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+ СЛАВЯНСКOE ЯЗЫЧЕСТВО И ХРИСТИАНСТВО +
(c) Demiurge Ash
!часть текста nockunaha!
I. ВВЕДЕНИЕ
" Преобразованиеknowledge of nature
in emotions I would call it religion."
Leonardo da Vinci.
Paganism. Ozhegov interprets this term as “religion,
based on the worship of many gods, idolatry."
Christianity has turned this word into a curse word. And apparently not
by chance the Polish equivalent of this word is "pogan", in which
one hears “trash”, “filthy”. The word also acquired a negative meaning
"blasphemy". Originally it was equal in meaning to the Greek
the word "myth", now means "indecent speech".
What was paganism for the ancient Russians? The man is not
distinguished himself from the surrounding world, he was inextricably linked with
him. Such unity of man and nature, on the one hand, and
the unity of logical thinking with the emotional sphere, with another,
led to an understanding of the world as living. Every element of the world
seemed alive to man: the sun, the tree, and the stone.
The consequence of this was the animation of nature. People suffered
on natural objects their own properties, their
tribal relations. Therefore, between gods, spirits and heroes
purely family-tribal ties reign.
Religion approved and transmitted the system accepted in society
values and norms of behavior. Through religionpeople realized
surrounding reality. Solved questions: why is it raining?
why does night come?
Religion determined the ideology of the Slavic medieval
states, and in particular Kievan Rus. Religion determined
the culture of the common people throughout all centuries of history.
Now we know not so much about the religion of the ancient Slavs.
At that time, the Slavs did not have a written language and a Christian church,
after her arrival in Rus', it was quite easy to destroy
a significant part of this cultural heritage of the Russian people.
But having defeated paganism ideologically, Christianity did not
was able to defeat him in everyday life. Paganism is embodied in culture
of the common people, on their holidays, which were only formally
Christian, but in spirit - still the same pagan. Gods
pagans turn into Christian saints.
This is how the ancient understanding of the world is reflected even on us today.
II. Religion and art
"Art is a product of the physical
the state of the people, on the one hand, and all
his civilization, that is, several hundred
his habits - from another."Stendhal.
In the Middle Ages, artistic and creative activity
appeared most of all where the most
favorable conditions are, first of all, the construction of temples,
temples, cult figures. The priests attracted the most talented
people to create things dedicated to creatures worth a lot
above ordinary people - to the Gods. Artists making these masterpieces
They believed that they were doing things at the behest of the Gods and for their glory.
Many works have perished and we can only
can guess what they looked like from their descriptions in ancient
manuscripts. After all, the main material of the creativity of Russian masters
was ordinary wood due to its wide distribution. And
time and fires did not allow them to survive until our times. A
"thanks to" the Christian authorities, everything connected with
paganism of Ancient Rus'. The reason they did it
is quite obvious: Christianity has become the official religion of Rus'
could not dislodge the ancient gods from the hearts of the common people. And
By destroying everything material, they tried to destroy the spiritual. Here
an analogy arises with the Bolsheviks who tried
destroy camo Christianity in the same way, without disassembling
whether it is an object of art, or whether it is an object of religion.
But pagan art is veryfirmly established in Christianity. Those
who used to carve idols from oak now carve friezes on
Christian churches. Those who built "...Peruna with silver
head, with a golden mustache...", now they make okladas on the gospel
and also objects of rituals for the glory of Christ. Those who came before
depicted the faces of the gods, now they paint the faces of the gods. As Lev wrote
Lyubimov about the image of the Mother of God in the Kiev Church:
"Kneeling down in front of her, the Russian man recognized her
in the image of my native emy, the great pagan Bereginya, with her hands raised
towards the sun."
That is, depicting Christian shrines, the Russian master
depicted the Old Gods, who were much closer than
disembodied Jesus. He endowed them with the same qualities he was used to
always see Russian gods: closeness to a person like parents
towards children, compassion and other human emotions.
IV. Two-belief
"Christianity is the religion of slaves."
Moem.
Christianity could not painlessly destroy the Old
I believe. The princes had to baptize the people with fire and sword. By force
The inhabitants of Novgorod adopted Christianity. Long paganism
held in the lands of Smolensk andRostov.
Baptism could not erase the previous tradition
paganism, which has prevailed for many centuries.
Christianity acquired new features on Russian soil. Exactly
merger of ancient pagan culture and customs of the Slavs and the new
beliefs determines the characteristics of Russian Orthodoxy. Phenomenon
the fusion of Christianity and pagan beliefs was called
DUAL VERSION.
At the beginning of the 13th century, Christianity took root only in cities -
princely centers, while on the outskirts the worship of the Old Ones is preserved
To the gods in complete rejection of Christianity. In any years
disasters that were explained to the people as the wrath of the gods for
disrespect for them, the population of Rus' returned to paganism.
It got to the point that some princes did not pursue
their subjects for the practice of paganism, limited to
levying a special tax from the pagans - "zabozhnichya".
As a result of all this, Christianity begins to adopt
some features of paganism. Elements of pagan culture flow in
into Christian rituals, Christianity is gradually adapting
to local conditions. This is demonstrated by the combinations
Christian and pagan motifs on serpentine amylets and others
decorations,sculptural decor of cathedrals of the Vladimir land,
what took place between the Russian princes and the Greek metropolitans
disputes about meat eating at Christmas and other government and
Theotokos feasts, in which the princes prevailed,
advocated meat-eating.
Without ceasing to consider themselves Christians, the peasants did not
stop turning to the Ancient Gods. Pagan rituals penetrate into
Orthodox cult, a specific Russian church is formed
ritualism, mainly in that part that is associated with
calendar holidays. Example: until the 16th century on the altar in
kutya, cheese, pancakes and other products were placed on the altar, as well as
They placed vessels with kvass, beer, and mash. By the way, these are pancakes
remains of the solar cult, i.e. worship of the Sun - Dazhbog. From
This cult also retained the ritual of circumambulation “salting”, i.e. along the way
sun. In the 15th century, a dispute arose between Ivan III and the metropolitan
Gerontiem about the direction of the ritual movement. As a result, only
after the Hukoha reforms the old movement against
movements.
Paganism is dissolving into Christianity. Repression occurs
characters of pagan mythology into the category of "devils", unclean
strength Fairy tales begin to be told in a new way, adapting them to
Christian Bible.The fieldbills and mermen become fallen among them
angels who were unworthy of heaven and had not yet earned hell.
Christian saints become in the popular consciousness
substitutes for pagan gods.
The folklore image of Elijah the Prophet is in many ways similar to the image
pagan god of thunderstorms and lightning Perun. Ilya, like Perun, people
attributed the most terrible, but at the same time the most
beneficial forces of nature.
The calendar closes Ilya’s Day (July 20, old style)
is the pagan holiday of Perun, the day of sacrifice
to the thunder god.
People's consciousness transferred some of Perun's functions to the image
Holy Great Martyr George the Victorious, who is in Byzantium
was the patron saint of warriors. In the linguistic pantheon of Prince Vladimir
Perun was the god of the pagan squad, the god of warriors. It appeared
one of the reasons for the transfer of the cult of Perun to the cult of St. George.
But the main reason is another: the life of St. George
tells of the saint's victory over the dragon. This story has become one
one of the favorites in Russian iconography. Serpent-wrestling motive
considered one of the most important in the mythology of Perun, therefore not
Surprisingly, this image of the snake fighter Perun merged with the image
snake fighter George.In addition to the functions of Perun, the people entrusted to George the image of himself
pagan serpent Veles, who patronized the worker
ckoty. On St. The Russian people kicked George out for the first time
pasture their livestock, while singing ritual songs.
Protecting cattle from wolves, George appears in Slavic
folklore the lord of gray predators, which are sometimes called
his dogs.
The pagan god Veles, originally born of a serpent, but
capable of turning into a person, according to the consonance of names he replaced
Holy Great Martyr Blasius of Sebastia. And what happened
this is with the participation of the clergy, because often on the site of the temples of Veles
churches of St. Vlasiy. And in Russian iconography this
the saint was depicted surrounded by horses, cows, and sheep. Paganism
will also manifest itself in the fact that Vlasy is called by the nickname Veles -
"bestial god" Saint's Day Vlasiya among the peasants is called "cow
holiday."
Echoes of the cult of Veles can also be heard in the veneration of Nicholas
Pleased. The Poles considered St. Nicholas as the guardian of the herds, who in
In the pre-Christian era there was Veles. They were both also considered
protectors of harvest, prosperity, wealth.
Christian substituteSvarog became saints
silverless Kocma and Damian.
Female deity Mokosh - patroness of women and feminine
handicrafts, home maintenance and family well-being,
patroness of fields and livestock. The only female deity
ancient Russian nahteoha, whose idol stood on the top of the hill next to
idols of Perun, Xops, Dazhbog, Stribog, Simargl. After
adoption of Christianity, peasants transferred functions and attributes
characteristic of Mokosha on Paraskeva Friday. She continued to do the same
make pagan sacrifices by throwing yarn and tows into wells.
Icons of St. The Paraskevs placed at springs and wells.
Researchers note that although Friday was identified with
the myster Paraskeva, in songs Friday was called the Mother of God.
The result of the influence of the Mokoshi cult was a special veneration of God
MOTHERS, KINDS OF GOD, i.e. matepuhkoe is emphasized,
the birth quality of Mary, while the Catholic Church
puts emphasis on her virginity.
Christian saints were first and foremost for the peasants
patrons of their rural life, and only then examples of life in
Xpuct. Thus, the famous Russian saint, St. Sergius
Radonezh, was considered the protector of poultry, St. martyr
Nikita is the guardian of geese, Zosima andSavvaty Solovetsky -
beekeepers' assistants. Folk legends about these and other saints
patrons are far from their canonical lives, and their icons in
the common people were called "gods".
As a result of the merger in pre-Christian folk holidays
Slavic rituals with Orthodox rituals turned out
a unique cultural phenomenon.
The Feast of the Nativity of Christ is essentially a ritual
veneration of Kolyada.
Trinity Day falls during the "green Christmastide" period.
celebrations dedicated to giving thanks to the spring forces that
in paganism they were personified by the pitchforks-mermaids, Lada and Lel, the gods Yarilo and
Kostroma, Kupalo and other characters. On this day people carried
sacrificial cakes and fried eggs in the grove.
There is no point in listing all the Orthodox festivals, in
in each we will find a pagan beginning distorted by Christianity.
The combination of pagan and Christian beliefs and rituals gave rise to
new mythology, new ugly gods, and pagan characters
mythology was transferred to the category of evil spirits.
V. Slavic paganism and religions of other peoples.
Studying the ancient religion of the Slavs you find amazing similarities
with the gods of otherspeoples
Perun - the god of lightning and thunder was not only a Slavic god, but
To the Lithuanians he was known as Perkynas, to the Latvians - Perkons.
Moreover, researchers note the similarity between the images of Perun and
Indian god Indra, lord of rain, thunder and lightning -
Parjanya. The origins of the cult of Perun date back to
common Indo-European era.
Myths also converge: for example, the Vedic one about a demon named Vaga,
hiding in a cave cows stolen from the god Indra, Baltic o
Velnyas, the thief of cattle from the god Perkynas and Slavic about Veles
and Perune.
They have analogues in other pagan religions and Xopc and Cbapor.
Probably once upon a time people had a common religion, which c
over time, disintegrated into components and died under the pressure
Christianity.
One of the Slavic deities of vegetation was named Simargl
and was depicted as a winged dog. In Iranian mythology there is also
winged dog Senmyrv. Their names and images are very similar between
yourself.
VI. Conclusion.
"... Doesn't mean at all that it didn't happenpagan past. It was, and
faded, and sometimes very bright
traces of him and memories for a long time
are preserved both in people's memory and in
everyday life, and in the people's warehouse."
Archpriest Georgy Florovsky.
Interest in the ancient gods of Rus', in the mythology of our ancestors
is characteristic not only of a narrow circle of scientific specialists, but also
writers, poets, musicians.
Pagan mythology, being one of the components
cultural heritage of the Russian people, could not help but receive
reflections in the works of classics of Russian literature and
art. From Russian folklore, from the depths of folk life
mythological images passed into the works of Russians
writers and poets, artists and composers, in some cases
maintaining similarity with ancient prototypes, in others - undergoing
significant changes. These works convey to us the color
and poetics, aesthetic femininity of images of folk mythology. B
at the same time, the reflection of images of pagan mythology in Russian
fiction and visual arts
testifies that echoes of ancient myths are heard in
our culture even now. Pushkin and Gogol, Zhukovsky and Tolstoy, Yesenin and Afanasiev,
here are just some of the great poets and writers who drew
inspiration in ancient paganism.
The poetry of folk beliefs is reflected in creativity
Russian composers. Rimsky-Kopcakob created operas,
Stravinsky staged ballets, Pepux painted the scenery for this
ballet, on themes of folk beliefs.
Scenes from folk mythology are captured on Vasnetsov’s canvases,
Kpamckoro, Khlebnikova, Pomadina, etc.
In modern fiction it is worth noting Maria
Cemehoby, which very vividly describes Slavic paganism. Besides her
motifs of ancient religion are used by Svyatoslav Loginov, Nick
Perumov, Vasily Golovachev and others.
In music, not counting performers of Russian folk songs,
echoes of the cults of the Ancient Russian Gods are heard mainly in
representatives of doom-metal. Moreover, both y Russians and y
foreign. Of particular note is the group of Erik Erikson -
"Skythrone". Although the lyrics are written in English,
they talk about our Russian gods. From Russian groups
Great Sorrow, Goresleeps, Nocturnal Mortum and others stand out.
Without knowingpaganism of our ancestors, we will not be able to
understand the semantics of folk applied art: the plots of many
works of Russian popular culture, wooden sculpture and
household ornaments, embroidery and lace. This also applies to folk
festive rituals and customs, npumetam, preserved in Russian
life until now.
You cannot be a truly cultured person without knowing
history of the native culture, the roots of which go deep
Slavic paganism with its gods and spirits, its cult and
mythology.
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