The temple of Perun: history and modernity

The main god of the Slavs, of course, is Perun. His ambassadors swore by the ambassadors of Russia, concluding in 911 an agreement with the Greeks, and the guards of Prince Igor. The god of thunder and lightning was always armed with an ax and a bow and arrows.

It was believed that the fireballs that sweep Perun to the ground - this is the deity of the deity, and if the wooden buildings were lit during a thunderstorm, they could not be extinguished.

The Terrible Thunderer

Clouds and clouds people called Perunovymi trees on which the birds-lightnings are seated. If the living being was struck by them, then it meant only one: inside is the evil spirits with which the deity is struggling. At the site of the lightning strike, molten sand (belemnite) remained, called the Peruvian stone.

Wishing to win in hostilities, the ancient people sacrificed, and in sacred places portrayed a formidable god. It is known about the finds of archaeologists - iron axes with ornaments of lightning and sun. It was believed that such items have tremendous power and protect their owners. The mighty god was afraid and asked for his protection.

What is the temple?

The place of worship of the Slavic deities is called the temple. One of the main constructions of the pagan world preserved the great wisdom of its ancestors, who built shrines of round shape under the open sky. The temple, the entrance to which was necessarily adorned, was erected on a hill and fenced with palisades and a moat.

Sacred place

In form, the temple of Perun was like an octagon. Nine sanctuaries broke the inner space of the ritual place. Eight of them were located around the main, dedicated to the deity-thunderbolt. Historians assume that the altar of the temple was located on the Alatyr-stone on Red Square in Moscow. This powerful boulder served as the foundation of the Trinity Church, and later the appearance of the sanctuary was taken as the basis of St. Basil's Cathedral with nine domes.

Bonfires for the glory of Perun

Perun asked for protection from the god in the temple, and it was believed that he was looking intently at the man before giving something to him. Here there was a spiritual growth of people, and the spoken oaths became inviolable. In honor of the god, who was worshiped by all the soldiers, they burned eternal bonfires made of oak logs (this mighty tree, according to legend, is associated with Perun, and such groves in Russia were carefully guarded).

Is the Eternal Flame connected with paganism?

Few people think, but the Eternal Flame is a revival of the cult of the Thunderer, and the canonical temple of Perun is located near the Kremlin wall in Moscow. Here all the principles that our ancestors followed were: the inextinguishability of fire, its armed guard, the elevation above the ground, the altar of granite, the rituals of worshiping fallen soldiers and the laying of oak wreaths.

By the way, the Orthodox Church believes that the Eternal Flame has nothing to do with honoring the memory of the fallen in the Great Patriotic War.

Rite in Kiev

Archaeologists who studied the temple of Perun in 980 in Kiev, found a huge number of bones of bulls and cocks, which were sacrificed to God. It is not surprising that an iron ax was also found here - a symbol of the patron of warriors. It is curious that during the baptism, images of pagan deities were transferred to the bright images of Orthodox saints, and Perun was renamed Ilya the Prophet (Gromovnik).

The temple of Perun in Orel

Those who are not indifferent to our heritage have revived the sanctuary, which helps to form an idea of pagan constructions. On land belonging to a private person, the stylized temple of Perun (Eagle) is allowed to transfer into the atmosphere of the ancient Slavs.

What is it, we have already learned: as legends say, in this sacred place people gathered who glorified God and burned fires.

Next to the appeared sanctuary there is a quarry near where the sandstone is mined. Tourists who visited a small village, it seems that once a stone melted from the wrath of God and froze in the most bizarre way, where now there is a temple of Perun in Orel.

The photo of the reconstructed structure conveys the spirit of a powerful god, in honor of which the festivities are held several times a year. Here they are chosen by the whole family to rest in the fresh air, recharge themselves with positive emotions, get acquainted with the Slavic customs and express their respect to the ancestors.