In the annals he is called "the bastard god". His name also indicates this. At the same time, he was the patron saint of prosperity, wealth, which was traditionally associated with the number of livestock. As noted by B. A. Rybakov, until the Middle Ages in Russia the word "cattle" meant both domestic animals and property; "Philandering was synonymous with greed," cattleman "was called a financial official, an intermediary between the mayor and the headman, and" cowgirl "was the treasury.
It may seem strange that when the Kiev prince Vladimir wished to ideologically unite his subjects, he ordered the idols of Perun, Khors, Dazhbog, Stribog, Simargl and Makoshi to be planted in the capital, but for some reason did not include Beles in that row. How can you explain this "forgetfulness"? Was it really by this time (980) that he began to occupy a secondary place in the Slavic pantheon?
In 907, according to the chronicler, in Byzantium there were Russian "klyashassi". with his weapon and Perun his god and Hair the cattle god. " The same thing was repeated in 971: "Yes, we have an oath from God, we believe in him both from Perun and from the Volos of the beast of God." Of course, over the course of several years, public consciousness in that era could not change so dramatically that the god who had previously stood next to Perun himself was forgotten.
The explanation offered by Rybakov seems quite plausible: “The only admissible conclusion about the difference between Perun and Volos according to these extracts from treaties with the Greeks is that in the Russian embassies in 907 and 971. they were like warriors who swore by the formidable Perun, as well as merchants who swore an oath to their god of wealth Volos. There is no question of any opposition of the two gods."
That is so, but for some reason two gods are mentioned, and not one, especially since Prince Vladimir did not consider it necessary to pay tribute to Veles, although he singled out less significant deities. Apparently, at that time there was already a significant separation between the princely court, the vigilantes (among whom there were many Varangian mercenaries, whose patrons were, perhaps, among the idols installed on the top of the hill) from other people, including merchants. The people revered mainly Veles; his idol stood in the lower part of Kiev, and already by this position, to a certain extent, he was opposed to the warlike Perun and his "squad" gods.
Such a geographical separation of the two gods reflected another difference: Perun reigned above, in the heavens, while Veles remained a purely earthly and even partly underground deity: after all, animals were sacrificed to him during the funeral rite. In the mythology of the Baltic tribes, Velo turned into the god of the kingdom of the dead.
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The Lithuanian deity Velnias can also be called "cattle" and was even depicted with horns and hooves. But unlike Veles, Velnyas is represented as a harmful creature, stealing herds from Perkunas, who is forced to recapture them from him. Everything here seems to be upside down, turned upside down. The question arises: where did the herds of the warlike Perkunas (Perun) come from? Apparently, they were captured as booty or appropriated when this god began to rule as a prince. So Velnyas (Veles) has to drive the selected herds back, for which the supreme ruler punishes him.
It is possible that Christianity played a role in giving Veles the features of a "negative hero" opposed to the radiant heavenly Perun. In the Gospel, Christ is opposed by Veliar - the demon of non-existence and destruction (Lithuanians also called Velnias as Velinas). However, among the Eastern Slavs, such a comparison was not popular, and Veles remained in the popular beliefs the patron saint of cattle, and therefore a symbol of well-being, prosperous life, and prosperity.
An interesting and fruitful hypothesis linking the cult of Veles-Volos with the veneration of the forest furry giant bear. Let us keep in mind that "bear" is not the real name of the beast, but its characterization as "knowing honey"; they also called him “master”, and also, apparently, “hair” (hairy, shaggy), connecting with his shaggy skin the idea of animal power and power over animals.
“The next evolution of the Volos image is outlined,” writes BA Rybakov, “initially, in the hunting Neolithic society (when the bear cult had already partially pushed aside the elk in childbirth), Volos could have been the master of the forest, the deity of hunting prey, acting in a bear form. It is possible that his very name was only a common noun allegory, caused by the taboo on the real name …"
Indeed, the primitive hunters did not call the deified bear by name so as not to disturb him, but preferred to hint at him, and therefore Volos was quite suitable for this (and Veles alludes to the great god of the forest, if only such a guess can be taken seriously).
“Since cattle breeding has developed from hunting, from catching and raising wild young animals, then in the transition to cattle breeding, the owner of the forest and the lord of the forest animal could be rethought into the patron saint of domestic animals, became a“cattle god”in the literal sense of the word,” Rybakov writes.
It has been suggested that the Magi, pagan sorcerers, and sorcerers, were also initially perceived as "hairy", hairy, because they performed shamanic rituals, put on a bearskin or mask, as if turning into Volos. The popularity of the Magi among the people could become an additional incentive to preserve the Volos-Beles cult.
With the adoption and spread of Christianity, the consonance of the names of the pagan god and St. Blasius of Sebastia led to the fact that in the places of the temples where Veles was worshiped, the churches of St. Blasius began to be erected, who, in accordance with ancient tradition, was now considered the patron saint of cattle breeding.
The day of this saint (February 24) was called the "cow" or "ox" holiday; the cattle were watered with baptized water and fed with bread, saying: "Saint Blaise, give happiness to smooth heifers, to fat bulls."
In The Lay of Igor's Host, the storyteller Boyan is named the grandson of Ve-les. Perhaps Veles-Volos was revered in Russia as a deity keeping the legends of distant antiquity, the patron saint of magi and sorcerers who have not only knowledge, but also a poetic gift.