SVETOVID -God of Light ,Sun and Protector of the realm

God Svetovid is also known under other names, depending on the particular Slavic tribe: Svyentovit, Svantovit, Swietowit, Svevid or simply Vid. Svetovid was main deity of Baltic Slavs and his cult is highly connected with fortress Arkona, located at Ruyan (Rugen) Island, which was once considered Holy land of the Slavs. The bulk of data about Svetovid comes from this ancient Slavic sanctuary.

Svetovid was protector of the arable lands and the God of the sun and light for those who believed in him. And for all others he was a god of war, destruction and defeat.
The last known temple of Svetovid was on Ruyan Island.

In the center of Arkona was temple of god Svetovid surrounded by two wooden fences. The temple was also made of wood, like all other Slavic temples, so today we have almost no remnants of these buildings. It was highly decorated with carvings and paintings. The size of temple was 20x20m and in inner part of building was statue of god, 8m height, also made of wood. Svetovid had four necks and four heads, which represented small pantheon of main Slavic deities: Perun, Svarog, Lada and Mokos.
In his right hand he held horn made of different kinds of metals. This horn was filled with wine or nectar and according to the quantity of liquid in it, the priest predicted future of the land. In the left arm he held a bow. In possession of Svetovid was also a massive sword made of silver. The body of statue was with carvings divided in three parts. The upper part symbolized the spiritual world, middle was material and the lower part symbolized hell.

The sanctuary of Svetovid in Arkona was destroyed in the year 1168 by Danish king Valdemar.

Once per year, during the harvest period, in front of a temple, people sacrificed parts of animals, mostly heads of domestic animals. This was also a great religious feast in which many people took a part. The priest would then predict abundance or scarcity in the upcoming year and pray to Svetovid for fortune and prosperity for the whole land.

The day before the feast, the priest would clean the temple with the broom taking care not to breath inside the temple. When he needed air he would simply run to the door to take a breath since he could not allow the human breath to desecrate the sacred.

On the day of the celebration, priest would take the horn from the statue. If the quantity of liquid decreased, the following year would be poor, and if it is the same it promised abundance. The rest of the day people would eat, drink and dance which also was the part of the ritual and celebration of Svetovid.

Svetovid’s temple was also a well-known oracle, where Slavs came to learn their future. In the temple, a white horse was kept, which belonged to Svetovid. No one may touch it except the priest who would take care of the temple. It was believed that God rode on white horse and lead his people in combats against enemies. The white horse was used in prediction of outcome of the approaching battles. Before going to war, in front of the temple priests would set the triple row of spears and horse was taken to cross over them. In case the horse started with the right leg then it was considered that outcome would be favourable. And if he started with left then war would be postponed. The temple possessed a great treasure. Slavs were obligated to give the part of their harvest to the temple as well as prey they seized by robbery.

There are a lot of theories about the exact meaning of Svetovid’s name. Some think that name is combination of words “svet” which means saint and word “vit” which means hero, knight. This way Svetovid’s name would mean St. Hero or St. Knight.

Others think that word “vid” means light, so the name can be translated as Saint or Holy light. But the closest is the theory where word “vid” is translated as world, and “sve” as all, everything, entire. According to this, Svetovid is God who sees everything and knows everything. As a confirmation of this is a fact that Svetovid is presented as God with four heads turned on the four directions of the world. So he was the one who observed the universe, saw and heard everything.

DAJBOG , DazdBog, Dazbog is also a Giver-God

   DazBog is a god of the Sun, flame and rain. Dazbog is also Giver-God  .

The first part of the name is “daj” – a form of the verb to give, while the second part “Bog” means God. But what did DazBog actually give? It is possible that giving refers the Sun and sunlight which is essential for many natural processes. The Sun was also very important to the Slavs. It was the source of life and was always considered to be a positive force. The Sun gave life to the Earth, and the god who gave it was therefore DajBog. DazBog actually stands for the Sun disc.
            In all surviving medieval texts concerning the Slavs, Dazbog is always mentioned at some point. His name was written down by Roman, Greek and Russian chroniclers who wrote about old Slavic creed. Helios from Greek texts was translated into Slavic as Dazbog. In the Malalin manuscript dating from the 6th century Helios was also translated as Dazbog. The Russian translator tried to tell a story set in Egypt, but he substituted Greek gods for Slavic. Dazbog is also mentioned in the Spanish Code, an epic telling about Igor’s quest and many other things. Vladimir the Great put statues of seven gods in front of his palace in Kiev, and among them was Dazbog’s statue.
           

To a family he was a protector of the house’s fireplace and its fire, man’s basic necessity for survival during the winter, and an indispensable help in performing everyday work. But flames could be cruel and turn against men, and take them to the underworld or destroy their property. Flames’ benevolence was crucial to survival, and many rituals were therefore related to them.
            DazBog was definitely the god of rain, too. One of his names was DazdBog, and “dazd” in many Slavic languages means rain (Slovak, Czech, Russian, Polish…). The rain was important because harvests depended upon it. In times of drought many rain invoking rituals were performed.
            We know that the Slavs addressed their gods as their equals and that they considered themselves gods’ descendants. To be more precise, they thought of themselves as Dazbog’s grandchildren, or his lineal descendants. DazBog was one of Svarog’s sons. It is not certain how many sons Svarog had, but Dazbog was almost beyond doubt one of them. Some authors mention only two – Svarozic and Dazbog (Vyacheslav Vsevolodovi and Vladimir Toporov), while others mention Perun, Svetovid, Dazbog and Veles as Svarog’s sons, and they refer to all of them as a group - “svarozici” (little Svarogs). Be that as it may, Dazbog appears in every combination.
           

During the day, the Sun was in the sky giving out light, while at night it was in the underworld. Actually, every morning DazBog would set out on the journey across the sky riding a white horse or riding in a carriage, and in the evening he died or went to the world of the dead, only to come to life again next morning. 

The Serbs more than any other people imagined Dazbog as a lame old man, dressed in animal skins, usually bear skin, accompanied by a wolf. The wolf actually stands for his animal incarnation, or his primary shape that did not cease to exist after Dazbog turned anthropomorphic. The wolf became a servant, and often a messenger as well. Although his basic form was anthropomorphic, Dazbog frequently changed his shape, and his earliest wolf form remained his symbol. As the Serbs considered themselves his descendants, the wolf became a sacred animal. In one catalogue of peoples, it is recorded that the Serbs were descendants of the wolf. “Saracen is descended from the boar, Turk from the snake, Tatar from the hound, Serb from the wolf, Bulgarian from the bull, Aleman from the eagle…”

            The belief in the power of the Sun was extremely strong among the Slavs. Cajkanovic claims that Dazbog was the supreme god of the Serbs. This is supported by the fact that a Slavic festivity dedicated to the invincible Sun coincides with Christmas Day. Since this holiday was impossible to uproot, it was simply substituted by a similarly important Christian one.
            Upon conversion to Christianity demonic characteristics were attributed to Dazbog. He became the most powerful of the demons and the main opponent of the Christian God. This was possibly due to his appearance of a lame one-eyed old man, dressed in dark bear skin, dwelling in the underworld quite often. We can however opt for the possibility that this was due to the power of Dazbog’s cult that was to be eliminated at all costs. Dazbog’s characteristics were later in Christianity transferred to St Sava, who was also presented in folk tales as a shepherd followed by a wolf. St Sava is also a giver in those tales.

VESNA - The Goddess of Spring and Youth

Vesna was the goddess of spring, and was associated with youth.

Vesna was a very popular goddess among people because she replaced winter and death that is Morena. Morena, however, was the goddess of winter, and this time for the Slavs (mainly northern) was associated with death. In past times winter was characterized by a scarcity of food from various diseases caused by the cold, and then associated with death. Vesna wore the green fields, the meadows, nice weather, favorable to life and work.
With these changes in the nature Vesna brought joy into the homes of the Slavs. The Slavs celebrated spring because it won winter and announced the summer season. As spring symbolized the beginning of a beautiful season, when it bloomed, the nature awoke, all was reborn and renewed life, Vesna had her role as a goddess of youth.

Vesna was one of the sunnier goddesses and was loved by people very much. Vesna represented spring in Slovene mythology and is still the poetic word for spring in the Slovene and Slovak languages.

It is precisely for this reason in particular the Serbs, had the custom of giving the name Vesna to a female.  People, who gave the name Vesna to a daughter, believed that their daughter would be happy and cheerful just like the goddess Vesna, or, as spring. Her name comes from an Indian word vas that means solar, illuminated and shiny. The word vas is located in the root of the name Vesna. This also shows that the deity Vesna was present in the Slavic people even when they were in India, and before they moved to Europe. In particular, Vesna was a model for women. She was beautiful and powerful and around her the wonderful scent spread. In addition to beauty, she is also attributed to the power of the Sun, without which she could not get spring.

Vesna was never alone. She was always accompanied by Gerovit, who watched her constantly, and Stribog, the god of wind and air.

Vesna was also the goddess of victory. She could overcome death and winter, and governed nature. This victory was celebrated by the people according to their customs. According to legend, every spring Stibog carried Vesna on the wings of light and nice breeze. In the duel between Morena and Vesna, the Slavs had always opted for Vesna. The Slavs had the custom to bring the doll Vesna on branches and to burn the doll Morena. This practice symbolically marked the victory of Vesna over Morena. Of course, the victory of Vesna was not definitive, as all cycles were repeated every year. The fight between Morena showed that Vesna had features that were common among mortals, intolerance towards other women, jealousy and the struggle for power.

Vesna is Morana’s opposite. Humans consider it completely good and fond of all people. Even though both goddesses as such are beautiful, Morana is pale and in a way represents beauty in decay while Vesna’s rose cheeks and luscious looks represent spring. People fear Morana and adore Vesna.

They don’t even exist in the same place at the same time. Only when Morana and her winter leave, Stribog brings Vesna on “wind’s wings”. In this context, Stribog was called “that who take one to bring another”. Vesna represents the coming of life after winter hibernation and the return of light after a period of darkness.

Polish Slavs called Vesna Devana with the added “title” of the goddess of fertility and sometimes even the goddess of the hunt. Apart from Vesna and Devana, the same goddess was also known as: Zhivana, Zhiva, Siva, Diva, Deva, Devica, Danica etc. The name Lada is a lot more mysterious than the ones mentioned just now. After Slavs converted to Christianity, Vesna’s domain was split between St. Petka and Virgin Mary.

LADA The Goddess of love, beauty, marriage spring

The Slavic goddess of love, beauty, marriage spring and is also known as the “Lady of the Flowers“ She is linked to the planetary power of Venus who is, besides love and beauty, associated with fertility. Lada is represented as a young girl with long golden hair sometimes with a wreath of ears of grain braided into her hair, which symbolises her function of fertility deity.

A symbol of Sun, a mark of lifegiving power was sometimes on her breasts. As a fertility goddess, Lada has her annual cycles, which can be shown by the belief that she resides in the dwelling place of the dead until the vernal equinox comes. This world of the dead is called Irij, and here, besides Lada, dwells Veles, the horned god of cattle. At the moment when Lada is supposed to come out into the world and bring spring, Jarilo/Gerovit opens the door of Irij letting the fertility goddess bless the earth.

At the end of summer, Lada returns to Irij (there is a similar myth in German mythology in which Freya spends a part of the year underground among the elves, whereas Greek Persefona dwells in Had during the winter period). Although her reign begins on the 21st of March, Lada is primarily the goddess of summer. She follows Vesna, the Slavic spring goddess. However, both of these goddesses are associated with fertility so sometimes it can sometimes be difficult to separate their functions. As we can see, Lada's reign begins in spring, the proof of which is ladenj, another name for April, given after this goddess. Apart from the Sun, Lada is also associated with rain and hot summer nights, the ideal time for paying respect to the love goddess.

Lada's animals are a cock, a deer, an ant and an eagle, whereas her plants are a cherry, a dandelion, a linden and a peony.

THE WHITE GOD - The God of Daylight and Everything Good

Belobog is a deity whose historical existence was, and still is, a subject of numerous debates. Belobog, which, translated into English, means White god, is imagined as a counterpart to Crnobog, or Černobog (Black god) and as such represents the light deity of good essentially opposed to the deity of evil.

According to the theory of Peter Kotka, the Slavs accepted Belobog in the period when they lived in the Persian neighborhood (8th – 2nd c. BC). As we know, the Persian religion was dualist in its nature, thus two opposed forces – Ormuzd and Ahriman ruled the Persian universe. The Slavic Belobog would thus correspond Ormuzd, though he was never on such a high place with the Slavs. Furthermore, Kotka presented a Slavic myth in which two opposed forces, just like those mentioned above, were responsible for the creation of the Slavic world, and the forces, of course, were Belobog and Crnobog. Both of these forces were necessary for the creation of the universe, which is, indeed, a principle that could have been taken from the Persians. However, this myth should not be taken for granted since there is a quite different myth about the creation of the universe, and the myth is about a god Rod who created the cosmos from a huge egg.

             However you look at it, the impression that Belobog is more of an abstract principle than a typical anthropomorphic deity stays, which can be seen in the way it was represented by the Slavs. Well, how was this deity represented? The Slavs imagined Belobog as an old man with a long white beard, dressed exclusively in white. As such, he would appear only during the daylight, doing good deeds as he went and bringing people success and happiness. Belobog helped many peasants to finish hard work in the field and he showed many strayed travelers the way out of a thick forest. The general impression of whiteness, light and positively made him an abstract deity, completely different from other gods. This is why he is more likely the very principle of light and goodness wrapped in the form of an anthropomorphic deity, than a god pagans would otherwise bow to.

Whether it is an abstract principle, or a manifestation of the supreme god (Ormuzd or Christian Yahweh), the appearance of Belobog in the Slavic mythology should by no means be ignored. Certain data about the notion of him with the Slavs can be found through the analysis of the name of this deity. Belobog's name reminds us a lot of the names of gods of other pantheons: Baldur, Belunos, Baal etc. All these deities are also of a light and solar nature since their names contain the same root (bal means something light and bright). The very occurrence of Baldur in the Nordic mythology is parallel to the occurrence of Belobog in the Slavic – both seem a bit of a foreign body in their systems, by being different in every possible way from other gods and by making their appearance seem extremely mysterious.  The same rules were applied both to Baldur and Belobog, Baldur was considered to be a Christian creation, wherefore he was even named Hvit Christ, i.e. White Christ. As far as the Serbs are concerned, Belobog's name has, up to now, remained with the people who use it to denote a deity, which can be seen in an old saying “he ate the white god”, used to show that somebody ate very much, i.e. that he ate everything there was to be eaten.

Horses of the Slavic gods

Every Slav God was to some extent a warrior God and as such, most of them had horses. Horses often attributed with supernatural powers. These mythical horses had a strong connection with the Moon and the moon cult. They often had two very different “faces” one regular, like a completely normal horse and a second, divine, powerful and miraculous which they mostly used at night.

Svetovid’s white horse

At nightfall,the mighty Svetovid saddles his winged horse and pursues the enemies of the Slavs. Many things suggest that he had two horses, white one for day time and a black one for night time but those are probably two “faces” of the same magical animal. That’s backed up by ancient writings about priest guardians of his white horse in his temple of destiny. That white horse just looks like a regular horse but nobody except for the priests is allowed to touch him and it’s a sin to pluck a single hair from his mane or tail. Only the high priest can use that horse and only to predict the future in Svetovid’s name. Even though this horse is carefully guarded, there are records of him being exhausted, sweaty and muddy in the morning and it’s believed that Svetovid rode him that night.

This white horse was also used in predicting the outcome of upcoming wars. Priest would put three rows of spears on the ground outside of the temple and then bring the saddled white horse. If he crosses the spears right leg first, the outcome will be good but if he crosses left leg first, that was bad luck and the war had to be postponed. The horse was saddled and the high priest himself took him empty saddled across the spears which means that it was believed that Svetovid himself is riding him at that moment and that he is communicating with them through horse’s movement.

Magical horses in folk songs

Similar unusual horses are often found in folk tales and songs of the Slavs. Even though their owners are humans now they are usually great heroes or of strange origin. In the Serbian folk song Zenidba Kralja Vukasina (King Vukasin’s Wedding) we find out that his rival Momchil has a winged horse Jabuchilo. Jabuchilo’s wings can be only seen at the break of dawn or when his master orders him to show them. That horse is very similar to horses of the Slav gods, which he probably was in earlier version of the song.