Posted: Tue Mar 11, 2008 12:17 am Post subject: Slavic and Baltic Gods and Goddesses...
Well, I am going to start going over a different region and their Gods and Goddesses.
TRIBES, CULTURES AND PEOPLES COVERED: The Slavic and Baltic peoples, including Russians, Lithuanians, Czechoslovakians, Prussians.
Well, this is my first installment for this thread:
BABA-YAGA: The Slavic Goddess of Death. She's a horror thriller killer diller — forget Godzilla. Check her out.
She lives in a house built of human bones, complete with bone fence with inset skulls whose eye sockets light up in the dark. And it's a mobile home — it runs around supported on gigantic chicken legs.
If this doesn't make you chicken out, her own eyes turn humans to stone, and her mighty mouth has knives for teeth.
She can also pole herself around in a giant pestle and mortar which she also uses to grind up and unpetrify her victims. Coming soon to a forest near you.
PERKUNAS, AKA: PERKANA, PERKONIS, PERKUNIS
This is the Big P God. The Major All-encompassing Top Thunder God of all Slavic countries.
He is the one in charge. He weilds an axe in a similar way to THOR, and it always returns when he throws it at demons.
He is the King of the Skies even if his chariot is drawn by a billygoat. It is the Billy Goat Gruff of Goats, monumental and magnificent.
We also have him listed under PERUN. A God like this can always be run past you again
BOGATYRI: A band of Russian Superheroes who took on demons and monsters.
Their number included ILYA-MUROMETS and MIKULA. Although mortal, they had various special powers such as super-strength, swiftness of foot, and bucketfuls of heroic pluck. Possibly also X-ray vision.
Like a somewhat down-to-earth version of the Knights of the Round Table, they were a motley collection of farmers who were elevated to hero rank and starred in many celebrated dragon-busting tales.
They were squeezed out by the Christians and now only the legends remain. You can read all about it in 'Why There Are No More Bogatyri In Holy Russia' — if you are into ancient Russian poetry and can find a copy.
VELES: AKA VOLOS, VOLUS, WELES
God of Sheep and God of the Underworld. Now there's a strange combination.
He started his career as a mix-and-match Warrior and Shepherd God. Did he fight sheep? Lead lambs to the slaughter? No, he protected flocks — and was liable to get quite assertive about it.
As time went on, people began to depict him with the horns of a ram. This seemed to sum up his demeanor quite nicely. Meanwhile, it seems his down-to-earth nature had made him the ideal candidate for Underworld Management.
Now this is the purest speculation, but we wonder if he shared the same fate as PAN when Christianity came along. You can just imagine the missionaries thinking: "hmm.. horns... associating with animals... lots of fighting... the Underworld... It's SATAN trying to disguise himself as a shepherd again."
_________________ "Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened." - Anatole France
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