Pre-christian culture

1. The Slavs

The Slavs, the largest ethnic and linguistic group of

The Slavs under name of the Antes and the Sclaveni make

Slavic religion

The Slavs were pagans; their supreme god was the god

There are primarily three sources of information about Slavic paganism:

The Earliest Slavic Religious Beliefs

It is generally thought that the earliest

The main constituent parts of early Slav’s religion were:

The Magic

The practice of manipulating and controlling the course of

Animism

The belief, common among primitive peoples, that all things in the

Animism

In ancient Slav’s believes animism is represented by such mythical creatures

Veneration of the dead

The belief that the deceased, often family members,

Veneration of the dead

As a display of veneration of the dead,

Veneration of the dead

Veneration of the dead is represented by such

Totemism

The belief that people are descended from animals, plants, and other

Totemism

Such personages of ancient Slav’s mythology as vovkulaka, divchyna-kalyna, chuhajster can

Polytheism

The belief in a plurality of gods (usually assembled into a

Perun

The supreme god of the East and South Slavs polytheistic pantheon

Until the end of the 10th cent. an idol of Perun

Svarog

Svarog, a god known to most Slavic peoples, was regarded as

Svarog’s sons

Among his sons were Dazhbog, god of the sun, and

Bilobog and Chornobog

Two important gods of Slavic religion were Bilobog and

Veles

Veles was worshipped in two aspects: 1) he is god of

Mokosh

The goddess who both gives and takes life, the spinner of

Zemlya-maty

Various myths and ritualistic data, however, reveal the cults of many

2. Traces of paganism in Christian festivals

Kievan Rus was christened

Perun

Saint Eliah

Veles

Saint George

Kupajlo

Saint Ioann the Baptist

The seasonal agricultural festivals were also modified and associated with Christian

The winter equinox became Christmas

The ‘Great Day’ (Velykden’) became Easter

The Rusaliji became the Descent of the Holy Spirit

Paganism and Christianity

Each of these festivals retains to this day elements

Paganism and Christianity

The expected result, however, was not always achieved: in

Paganism and Christianity

Traces of paganism were preserved longest in various seasonal

Paganism and Christianity

A number of pagan rites have been retained in

3. Ancient Greek Settlements in the Ukrainian territory

From the middle of

The Greek city-states

The other colonies were founded mostly in the 6th

Chersoneses

Chersoneses. Ancient Greek city-state in the southwestern part of the Crimea,

Chersoneses

Excavations uncovered the remains of Greek, Roman, and Byzantine city walls,

Ancient Greek theater in Chersoneses

Olbia

A major ancient Greek settlement located on the Boh River Estuary

Olbia

Its inhabitants engaged in agriculture, animal husbandry, fishing, viticulture, various trades,

Panticapeum

An ancient Greek colony founded in the early 6th century BC