#Svarozhich

[zarya-zaryanitsa]

Would you consider Svarog to be a phantom deity ? I think there is only one source that mentions him ( correct me if I’m wrong) and I’ve heard people say that he was created as a Slavic version of the Greek god Hephaestus. I don’t have any source for this but it is something I’ve heard some people say.

Hello!

That’s right, there’s only one source that mentions Svarog. However he wasn’t necessarily created as a Slavic version of Hephaestus, the story is a little more complicated than that.

In the entry for year 1114 of the Tale of Bygone Years the author includes a translated fragment of a Byzantine chronicle with a glossa that equates Hephaestus to Svarog and Helios to Daždbog. The Byzantine chronicle in question was originally writen in Greek by John Malalas, who was in turn drawing heavily from 3rd century BC „Egyptian History” by Manetho. In Malalas’ text names of Egyptian deities were replaced by the Greek gods viewed as their counterparts, so Ptah became Hephaestus and Ra became Helios. It’s believed that the glossa adjusted the names one more time, in the same fashion, so that they resonate with local readers. And thus we came to view Svarog as the god of fire and smithing similar to Hephaestus and Daždbog as the god of the sun akin to Helios.

We don’t actually know if the glossa was contributed by the translator of the Byzantine text into Slavonic (who was most likely Bulgarian according to Gieysztor) or by the author of the Tale of Bygone Years. So we don’t know in what year or in which region it was created either and we can’t say much about how familiar the writer was with pagan customs of Rus. It’s very likely that the author was a Christian monk.

Dažbog appears in the Tale of Bygone Years a few more times, most notably in an earlier entry for year 980 where he is mentioned as part of kniaz’ Volodymyr’s state pantheon of pagan gods.

„And Vladimir began to reign alone in Kiev. And he placed idols on the hill outside the palace: a Perun in wood with a silver head and a gold moustache, and Khors and Daždbog and Stribog and Simargl and Mokoš. And they offered sacrifices and called them gods, and they took their sons and daughters to them and sacrificed them to the devils. And they profaned the earth with their sacrifices, and Rus’ and that hill were profaned by blood. But God the merciful, who does not wish the death of sinners, on that hill stands today the church of Saint Vasilij, as we will relate later.”

„Then, during the reign of Oleg, son of the Unfortunate, the seed of discord was sown and flourished, the life of the son of Dažbog was extinguished, amid the internal struggles of the princes, curtailing their future generations.”

„The troops of the son of Dažbog were overcome with sorrow, humiliation entered the lands of Trojan”

- Tale of Bygone Years via Sources of Slavic Pre-Christian Religion, red. J. A. Álaverez-Pedrosa

He is also mentioned in passing in „Sermon by the Holy Father Saint John Chrysostom”.

*The varied spelling of his name as either „Daždbog” or „Dažbog” I lifted directly from the „Sources of Slavic Pre-Christian Religion” that I’m relying on for both the original text of the sources and their English translations.

Svarog does not appear again in any of the writings we know of — but Svarožic does. Svarožic is one of the best attested Slavic deities and the only one found in primary sources from more than one group of Slavs — we found mentions of him in both the primary sources about Polabian Slavs and in the homiletic works of Kyivan Rus.

To the best of my knowledge he is mentioned in:

Letter to Emperor Henry II from Bruno of Querfurt,

The Chronicle of Thietmar of Merseburg,

„Deeds of Bishops of the Hamburg Church” by Adam of Bremen (where he appears as Redigast, though the description of him and the town where he is worshipped matches the one by Thietmar, leading some slavists to view the name as an error and others as an epithet derived from the main place of worship),

„Sermon by Saint Gregory, Found in the Comments, on How the Ancient Nations, When Pagan, Worshipped Idols and Offered Sacrifices to Them, and Continue to Do So Now”,

„Sermon by the Holy Father Saint John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople, on How the First Pagans Believed in Idols”,

„Sermon by One Who Loves Christ and Is a Jealous Defender of the Righteous Faith”.

The name Svarožic is usually interpreted in one of two ways:

- as a patronymic meaning „the son of Svarog”, - as a diminutive meaning „Little Svarog”.

Feel free to come to your own conclusions.

Now as to what I personally think about Svarog (please keep in mind that I have no formal education in slavic studies, and that my opinions may change in the future as a result of my personal research), well in my own practice I currently view him and Svarožic as the same deity, to which I refer as Svarožic. I decided to do so because this form is much better attested. Additionally I subscribe to the theory that the name Svarožic may have been used as a diminutive to avoid a taboo on pronouncing the true name of the deity. Although in my best hypocritical fashion I do not refer in diminutives to Perun about whom similar theories were put forward. In general the name taboos in Slavic culture are a very broad and fascinating subject that I couldn’t possibly summarize in here. To finish off I will note that there are many slavists who believe Svarožic to be the son of Svarog and also many who believe them to be one — so we are given a chance to make up our own minds and follow whatever the hell feels right to us personally.

Sources: Sources of Slavic Pre-Christian Religion, red. J. A. Álaverez-Pedrosa, Mitologia Słowian by Aleksander Gieysztor, Dawni Słowianie - wiara i kult by Stanisław Urbańczyk, Slavic Gods and Heroes by Kalik and Uchitel.

[keycomicbooks]

Firestorm #83 (1989) Tom Grindberg Cover & Pencils, John Ostrander Story, 1st Appearance of Svarozhich

#Firestorm #83 (1989) #TomGrindberg Cover & Pencils, #JohnOstrander Story, 1st Appearance of #Svarozhich "Lord of Fire" In Siberia, Major Zastrow learns that a clone of Firestorm codenamed Svarozhich has turned violent and escaped the Soviet facility in which it was created. SAVE ON SHIPPING COST - NOW AVAILABLE FOR LOCAL PICK UP IN DELTONA, FLORIDA https://www.rarecomicbooks.fashionablewebs.com/Firestorm%201987.html#83  #KeyComicBooks #DCComics #DCU #DCUniverse #KeyIssue

[temple-of-perunika]

Who is Dajbog/Dazhbog?

Dajbog (also known as Dazhbog) is the slavic god of the Sun. He is the son of Svarog, god of fire and blacksmithing. He is "the giving god". Dajbog is the god that gives life, as he is the Sun, the sunny sky.

His epithet is Svarozhich! Meaning little Svarog, or son of Svarog.

May Dajbog grant us abundance and prosperity, and aid us when we need him!

[jezzzebel]

Prayer to Dazhbog for the Summer Solstice

(yes i am a little late...)

Dazhbog, god of the Sun, the one who gives us prosperity and life itself, please hear my humble prayer. May the Summer Solstice bring me abundance and love. Svarozhich , please, may the rays of your Sun shine over me at all times. As i feel safe when i feel your warmth.

Glory to Dazhbog, the one who gives, the son of Svarog.

[mikadostoy]

to start, let me share some of my favorite dragons!

my custom progenitor, Raskolnik

my druid mage, Dragan

my mystical aether, Calina

and my flameforger rep, Svarozhich

[the-antiapocalyptic-man]

What’s your version of Mikhail Arkadin like?

He's a former student of Martin Stein who helped developed the original Firestorm Matrix, specifically the one Ronnie bonded to and that eventually corrupted into Deathstorm. Miki's outlook on metahuman powers were more influence by mysticism than the purely scientific Stein, drawing from legends of Pan-Slavic Fire Gods like Svarog and Dazhbog, as well as Svarog's "son" Svarozhich, a fire elemental that Miki directly communed with and drew power from as Pozhar.

Martin didn't believe in divinity as such, but still used the relationship between gods and adherents as a model for the Firestorm Matrix as a way for living beings to tap directly into the primordial generative forces of the universe. As Miki would say, Martin had invented a shortcut to "becoming Angels" that anyone could use, though as Firestorm proliferation exploded into Firehawks, Brimstones, Atomic Skulls, Double X's, Volcana and Deathstorm, he began to look at it more as "becoming Dragons" particular as groups like the 2000 Committee and the Thorul Society began to corrupt the purity of their work.

He took the loss of Martin to Deathstorm's control incredibly hard, agreeing to take command of both the People's Heroes and the Red Shadows (Russia's Task Force X, maintaining its Soviet Era designation) purely as tools against the horrors of the universe-consuming power he had helped create.

His niece Serafina is also a metahuman under the name "Firebird" though her natural powerset is psionic in nature. Embedding her with a Firestorm Protocol (likely a Firehawk) has entered the conversation, but Pozhar's been talking to gods and the Great Dazhbog may have his own plans for the Red Sky Days to come...

[russianfolklore]

Svarog by Boris Olshansky.

Svarog (Old East Slavic: Сваро́гъ; Russian: Сварог) is a Slavic god with unclear functions, but most often interpreted as a sky god or a god of fire and smithing. He appears in only one source, which is problematic because of the unclear circumstances of its origin. His name can mean "wrangler" or be related to "heaven". Father of Svarozhich.

[leebird-simmer]

Russian Fairy Tales Test Prep: Pagan Deities

The best known roster of pagan deities is that of the six whose statues Prince Vladimir erected upon assuming sole rule of Kiev. According to the Primary Chronicle for the year 980, he “placed idols on a hill, outside the palace yard, a wooden Perun with a silver head and a golden mustache, and Khors and Dazhbog and Stribog and Simargl and Mokosh.” Missing from this list is Volos/Veles, the god of cattle (skotnii bog) and commerce, whose veneration in ancient Rus’ is widely attested, and by whose name (along with that of Perun) ancient Russians ratified oaths.

A. Perun/Bog

1. equivalent to: Lithuanian Perkunas, Latvian Perkons, Albanian Perendi, Roman Jupiter, Greek Zeus, Hittite Teshub, Norse Thor/Donar, Celtic Taranis.  2. primary sources: Nestor’s Chronicle, mid-6th century Procopius, 10th-century Varangian treaties 3. primary story: a creation myth, in which he battles Veles, the Slavic god of the underworld, for the protection of his wife (Mokosh, goddess of summer) and the freedom of atmospheric water, as well as for the control of the universe. 4. dvoeverie: After Christianization in the 11th century CE, Perun's cult became associated with St. Elias (Elijah), also known as the Holy Prophet Ilie (or Ilija Muromets or Ilja Gromovik), who is said to have ridden madly with a chariot of fire across the sky, and punished his enemies with lightning bolts.

In Slavic mythology: Perun was the supreme god of the pre-Christian Slavic pantheon, although there is evidence that he supplanted Svarog (the god of the sun) as the leader at some point in history. Perun was a pagan warrior of heaven and patron protector of warriors. As the liberator of atmospheric water (through his creation tale battle with the dragon Veles), he was worshipped as a god of agriculture, and bulls and a few humans were sacrificed to him. In 988, the leader of the Kievan Rus' Vladimir I pulled down Perun's statue near Kyiv (Ukraine) and it was cast into the waters of the Dneiper River. As recently as 1950, people would cast gold coins in the Dneiper to honor Perun.

Appearance & Reputation: Perun is portrayed as a vigorous, red-bearded man with an imposing stature, with silver hair and a golden mustache. He carries a hammer, a war ax, and/or a bow with which he shoots bolts of lightning. He is associated with oxen and represented by a sacred tree—a mighty oak. He is sometimes illustrated as riding through the sky in a chariot drawn by a goat. In illustrations of his primary myth, he is sometimes pictured as an eagle sitting in the top branches of the tree, with his enemy and battle rival Veles the dragon curled around its roots.

Perun is associated with Thursday—the Slavic word for Thursday "Perendan" means "Perun's Day"—and his festival date was June 21.

Reports: The earliest reference to Perun is in the works of the Byzantine scholar Procopius (500–565 CE), who noted that the Slavs worshipped the "Maker of Lightning" as the lord over everything and the god to whom cattle and other victims were sacrificed.

Perun appears in several surviving Varangian (Rus) treaties beginning in 907 CE. In 945, a treaty between the Rus' leader Prince Igor (consort of Princess Olga) and the Byzantine emperor Constantine VII included a reference to Igor's men (the unbaptized ones) laying down their weapons, shields, and gold ornaments and taking an oath at a statue of Perun—the baptized ones worshipped at the nearby church of St. Elias. The Chronicle of Novgorod (compiled 1016–1471) reports that when the Perun shrine in that city was attacked, there was a serious uprising of the people, all suggesting that the myth had some long-term substance.

B. Kors/Xors/Chors

- most frequently mentioned Slavic god, after Perun - dvoeverie: appears in the apocryphal work Sermon and Apocalypse of the Holy Apostles, which mentions Perun and Khors as old men; Khors is said to live in Cyprus. Khors also appears in the apocryphal text Conversation of the Three Saints, a text which combines Slavic + Christian + Bogomil traditions. In it, he is referred to as “an angel of thunder” and it is said that he is Jewish. - his functions are uncertain and there are multiple interpretations of his name.

1. Sun God hypothesis: associated with Dazhbog; in The Tale of Igor’s Campaign, Prince Vseslav, who “came to Tmutarakani before the cocks" and "Khors ran his way", traveled from west to east and thus reached the castle before the cocks crowed, and in this way "overtook" the Sun; his name means “rays.”

2. Moon God hypothesis: Prince Vseslav was called “wolf” and his journey takes place at night when the sun is absent from the sky; his name does mean “rays” but they’re the moon’s rays and not the sun’s rays.

3. Fertility God/Vegetation hypothesis: link between Thracian & early Slavic cultures indicates Kors is more of a Dionysus-type figure, who dies and is risen; like Dionysus, Dazhbog (who Kors is often linked to) has a double nature (Eastern Slavs assign him solar qualities, while Southern Slavs assign him chthonic qualities).

C. Dazhbog

1. equivalent to: Khors (Russian/Iranian), Mithra (Persian), Helios (Greek), Lucifer (Christian) 2. primary sources: John Malalas, The Song of Igor’s Campaign 3. family: Son of Svarog, brother of fire god Svarozhich, husband of Mesyats (the moon), father of the Zoryi and Zvezdy 4. primary myth: He resided in the east, in a land of everlasting summer and plenty, in a palace made of gold. The morning and evening auroras, known collectively as Zorya, were his daughters. In the morning, Zorya opened the palace gates to allow Dazbog to leave the palace and begin his daily journey across the sky; in the evening, Zorya closed the gates after the sun returned in the evening. 5. dvoeverie: There was a belief that each winter he would enter people's homes and gift gold to those who had been good. That belief passed into Christianity, especially in Serbia, and this visitor was called Položajnik. During Christianisation, his cult was exchanged with the cult of Saint Sava, while Dažbog became lame Daba - the most powerful demon in Hell. Reasons why he was demonized are various, possibly because his cult was the strongest in Serbia or because he was considered also as the god of Nav, the Slavic underworld and world of the dead.

In Slavic mythology: Dazbog was the Slavic sun god, a role that is common to many Indo-European people, and there is ample evidence that there was a sun cult in the pre-Christian tribes of central Europe. His name means "day god" or "giving god," to different scholars—"Bog" is generally accepted to mean "god," but Daz means either "day" or "giving."

His totem animal was a wolf, therefore wolves were sacred animals and killing them was considered a great sin. Wolves were considered to be messengers of Dazhbog, while he himself could shift into a white wolf.

According to one myth, Svarog became tired of reigning over the universe and passed on his power to his sons, Dazhbog and Svarogich.

Appearance & Reputation: Dazbog is said to ride across the sky in a golden chariot drawn by fire-breathing horses who are white, gold, silver, or diamonds. In some tales, the horses are beautiful and white with golden wings, and sunlight comes from the solar fire shield Dazbog always carries with him. At night, Dazbog wanders the sky from east to west, crossing the great ocean with a boat pulled by geese, wild ducks, and swans.

In some tales, Dazbog starts out in the morning as a young, strong man but by the evening he is a red-faced, bloated elderly gentleman; he is reborn every morning. He represents fertility, male power, and in "The Song of Igor's Campaign" he is mentioned as the grandfather of the Slavs.

4. Stribog

Very little is known about him, although he was clearly very important to early Slavic peoples. In the epic ”Slovo o polku Igorove “ it is said that the winds, the grandsons of Stribog, blow from the sea. This leads to conclusion that Stribog is imagined as an old person, since he has grandsons. The grandsons were the winds from all directions.

Eagle was the animal consecrated to  Stribog. Plants consecrated to Stribog were hawthorn and oak. When pledges were made, Stribog was often warrantor. Festivities in Stribog’s honor were organized in the summer as well as in the winter. They were probably organized in the summer  in order to invocate winds and rain, while in the winter they were organized in order to appease him. In the period of Christianization Stribog’s characteristics were overtaken by St. Bartholomew and Stevan vetroviti (windy).

5. Simargl/Semargl

- may be equivalent to Simurgh in Persian mythology, who is portrayed similarly (winged lion and/or dog). He can also take human form. - God of physical fire (as opposed to celestial fire; that’s Svarog) - He is said to be the husband of Kupalnica (or Kupalnitsa), goddess of night, from whom he got two children: Kupalo and Kostroma.

Zorya, solar goddesses who are servants or daughters of the deity Dazhbog, keep Simargl chained to the star Polaris in the constellation Ursa Minor. Should he break free and destroy this constellation, it will cause the world to end.

Why would he be worshipped in Rus’, you ask? A couple of possible answers: a. Eastern Slavs borrowed Simargl from Sarmatian-Alanian people and worshiped him. b. Eastern Slavs never worshiped Simargl. Just at that time, a significant number of Kiev residents were of Khazar and Sarmatian-Alanian origin. Vladimir included their deity in the pantheon to get their support.

6. Volos/Veles (also Vlas, Weles Vlasii, St. Blaise, or Blasius)

1. equivalent to: Velinas (Baltic), Varuna (Vedic), Hermes (Greek), Odin (Norse) 2. primary sources: The Tale of Igor’s Campaign, old Russian chronicles 3. primary myth: a creation myth, in which Veles abducts Mokosh (the Goddess of Summer and consort of Perun, God of Thunder). Perun and his enemy battle for the universe under a huge oak, Perun's holy tree, similar to both Greek and Norse (Yggdrasil) mythologies. The battle is won by Perun, and afterward, the waters of the world are set free and flowing. 4. dvoeverie: Velia remains a feast of the dead in old Lithuanian, celebrating the border between the world of the living and the world of the dead, with Veles operating as a role of guiding souls to the underworld. The battle between Perun (Ilija Muromets or St. Elias) and Veles (Selevkiy) is found in many different forms, but in later stories, instead of gods, they are complementary figures separated from one another by a furrow plowed by Christ, who converts them. Veles is also likely represented by St. Vlasii, depicted in Russian iconography as surrounded by sheep, cows, and goats.

In Slavic mythology: A second creation myth associated with Veles is the formation of the boundary between the underworld and the human world, a result of a treaty forged between Veles and a shepherd/magician.

In the treaty, the unnamed shepherd pledges to sacrifice his best cow to Veles and keep many prohibitions. Then he divides the human world from the wild underworld led by Veles, which is either a furrow plowed by Veles himself or a groove across the road carved by the shepherd with a knife which the evil powers cannot cross.

Veles is associated with a wide variety of powers and protectors: he is associated with poetry and wisdom, the lord of the waters (oceans, seas, ships, and whirlpools). He is both the hunter and protector of cattle and the lord of the underworld, a reflection of the Indo-European concept of the netherworld as a pasture. He is also related to an ancient Slavic cult of the deceased soul; the ancient Lithuanian term "welis" means "dead" and "welci" means "dead souls."

Appearance & Reputation: Veles is generally portrayed as a bald human man, sometimes with bull horns on his head. In the epic creation battle between Velos and Perun, however, Veles is a serpent or dragon lying in a nest of black wool or on a black fleece beneath the World Tree; some scholars have suggested he was a shape-shifter. In addition to domestic horses, cows, goats, and sheep, Veles is associated with wolves, reptiles, and black birds (ravens and crows). 

Reports: The earliest reference to Veles is in the Rus-Byzantine Treaty of 971, in which the signers must swear by Veles' name. Violators of the treaty are warned of a menacing punishment: they will be killed by their own weapons and become "yellow as gold," which some scholars have interpreted as "cursed with a disease." If so, that would imply a connection to the Vedic god Varuna, also a cattle god who could send diseases to punish miscreants.

7. Mokosh

1. loosely comparable to: Gaia, Hera (Greek), Juno (Roman), Astarte (Semitic) 2. epithets: Goddess Who Spins Wool, Mother Moist Earth, Flax Woman 3. primary sources: Nestor Chronicle (a.k.a. Primary Chronicle), Christian-recorded Slavic tales 4. dvoeverie: With the coming of Christianity into the Slavic countries in the 11th century CE, Mokosh was converted to a saint, St. Paraskeva Pyanitsa (or possibly the Virgin Mary), who is sometimes defined as the personification of the day of Christ's crucifixion, and others a Christian martyr. Described as tall and thin with loose hair, St. Paraskeva Pyanitsa is known as "l'nianisa" (flax woman), connecting her to spinning. She is the patroness of merchants and traders and marriage, and she defends her followers from a range of diseases.

In Slavic mythology:  The origins of Mokosh as mother earth may date to pre-Indo-European times (Cuceteni or Tripolye culture, 6th–5th millennia BCE) when a near-global woman-centered religion is thought to have been in place. Some scholars suggest she may be a version of Finno-Ugric sun goddess Jumala. 

Mokosh, sometimes transliterated as Mokoš and meaning "Friday," is Moist Mother Earth and thus the most important (or sometimes only) goddess in the religion. As a creator, she is said to have been discovered sleeping in a cave by a flowering spring by the spring god Jarilo, with whom she created the fruits of the earth. She is also the protector of spinning, tending sheep, and wool, patron of merchants and fishermen, who protects cattle from plague and people from drought, disease, drowning, and unclean spirits.

Although the Great Goddess has a variety of consorts, both human and animal, in her role as a primary Slavic goddess, Mokosh is the moist earth goddess and is set against (and married to) Perun as the dry sky god. Some Slavic peasants felt it was wrong to spit on the earth or beat it. During the Spring, practitioners considered the earth pregnant: before March 25 ("Lady Day"), they would neither construct a building or a fence, drive a stake into the ground or sow seed. When peasant women gathered herbs they first lay prone and prayed to Mother Earth to bless any medicinal herbs.

Appearance & Reputation: Surviving images of Mokosh are rare—although there were stone monuments to her beginning at least as long ago as the 7th century. A wooden cult figure in a wooded area in the Czech Republic is said to be a figure of her. Historical references say she had a large head and long arms, a reference to her connection with spiders and spinning. Symbols associated with her include spindles and cloth, the rhombus (a nearly global reference to women's genitals for at least 20,000 years), and the Sacred Tree or Pillar.There are many goddesses in the various Indo-European pantheons who reference spiders and spinning. Historian Mary Kilbourne Matossian has pointed out that the Latin word for tissue "textere" means "to weave," and in several derivative languages such as Old French, "tissue" means "something woven." The act of spinning, suggests Matossian, is to create body tissue. The umbilical cord is the thread of life, transmitting moisture from the mother to the infant, twisted and coiled like the thread around a spindle. The final cloth of life is represented by the shroud or "winding sheet," wrapped around a corpse in a spiral, as thread loops around a spindle.

Our brief survey of agrarian holidays indicates that the peasant’s central concern is fertility and that special rites in the cemetery and/or rites involving a symbolic death & resurrection are a major component in these celebrations.

Belief in the absolute sanctity of “Mother Damp Earth” (Mat’syra zemlia) has been central to folk belief throughout the centuries. In remote areas, old people observed a ritual of asking the earth’s forgiveness prior to death into the 20th century. A number of scholars have maintained that peasants transferred attributes of earth worship to their particular veneration of Mary as “Mother of God.”

Fedotov: “At every step in studying Russian popular religion, one meets the constant longing for a great divine female power, be it embodied in the image of Mary or someone else. Is it too daring to hypothesize, on the basis of this religious propensity, the scattered elements of the cult of a Great Goddess who once...reigned upon the immense Russian plains?”

[space-lynn]

Here’s a fic snippet that I want to share. I wrote this sleep deprived, so excuse any mistakes I’ve made (I can’t be bothered to reread and revise.) Based off of a writing prompt I saw. Enjoy!

-----

Marcy hadn’t expected it, after all, there weren’t a lot of cults these days. So when she was gagged, tied and thrown in the back of a white van, brought to the middle of nowhere and tied to a pole surrounded by cult members, it had startled her.

 She wasn’t scared, no. She’s dealt with this before, all she has to do is find out the reason for her kidnapping and it was simple, to summon a god that they worshiped. She had asked for the name, and one of them, kindly and surprisingly, told her.

 “PFFFFT,” Marcy snorted, before it turned to full blown laughter, surprising everyone.

 “HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”

 The cult leader sputtered, “W-Why are you laughing?”

 “You…” the woman said in between giggles, “You’re trying -- *giggle* -- to summon -- *snort* Svarozhich?”

 “Yes,” one of the members replied.

 “Holy shit!” Marcy guffawed. “I can’t believe it! Hahahahaha-- I’m sorry. I just can’t!”

 The leader scowled, “He’s real! And we won’t let a mere mortal like you taint his name!”

 “Oh, please,” Marcy shot back, “I know he’s real. And I’m not just a mere mortal. You could go ahead and summon him now, I’d be happy to be a *sacrifice* to him.”

 They all stared at her like she’s lost her marbles.

 She hasn’t, mind you.

 “Th-That’s it?” another member asked. “You’re not going to try and escape?”

 “Oh, no. No, no, no,” Marcy said, putting on her innocent face. “I want to see where this goes.”

 “Uh…”

 “Wha--”

 Everyone stared at one another, before one called out, “Just do it, sir!”

 Their leader grumbled, lifting a knife.

 Before it could touch Marcy, the pole she was tied to was set ablaze, along with herself. But the flames didn’t hurt her, they protected her. The cult leader and anyone else who was near her stepped back at the heat and in fear.

 “WHO DARES HARM MY IMMORTAL MOONLIGHT?” a voice boomed.

 “He did,” a follower said, pointing at their boss.

 “Hey!”

 “WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE SACRIFICING INNOCENT LIVES?”

 “I-I…” the leader trembled.

 “DO YOU THINK I ENJOY BLOOD BEING SPILLED UPON MY NAME? I AM THE GOD OF THE SUN, OF FIRE AND OF THE HEART! *NOT* THE GOD OF WAR OR DEATH OR BLOODSHED!”

 The flames blazed higher into the sky, taking the form of a huge fiery dragon.

 “LEAVE AND NEVER DO THIS AGAIN!” the god roared. “BEFORE I TURN YOU ALL INTO ASHES.”

 The cult members shouted “Yes!” and left, running away.

 The flames died down, and out of it was Marcy, no longer restrained, and a short-haired blond dressed in a tunic and pants.

 “Mar Mar…” the blond started, a hint of warning in his voice.

 “Hey Sashimi,” the woman purred.

 “You know you could have summoned me earlier right? Are you hurt?” he asked his immortal wife. “Did you honestly have to wait until they almost sliced you to summon me?

 “The look on their faces was worth the trouble,” Marcy smirked, getting closer to her husband. “Not every human gets to marry a god. And not everyone knows that I’m married to one.”

 Sasha growled, but grinned down at his lover and pulled her closer by the waist, “You’re lucky I love you, Moonlight.”

 “I sure am,” the human replied, sharing a passionate kiss with her lover.

-----

Hope y’all enjoyed reading this! Have a good morning, afternoon or evening! ‘Til next time!! :3

[nanshe-of-nina]

Wizarding Russian Empire and USSR || Valery Vsevolodovich Medvednikov (22 April 1890 – 20 March 1940)

Early Life Medvednikov's mother was a madam, innkeeper, fence, witch, and con artist, Frina Vsevolodovna Medvednikova, who was an ethnic Russian who lived in Lithuania. His biological father was a Lithuanian zemlyanin named Vilhelmas Vilkas, with him his mother had a one night stand, though he used the patronymic of his maternal grandfather. When he was four, his mother became involved with the Latvian squib, Pērkons Udritis, who served as his father figure, even though Udritis and Frina never actually married. Family lore held that one of his great-great-grandfather had angered a Hag who put on a curse on the family that would cause them to never live past the age of 50.

He had no formal education, as his family could not afford Koldovstortez’s fees and instead found menial work as a teenager as a tailor and in a cauldron factory. He only joined the BK in the spring of 1917. During the Civil War, he worked as a clerk in the Auror’s office, but moved into other work after the end of the war. His superior in the 1920s was Yakov Naumovich Yablochkov (brother of the Zhnets, Yeva Naumovna Yablochkova), who regarded Medvednikov as kind-hearted, a hard worker, and an ideal comrade.

During this period, he became drinking buddies with Svarozhich Svarogovich Kuznetsov and Vera Sergeyevna Podgornova after apparently them both at a gay bar. He had been married to Maria Aleksandrovna Shveikina since 1917, but the marriage was one of convenience. He divorced her in 1929 after meeting journalist, Srebrenka Veselinovna Sorokina, who was from a wealthy Pureblood Jewish family from Odessa, and happened to be the cousin of Zlata Bogdanovna Sorokina and the former sister-in-law of Olivera Lazarevna Kargina. They had no children of their own, but they adopted Srebrenka's two orphaned sororal nieces, Milica and Anastasia. Their home was also shared with Medvednikov’s adult niece and nephews, Olimpiya, Vyacheslav, Vladimir, and Vsevolod.

Medvednikov first came to Afanasiy Kostov’s attention around 1930, likely after they were introduced by Miroslava Vseslavevna Volkova. Things shifted abruptly, however, in the spring of 1934 with the deaths of both Marena Volosovna Kulchytskaya and Dariy Kserksovich Mironov. Though not a member of the Zhnetsy, Medvednikov became one of the lead investigators into the matter and seems to have fully believed that both were the result of a conspiracy by followers of the former Vedma of Ledenets, Zaria Kresnikovna Krasavkina. He repeatedly clashed with the head of the Zhnetsy, Lyudmila Vyacheslavna Vishnevskaya, who was far more skeptical of the idea of a mass conspiracy.

To satiate his claims of a mass conspiracy, she and Milica Bogdanovna Malinina decided in the summer of 1936 to link their own former agent, Alisa Genrikhovna Zakite, with a suppressed Lutsenkoist dissident group centered around Germes Afinodorovich Golubtsov. Despite their attempts to limit it, the followers of Krasavkina and Yefrem Iosifovich Levandovsky also got added to this supposed terrorist group, as did Oksana Lutsenko and three of her four sons. Despite this, Vishnevskaya was sacked shortly after this show trial anyway.

Zhnetsy Chief There were several reasons why Kostov appointed Medvednikov as the new Zhnetsy head, but chief among them was that he regarded Medvednikov as his protegee. Another reason was that Kostov thought a man might be able to better control the still-heavily female dominated Zhnetsy, whose organization by the 1930s, was a hotbed intrigue and backstabbing on account of the growing infirmity of Kulchytskaya and Devana Zalischenko and the general unpopularity and perceived incompetence of their de-facto leader, Vishnevskaya. His main partners in his reform of the Zhnetsy were the North Caucasus group, once led by Alsu Andreyevna Zherebtsova. He had first met Zherebtsova and her then first deputy, Melanippa Ippolitovna Chernyshova, in the mid-1920s and had remained on good terms with them since them.

A stranger to the Zhnetsy, Medvednikov had little respect for tendency toward its insular protectiveness and happily ordered the arrests of hundreds of current former and members, as well as masses of other members of the BK and ordinary people. He underwent a sudden personality charge in this period, becoming known as cruel, sadistic, brutal, and paranoid. Among his most notorious deeds are keeping a wig from the hair of the half-veela Krasavkina in his office and personally assisting in the torture Vishnevskaya; her partner, Mircha Perunovich Zelenko; and the Auror, Merkuriy Ilyich Znamenshchikov. He also gloried in having ordered the arrests of former members of the SK, Sidabraite, Korovchenko, Ledus, Lisitsyna, and Mrozhek, and the three remaining so-called Black Crones, Kalnietyte, Krukovskaya, and Liepa, and having the latter three executed together. This period of time is now known as the Great Harvest, after a poem composed by Kalliopa Zinovyevna Chernenko.

Disgrace The fall of Medvednikov and his group is often reckoned to have began in the spring of 1938. Zherebtsova was terminated from her position as the Vedma of the North Caucasus and transferred to Lysaya Gora. By this point, Medvednikov was exhausted and sinking deeper in alcoholism and what order there is Nawia was being imposed by Zherebstova and Chernyshova, both of whom perceived that they were losing their grip on power and Kostov’s favor and blamed Medvednikov personally for it. The defections of his personal friend, Grigori Lukyanovich Alatyrtsev, and his wife’s cousin, Zlata Sorokina, only added to the growing suspicions around him. What was more, most of the other members of the Sovet Koldunov were growing very tired of the ongoing purge and wanting to end it. In particular, Medvednikov gained the ire of both the powerful Svarog Zhelezov and Miroslava Volkova by threatening them with arrest. Both were not amused and intrigued to crush him like a bug, which they found easy to do, as they were both more intelligent and subtle than he. He also made another powerful and intelligent enemy by building a case against the Vedma of the Transcaucasus, Nane Aslanyan. Instead of following his superior’s orders, the head of the Transcaucasian Zhnetsy, Sanasar Barsamian, tipped off his long-time patroness, who immediately traveled to Lysaya Gora to plead her case with Kostov himself.

At the suggestion of Volkova, Kostov transferred Chernyshova to the Commissariat of Magical Sports and Games and transferred Nane Aslanyan from the South Caucasus to take her place as Deputy. After arriving in Lysaya Gora with most of her people (known as the Caucasian Mafia), Aslanyan began ordering arrests of Medvednikov’s people. In response, Melinoye Zinovyevna Saparenko attempted to flee, Syvne Morozkovna Snegova committed suicide, and Olivera Kargina attempted suicide by cutting her own throat. Sorokina and his niece, Olimpiya, both killed themselves on 1 December 1938, one day after he was officially replaced as the head of the Zhnetsy, and sent him an owl advising him to the do the same. He, however, ignored this advice and turned to drink for comfort.

Medvednikov was himself arrested 30 April 1939, on the same day as Chernyshova. He was at first defiant, but instead chose to confess when confronted with the notorious “breakers”, Boris Pytorovich Vovchenko and Natalia Valeryevna Voronova. His confession, stored in the Zhnetsy’s archives, was bitter and angry and instead blamed his former associates for everything that happened and complained about how they were probably mostly traitors and spies all along. He, Zherebstova, and Chernyshova were all excused of having framed and executed innocent people (which was very much true) and plotting to get Chernyshova’s brother-in-law, Gavril Saulovich Leichenberg to assassinate Kostov and most of the SK (which was not). He was executed 20 March 1940, though this was not publicly announced. He was 49-years-old.

His three nephews were all executed after his death, as was his older stepsister, Mara Perunovna Vydrina, while his young stepsister, Diana, was arrested and sent to Vyraj. His mother and half-sisters were already deceased, but the Sorokin and Kargin families were decimated, though Srebrenka’s nieces, age 14 and 12, were both sent to an orphanage. As adults in the 1960s, they both lobbied for their adopted father/uncle's rehabilitation, but were denied.

[augustheart]

pre-svarozhich ostrander ronnie is my favorite. long haired college dropout who actively tried to fistfight the united states government in service of the people. top ten guys of all time

[anaklusmoshq]

A mitologia eslava pode abranger as religiões dos primeiros poloneses, russos, morávios, servos, masuri e silésia. Com efeito, esse folclore se baseia na ideia de princípios duais. Ou seja, há uma raça de divindades boas e outra de divindades más.

São conhecidos poucos registros escritos tratando dos Eslavos dos séculos antes da cristianização. Entre outras fontes é comum se apelar para o controverso Livro de Veles, que é um texto sagrado dessa religião. O Saxo Grammaticus é outra fonte de autenticidade disputada.

O Chronicon Slavorum por Helmold é em geral aceito como uma fonte genuína, tratando de cultura Eslava do primeiro milênio depois de Cristo, mas dele só se tem poucos fragmentos. Apesar disso, nos escapa quem detinha o poder sacerdotal na religião eslava, ou mesmo a cosmologia desse povo.

Perun

Perun é, sem dúvida, o deus supremo do Panteão eslavo. Adorado em grandes extensões da Europa eslava e até além (como Perkunas) ele também aparece na mitologia báltica. Perun é o senhor reinante dos céus e o deus do relâmpago e do trovão. Como um deus do trovão, ele foi comparado a Zeus na mitologia grega ou Thor na mitologia nórdica. Ele é o deus do trovão e do relâmpago . Entre seus símbolos estão a flor da íris, o machado e o carvalho

Veles

É um dos principais deuses da mitologia eslava, deusa da terra e da água, associado ao gado, ao comércio, ao submundo, a riqueza e a magia. É também o deus dos druidas, dos segredos e o guardião da passagem do mundo de Tav, onde vivemos para Prav, ou o superior mundo dos espíritos e Nav, o mundo inferior.

Triglav

É uma antiga divindade guerrira. É um dos deuses mais misteriosos dentro do panteão eslavo. No seu culto, figurava um cavalo sagrado que servia para oráculos. Antes de se empreender uma expedição colocavam-se sobre o solo nove lanças afastadas uma da outra; em seguida, o sacerdote segurava a rédea do animal, e o fazia percorrer, por três vezes, nos dois sentidos, o espaço dentro do qual elas se achavam; se tocava em alguma, era um mau presságio; e a expedição devia ser cancelada; em caso contrário, a mesma teria êxito.

Stribog

É o deus do ar e dos ventos da mitologia eslava. Em algumas áreas é considerado o deus da riqueza e, segundo lendas, elas eram espalhadas conforme seus ventos sopravam. Também é considerado o deus do inveno, já que as rajadas de vento carregavam a neve e esfriavam a terra.

Svarog

É geralmente comparado ao deus ferreiro dos gregos. No entanto, é muito antigo e representa que era uma divindade do panteão protoeslavo, Svar significa “brilhante, claro” e o sufixo rog indica lugar, de tal maneira que Svarog significa simplesmente “céu claro”, possivelmente era o Deus do céu panteão. Svarog também pode significar um lugar brilhante e feroz. Este Deus tinha dois filhos, Svarozhich que representava o fogo na terra e Dazhbog que representava o fogo do céu, acredita-se que Svarog teria forjado o sol e deu ao seu filho Dazhbog para leva-lo através do céu.

Makosh

Makosh, ou Mokosh, é uma das principais divindades da mitologia eslava. Seu nome em tradução livre significa ‘Mãe Fortuna’, onde “ma” seria uma parte de “mãe” e “kosh” é uma antiga palavra eslava para destino, boa sorte ou fortuna.  Em suma, ela zela pelas mulheres. Seu domínio é a fertilidade, a colheita, a magia e as riquezas da casa. Ademais, ela observa o tear do destino. Nesse trabalho, ela é auxiliada por Dolya e Nedolya. Diz-se que são irmãs mais novas de Makosh ou suas ajudantes.

Morana

Também conhecida como Marzanna, Mara e Marana é a deusa do pesadelos, escuridão, inverno e morte. As lendas dizem que ela e seus asseclas tentam destruir o Sol todas as noites, mas sempre recuam com medo de sua majestade e beleza. Seu reino é inverno e morte. Além disso, seus símbolos incluem crânios rachados, a lua negra e uma foice com a qual ela corta os fios da vida. Ela é filha de Lada, irmã de Giva e Lelya, e esposa de Koshei.

Lada

Lada é a mãe de Lelya, Lel e Morana e esposa de Svarog. Ela é a deusa da harmonia, da alegria, da juventude, da felicidade em família, do amor e da beleza. Seu nome é comumente citado em casamentos eslavos e bálticos, e em diversas canções populares. .Ela também zela pela continuação da vida de todas as coisas vivas. O relacionamento de Lada e Lelya é visto como o relacionamento mãe-filha ideal.

[keycomicbooks]

Firestorm #85 (1989) Tom Grindberg Art / John Ostrander Story / 1st Appearance of Firestorm (Raymond/Arkadin/Svarozhich), John Constantine Cameo

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[temple-of-perunika]

PRAYER TO DAJBOG / DAZHBOG

Dajbog, lord of the shiny, golden Sun. The one who gives, and gives, the one who loves us. Svarozhich, son of Svarog, god of blacksmithing, please keep shining at us, grant us prosperity and abundance. Be with us when we need you the most, even if we don't think we need you. As you are the brightest star in the Sky, the warmest flame, and the sharpest and hottest sword of Svarog.

Glory to Dajbog.

[furordinaricvs]

Temple of Svarozhich's fire in Krasotinka, Kaluga, Russia.

[arjuna-vallabha]

Fire ritual at the Temple of Svarozhich in Krasotinka, Russia