Greek and Roman mythologies are so common in Western culture that most people have never heard of the polytheistic pantheon of other cultures. One of the least known is the Slavic pantheon of gods, spirits and heroes that were worshiped for hundreds of years before Christian missionaries began actively promoting Christianity in the region.

Slavic mythology has two main differences from Greek and Roman myths. Firstly, many of the spirits are still part of legends and fairy tales among Slavic peoples today. Secondly, there are very few records left about the old Slavic pantheon of gods, so scientists are trying to reconstruct information based on secondary documents. However, Slavic mythology is very fascinating.

1. Baba Yaga

Lives in a hut on chicken legs, travels in a flying mortar

Among all the world's mythologies, Baba Yaga is found only in Slavic legends. Many other Slavic gods and creatures have equivalents in Roman or Greek mythology, but Baba Yaga is unique. At first glance, she seems indistinguishable from the witches in European folklore. Baba Yaga looks like an old woman and has a very long nose. When travelers meet Baba Yaga, she blesses or curses them depending on her mood.

But Baba Yaga also has a number of features that are unique to this image. She lives in a hut on chicken legs, and she travels in a flying mortar. Like traditional witches, Baba Yaga always carries a broom with her, but she uses it to cover her tracks. No one knows exactly where the Slavs got this image in their myths.

2. Bannik

Bannik - mischievous spirit

The bathhouse has always been an important part of life in Eastern Europe, especially in countries such as Russia and Ukraine. They especially often took a steam bath in the winter or when they had a cold. Considering how strong the social and cultural influence of the bathhouse was in Slavic society, naturally, it could not do without the spirit of the bathhouse - the so-called bannik. Bannik was a mischievous spirit who most often looked like an old man with long claws. Whenever people bathed in the bathhouse, they left soap and a heated bathhouse for the spirit so that it could also wash itself.

The myths claimed that the bannik could predict the future: when he was asked a question, the bannik would gently touch the back of the questioner if the future was good. But if the prediction was bad, then the spirit could scratch the person’s back. Before the young couple stayed in the bathhouse together for the first time, guests would throw stones and pots at the walls outside to scare away the bathhouse.

3. Zduhac

Village Shaman

Among the Slavic peoples before Christianity, witchcraft was an important part of culture. Witches and warlocks protected people and settlements from villains and spirits. Chief among these defenders of the ancient Slavs were the zduhachi - people who used supernatural powers to protect their village and attack other villages. Scientists suggest that the zduhachi traditions are most likely a modified form of Eurasian shamanism.

Shamanic traditions were most likely brought to the west by Trans-Siberian Finno-Ugric and Uralic ethnic groups. The ancient Slavs were a superstitious people, and the idea of ​​a supernatural protector fit well into their belief system.

4. Brownie

Small bearded male creatures

Brownies are household spirits that were found everywhere in pre-Christian Slavic myths. Although Christian missionaries were largely successful in ridding themselves of old pagan ideas among their new flock, brownies continued to be believed in for centuries. Brownies were household spirits, masters and patrons of the home, who were generally considered good spirits. Most often they were depicted as small bearded male creatures, similar to Western European household spirits.

Many legends claim that brownies were often seen working in the yard in the guise of the owner of the house, although he was fast asleep in bed at the time. Less often, the brownie took the form of a cat or dog. If the people in whose house he lived were rude and slobs, then the brownie began to plot various intrigues against them. If they behaved decently and left milk and cookies for the brownie, then he would help with the housework.

5. Kikimora

Witch or spirit of the dead

The opposite of the brownie was the kikimora - an evil spirit in everyday Slavic mythology, which is especially common in Polish and Russian stories. A kikimora was a witch or the spirit of the deceased who took up residence in a house and was usually seen as a source of evil. Usually the kikimora lived behind the stove or in the basement of the house and began to make noise when it became hungry. Most of the time, the kikimora terrorized the family, especially if the house was not in order.

According to Slavic traditions, the kikimora entered the house through the keyhole and tried to strangle people while they slept. To prevent this from happening, they read prayers at night and placed a broom next to the door. However, kikimora usually played dirty tricks on people who did not keep their home in order. If she liked the house, she would help take care of the chickens, as well as other household chores.

6. Mokosh

Servant of Mother Earth

Before the advent of the Christian era, Mokosh was a Slavic fertility goddess, mainly believed in Russia, Ukraine and Poland. She was traditionally considered a servant of Mother Earth - the goddess of nature. Unlike Mother Earth, Mokoshi continued to be worshiped in the 19th century. Faith in Mokosh most likely came to the Slavic lands from the Finno-Ugric tribes. Mokosh was usually depicted as a wanderer who was responsible for yarn, childbirth and the protection of women.

7. Radegast

Dear Guest

Radegast is one of the oldest gods in Slavic mythology. Its name comes from two ancient Slavic words that mean “dear guest”. This is why it is believed that Radegast was worshiped as the god of feasts and guests. It is believed that Radegast wore black armor and was armed with a throwing disc.

Researchers believe that he was an important god for leaders and city councilors, as there was a tradition where the person leading the city council would perform a ritual during which he would invite Radegast to visit.

8. Chernobog

One of the most mysterious gods

Of all the Slavic deities, Chernobog is one of the most famous and one of the most mysterious. Today is about him. Apart from the name, practically nothing is known. Mention of Chernobog is found in the writings of Father Helmond, a German priest who lived in the 12th century. Judging by Helmond's works, Chernobog was the personification of evil.

9. Veles

Veles is the personification of all evil and the antagonist of the supreme god

In ancient Slavic mythology there is a god who is the personification of evil and the antagonist of the supreme god Perun. We are talking about Veles. Scientists have discovered many sources confirming the influence of Veles on the ancient Slavs. In Slavic myths, Veles was a supernatural force responsible for the earth, water, and the underworld. It is also associated with magic and cattle. The Slavs believed that Perun and Veles were in constant confrontation, and Perun defended the human world from Veles. Nevertheless, many temples dedicated to Veles were built. He was also the patron of musicians and wealth. Since the ancient Slavs generally did not have a clear distinction between good and evil, Veles was not considered completely bad.

Greek and Roman mythologies are completely familiar to Westerners, but the polytheistic pantheon of other cultures is almost unknown in the West. The most unknown of these pantheons are the Slavic gods, spirits and heroes, the legends of which survived the conversion of the Slavs to Christianity.

Slavic mythology has two key differences from Greek and Roman. Firstly, most of the creatures are still widely present among the Slavs in everyday images and folk tales. Secondly, the Slavic pantheon of gods is not properly documented; researchers reconstructed information about them from secondary documents. However, this pantheon is very fascinating, and it is, of course, worth knowing about it.

Baba Yaga

Baba Yaga - bone leg

Baba Yaga is a unique creature, invented exclusively by the Slavs. Many other Slavic gods and heroes have analogues in Greek or Roman mythology, but Baba Yaga does not. At a superficial glance, she resembles various witches from European folklore. An old woman with a long hooked nose and skinny legs. She either blesses or curses the travelers she comes across, depending on her mood.

However, it also has unusual features. Her home is a hut on chicken legs that can walk on its own. And the old woman moves, if not in a hut, then in a mortar, which is controlled by a pestle and at the same time also flies. Baba Yaga, like any ordinary witch, has a broom, but its purpose is to cover up the traces of her mistress. In some legends, Baba Yaga is described as three sisters with the same names.

It is unknown when exactly the tales of Baba Yaga were born. Unlike many other creatures originally from Slavic myths, Baba Yaga “lived well” in the modern world - certainly in the 20th century. Her vitality is partly explained by the fact that the old woman’s morality is completely ambiguous. Travelers from all over the world flocked to Baba Yaga in the hope of gaining great wisdom.

Bannik

Lives in the bathhouse

The bathhouse is an important part of Eastern European life, especially in Russia and Ukraine. In winter, people go to the bathhouse more often than usual - because it strengthens the immune system and is very good for health. In ancient Russian records, the bathhouse is often mentioned. They even gave birth to children in it. Since the bathhouse was so important, its spirit, Bannik, also appeared in Slavic legends.

Bannik is a malicious creature who rarely does good to anyone. He looks like a naked old man: shaggy and clawed. According to legend, bathers left the bathhouse after the third, or at most fourth, entry - so that Bannik could take a steam bath alone. He was constantly thanked and placated with soap. Bannik foresaw the future. You had to ask him about your fate and wait for an answer: if everything is good ahead, Bannik will pat you on the back, but if the future is gloomy, your back will feel the claws of the evil old man. If Bannik gets angry, he will tear off the skin of the offender.

In Rus', children were usually born in a bathhouse, and people came up with different ways to prevent Bannik from interfering with the birth of a baby. The midwife not only helped the woman in labor, but also had to scare away Bannik. According to legend, he ate newborn babies or tore off their skin. To prevent this, the midwife dipped stones in water and threw them into the corner of the bathhouse, thereby diverting the attention of the evil spirit.

The bathhouse was also important in the marriage ceremony. The newlyweds had to take a steam bath, and so that Bannik would not touch them, the wedding guests lined up on the street and threw pottery and pieces of rubble at the walls.

Zduhac

Weather fighter

In pre-Christian times, magic was of great importance to the Slavs. To protect people and lands from destroying spirits, witches and magicians were brought in. The zduhachi were considered the main protectors from bad weather. These were people with supernatural powers. They defended their settlement and sent disaster to someone else's.

Researchers cannot say exactly where the Zduhachi customs came from. Apparently, this is a kind of Eurasian shamanism. It was most likely brought with them from Siberia by the migrating Finn-Ugrians and Uralians. The ancient Slavs were very superstitious people, and the idea of ​​​​a supernatural protector came to their court. There was a zdukhach in every settlement. He fought with the zduhach of another village. These battles often took place in the clouds.

Sometimes the zdukhachi turned into animals and started a fight in this guise. If the zdukhach did not know how to change his appearance, he had many other weapons. For example, a staff charred at both ends, used as a magical talisman. How did the zduhač gain strength? Some legends talk about some kind of special attire, others claim that the zduhach made a deal with a demon. Legends about the zduhači are perfectly woven into modern culture, especially in Montenegro. The Zduhaci were no longer considered protectors of settlements, but widely known legends began to refer to various influential people as the Zduhaci. For example, the Montenegrin general Marko Milyanov and many spiritual leaders of this country.

Brownie

Good patron of the house

Brownies are household spirits common in pre-Christian Slavic tales. Christian missionaries managed to oust almost all pagan gods and creatures from the minds of the newly converted Slavs, but the belief in the brownie did not die out for centuries.

Brownies protected the hearth and were kind creatures. Short male creatures with a beard, they resembled the house spirits of Western Europe - hobgoblins. In order to redo all matters and protect the house, the brownie often took on the guise of the head of the family. While he was sleeping soundly in his bed, the brownie could easily go out to work in the garden. At the same time, the neighbors mistook him for the owner of the house. Occasionally this spirit would also turn into a cat or a dog.

The brownie tormented the ill-mannered and unkempt wards in the manner of a poltergeist: he arranged various unpleasant pranks until the household members came to their senses and behaved as they should. The brownie knew how to predict fate. If he happily started dancing, expect good luck. If you rubbed the teeth of a comb - for the wedding. If you extinguish the candles, there will be trouble in the house. The legend of the brownie survived the twentieth century, and from time to time his image is still found in Russian art.

Kikimora

Mischievous lady

Kikimora is the opposite of a brownie. This evil domestic spirit was especially clearly manifested in the legends of Rus' and Poland. This is a witch or the spirit of a deceased person who used to live in this house. She lived underground or behind the stove, demanding food for herself, making a loud noise. Kikimora tormented and kept all household members in fear, especially if they did not keep order. She leaked into the house through the keyhole, sat on a sleeping man and strangled him. It was the kikimora that the ancient Russians considered the cause of sleep paralysis.

They scared the kikimora away with the help of complex prayers and a broom at the doorstep. It was the custom of the Poles to make sure that children cross their pillow before going to bed - then the kikimora will not come. Although meeting her was life-threatening, more often than not the kikimora only tormented the household and tried to scare them.

In dirty and untidy houses, she began to whistle and break dishes. But when she liked the house, the evil guest diligently looked after the chickens and helped with the housework. Kikimora is an important part of Slavic myths; it is often mentioned in various works: literary, oral and musical. A spider, previously unknown to science, was recently even named in honor of this spirit.

Mokosh

Pagan goddess of fertility

Mokosh is a Slavic goddess of fertility, the heroine of Russian and Eastern Polish myths of the pre-Christian era. Mokosh served Mother Earth herself, the goddess of all living things, but the worship of Mokosh gradually replaced the worship of Mother Earth.

The cult of Mokoshi lasted until the 19th century, and the goddess herself is still popular in today's Russia. Although the image of Mokosha, apparently, comes from the Finno-Ugric epic, faith in her little by little spread throughout all Slavic lands. This, by the way, explains the Finnish etymology of the name of the goddess. Mokosh was considered a wandering goddess, patron of spinning, childbirth and women. People who believed in her were sure that Mokosh would bestow life in the form of children and precipitation. According to legend, rain is Mokoshi’s breast milk, awakening life in the earth.

The cult of Mokoshi included fertility rituals and prayers to boulders shaped like women's breasts. On the last Friday of October, the Slavs held festivities in honor of the goddess. They performed round dances in two circles: the outer one represented life, and the inner one - death. Christian missionaries did their best to eradicate the cult of Mokoshi and tried to replace the goddess with the Virgin Mary. However, not very successfully - Mokosh still remains an important figure in Slavic mythology.

Radegast

God of hospitality and, according to one version, the punishing face of the Almighty

Radegast is one of the oldest Slavic gods. There is very little primary information about him; knowledge is mainly restored from secondary documents. The name of God consists of two words, which are translated from Old Slavonic as “any guest.” From this, the researchers concluded that Radegast was considered the patron of hospitality. According to legend, the hosts organizing the feast sent an invitation to Radegast using a special ritual. God appeared in black armor and with weapons. Researchers believe that he was especially revered by leaders and city rulers.

During the meeting of the City Duma, it was customary to call her head Radegast. As a result, this god became iconic for the politics and economics of the Slavs. Collecting myths about Radegast is not easy, because Christian preachers eradicated his cult with special zeal. On Mount Radgost, located in what is now the Czech Republic, there once stood a huge statue of Radegast, but the missionaries Cyril and Methodius destroyed it. According to one legend, in 1066 the Slavic pagans sacrificed the Christian bishop Johann Scotus to Radegast. Such acts forced the missionaries during the conversion to Christianity to put an end to the cult of Radegast, so most of the primary documents were lost.

Chernobog

The most famous and the most unknown

Chernobog is the most famous Slavic deity among the population. He appears in the Disney animated feature Fantasia and plays a major role in Neil Gaiman's popular novel American Gods. By the way, the book is going to be filmed. Oddly enough, Chernobog is one of the most abstract gods in the Slavic pantheon. It is almost impossible to find primary sources about him, and secondary documents are provided mainly by Christians.

The first mentions of Chernobog were found in the writings of the 12th century. They belong to the pen of Father Helmold, a German priest. According to Helmold, the Slavs performed rituals dedicated to Chernobog: they passed a bowl around and whispered prayers designed to protect them from this deity. From Helmold's works, researchers learned: Chernobog embodied evil. He wore a dark cloak and was the devil himself. It is unclear whether this myth prevailed throughout Rus', but in its north it was absolutely widespread. The image of Chernobog is similar to the image of the more ancient god of evil, Veles.

Veles

Perun's evil brother

In any ancient mythology, there is usually one god, personifying all the evil in the world, and another, the supreme god, personifying all the good. Among the Slavs, the role of the evil god went to Veles. He is constantly at odds with his positive brother, the thunderer Perun. The importance of Veles for the ancient Slavs is confirmed by many sources. Veles possessed supernatural powers and patronized the earth, water and the underworld. He was related to magic and large livestock.

According to legend, Veles entered into battle with Perun and was defeated. And although there are no primary sources to support this myth, researchers have recreated it by analyzing Slavic folk songs, secondary records, and comparing them with other Indo-European myths. The Slavs believed that Veles and Perun fought continuously. The good brother protected the world from the evil one. However, temples were also erected to Veles - mostly in lowlands and depressions. Veles was also known as the patron of music and prosperity.

The ancient Slavs did not have a clear division between good and evil, so they did not perceive Veles as exclusively bad. However, Christian missionaries, who dreamed of putting an end to Slavic paganism, began to assert in their sermons that Veles is a Christian devil. Thus, gradually the images of Veles acquired features characteristic of Satan described in the Bible.

Perun

The embodiment of goodness and justice

Although not all researchers agree, the general opinion is this: the ancient Slavs considered the thunderer Perun the supreme deity of the entire human race. It was he who was most often written about in the old days, it was he who was most often depicted. For the ancient Slavs, Perun was the main god in the pantheon.

The god of war and thunder, he rode a chariot and wielded various mythical weapons. The most important was the magic axe. Perun threw it at the wicked, after which the ax itself flew back into the god’s palm. He also used stone and metal weapons and fire arrows. When Perun wanted to completely destroy his enemies, he resorted to magic golden apples. They were a talisman of complete destruction and devastation. For his heroic nature, Perun was portrayed as a strong, strong man with a beard made of bronze.

In the legends, Perun more than once entered into battles with Veles for the human race and always won, expelling his evil brother to the underworld. That is why Perun was considered the most important deity.

In 980, Prince Vladimir the Great erected a statue of Perun in front of his palace. The influence of Rus' grew, and with it the cult of Perun spread throughout Eastern Europe. Having appeared in Rus', Christian preachers began to disabuse the Slavs of their pagan faith. In the east, preachers declared Perun the prophet Elijah and proclaimed him a patron saint. Western preachers replaced Perun with Saint Archangel Michael. Over time, Perun became associated with the one Christian God, but his cult did not die out. He has survived to this day, and fans of this cult annually hold festivities on July 20 in honor of the pagan thunder god.

Slavic mythology is full of stories about creatures, half of which we don't even know. Good or evil, they are firmly entrenched in culture, and stories about them still circulate today.

Sl Avian spirits and undead

ANCHUTKA- an evil spirit, at a later time - one of the Russian names for devils. Anchutka is connected with water and at the same time flies; Sometimes Anchutka is called a water, swamp: he lives in a swamp. He has wings. His usual epithets - “footless”, “horny”, “fingerless” - mean that he belongs to evil spirits. In fairy tales he is heelless because the wolf bit off his heel.

AUKA- forest spirit, related to the goblin. Just like the goblin, he loves to play pranks and jokes, and lead people through the forest. If you shout in the forest, it will come back from all sides. You can, however, get out of trouble by saying the favorite saying of all the devils: “I walked, I found, I lost.” But once a year, all methods of fighting forest spirits turn out to be useless - October 4, when the goblin goes berserk. “Auku, tea, you know? Auka lives in a hut, and his hut is with golden moss, and his water is from spring ice all year round, his broom is like a bear's paw, smoke comes out of the chimney briskly, and in cold weather Auka is warm... Auka is inventive: he knows a lot he's a tricky nuisance, a joker, he'll make a monkey, turn over like a wheel and want to scare, and it's scary. Yes, that’s why he’s Auka, to scare.”

BABAY- evil night spirit. He lives in thickets of reeds, and at night he wanders under the windows, makes noise, scratches, and knocks on the windows. Babais scare small children who don’t want to go to bed. They say about him that he walks with a big knapsack at night under the windows, finds a naughty child and takes him to the forest. “Ay, bye, bye, bye, /Don’t go, old man, Babai, /Don’t give the horses hay. /Horses don’t eat hay, /Everyone is looking at Mishenka. /Misha sleeps at night /And grows by the hour. /Ay, bye, bye, bye, /Don’t come to us, Babai.”(Lullaby).

BAGAN- the patron spirit of cattle, he protects them from painful attacks and multiplies the offspring, and in case of his anger he makes the females infertile or kills lambs and calves at their very birth. The Belarusians set aside a special place for him in the cow and sheep sheds and arrange a small manger filled with hay: this is where the bagan settles. They feed the hay from his manger to the calving cow as if it were a healing medicine.

BAENNIK(bannik, laznik, bainik, bathhouse) - an unclean spirit from the undead that settles in every bathhouse behind the heater, most often under the shelf on which they usually steam. He is known to all Russian people for his evil unkindness. “There is no meaner bannik, but no one is kinder,” - They speak in the native Novgorod region, but they firmly believe in his readiness to harm and strictly observe the rules of servility and ingratiation. They believe that the baennik always washes himself after everyone else, and therefore everyone is afraid of the fourth break or the fourth steam: “he” will attack, begin to throw hot stones, splash boiling water; if you don’t escape skillfully, i.e. backwards, it can completely scald you. The spirit considers this hour (i.e. after three breaks) to be its own and allows only devils to wash themselves: for people, a bath is supposed to take place around 5-7 o’clock in the afternoon. The baennik strives to own the bathhouse indivisibly and is dissatisfied with anyone who encroaches on his rights, even if only temporarily. Knowing this, a rare traveler caught at night will decide to seek shelter here. Since the baennik has a direct responsibility to remove waste from the bathhouse, it is his right to cause waste to those with whom he is dissatisfied. They curry favor with the baennik by bringing him a treat of a piece of rye bread sprinkled with coarse salt. And in order to take away his power forever, they bring him a black chicken as a gift. Baennik tries to be invisible, although some claim that they have seen him and that he is an old man, like all the spirits akin to him: it is not for nothing that they have lived in this world for such an innumerable number of years.

BAYECHNIK(perebayechnik) - an evil household spirit. The storyteller appears after telling scary stories about all kinds of evil spirits at night. He walks barefoot so that no one can hear how he stands over a person with his arms outstretched above his head (he wants to know whether he is scared or not). He will throw up his hands until what he has said comes true and the person wakes up in a cold sweat. If you light a torch at this time, you can see shadows running away, that’s him. Unlike the brownie, it is better not to talk to him, you can get dangerously sick. There are four or five of them in the house. The most terrible one is the mustachioed bastard, his mustache replaces his hands. You can protect yourself from the breaker with a spell, but it has been forgotten.

DRUM- a character who appeared quite recently. He usually lives in city apartments. He loves to play pranks - he knocks, makes noise, throws dishes off the table, spills paint, lights gas, moves and throws all sorts of objects. Prefers to live in families with children. Nobody saw him. He readily talks to those he likes and answers all questions by knocking. Based on his character type, he can be classified as a house-elder: he treats good owners kindly, and does not tolerate evil ones.

BAYUNOK(Cat-bayun) - house spirit, storyteller, nocturnal, lullaby songbook. Sometimes he appears in the form of the Bayun Cat: “Near Lukomorye there is a green oak; /The golden chain on that oak tree: /Both day and night, the learned cat /Everything walks around on the chain; /He goes to the right - he starts a song, to the left - he tells a fairy tale” (A.S. Pushkin “Ruslan and Lyudmila”).

DEMONS- in Slavic mythology, there are evil spirits that live everywhere on Earth; they are not found only in heaven (HEAVEN). It is in this sense that this term is used in folk art, especially clearly in conspiracies. Demons can appear in various forms. The Russian proverb is typical: “U The undead do not have their own appearance, they walk in disguises.” The most common image of demons in iconography and folklore is this - dark, horned, tailed, with hooves on their feet. The activity of demons as tempters is directed at all people, but they are especially not indifferent to monks, ascetics and hermits. "...IN The demon is leading us around the field, apparently, /Yes, he is circling around. /Look: there he is playing, /Blowing and spitting on me; /There - now he’s pushing /a wild horse into the ravine; /There was an unprecedented mileage /He stuck out in front of me; /It sparkled with a small spark /And disappeared into the darkness of the night.”(A.S. Pushkin. “Demons”).

INSIDE-SHAKERS- spirits of disease (see “fever”).

GODDESSES- female mythological characters of Western Slavs. During the period of the spread of Christianity, the good functions of the goddesses were replaced by “Christian virtues,” and they themselves were given the functions of evil or negative spirits. The main function of the goddesses was the abduction and replacement of children. They are depicted as old ugly women with large heads, saggy breasts, swollen bellies, crooked legs, black fanged teeth (less often in the guise of pale young girls). They are often attributed lameness (a property of evil spirits). They can also appear in the form of animals - frogs, dogs, cats, be invisible, appear as a shadow. They could be women in labor who died before the ceremony of entry into the church was performed on them; children and women abducted by goddesses; the souls of dead women, girls who got rid of the fetus or killed their children, women who committed suicide, perjurers who died during childbirth. Their habitats are ponds, rivers, streams, swamps, and less often - ravines, burrows, forests, fields, mountains. They appear at night, in the evening, at noon, during bad weather. Their characteristic actions are washing clothes, baby diapers with loud blows of rollers; the person who interfered with them is driven out and beaten; they dance, bathe, beckon and drown passers-by, dance them, lead them astray; spinning yarn; comb hair; they come to women in labor, beckon them, invite them with them, charm them with their voice and gaze; kidnapping women in labor and pregnant women. They replace children by throwing their own freaks in their place; kidnapped children are turned into unclean spirits; They torture people at night, crush them, strangle them, suck the breasts of children and men, and cast spells on children. They are also dangerous for livestock: they frighten and destroy livestock in pastures, drive horses, and braid their manes.

PAIN-BOSHKA - Forest spirit. Lives in places with berries. The spirit is crafty and cunning. Appears before a person in the form of a poor, frail old man, asking for help in finding his lost bag. You can’t give in to his requests - you’ll start thinking about the loss, you’ll get a headache, and you’ll wander through the forest for a long time. "Quiet! Here comes Boli-boshka himself! - I sensed it coming: he’s going to get into trouble, he’s in trouble! All emaciated, dwarf, as pale as a fallen leaf, a bird’s lip - Boli-boshka, - a pointed nose, handy, and the eyes seem sad, cunning, cunning.”(A.M. Remizov. “To the Sea-Ocean”).

SWAMPMAN(bolotyanik, bagnik) - the spirit of the swamp. Identical to water. Popular fantasy finds a swamp a perfectly suitable place for evil spirits to settle, as evidenced by many proverbs and sayings, for example, “Where are the swamps, there’s the devil”, “There won’t be a devil without a swamp, and a swamp without a devil”, “There are devils in still waters” and etc. “The swamp is playing tricks on you. It is a dark force that beckons you."(A.A Blok. “A swamp is a deep depression...”).

BOSORKUN(vitryanik) - mountain spirit. Together with a strong wind, it flies into crops, destroys them, and causes drought. Spoils people and animals - causes sudden illnesses and ailments (for example, a cow's milk will be mixed with blood or disappear completely). The Hungarians have a similar mythological character - Bosorkan, a witch, an ugly old woman with the ability to fly and turn into animals (dog, cat, goat, horse). It can cause drought and damage people and animals. Bosorkan harms people mainly at night. “Bosorkuns harm people mainly at night, the time of their special activity is Midsummer’s Day (June 24), Lutsa’s Day (December 13) and the day of St. George (April 24), the patron saint of livestock”(N.I. Tolstoy).

VAZILA(stable keeper, herd keeper) - the patron spirit of horses, he is represented in human form, but with horse ears and hooves. Every householder has his own vazilu, who lives in a stable (barn), takes care of the horses, protects them from diseases, and when they go to the herd, removes predatory animals from them.

VEDOGONI- souls living in the bodies of people and animals, and at the same time house geniuses, protecting family property and home. Each person has his own vedogon; when he sleeps, the vedogon leaves the body and protects his property from thieves, and himself from the attacks of other vedogons and from magic spells. If a vedogon is killed in a fight, the person or animal to whom it belonged immediately dies in his sleep. Therefore, if a warrior happens to die in a dream, then they say that his vedogon fought with the vedogon of his enemies and was killed by them. For the Serbs, these are souls that produce whirlwinds with their flight. For Montenegrins, these are the souls of the departed, house geniuses, protecting the housing and property of their blood relatives from attacks by thieves and alien witches. “Here, you fell asleep happy, and your Vedogon came out as a mouse, wandering around the world. And it doesn’t go anywhere, to what mountains, to what stars! He’ll take a walk, see everything, and come back to you. And you will get up in the morning happy after such a dream: the storyteller will tell a fairy tale, the songwriter will sing a song. Vedogon told you all this and sang it to you - both a fairy tale and a song."(A.M. Remizov. “To the Sea-Ocean”).

VIY(Niya, Niam) - a mythical creature whose eyelids descend to the very ground, but if you lift them with a pitchfork, then nothing will be hidden from his gaze; the word "wii" means eyelashes. Viy - with one glance he kills people and turns cities and villages to ashes; fortunately, his murderous gaze is hidden by thick eyebrows and eyelids close to his eyes, and only when it is necessary to destroy enemy armies or set fire to an enemy city, do they lift his eyelids with a pitchfork. Viy was considered one of the main servants of Chernobog. He was considered a judge over the dead. The Slavs could never come to terms with the fact that those who lived lawlessly, not according to their conscience, were not punished. The Slavs believed that the place of execution of lawless people was inside the earth. Viy is also associated with the seasonal death of nature during winter. He was revered as the sender of nightmares, visions and ghosts, especially for those who do not have a clear conscience. “...He saw that they were leading some squat, hefty, club-footed man. He was all covered in black earth. His legs and arms covered with earth stood out like stringy, strong roots. He walked heavily, constantly stumbling. Long eyelids were lowered to the ground. Khoma noticed with horror that his face was iron.”(N.V. Gogol. “Viy”). "... Today Viy is at rest,” the two-headed horse yawned with one head, and licked his lips with the other head, “Viy is resting: he destroyed a lot of people with his eye, and from the country-cities only ashes lie. Viy will accumulate strength and get down to business again.”(A.M. Remizov. “To the Sea-Ocean”).

WATER(vodyanik, vodovik, bolotyanik) - a watery, evil spirit, and therefore is considered by everyone and everywhere to be real devils. People imagine the merman as a naked old man, with a large puffy belly and a swollen face, which is quite consistent with his spontaneous character. At the same time, like all cloud spirits, he is a bitter drunkard (there is no doubt that this quality was added with the advent of Christian “enlighteners”, who brought with them wine drinking and the use of strong alcoholic beverages). Vodoviks are almost always married and have many children; they marry water maidens, drowned women and those unfortunate girls who were cursed by their parents and, as a result of this curse, taken by evil spirits to underwater villages. The merman's ill will towards people is expressed in the fact that he tirelessly watches over every person who appears, for various reasons, in his damp and wet domain. It takes away to permanent housing everyone who decides to swim in rivers and lakes in the summer after sunset, or at noon, or at midnight. Underwater, he turns his prey into bonded laborers, forcing them to pour water, carry and wash sand, etc. Never dying, mermen, however, change when the moon changes: when they are young they themselves are young, when they are old they turn into old people. In the south they are represented with a human body, but with a fish tail instead of legs; The water creatures of the northern cold forests are grimy and horned. Vodyanoy is in an irreconcilably hostile relationship with his grandfather, the brownie, with whom, during chance meetings, he strictly gets into fights. In the case when a merman lives in swamps, it is also called the Swampman.

WOLF SHEPHERD- the lord of stormy thunderstorms, who controls the heavenly wolves-eaters of the sun, following him in large packs and in the wild hunt replacing hounds. According to legend, the wolf shepherd rides out on a wolf, holding a long whip in his hands, or walks ahead of a large pack of wolves and pacifies them with a club. He then appears in the form of an old grandfather, then he himself turns into a wolf, prowls the forests as a predatory beast and attacks the village herds. This werewolf, stopping under a shady tree, turns from a beast into an old man, gathers wolves around him, feeds them and assigns each his prey: he orders one wolf to slaughter a cow, another to eat a sheep, pig or foal, and a third to tear a man to pieces. Whoever he chooses to sacrifice to the wolf, despite all precautions, will no longer escape his fate.

VOROGUSHA(voroguha, sorceress) - one of the fever sisters, she lands in the form of a white night moth on the lips of a sleepy person and brings him illness. In the Oryol province, the patient is bathed in a decoction of linden blossom. The patient should take the shirt taken off from him early in the morning to the river, throw it into the water and say: “Mother witch! you’re wearing a shirt, and get away from me!” Then the patient returns home silently, without looking back. “Old Vorogusha came out of the forest and walked across the field with a crutch.”(A.M. Remizov. “Fairy Tales”).

VRITRA- a demon who steals rain clouds for the winter.

VYTARASHKA- the personification of love passion, depriving a person of reason: you can’t take it with anything and you can’t drive it into a black oven, as one dry spell is expressed. “And the scarlet Vytarashka exulted like a scarlet swan, spread her wings, - it was impossible to drive her into the black oven, - the unquenchable hot blood shivers, the zealous heart, exhausted by the Kupala fire.”(A.M. Remizov. “Fairy Tales”).

GARTSUKI- in Belarus these are spirits that live in the mountains, which with their flight produce winds and bad weather. They look like little children; when they rush into flights while playing, a whirlwind arises from their fast running and begins to spin the sand, and when they rush through the air, their flight produces a storm and bad weather.

TWO-HEAD- a creature capable of containing two souls - human and demonic. The number “two” among the Slavs, unlike the numbers “one” and “three,” had supernatural power. Usually, a double-minded person behaves like any other person during the day, but at night he immediately falls into a deep sleep, so it is impossible to wake him up. At this time, he wanders outside his body in the guise of a dog, hare, horse, etc. Sometimes after the death of a double-minded person, his pure soul goes to the next world, and the unclean soul becomes a ghoul. “...If anyone detains the wandering Double-Double, he can kill with his own power or the power of the wind, from which there is no escape. You can wake up a double-minded person by turning his head over to where his feet were. In this case, the Double-Damed One will be sick for at least two weeks.”(N.I. Tolstoy).

DEDKO- living spirit; According to the beliefs of the Western Slavs, the prisoner sits in the granary all winter and eats the reserves made.

GRANDFATHERS(dids, dzyads) - common Slavic spirits of ancestors. The grandfather is the guardian of the family and, above all, of the children, of course. The eldest man, a representative of the clan eldership, who pacifies passions within the clan, preserves the basic principles of the morality of the clan, strictly monitoring their implementation. Belarusians and Ukrainians called grandfather the house deity who guards the hearth, the stove fire, like the small Perunov fire, in contrast to the big one in the sky. The forest deity, the keeper of Perunov's treasure, was also called grandfather. They prayed to the grandfather for instructions, for the discovery of the treasure. In Belarus, the keeper of gold treasures is called Dedka. He walks along the roads in the form of a beggar with red, fiery eyes and the same beard, and, meeting an unfortunate poor man, he gives him money. In the Kherson province they say that the treasure often appears in the form of an old man in torn and dirty beggar’s clothes. In Ukraine they talk about an old, white-haired and snotty grandfather who wanders around the world, and if you wipe his nose, he is immediately sent away in silver. Among the Slavs, a special rite of honoring grandfathers was performed in the spring on the rainbow - the seventh day of Easter or in the fall. They treated grandfathers at Christmas and New Year. The souls of deceased relatives were invited into the house and donated food to them, pouring it under the table or putting it out the window. Food was also taken to the cemetery and placed on the graves. Grandfathers were depicted as “blockheads” with a torch. In Belarus, during the ritual, the owner carried a lit torch around the table three times, fumigating the souls of the dead.

DOMOVOY-DOMOZHIL(Dobrozhil, Dobrokhot, Breadwinner, Grandfather, Sisedka, Batan, The Other Half, Zhirovik, Lizun, Posten, Karnoukhiy, Kletsnik, Jester, Oblom, Sadolom) - a representative of the hearth, according to its original meaning, there is the god Agni, identical to Perun the Thunderer. As the embodiment of the fire burning on the hearth, the brownie was revered as the founder and ruler of the clan. This is a short old man, covered all over with warm, shaggy fur. Throughout the forested north of Russia, the brownie is called Susedko and Batan for his willing cohabitation with the Orthodox Russian people. In the families of the Olonets region they even call him the honorary name “The Other Half”. In any case, he - Domozhil, and for the custom of living in warmth and comfort - Zhirovik and Lizun. Because he is still an invisible creature, an undeniable and genuine “undead” (neither spirit nor man), the brownie is also called Posten, as a ghostly creature, a ghost. Sometimes they call him “karnoukhim” because he seems to be missing one ear. In Belarus he is also called Kletsnik - the keeper of house cages and storerooms. If the brownie is angry, then he takes up the same tricks as someone else's brownie. That is why he is called the Jester, Bummer and Sadol. In Rus', in the person of the brownie, the initial founder of the clan, the first organizer of the family hearth, is honored, and therefore the concept of him is not divided into many homogeneous spirits: in each house there is only one brownie. The activities of the brownie are limited to the possessions of the family with which he is connected by sacred ties of kinship and cult; he only cares about his home. In Rus', the brownie is also the patron saint of chickens, and in his honor on November 1st a special celebration is held, known as “chicken name day”.

DOMOVOY-DORVOY- received his name from his place of usual residence, and due to the nature of his relationship with homeowners, he is ranked among the evil spirits, and all stories about him boil down to the torment of those domestic animals that he does not love. In appearance, the yard looks like a housekeeper. He is always friendly only with a goat and a dog, he does not like other animals, and the birds do not obey him. He especially does not tolerate white cats, white dogs and gray horses - a knowledgeable owner tries not to keep such animals. Gifts are presented to him on an iron pitchfork in a manger.

DREAM- evening and night spirit. Loves children, but is not so gentle with adults. Comes at dusk. “Lyulya, Sandman came, / She wandered under the wing, / She lay down in Sasha’s cradle. /Hugged Sasha with her hand"(Lullaby).

WEN- one of the many nicknames for a brownie. They call him Zhirovik because he loves to live in warmth and cold. Another name "lisen" or "slime" for some everyday habits: fiddling with dishes at night, licking them, loves to lick hot pancakes and pancakes. He prefers to live behind the stove or underground; he likes to hang around the stove. An invisible creature. "Oh, grandma, go home, the slime has come, licked off the oatmeal, orga, wheat, noodle flour... And the slime’s tongue is like a grater...”

EVIL- evil spirits, small creatures that, having settled behind the stove, remain invisible and bring misfortune to the house: no matter how great the owner’s wealth, it will quickly disappear and poverty will come instead of contentment. There is a spell: “Don’t let the evil ones beat him!” With their tiny stature and restless character, they resemble house dwarfs and thus provide evidence of the ancient connection between the mythical personifications of fate and death and elemental thunderstorm spirits (another evidence is the ability of transformations). In the folk tale they play the same role as Grief, Likho and Nedolya. Belarusians have preserved a proverb: “The evil ones asked for three days, but you won’t survive three years!” Sinisters travel around the world and settle down to live in societies; in the same way, according to popular sayings, “Trouble does not come alone,” “Troubles come in strings.” Ukrainian “God, they beat you!” - wishing for misfortune, “to be evil” - to hell. “Have mercy, mother, look, there is your son with a piece of bread and a stick, he left the house and is walking along the rolling stones - wherever his eyes look, and the evil spirits - the companions of grief, wrap themselves around his neck, whispering in his ears: “We will not leave you!”(A.M. Remizov. “To the Sea-Ocean”).

IGOSH- related to kikimore; a stillborn child, a premature baby, a miscarriage, a freak without arms and legs, who settles in a hut and disturbs householders with his pranks.

ICHETIK- an evil spirit from the water family. Just like the water one, the ichetik lives in rivers and other bodies of water. According to his functions, he is an assistant to the merman (the merman has many assistants besides him - for example, mermaids and shishigi). The ichetik does all the minor work - it washes away the banks, destroys bridges, and floods the crops. Its appearance is similar to that of a merman, but it has not grown much. Like all the undead, he loves to play cards and drink beer. Sleeps from autumn Nikita to spring Nikita.

CHIEF- a person who has been bypassed by a goblin loses his meaning and memory.

KARAKONJALS(karakonjuly, karakonjo) - among the southern Slavs there are water demons. They come out of the water or from caves and unclean places during the Christmas period. They appear in the form of horses with a human head and two arms or wings; naked people covered with thorns; shaggy red or black demons with tails and horns; little people luring people to the ice; in the form of a dog, sheep, calf or a shaggy, horned and tailed man. “It was believed that after midnight they attack people, ride them until the first rooster crows or the first cry of a donkey, drive people around the village, fields, along the river bank. They are afraid of fire, iron, ashes from badnyak, bread, salt, etc.”(N.I. Tolstoy).

KARACHUN(korochun, kerechun, krachun) - evil spirit (Belarusian, korochun - "sudden death at a young age, convulsions, an evil spirit shortening life" rus. karachun - "death", "destruction", "evil spirit"). Karachun is also the name of the winter solstice and the associated holiday - Christmas (in Transcarpathia, krachun is a Christmas pie). The name Korochun is close to the names Kert and Krak, which designate the Slavic Cityvrat. Horutans and Croats have a word "Kurt" used in the meaning "fire" there is a saying: “We won’t all go to Kert, some will go to hell.” “In a white fur coat, barefoot, shaking his white shaggy hair, shaking his big gray beard, Korochun hits the stump with his club - and the furious eyuzi rings, the frost scratches with its claws, the air cracks and breaks.”(A.M. Remizov. “Fairy Tales”).

STOREMAN(treasurer) - a spirit that guards treasures and valuables buried in the ground. In the north they call him "storeroom" and they admit that there are two watchmen: “layun,” so nicknamed because he turns into a husky dog ​​during the first attempt to steal the treasure; another - "tickler" protecting treasure in the form of a white-sided tickling magpie bird.

KLETNIK- this is what they call the keeper of house cages and storerooms in Belarus. This is one of the nicknames of the brownie-courtyard, which clearly indicates the space within which the power of the brownie is honored and sacrifices are made to him. All house-elders are given help from house- and yard-keepers. Their work, in some places, is not considered independent, and everything is entirely attributed to one “master”. In other places, the labors of each household spirit are shrewdly distinguished.

KOLOVERTYSH- the witch's assistant. “On the roof sat a gray owl - a damn bird, and at the chicken’s leg, at the door, sat Rotator, sad: a panty, not a panty, short and motley, with a drooping, empty, flaccid crop... This is a crop, he collects everything there the witch will get: butter, cream - and milk, all the spoils. The goiter is full and drags after the witch, and at home she takes everything out of the goiter, as if from a bag, and the witch eats it: butter, cream and milk... - The witch made me out of a dog, in a clever way: our dog Shumka gave birth - The wolves ate Shumka! - the witch took the place where Shumka’s puppies lay, whispered, dragged me into the hut in the back corner under the stove, and seven days later I came out into the world. I am Kolovertysh, like a dog’s son...”(A.M. Remizov. “Fairy Tales”).

KORGORUSHY(kolovershi) - in East Slavic mythology, the brownie's assistants; They look like cats, most often black, hence the dislike and fear at the sight of a black cat. According to southern Russian beliefs, they bring supplies and money to their owner from other houses, stealing from under the nose of a careless neighbor. Because of this, courtyards most often quarrel. During these quarrels, the korgorushki chatter, break dishes, and turn everything in the house upside down.

KRIKS-VARAKS- a mythical creature, the personification of a child's cry. If a child screams, you need to carry him to the barn and, rocking him, say: “Crixus-varaxes! go beyond the steep mountains, beyond the dark forests from the baby so-and-so.” Krixa is a crybaby. Varaksa is a windbag. “Crixus-varaxes galloped from behind the steep mountains, climbed into the priest’s garden, cut off the priest’s dog’s tail, crawled into a raspberry grove, there they sawed off the dog’s tail, played with the tail.”(A.M. Remizov. “Fairy Tales”).

CURRENT- demon One day, the giant man and Kurent argued among themselves which of them should have the white light. They fought for a long time, dug up the whole earth with their feet and made it what it is now: where before there were wide plains, there appeared high mountains and deep abysses. Neither one nor the other overpowered the enemy. Then Kurent took the vine and squeezed it so tightly that wine burst out of it; He intoxicated a man with this wine at the very time when he was sitting on a high mountain at God’s table (here is an allegory indicating a way to deprive a white man of his strength through drinking alcohol and smoking). Soon God returned and saw a man dozing at the table; God was angry and threw him down from the mountain with a strong hand, which is why he lay broken and half-dead for many years. When the man recovered, his strength disappeared: he could neither jump across the sea, nor descend into the depths of the earth, nor ascend to the heavenly table. Thus, Kurent took possession of the world and man, and from that time on people became weak and small (delivering a person from these vices will return him to his former strength and divine abilities). In some areas, this is a crafty and cheerful demon who, by playing the harp and pipe, heals illnesses and makes everyone dance without rest.

KUTNY GOD- brownie (kut - corner).

ICY(cringing) - the spirit of straw. Like many spirits of Slavic mythology, the Ice One sleeps in winter. It wakes up only with the arrival of spring. In the summer, he stays awake and waits for the end of summer to climb into a fresh pile of straw and fall asleep (he is the personification of the winter sleep of nature, the plant world; a sleepy and lazy person is sometimes called by his name). Nobody has ever seen him. Sometimes only on a hot afternoon will someone rustle in the straw and someone’s sigh will be heard. “From last year’s straw, the demon of the straw began to purr, crushed by the warm straw. And the meadow responded, hummed, and the whole shore clicked and groaned and cooed, and the forest began to chirp like a dragonfly.”(A.M. Remizov. “To the Sea-Ocean”).

LESAVKI- forest spirits, relatives of the forester, old men and women. They look like hedgehogs. Just like the woodsman, they love to play pranks and play. Most of the time, larvae sleep; they are awake for a very short period of time: from late summer to mid-autumn. Among the Olonchans, in their dense and pristine forests, there live “forest elders” or “fathers” who lure children into the forest, but for what purpose they keep them there and what they feed them, the most knowledgeable people cannot say. “Old men and women - Lesavki sit in last year’s leaves, grab hands, jump through the forest, whistle throughout the forest, without heads, without a tail, jumping, that's how they whistle"(A.M. Remizov. “To the Sea-Ocean”).

FOREST SPIRITS- initially they were represented in the following form: shaggy creatures with goat legs, a beard and horns, reminiscent of satyrs and fauns of the ancient world. If they are dressed, then in sheepskin coats; These sheepskin coats are not belted and flutter freely in the wind, like the cloudy mantle of a wild hunter. Later they received proper names.

Goblin (free, yad, forest, righteous, leshak, forester, forester, fox, polysun, connecting rod, thief, barely, wild little man, tsmok, king with golden horns, forest king, ruler of the forest) - forest evil spirits, full and unlimited owner forests: all animals and birds are under his jurisdiction and obey him unrequitedly. The goblin differs from other spirits by special properties inherent to him alone: ​​if he walks through the forest, he is as tall as the tallest trees. In the Kyiv and Chernigov provinces, a distinction was made between foxes and field workers; the former were represented as giants of a grayish and ashy color, while the latter were told that they were equal to the height of grain growing in the field, and after the harvest they diminished and became as tiny as stubble. Like all thunder spirits, the goblin can take on various images, and thereby becomes close to werewolves. Most often he is a hefty man, but even in this human form he retains demonic characteristics: he is wearing a sheepskin coat, but as is always the case with evil spirits, it is not belted and is wrapped with the left hem over the right. The goblin rushes through his forests like mad, with extreme speed and always without a hat. His eyebrows and eyelashes are not visible, but you can clearly see that he is carno-eared (there is no right ear), that the hair on his head is combed to the left. He is also represented as having one eye, which indicates his affinity with the Cyclops giants. Possessing the ability to roll over, the goblin often pretends to be a passerby with a knapsack over his shoulders. If the goblin appears naked, then it is easy to notice how similar he is to the generally accepted image of the devil: he has horns on his head, goat legs, his head and the entire lower half of his body are shaggy, in braids, a wedge-shaped goat beard, long claws on his hands. In Belarus, it is called forest clot, which kills the owners' livestock, sucks milk from cows at night and makes the fields infertile. In the Vladimir province the goblin was called a wild peasant. Near Ryazan they believe that kings with golden horns live in the forests. Leshy do not so much harm people as they play pranks and jokes and, in this case, are quite similar to their brownie relatives. They play rude pranks, as befits clumsy forest dwellers, and make evil jokes. The most common methods of mischief are to lead a person into a thicket in a place from which there is no way to get out, or to put fog in the eyes, which will completely confuse him, and the lost person will circle around the forest for a long time. However, the goblin still does not lead people to direct death. The goblin punishes people for using obscene words and uttering curses.

LISTIN- an old blind spirit, the leader of the Lesovkas, his wife and assistant - Baba Listina. They are not as boisterous and nimble as woods, they sit in a pile of leaves near a stump or in a ravine and command who should rustle when. In the fall, at first a light whisper is heard - this is Listin and Listina consulting and assigning work to the scaffolders. And then there is rustling and noise, round dances of fallen leaves, nobility, woods playing. “The mole rat Listin will pass by the tree and rustle its leaves, don’t be afraid: Listin is not scary. Listin only likes to scare"(A.M. Remizov. “Fairy Tales”).

FEVER(fever, dashing manka, manya, godfather, good woman, aunt, friend, child, shaking-not-whispering, shaking, shaking, rattling, shaking, crackling, shaking, formidable, Ledey, lady, chills, chills, swollen, jelly . , looking, fire, Nevea, Nava, Navier, dance-vitsa, dryness, dryness, yawning, yaga, sleepy, pale, light, spring, deciduous, water, blue, fever, podtynnitsa, dung beetle, spindle, bog-wort, stonefly -podosennitsa) - a ghost in the form of an evil and ugly maiden: stunted, starved, feeling constant hunger, sometimes even blind and armless; “a devil who has eyes that are kindled, and hands of iron, and hair of a camel... to do evil deeds to people, and to dry up the bones of women, to dry up the milk, and to kill a baby, and to darken the eyes of men, to weaken the muscles”(an old conspiracy). Fever - nine or twelve winged sisters; they live in the dark dungeons of hell. One of them - the eldest - commands her sisters and sends them to earth to torment the human race: “burn and shiver the body, crush white bones.” On the second of January, Frost or Winter drives them out, along with evil spirits, from hell, and the fevers seek refuge in warm huts and attack the “guilty ones.” This belief is due to those colds and chills that are so common during the cold season of winter. Fevers have their names and describe the torment with which each of them torments the patient (see above: for example, bone breaker - “ Just as a strong storm breaks a tree, it also breaks bones and backs”; yellowing or jaundice - this “to turn a person yellow, like the color in a field”). Neveah(dead) - the oldest sister to all fevers. To get rid of a fever, you can wear a snake crawl (a baby snake that has crawled out of a hole) on you, without taking it off at night or in the bathhouse. “And they are stunted and starved - Death of a Cow and Vesnyanka-Podosennitsa with forty sisters run through the village, an old woman in a white shroud, calling out to the voice. They have done a lot of troubles - if a wolf eats them, then the Dung Mouse will pretend to be under the mew, then the Dung Mouse will catch you in the yard, then it will jump off the spindle and jump into the spinner - the Spindle, then it will jump out from the swamp hummock - the Bolotnitsa: they would spoil the cattle, take the blush out of the white faces, put arrows in the back, hook the fingers on the hands, shake the body"(A.M. Remizov. “Fairy Tales”).

LUGOVOY- the spirit of the meadows, a small green man dressed in grass, helps mow the grass during haymaking. Considered to be the child of a field worker (field). Runs through the meadows and catches birds as food for its parent. He gets very angry when the mowing is missed - he drives the grass into wild growth and braids it so much that it cannot be cut or torn; and even dries the grass on the root. If mowers come for such mowing, they tear the braids.

YELL(chemor, igrets, black jester, Likhnovets, bummer) - the devil.

FLYER- a person over whom an evil spirit has flown will certainly go crazy.

BABY MARA- settle in huts; in their image, the idea of ​​thunderstorm spirits merges with the shadows of the departed.

MARA(Marukha) - souls of the departed; identical to kikimoras, i.e. these are babies who died unbaptized or were cursed by their parents, and therefore fell under the power of evil spirits. In Russia, these are old little female creatures who sit on the stove, spin yarn at night and all whisper and jump, and throw bricks at people. In Poshekhonye, ​​Mara is a beautiful, tall girl, dressed all in white; she is considered a field spirit. In the Olonets province, mara is an invisible creature that lives in a house in addition to the brownie, with obvious signs of a kikimora (spinning at night on a spinning wheel that they forgot to bless, tearing the tow, tangling the yarn). Among the northern Great Russians, the mara is a gloomy ghost who sits invisible behind the stove during the day, and at night comes out to play pranks with spindles, a spinning wheel and spun yarn.

MEZEVIK- the brother of the meadowman (meadow), just as small, wearing clothes made of grass, but not green, but black. He runs along the boundary, guards it, just like his brother, looking for food for his field-faring parent. He punishes those who violated the boundary, crosses it illegally, installs and corrects markers, and helps hard-working owners in the field. But if he finds a person sleeping on the boundary, he leans on him, ties his neck with grass and strangles him.

MORA- the evil spirit of disease and death; in Serbia and Montenegro it is recognized as a demonic spirit that flies out of the witch in the form of a moth (the generally accepted representation of the soul), "Press and press" at night of sleepy people and " their breath is gone."

SEA COW(Cow or Commodore Death, anthrax) - cattle plague; an ugly old woman whose hands hold a rake; she herself rarely enters villages, and for the most part she is brought in unseen. It is shown mainly in autumn and early spring, when cattle begin to suffer from lack of food and bad weather. Cow Death often takes on the form of a black dog or cow and, walking among the herds, infects the cattle. In the Tomsk province, anthrax was represented in the form of a tall, shaggy man with hooves on his feet; he lives in the mountains and comes out hearing curses: “Scarce those!”, “Stain those!”

SEA PEOPLE(Pharaohs) - in Ukraine they talk about them - “It’s half a man, and half a rib.” When the sea is rough, sea people swim to the surface and sing songs. In other places, these sea people are called pharaohs, mixing the ancient legend about the sea people with the biblical legend about the Pharaoh's army, drowned in the waves of the Black Sea. They say that these people have fish tails and that they have the ability to predict the future.

MOKHOVY - a tiny spirit of green or brown color, lives in moss, punishes those who pick berries at the wrong time. Mokhovoy bypasses everyone who has gone deeper into the thicket. It will either lead you to a place from which it is difficult to get out, or make you circle around the forest in the same place. Usually Mokhovoy does not lead people to death, but only tortures them and then lets them go.

NAV(Navier, Navy) - initially - the lower world in the Slavic three-level worldview. In late Slavic mythology, the embodiment of death. In ancient Russian monuments, Navier is a dead man. A related name of an independent deity is in the list of Polish gods. Among other Slavic peoples, this is a whole class of mythological creatures associated with death. In Galicia there is a legend about a happy people "rahmane" living beyond the black seas. In southern Rus', these people are called Navs, the Great Day they celebrate is Navsky or Rusal. Bulgarian Navi are evil spirits, twelve sorceresses who suck blood from women in childbirth. Among the Bulgarians, boys who are stillborn or who die without baptism become ghost spirits. “On Navy Day, on Radunitsa, they celebrated the “calls” of the dead here.”(P.I. Melnikov-Pechersky. “In the Woods”).

UNDEAD- creatures without flesh and soul - everything that does not live as a person, but has a human appearance. This word was formed from the verb “to live” with a negative particle “not” and in its meaning directly corresponds to Morana (death) and the widespread diseases known among the Slavs under the general name of pestilence. The undead have many faces. A typical Russian proverb: “The undead do not have their own appearance, they walk around in disguises.” Many proper names for characters related to the undead are associated with their habitat: goblin, polevik, omutnik, etc. External characteristic signs include abnormal (for humans) manifestations: hoarse voice, howl, speed of movement, change of appearance. The attitude of the undead towards people is ambiguous: there are malicious demons, and there are also well-wishers. “Here the Undead went around the old spruce and wandered - the blue hairs swayed. He moves quietly, pushes mud through the moss and swamp, takes a sip of swamp water, a field goes, another goes, a restless Undead, without a soul, without a form. Either he will step over like a bear, then he will calm down more quietly than a quiet beast, then he will spread into a bush, then he will burn through with fire, then like an old man withered legs - beware, he will distort! - then a daring boy and again, like a board, there he is - a scarecrow with a scarecrow "(A.M. Remizov. “To the Sea-Ocean”).

NIKOLA(Mikola) is the name of the spirit, which later went back to Saint Nicholas (Greek Nicholas - from “Nike” and “Laos” - winner of nations), who is popularly considered the patron saint of all workers. Among the southern Slavs, Nikola is a forest spirit who lives freely in the forest (no stake...). "AND will do Nikola is merciful and will tear down the iron and place it from earth to heaven and the ban with three gilded keys, and throw those keys into the Ocean Sea; (in the Okiyan Sea) lies an alatyr stone: you shouldn’t lie down with the stone, and you shouldn’t float out the keys, according to my word.”(spell).

NIGHTS(nichki) - female mythical creatures who knock and play pranks in huts at night, especially on Fridays; The women are afraid that they will not spin all the flax, and they hide their tows from them. Identical to marukhas.

NIGHT LIGHTS(krixes) - night demon spirits. They attack mainly newborn children, before baptism. This is an indeterminate type of creature. Sometimes they appear as women with long hair in black clothes. After death, women witches who did not have children become nocturnists. “For fear of moths, mothers are careful not to leave diapers in the yard after sunset, leave the house and carry the child; do not leave the empty cradle open or rock it, use various amulets for the cradle (plants, a needle, etc.); do not bathe children and do not wash diapers and linen in “night” (stayed overnight) water.”(S.M. Tolstaya).

OBILUKHA- the spirit that protects seeds and crops is responsible for the quantity and quality of the harvest.

OVINNIK(Gumennik, Podovinnik) - the most evil of the house spirits: it is difficult to please and humble him if he gets angry and loses his temper. His eyes glow with hot coals, like a cat’s, and he himself looks like a huge cat, the size of a yard dog, all black and shaggy. He knows how to bark and laughs like a devil. He was instructed to sit under the garden in the pit in order to watch the order of laying the sheaves, to observe the time and timing of when and how to flood the barn, and not to allow this to be done on major holidays. If he gets angry, he will throw coal between the grates and let the whole barn get busy and burn. This spirit lives in the barn; shaggy, and one arm is bare and longer than the other. He punishes with his bare hand, throwing heat into the unharvested sheaves of careless owners. This spirit's eyes are multi-colored, his fur coat is inside out; in calm weather he sleeps. He rarely extends his furry hand to tell girls wealth. On Easter Sunday morning, a girl puts her hand in the window of the barn: if the spirit does not touch her hand, she will go as a girl, with her bare hand she will marry a poor man, if her shaggy hand touches the barn, she will marry a rich man.

OGUMENNIK(beaner) - a spirit living on threshing floors (threshing floor is a place where they thresh, as well as a barn for compressed bread) and barns; although it is considered a house spirit, it is very evil: it is difficult to appease it. If you get angry - neither crosses in all corners, nor prayers, nor icons will help - then guard the threshing floor with a poker in your hands on September 4 against Agathon the Ogumennik. In some places, they say, you can appease him if you bring pies and a rooster: the rooster’s head is cut off on the threshold and blood is sprinkled in all corners. “Going to the threshing floor and bringing a sheaf of straw was considered one of the most severe punishments, since one does not go to the threshing floor at night for fear of falling into the clutches of the threshing floor...”(All year round. Russian agricultural calendar).

BATH- house spirit, extreme laziness (to work - to sweat, to be lazy - to die).

PLANETERS- mythical creatures that reside in rain and hail clouds, controlling the movement of clouds, precipitation, wind, and weather. During the period of the spread of Christianity, it was added that children who died unbaptized, were thrown off or sent by their mother, poisoned or killed were turned into them; drowned people, hanged people and other unclean dead, children of goddesses and strigones (ghouls). Meanwhile, the recognition in Christianity of the existence of various deities, spirits, angels, archangels, etc., that is, not people (incorporeal), speaks of Christianity’s recognition of polytheism and the attribution of this religion to paganism. Double-minded people could also become planetaries, who were transported to the sky during a thunderstorm or storm. Sometimes the planetaries fell to the ground from the clouds along with the rain or went to the ground to straighten a broken rope. The planetary could land on the border of the village, go to the nearest village and ask the first person he met for milk from a black cow and an egg from a black chicken, and then returned to the border and from there, along with the fog, ascended to his cloud. Planeteers were friendly towards people they met and warned them about storms and hail. It is believed that planetites feed on flour in the clouds, which people throw into the wind or into fire to protect themselves from hail. Ordinary people who knew how to predict the weather and drive away clouds from their village (with the help of sharp iron tools, a special stick used to separate a frog and a snake, a special spell-prayer, etc.) could also be called planetaries.

CHANGELING- sometimes, instead of a kidnapped child, maras place their own child. Such a changeling is distinguished by an evil character: he is cunning, wild, unusually strong, gluttonous and loud, rejoices in every misfortune, does not utter a word - until he is forced to do so by some threat or cunning, and then his voice sounds like that of an old man. Where he settles, he brings misfortune to that house: livestock gets sick, housing deteriorates and falls apart, businesses fail. He has a penchant for music, which is revealed both by his rapid success in this art and by the wonderful power of his playing: when he plays any instrument, then everyone - people, animals, and even inanimate things - indulges in uncontrollable dancing. To find out if a child is truly a changeling, you need to build a fire and boil water in an eggshell, then the changeling exclaims: “I as old as an ancient forest, and I’ve never seen eggs boiled in shells!” - and then disappears.

FIELD - a spirit assigned to guard grain fields. The appearance of the field worker in folk mythology is vague. In some places he appears as an ugly, small man. Regarding his kind, but mischievous disposition, the field worker has much in common with the brownie, but in terms of the nature of the pranks themselves, he resembles a goblin: he also leads him off the road, leads him into a swamp, and especially makes fun of drunken plowmen. Field workers, unlike other evil spirits, have a favorite time of day - noon. Like all unclean spirits, field workers are bribe-takers, proud and capricious. “Another old man - flourished in the boundless steppe in the middle of the feather grass, where cranes and dragons with their heads are buried and the supreme armored man With the spear together is not visible: there the old man buried himself in the ground up to his waist and endures how a loose worm gnaws at him, and he only eats the little boogers that crawl into his mouth; and this hermit is called old Polevik, and he is five hundred years old.” from "The Hour of God's Will").

FIELD GRANDFATHER(field grass, buckwheat, zhytsen) - living spirit; In the summer half of the year it lives in fields. When the grain is ripe and the villagers begin to reap or mow it, the field worker runs away from the swings of the sickle and scythe and hides in those ears of corn that still remain on the root; together with the last cut ears of corn, it falls into the hands of the reaper and in the last sheaf of the harvest is brought to the threshing floor or to the farmer’s house. This sheaf is dressed up as a doll and placed in a place of honor, under the images. They believe that her presence in the house brings God's blessing to the owner, his family and granaries.

POLISUN(Lisun, Lisovik) - the lord of the forests, whom folk fantasy depicts as shaggy and with goat legs. Identical to the wolf shepherd.

TRAVELER- a spirit that promotes human affairs and their success.

GHOST(ghost) - the soul of a deceased or absent creature that can be seen by a living person. The usual habitat is in abandoned houses and cemeteries or in the forest, next to a protected treasure. He can come to a person’s house and demand some services from him. The ghost is transparent, it does not cast shadows. The only way to escape from him is to run without looking back; if you turn around, you will die.

PROCURES - one of the nicknames of house spirits; rogues, unhearing, pranksters.

PUSCHEVIK- a forest spirit living in an impenetrable forest. “All movement here seems to have stopped; Every scream frightens me to the point of trembling and goosebumps in my body. Tree trunks swayed by the wind rub against each other and creak with such force that they cause the observer a sharp aching pain under the heart. Here a feeling of painful loneliness and invincible horror befalls everyone, no matter what efforts he makes on himself. Here everyone is horrified by their insignificance and powerlessness” (S.V. Maksimov. “The Unclean, Unknown and Power of the Cross”).

ZHANITSA- a spirit living on strips of rye. The entire plant kingdom seemed to ancient man to be the embodiment of elemental spirits, which, combining their existence with trees, bushes and herbs (putting on their green clothes), thereby received the character of forest, field or living geniuses. Rzhanitsa make holes - paths in the rye a small inch wide, along which all the ears are cut.

SHED- a yard spirit whose place of residence is a barn. Just like other yard spirits: Ovinnik, Kletnik, Ogumennik, Khlevnik, Barn, then they are peaceful, then, without any apparent reason, they begin to play pranks, fool around, causing constant disturbances and obvious losses in the household. In such cases, they take decisive measures and, instead of affection and pleasing, enter into open struggle with him.

SATANAIL(Satan) - in Slavic legends an evil spirit. The name Satanael goes back to the Christian Satan, but Satanael's function is associated with archaic dualistic mythologies. In dualistic cosmogony, Satanail is the opponent of the demiurge god. In the medieval South Slavic and Russian “Tale of the Sea of ​​Tiberias,” Lake Tiberias in Palestine is presented as a primary boundless ocean. God descends through the air onto the sea and sees Satanail floating in the guise of Gogol. Satanail calls himself a god, but recognizes the true God "Lord above all lords." God tells Satanail to dive to the bottom and take out the sand and flint. God scattered the sand over the sea, creating the earth, but he broke the flint, kept the right part for himself, and gave the left part to Satanail. By striking the flint with his staff, God created angels and archangels, while Satanael created his demonic army. “...The Magi told how God washed himself in the bathhouse, sweated and wiped himself with a rag, which he threw from heaven to earth. Satan began to argue with God about who should create man from her (he himself created the body, God put the soul). Since then, the body remains in the earth, the soul after death goes to God."(“The Tale of Bygone Years”).

DEATH- mythical creature; Russian monuments (ancient manuscripts, wall paintings and popular prints) depict Death either as a monster, combining human and animal likenesses, or as a dry, bony human skeleton with bared teeth and a sunken nose, which is why people call it snub-nosed. Death was recognized as an unclean, evil force, which is why in both language and beliefs it is close to the concept of darkness (night) and cold (winter). “...Suddenly an old woman met him, so thin and scary, carrying a bag full of knives, and saws, and various hatchets, and propping herself up with a scythe... Death (it was she) and said: “I was sent by the Lord to take your soul !(collection by E.V. Barsova. “Soldier and Death”).

HURRY AND ERGOTS- spirits that promote human affairs.

SPRYYA(Prytka) - the spirit of agility, dexterity, which is born with a person and dies with him, or passes on to another. Whatever the spirit of this or that person is, that’s how he succeeds in life. This spirit helps, helps out. If the spree goes to another person, it’s obvious, they say “a second youth came to him.”

FEAR(Rakh) is a mythological character mentioned in Russian conspiracies, the embodiment of a fiery wind - a dry wind. Since ancient times, winds have been personified as original creatures. In popular prints the wind and "the spirit is stormy"are depicted as winged human heads blowing from the clouds. According to popular belief, winter blizzards are caused by unclean spirits; running through the fields, they blow into their fists.

SCARECROW(Frightener) - house spirits that make fussing and knocking at night; they appear either as light, airy ghosts or take the form of various animals.

SUSEDKO- Throughout the forested north of Russia, for his willing cohabitation with the Orthodox Russian people, the brownie is called Susedko and Batan. "- And the neighbor -... Kikimora's husband - is so old... All overgrown... small, just a bunch of rags... and they live in a hut, in the yard of the cattle... they go everywhere... To see the horses... If he loves horses, he puts some hay in them... and combs them, strokes them... And with all my heart I saw at night... there was no one in the hut... So quietly. And I hear something sharply sewing on the top of the stove. And she herself was lying on the floor... When she turned her head... and from the beam a gray cat easily jumped onto the floor..."(E. Chestnyakov. “Happened”).

HAPUN(slammer, grabber, kidnapper) - an unknown and invisible creature, a character in the mythology of the Western Slavs. If a person disappears somewhere, then it is the work of an invisible abductor. Where he takes him, and what he does with him, no one knows. It is assumed that he may appear in the form of a tramp, a beggar, a soldier; “Leika, not finding her husband in the tavern, and not calling for him in the yard, clasped her hands, howled and screamed that Khapun, who had appeared in the form of a soldier, had taken him away.”(O.M. Somov. “Tales of Treasures”).

KHLEVNIK- a yard spirit living in a stable. It is named after its habitat. In the stable he manages and plays pranks. He is also an assistant to the brownie, like other yard spirits: Barn, Bannik, Ovinnik.

HOVALA(khovalo) - a spirit with twelve eyes, which, when he walks through the village, illuminate it like the glow of a fire. The personification of the many-eyed lightning, which is given the name Khovala (from “ to eat" - hide, bury), because she is hiding in a dark cloud; Let us remember that Viy, identical to this spirit, wears a bandage over his ever-burning eyes. Khowala loves to live where the treasure trove is buried. “Khowala rose from the warm barn, raised his heavy eyelids and, diving in the heavy bent ears, lit up his twelve stone eyes and blazed. And Khovala blazed, scorching the stuffy sky. It seemed as if there was a fire there, there the sky would break into pieces and the white light would end.”(A.M. Remizov. “To the Sea-Ocean”).

THIN- evil demon; bad - trouble.

CRAP(hitnik, merek, arrow, lyad, connecting rod, kostoder, kozheder. Lame, Antipas without heels) - an evil spirit, undead, whose purpose of being on earth is to confuse the human race with temptation and lure with guile; Moreover, people are tempted according to the direct orders of the prince of darkness or Satan himself. They are depicted as black, shaggy and covered in fur, with two horns on the top of their heads and a long tail. Some claim that devils are sharp-headed, like owls, and many are sure that these spirits are certainly lame. They broke their legs even before the creation of man, during the crushing fall of the entire host of demons from heaven. The devils' favorite pastime is playing cards and dice. The devils either play pranks, resorting to various jokes, which, according to their nature, are always evil, or they inflict direct evil in various forms and, by the way, in the form of diseases. To facilitate their activities, they are gifted with the ability of transformations. Most often they take the image of a black cat or a black dog. The remaining transformations occur in sequential order: pig, horse, snake, wolf, hare, squirrel, mouse, frog, fish (preferably pike), magpie. However, they do not dare to turn into a cow, a rooster, a dove and a donkey. In regional dialects, the devil is called a hitnik; they say about him that he steals everything that is laid down without a blessing. There are many stories in which the possession of gold is attributed to devils, which is why Jesus called the Jews the sons of the devil for their excessive love of gold. In folk tales, the devil is often a skilled blacksmith, with which his black appearance and his presence in caves covered with soot and burning with hellish flames are in harmony.”

DAMMITS- female demons, their character coincides with cloud, water and forest wives and maidens.

DAMMIT HORSE- catfish, which the crowfish usually rides; In some areas it is not recommended to eat this fish. A caught catfish should not be scolded, lest the water one hear it and decide to take revenge for it.

WOOLLY- night demon. It can be assumed that the brownie is called woolly. People believe that the brownie is all overgrown with thick wool and soft fluff; even his palms and soles are covered in hair, only his face near his eyes and nose is bare. The furry one strokes the sleepy ones with his palm at night, and they feel how his hand is woolly. If he strokes with a soft and warm hand, this portends happiness, but if he strokes with a cold and bristly hand, it will be worse.

SHISH- brownie, demon, evil spirit, usually living in barns. Many people are familiar with the expression: “Shish for you!”, which corresponds to an unkind wish. Shish plays her weddings at a time when whirlwinds raise dust in a column on the roads. These are the same Shishas who confuse the Orthodox. They send annoying and unpleasant people to Shisha in anger. Finally, “drunk cones” occur in people who have drunk themselves to the point of delirium tremens (to hell). The name Shisha is also attached to every carrier of news and earpiece in the ancient sense of the word, when “shishas” were scouts and spies, and when “for shishimorism” (as they wrote in the acts) estates were given, in addition to salaries, for services rendered by espionage. “Shish was naked from birth, his yard was hollow, there were no livestock, and there was no one to lock up... Shish’s property was a wooden pot and a pork horn with tobacco. There were two fake boilers, but they burned to the ground.”(B. Shergin. “Shishov’s misfortunes”).

SHISHIGA(Shishigan) - brownie, evil spirit and loitering person, connecting rod, the same as Shish. Smart housewives place a plate of bread and a glass of milk by the stove in the evening - this way they can appease the shishig. In some places, shishigi are understood as small, restless spirits that try to come to hand when a person is doing something in a hurry. “...The shishiga will cover you with its tail, and you will disappear, and no matter how much you search, they will not find you, and you will not find yourself either...”(A.M. Remizov. “The irrepressible tambourine”).

SHYSHKO- unclean spirit.

SHOOLICUNS(shilikuns, shulukuns, shlikuns) - seasonal demons, hooligans. Shulikuns, associated with the elements of water and fire, appear from the chimney on Christmas Eve (sometimes on Ignatius Day) and go back under the water on Epiphany. They run through the streets, often with hot coals on an iron frying pan or an iron hook in their hands, with which they can grab people (“hook and burn”), or they ride on horses, on troikas, on stupas or “hot” stoves. They are often as tall as a fist, sometimes larger, can have horse legs and a pointed head, fire blazes from their mouths, and wear white homespun caftans with sashes and pointed hats. On Christmastide, shulikuns crowd around at crossroads or near ice holes, they are also found in the forest, teasing drunks, spinning them around and pushing them into the mud, without causing much harm, but they can lure them into an ice hole and drown them in the river. In some places the shulikuns carried a spinning wheel with a tow and a spindle into the cage so that they could spin the silk. Shulikuns are capable of stealing the yarn from lazy spinners, lying in wait and taking away everything that is supposed to be without a blessing, getting into houses and barns and stealthily stealing or stealing supplies. According to Vologda beliefs, babies cursed or destroyed by their mothers become shulikuns. They often live in abandoned and empty sheds, always in cooperatives, but they can also get into a hut (if the owner does not protect herself with a cross of bread), and then it is difficult to drive them out. In the Russian North, shulikuns are the name of Christmas mummers.

Greek and Roman mythologies are so common in Western culture that most people have never heard of the polytheistic pantheon of other cultures. One of the least known is the Slavic pantheon of gods, spirits and heroes that were worshiped for hundreds of years before Christian missionaries began actively promoting Christianity in the region.

Slavic mythology has two main differences from Greek and Roman myths. Firstly, many of the spirits are still part of legends and fairy tales among Slavic peoples today. Secondly, there are very few records left about the old Slavic pantheon of gods, so scientists are trying to reconstruct information based on secondary documents. However, Slavic mythology is very fascinating.

1. Baba Yaga

Among all the world's mythologies, Baba Yaga is found only in Slavic legends. Many other Slavic gods and creatures have equivalents in Roman or Greek mythology, but Baba Yaga is unique. At first glance, she seems indistinguishable from the witches in European folklore. Baba Yaga looks like an old woman and has a very long nose. When travelers meet Baba Yaga, she blesses or curses them depending on her mood.

But Baba Yaga also has a number of features that are unique to this image. She lives in a hut on chicken legs, and she travels in a flying mortar. Like traditional witches, Baba Yaga always carries a broom with her, but she uses it to cover her tracks. No one knows exactly where the Slavs got this image in their myths.

2. Bannik

The bathhouse has always been an important part of life in Eastern Europe, especially in countries such as Russia and Ukraine. They especially often took a steam bath in the winter or when they had a cold. Considering how strong the social and cultural influence of the bathhouse was in Slavic society, naturally, it could not do without the spirit of the bathhouse - the so-called bannik. Bannik was a mischievous spirit who most often looked like an old man with long claws. Whenever people bathed in the bathhouse, they left soap and a heated bathhouse for the spirit so that it could also wash itself.

The myths claimed that the bannik could predict the future: when he was asked a question, the bannik would gently touch the back of the questioner if the future was good. But if the prediction was bad, then the spirit could scratch the person’s back. Before the young couple stayed in the bathhouse together for the first time, guests would throw stones and pots at the walls outside to scare away the bathhouse.

3. Zduhac

Among the Slavic peoples before Christianity, witchcraft was an important part of culture. Witches and warlocks protected people and settlements from villains and spirits. Chief among these defenders of the ancient Slavs were the zduhachi - people who used supernatural powers to protect their village and attack other villages. Scientists suggest that the zduhachi traditions are most likely a modified form of Eurasian shamanism.

Shamanic traditions were most likely brought to the west by Trans-Siberian Finno-Ugric and Uralic ethnic groups. The ancient Slavs were a superstitious people, and the idea of ​​a supernatural protector fit well into their belief system.

4. Brownie

Brownies are household spirits that were found everywhere in pre-Christian Slavic myths. Although Christian missionaries were largely successful in ridding themselves of old pagan ideas among their new flock, brownies continued to be believed in for centuries. Brownies were household spirits, masters and patrons of the home, who were generally considered good spirits. Most often they were depicted as small bearded male creatures, similar to Western European household spirits.

Many legends claim that brownies were often seen working in the yard in the guise of the owner of the house, although he was fast asleep in bed at the time. Less often, the brownie took the form of a cat or dog. If the people in whose house he lived were rude and slobs, then the brownie began to plot various intrigues against them. If they behaved decently and left milk and cookies for the brownie, then he would help with the housework.

5. Kikimora

The opposite of the brownie was the kikimora - an evil spirit in everyday Slavic mythology, which is especially common in Polish and Russian stories. A kikimora was a witch or the spirit of the deceased who took up residence in a house and was usually seen as a source of evil. Usually the kikimora lived behind the stove or in the basement of the house and began to make noise when it became hungry. Most of the time, the kikimora terrorized the family, especially if the house was not in order.

According to Slavic traditions, the kikimora entered the house through the keyhole and tried to strangle people while they slept. To prevent this from happening, they read prayers at night and placed a broom next to the door. However, kikimora usually played dirty tricks on people who did not keep their home in order. If she liked the house, she would help take care of the chickens, as well as other household chores.

6. Mokosh

Before the advent of the Christian era, Mokosh was a Slavic fertility goddess, mainly believed in Russia, Ukraine and Poland. She was traditionally considered a servant of Mother Earth - the goddess of nature. Unlike Mother Earth, Mokoshi continued to be worshiped in the 19th century. Faith in Mokosh most likely came to the Slavic lands from the Finno-Ugric tribes. Mokosh was usually depicted as a wanderer who was responsible for yarn, childbirth and the protection of women.

7. Radegast

Radegast is one of the oldest gods in Slavic mythology. Its name comes from two ancient Slavic words that mean “dear guest”. This is why it is believed that Radegast was worshiped as the god of feasts and guests. It is believed that Radegast wore black armor and was armed with a throwing disc.

Researchers believe that he was an important god for leaders and city councilors, as there was a tradition where the person leading the city council would perform a ritual during which he would invite Radegast to visit.

8. Chernobog

Of all the Slavic deities, Chernobog is one of the most famous and one of the most mysterious. Today is about him. Apart from the name, practically nothing is known. Mention of Chernobog is found in the writings of Father Helmond, a German priest who lived in the 12th century. Judging by Helmond's works, Chernobog was the personification of evil.

9. Veles

In ancient Slavic mythology there is a god who is the personification of evil and the antagonist of the supreme god Perun. We are talking about Veles. Scientists have discovered many sources confirming the influence of Veles on the ancient Slavs. In Slavic myths, Veles was a supernatural force responsible for the earth, water, and the underworld. It is also associated with magic and cattle. The Slavs believed that Perun and Veles were in constant confrontation, and Perun defended the human world from Veles. Nevertheless, many temples dedicated to Veles were built. He was also the patron of musicians and wealth. Since the ancient Slavs generally did not have a clear distinction between good and evil, Veles was not considered completely bad.

10. Perun

Most scientists believe that the thunder god Perun was the supreme god of the ancient Slavs. It is most often found in old Slavic texts, and Perun symbols are very common in Slavic artifacts. Usually the Slavs depicted Perun on a chariot with an ax in his hand (which he threw at his enemies, after which the ax returned to his hand).

Perun also used fire arrows or magical golden apples that destroyed everything. When Christian missionaries first arrived in Kievan Rus, they tried to wean the Slavs away from pagan cults. In the east, missionaries began to claim that Perun was the prophet Elijah, and Western missionaries replaced the image of Perun with the Archangel Michael.