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Belarusian mythology (Belarusian Беларуская міфалогія) is the system of legends, myths and cosmological presentations in ancient religion that was practiced in Belarus before Christianization in the 10th century. Belarusian mythology also includes plots and folk presentations that existed in Christian age but were not a part of the canonic Сhristian religion.
Contents
Gods
The Lower Mythology
Presentations about spirits and monsters lived in folk imagination even in the middle of the 20th century. It's reasonable to differ:
Holidays
Many todays holidays in Belarus have Pagan roots: Kaliady, Maslenitsa, Kupala Night (Belarusian Купалле), Call of Spring (Belarusian Гуканне вясны), Dziady (Belarusian Дзяды) and etc.
Cosmology and Cosmogony
The original pagan myths about structure of the world and its creating were forgotten. Rests of this myths were kept in fairy tales, folk beliefs, magical traditions. According to some plots the Earth is a thin plate that lies on the surface of the world ocean. Folk riddles, spells and some ornaments in old clothes of Belarusian peasants hints that antient religion could present that Earth is situated on the World Tree (the analogue of the Scandinavian Iggdrasil).
Ancient Creation myth wasn't kept in written sources. Today the scientists try to reconstruct it from folk proverbs, ballads, spells and songs. One spell says: "Sky is a father, Ground is a Mother". Another legend approves, that the Earth and the Sky where connected many centuries ago, and people could climb on the Sky. Ancient Belarusian mythology probably had universal myth about separation of Father-Sky and Mother-Ground which happened at the beginning of the world's existence. Today we can find this widespread myth in the Greek mythology (Uranus and Gaia) in more developed form.