Dajbog is considered to be the God of the Sun, originally presented as the son of Svarog. If we were to make parallels between Greek and Slavic Gods, Dajbog and Svarog would be equivalent to Helios and Zeus. Some mythologists claim that Dajbog would be better described if compared with Apollo.

Some ancient written sources imply that Dajbog is not just the God of the Sun, but also the bringer of the rain, highly worshiped and respected by the cult of Rain, Dodole. Dodole was a group of young and beautiful girls, usually virgins who performed rituals in the drought periods. They usually danced dressed in white or naked, wearing flower garlands on their head, singing and praying for the rain to come and put the drought to an end.

Dajbog was considered to be the God that gives, bringing rich crops, mowing and harvest, as well as bringing new life, helping families expand and mothers giving birth to many healthy children. Overall, in Russia, Poland and Bulgaria, Dajbog is primarily considered to be the personification of the Sun itself. Instead of worshiping solely things that could be found in nature, as they did by then, Slavs begin to give their Gods human names and other traits and characteristics, making each God more or less inclined to humans. Dajbog was one of the Gods that highly benefited the human race, giving life, through the warmth of the Sun. Dajbog is mainly considered to be the God of rain, Sun and fertility.

Variations of Dajbog between Slavs

For Western Slavs, Dajbog is considered to be the fire, rather than the sun itself. Even though they also considered Dajbog to be the son of Svarog, they thought he represented fire that could be found in nature after the lightning stroke, as well as fire that kept people warm in their homes. In Russia and Bulgaria, Dajbog was mainly the God of the Sun, while in some cultures Dajbog was also worshiped as a life giver, which is mainly equivalent to the Sun that gives life to every creature on Earth. Later, due to the mainstreaming of Christianity, Dajbog becomes a synonym for the Devil, having Christians transforming his name from Dajbog to Dabo, as a process of removing the paganism as the main competition.

Etymology of Dajbog’s Name

The name Dajbog was mainly used in Serbia to address the God of the Sun, having the name created out of two words: Daj– which is extracted from the verb Dati, which means Give, and the word Bog, which means God. Therefore, if the name Dajbog was literally translated, it would mean The God who Gives, or The Giving God. Except Dajbog, the God of Sun is also called ?????? (Dažbog), where the word ???? (dažd) means rain. Variations in his name are present, but meaning and the cult he represented is somewhat similar for all Slavs, having Dajbog representing one of the most worshiped Slavic Gods.