Deities of Slavic religion
Deities of Slavic religion, arranged in cosmological and functional groups, are inherited through mythology and folklore. Both in the earliest Slavic religion and in modern Slavic Native Faith's theology and cosmology, gods are arranged as a hierarchy of powers begotten by the supreme God of the universe, Rod, known as Deivos in the earliest Slavic religion. According to Helmold's Chronica Slavorum, "obeying the duties assigned to them, have sprung from his blood and enjoy distinction in proportion to their nearness to the god of the gods".
The general Slavic term for "god" or "deity" is бог bog, whose original meaning is both "wealth" and its "giver". The term is related to Sanskrit bhaga and Avestan baga. Some Slavic gods are worshipped to this day in folk religion, especially in rural areas, despite longtime Christianisation of Slavic lands, apart from the relatively recent phenomenon of organised Slavic Native Faith.
Slavic folk belief holds that the world organises itself according to an oppositional and yet complementary cosmic duality through which the supreme God expresses oneself, represented by Belobog and Chernobog, collectively representing heavenly-masculine and earthly-feminine deities, or waxing light and waning light gods, respectively. The two are also incarnated by Svarog–Perun and Veles, whom have been compared to the Indo-Iranian Mitra and Varuna, respectively.
All bright male gods, especially those whose name has the attributive suffix -vit, "lord", are epithets, denoting aspects or phases in the year of the masculine radiating force, personified by Perun. Veles, as the etymology of his name highlights, is instead the god of poetic inspiration and sight. The underpinning Mokosh, the great goddess of the earth related to the Indo-Iranian Anahita, has always been the focus of a strong popular devotion, and is still worshipped by many Slavs, chiefly Russians.
Hypothetical primordial god
Highest cosmological concepts
Basic information from Mathieu-Colas 2017. Further information is appropriately referenced.Supreme polarity
Threefold–fourfold divinity and fire-god
Sun-god and moon-god
Both the sun god and the moon god, Dazhbog and Jutrobog, are often qualified as "Xors", a title which finds many equivalents in Indo-Iranian and means "radiant", referring to the radiance of solar and lunar light. Its etymology probably goes back to the Indo-European root *ghers, and Indo-Aryan *hrs, *ar, *r, comprising the semantic field of "to move rightly", "upwardly", and "to praise". Male solar deities are generally assumed to be descended from the Zoroastrian Hvare-khshaeta on the basis of etymology, though this has been contested. Conversely, the sun is usually depicted as female in Slavic folklore.| Concept | Name variations | Polarity | Description / Various hypotheses | Main attestations | Modern image and alleged symbol |
| Xors Dazhbog | –Dazhdbog –Dadzbog –Dajbog, Dojbog –Dambog –Dabog, Daba –Dazibogu | M | Dazhbog is the sun god, son of Svarog, winner of darkness, warranter of justice and wellbeing. Mathieu-Colas interprets Dazhbog as meaning "Wealth Giver". He changes from a young man to an old man as he travels through the sky; he has two daughters accompanying him, the two Zvezda, and has a brother, the bald moon god. | East Slavs, Russes | |
| Xors Jutrobog | ① –Jutrebog –Juthrbog –Yutrobog –Jutrenka, Gitrenka –Jutrovit, Jutrowit ② –Mesyats –Myesyats –Messiatz | M | Jutrobog is the moon god, but also the moon light at daybreak, whence the meaning of his name, "Morning God" or "Morning Giver". The town of Jüterbog, in Brandenburg, is possibly named after him. The theonym may refer to Yarilo as the good of the moon. The name Mesyats literally means "Moon". The moon god was particularly important to the Slavs, regarded as the dispenser of abundance and health, worshipped through round dances, and in some traditions considered the progenitor of mankind. The belief in the moon god was still very much alive in the nineteenth century, and peasants in the Ukrainian Carpathians openly affirm that the moon is their god. | West Slavs, Wends |
Goddesses
Basic information from Mathieu-Colas 2017. Further information is appropriately referenced.Great goddesses
Other goddesses
Other gods and goddesses
Basic information from Mathieu-Colas 2017. Further information is appropriately referenced.Other important male gods
Other twosomes and threesomes
Tutelary deities of specific places, things and crafts
In Slavic religion, everything has a spirit or soul, including houses, lakes, mountains, forests, animals and men. These spirits are generally called by various terms, including for instance zduh or zduhacz by the Serbs, or sjen or sjenovik by the Montenegrins. These spirits are considered able to leave the body during the sleep, wandering about the world, the skies and the underworld.Deities of waters, woods and fields
Basic information from Mathieu-Colas 2017. Further information is appropriately referenced.| Concept | Name variations | Polarity | Description / Various hypotheses | Main attestations | Image |
| Bereginia | –Beregynia, Berehynia –Przeginia | F | Tutelary deity, or deities, of waters and riverbanks. In modern Ukrainian Native Faith she has been heightened to the status of a national goddess "hearth mother, protectress of the earth". Some scholars identify Bereginia as the same as Rusalka. In Old Church Slavonic, the name was prĕgyni or peregyni, and they were rather—as attested by chronicles and highlighted by the root *per—spirits of trees and rivers related to Perun. The interpretation as female water spirits, bregynja or beregynja, is an innovation of modern Russian folklore. She is cognate with the German goddess Fergunna and the Gothic Fairguni. | East Slavs, Russes | |
| Vodianoy | –Vodianoi, Vodianoj –Vodnik –Vodeni Mozh –Bagiennik –Bolotnik | M | Vodianoy is a tutelary deity, or are tutelary deities, of waters. He is represented as an old man with a high cap of reeds on his head and a belt of rushes around his waist. To ingratiate themselves with him, Slavic fishermen sacrificed butter in water while millers sacrificed sows. | - | |
| –Boginka | –Bogunka –Russalka –Navia, Nawia –Navje, Mavje –Navi, Navjaci –Nejka, Majka, Mavka –Nemodlika –Latawci –Vila, Wila –Samodiva, Samovila, Vila, Iuda | F | Boginka literally means "Little Goddess". Always described as plural, boginky, they are tutelary deities of waters. They are distinguished into various categories, under different names, and they may be either white or black. The root *nav which is present in some name variants, for instance Navia and Mavka, means "dead", as these little goddesses are conceived as the spirits of dead children or young women. They are represented as half-naked beautiful girls with long hair, but in the South Slavic tradition also as birds who soar in the depths of the skies. They live in waters, woods and steppes, and they giggle, sing, play music and clap their hands. They are so beautiful that they bewitch young men and might bring them to death by drawing them into deep water. They have been compared to the Greek Nymphs. Samodiva/Samovila are a type of woodland spirits known to Bulgaria, of which samodiva is the more commonly used, while samovila is more specific to Western Bulgaria. The words diva has the meanings of "wild", "rage", "rave", "divinity" whereas vila means "spun" or "spinning". The "samo-" prefix means "self-". Iuda/Iuda-Samodiva generally refers to an evil spirit. These samodivas/samovilas are said to share a strong resemblance to Roman Nymphs. They are described as playful woodland humanoid beings clad in white and wearing wreaths that can be beneficent or maleficent to men and women alike, depending on how they perceive being treated. They are sometimes young and beautiful, other times old and revolting. They are said to be found in woods, mountains, near fairy rings, near water sources where they bathe or in contrast dwelling in graveyards, dangerous places and to build invisible cities below the clouds when they are associated with malice. They can sometimes be attributed to: have wings, transform in various animals such as wolves, send ravens/crows as messengers, ride white-gray deer or bears, shoot arrows. The cult of the Vila was still practiced among South Slavs in the early twentieth century, with various offerings. | - | |
| –Leshy –Borewit | ① –Leshak –Leshuk –Leszy, Lesny –Lesnoy, Lesnoi, Lesnoj –Lesovoy, Lesovoi, Lesovoj –Lesovik ② –Barowit –Borovoy, Borovoi, Borovoj –Borovik –Boruta | M | Leshy is the tutelary deity of forests, with a wife and children. Another name of the god is Borewit or Boruta, coming from the Slavic root *bor which denotes dark woods. Due to the similarity of the name with Porewit, a relation between the two has been hypothesised. He is represented as an old man with long hair and beard, with flashing green eyes. To secure his protection, people who lived near woods sacrificed cows and salted bread to him. He may manifest in the form of animals, such as bears, wolves and hares. Other names include Berstuk and Zuttibur among the Wends, Modeina and Silinietz among the Poles, and Sicksa. Cf. the Greek Pan. | - | |
| Moroz | ① –Morozko ② –Zyuzya –Studenez –Treskunez ③ –Korochun | Moroz is the deity of the cold. He is the brother of Perun and Chernobog. In the Kalevala of the Finnish mythology is also a "Frost" named figure, a son of Louhi. The word Korochun comes from Proto-Slavic *korčunŭ or kračati. | - | ||
| –Polevoy –Poludnica | ① –Polevoi, Polevoj –Polevik –Belun –Datan –Lawkapatim –Laukosargan –Tawals ② –Poludnitsa, Poludnitza –Polednica –Poludniowka, Przypoludnika | M–F | Tutelary deity of fields. Among Poles, the god of the fields is also known by the names Datan, Lawkapatim, or Tawals. Poludnica is his female form; her name is etymologically related to poluden or polden, not only related to fields but also, literally, "midday". She is represented either as an airy, white woman or as an old woman with horse hoofs and a sharp sickle in her hand. The name Lawkapatim reflects the Prussian Laukosargas. | - |
Deities of settings and crafts
Deities of animals and plants
Slavo-Germanic deities and others
The Wends, including those who dwelt in modern-day northern and eastern Germany and were later Germanised, or other never-Germanised West Slavs, also worshipped deities of common Slavo-Germanic origin, as documented by Bernhard Severin Ingemann. According to Rasmus Rask and August Schleicher, this is due to the fact that the Slavs and Germans have a common root. Karl Brugmann was of the same opinion. However, Germanic gods never rose to prominence over Slavic ones in Wendish religion.| Concept | Name variations | Polarity | Description / Various hypotheses | Origin | Modern image and alleged symbol |
| Woda | –Vohda | M | Woda was worshipped as a god of war and leadership, in relation to the Slavic verb *voditi, "to lead". He was also associated with rune wisdom and with Vid, as the supreme God, the "moving force behind all things"; runes were called vitha by the West Slavs, which is a genetive of *vid or *vit meaning "image" or "side", "facet". | Germanic | |
| Balduri | - | M | - | Germanic | |
| –Hela –Mita | –Myda | F | Hela, the death goddess, is represented with a lion head with an outstretched tongue. As Myda, an aspect or another name of hers, she is represented as a crouching dog. | Germanic | |
| Morok | - | M | Morok, literally "Darkness" in Russian, is a concept that has been deified in modern Slavic Native Faith. He is the god of lie and a deceit, ignorance and errors. At the same time, he is a keeper of ways to the truth, hiding such ways to those who pursue truth for vanity and selfishness. He has a twin brother, Moroz, and they switch into one another at will. | 21st-century Rodnovery |