We don’t know much about pre-Christian Slavs, but we do know one thing about them for sure: they were tough, resilient, pragmatic and resourceful people. Their strength and determination helped them not only to live and thrive in conditions – for us, the people of the XXI century – pretty much unimaginable, but also to create a culture, which, despite active uprooting and persecution by Christians, survived through centuries in the memory and hearts of generations.

Recently the culture of our ancestors has been gradually gaining the regard and recognition it deserves. More and more Slavs find their roots, begin to discover pagan ideas and reject Judeo-Christian dogma and morality. But in the eyes of many the faith of our ancestors still remains closer to Medieval historical reenactment than to the reality of XXI century. Many still worship the old Gods by repeating the actions performed by our ancestors, without realising the meaning and purpose of those actions. It’s a bit like putting on a lab coat to become a doctor. Like wearing a lab coat does not make anyone a doctor, so throwing meat into the holy fire does not make anyone a Rodnover.

What then makes a Rodnover? Can we extract the beliefs held by our ancestors, can we separate them from their historical context? Is it possible to truly practice and follow the faith of pre-Christian Slavs in the XXI century? Will our Gods hear our prayers without the ritual slaughter of oxen or other animals sacrificed in the olden days?

The Gods of the land

Pre-Christian Slavs did not understand the concept of a ritualised, strictly codified religion, typical for Judeo-Christians beliefs. There never have been any scriptures for Rodnovery faith. The Gods of our ancestors were not (and are not) the Gods of the people. They were, are and always will be the Gods of the land. They don’t have the need to control every aspect of their followers’ lives, they don’t demand fasting, maintaining purity of the mind and body, don’t monitor what their followers do in the bedroom and don’t need constant prayers – mostly because they don’t have time for it. The Slavic Gods have their own domains – the weather, the seasons, the fertility of the land etc – which they must tend to, keeping them in order and equilibrium with the other Gods’ domains. The Slavic Gods don’t need prayers to exist. As the Universe – they were, they are and will be, regardless of whether people worship them, or not.

The Slavic Gods’ neutral attitude towards humanity required from our ancestors to develop a polytheistic religion. The Gods, or the higher powers, were not jealous of each other, did not need undivided attention and constant prayers, which are compulsory in Judeo-Christian beliefs. Perun, Svarog, Veles, Mokosh or Morena had their own responsibilities, their own domains, which, in order to be ruled properly, required cooperation rather than fighting. Domains which needed each other to reach their full potential, like the earth needs the sun, the rain and the wind to grow crops.

On the other hand, the neutral attitude towards humanity made the Slavic Gods less accessible. To gain Their attention – ensure good harvest, good weather, health or even advice about the future (during divination rituals) – Slavs needed more than prayers, hymns or fasting. To ask the Gods for Their blessing our ancestors had to sacrifice something, let’s call it, attractive enough to encourage one of the rulers of the sun, the sky, the earth or the winds to temporarily abandon Their real responsibilities and to listen to our prayers - prayers which are completely unimportant from the point of view of a supernatural being.

Besides, let’s not forget, making their “attractive” sacrifice our ancestors had to first decide to which God exactly they wanted to address their prayers – it would after all be extremely stupid to ask Veles for good weather, or Morena for help in childbirth. Our ancestors had to also know when and how to address the chosen God. They could not afford for the valuable sacrifice to go to waste, just because during the ritual Perun or Veles were busy somewhere else or for other reason not able to hear the prayer. The Slavic polytheism required the followers to be precise – in their thoughts, prayers and rituals. Our ancestors could not just – as it has been practiced by Judeo-Christians - fall down on their knees and start thoughtlessly recite the rosary prayers. In their prayers Slavs had to be pragmatic, have realistic expectations and act in a thoughtful way.

The Slavic pragmatism

Slavs made very generous sacrifices – mostly they sacrificed life. The blood of oxen and all other sacrificial animals, and sometimes even the blood of humans was spilled in the name of the old Gods. Apart of the animals also food – for obvious reasons absolutely necessary to live - was sacrificed, as well as mead and beer, both made from edible (so necessary to live) products. Some sacrifices were made during regular celebrations – before sowing seeds (Jare Gody), in the time of growing crops (Kupała) or after the harvest (Harvest). Other rituals were performed as needed – in the time of drought or excessive rains (which could affect the harvest) or before a war. In exceptional circumstances (for example in ill health or a sudden life threatening event) Slavs even dared to bargain with Gods – they promised to make an offering if they get to live through the disease or other dangerous event.

It wasn’t easy or cheap to gain the Gods’ favour. In the olden times, without refrigerators, supermarkets or internet shopping, an ox, pig, or even a chicken were resources necessary to survive winter, drought, flood or any period of scarcity. In Medieval ages a cow was worth more than a simple sword, and a sale of a sheep could provide enough money to hire a mercenary (you can check Medieval prices here). It’s no wonder then that pre-Christian Slavs sought their Gods’ help only in the most important problems. It was much easier (and cheaper) for our ancestors to deal with their problems on their own, without the help of the supernatural. There’s no doubt that this was one of the reasons, why Slavs were such prolific innovators and early adaptors of new technologies. From easy to construct and cheap to run bathhouses, through stirrups, siege weapons, warships, bridges, fortifications, to new agricultural technologies – our ancestors always strove to discover or adapt ways to improve the efficiency and quality of their work. And no wonder they did – after all it’s better to do something yourself, than to kill a cow and hope that Gods will do this something for you.