There are many definitions of the concept of "paganism". Some researchers believe that paganism is a religion, others suggest that more than religion, but rather, the way of life, the thoughts of the whole people, the third simply assume that this is the folkloric component of ancient people. And yet it is worthwhile to consider in more detail what paganism was in the life of people of distant times, using the example of everyday life and culture of the ancient Slavs.
In the current interpretation, paganism is the religion of countries that did not profess at that time monotheistic religions, were not adherents of Judaism. Paganism was widespread, but the most powerful cults were on the territory of ancient Scandinavia and Rus. The ancient Egyptians, Romans, Greeks and many other nations also belonged to the Gentiles, but in the pronunciation of this term, the runic formulas of the Scandinavians and Slavic traditions arise in memory. Even if we accept the definition that this is a religion, then the paganism of the ancient Slavs, however, like other peoples, was not a religious canon. Ancient man lived by these foundations. For him there was no peace outside paganism. The Slavs could understand and accept the universe only through a complex and set of rules and laws of the pagan system. For them, paganism is the gods, and the gods controlled every minute of their life, gave joy and punishment. People lived in accordance with the cult of each deity. Every god owned a certain part of the world and ruled it, but the man took it for granted and never grumbled at the higher powers.
The ancient Slavic world existed at will and under the control of the gods. These were not separate deities, the gods of paganism represented a clearly structured pantheon. In the hierarchical ladder, every god had his own weight and a certain set of duties. The paradox of paganism was that, to some extent, despite the extraordinary power that the gods and spirits of the ancient Slavs were endowed with, they were strong only in the element that was ruled, while man included the universe, and the enlightened Man could control all the forces of nature with the power of the spirit.
The man was like the god Rhoda, who was the supreme deity, but because his possibilities included a full cycle, he could be feminine and masculine, he could be fire and at the same time water, he was everything - the essence of the universe. Despite this, and perhaps because this phenomenon was too difficult for an ancient man to understand, the primacy in the pantheon of Prince Vladimir's time was given to Perun who ran lightning and thunder - quite understandable powerful natural phenomena, the power of which was extremely frightening to the ancient man and Served as a regulatory component. It was clear that Perun could punish, and his punishment would be the most terrible blow of thunder and lightning. Like any polytheistic world, paganism is the worship of many gods, more precisely, for each tribe, certain deities and spirits were important, and the supreme ruler was terrible, but far away.
This way of thinking and living has become so firmly entrenched in the culture and life of the Slavs that after the baptism of Rus passed part of the holidays, rituals and deities to Christianity. The deities changed only names without changing their functions. A striking example of this is the transformation of Perun into Ilya the prophet, who is still popularly called a thunderer. And there are thousands of such examples. Rites, beliefs, holidays exist in our day. Paganism is a most powerful cultural complex, it is the history of the people, its essence. It is impossible to imagine Russia without paganism. Even the concept of Orthodoxy, introduced by the Christian church in the 12th century, was borrowed from the pagan canon to praise the right, the truth - to live right.