Żmija’s guide to Slavic faith: part 1, basic problems (original) (raw)

who are Slavs? To properly understand where the differences and doubts are coming from when talking about Slavic beliefs, we have to see how big and varied the slavic nations are. These were many tribes and groups spread on a vast land, and each with their own set of beliefs and interpretations, and their own favourites when it came to Deities. So, the god that was the boss for one tribe in Poland, might not have been even considered a higher deity in another far away one in Russia. However, very often, the Slavs believed in very similar gods under slightly different names, or different Gods under the same name - same goes for demons, spirits, and main myths. Gods’ roles and powers could change a bit depending on a given group as well. Quite a mess there, really, but so much more fascinating to untangle.

Some of the tribes were in direct contact with each other and also other foreign groups, such as Germanics or Balts, hence the similiarites in both their culture and beliefs at some stages. The proto-slavic language quickly gave way to very varied and different individual languages of the given lands, and without a unified way of communication (no early writing systems as well) the differences were bound to arise - however, the roots and similiarities are still amazingly prominent.

We can divide the Slavic nations into West, East, and South Slavs - however, this is a modern classification and it’s important to remember that today’s nations consisted of many, many different tribes in the times we’re interested in.

source? The main problem we face while diving into slavic beliefs is the painful lack of written sources. There are some, obviously, but as mentioned before - ancient Slavs had no writing system. So what we have are either mentions in historical records that either served as trivia or curiosities, or stories supposed to ridicule the slavic faith as “the heathens that believe in lighting or mud or something”. Many sources we have have been awfully contaminated by Christianity, and so is the big part of interpetation and work connected to Slavic beliefs and culture.

However scarce, the sources exist. Most importantly, however, the ancient beliefs are still alive in traditions, rituals, tales and stories and folk songs, and even language itself. We cannot trace every little thing back to our ancestors and back it up with solid written sources, but it doesn’t mean we can’t see the Old in the New, and it doesn’t mean we can’t discover everything anew.

Neopaganism and rodnovery: made of moss or thistle? As much as I love thistle - and rodnovery, too - it is really damn prickly. Whether you’re a newcomer or a veteran, whether you grew up among strong pagan influences or you’ve been far away from them, you will encounter a lot of difficulties when dealing with rodnovery. I could praise it for centuries - I have met many amazing, warm and open people here. People who helped me grow, people who challenged my ways of thinking and my faith, people who fought for me and with me, and people who turned to me for guidance or friendship. There are many welcoming, wise souls out there, those truly connected to the Old Gods and Old Ways.

And then there are the assholes. These are people who got lost in their own misconceptions and distrust. They are either nearly violently hostile towards Christanity (or any other religion, really, but Abrahamic religions are usually targeted the most, Christianity for obvious reasons) or towards anything different, modern, and open-minded (they are often extreme conservatives, trashing concepts of other sexualities, genders, equality of gender and race etc. often to the horrific degree of actual neonazism…) This kind of people is neither new nor tied only to rodnovery, but it’d be foolish to try to hide it. It is there. And I think it is my responsibility to not only warn, but actively fight these people, and try to repair the damage they’ve done to slavic pagans. But assholes are everywhere, and we should never let them stop us from, well, anything.

Understanding the first two parts of this post is crucial to understanding the complicated nature of our efforts in untangling the mysteries and differences. In next parts I will try to bring the slavic faith closer to the reader who might only rely on English texts - which are, well, scarce, and usually either heavily upg’d, or purely academic.

I work with books and sources based on academic research, and with my own experience (to a lesser scale, as I want to be as close to the core and history as it gets), but I don’t claim to be the all knowing, wise pagan. I’m still learning myself, and there is a lot left to learn. If you have anything to add, or you can correct me, please do!