Thread by @CanadianKobzar

🧵STAY AWHILE AND LISTEN! In honour of the old god Perun for helping the Ukrainian army, todays topic will bring us back to the times before Christianity and discuss the mysteries of ancient Ukraine - Ukrainian mythology, folklore and the The Book of Veles. 1/23

In honour of todays topic, this thread is dedicated to the mythological creature that is the symbol of our heroes @Kraken_unit! The legendary fellas @MontayBayBay @Explorer_WF and @Barnett_556 have a weekly coin auction to support these heroes. Be sure to support them! 2/23

Slavic mythology is shrouded in mystery. Primarily because we have very little written contemporary primary sources or holy texts* from the time as the written Ukrainian language only developed after converting to Christianity. 3/23

Much of what we know about slavic faith comes from foreign sources, such as Byzantine historian Procopius or Arabic historians such as Al-Masudi or from later Slavic sources, such as the Primary Chronicle - but this was written when Rus was Christian. 4/23

However, many pagan traditions, myths pass to us through oral tradition and folklore. Mavka, Nevry, Vidma, and others all entities from slavic myth survive to this day through literature. Christmas, Easter and Ivana Kupala traditions all have their roots in pagan rites. 5/23

Myth is reflected in Ukrainian literature such as the works of Taras Shevchenko ‘Prychynna’ , ‘Rusalka’ and in Lesia Ukrainka's Forest Song, Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky's Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, and Nikolai Gogol's stories on Ukrainian themes. 6/23

The largest organized folklore collecting in Ukrainian territories in the 19th century took place under Pavlo Chubynsky. This massive publication contains tales, proverbs, songs, beliefs, calendric and other customs and rites, as well as dialects of Ukraine. 7/23

The Slavic religion shared much of its development with other Indo-Iranian religions, and in particular Zoroastrian and Vedic religious beliefs. For example the sky gods Daeva from Iranian faith and Div from slavic faith have similar linguistic and mythological origins. 7/23

The Tale of Bygone Years identifies the main slavic deities: Perun, Khors, Dazhbdog, Stribog, Simargl, Mokosh, Svarog, Yarilo and Veles. In terms of cosmology, similar to Norse mythology, the universe was expressed as a world tree. 8/23

Perun is mentioned the most numerous and it is believed he was one of the most popular gods. Similar to Thor, he was the sky god, master of thunder and war. Khors is a god associated with Perun, but we actually do not know what the Khors is a god of. 9/23

Dazhbog is most likely a solar god, but also quite possibly based off of a historical figure. Stribog is often associated with a god of wealth and also appears in Polish myth. Simargl is also a mystery, but is believed to originate from the Iranian deity Simurgh. 10/23

Mokosh is the mother Goddess, protector of women, childbirth and weaving. It is possible that her origin is from the Finnic people. Svarog is the god of fire and blacksmithing, much like the Greek god Hephaestus. 11/23

Yarilo is the god of fertility and springtime. He is also the Ukrainian Jamie Lannister as he married his twin sister Morana (yes, I love game of thrones). Finally, Veles is the god of the underworld and the rival of Perun. 12/23

In many ways pagan traditions continued after Christianization of Rus. In Ukraine, there is a concept known as dvoeverie "double faith", where Christians also practised Pagan beliefs. My great grandmother was such - a staunch orthodox christian, but worshipped the sun god. 13/23

Unlike Christianity or other religions, there is no sacred text for slavic faith. However, you may have noticed the * above - enter controversial BOOK OF VELES. Discovered in Kharkiv in 1919, the book is a text purporting to be both a religious text and historical work. 14/23

Originally written on a plank of wood, the contents were transcribed in the 1930's. In 1941, the original wooden planks were lost, but the transcriptions were saved. The book details the history of the slavs from the 7th century BC to the 9th century AD. 15/23

This text also contained religious passages, moralistic principles and characteristics of a holy book. It describes prayers to Triglav (another god) and Svarog, as well as the slavic concept of "eternal paradise". 16/23

The controversy with the Book of Veles is that most scholars (predominatly russian) regard it as a modern forgery citing anachronisms in language, events and other inconsistencies. However, many scholars (predominantly Ukrainian) disagree and consider it genuine. 17/23

Historians such as Petro Panchenko and Boris Yatsenko, as well as archeologists like Nikolai Chmykhov claim that the Book of Veles is legitimate and contains evidence of a "Ukrainian ethnicity" in the text. This view is shared my many politicians such as Levko Lukianenko. 18/23

What do I think? I think further investigation is needed. Why? All the historians dismissing the book as a forgery are Russian. Not surprising since the implications of the Book of Veles would be that the Ukrainian ethnicity existed since the before Kyivan Rus. 19/23

I also think that many of the criticisms for legitimacy, such as anachronisms in language, can be explained by errors in transcriptions. We are not analyzing the original wood planks, but rather a transcription that is subject to error and interpretation. 20/23

Notwithstanding the above, in modern times Slavic Neo-Paganism is on the rise. Known as Rodnovery, practitioners seek to revive the old ways. One of the largest pagan churches in Ukraine is known as Rídna Ukrayínska Natsionálna Víra. 21/23

Slavic paganism is popular amongst various Kozak groups, and is extremely popular amongst members of Azov Regiment and other Ukrainian soldiers. Below is a statue to Perun in Azov's Mariupol headquarters in 2018. 22/23

From house spirits to thunder gods the mysteries of the ancient times are with us to this very day. Shrouded in mystery, these traditions are being reborn and reinvestigated by faithful Ukrainians. As Ukraine marches, Perun guides our soldiers to victory. SLAVA UKRAINI! 23/23

Ps 1 - below is an article on an amazing house in Kherson that is painted with various elements of folklore, mythology and Ukrainian culture. However thanks to Russian war crimes, it may not exist anymore ukr.net/ru/news/detail…

So @Rowan_M72 and @RusalkaNYC you two may really like this thread 😉