Among people who know about Slavic paganism only by hearsay, the stereotype is very actively imposed that the practice of human sacrifice was common among pagans. In fact, such a statement is nothing more than a myth.
In fact, such a statement is nothing more than a myth.
"Bloody human sacrifices" among the Slavs exist exclusively in Christian teachings "against the pagans."
This practice existed only among some semi-wild peoples at the earliest stages of social development. When we talk about paganism in its developed form, then you will not find such phenomena in it. Some echoes are found only in the wild, by definition, class-military environment and, accordingly, in their narrowly caste cults. And then, not everywhere, but precisely in archaic echoes, more often in symbolic form. And only so much, since their "profession" itself is daily connected with death.
The Slavs, on the other hand, did not practice human sacrifice at all - unless only in Christian propaganda, on a par with “foul sin” and other delights.
And this is explained by nothing more than the very essence of sacrifice in pagan cults. And this essence is as follows. The pagans-Slavs make demands to the gods Bringing a treasure or sacrifice itself is an act of arranging a meal with the gods. To this day, we all perform such services in everyday life, when, for example, we arrange a commemoration, and we put a symbolic glass of vodka and a piece of bread at the image of the deceased. The essence of the divine service is participation in a common meal with the gods - communion with this common meal. Hence the expressions "to chew on someone" (to devour, devour, sacrifice, grub, priest - one root) and "mass", "to take a vow." And in churches (originally converted from pagan temples) the name “refectory” remained for a certain part of the building.
The general meaning is that a part of what people eat themselves is dedicated to the gods. If a tribe of savages practices cannibalism, then they "feed" their deities with a human woman, and if not, then this does not even occur to them! You won't put a bunch of cockroaches instead of bread in front of the photograph of your deceased grandfather at the commemoration? And the pagans don't think of that either.
A modern person, divorced from rural life, does not understand the meaning of the phrase: "such and such a king sacrificed 200 bulls on this occasion!" Modern man thinks that the point was that this someone, for the sake of the gods, took, and took the life of as many as 200 innocent cows! But the point is that this someone made a huge feast dedicated to the gods, and fed these bulls to his army. The point was not in the deprivation of life or bloodshed, but in the very common meal, at which the gods were also mystically present.
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Haven't you heard phrases from the villagers - like: "Here, I'll kill this pig for my daughter-in-law's birthday" or something like that? You understand that the meaning of what has been said is not that he will specifically kill the pig on the occasion of his daughter-in-law's birthday, but that for her birthday he will prepare many tasty and satisfying dishes from this pig. Likewise, the pagans, when they say that they sacrificed three rams, mean that they had a great feast on some occasion.
By the way, the Christian liturgy is carried out exactly according to the same scheme. The gifts (the body and flesh of Christ) are first prepared on the altar, then brought to the altar, and then collectively consumed by all those present who are partakers of this meal.
And precisely for the reason that the pagans understand the mystical essence of the liturgy, they called, with amazement and rejection, Christians - God-eaters. From the point of view of the pagan Slavs, such a custom was the height of not only blasphemy, but also moral savagery, for Christians mystically ate not just a person - which in itself is terrible for a cultured person, but also for their god!