ALUNA TEMPLE MAGAZINE EDITION No4 'BRIDGES' | Page 60

Sun god is known by different names, Kresnik is typical Slovenian. Following the summer solstice with celebration of Kresnik we celebrate Perun's day. Perun is one of the oldest deities in Slavic pantheon. He reigns in the sky, he is a thunder god who throws his axe onto the bad peoples and demons. The axe is a synonym for a thunderbolt that comes back like a boomerang. ‘DEVA & DEVAC; On the summer solstice we do not only praise the Sun God Kresnik but we also celebrate The Divine Wedding between the Sun and the Earth’ Kresnik has many Perun's attributes, he is also a thunderer that fights his enemies with a lightning, Kresnik also fights with the dragon-like creature, just like Perun is in constant battle with Veles, the god of the underworld. Many believe that Kresnik outlived Perun because through time the honouring of the sun became stronger. As the year is progressing and more and more water is coming in – the god becomes older in the autumn time when the ruling of the goddess prevails. On the winter solstice, we celebrate the new born sun that some call Svarožič, the son of Svarog, that is a keeper of the fire, the fire on earth. Many rituals were made to help him gain the strength and so another cyclic Slavic year will / can come. ‘SVAROŽIČ; The sun god comes in many forms’ Our ancestors never took anything for granted that is why they made rituals believing only then life will go on. People have imitated the gods, so on midsummer night they themselves got married as well. This holiday is marked by love and consolidation of mutual ties. By jumping over the bonfire dedicated to the sun god, lovers make their bonds stronger. From the divine marriage gods are born, so people also conceived babies then so they were born in the springtime and had a greater chance of survival. Sometimes the girls sang all day and though the evening, going from house to house where they received the gifts. In some regions people prayed to this sun