Slavic Recon - Lost in a sea of mistranslations.

[Ashaelia Caeruisce]

So, tracing my family roots I've decided to pick up the impossible task of researching Slavic Paganism. I say impossible, because I don't speak Czech or Russian . . . and everything in English seems to contradict itself every step of the way.

I've done hours of meaningless internet searching and house of bookshelf browsing only to come to the inevitale conclusion that I am completely lost. When I was really little I remember my Nana telling us stories about Domovoi, Leshii, and Kikimoras. But She passed away when I was far to young to make any sense of them. (Which, unfortunately, sucks for me now.)

The rest of my family embraced Catholicism and praise our Irish heritage, but it's just not for me. So . . . as a 4th Generation off the boat from former Bohemia (what is now part of the Czech republic.)

Any help on reconstructing a decent Slavic Pantheon. As well as holidays and cultural practices . . . are much appreciated. Or even just a point in the right direction of where to start looking . . . because it would appear my family as bad at keeping records, lol. The only thing I have eve slightly remeniscant is a weird long slender pendant on a necklace that has four faces.  

[too2sweet]

Godchecker.com has a section on Slavic and Baltic Mythology. I don't know how accurate the info is, but it at the very least it might help give you ideas on where to start your search.

Here are a couple more sites that my be helpful:

East Slavic Paganism
Pan Slavic Traditions and Beliefs
Salvic Paganism and Witchcraft  

[Pativ Asa]

Naomi Kuiveya

Any help on reconstructing a decent Slavic Pantheon. As well as holidays and cultural practices . . . are much appreciated.

With no disrespect intended, this seems like a very tall order for a forum such as this. The last attempt at this took a Prince and the commission of many a scholar by the crown to accomplish even a fraction of what you propose.

It seems to me it would be far more practical to narrow your search down by region and time frame, then to use the common turns of phrase and dated dialect found within manuscripts of the period to weed out different pieces of folklore and introduce tales preserved in songs of the same era into a loose mythological framework upon which traditional arts, music, food and dress may be incorporated into a personal religion.  

[Ashaelia Caeruisce]

Well I suppose the first step for myself to branch outside of bad English translations would be to bring myself to study Czech, Russian, and Romani. I already know this is a deep involved process and I'm not "demanding" the info be brought to me like imperial decree.

Just finger points in the right direction would help. Truth be told, I really don't know what I'm looking for. And I'm sure though searching I may be be able to help dwindle it down to what I'm looking for.

I feel like I have to broaden what my original intention were because the thought of reconstructing a strickly pre-christian Bohemian Religion seems nearly impossible. There are plenty who settle for a Catholic/Slavic Dvoeverie, but having grown up in a Catholic household I'd like to bring out more of the Pre-christian Slav.

So I guess you could say I'm searching for a Pre-Christian religion from Bohemia?

Thanks too2sweet, Godchecker made me giggle. Definately humorous if nothing else. I'll check out the others and see if I haven't come across them on my search already. Sorry Pativ that I don't have much of a time frame to limit too. I seem to be having a hard enough time focussing on the purely bohemian aspects. So much seems imported or intermingled with other cultures that it makes my head spin. @__@  

[Pativ Asa]

Naomi Kuiveya

Well I suppose the first step for myself to branch outside of bad English translations would be to bring myself to study Czech, Russian, and Romani. I already know this is a deep involved process and I'm not "demanding" the info be brought to me like imperial decree.

Just finger points in the right direction would help. Truth be told, I really don't know what I'm looking for. And I'm sure though searching I may be be able to help dwindle it down to what I'm looking for.

I feel like I have to broaden what my original intention were because the thought of reconstructing a strickly pre-christian Bohemian Religion seems nearly impossible. There are plenty who settle for a Catholic/Slavic Dvoeverie, but having grown up in a Catholic household I'd like to bring out more of the Pre-christian Slav.

So I guess you could say I'm searching for a Pre-Christian religion from Bohemia?

Thanks too2sweet, Godchecker made me giggle. Definately humorous if nothing else. I'll check out the others and see if I haven't come across them on my search already. Sorry Pativ that I don't have much of a time frame to limit too. I seem to be having a hard enough time focussing on the purely bohemian aspects. So much seems imported or intermingled with other cultures that it makes my head spin. @__@

I'm curious as to why you would include the study of Romani in your list. My understanding is that they are an independent and insular culture and would only further contaminate your search for Slavic roots.

Quite frankly, Bohemia (Home of the Boii by ancient Roman accounts) in ancient times were a Celtic people. After their migration westward, Teutonic peoples and then the Slaves migrated into the region. When it comes to nomadic people of the region, you would have a better time studying the Avars and the Magyars.

The earliest accounts of a pre-Christian Czech land would have been before the papacy of Pope John. Which reinforces the notion that the Romani language would be of little use for it wasn't for several hundred years after this that those people left Asia.

If you can select a century and note which cultures inhabited the land at that time based on the migrations, you may have a better chance of finding something useful.

Historically speaking you are most likely going to be studying Slavic, Teutonic/Germanic or Eastern Celtic cultures, specifically the Boii.  

[Nomad of Nowhere]

I've been trying to do some research on the whole thing, but I repeatedly find that it's all mixed up, save for a few basics like the relationship Perun and Veles. Also, there's the book of Veles, which you really should watch out for, because it has very questionable veracity. From my understanding, if a site claims that the world is divided between the three worlds Nav, Jav, and Prav, then it is drawing from the book of Veles. Still, Eastern Europe seems to have held quite a few different polytheistic traditions, so there are contradictions. Eastern Europe is a large expanse, and it's been host to more than one line of folklore. It seems that the slavs may not have been a very homogenous people, possibly very mixed with Germanic people, or Iranian and steppe people even from very early on.

To my knowledge, there's not much to read except scrounged up folklore, and if that contradicts, is it any surprise? I have Russian sources, and they haven't helped me beyond all of the confusion either. Most sites I've found that have a lot of concise information seem to draw from the book of Veles, which strikes me as a fabrication made in an attempt to fill the large and undeniable gap that exists in all written knowledge about Slavic pagan tradition. That's your call of course, but making your own evaluation on the book of Veles seems like a logical first step that will effect how you conduct your research.  

[Verene]

Slavic Paganism is going to be very hard to research if you do not speak a slavic language at all. There is not a lot of information that has been translated. Plus, even those sources that are in the original language, or have been translated from an old slavonic into a modern slavic language can prove contradictory and frustrating. This is a research area that is growing in popularity however as Religion, and in particular how many of these Eastern European countries are going about refashioning Christian/Orthodox belief or even Dvoevarei in the wake of Soviet Atheism as the state religion is interesting field of study that has started to grow in the last decade or so.

In what little I have encountered of slavic paganism. (Not directly researching on paganism, but in studying Russian/Slavic culture/history) It seems that Gods, traditions, and myths vary based on local.

The oldest written sources for history/beliefs in the Slavic regions, are the Chronicles. The best known would be, "Chronicle of the Slavs,"(NW slavs - blatic region and into germany) the "Primary Chronicle," (Kievan Rus'), "Chronicle of Henry of Livonia" (Christianizing the people of Livonia and the baltic region.) and "Galician-Volhynian Chronicle" (which continues the Primary Chronicle in a region that is now part of modern Ukraine.) There are other Chronicles written besides these.


Two works which you may find in English translation, though they are not particularly focused on paganism per se but do have some references are, "The Lay of the Host of Igor" and "The Life of the Arch priest Avakum."

"The lay of the Host of Igor" is based on raid of a Prince of Novgord-Seversk against a tribe of the Don region which ends in failure. It has been questioned as to it's authenticity so read with a grain of salt. Though I think most experts have decided it is at least not *entirely* in accurate. It has a mix of early Christian and Slavic beliefs.

"The life of the Archpriest Avakum" deals more with the schism caused by Patricarch Nikon and his reforms of the Orthodox church in the 1600s. While it's focus is on Avakum's life and issues of Theology within Orthodoxy, it does reveal a few instances of pre-Christian rituals and superstitions, especially in Avakum's interactions with rural serfs whose Orthodoxy is more or less Dvoeverie (lit: two-beliefs) the mixing of pagan and Christian beliefs and rituals.

The best I can really do is to offer you luck. The more I've managed to learn about Russian Orthodoxy, Slavic Paganism, Dvoeverie, and Russian folklore/myths the more confused I've become. Be prepared to start learning and not stop of years. You may never reach a nice, concise and neat answer where Slavic Paganism is concerned (Scholars have been trying off an one for centuries with no real luck) but it is very fascinating to study.

Edit: re-reading your thread I'm not certain what help any of this maybe, as it looks like you have more of a focus on Czech pre-Christian traditions as opposed to other Slavic groups. Though I do know that there are Czech sources out there I don't know as much about them. Nor as much about Catholic/Slavo-pagan dvoeverie as Orthodox/slavo-pagan dvoeverie.

However for research, you are probably going to be most successful if you have access to some sort of an academic/research library system.