching and killing people and livestock. According to popular beliefs, people who "died an unnatural death" - violent murder, drunken drunkards, suicides, etc., as well as sorcerers, become ghouls. It was believed that the earth does not accept such dead people, so they were buried outside the cemetery. In order for the ghoul not to leave the grave, he had to be "calmed down" - to dig out the corpse from the grave and pierce it with an aspen stake. The legend of ghouls, vampires from the Slavs spread among all the peoples of Europe.

Beregini - female spirits, protectors from evil forces, opposing ghouls. From the Christian "teachings ..." and "Words ...", one can conclude that there is a cult of coastlines. These female spirits protect from everything undesirable, unexpected. In the "Word of a certain Christ-lover" it is said that many worship and make sacrifices "to fire and stones, and rivers, and springs, and banks." The ancient Slavs perceived the coast as the giver of moisture, rain, necessary for the fertility of the earth.

Kikimora (Shishimora) - according to the mythological ideas of the Eastern Slavs - the evil spirit of the house. By definition in the dictionary of Vladimir Dahl, kikimora is a kind of brownie. Some researchers of the life of the Russian people believe that the kikimora is the wife of a brownie. She likes to confuse yarn at the housewives at night, scares small children, and can steal chickens. Ideas about kikimore are preserved in various regions of Russia. There were various conspiracies to rid the house of kikimora. At the same time, they also believed that kikimora helps skilled housewives, and harms the lazy and negligent.

Mermaid - in Ancient Russia, mythological creatures in the form of a half-woman, half-fish. Mermaids became prematurely dead girls or brides who did not live to see the wedding. They were depicted with long, flowing hair. In a number of places, a mermaid is a water spirit. Mermaids are associated with the cult of fertility, they appeared on their holiday at the "mermaid week", when rye began to bloom. No work is allowed on this holiday. Violators of the prohibition of the mermaid are punished by trampling their crops. Mermaids can be found in many places - in the field, near the water, in the trees. In dance songs, people call on mermaids to help the growth of bread. In the course of the penetration of Christianity into the life of the people, mermaids began to be regarded as an evil spirit. The idea of ​​mermaids has become similar to the idea of ​​ghouls. "Mermaid week" began to coincide with the Trinity. Thursday in the Trinity week turned into "the day of the mermaids." On this day, it was impossible to work, as the mermaids could send damage to the cattle. On Trinity Thursday ("Semik"), the girls wove wreaths and left them in the forest for the mermaids. In a number of places, on the last day of the "mermaid week", the rite of "seeing off the mermaid" was performed. On this day, they dressed one of the girls in a green outfit, put wreaths on her and took her out into the field or to the river, where they tore off the wreaths from her and threw them into the water or the fire, after which they ran away.

Here we will mention the beliefs of the peasants of the European part of Russia and Siberia. Perhaps this information will be slightly inaccurate. One of the reasons for this is the difficult history of studying the peasant beliefs of Russia, a relatively small number of serious, systematic works on this topic (and even more so consolidated works, covering both the entire complex of beliefs and various regions of the country). Yes, and the available works often have conflicting data.

Only one thing is obvious - that the origins of many beliefs go back to ancient times. However, the first more or less systematic evidence of the faith of our immediate ancestors, the Eastern Slavic pagans, dates back to the end of the 1st - the beginning of the 2nd millennium AD.

In the 19th century, the world of folk beliefs was by no means something remote and remnant even for highly educated city dwellers. The connection between the peasant and "urban" attitudes has not yet been broken: popular beliefs, superstitions are part of the fairy-tale world of childhood of many urban residents of Russia in the 19th century. This magical fairy-tale world largely determined and colored in a peculiar way the scientific and artistic interests of the growing inhabitants of landowners' estates, villages, and small towns.

Note that: although, according to some researchers, the space of the house is completely "closed", protected from the penetration of forest, water and other "non-domestic" evil spirits, goblin (and even water, mermaids) can visit villages, enter houses, devils and damned the spirits freely climb into the huts and carry away what is "required without blessing", and house spirits and the dead can be in the house all the time. Thus, in beliefs, especially those associated with the area of ​​lower mythology, the peasant house is not isolated from the surrounding world.

"On the one hand, the house belongs to a person, personifying the material world of a person. On the other hand, the house connects a person with the outside world, being to a certain extent a replica of the outside world, reduced to the size of a person. The house can be "deployed" into the world and "folded" in a person. Enchanted life is not ordinary, it glows with a magical light, "wrote A. Blok, arguing that:" conspiracies, and with them the whole field of folk magic and ritual, turned out to be the ore where the gold of genuine poetry shines.

In post-revolutionary Russia, where the traditional system, the way of peasant life were consistently destroyed and a single communist worldview was implanted, continuing to collect and study folk beliefs was not a safe matter. Justice requires us to say, however, that the destruction of the traditional village way of life began before 1917, and the contradictions that permeated the life of the village in many respects led to 1917 (compare M.M. Prishvin’s recollections of peasants who were by no means demonstratively baptized on the red banners of the demonstrators). Destroying the foundations of the peasant worldview, the authorities successfully used some of its essential aspects.

So, the official endowment of V.I. a request to "appear and discover the future." A peasant woman from the Smolensk region said that before the start of the Patriotic War she saw a prophetic vision in the sky: "Everything was revealed ... And Khrushchev, Malenkov ... and someone else appeared." Having managed to destroy the "high" structure of the people's world outlook, to destroy the best of its aspects, the authorities did not eradicate the "lower level" of beliefs (perhaps, also because, according to F.M. kinship"). We find one of the many evidences of this, for example, in the diaries of O.F. Bergholz. She was struck by the abundance of superstitions in the post-war village and describes the reaction of the local party organizer to the suicide of a woman in this way: "And that she strangled herself - she got into a bad trail!" They firmly believe in a bad track there.

And yet, despite the fact that the traditional world of the village in the 20th century became for many of us a kind of Atlantis, the "lost continent", scattered information about which was preserved in customs and beliefs that are not very clear to us; despite the fact that the study of the prevailing peasant beliefs was carried out after 1917, in general, "latently", interesting works on this topic were published in the 50-80s, including those relating to beliefs from the field of lower mythology, stories about evil spirits. The end of the 80s - the beginning of the 90s of the XX century is marked by the appearance of a large number of studies devoted to certain areas of peasant beliefs, which is explained by the final liberation of science from ideological fetters, and the importance of the topic, and the influence of fashion.

However, the scientific interests of many researchers in the second half of the 20th century focused mainly on the study of Belarusian and South Slavic beliefs. It was they who turned out to be collected, described quite fully, systematically, in contrast to the beliefs of the Great Russians.

In the Charter of St. Vladimir we read about prayers "under the barn, in the grove or near the water." Cyril of Turovsky exclaims: "... the elements, neither the sun, nor fire, nor springs, nor wood, will be called God," and the formula for renunciation of paganism, attributed to Ephraim the Syrian, calls not to do anything that "usually takes place at the springs, under trees and at crossroads. In the first "Mystic Teaching to the Newly Baptized," St. Cyril of Jerusalem condemns the custom of "lighting candles and incense at springs and rivers."

Based on the analysis of the historical and literary monuments of Ancient Russia, E.V. Anichkov noted: "The cults of fire under the barn, near the water and sacred trees constitute the most important features of the folk faith of our ancestors" - and concluded that in the historical and literary sources "Water cults are mentioned even more often than the veneration of fire-Svarozhich." The basis of the faith of the Eastern Slavs is, in his opinion, "addressing directly to the elements", "to nature itself, as such." Based on the same materials, E.G. Kagarov argued that "the oldest stage of the Slavic religion was, apparently, animism", that is, a kind of worldview, "according to which all nature is animated, endowed with a special independent life."

In general, it is quite difficult to make an exhaustive idea of ​​the nature of beliefs, the worldview of the Eastern Slavs of the 1st - early 2nd millennium on the basis of the available fragmentary materials. Rather, something else is possible - to find out what belief in what creatures and forces is characteristic of Russian peasants of the 19th-20th centuries, whether it can be traced among our distant ancestors, thus proving to be the most stable, characteristic.

The peculiarity of the peasants' beliefs, which has been preserved until the 19th-20th centuries, is the veneration of the "living" elements, primarily the earth in combination with water.

“People have respect for the land, call it a nurse, a mother of damp earth, a place of rest for parents. In God they swear by it:“ I don’t see the land under the cathedral, nurse. He will heal better than a great sorcerer and won't take it for a lien." There is another opinion that "the Earth is not personified, but is called the mother for the reason that the first man Adam was taken from the earth; and, accordingly, on this basis, the people have such respect for her that if someone thought of whipping the earth in a prank, then the elders would certainly notice that he should stop whipping the mother earth. a metaphor, but something more - a real nurse and waterer of a person, feeling and conscious. She has eyes, these are lakes, rivers and water in general. We believe that the cult of the earth has been preserved in its most ancient form, - writes N.M. Galkovsky, - this is veneration without temples, rituals, and even without a clearly expressed idea; at the heart of this cult lies the consciousness of closeness and dependence on the earth ... Such a consciousness is inherent in all people.

In the 19th-20th centuries, the attitude towards water, which is also considered "living", remains similar: even in the last quarter of the 20th century in the north of Russia, in some places, the ban on "walking on water" after sunset remains. This prohibition is motivated by the fact that "the water sleeps, rests, and it cannot be awakened." It was almost universally believed that insulting the water with noise, scolding, spitting, and other inappropriate and inopportune actions could bring illness and even death. In the Yaroslavl region, those who offended the water put a piece of bread into it, asking for forgiveness from the "mother of water" and from "water grandfathers and great-grandfathers, fathers and mothers and their little children." Similarly, "those who were harmed by the fall to the ground" went to "prod" (beg forgiveness from the earth) to the place "where the fall happened."

Water in various states - the water of rivers, lakes, rainwater, spring water - plays a special role in the everyday life of peasants of the 19th-20th centuries, and in major calendar holidays and rituals. In many provinces of Russia, people went out to meet the spring precisely to the rivers, to the water. Like birds awakening streams, springs opening from the ice of the river were the first heralds of the spring resurrection of the earth, the future flowering of nature. Peasants used to say that "a sandpiper flies to Soroka (March 22) from across the sea, brings water from captivity," and April "brooks wake up the earth." In the peasant calendar, all the features of the behavior of springs and streams, the time of opening of the rivers, the timing of the flood were noted: "If water does not flow in March, grass does not grow in April"; "Early opening of the river promises a good mowing", etc.

According to folk cosmogony, water flows around from all sides, resting the earth on itself. According to popular beliefs, it is the waterway that the dead go to their homes located overseas, so in some regions of Russia on Easter they threw eggshells into the rivers so that the water would bring the news of the holiday to the dead. Everywhere, water placed in a cup at the head of a dying person personifies the beginning of the "posthumous journey" of the soul. In particular, the peasants of the Arkhangelsk province believed that this water sways when "darling is washed from his sins" (this is sometimes replaced by dying parting words). If the water is motionless, then "relatives will grieve and grieve that the soul has flown away without being washed from sins. It is gone!" - they say, even if the deceased confessed before his death, but there was no water near his head. "In the Bryansk region, it was believed that" it is easier for the soul to go to the water "(the dying suffers less).

The pagans, having related the soul with the elements, could not help but realize in the soul of that great power that seemed so terrible to them in a whirlwind, fire or water, clothed in poetic images of gods and supernatural beings. The focus is primarily on the annual drama of life Earth" and a person inextricably linked with it. Not only the "living elements", not only the forces of fertility, but also various spirits that live in water, earth, air and generated by them; masters of the elements, owners of a peasant house and farmsteads - goblin, water, brownies, field workers, afternoons, mermaids, devils, etc.

The vitality of such stories and their corresponding superstitious ideas in the modern (even urban) environment, their adaptability to a seemingly rapidly changing world is striking. Particularly stable are the ideas associated with the dead, brownies, sorcerers, sorceresses, healers, stories about which have now flooded into the pages of newspapers in a wide stream. Perhaps this testifies, among other things, to the subconscious feeling of the precariousness of a person in the world, where he feels himself surrounded by invisible, unknown and often hostile forces and beings.