Who is Dazhdbog? Dazhdbog - genealogy and holiday of the giver of blessings

The Slavic god, whose appearance represents sunlight and fertility, cannot be considered a formidable warrior. Residents of Ancient Rus' believed that Dazhdbog was a real patron and protector. Therefore, most of the myths dedicated to the radiant god talk about the kindness and generosity of a man, and not about military exploits.

Origin story

The sun god, very similar to the ancient Greek, is known by a number of names - Dazhdbog, Svarozhich, Dab, Radegast, Radigosh. The first mentions of the deity date back to the earliest sources of writing. For example, the Tale of Bygone Years talks about a wooden monument to Dazhdbog, which the Slavs placed next to the Khorsa monuments, and.

Notes about Dazhdbog, preserved in the Ipatiev Chronicle, allow us to conclude that the history of the origin of the deity is connected with the Scythian people. Written evidence mentions altars in the shape of concentric circles. In the same way, farmers in Scythia glorified their own sun god.

“The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” also did not go without mentioning the Slavic deity, although only in an indirect meaning. The author of the literary masterpiece of Ancient Rus' designates the Russians as the grandchildren of the famous god, which corresponds to the rest of the mythology dedicated to.

The ancient Slavs divided the cult of the deity into two periods. Summer Dazhdbog symbolized the departure of winter, blossoming and flowering. Dazhdbog in winter personified soft sunlight and patronized wedding celebrations. Each period of God's reign had its own symbol and amulet, which the Russians embroidered on clothes or carved on wood.

Dazhdbog in mythology

The great sun god is the son of the formidable Svarog. One day, the blacksmith god decided to see how people live on Earth, but due to the constant darkness, he could not see anything. Then he pulled out Dazhdbog from his bosom, who illuminated the world and people.

Already with his own appearance, the man helped the ancient Slavs. The rays emanating from Dazhdbog gave humanity hope and harvest. From that day on, every morning the sun god harnessed his chariot and rode across the sky, stopping only at night to rest. And the grateful Slavs began to glorify Dazhdbog and proudly bore the title “Dazhdbog’s grandchildren.”

But the sunlight comes not from the man himself, but from the divine shield with which Dazhdbog travels across the sky in a beautiful chariot. The crew is pulled by lions and boars (in other sources, horses with fiery manes), so sometimes the Slavic god is depicted with the head of a ferocious animal.

However, the inhabitants of Rus' believed more that Dazhdbog was a fair-haired and blue-eyed middle-aged man. The charming and benevolent god does not part with the already mentioned shield, which gives sunlight and reflects any magic. The deity uses a spear as a weapon, which he can throw perfectly.

It is not surprising that such a handsome and strong man had many women. Dazhdbog's first wife was Zlatogorka. God saw the sleeping beauty and was captivated by the girl. Having awakened Zlatogorka, Dazhldbog achieved a reciprocal feeling and married his beloved. But family life was overshadowed by the girl’s excessive curiosity.

Once on Mount Latyr, Zlatogorka discovered a coffin, in which she lay down to sleep and could not get out of captivity. To free his wife, Dazhdbog got a special ring. The wife was saved, but the accidental loss of a magical artifact destroyed the marriage - Zlatogorka left for the Navii world. From his first wife, God left two sons - Kolyada and Ovsen.

What was the man’s happiness when Dazhdbog found out that his beloved’s soul had passed into the goddess Mara! However, happiness with his new wife did not last long. A woman fell in love and ran away with her lover. Angered by the infidelity, Dazhdbog fought twice with Koshchei and lost both times.

The second battle ended in tears for God - the man was chained to Mount Latyr. The goddess Zhiva saved Dazhdbog. The girl became the third and favorite wife of the deity. Alive gave birth to Dazhdbog Kiseka and Aria, from whom the entire human race descended.

• The meaning of the name of the Slavic god is the giver of prosperity. The deity's name probably comes from the phrase "God willing" (i.e., God willing). Therefore, despite the similar sound, Dazhdbog is not the god of rain at all.

• The god's amulet is a disk representing the sun. The symbol of Dazhdbog is considered no less powerful - a solar square, outwardly similar to a swastika.
• There is a rune whose name is similar to the name of the solar god. In fortune telling, the rune symbolizes abundance and prosperity.
• The ancient Slavs believed that the Dazhdbog conspiracy would help drive out evil from life and fulfill any desire.

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God of the ancient Slavs Dazhdbog

God Dazhdbog was one of the most revered divine beings of the pagan Slavic pantheon. His name is translated as “the giver of all blessings” or “the giver of blessings.” In the pagan period of Rus', people believed that Dazhdbog controlled sunlight and influenced fertility. In addition, he was considered the progenitor of the Slavic peoples.

Etymology of the name “Dazhdbog”

In Ukrainian and Russian ritual folk songs that have survived to this day, Dazhdbog is called the one who opens summer and also brings sunlight to the earth after a long winter. At the same time, this divine essence was not the only one responsible for the movement of the sun. Thus, the winter sun was symbolized by the god Khors, the spring sun by the god Yarilo, but the summer sun by Dazhdbog himself. After all, it was summer that sometimes had all the blessings in those days.

“The Tale of Bygone Years” about the Slavic god Dazhdbog

This god of the Slavs was first mentioned in Nestor’s chronicle “The Tale of Bygone Years,” the text of which tells us that the idol of Dazhdbog stood in the center of Kiev on the main temple of Vladimir pagan Rus', along with the idols of other Slavic gods and the idol of the great Perun. According to this literary source, this god was considered third in importance and importance after the thunder god, who patronized the squad and the prince, as well as the god Khors.

Information from the Ipatiev Chronicle about the god Dazhdbog

Dazhdbog is also mentioned in the famous Ipatiev Chronicle, in which John Malala answers the question about the very essence of this deity, calling him none other than the giver of light, as well as warmth and fertility, which fully corresponds to his name, since prosperity depended on heat and harvest people during that historical period. And yet, the same John Malala argued that the great Dazhdbog was the giver of the princely ruling power, as well as all people who are endowed with power.

Historian Boris Rybakov about Dazhdbog

When describing this deity, Boris Rybakov in his works refers to the upper part of the Zbruch idol, which was found in a river near Sataniv, at the junction of the Khmelnitsky and Ternopil regions in the territory of modern Ukraine. On this idol you can also see the symbol of Dazhdbog - a solar swastika sign, which the wise men advised to embroider on clothes and other things as a strong amulet.

Despite the rather peaceful functions of the god Dazhdbog, he was revered as one of the most skillful and powerful warriors of Iriy. Not a single divine battle could take place without his intervention. Maybe that’s why the pagan Slavs depicted this deity as a warrior dressed in crimson and gold armor, who was armed with a life and a sword.

The same chronicler Nestor, telling the history of Rus', calls all the Slavs “grandchildren of Dazhdbog.” The Ipatiev Chronicle also calls him the progenitor of the Slavic peoples. What is this connected with? According to these literary sources, the first Slavs already glorified this solar deity. But why grandchildren and not children?

Modern data

According to some modern Slavophile researchers, in the marriage of Dazhdbog with his wife Zhivaya, Arius was born, who is the direct ancestor of the Slavic people.

According to folk legends, Dazhdbog meets his grandchildren at the moment of sunrise on their wedding day and, as the supreme ancestor of the Slavs, he personally congratulates the groom before this important wedding ceremony. Moreover, the ritual song of the groom has survived to this day, the performance of which on the wedding day promised the family not only a happy married life, but also material benefits and good luck.

As we mentioned above, Dazhdbog’s wife was the daughter of the goddess Lada, Zhiva. At the same time, Lada herself united the pair of gods with eternal marriage bonds. Legends say that before this, Dazhdbog rejected the goddess of death and winter Morena. The text of this ancient legend itself is also interesting, as it brings to us the story of the crucifixion of Dazhdbog. It was this punishment that Morena chose for her beloved for his refusal.

Dazhdbog Day

In Rus', the holiday of Dazhdbog or Dazhdbog Day was celebrated on the sixth of May. At this time, the ancient Slavs praised this divine essence for choosing towards Zhiva and the refusal of the sun god from the embrace of Morena. This holiday, as you can understand, symbolized the onset of summer warmth and the passing of cold winter. People glorifying Dazhdbog brought him demands in the form of sweet drinks and food, reading ritual texts and singing songs in his glory.

This holiday had special significance for the Slavs, because in the morning they took livestock out to green pastures for the first time of the year. Therefore, by lighting sacrificial fires, the Slavs asked Dazhdbog to protect animals from disease, wild predators and theft.

Each person tried to get up early to get the cattle out before the dew evaporated, because, according to beliefs, it had magical properties on this day, giving health to the animals that passed through it.

As on most major holidays, on Dazhdbog Day it was customary to dance around the fire. As a rule, people from all over the settlement took part in the celebration, but only young people danced in circles.

Among Svarog's gifts to people were his sons - Svarozhichi. The first of them is Dazhbog - Dazhdbog, Dab, RADEGAST, Radigosh, Svarozhich. These are different variations of the same name. God of fertility and sunlight, life-giving force. We correlate with Helios, son of Svarog. The first ancestor of the Slavs (the Slavs, according to the text of “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign”, are the grandchildren of God). His name is heard in the shortest prayer that has survived to this day: “Grant, God!”

Victor Korolkov

Along the ruby ​​hand of sunset
Golden Dazhdbozhy boat
Hearing the thunder of the heavenly waves,
Illuminating the entire course of existence,
Floats easily and slowly,
Returning to the Beginning of the Beginning,
And the red turns bright and comforting
At sunset, a heavenly pier.

Marina Tsar Volkova, 2009

B. Olshansky

Ivanov V. Visions of the Arctic. Throne of Dazhdbog.

Also known as: The Generous God. The symbol is the solar disk. The main color is gold. The Slavs believed that Dazhdbog rode across the sky in a wonderful chariot drawn by four white fire-maned horses (griffins) with golden wings. And sunlight comes from the fiery shield that Dazhdbog carries with him. Twice a day - morning and evening - he crosses the Ocean-Sea on a boat pulled by geese, ducks and swans. Therefore, the Slavs attributed special power to talismanic amulets in the form of a duck with a horse’s head.

Andrey Klimenko. Dream about Dazhdbog's chariot.

Dazhdbog had a majestic gait and a direct gaze that knew no lies. And also wonderful hair, sunny-gold, easily flying in the wind. All three had the same eyes, blue-blue, like the clear sky on a sunny afternoon, like a ravine in black thunderclouds, like the blue, unbearable core of a fire.

B. Olshansky. Glory to Dazhdbog. 1992.

The Son of Heaven carries a wonderful shield on a light chariot drawn by four snow-white horses, began to illuminate the beauty and wondrous wonders of the Earth: fields and hills, high oak groves and resinous pine forests, wide lakes, free rivers, ringing brooks and cheerful student springs.

Dazhdbog on a solar chariot drawn by griffins.

Dazhdbog (the giving god) was expected to fulfill desires, health and other benefits. The symbols of Dazhdbog were silver and gold - light, flaming metals. He was considered the keeper of great wisdom, as he gave the people of the Holy Taras nine Santias (books) containing the sacred Vedas. Dazhdbog played the greatest role as an educator of the ancient Slavs.

In ancient times, a wooden statue of Dazhdbog stood on a hill in Kyiv. Our ancestors believed that Dazhbog patronized weddings and met the groom at dawn on the wedding day. Dazhbog closes winter and opens summer. Dazhdbog's day is Sunday, his metal is gold, his stone is yakhont.

The lion was considered the sacred animal of Dazhdbog - Radegast. Svarozhich-Dazhdbog was often depicted with a lion's head, and sometimes riding a chariot drawn by lions. Among the ancient Slavs, the root “rad” meant sunlight, hence the “rainbow” - solar arc. The word “joy” is also from there and means “given by the rays of the sun.”

The symbols of Svarozhich are not only royal lions, but also boars (the boar is also the embodiment of the Indian Vishnu and the Scandinavian Frey). One of the attributes is a sword, later an ax, as well as a spear, possibly a scarlet banner: “in this, the devil Svarozhich and the leader of the saints, your and our Mauritius, agree? Those who raise the sacred spear in front, and those who stain the devil’s banners with human blood ?"

Radegast's bird is a rooster that announces the coming of the sun with its cry. The name of God was written on the idol in Wendish runes; perhaps there was also solar symbolism. The head of the idol is placed at sunrise or in the southeast so that he can follow its progress. The largest cult center of Dazhdbog was located on the lands of the Lutich-Retars. It was repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt, and was finally burned by the Germans in 1147-1150.

The new temple of Dazhdbog on Castle Hill.

Dazhdbog was called Savior, i.e. A Savior, but not in the sense of saving the lost sheep of Israel, but in the military sense - a protector. The statue of Dazhdbog was placed on a hill and always with its head to the east, where the sun rises. Dazhdbog was also considered the intercessor and savior of warriors. Therefore, the honey Spas on August 14 and the apple Spas on August 19 are the days of honoring Svarozhich or Dazhdbog. He, along with Yarila, is also honored on Yuri Zimny ​​(December 9).

A. Guselnikov

He gives the Earth and people such great benefits as light and warmth, which is why he received his name, the prefix “dazh” (giving). For the same reason, He is the only one of the Gods whom you can ask for anything, and His name itself has firmly entered into colloquial use with the expression “God willing.”
Dazhdbog's element is fire, his weapons are a spear, a club, a staff and sometimes a double-edged sword; His round shield bears the Swastika; the hidden animals are the lion, white horses and white wolves or dogs; hidden birds - falcon and goose.
Common symbols of Dazhdbog are a circle, all types of swastikas, a wheel with four, seven or twelve spokes, eight-rayed stars (although in some Slavic families all stars with the number of rays from 8 or more are practically read as signs of the Sun).
Swastika- an ancient solar symbol that is ideal for everyone who aims to bring the Spiritual Light of Knowledge and the Heat of Universal Love into the world. It is precisely because of his Light that he is so hated by the descendants of the Black and Gray Gods, as well as by those who want to hide the Truth from people for the sake of their greed and lust for power.
The Straight Cross is a separate component of the Swastika, but as an energy symbol it is simpler and is designed to bring Harmony of Unity into the world and balance Darkness and Light.

Dazhdbog as part of the universe

SUN.
Quite often in historical chronicles the ancient Slavs are called sun worshipers. Yes - our ancestors revered the Sun above all else!
All great holidays were invariably associated with the movement of the Sun. But our ancestors did not worship the Sun, but revered Him!
Dazhdbog has four phases-hypostases, in which he appears to us after the days of the Equinox and Solstice. Each such individual hypostasis is the spouse of earthly Nature, which also has four hypostases, known as the Seasons (Limits of Kolo):
HORSE (Horus, Horst, Crunch, Kors, Cross) - the first hypostasis of Dazhdbog, the husband of Winter-Snegura, the winter, cold sun that shines brightly but does not warm, for it has not yet gained its strength and does not glow with heat. He is the lord of the white sunlight, the heavenly all-knowing, all-knowing, all-good eye. He opposes chaos, darkness and nothingness. It got its name from the Old Russian “horo”, “koro”, which means “circle”. His symbol of Christmas is an ordinary straight cross. General symbol – swastika-salt.
There is no doubt that the name “Horse” (in the entry without vowels KHRS - shining) is the prototype of the name “Christ” (in the entry without vowels KHRTS - sun-like).
YARILO (Yarilo, Yarovit, Ruevit, Rutevit, Yarbog, Yary) - the second hypostasis of Dazhdbog, the husband of Yara-Spring-Kostroma, the ardent spring Sun, the rampant God of passion, daring and youthful fun. “Yar” - the ancient “yar” means “strength” (hence yariy-ariy - having the power of Iria). Yarilo - God of military valor and glory. He is the patron saint of the Slavic peoples and as long as there is a double-edged sword in his hand, the Slavs will be invincible. The symbol of Yarila’s Nativity is a cross with T-shaped ends, and the general symbol is swastika-salt.
SURYA (Suriy, Guriy, Ruru, Turila) - the third hypostasis of Dazhdbog, the husband of Leta-Dodola, the god of wisdom and teacher of the Aryan-Slavs. He is the hot, harsh Sun, which is why he is considered the stern god of courage and military victories, the god of retribution and mercilessness towards enemies. The symbol of Surya's Nativity is a straight cross. General symbol – swastika-kolovrat.
OWEN (Avsen, Tausen, Usin, Yusinbog) - the fourth hypostasis of Dazhdbog, the autumn, tired, aged Sun, husband of Autumn-Usynya, God, bringing generous gifts of fertility from Iria and distributing them among people according to divine predestination: some generously, in abundance, others meager. It got its name from the Old Russian “ousin” (“yusin”) - bluish. The symbol of Christmas Autumn is a cross with T-shaped ends, and the general symbol is swastika-kolovrat.
The limits of Dazhdbog are made up of pairs that form Svarog’s palaces, i.e. periods of special influence on the Earth of the four Faces of Svarog. The limits of Khors and Ovsenya form a pair, forming the palace of Morena, Yarila and Surya - the palace of Lada, Khors and Yarila - the palace of Belobog, and Surya and Ovsenya - the palace of Chernobog.
The palace of one or another Svarog Face is the time of a certain solar sacred Power of Svarog, which a person can draw during ritual actions. The solar sacred Power of Svarog is a combination of the energies of the Sun, Space and Earth. The Svarog palace indicates what divine shade this combination wears in a particular period of the earth’s colo-year.
The Sun moves around the center of the Galaxy at a speed of about 209.17 km per second and carries with it our Earth, which in turn revolves around the Sun at a speed of 106,194 km per hour. The Earth also rotates on its axis every 24 hours, which causes the time of day to change. The earth's axis also rotates, and its full rotation occurs in 25,920 years.
The annual path of the Sun across the sky is called the ecliptic, which can be defined as the projection of the earth's orbit onto the celestial sphere. Since the earth's axis is inclined to the plane of the ecliptic at an angle of 23.44 degrees, this is also the angle between the ecliptic and the celestial equator. Thus, the declination of the Sun can vary from 23.44 degrees north to 23.44 degrees south. These points of greatest declination are the Solstice points.
Solstice Day- this is the highest or lowest position of the Sun relative to the celestial equator in its apparent annual movement. The name comes from the fact that over the course of several days the declination of the Sun changes very slowly - it seems to be equally high in summer and equally low in winter.
Winter solstice is the lowest point of Dazhdbozhy Kolo and falls on December 21 or 22. The day itself is referred to as Chernogor (Korachun) - the time of the shortest earthly day and the time of the “death” of the old, outdated year. Summer Solstice, which is the highest point of Kolo, falls on June 21 or 22, and the day is called Svetogor (Zlatogor-Kryshen).
The days when the Sun crosses the equator as it moves from the southern to the northern hemisphere are called Equinox. This means that on these days the length of day and night is the same (equal). Day spring equinox(Krasnogor) falls on March 20 or 21, and autumn(Sinegor) - on September 22 or 23.
The complete revolution of the Earth around the Sun is called the Small Circle of Dazhdbog (Dazhdbog Day), consisting of 9 months.
Sunlight is a wave function, and its color depends on its wavelength—that is, the distance between adjacent maxima.
If we shine a ray of sunlight through a glass prism, we get a rainbow stripe that starts with red at one end of the spectrum and moves through orange, yellow, green and blue to violet at the other end of the spectrum. This happens because the prism refracts different colors of the spectrum differently: red the least, and violet the most. Red has the longest wavelength, and violet has the shortest.
The sun is inextricably linked with the concept of the structure of the world, which has four main sides and four intermediate ones. Therefore, already from the Bronze Age, the eight-pointed star and eight-part symbols of various designs were accepted as a solar symbol not only among the Slavs. Among the Sumerians, the eight-rayed star served as a hieroglyph for the concepts “God, sky, star”; in Akkad and Babylon this ideogram expressed the concepts of “God, sun, star, year”; in Ancient China and Ancient America, an eight-pointed star was also defined as “sun, star.” In ancient India, there was a veneration of the eight directions of the horizon; they contacted the eight Gods, who were called “Guardians of the World.” In the Scandinavian tradition, the world had eight directions. The sanctuary of Perun, the Son of the Sun-Dazhdbog, in Kyiv was surrounded by eight fire pits located in the directions of the four main sides of the horizon and four intermediate ones.

Spectral Colo Dazhbog

The color makes up the spectral Kolo Dazhbog, and the days when the color reaches a certain level and changes are called Light Mountains:

1. Krasnogor (spring equinox, spectral color - red);
2. Egoriy Veshny (midpoint between the spring Equinox and summer Solstice, spectral color - orange);
3. Zlatogor-Kryshen (summer solstice, spectral color – yellow);
4. Egory Letniy (midpoint between the summer Solstice and the autumn Equinox, spectral color - green);
5. Nebogor (autumn equinox, spectral color - light blue, light blue );
6. Egor Yusiny (midpoint between the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice, spectral color - Navy blue);
7. Chernogor-Korachun (winter solstice, spectral color – violet);
8. Egory Zimny (midpoint between the winter Solstice and the spring Equinox, spectral color - white, neutral, general).Visible color makes up only a small part of the entire cosmic spectrum of electromagnetic frequencies. At the long wavelength end of the spectrum, following red are infrared waves, microwaves, and then radio waves. At the short wavelength end of the spectrum are ultraviolet rays, x-rays and very short gamma rays.
   Knowledge of the spectral solar mountains allows you to create a person’s lifestyle in such a way that his body completely coincides with solar activity, on which the processes of digestion, metabolism, cardiovascular activity, and in general the work of the human body as a whole depend.

Dazhdbog as a real (incarnate) deity

Dazhdbog is the Patron God of the Palace of Ras in the Svarozh Circle.

Amulet of the Hall of Ras (White Leopard) in the Svarozh Circle

According to some legends, in ancient times God Tarkh Perunovich, the Guardian God of the ancient Great Wisdom, came to Earth. Son of God Perun. After the Great Flood, God Tarkh Perunovich, together with his sons, lived on Earth for three years and was called Dazhdbog (Giving God) for giving the people of the Great Race and the Descendants of the Heavenly Family Nine Santii (Books).
These Santias were written down by ancient Runes and contain the Sacred Ancient Vedas, the Commandments of Tarkh Perunovich and his Instructions. Santii in the original can only be called a Book visually, because... Santiy- these are plates made of noble metal on which the Ancient X’Aryan Runes are inscribed. The plates are fastened with three rings, which symbolize three Worlds: Yav (World of People), Nav (World of Spirits and Souls of Ancestors), Prav (Bright World of Slavic-Aryan Gods).
After God Tarkh Perunovich visited our Ancestors, they began to call themselves “Dazhdbog’s grandchildren.” In addition to the Ancient Vedas, Dazhdbog also brought cats here. Therefore, the Sphinx - the Image of Dazhdbog - is made in the shape of a cat. Our Ancestors were also visited by many other Gods.

Commandments of the Native Gods.
COMMANDMENTS OF TARKH - DAZHDBOG

1.Whoever has Perun’s blessing for a family union, let there be neither hostility nor veil between them.
2. Whoever gives part of his Soul to his children has not diminished his Soul, but has increased it.
3. He who squanders love will lose it, and he who radiates love will multiply it.
4. Know, people of the Clans of the Great Race, that you must treat with kindness all living things created on Midgard Earth.
5.Whoever caresses and warms an orphan child has committed a small deed, and whoever warmed, given shelter and taught hard work has committed a greater deed.
6.Whoever does not support his Family and his Faith in the hour of hardship is an apostate of his Family, and there will be no forgiveness for him all the days without a trace.
7. Let Conscience and the Laws of the Family be the measure of everything in all your actions.
8. Tear away from yourself foreign thoughts and deeds that lead to immeasurable inferno.
9.Read the ancient Vedas, and let the word of the Vedas live on your lips.
10. The ancient wisdom that is preserved in your Clans belongs only to your Clans and your descendants, and therefore do not give ancient wisdom to strangers who use it against your Clans and your descendants.
11. Save the lives of your relatives and your neighbors, and you will find help from your Gods on High.
12.Whoever protects his child from creative deeds destroys the Soul of his child.
13.Whoever indulges the whims of his child destroys the great Spirit of his child.
14. The Vedas are learned through the Living Word, for only the Living Word reveals the meaning hidden in the Vedas.
15. Do not destroy your nature, the blood of your Clans, for these are two great forces that enable the existence of your ancient Clans.
16. Remember, children of the Great Race, that a family union created without God’s and parent’s blessing is not protected from suffering and misunderstandings.

Dazhdbog- God of the Sun, giver of heat and light. His name is heard in the shortest prayer that has survived to this day: “Grant, God!” Among Svarog's gifts to people were his sons - Svarozhichi. The first of them is Dazhdbog.

The ancient Slavs considered the Sun, Lightning and Fire - two heavenly Flames and one earthly - to be siblings, sons of Heaven and Earth.

His idol stood on a hill in Kyiv. Our ancestors believed that Dazhbog patronized weddings and met the groom at dawn on the wedding day. Dazhbog closes winter and opens summer.

Dazhbog - Dab, Radegast, Radigosh, Svarozhich These are different variations of the name of the same god. God of fertility and sunlight, life-giving force. The first ancestor of the Slavs (the Slavs, according to the text of “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign”, are Dazhdbozh’s grandchildren) - “Then, under Olza, Gorislavlichi will sow and spread strife, destroy the life of Dazhdbozh’s grandson, and in the princely sedition, the people will be reduced.”

“Resentment arose in the forces of Dazhdbozh’s grandson, a maiden entered the land of Troyan, splashed her swan wings on the blue sea near the Don: splash, let go of the fat times.” According to the “Word of John Chrysostom... how the first trash believed in idols and put demands on them...”, the god of the sun and life-giving force. Probably, Dazhdbog could, following the white Sventovit, correlate with Apollo as the god of sunlight. In teachings against paganism, among other gods, he is mentioned next to Artemis: “and he approached the idol and began to eat lightning and thunder, and the sun and the moon, and the friends of Pereun, Khours, the pitchforks and Mokosha, the upir and the beregins, who are also called distant sisters, and others They believe in Svarozhitsa and in Artemis, to whom ignorant people pray, and to slaughter chickens... and are drowned by frost in the waters. And friends come to the wells to pray and throw into the water... making a sacrifice, and the friends burn fire and stones, and rivers, and springs, and banks, and in firewood - not only in the past in desecration, but many are still doing this.”

Dazhdbog Day- Sunday, its metal is gold, its stone is yakhont. The celebration may occur on the day of Rodion the Icebreaker. The largest cult center of Svarozhich was located on the lands of the Lutich-Retars, was repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt - in 953 it was ruined by Otto I, in 1068 by the Saxon bishop Burchardt II and was finally burned by the Germans in 1147-1150. during the crusade against the pagans of the Bavarian Duke Henry the Lion. Bronze images of the Lutich gods and ritual objects from the Retrin Temple were found in the soil of the village of Prillwitz at the end of the 17th century. The figures are covered with Slavic runic writing. On the lands of the Vyatichi, settlements were also named in honor of the god Svarozhich. The name Radegast would sound like Radigosh here. Radogoshch - two settlements claim its role - this is either Pogar on the Sudost River (a tributary of the Desna), west of Trubchevsk and north of Novgorod Seversky, or Radogosh itself on the Nerussa River, north of Sevsk and west of Krom.

Sacred animals of Dazhdbog- Radegast was considered a lion (like the Persian sun god Mithra), Svarozhich was depicted either with a lion’s head or riding a chariot drawn by lions.

The root “rad” meant sunlight among the Slavs, hence the “rainbow” - solar arc. The word “joy, joy” is of the same “solar” root - that is, given by the rays (cf. Latin radio) of the sun. Hence the names Radegast, Radogosh consist of three words: Rad - sunny, “yes”, “do” by analogy with Dagbog, Dazhdbog can mean donation, a gift, and “gast”, “gosh” are semantically close to the word “guest”. In other words, these names perhaps mean: “guest who gives the sun and sunlight,” or a messenger of the gods who brought the power of light and the sun as a gift. In this case, the East Slavic Dazhbog and the West Slavic Radegast are different names of the same god - Svarozhich. Frenzel speaks of him as “De Radegastos. Marte Soraborumque altero supremo Deo” - Radegast is no less significant in the Serbian-Lusatian pantheon than even Sventovit himself. The symbols of Svarozhich are not only royal lions, but also boars (the boar is also the embodiment of the Indian Vishnu and the Scandinavian Frey). One of the attributes is a sword, later an ax, as well as a spear, possibly a scarlet banner:

“On this, the devil Svarozhich and the leader of the saints, your and our Mauritius, agree? Those. Who in front raises the sacred spear, and those who stain the devil’s banners with human blood?”

Bird of Radegast- a rooster announcing the coming of the sun with its cry. The name of the god was written on the idol in Wendish runes; perhaps there was also solar symbolism.

The head of the idol is placed at sunrise or to the southeast so that he can follow its progress. Dazhdbog was called Spas, that is, Savior, but not in the sense of saving the lost sheep of Israel, but in the military sense - a protector. Therefore, Apple Savior (August 19) and Honey Savior (August 14) are the days of honoring Svarozhich. He, along with Yarila, is also honored on Yuri Zimny ​​(December 9).