How Slavic Mythology Was Demonised, Repressed and Eventually — Almost Forgotten
And we have Christianity to largely thank for that
I used to jump over fire when I was younger.
During the early summer months, my family and I would have a bonfire in a forest or next to a river, eat roasted potatoes, and sing and dance around the fire, with some of us — mostly kids — even running or jumping over it.
I loved it.
And no, I never got my feet burned.
But until relatively recently, I didn’t realise that this practice is rooted in centuries-old Slavic pagan beliefs. And actually, quite a few of our customs are.
Yet we were never taught about any of that in school. Nothing about early Slavic tribes. Nothing about ancient religious rituals and traditions. And nothing about Slavic mythology.
Yup, Slavic mythology.
You’ve probably heard of Greek, Roman, Norse or Anglo-Saxon mythologies, but chances are not Slavic.
What happened to it? And why even modern-day Slavs are still reluctant to acknowledge that it ever existed?
