Different peoples and nationalities have their own mythology. Slavic mythology is one of the most amazing and extraordinary traditions. Its full-fledged research began in the second half of the eighteenth century by the researcher M. I. Popov, who published the first work on this topic.
Today we have a more or less complete picture of Slavic mythology, although from time to time new finds and research throw up interesting plots, but every year it is less and less. It has its own unique pantheon of deities, which is nevertheless in some aspects similar to other pantheons, but not devoid of its original flavor.
But why have not detailed descriptions survived that could give a more complete picture of the mythology of the ancient Slavs? Most researchers explain this by the fact that, unlike other cultures, the Slavs did not have a normal written language during the period of compilation of mythology. However, the testimony of some Byzantine, Scandinavian and Western European authors, as well as folklore sources, help us to form a rough picture of what the ancient Slavs really believed before Christianity spread to this territory.
Divine pantheon of Slavs
Let's start with the fact that the Slavic pantheon has a huge number of deities, which no book will be enough to describe. All gods of Slavic mythology are conventionally divided into several categories:
- supreme;
- solar deities;
- functional deities.
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The most important gods in the Slavic pantheon is the god Rod, who was considered the god of heaven and fertility. This god has some similarities with the ancient Greek Zeus due to the fact that both of them are related to lightning. The four solar deities are known as Khors, Dazhdbog, Yarilo and Svarog.
Each of these gods was responsible for one of the four periods of the annual cycle. In addition, such deities as Perun (god of war) and Veles (patron saint of domestic animals) are widely known.
Feathered in Slavic myths
Storytellers and epics of the Slavs paid great attention to birds and also deified them in every possible way. There are quite unique birds in Slavic mythology, and there are also birds similar to birds of other cultures. The first thing that comes to mind is the famous firebird, of which the phoenix is obviously the prototype. This feathered one was endowed with amazing properties - her singing washes to heal, feathers glow in the dark, and she eats exclusively golden apples. Less known to the general public are birds such as:
- gamayun;
- alkonost;
- sirin;
- strait.
All these birds are depicted by artists with human faces, and the epics are endowed with various divine skills. So, for example, the Gamayun bird conveys news from the gods to people, but the Sirin bird is a messenger of dark forces, whose sweet singing brings troubles and misfortunes to the unfortunate listener.
Amazing creatures descended from the pages of the myths of the Slavs
There is in Slavic mythology and its own extraordinary bestiary. The Slavic mythology that has survived to this day, whose creatures are amazing, reveals the extraordinary inner world of our ancient ancestors. That there is only such an amazing creature as a bannik.
They say that he lives in the baths and makes sure that people in the baths behave appropriately. Ghouls are also mentioned here, which are in many ways similar to the famous vampires. Kikimora is another creature whose name is probably familiar to the reader.
This is a particularly nasty creature whose main task is to harm people.
