At all times in human communities, there were people who served as intermediaries between ordinary mortals and divine entities, who conveyed the will of heaven to their fellow tribesmen. As a rule, they also engaged in predictions, fortune-telling, made sacrifices in the name of the gods, tried to influence the world around them with the help of spells and, often, enjoyed no less respect than the leaders who performed feats in battles or hunting. In our time, such characters are most often denoted by the general concept of "priests"; among the ancient Slavs they were known under the name of the "Magi". With this word, our distant ancestors called a special category of initiates who possessed an innate or acquired magical gift, the ability to foresee and, apparently, skills in curing diseases.
Modern researchers find information about the ancient Slavic priests in the few chronicles that have survived to this day. Because the authors of most of these documents are champions of Christianity, then the activities of the Magi in them are described in an extremely one-sided and negative connotation, and the priests themselves are presented as negative characters. It is interesting that, in almost no chronicle, the personal name of the described sorcerer is indicated, and he himself appears as a kind of abstract figure. For the first time the word "sorcerer" was found on one of the birch bark letters found in Novgorod and dating back to the twelfth century.
There are two main versions of the meaning of the word "sorcerer". According to one of them, it can mean something like “mutter, indistinctly speak”; in this case, it is logical to assume that the main instrument of the Slavic priest was a word, a spell. Other experts believe that "sorcerer" refers to the appearance of the priest and means "the owner of long hair"; the hypothesis, in my opinion, is rather controversial. In any case, "magic", in the minds of the Slavs, was and remains synonymous with the words "witchcraft" or "magic", and "sorcerer" is a powerful sorcerer, a healer whose actions are controlled by higher powers. Folk legends attribute to the Magi, in addition to the above qualities, the ability to change shape, control the weather, and also the ability to communicate with the spirits of their ancestors. It is no longer possible to establish how true these testimonies are.
It is known that the Magi took an active part in the uprisings that broke out during the planting of Christianity in Russia. Most likely, it was during the suppression of these riots that the priests of the ancient gods were destroyed, and with them their unique knowledge and skills disappeared into oblivion. Because the magi passed on their secret art to their followers orally, it remains only to guess how and where exactly they performed their rituals. Thanks to the efforts of the "humane" Christian religion, this huge and most interesting (even exclusively in terms of cognition) layer of our culture has been lost and is unlikely to ever be restored to its true appearance.
In conclusion, I would like to express my point of view regarding the modern "Magi", which appeared simultaneously with the outbreak of interest in Slavic paganism. In my opinion, all these countless Veleslavs, Rodolyubs and Svyatomyrs are nothing more than failed (due to a change in the political system) Komsomol leaders who have found use for their talents in accordance with a more urgent public request. Although, in itself, a return to the roots, the study of the origins of the beliefs of our distant ancestors, can only be welcomed, this process should be treated, it seems to me, extremely carefully, without the categorical nature of the newly minted “priests of Perun and Veles”.