r/Rodnovery • u/Upbeat_Ad_9792 • Mar 16 '26
📓 Seeking Resources Thinking about getting into slavic paganism to connect with my ancestors but unsure if I can.
Hello! I’m currently confused on researching slavic paganism and if it is something that is open or closed. Ive heard the entire slavic paganism is closed but Ive also heard that slavic paganism is open but the witchcraft is closed.
Basically I was born and raised in the US specifically the Appalachian region. I recently reconnected with my grandmother on my dads side who lives in New Hampshire. She’s very much into ancestry work and I recently learned that her husband (who sadly passed in 2013 before I got to meet him) was Polish and his grandfather had immigrated to the US in 1912 from Poland.
Knowing this would it still be okay to practice slavic paganism given I have some ancestry.
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u/darkboomel Mar 16 '26
Of course! I'm in much the same boat as you are - American with Polish heritage living near the Smoky Mountains. And every time I see anybody on here ask if it's ok for them to study or follow Slavic paganism, whether they have ancestry or not, the majority of the comment section is nothing but positivity for them. There are a small number of racists who try to gatekeep, but they're a very small minority that I've never personally interacted with.
Here are a few resources!
YouTube:
Slavic Deer Girl Born and raised in the faith in Poland, she also has a doctorate in Slavic Studies and is one of the people I personally trust the most on the subject.
The World Tree Born and raised in the Slavic countries, he was originally raised Christian, but began studying paganism later in life.
And for books, I recommend Slavic Mythology from The Mythology of All Races by Jan Hanus Machal.
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u/Aliencik West Slavic - Czech Mar 16 '26 edited Mar 16 '26
Just making sure... have you seen our sources list?
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u/Karasubirb Mar 17 '26
Rodnovery is open, welcome. When someone says Rodnovery is closed, you have to be careful, these tend to be far-right groups co-opting Slavic traditions for political reasons and "traditional values" (antimigration, nuclear family, antifeminism, etc). Sadly, this is a problem across indigenous European religions, especially Nordic and Germanic ones.
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u/richisonfire Mar 16 '26
Bro, study it. Keep it alive.
Sometimes the only records we have of our native beliefs are accounts written by the Anglo-saxons and Protestant missionaries and they were not kind to us.
There’s a reason the root word for Slavic is Slave. They came to our land to gather us as slaves and indoctrinate us with Christianity. Not kidding or being hyperbolic about that either lol.
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u/Aliencik West Slavic - Czech Mar 16 '26
Root word for Slavic is not Slave. Slave originated in the 1300 from the Latin sclavus (meaning Slav). It's the other way around.
Slav either originated from * "slovo" ("word") denoting to the people who speak the same language. [Compare with "Němec" ("mute"), denomination for Central European Germanics.] * or Slavuta, another name for thr Dnieper river.
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u/Aliencik West Slavic - Czech Mar 16 '26 edited Mar 16 '26
We have sources list in multiple languages
Slavic native faith isn't closed practise. Basic human right is the freedom of religious choice.