With the passage of time, man more and more freed himself from fear of the animal world, and animal features in the images of deities gradually began to give way to human ones. The owner of the forest from a bear turned into a shaggy goblin with horns and paws, but still resembling a man. Leshy, the patron saint of hunting, left the first game on the stump. It was believed that he could lead a lost traveler out of the forest, but if he was angry, he could, on the contrary, lead a person into the thicket and destroy.
With the adoption of Christianity, the devil, like other spirits of nature, began to be perceived as hostile.
The deities of moisture and fertility among the Slavs were mermaids and pitchforks, pouring dew from magic horns onto the fields. They were spoken of, now as girls, swans flying from heaven, now as mistresses of wells and streams, now as drowned mavkas, now as midday women running around the grain fields at noon and giving strength to the ear.
According to popular beliefs, on short summer nights, mermaids come out of their underwater shelters, swing on the branches, and if they meet a man, they can tickle to death or carry them along to the bottom of the lake.
Brownie
This is the soul of the house, the patron saint of the building and the people living in it. For the ancient Slavs, the construction of a house was full of the deepest meaning, because at the same time man was likened to the gods who created the universe. Great importance was attached to the choice of the start time of work, the choice of location and building materials.
Cutting down trees, a pagan Slav blamed before the tree souls, expelled from the trunks, and performed cleansing rites. But the ancient Slav was still not completely sure that the felled trees would not begin to take revenge on him, and in order to protect himself he made the so-called "construction sacrifices." The skull of a horse or bull was buried under the red (eastern) corner of the house, in which the carved statues of the gods were placed. The brownie settled down to live underground, under the stove. He introduced himself as a little old man with a face like the head of a family. To his liking, he is an eternal troublemaker, grumpy, but caring and kind.
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People tried to maintain good relations with the Brownie, take care of him as an honored guest, and then he helped to keep the house in order and warned of impending disaster. Moving from house to house, Domovoi was always invited by a conspiracy to move with his family. The Brownie living next to a man is the kindest of the "small" deities. And already immediately beyond the threshold of the hut, "their" world becomes more and more alien and hostile.
Yardovy and Bannik
The courtyard is the owner of the courtyard, he was already considered a little less friendly than the Brownie. Ovinnik (Humennik) - the owner of the barn - is even less, and Bannik, the spirit of the bathhouse, standing completely on the outskirts, on the edge of the yard, or even outside it, is simply dangerous. In ancient times, the word "unclean" did not mean at all something sinful or evil, but simply less sacred, more accessible to the action of forces unkindly disposed towards a person.
Many creepy stories are told about Bannik today. He appears as a tiny, but very strong old man, naked, with a long, moldy beard. His ill will is attributed to fainting and accidents, sometimes occurring in the bath. Bannik's favorite pastime is to boil the washable people with boiling water, to split stones in the stove and to “shoot” them at people. Maybe he will drag him into the hot stove and rip off a piece of skin from the living. However, you can get along with him.
Knowledgeable people always leave Bannik with good steam, fresh broom and a bowl of clean water. And they never rush each other - Bannik can't stand it, get angry. And if you came under the arm of Bannik, you have to run out of the bathhouse and call Ovinnik or Brownie for help: "Father, help me out!"
Polevik
When they began to clear forests and plow land for fields, pastures and new lands, of course, they immediately came into contact with other "small" deities - the Poleviks. In general, many beliefs and beliefs are associated with the field of grain. So, until the last century, the division of agricultural crops into "male" and "female" survived. For example, grain was sown only by men who carried the grain in special bags cut from old trousers. Thus, they entered into a "sacred marriage" with a plowed field, and not a single woman dared to be present.
But the turnip was considered a "female" culture. And women sowed it, trying to transfer part of their fertile power to the Earth. Sometimes people met an old man in the field, plain-looking and utterly snotty. The old man asked a passerby to wipe his nose. And if a person did not disdain, he suddenly had a purse of silver in his hand, and the old Polevik disappeared. Thus, our ancestors expressed the simple idea that the Earth generously endows only those who are not afraid to get their hands dirty.
Poluditsa
The working day in the villages began early, but it was better to wait out the midday heat. The ancient Slavs had a special mythical creature who strictly looked after that no one would work at noon. This is Poluditsa. She was imagined as a girl in a long white shirt, or vice versa - as a shaggy, terrible old woman. The half-women were afraid: for non-observance of the custom, she could punish, and cruelly - now we call it sunstroke.
Leshy
A forest began behind the fence of the ancient Slav's dwelling. This forest determined the whole way of life. In pagan times, literally everything was made of wood in a Slavic house, from the dwelling itself to spoons and buttons. And besides, the forest gave a huge variety of game, berries and mushrooms. But besides the benefits bestowed on man, the wild forest has always concealed many mysteries and mortal dangers. Going into the forest, every time you had to be ready to meet its owner - Leshim. "Leshy" in the Old Slavonic language means "forest spirit".
Leshy's appearance is changeable. He can appear as a giant, taller than the tallest trees, or he can hide behind a small bush. The goblin looks like a man, only his clothes are wrapped in the opposite direction, on the right side. Leshy's hair is long gray-green, there are no eyelashes or eyebrows on his face, and his eyes, like two emeralds, burn with green fire.
Goblin can walk around an unwary person, and he will rush around inside a magic circle for a long time, unable to cross the closed line. But Leshy, like all living nature, knows how to reward good for good. And he only needs one thing: that a person, entering the forest, respects forest laws, and does not harm the forest. And Leshy will be very happy if you leave him somewhere on a hemp with delicacies that do not grow in the forest, a pie, a gingerbread, and say aloud thanks for the mushrooms and berries.
Water
The water deity was the Water One - a mythical inhabitant of rivers, lakes and streams. The waterman was represented as a naked, flabby old man, goggle-eyed, with a fish tail. The spring Waters were endowed with special power, because the springs, according to legend, arose from the lightning strike of Perun. Such keys were called "rattling" and this is preserved in the names of many sources. Water - like other natural essences - was for the Slavic pagans a primordially kind, friendly element. But, like all the elements, she demanded that she be treated as "you." She could have drowned or ruined for nothing. Could wash away the village, delivered "without asking" from Vodyanoy - we would say now, without knowledge of local hydrology. That is why the Merman often appears in legends as a creature hostile to man. Apparently the Slavs, as experienced inhabitants of the forest, were still less afraid of getting lost than drowning,that's why the Water One in legends looks more dangerous than Leshy.