The book that is in front of the readers is not a fairy tale, although a great many fantastical fragments appear within it. Nor it is an encyclopedia of terms, or a dictionary of everything hidden in the vivid mythology of the Slavic ancestors. It does not attempt to be a scientific, historical, or complete study, but a simple and accessible work, born out of love.

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Today, it is considered that the Slavs are a group of nations that at the beginning of the 21st century inhabits thirty-five percent of the territory of Europe and a large part of Asia. They are divided into three groups: Eastern Slavs (Russians, Belarusians and Ukrainians), Western Slavs (Poles, Czechs, Slovaks and Lusatian Serbs – the latter are considered by some authors to be the successors of the Baltic Slavs), and Southern Slavs (Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, Macedonians and Bulgarians, along with Montenegrins and Bosniaks as in recent times independent members of this group of nations). A fourth group, the former Pomeranian, Polish Polabian, or Baltic Slavs, no longer exists today, having been completely Germanized, with the exception of the Lusatian Serbs (also known as the Sorbs, Elbian Slavs, or Wends). >>>

The pantheon of Slavic gods differs from many other polytheistic pantheons in that the Slavic deities are not connected by family or marriage relations in the human sense, except for all the gods being “children of Svarog,” meaning they derive from him as the Creator. Different Slavic tribes were devoted to different deities, honoring the one they considered their tribal protector more than other gods. Because of this, the very existence of the Slavic pantheon as such was previously doubted. Today, however, it is quite certain that all Slavs celebrated the same Slavic gods, although the worship was always directed primarily towards one god above others – “their god” as the protector of the tribe. >>>

Of special mystical meaning were certain natural meeting places or cult sites where rituals took place. A great deal of ancient Slavic rites were gradually “degraded” into folk customs, the meaning of which was forgotten over time, that are centered upon or relate to the three most important moments in human life: birth, marriage, and death, with many religio-magical rituals grouped around these events: godfatherism, carrying the bride over the threshold, going around the hearth during the introduction of the bride to the new community, covering the mirror and spilling water in the event of death, among countless others, and all of them imply special places that were central to the ritual. Even today, in the consciousness of the Slavic peoples, there are certain places that remain especially infamous for attracting demonic beings and thus represent sites every person should avoid, particularly at night, such as: cemeteries, watermills, dumping grounds, bridges, crossroads, and various holes, pits, and caves… >>>

Magic and religion are in a way quite similar: through the former, man attempts to control nature and mystical forces directly, using spells and chants, while with the latter, control over the same nature and mystical forces is left to the deities, on whom man exerts an indirect influence through complex religious rites; Freud goes so far as to consider magic merely a technique of religion. Magic refers to actions performed with the aim of causing specific positive (“white” magic) or negative events (“black” magic) in the future, beyond what everyday actions could readily produce, as well as all protective actions that should safeguard a person from the influence of others’ magical actions. Magic is learned almost like a craft (hence the word “witchcraft”), but apart from this “studied” magic, which is the most common, some individuals are born with abilities that could be considered magical. >>>

Many mythical creatures are associated with the moon. Instead of the current twelve months, we could divide the year into thirteen “moon cycles” of twenty-eight days each. And the week, a period of seven days, probably originated as the time between the two lunar phases. Crippled mythical creatures, according to traditional belief, represent the moon. Lame was even the leader wolf, the embodiment of the god Dajbog, who is also the mythical ancestor of all Serbs, and perhaps of all Slavs in general. This indicates that Dajbog, primarily a sun god, could also represent a lunar being in the period of his “decline.” Vile (fairies) are also associated with the moon, especially when they play in the fields or on the banks of rivers and springs in the dead of night. Also connected with the Moon and the lunar cult are mythic animals, above all mythical horses, but also almost all other mythical beings of the Old Slavs. >>>