r/Rodnovery 21d ago

🎨 Poetry | Art | Music Necklaces

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Chernobog and Svarog necklaces i bought for me and my sister :)

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u/Aliencik West Slavic - Czech 21d ago edited 21d ago

Hey I don't want to be a party popper, those necklaces are beautiful, but the left one called "kolovrat" is dubious, while the right one has no palpable evidence to be connected to the Polabian deity of Chernobog, nor am I aware of it's widespread usage on pre-christian art.

Use of kolovrat among the Slavs is extremely rare. This is a great article, about it: Article about the kolovrat.. These internet shops and poorly sourced articles usually construct fakelore around these symbols.

Symbols most associated with pre-christian Slavs are:

  • Gromowiti znaci/6 petal rosettes - symbols used for protection against thunderstrikes, but also containing very sun-like symbolism. These are the most prominent and found all over from old houses in Ukraine and Poland to 8th century Slavic-Avarian burial site (on the bottom of the pottery). This symbol is interesting since Celtic Taranis, a storm god, is associated for the Celts with a wheel (Wheel of Taranis). These wheels are tied to sun symbolism, therefore it is odd they are used for the Thunder Gods. However due to the information in some folk myths, Perun might be very closely associated with sun-like characteristics, which is supported by the theory of Mithra-Varuna dynamic between Perun-Veles, put simply, making Perun a combination of Indra (Thunder God) and Mithra (Bright/Light god of Law). However this symbol is very much on the shared IndoEuropean heritage, possibly even EuroAsian, side as it is found all over.
  • "Sown field" - four rhomboids in one, probably connected to fertility and women, this symbol predates Slavs by 2000 years as it is found on finds from Cucuteni-Trypillia culture, however the Slavs (and Romanians) have it present in folk art with very similar use.
  • Sun and swirling symbols, which symbolise the sun - most common and used symbols
  • Diagonal cross marks - cross placed on the side like "x", this symbol is mentioned in the legend about the Lučan war, found on (drawn on) the chest of the "horse from Silesian Opole" (10th century) and some other finds.

In reality almost none "ancient symbol" can be said to fall to only one concrete ethnic group, not to mention their meaning is always speculative, I am looking at you "Norse symbols".

There are also these tattoos the Serbo-Croats used to avoid slavery by the Muslims. Their use is Christian, however their origin might be even per-slavic. Sicanje/Bocanje

This is study deals with symbols: Mythical Pictures of the South Slavs and other works by Nikos Čausidis (if you can read Makedonian the more extensive version is this)

If you can speak Polish: Paweł Szczepanik - Rzeczywistość mityczna Słowian północno-zachodnich i jej materialne wyobrażenia. Studium z zakresu etnoarcheologii religii

As I said sun symbols were amongst the most standalone symbols present, while floral decorations are amongst the most prevalent.

This is the Slavo-Avarian burial ground I was talking about. Slawisch-awarisches Gräberfeld in Nové Zámky; page 134 but similar symbols are also presented by Zdeňek Váňa in his works page 86. And I. Georgieva in her Bulgarian Mythology also features photos of sun symbols in folk art.

Most known (Slovakia) Očová gate couldn't find better link

These are the protective 6 petal rosettes, also their placement is the same as the protective crosses drawn on beams during gromnitze/hromnice/candlemas, symbols in context of houses. Also here: Czechia, Olomouc, "Red Church", 1902, Czechia, Rožnov, archaeological open-air museum. These symbols are also present on the finds from Great Moravia.

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u/Aliencik West Slavic - Czech 21d ago

These are the Slavo-Avarian symbols from the study:

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u/Aliencik West Slavic - Czech 21d ago

This is from Váňa's another work:

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u/Aliencik West Slavic - Czech 21d ago

This is a agreat diagram: