Some less Familiar Deities of the Old Slavs

 Crnoglav – Crnoglav is mentioned in a document known as Knytlinga saga that tells how Svetovid's statue was pulled down. As we can see from his name, he was a black-headed god (crna = black, glava = head) who, in addition to that, had a silver moustache. In Knytlinga saga he is presented as a god of war.

CislobogThe Book of Veles describes this deity as a god of numbers and measurement whose role is to keep the cosmic order. The Old Slavs were particularly concerned with how the numbers affected reality, and they consequently thought some numbers were lucky and the others unlucky. The even numbers were lucky. This can be related with the dominance of the solar principle in their religion.

Ezi (Ezi-Jezi) – The Slavs of Poland used to worship a female divine trinity comprised of the goddesses Leda, Lada and Ezi. It is possible that, behind the name of goddess Ezi, or Ezi-Jezi, Ziva herself was hidden.

Leto (Leda) – Leto was a goddess of the Polacks, a member of the Leda-Lada-Ezi trinity. As can be seen from her very name, she was the ruler of the summer and of ripe wheat (leto = summer).

Jula – Deity of such name was worshipped in the town of Julin, which was also known as Volin. It is thought that this was a local deity that gave her name to the town (Julin means "belonging to Jula"). Jula's worshippers bowed to a holy spear that was placed in the town square. Some authors, like the chronicler Ebo, claim that the spear actually belonged to Julius Caesar, the legendary conqueror of Julin. Theoreticians of Slavic Vedantism make parallels between Jula and Crnobog.

Pizamar - Knytlinga saga mentions this deity as well. His statue was in the town of Korencija. Louis Legé thinks that Pizamar and Besomar are one and the same.

Porenucije – Deity of this name was worshipped on the island of Rujan, or to be more precise, in the southern regions of this island, in the town of Korencija. The statue of Peruncije represented a god similar to Svetovid – it was a deity with five faces, four of which were on his head, and the fifth one was on his chest.

Porevid (Puruvid) – Another god mentioned in Knytlinga saga. His statue was pulled down, along with the statues of Rinvid and Turupid, by the Danish king Valdemar, who launched a campaign against Korencija town. It is possible that this god was equal to Proven, or Perun. Porevid's statue had five heads, the same as Porenucije's.

Rinvid – A god whose statue was destroyed during king Valdemar's invasion of Korencija. Legé thinks that Rinvid was one and the same with Rudjevid, a god of the island of Rujan whom we have equaled with Gerovit.

Turupid – A deity of Korencija whose statue was also destroyed by king Valdemar. It is not unlikely that Turpid was a warrior god, since in the language of the Kasubas, the Polish Slavs, there is a similar word that could be translated as "shake" or "jolt". This word is trepoet, and is quite similar to Turpid's name.

Zizileja – A deity mentioned by a Polish historian Dlugos. She was the protector of children, watching over their fate. It is possible that we are dealing here with just one more form of goddess Ziva who, among other things, was perceived as a mothering character.

by Vesna Kakaševski
translated by Snježana Todorović