Slavic Shamanism is the practice of working and worshipping Slavic spirits and ancestors along with the ancient Slavic gods. There are three main types of Shamans within the modern day Rodnovery hierarchy: volkhv, guszlar (or gushlar), and vedmak (or vidmak).
Like Tengrism has the yellow, black, and white shamans, Slavic shamanism has the volkhv, guszlar, and vedmak. A volkhv focuses on working with the gods to heal and work much like modern day healers or medicine men. They usually honour and praise the god Veles (also known as Volos) and work with both spirits and ancestors. In contemporary Slavic native faith, the volkhvs are those responsible for holding rites for worshipping the gods and leading communities and religious festivals. Volkhvs are the higher rank of the sacerdotal hierarchy, the lesser order being that of the zhrets. The latter are not necessarily shamans, and their function is merely to hold sacrifices (the word zhrets literally means "sacrificer", from Proto-Slavic *žьrti, and is cognate of Slavic words for "offering"). Though the majority of priests are males, most groups do not exclude women from the priesthood, so that a parallel female priesthood is constituted by the two ranks of zhritsa and vedunya ("seeresses"). [1] [2] The volkhvs work, much like other shamanistic practices, includes putting natural intoxicants as well as playing music to induce trance and receive spirits, gods, or ancestors into their body but might just go on a Shamanic journey or trance called Kudesy which does not involve possession but rather entering the Spirit worlds and fixing any problems there are. A guszlar focuses most on the shamanic aspects of Slavic paganism and are the ones who run the annual celebration of Dziady. Guszlars work with the spirits of the dead and of anything relating to death within Slavic Paganism. [3] Vedmak treat people and animals. They are thought to be people connected to the devil, and are capable of bringing harm by sending illnesses, killing cattle, spoiling a harvest, etc. A vedmak can turn into any animal or any object. [4]
Slavic Shamanism comprises three pre-Christian traditions and one living tradition of Eastern Europe and Western Europe. They were usually within the hierarchy of Slavic pagan priests. These pre-Christian traditions include that of a volkhv, vedmak, and a guszlar.
Slavic shamans work with the spirits of nature, ancestors, and the many gods and goddesses. Traditional annual rites such as Dziady, Maslenitsa, and any ceremony relating to death or spirits is when any shaman does their ceremony. Common practices within the ceremonies include music with instruments such as a drum, yaleika, gudok, sopilka, and a Jew's harp used to induce the shaman into trance. [5] Trance possession is common during these rites and the shaman allows the god or spirit to give messages through their body and their body acts as a vessel to contain the spirit. Plants such as mugwort may be used to put the shaman into a trance via burning, smudging, or a tea or liquor and may make the shaman hallucinate. [3] A tree branch, usually birch or willow, has ribbons of different colors (meaning different gods, spirits, or natural attributes) to the branches and use that branch to contact spirits by offering things such as milk, butter, bread, and often barley or other grains. Near the times of Kolyada, they may rather use 21 sheaves of wheat, tied together, to contact the spirits and ancestors. [6]
A molfar is someone who transverses between spiritual mediums acting as a shaman to serve the community and make deals with the spirits and ancestors. They also help those who are unbalanced or troubled. They are found mostly in the Hutsul communities of the Ukrainian Carpathian region but there are some molfarka who do still exist in other rural regions of Western Ukraine. It is thought that they can talk to animals. [7] They have a unique set of tools that they use which usually are bone, ribbon, feathers, and teeth which they call "molfa". Such items include a hromovytsia, a stick that was hit by lightning, hromo palytsia, a stick that was used to separate a snake from eating a frog which can alter the weather, and other items such as amulets, stones, and talismans. [8]
The term guszlar is derived from the noun gusła, which describes the rites during which souls are summoned from the outerworld. They are the conductors of the annual rites of Dziady, when the souls of the ancestors are invited for a feast and paid homage. [9]
In European folklore of the medieval and early modern periods, familiars were believed to be supernatural entities or spiritual guardians that would protect or assist witches and cunning folk in their practice of magic. According to records of the time, those alleging to have had contact with familiar spirits reported that they could manifest as numerous forms, usually as an animal, but sometimes as a human or humanoid figure, and were described as "clearly defined, three-dimensional... forms, vivid with colour and animated with movement and sound", as opposed to descriptions of ghosts with their "smoky, undefined form[s]".
Prav (Правь), Yav (Явь) and Nav (Навь) are the three dimensions or qualities of the cosmos as described in the first chapter of the Book of Light and in the Book of Veles of Slavic Native Faith (Rodnovery). Older sources mention only Nav and Yav concepts of ancient slavic cosmology, similar to Yin and Yang in Taoism, and Prav was not part of the concept. The literal meanings of the Prav, Yav, and Nav words, are, respectively, "Right", "actuality" and "probability". They are also symbolised as a unity by the god Triglav. Already Ebbo documented that the Triglav was seen as embodying the connection and mediation between Heaven, Earth and the underworld / humanity; these three dimensions were also respectively associated to the colours white, green and black as documented by Karel Jaromír Erben.
Slavic mythology or Slavic paganism is the religious beliefs, myths, and ritual practices of the Slavs before Christianisation, which occurred at various stages between the 8th and the 13th century.
A household deity is a deity or spirit that protects the home, looking after the entire household or certain key members. It has been a common belief in paganism as well as in folklore across many parts of the world.
Finnic paganism was the indigenous pagan religion in Finland, Karelia, Ingria and Estonia prior to Christianisation, the religion was native to the Baltic Finnic peoples. It was a polytheistic religion, worshipping a number of different deities. The principal god was the god of thunder and the sky, Ukko; other important gods included Jumo (Jumala), Ahti, and Tapio. Jumala was a sky god; today, the word "Jumala" refers to all gods in general. Ahti was a god of the sea, waters and fish. Tapio was the god of forests and hunting.
Celtic neopaganism refers to any type of modern paganism or contemporary pagan movements based on the ancient Celtic religion. One approach is Celtic Reconstructionism (CR), which emphasizes historical accuracy in reviving Celtic traditions. CR practitioners rely on historical sources and archaeology for their rituals and beliefs, including offerings to spirits and deities. Language study and preservation are essential, and daily life often incorporates ritual elements. While distinct from eclectic pagan and neopagan witchcraft traditions, there is some overlap with Neo-druidism.
The Native Polish Church, or Native Church of Poland is a West Slavic pagan religious association that adverts to ethnic, pre-Christian beliefs of the Slavic peoples. The religion has its seat in Warsaw, with local temples throughout the country.
A volkhv or volhv is a priest in ancient Slavic religions and contemporary Slavic Native Faith.
The Tai folk religion, Satsana Phi or Ban Phi is the ancient native ethnic religion of Tai people still practiced by various Tai groups. Tai folk religion was dominant among Tai people in Asia until the arrival of Buddhism and Hinduism. It is primarily based on worshipping deities called Phi, Khwan and Ancestors.
Gut are the rites performed by Korean shamans, involving offerings and sacrifices to gods, spirits and ancestors. They are characterised by rhythmic movements, songs, oracles and prayers. These rites are meant to create welfare, promoting commitment between the spirits and humankind. The major categories of rites are the naerim-gut, the dodang-gut and the ssitgim-gut.
In Slavic mythology, a vedmak (Belarusian: вядзьмак, вядзьмар; Bulgarian: вещер; Croatian: vještac; Czech: vědmák; Macedonian: вештер; Polish: wiedźmak; Russian: ведьмак; Serbian: вештац; Ukrainian: відьмак) is a warlock or male witch, the female equivalent (witch) being vedma, but unlike the latter, the vedmak may also possess positive qualities. This role greatly focuses on the Shamanic aspects of Slavic Paganism.
Black shamanism is a kind of shamanism practiced in Mongolia and Siberia. It is specifically opposed to yellow shamanism, which incorporates rituals and traditions from Buddhism. Black Shamans are usually perceived as working with evil spirits, while white Shamans with spirits of the upper world.
Ynglism, institutionally the Ancient Russian Ynglist Church of the Orthodox Old Believers–Ynglings, is a white nationalist branch of Slavic paganism formally established in 1992 by Aleksandr Yuryevich Khinevich in Omsk, Russia, and legally recognised by the Russian state in 1998, although the movement was already in existence in unorganised forms since the 1980s. The adherents of Ynglism call themselves "Orthodox", "Old Believers", "Ynglings" or "Ynglists".
Kev Dab Kev Qhuas is the common ethnic religion of the Miao people, best translated as the "practice of spirituality". The religion is also called Hmongism by a Hmong American church established in 2012 to organize it among Hmong people in the United States.
Fugara or Fuqara are shaman or people with supernatural powers in Bedouin shamanism. Fugara means 'weak' as these individuals are known to avoid hefty meals. They are masters of desert mysticism and are believed to have access to the spiritual realm. They provide advice, teaching or spiritual insight to entire tribes, along with tending to the sick.
In Slavic Native Faith (Rodnovery) there are a number of shared holidays throughout the year, when important ritual activities are set according to shared calendars. Generally speaking, ritual activities may be distinguished into "external" (exoteric) and "internal" (esoteric) relatively to the different communities. External ceremonies are mass gatherings, usually held on important holidays dedicated to the worship of common gods, and involving large numbers of people. Internal ceremonies are those restricted to specific groups, and holding special meaning for such groups; they may comprise private rituals and worship of specific ancestors.
Slavic Native Faith (Rodnovery) has a theology that is generally monistic, consisting in the vision of a transcendental, supreme God which begets the universe and lives immanentised as the universe itself, present in decentralised and autonomous way in all its phenomena, generated by a multiplicity of deities which are independent hypostases, facets, particles or energies of the consciousness and will of the supreme God itself.
Shamanism is a religious practice present in various cultures and religions around the world. Shamanism takes on many different forms, which vary greatly by region and culture and are shaped by the distinct histories of its practitioners.
Lower mythology is a sphere of mythological representations relating to characters who have no divine status, demons and spirits, as opposed to higher gods and the official cult. This opposition is particularly pronounced in world religions.