Thursday, January 12, 2012

The Vele's God


Vele's is also called Volos, is a major Slavic supernatural force of earth, waters and the underworld associated with dragons, cattle, magic etc. He is one of the opponents of the Supreme thunder god Perun, and battle between two of them constitutes one of the most important myths of Slavic Mythology.

No direct accounts survive, but reconstructions speculate that he may directly continue aspects of the Proto-Indo-European pantheon and that he might have been imagined as serpentine, with horns and a long beard.Vels is one of few Slavic gods for which evidence of offerings will be found in all Slavic nations.

Volos is mentioned as god of cattle and pleasants, who will punish oath-breakers with diseases, the opposite of Perun who is described as a decision god of war who punishes by death in battle.

In the latter half of 10th century, Volos was one of seven gods whose statues Vladimir I, Prince of Kiev had erected in his city. It is very interesting that vele’s statue it seems that did not stand next others, but it also shows that worship of perun and veles had to be kept separate, while it was proper for Perun's shrines to be built high, on the top of the hill, Vele’s place was down, in the lowlands.


The reason of enmity between the two god’s is Vele’s theft of Perun's son, wife or, usually, cattle. It is also an act of challenge: Vele’s, in the form of an enormous serpent, slithers from the caves of the Underworld and coils upwards the Slavic world tree towards Perun's heavenly domain.

Perun retaliates and attacks Vele’s with his lightning bolts. Vele’s flees hiding or transforming himself into trees, animals or people. In the end he is killed by Perun, and in this ritual death, whatever Vele’s stole is released from his battered body in form of rain falling from the skies. 

This Storm myth, as it is usually referred to by scholars today, explained to ancient Slavs the changing of seasons through the year. The dry periods were interpreted as chaotic results of Vele’s thievery. Storms and lightning were seen as divine battles. The following rain was the victory of Perun over Vele’s and re-establishment of world order.

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