Title of the article:

HORSE-SUN IN SLAVIC PAGAN MYTHOLOGY

Author(s):

Tatyana P. Morozova

Information about the author/authors

Tatyana P. Morozova — PhD in Geology and Mineralogy, Associate Professor, Moscow Polytechnic University, Bolshaya Semenovskaya St. 38, 107023 Moscow, Russia. E-mail: olivin99@mail.ru

Section

Theory and history of culture

Year

2019

Volume

Vol. 52

Pages

pp. 53–64

Received

August 08, 2018

Date of publication

June 28, 2019

Index UDK

008

Index BBK

71.1+82.3

Abstract

The purpose of the paper is to explore mythological views of the pagan Slavs on the solar nature of the horse and its connection with the world of the dead. These perceptions are translated into traditions of calendar Slavic holidays, funeral and wedding ceremonies, as well as fairy tales. Pagan Slavs viewed the Sun as the divine horse, running across the sky during the day, and in the evening descending into the underworld. Therefore, horses were perceived as guides to the afterlife and considered fortunetellers and sacrificial animals. At various stages of its daily activity, the horse-sun changes its color. In the morning it is white, in the afternoon it is red (red), in the evening it is gray (dark gray). White and red colors were considered sacral and enchanting. The sun acted as the source of life, destroying and scaring away dark forces of evil, cold and death. That`s why we meet solar protective charms on the roofs of houses in the form of horse heads` images. То that end Slavs also used to bury horse skulls under buildings constructed and hang on fences. For personal protection from a negative impact they used little horses-pendants, which are found in large numbers in sites of Slavic burials. Solar nature of the horse is furthermore confirmed due to its involvement into the wedding and calendar rites at the solstice period. Under the influence of Christianity true sacral meaning of the rites began to pass into oblivion, therefore information about Slavic pagan mythology is very scarce. For a deeper understanding the author attempts to compare the well-known Slavic pagan solar concepts with well-studied religious solar perceptions of the ancient Egyptian civilization, taking into account repeated mythological stories. In the same way according to the perceptions of the ancient Egyptians, the Sun god Ra sailed along the heavenly Nile in a boat, collecting souls of the dead. In the evening, his boat descended into the underworld, through which the heavenly Nile also flowed, leaving there all collected souls. Basing on the current comparison, the study allows for creating a more detailed, voluminous and complete picture of Slavic mythology and giving a new semantic explanation to certain calendar and burial rites of Slavic pagans.

Keywords

Horse, sun, calendar holidays, underworld, color.

References

1 Badzh E. A. U. Egipetskaia kniga mertvykh [Egyptian book of the dead]. St. Petersburg, Azbuka-klassika Publ., 2008. 528 p. (In Russian)

2 Ganskaia O. A, Gratsianskaia N. N., Tokarev S. A. Zapadnye slaviane [Western Slavs]. Kalendarnye obychai i obriady v stranakh zarubezhnoi Evropy, XIX – nachale XX vv.: v 4 t. [Calendar customs and rites in the countries of foreign Europe, 19^th – early 20^th centuries: in 4 vols.] Moscow, Nauka Publ., 1973, vol. 1: Zimnie prazdniki [Winter holidays], pp. 204–235. (In Russian)

3 Gromova V. I. Istoriia loshadei (roda Equus) v Starom Svete [History of horses (genus Equus) in the Old World]. Trudy PIN AN SSSR [Works PIN of the Academy of sciences of the USSR]. Moscow, Izdatel'stvo AN SSSR Publ., 1949, vol. 17, ed. 1, pp. 70–80. (In Russian)

4 Gul'ts Iu. I. Iazycheskaia misteriia slavian. Posviashchenie svetlym bogam. Ocherki [The mystery of the pagan Slavs. Dedication to the light gods. Essays]. Voronezh, Reka Vremeni Publ., 2005. 126 p. (In Russian)

5 Derzhavin N. S. Slaviane v drevnosti. Kul'turno-istoricheskii ocherk [Slavs in ancient times. Cultural and historical essay]. Moscow, Izdatel'stvo AN SSSR: 16-ia tipografiia tresta “Poligrafkniga” Publ., 1946. 215 p. (In Russian)

6 Dintses L. A. Russkaia glinianaia igrushka. Proiskhozhdenie, put' istoricheskogo razvitiia [Russian clay toy. Origins, the path of historical development]. Moscow, Leningrad, Izdatel'sto AN SSSR Publ., 1936. 109 p. (In Russian)

7 Kirkor A. K. Sledy iazychestva v prazdnestvakh, obriadakh i pesniakh [Traces of paganism in festivals, rites and songs]. Zhivopisnaia Rossiia [Picturesque Russia]. Moscow, Tovarishchestvo M. O. Vol'f Publ., 1882, vol. 3, pp. 249–276. (In Russian)

8 Korinfskii A. A. Narodnaia Rus'. Kruglyi god skazanii, poverii, obychaev i poslovits russkogo naroda [Vernacular Rus`. All the year of legends, beliefs, customs and proverbs of the Russian people]. Moscow, Moskovskii rabochii Publ., 1995. 560 p. (In Russian)

9 Kuz'mina E. E. Rasprostranenie konevodstva i kul'ta konia u iranoiazychnykh plemen Srednei Azii i drugikh narodov starogo Sveta [The spread of horse-breeding and the cult of the horse among the Persian tribes of Central Asia and other peoples of the Old World]. Sredniaia Aziia v drevnosti i srednevekov'e [Central Asia in Antiquity and the Middle ages]. Moscow, Nauka Publ., 1977, pp. 28–52. (In Russian)

10 Lapis I. A. Novye dannye o giksosskom vladychestve v Egipte [New data on the Hyksos rule in Egypt]. VDI, 1958, no 3, pp. 97–106. (In Russian)

11 Liubimov L. D. Iskusstvo Drevnei Rusi [The Art of the Ancient Rus`]. Moscow, AST Publ., 2004. 256 p. (In Russian)

12 Makovetskii I. V. Arkhitektura russkogo narodnogo zhilishcha. Sever i Verkhnee Povolzh'e [The architecture of the folk Russian home. North and Upper Volga region]. Moscow, Izdatel'stvo AN SSSR Publ., 1962. 338 p. (In Russian)

13 Mironov V. G. Iazycheskie zhertvoprinosheniia v Novgorode [Pagan sacrifices in Novgorod]. Sovetskaia arkheologiia, 1967, no 1, pp. 222–224. (In Russian)

14 Miuller M. Egipetskaia mifologiia [Egyptian mythology]. Moscow, Tsentropoligraf, 2007. 335 p. (In Russian)

15 Nosova G. A. Traditsionnye obriady russkikh (krestiny, pokhorony, pominki) [Traditional Russian rites (christening, funeral, wake) ]. Moscow, Izdatel'stvo IEA RAN im. N. N. Miklukho-Maklaia Publ., 1999. 231 p. (In Russian)

16 Rak I. V. Mify Drevnego Egipta [The Myths of the Ancient Egypt]. Ekaterinburg, U-Faktoriia Publ., 2007. 400 p. (In Russian)

17 Rybakov B. A. Remeslo drevnei Rusi [Crafts of the ancient Rus`]. Moscow, Izdatel'stvo AN SSSR Publ., 1948. 792 p. (In Russian)

18 Sedov V. V. Plemena vostochnykh slavian, balty i esty [Tribes of the Eastern Slavs, Balts and Estonians]. Slaviane i skandinavy [Slavs and Scandinavians]. Moscow, Progress Publ., 1986, pp. 175–189. (In Russian)

19 Slavianskie drevnosti. Entsiklopedicheskii slovar' [Slavic antiquities. Encyclopaedic dictionary]. Moscow, Mezhdunarodnye otnosheniia Publ., 1999, vol. 2, p. 697. (In Russian)

20 Sreznevskii I. I. Obozhestvlenie Solntsa u drevnikh slavian [Deification of the Sun among the ancient Slavs]. Zhurnal Ministerstva narodnogo prosveshcheniia, 1846, no 7, pp. 36–60. (In Russian)

21 Tul'tseva. L. A. Kalendarnye prazdniki i obriady (po materialam XІX–XX veka) [Calendar festivals and rites (according to the materials of the 19^th–20^th century) ]. Russkie: narodnaia kul'tura (istoriia i sovremennost') [Russian: popular culture (history and modernity) ]. Moscow, Izdatel'stvo IEA RAN im. N. N. Miklukho-Maklaia Publ., 2000, vol. 4, pp. 128–205. (In Russian)

22 Uspenskaia A. V. Nagrudnye i poiasnye priveski [Breast and waist pendants]. Ocherki po istorii russkoi derevni X–XIII vv. [Essays on the history of the Russian village of the 10^th–13^th cs.] Moscow, Sovetskaia Rossiia Publ., 1967, pp. 88–112. (In Russian)

23 Famitsyn A. S. Bozhestva drevnikh slavian [The deities of the ancient Slavs]. St. Petersburg, Aleteiia Publ., 1995. 363 p. (In Russian)

24 Fursova E. F. Kalendarnye obychai i obriady vostochnoslavianskikh narodov v Priob'e, Barabe i Kulunde: mezhkul'turnye vzaimodeistviia i transformatsiia pervoi treti XX v.) [Calendar customs and rites of the East Slavic peoples in the Ob` region, Barab and Kulunda: intercultural interactions and transformation of the first third of the 20^th century): PhD thesis, summary]. Novosibirsk, 2004. 378 p. (In Russian)

25 Emery W. B. A Preliminary Report on the Excavations. Egypt Explorational Society at Buhen, 1958–59 — “Kush”, Khartoum, 1960, vol. 8, pp. 7–10. (In English)

PDF-file

Download

Illustrations