Until the 19th century, the concept of mythology was associated exclusively with ancient civilization. But already in the first half of the century before last, scientists from different countries drew attention to the mythology of their own peoples. Russia was no exception. A. S. Kaisarov, M. D. Chulkov and other researchers of that time laid the foundations for the study of Slavic mythology.
Mythology is a set of myths - legends about gods, heroes and other fantastic and semi-fantastic creatures. These legends explain the origin of the world, man, natural phenomena. Along with this mythology (it is called the highest), the lower mythology stands out - stories about the spirits of nature, house spirits and other fantastic creatures that, unlike the gods, live in close proximity to humans.
There is no consensus among scholars regarding the relationship between mythology and religion. Some researchers believe that myths arose in the mainstream of religion, others - that initially myths arose, representing attempts to explain natural phenomena, and only later did they give rise to the worship of gods - religion. But the connection between mythology and religion is obvious anyway.
Slavic mythology is associated with the pre-Christian religion of the Slavs. This religion was pagan.
Paganism is a collective term used to designate religions that do not have the characteristics of a revelatory religion. The latter are characterized by belief in the One God, the recognition of the existence of other gods, equal to Him, is not allowed. One God proclaims his will to people through his chosen people - the prophets, or through his own human incarnation. Such revelations are recorded and preserved in books considered sacred. The adherent of the religion of revelation tries to “look at the world through the eyes of God,” therefore moral and ethical precepts play an important role in such religions. Only three religions have such characteristics - Judaism and genetically related Christianity and Islam.
The religion of the ancient Slavs did not have the signs of a religion of revelation. There were many gods. Any of them could be interpreted as supreme - in different regions and in different eras, Rod, Perun, Veles, Svyatovit could be considered such, but this did not exclude the worship of other gods.
The basis of pagan religion is the deification of nature, which, in principle, cannot have a moral essence. "Good" and "evil" spirits and gods of the pagan religion are not moral assessments, but an idea of the benefit or harm for a person, therefore a pagan seeks to establish good relations with both good and evil spirits. It is this situation that the "Tale of Bygone Years" describes, speaking about the sacrifices that the pagan Slavs brought to the "ghouls and bereginians".
Pagan religions are not characterized by the presence of sacred books, even if there are literary adaptations of myths: Homer's Iliad tells about the gods and the relationship of people with them, but the ancient Greeks did not consider this poem as a sacred text. The religion of the ancient Slavs did not leave even such written sources. In recent decades, attempts have been made to declare the "Veles book" as "sacred scripture" of the ancient Slavs, but the falsity of this "literary monument" has long been proven by scientists.
All these signs make it possible to attribute the religion of the ancient Slavs, on which Slavic mythology is based, not to the number of religions of revelation, but to the number of pagan religions.
