Veles god: Encyclopedia - Veles god

Veles (god)

Veles, Volos, Weles, or Voloh is a major Slavic god of earth, waters and Underworld, associated with dragons, cattle, magic, musicians, wealth and trickery. He is also the opponent of thunder-god Perun, and the battle between two of them constitutes one of most important myths of Slavic mythology. Veles appears to be both a very complex and very ancient god: he may even be a relic from a common Proto-Indo-European pantheon. He was imagined to be (at least partialy) serpentine, with horns (of bull, ram or some other domesticated herbivore), and a long beard.

Veles god - Sources

Veles is one of few Slavic gods for which evidence of worship can be found in all Slavic nations. Primary Chronicle, a historical record of the early Eastern Slavic state, is the earliest and most important record, mentioning a god named Volos several times. Firstly he is mentioned in peace treaties of early 10th century betwen Rulers of Kievan Rus' and Byzantine emperors, where the Slavs make an oath of peace by swearing upon their gods, Perun and Volos. Here Volos is mentioned as god of cattle and peasants, who will punish oath-breakers with diseases, the opposite of Perun who is a described as a ruling god of war who punishes by death in battle. In the later half of 10th century, Veles or Volos was one of seven gods whose statues Vladimir I, Prince of Kiev had erected in his city. It is very interesting that Veles' statue apperently wasn't standing next to others, on the hill where the prince's castle was, but lower in the city, on the marketplace. Not only does this indicate that Veles was connected with commerce, but it also shows that worship of Perun and Veles had to be kept seperate: while it was proper for Perun's shrines to be built high, on the top of the hill, Veles' place was down, in the lowlands.

A similar pattern can be observed amongst the South Slavs. Here the name of Veles appears only in toponyms, the most well-known of which is the city of Veles in Macedonia, over which looms a hill of St. Elias the Thunderer. Even better example is a town of Volosko in Croatia, situated on the seashore under the peak of Mount Ucka named Perun. Amongst Western Slavs, the name can be principaly found in 15th and 16th century Czech records, where it means either dragon or devil.

Veles god - Enemy of Perun and Storm myth

The Russian philologists Vyacheslav Vsevolodovich Ivanov and Vladimir Toporov reconstructed the mythical battle of Perun and Veles through comparative study of various Indo-European mythologies and a large number of Slavic folk stories and songs. A unifying characteristic of all Indo-European mythologies is a story about a battle betwen god of thunder and a huge serpent or a dragon. In Slavic version of the myth, Perun is a god of thunder, whilst Veles acts as a dragon who opposes him. The etimology of his name links him closely to Vala, an endless serpent of Indian mythology, the enemy of Vedic thunder-god Indra. He is also similar to Etruscan Underworld-monster Vetha and to dragon Illuyankas, enemy of storm god of Hittite mythology.

The reason of enmity betwen two gods is Veles' theft of Perun's son, wife or, usualy, cattle. It is also an act of challenge: Veles, in the form of a huge serpent, slithers from the caves of Underworld and coils upwards the Slavic world tree towards Perun's heavenly domain. Perun retaliates and attacks Veles with his lighning bolts. Veles flees, hiding or transforming himself into trees, animals or people. In the end he is killed by Perun, and in this ritual death, whatever Veles stole is released from his battered body in form of rain falling from skies. This Storm myth, as is generaly refered to scholars today, explained to ancient Slavs the changing of seasons through the year. The dry periods were interpreted as chaotic results of Veles' thievery. Storms and lightnings were seen as divine battle. The following rain was triumph of Perun over Veles and re-establishment of world order.

The myth was cyclical, repeating itself each year. Death of Veles was never permanent; he would reform himself as a serpent who sheds its old skin and is reborn in a new body. Although in this particular myth he plays the negative role as bringer of chaos, Veles was not seen as evil god by ancient Slavs. In fact, in many of the Russian folk tales, Veles, appearing under the Christian guise of St. Nicholas, saves the poor farmer and his cattle from furious and destructive St. Elias the Thunderer, who, of course, represent the old Perun. The duality and conflict of Perun and Veles does not represent the dualistic clash of good and evil; rather, it is the oppositon of natural principles of earth and water (Veles) against heaven and fire (Perun).

Veles god - God of Underworld and dead

Ancient Slavs viewed their world as a huge tree, with the treetop and branches representing the heavenly abode of gods and the world of mortals, whilst the roots represented the underworld. And while Perun, seen as a hawk or eagle sitting on a tallest branch of tree, was belived to be ruler of heaven and living world, Veles, seen as a huge serpent coiling around the roots, was ruling the world of dead. This was actualy quite a lovely place, described in folk tales as a green and wet world of grassy plains and eternal spring, where various fantastic creatures dwell and the spirits of deceased watch over Veles' herds of cattle. In more geographical terms, the world of Veles was located, the Slavs believed, "across the sea", and it was there the migrating birds would fly to every winter. In folk tales this land is sometimes associated with magical islands of Virei or Buyan. Each year, the god of fertility and vegetation, Jarilo, who also dwelled there during winter, would return from across the sea and bring spring into the world of the living.

Veles also regulary sent spirits of the dead into the living world as his heralds. Up to this day, in many Slavic conutries there persists a custom of Koledo, a kind of combination of carnival and Halloween, which can happen anywhere from Christmas up to end of February. It is a relic of an ancient pagan celebrations of Korochun and Velja noc (Great Night), during which, it was believed, spirits of the ancestors returned to the living world. Young men, known as koledari or vucari would dress long coats of sheep's wool and don grotesque masks, roaming around villages in groups and raising a lot of noise. They sang songs saying they travelled a long way, and they are all wet and muddy, thus identifying themselves as coming from the wet world of Veles. The master of any house they visited would welcome them warmly, pretending they are indeed his ancestral spirits, and presented them with valuable gifts. This is a nice example of Slavic shamanism, which also indicates Veles was a god of magic and wealth. The gifts given to koledari were belived to be passed to him (which makes him very much like a dragon hoarding treasure), thus ensuring good fortune and wealth to the house of gift-givers for the next year. As seen in descriptions from the Primary Chronicle, by angering Veles one would be striken by diseases.

Veles god - God of trickery and musicians

Veles' nature for mischief is evident both from his role in Storm myth and in carnival customs of Koledars. In his role as a trickster god, he is in some ways similar to both Greek Hermes and Scandinavian Loki. He was also belived to be protector of travelling musicians, which again links him in some ways with magic. For instance, in wedding ceremonies of northren Croatia (which continued up to 20th century), the music would not start playing unless the bridegroom, when making a toast, spilled some of wine on the ground, preferably over the roots of the nearest tree. The symbolism of this is clear, even though forgotten long ago by those still performing it: the musicians will not sing untill a toast is made to their patron diety.

Veles god - God of cattle and harvest

Veles' main practical function was protecting the cattle of Slavic tribes. Often he was refered to as skotji bog, meaning "cattle-god". One of his attributes, as mentioned, were horns of bull or a ram. He was also a protector of shepherds, which again links him with music, mischief and magic. It also reveals one additional trait of his enemity with Perun, who, as a giver of rain, would be god of farmers. Veles, however, did have some influence over agriculture, or at least harvest. Among many Slavic nations, most notably in Russia, a harvest custom persisted of cutting the first ear of wheat and tying it in a sort of amulet which protected the harvest from evil spirits. This was called 'tying of the beard of Veles', which also indicates Veles was imagined to be bearded.

Veles god - Post-Christian Veles

After the advent of Christianity, Veles was split into several different characters. As a god of Underworld and dragon he, of course, became identified with the Devil. His more benevolent sides were transformed to several Christian saints. As a protector of cattle, he became associated with St. Blaise, populary known among various Slavic nations as St. Vlaho, St. Blaz, or St. Vlasiy. In Yaroslavl, for example, the first church built on the site of Veles's pagan shrine was dedicated to St Blaise, for the latter's name was similar to Veles and he was likewise considered a heavenly patron of shepherds. As mentioned already, in many Eastern Slavic folk tales, he was replaced by St. Nicholas, probably because the popular stories of the saint describe him as a giver of wealth and sort of a trickster.

It is remarkable that Veles managed to hold so many versatile attributes in ancient Slavic mythology and was not split into more characters until the arrival of Christianity; by contrast, his opponent Perun was never venerated as nothing more or nothing less than a god of thunder and storm, a very narrow sphere of influence compared to Veles' versatility. In other Indo-European mythologies, similar gods were quickly split into several different dieties. For instance, in Greek mythology, at least four different characters show similarities to Veles: Pan (music and cattle), Hermes (magic and trickery), Hades (death and underworld) and Typhon (serpentine enemy of Greek thunder god, Zeus). Only in Celtic mythology do we find a diety similar to Veles in his attributes and his complexity: Cernunnos, god of druids, nature, horned animals and shamanisam, whose symbol was a ram-headed serpent.

Veles god - Refrences

• V. Belaj "Hod kroz godinu, mitska pozadina hrvatskih narodnih vjerovanja i obicaja", Golden Marketing, Zagreb 1998., ISBN 953-6168-43-X
• Boris Rybakov. Ancient Slavic Paganism. Moscow, 1981.

See also

• Perun
• Cernunnos
• The Book of Veles
• Varuna
• Vritra

Categories: Slavic gods | Commerce gods | Death gods | Nature gods

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Veles god", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki