Long before the arrival of Christianity, the native faith of the Slavic tribes that lived in Central and Eastern Europe (including the Balkans) was the Slavic religion, more commonly referred to as Slavic paganism. It was not an organized religion with strict hierarchies, clearly defined scriptures and extensive administration as the religions of today. ‘Pagan’ was the derogatory term that the monotheistic - Abrahamic religions later used to referred to anyone who believed in a plurality of gods.

At the turn of the 1^st millennium AD, the original faith of the Slavs was replaced by the foreign belief system of Christianity.  The idea of one god only spread through the means of mass evangelization into the pagan world. Not everyone converted to the new religion voluntarily and easily.  Most people wanted to hold on to the rites and rituals of their ancestors. The resistance was only natural, humans being do not like massive changes, and adopting a new religion was a major disruption in their ways.

It is for this reason a great purge ensued, where the native faith, spiritual artifacts, including sacred wooden totems and the ancient Slavic writing (also known as Slavic Runes) were burned or destroyed.

The doing away of the past was made easier by the fact that the Slavs did not create great empires, opulent cities, or critical commerce arteries /trade routes. For the most part, the Slavs lived within the bounds of nature and did not care to step beyond it.

Yet, compromises had to be made as one’s faith is intangible and much more difficult to wipe out than physical structures, like temples and artifacts. To ease this transition, key deities, ceremonies and rituals received a new Christian façade.

Over one thousand years have passed since the beginning of the Christianization of the Slavs, and much has been forgotten. However, the ways and beliefs of our Slavic predecessors have been partially preserved through everyday customs, proverbs and stories passed down from one generation to the next. This also means that the myths of the bygone gods and goddesses were told, retold and reshaped much before they were put on paper, which makes it difficult to trace the many metamorphoses and changing identities of the deities, told through the many and often very confusing and contradicting versions of the original lore.   

Today, in the fast and rapid pace of a globalized world, people are also increasingly searching for their roots. The ways of the past entice us and through this calling the bits and pieces of what was forgotten is slowly being revived. In Slavic Europe, it reveals a colorful and complex picture of Slavic mythology, including gods, goddesses and deities. It seems that the deeper one dives into this ancient and unknown world, the more threads one unravels, leaving the earnest truth seeker often confused and methodologically scattered.

Instead of pursuing it all and getting lost in the maze of the many overlapping myths, legends and stories, we will present to you the foundational Slavic deities that shaped the Slavic spiritual world and we track their imprint in the contemporary culture of Slavic Europe.