The cult of the elements was closely related to the cult of fertility in the Slavs. That is why they believed that the wind was the cause of pregnancies, water stimulated women to give birth, and fire was the bridegroom of the ever-moist Mother Earth ...
Water
Water is one of the main elements to which magical properties were always attributed, which was also characteristic of the ancient Slavs. It was supposed to have:the ability to heal, bring good, purify and give strength.
It is known about shared baths, sex in water, divination with a bucket of water, births in water (in a bathtub), etc. People believed that the water element would protect them from bad luck. If, for example, there were exhausting heat and drought that threatened to destroy crops, people would organize orgies by the river to awaken nature and remind her of the need for irrigation and rain. It was believed that, since water in some way fertilizes the soil by stimulating it to give birth, it may have a similar effect on women.
It was a custom (...) that in the event of a drought, a young girl was poured with water so that, just as the water falls on her young body, the rain falls on the young spring soil. There were also other rites related to the use of holy water, such as fortune-telling from a bucket of water, which was in the nature of a judgment on the accused of committing some offenses.
In Slavic mythology, there is also a description of the creation of the human world (Earth) from water - the original ocean.
Żerca (callchw) knew how to "read water" and explained her sentences. What's more, his task was also to prepare the so-called living water, suitable for washing and drinking. Water was a symbol of life and death. Therefore, numerous sacrifices were made to the water deities.
In Slavic mythology, there is also a description of the creation of the human world (Earth) from water - the original ocean. In the Ruthenian application, Perun and Weles were to create the world. Perun swam on the boat, and Weles dived into the water and pulled out a handful of sand from which Perun made the Earth. Behind the Great Water, there was also supposed to be Nawia, the land of the dead - the afterlife. It was not possible to extinguish the fire with water, only with milk or sand. In the Polabian Slavs there was also a fortune-telling lake, which changed its color to bloody in the event of an impending misfortune.
Fire
It was believed that fire is a manifestation of god and his gift, thanks to which you can light a fire to heat a house, bake meat, burn a forest for cultivation or illuminate darkness attracting evil powers. Moreover, the divine fire in the form of lightning was supposed to fertilize the earth in the spring to give birth.
God of thunder, not only in the Slavs, was therefore perceived at the same time as the giver of life and the bridegroom of the eternally moist Mother Earth . The heat of fire is still associated with passion and desire to this day. There is talk of the flames of love, body heat, hot feelings, fiery temperament or sparkles in the eyes.
The game of the elements of fire and water is an inseparable element of the midsummer rituals (kupalnocki, sobótek) and other popular Slavic holidays and rituals. Fire, of course, symbolizes a male deity and thus is associated with men, while water is a female element, associated with femininity (moisture as a sign of excitement, amniotic fluid, mother's milk, etc.).
As we know, the pagan Slavs burned their dead in the pyres, believing that thanks to this they freed the soul from the body so that it could go to the afterlife. Unburned corpses were to be a prison for the tormented souls who persecuted people demanding a proper burial in the form of cremation. Hence the folk beliefs in numerous demons, vampires and vampires who were afraid of fire, and in later times it was also recognized that such scarecrows are also afraid of holy water.
The text is a fragment of Tomasz Kosiński's "Erotic Life of Slavs", which has just been released by the Bellona publishing house. Buy now "
Night lights lured the incautious to swamps or backwoods, and fire dragons were to coexist with women, thus breeding junaks (heroes). Fire, like water, had a cleansing power. Therefore, during many feasts and rituals, people jumped over it, led cattle through the fire, smoked cottages or burned all unclean objects in it.
At least four times a year on the days of solstices and equinoxes, the so-called living fire. This was done in a special way by rubbing two pieces of wood. At that time, the old fire was extinguished in all houses and buildings, and a new one was spread from the main fire of the settlement. The same was done in the case of the plague and major misfortunes haunting the community.
Therefore, fire was also a symbol of rebirth, and the Slavic żarptak, according to legends, was reborn from the ashes like a phoenix . In earlier times, the main fire in the settlement or at the temple was kept on guard so that it would not go out, which is an analogous custom known from Zoroastrianism and other cults. Failure to keep an eye on the fire was even punishable by death.
Wind
The wind symbolized volatility. It was treated as a swarm of souls, a wild chase. Flying creatures, such as birds, were to be soul carriers and symbols of rebirth when they returned in the spring. Therefore, the patron of the wind was Strzybóg, that is, the one who is the link between the three worlds.
In erotic symbolism, flying was associated with infidelity, hence the sayings "jump from flower to flower" or the legend of a kite, a demon lover who is constantly looking for new pleasures, and strigoi, which is to tease mainly adulterers.
The patron of the wind was Strzybóg, the one who is the link between the three worlds.
As I mentioned, at one time some Slavic peoples even believed that it was the wind that carried new souls and that it was the cause of pregnancy . There is no point in mocking this, because in Christians such a role was assigned here and there to rain, flowers, birds or other undefined phenomena.
The cult of the elements, as we can see, was closely related to the cult of fertility. Belief in deities ensuring fertility and prosperity and ruling over the elements, considered divine powers, was the basis of Slavic worship in pagan times. The gods of the wind were offered primarily by sailors with requests for good weather during the boat trip. Apart from Strzybog, the sea conditions were to be the responsibility of Tryglaw, known from Pomerania and Połaby, and as a Trojan also in Ruthenia and the south of the Slavic region.
Source:
The text is a fragment of Tomasz Kosiński's "Erotic Life of the Slavs", which has just been released by the Bellona publishing house.