Our ancestors, of course, had an idea of astronomy and knew about the existence of planets and constellations. However, most of the space objects had completely different names from them than those to which we are accustomed.
Wandering Stars
The inhabitants of Ancient Russia knew only seven planets that could be seen with the naked eye - the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. As you can see, the Sun and the Moon were also referred to as planets. The earth was not considered a planet. The sky seemed to our ancestors as a firmament that separates the Earth from the heavenly water.
I must say that the planets were called so - planets, this term was borrowed from the ancient Greeks. Since the planets, unlike ordinary stars, constantly changed their position in the sky, they were called "wandering", says researcher Yu Karpenko in the book "Names of the Starry Sky". The word "planet" could also mean a person - a wanderer, traveler, vagabond. The planet was called, say, the ancient Greek king Oedipus.
At first, in ancient Russian sources, the planets were called "transition stars" or "adapters". But already in the manuscript of 1263 it is said: "the hedgehogs are called planites, the rexhe is floating." However, the term took root in Russia back in the 11th century. So, in "Izbornik Svyatoslav" for 1073 says: "one of 7 planites." The fact is that the Greek "planet" was masculine and pronounced as "planitis".
Old Russian names of planets
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In Ancient Russia, the planets originally had Greek names: "slantse, louna, zeus, rmis, aris, aphrodite, kronos." Translated into Russian - "Sun, Moon, Zeus, Hermes, Ares, Aphrodite, Kronos." In the modern interpretation, respectively - the Sun, Moon, Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, Venus, Saturn. They are also found in later sources. So, in the Western Russian "Cosmography" of the 16th century it is said: "Kron to use a zodiyak for 30 years, Zeus for 12 years, Arris for 2 years … Aphrodite and Ermis are like the sun."
Only from the end of the 16th century, under the influence of Polish literature, the Latin names of astronomical objects familiar to us began to spread in Russia. They finally took hold in the Peter the Great era.
Some planets, however, had a second, Slavic name. For example, the moon was called a month. The brightest of the planets, Venus, was called Dennitsa, Zarnitsa, Zaryanitsa, Zaryanka, Morning Star or Matins.
What were the constellations called in Russia?
As for the constellations, most of them in Russia bore Slavic names. So, the Milky Way was called "Bird's Way", "Goose Road", "Duck Road", "Straw Way", "Camp".
The constellation of the Big Dipper in the Russian tradition was called "Big Dipper", "Elk", "Sokhaty", "Wagon", "Cart", "Wagon", "Plow", "Horse at a standstill". There are versions that the “moose” names were borrowed from our closest northeastern neighbors, the Finno-Ugric peoples, whose main occupation was hunting and who at one time used moose as riding animals. And the "cart" - among the ancient Germans, who in the I-II millennia BC still formed a single ethnos with the Finno-Ugric peoples.
Ursa Minor was respectively called "Little Dipper", "Losenko", etc. The North Star in the same constellation Ursa Minor, and our ancestors were called "Kol", "Nail", etc. The Slavs represented it in the form of a stake around which the stars move (by the way, similar representations are found among other peoples). Not surprising, since the star is located at the very North Pole.
In the constellation Orion, three central stars were distinguished, representing the so-called "Orion Belt". They were called in Russia: "Three plows", "Grabli" and "Mowers", which obviously had to do with agricultural work. The fact is that the constellation rose at the end of summer, when it was time to go out for mowing in the morning.
Our Slavic ancestors gave the constellation Taurus the name "Yunets". But the modern name has already been used in Russia. Researchers believe that it appeared in distant times, when the main occupation of our ancestors was cattle breeding, and the vernal equinox was located just in this constellation.
The Pleiades star cluster, also located in the constellation Taurus, was very popular among our ancestors. They called it differently: "Seven Sisters", "Hair", "Hair", "Stozhary", "Volosozhary". For the Pleiades, it is characteristic that in central Russia one can observe them in the sky only from August to April. According to historians, the movement of the Pleiades across the sky in Russia could be associated with economic activities (for example, with their appearance it was possible to harvest). A number of names of the constellation may have been associated with the god of cattle breeding Veles, whose analogue in ancient Greek mythology is Hermes, the son of Maya, one of the Pleiades. The name "Stozhary" comes from the word "haystack". Among the Eastern Slavs, a stozhar was called a stake stuck into the ground to strengthen a haystack.
The Russian name for the constellation Libra is "Yarem" ("yoke"). In astrology, this sign is associated with trade. And the Sun enters the sign of Libra after the autumnal equinox, when fairs traditionally began in Russia, tribute and taxes were collected.
The constellation of Aquarius in various Russian and Slavic texts was called "Mokreshya", "Vodoliyatel", "Vodorets", which, in general, is close to the current name.
This constellation can be observed only in the southern part of the horizon, at mid-latitudes it ceases to be visible in the first decade of November. It was at this time that the Slavs held festivities in honor of the goddess of crafts Makosh (Mokosh). And again Aquarius becomes visible in the spring, when the "wet" season comes - the snow melts and streams flow.
As you can see, unlike the planets, even the modern names of the constellations in Russia are not borrowed from Latin and are not too different from those invented by the Slavs.
Irina Shlionskaya