| SWIATOWIT Often pictured as a four-faced god, an unarmed and omniscent chief god. In some parts of Poland, he alternately held a cornucopia and a sword. In Galicia, he had no gender alternately pictured with male and female faces. Also known as PORENTUTIUS. |
| LADA Goddess of order and beauty; love and springtime |
| MORA Goddess of the sea |
| RADEGAST Protector of merchants and guests |
| PERUN God of storms |
| WELLES God of cattle |
| MARZANNA Goddess of death, a Polish version of the banshee |
| DWIEWANNA Goddess of agriculture and spring |
| LADO Solar god of joy, husband of LADA |
| LEL God of marriage, son of LADA and LADO |
| LAWKAPATIM |
| DOMOWIJE Household spirits who dwelled in or behind the hearth or front steps. They could be protective or tricksters depending upon the respect accorded them. If properly invited, they could follow you to a new dwelling. It was important to introduce them to new pets and animals to avoid problems. |
| TROIAN Demon of the night |
| PANTHEON OF PREHISTORIC POLISH DEITIES |
| Pre-Christian Poles believed in a variety of gods. As opposed to Greek, Roman, and Norse deity, Polish gods were characterized by calmness and serenity. This betrays the Polish psyche perhaps, as Poles were not known for being particularly warlike and overly aggressive towards their neighbors. The Kingdom of Poland grew far more from compromise and diplomacy than it did by war. |
| Poles seemed to have placed an emphasis on hearth, home, family, crops and farm animals when creating their deities. Conspicuous by their absense are gods of war, victory, weaponry, conquest, and/or brute strength. |
| Dennis Benarz, Chicagoland USA 2002, Revisited 2009 |
| When Poles
opted to become Christians, over a thousand years ago, there was no large
nor inherent obstacle in replacing their deities with God the Father, Holy
Mary Mother of God, Jesus the Redeeming Son, and the litany of Christian
saints. What was crucial to the development of modern Poland was their choice of Roman Catholicism as their Christian Church. This would forever keep Poland and Polish Slavs joined to the community of western European nations. |
| So, what does this matter to our lives today? Only as the curiosity that some of our family surnames seem to be based on these beliefs, like LADA for the ancient Polish goddess, TROJAN for the demon Troian, and RAK for the zodiac sign Cancer, the Crab. Some of our Polish folk customs seem to as well, like in the early Spring when Poles "drown Marzanna". |
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| Swiatowit |
| Sources: Various |
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| Minor Spirits: |
| Major Deities: |
| Other Deities: |
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| DATAN Guardian of fields |
| TAWALS |
