This thread is for anyone interested in discussion about Slavic paganism. That is, the pre-Christian tradition of the Slavs, a little-understood people who culturally dominated most of Eastern Europe by the 6th or 7th century A.D. Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Bulgarian, and many other languages are descended from the proto-Slavic language. In Russia and Ukraine, Slavic paganism is often called Rodnoveri, which means "Native Faith".
I have been avidly studying Slavic paganism for about four years, and trust myself a lot more than I trust a lot of the sources out there on this subject. Many will state as fact their highly speculative attempts to reconstruct lost portions of Slavic pagan belief, and others neglect entirely to pore over the rich collection of folklore in which a crucial portion of the tradition is preserved. I've found several very decent sources published in English, such as "Forest of the Vampire (Slavic Myth), and "Songs of the Russian People." However, I've found no one source with everything. The folklore, especially, is very scattered throughout multiple sources. You'll find Bulgarian folklore in one book, and Russian in another, despite the fact that the folklore and folk-traditions of over a dozen different Eastern European countries have common features.
It's probably one of the hardest traditions to attempt to revive, I'll admit. However, I believe that we could do a lot better than we have been. Many in Russia are just skinheads taking up Slavic paganism with a racial and nationalistic agenda, often without really caring about accuracy. Many Russian pagans draw from the Book of Veles, a proven forgery which is supposedly a relic of the pagan past, rather than their genuine ancestral tradition. Here in the west there is very little published at all, and some truly bad scholarship. Because of this, I'd be happy to help anyone who is trying to learn about my tradition. I also welcome discussion and sharing ideas, if anyone else has anything to share.
I have been avidly studying Slavic paganism for about four years, and trust myself a lot more than I trust a lot of the sources out there on this subject. Many will state as fact their highly speculative attempts to reconstruct lost portions of Slavic pagan belief, and others neglect entirely to pore over the rich collection of folklore in which a crucial portion of the tradition is preserved. I've found several very decent sources published in English, such as "Forest of the Vampire (Slavic Myth), and "Songs of the Russian People." However, I've found no one source with everything. The folklore, especially, is very scattered throughout multiple sources. You'll find Bulgarian folklore in one book, and Russian in another, despite the fact that the folklore and folk-traditions of over a dozen different Eastern European countries have common features.
It's probably one of the hardest traditions to attempt to revive, I'll admit. However, I believe that we could do a lot better than we have been. Many in Russia are just skinheads taking up Slavic paganism with a racial and nationalistic agenda, often without really caring about accuracy. Many Russian pagans draw from the Book of Veles, a proven forgery which is supposedly a relic of the pagan past, rather than their genuine ancestral tradition. Here in the west there is very little published at all, and some truly bad scholarship. Because of this, I'd be happy to help anyone who is trying to learn about my tradition. I also welcome discussion and sharing ideas, if anyone else has anything to share.
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