Slavic Mythology: Voices from the Forgotten Gods (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798277312308)

Discover the lost world of ancient Slavic paganism where thunder gods battled serpent lords, the earth herself was divine, and spirits dwelled in every grove and stream.

For over a thousand years, the rich mythology of the Slavic peoples has remained hidden in fragments, deliberately destroyed by Christianization, scattered across hostile chronicles, and preserved only in folklore that outlived empires. Now, this comprehensive exploration reveals what survives of a worldview where the cosmos was structured around a great World Tree, where Perun's lightning split the sky in eternal battle with shapeshifting Veles, and where Mokosh wove the threads of fate itself.

From the fragments, a world emerges:

• The gods who ruled: Perun the Thunderer striking from celestial heights, Veles the shapeshifter dwelling in the depths, Mokosh the earth mother weaving destiny, and the mysterious solar deities whose myths were almost entirely lost
• The spirits who remained: Household domovoi, forest leshy, dangerous rusalki, and the ambiguous Baba Yaga, figures who survived when the gods fell silent
• The sacred year: Winter solstice's desperate celebration of returning light, Kupala Night's ecstatic fires and forbidden magic, harvest festivals thanking the living earth
• The mythology in folklore: Fairy tales preserving cosmic battles, epic songs of heroes and dragons, customs maintained by grandmothers who no longer knew why but knew it mattered

This is not a book of false certainties or romantic invention.

Here you'll find acknowledgment of what we know, what we've lost, and what must remain uncertain. Drawing on chronicles, archaeological evidence, folk customs, and comparative mythology, this work distinguishes solid evidence from reasonable speculation, historical reconstruction from modern creation.