Slavic Native Faith Facts for Kids

Slavic Native Faith is a modern religion that connects to the old beliefs of the Slavic peoples. It is sometimes called Rodnovery. People who follow this faith believe in the gods and spirits that their ancestors worshipped a long time ago.

What is Rodnovery?
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What is Rodnovery?

Rodnovery is a new religion that started to grow in the 1980s and 1990s. It is based on the ancient beliefs of the Slavs before Christianity came to their lands. Followers of Rodnovery want to bring back the old ways and traditions. They believe these traditions help them connect with nature and their heritage.

Who are the Slavs?

The Slavs are a large group of people who live in Eastern, Central, and Southeastern Europe. Countries like Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Serbia, and Croatia are home to Slavic people. Their ancestors had their own unique culture and religion.

Beliefs and Gods

Rodnovers believe in many gods and goddesses, just like the ancient Slavs did. These gods are often linked to nature and different parts of life.

Perun is a very important god. He is the god of thunder, lightning, and war. He is strong and powerful.
Veles is another key god. He is often seen as the god of the underworld, magic, and wealth. He also protects cattle and shepherds.
Mokosh is a goddess of fertility, weaving, and the earth. She is seen as a mother figure who brings life and good harvests.
Svarog is sometimes seen as the god of the sky and creation. He is like a heavenly blacksmith.
Dazhbog is the god of the sun and warmth. He brings light and life to the world.

Rodnovers also believe in spirits that live in nature, like forest spirits or house spirits. They respect the earth, rivers, and trees.

How Rodnovers Practice Their Faith

Rodnovers often gather in nature for their ceremonies. They might meet in forests, near rivers, or at special outdoor shrines.

Rituals: They perform rituals to honor the gods and spirits. These rituals often involve bonfires, singing, dancing, and offerings of food or drink.
Festivals: They celebrate ancient Slavic festivals that follow the seasons.
- Koliada is a winter festival, celebrating the rebirth of the sun.
- Kupala Night is a summer festival, celebrating the longest day of the year. It often involves jumping over fires and collecting herbs.
Symbols: Many symbols are important in Rodnovery.
- The Kolovrat looks like a spinning wheel and represents the sun.
- The Hands of Svarog symbol is also used.
- The Perun's sign or Thunder wheel is a six-petaled symbol.

Community and Family

Community is very important for Rodnovers. They often form groups or communities to practice their faith together. Family traditions and honoring ancestors are also a big part of their beliefs. Weddings and other life events are celebrated with traditional ceremonies.

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Worship ceremony led by the priests of the Ukrainian organisation Ancestral Fire of Slavic Native Faith.
A Polish Rodnover outdoor altar.
A building of the Slavic Kremlin Vitaly Sundakov, a Rodnover citadel in the Podolsky District, Moscow Oblast, Russia.
The Fiery Chariot of the Word—19th-century Russian Old Believers' icon of the Theotokos as Ognyena Maria ("Fiery Mary"), fire goddess sister of Perun. Belief in a mother goddess as the receptacle of life, Mat Syra Zemlya ("Damp Mother Earth"), was preserved in Russian folk religion up to the 20th century, often disguised as the Virgin Mary of Christianity. The fiery "six-petaled roses" that surround the Ognyena are one of the variants of the whirling symbol of the supreme God (Rod) and of its sons.
From left to right: Kolovrat, Hands of Svarog, Thundermark, sign of Veles.
The Hexafoil—Perun's sign, or Thunder wheel—a folk symbol, used as the main by the Union of Croatian Rodnovers.
The Svetoary community of the Union of Slavic Native Belief Communities celebrating Mokosh.
Outdoors shrine (kapishche) at the Temple of Svarozhich's Fire in Krasotinka, Kaluga Oblast, Russia.
Serbian Rodnovers celebrating the Kupala Night.
The Seven Gods, by the Russian artist Maxim Sukharev, 2010s. The artwork represents the supreme God (Rod) manifested as a sevenfold hierarchy, according to Slavic theo-cosmology.
Statue of Svetovid in Kiev. The four-faced "Worldseer" represents (according to the Book of Veles) Prav, Yav and Nav in the four directions of space.
Rodnover wedding ceremony.
Ukrainian Rodnovers worshipping a kapy (pole) of Perun, in Ternopil Oblast, Ukraine.
Russian Rodnover priest drawing a dot on the forehead of believers for the celebrations of Kupala Night festival.
Rodnovers engaged in a clockwise circle-dance around a bonfire, celebrating the Koliada festival in Naro-Fominsk, Moscow Oblast, Russia.
Ritual at the Temple of Svarozhich's Fire of the Union of Slavic Native Belief Communities, in Krasotinka, Kaluga Oblast, Russia.
Poles of the gods at a shrine in the Szczecin Landscape Park, in Szczecin, Western Pomerania, Poland.
Sacrificers officiating at a ritual square (kapishche) in Kaluga, Kaluga Oblast, Russia.
Group of Anastasians celebrating the holiday of Koliada at an Anastasian village in Belgorod Oblast, Russia.
Ukrainian Rodnovers worshipping a goddess' pole on Vodokresh in the countryside.
2018 publication of Dołęga-Chodakowski's About the Slavs before Christianity by Polish Rodnovers.
First page of the Ukrainian magazine Dazhboh (February 28, 1935).
One of the earliest copies (dated 1955) of one of "Isenbek's Planks" (the n. 16), upon which the Book of Veles was supposedly written.
The Temple of Mother Ukraine–Oryana in Spring Glen, New York, United States.
Ukrainian Rodnovers engaged in public worship.
A founder of the Native Polish Church, Lech Emfazy Stefański, holding a wedding ceremony.
Priests of the Skhoron ezh Sloven Rodnover organisation.
Russian Rodnovers engaged in a ritual with a fiery wheel.
Ritual of the sword planted into a pile of stones or brushwood, to honour the martial deity (Perun), practised by Russian Ynglists in Omsk, Omsk Oblast. It is a Scythian ritual.
Sylenkoite clergy at the Temple of the Nativity of Lev Sylenko, of OSIDU RUNVira, located where Sylenko was born, in Bohoyavlensky, Mykolaiv, Ukraine.
Buildings and fields in Korenskiye Rodniki ("Root Springs"), an Anastasian village in the Shebekinsky District of Belgorod Oblast, Russia.
Guests from Overseas—Nicholas Roerich, 1901. The painting represents the coming of Varangian Rus' from Scandinavia to the heart of the Eurasian continent.
The Temple of the Wisdom of Perun, part of the headquarters of the Ynglist Church in Omsk, in 2004.
A couple of Anastasians celebrating Osenins, the festival of welcoming Autumn, at an Anastasian settlement in Belgorod Oblast.
Ukrainians worshipping at the Temple of the Nativity of Lev Sylenko in Bohoyavlensky, Mykolaiv, Ukraine.
Fire ritual of Belarusian Rodnovers.
Group of Polish Rodnovers celebrating a ritual in winter.
Polish Rodnovers worshipping in the woods.

Slavic Native Faith facts for kids

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