CHRISTIE'S PROGRESS JOURNAL: FEBRUARY 2005

This month I read Pyotr Simonov's book: Essential Russian Mythology (London:Thorsons, 1997). It is a great source of Russian folk culture and belief. It clarifies the integration of pre-Christian Russian folk belief and modern Russian Orthodox Christianity. Here are some of the things I learned:

-"Among the heroines of the church there is Saint Paraskeva, the third-century virgin martyr who underwent a considerable metamorphasis in popular Russian veneration. She replaces an ancient Slavonic goddess, protectress of women and women's work, and of the fertility of the land. The date of her feast, 28 October, fell precisely within the marriage season and the period of women's autumnal work, particularly spinning. The connection of Paraskeva with the earth and fertility means that she can also be identified as a reincarnation of the goddess Mokosh, the great mother of plenty, and 'Moist Mother Earth' whose festival was also in autumn, after the harvest and at the beginning of the season of winter work." (p. 3)

-"An uncommonly passionate attention was paid by the old Russians to phenomena that immediately affected their personal and tribal life--to events on, and more particularly in the physical earth. Eschewing an exclusive devotion to celestial forces, they concentrated a significant part of their spiritual dedication to the earth, to her power and sanctity, and to the mysteries that the earth sustains. Earth here must be understood in the very specific sense as soil, as a grain-producing farmland, as the pasture that is fertilized by the rain, pierced by the plough and turned by the hoe. Earth for the Russians is a mother: a moist, deep, dark, secret womb, the wellspring of all fecundity, the sustaining breast of nature, the final homeland of all humanity. It is the earth that nourishes; th earth whose inexhaustible energy spends itself and is mysteriously renewed year by year; the earth which sustains humanity, and in which at the end all come to rest. Fertility, rather than beauty, is the supreme virtue of Mother Earth, the eternal woman who at once embraces life and dearth: procreator, not virgin; pregnant, not chaste; a black welcoming cavity for the departed. She is both womb and tomb, nurturing human beings during their life, and then providing them with eternal rest. For these reasons, 'Mother Earth' lies at the core of ancient Russian religion." (p. 4-5)

-"In Mother Earth we see the origin of the concept of 'Holy Russia' and the belief in her destiny to enlighten and to sanctify the world." (p. 6)

-"The destination [after death] was the 'other world', which could either be located in the rainbow or in the Milky Way." (p. 7)

-"Perun is the chief deity of the ancient Slavonic pantheon...Through cloud cover and lightning he inseminates rain-moistened Mother Earth during the violent passion of the thunderstorm." (p. 8-9)

-"The spring rains have always been looked upon as not only health-giving but also life-giving, and accordingly there arose the myth of the water of life, a precious beverage which on many occasions restores the dead hero to life." (p. 10)-->(See John 4:1-42, particularly John 4:14.)

-"Khors is one of the sun gods in the Kievan pantheon on whom the people relied for good harvests and seasonable weather." (p. 11)

-"Svarog is the divine tsar of the sky, occupying the highest place in the Slavonic pantheon. He is the supreme deity, the all-powerful god of the heavens who is sovereign over the entire universe and over the other gods...Svarog is concerned only with the cosmos, to his offspring he deputizes the work of creation and the task of ruling over the earth." (p. 12)

-"As for earthly fire, Svarog sent it as a divine gift to earth in the form of lightning. By splitting the clouds with flashing arrows, Svarog would cause the sun to appear; he would ignite the torch of the sun which had been extinguished by the demons of the shadows and the morning sun would emerge from the veils of night. The concept of regeneration was connected with the sunrise and the renewal of its flame. Svarog was thus a divinity who gave light to the sun and fire to the celestial and earthly hearth.Svarog is also the divine smith, the master craftsman associated with fire and generative power who hammered the sun into shape and placed it in the sky." (p. 13)

-"Dazhbog's [son of Svarog's] marriage to Lada, the goddess of the spring, secured the promise of bounty and abundance in the world." (p. 14) (Read Dazhbog and Lada.)

-"Svarozhich is the son of Svarog, and the god of solar and earthly fire...His helmet resembles a bird with outstretched wings..." (p. 14) (Click here to see how this connects with St. Sophia's Dove.)

-"Iarilo is the son of Dazhbog and Lada and god of ardent love, fecundity, spring germination and regeneration. He is strong and handsome, the courageous protector of the fields, who, barefoot, rides a white horse and dresses in a white cloak with a coronet of wild flowers on his brow. In his left hand he holds a sheaf of rye and in his right a human skull. At the command of his mother, Lada, he opens the gates of the sky and charges earthward: an advent that marks the beginning of spring...Towards the end of the summer he returns to the heavens. An ancient song tells of Iarilo: 'Where he treads with his feet, there is abundance or rye; And where he casts his eyes, ears of wheat will spring.'" (p. 15)

-"Simargl is a winged griffin or divine Bird-Dog that guards the sacred tree which supplies the seed for every plant. Simargl is also the name of the magic Firebird who helps heroes and protects home and family." (p. 15)

-"Mokosh is the only female deity in the Kievan pantheon and is possibly the name of Russian's great earth goddess. Especially venerated by women, her name means 'moist'; it suggests her unity with the waters of the skies and of the earth. Indeed she is frequently associated with sacred wells and streams and is known to have life-giving powers. During the winter, in vain Mokosh roams the pastureland of the earth in order to fructify the soil, but it remains desolate and barren. Bedewed by Perun and purified by his lightning flashes, she lies in the dark and cold recesses of earth where she is discovered by the comely Iarilo. He woos her with his ardent sunbeams and adorns her with oceans, seas, rivers, lakes, grass, trees and flowers. As his wife, Mokosh loves Iarilio and bears him an endless number of children that populate the sky, sea and land: birds, animals, fish, insects and, finally humanity." (p. 16)

-"Aside from the high gods of the preceding pantheon, the Slavs also honoured other beings of a lesser order who were credited with supernatural powers. These included nymphs, sprites, imps, dryads, elves and goblins that inhabited trees, forests, stretches of water, the sky, the celestial bodies, the storm, the home, the hearth and fields. Sacrifices of fruit, birds and poultry were made to all these and divinations were sought. Belief in these spirits was part of the general veneration of the forces of nature. The regular return of the four seasons was understood as so many changes in the struggle between sun and frost , resulting in the yearly revival and death of vegetation as well as the death and reproduction of animals and men. Moreover, the honour paid to the elements was also adapted to the cycle of labours in both agricultural and cattle breeding, and from this earth-oriented belief-system there evolved what may be called an 'agricultural religion' of the ancient Slavonic people, with its natural symbolism and periodic festivals. Ancient Russian religion was contingent on an agrarian population. It was emphatically a religion of the tillers of the soil. The life of the ancient Slav revolved around the house, the yard, the stable, the forest, the field and the river, and the most important religious ideas and emotions were therefore connected with these essential elements in their daily life. Each of these elements was imagined to possess a soul, and this soul acquired anthropomorphic features and an independent existence...Many traces of this religion have been preserved in folklore, and following Russia's conversion to Christianity the old festivities and personalities were adapted to, or merged with, the celebrations and divinities of the new faith." (p. 22)

-"In certain parts of Russia trees were held to be the residing place of the souls of the departed. Trees marked a sacred zone and, as a living organism, were on equal footing with human beings. The spirit of the soul that inhabited a tree could, if need be, relocated to another tree and this led to the notion of various wood spirits..." (p. 25)

-"The tree, especially the ubiquitous 'damp oak', identifies a sacred zone and symbolizes strength and life, since it nourishes the atmosphere above it and is itself nourished by the moist earth below." (p. 27) (My puppet show will take place beneath oak trees on the St. Olaf campus green. The show will include birch trees, another ubiquitous Russian tree.)