‘BRIDGING SEASONS with SLAVIC GODS'
… The gods listen and give us signs …
with
IRENA URANKAR
www.staroverci.si
www.velesgrafika.com
Slavic ancestors have, just as many other nations and tribes,
celebrated the summer solstice along with many other significant
holidays through the year to show the respect for their gods and
Mother Earth.
In Slavic mythology we know of many gods and goddesses that were, once
upon a time, a part of everyday life for our great-grandfathers.
However as we speak of Perun, Kresnik, Mokoš, Živa, Jarilo and the rest, we
always have to keep in mind, that gods are different aspects of the father
sun and the mother earth.
We see the aspect of a maiden of mother earth in Vesna, Mara, we come
across the mature woman in Lada in the summer and Živa when we thank her
for the fruits of our labour in the fields and in colder times as we start to
receive more and more water / rain, snow, we get to know her as Morana who
is responsible for our passing on and rebirth.
The sacred annual path of our sun god Svarog also includes his many so called
incarnations.
In springtime, which was celebrated as the Slavic New year – the fertility god
Jarilo starts his journey from the underground and is a bringer of the greenery
and the beginning of springtime.
In summer we get to know the god Kresnik on summer
solstice when the sun reaches HIS highest and
strongest point of his being.
It is the time of divine wedding of father sun and
mother earth. From their union children are born.
The rituals therefore include the water and the fire as
those are the elements of the two highest gods
involved.
‘KRESNIK’
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