Rodnovery, sometimes referred to as the Slavic Native Faith, is a not-so-well-known Pagan religion. Rodnovery comes from the Slavic countries of Eastern Europe. However, in today’s mobile society it is practiced all over the world.
In this article, I will share with you more practical things, so you will be able to understand some of the day-to-day practice.
You can also read our Introduction to Rodnovery which discusses our theology and cosmology, some practice beliefs, and places where our religion exists.
Who am I?
My name is Marko, I come from a small Slavic country in Southeastern Europe. Coming from an Orthodox Christian background, I questioned everything from a very young age. That led me to years of research into my Rodnovery pagan path. Since my native religion promotes collective tradition, as an introvert I started to dwell into Wiccan practice to learn about the solitary aspect so I could incorporate it into my path.
Author, Marko, celebrating Kupala out in nature.
Rodnovery Community Practice
In essence, Rodnovery is a religion that embraces the community and most practitioners choose to join organizations or religious groups. Only a minority chooses solitary practice.
There are different groups of Rodnovery, who vary from openness and a large community to strict little cults that require serious commitment from their followers.
Though the groups are different, the majority strongly emphasize the worship of ancestors and the cultivation of family, offspring, kin, and land.
What Do Rodnovery Communities Look Like?
Rodnovery organizations have inherited commonality and social governance from Slavic history. They have an assembly that is leading the organization, while the more organized groups even have their land where pagans can live communally together.
Most of the Rodnovery temples can be found in communities in rural areas. That way the rituals and religious meetings are often performed in forests or meadows.
Do Rodnovery Temples Have Priests?
The answer is quite simple, yes! Rodnovery has a hierarchy of priesthood with Volhvs at the top of the chain (shamans, mages, wizards) followed by Zherts (sacrificers).
They are solely responsible for holding rites of worship and leading the communities and religious festivals surrounding our holidays. Though the majority of priests are male, in modern times Rodnovery does not exclude women from the priesthood.
Ritual fire with a God Svarog statue
What kind of Ritual and Magic is There in Rodnovery?
The ritual practice incorporates our mythology, symbolism, chants, and gestures in beautiful gatherings of Rodnovery pagans or enjoyed in solidarity by practitioners.
Rituals usually take place in nature and they include the lighting of the sacred fire, invocations of Gods, singing of songs, sacrifices, circle dances, and a feast at the end is a must, and all of those have a magical aspect to them.
Rituals of initiation include a formal renunciation of other religions where you also get a new Slavic name which symbolizes the death and rebirth of the individual. This resembles very baptism, but in modern times that is not a must.
Rituals of entry into the brotherhood, Rodnovery marriage, and death and funeral are also some of the more common rituals that are performed.
Does Rodnovery Have Holidays?
Yes, of course! Every common Rodnovery practitioner follows a circular calendar that aligns itself to the two solstices and two equinoxes, setting out years into four phases.
Every one of them is special to all of the practitioners and is widely celebrated wherever Rodnovery exists, as well as holidays of our Gods in the meantime between those four phases. Some of the famous holidays are Kupala (Summer Solstice), Koledo (Winter Solstice), Maslenitsa (Spring Equinox), and also as mentioned, days of Gods such as Mokosh in November, Days of Perun in August, Days of Veles in February.
How Do You Practice Rodnovery?
As I mentioned already, I am in a minority of Rodnovery as I am a solitary practitioner mainly, but I’ve been to a few group gatherings as well. I do not have any groups that are a convenient distance from me so solitary practice is my only solution to practice my religion.
Forming my community has crossed my mind, but I am not ready to undertake such a responsible quest in my life, yet!
Being a solitary practitioner is both easy and hard. As mentioned, Rodnovery has a circular calendar which we follow and I always know which holidays or important days are upcoming and how to prepare for them.
Firstly, since I practice alone, I do not have the means and the time to follow through with all of them. In solitary practice, I have the benefit of organizing my worship. I will start with talking about smaller holidays and how I mark them, leading up to the more important ones.
Marko’s ritual cup with ale. The cup has the Rodnovery Tree of Life which symbolizes Jav, Nav and Pravi, the three realities.
Small Holidays and Days of Gods
There is a lot of small holidays and days of Gods in Rodnovery. On most occasions, with those that I do not feel connected to, I just take some time out of my day. Typically, in the early mornings or late evenings, I clear my mind, connect with the deity, and have positive thoughts on their behalf.
I worship all of them, good and bad, as I need everyone's fortune to prosper in life.
If I have enough free time, or if it's the weekend, I also light a sacred fire in my backyard in their honor. I calmly watching the flames burn away my thoughts and deliver them to the Gods.
Note that in Rodnovery we do not have altars for solitary practice like in Wicca. Therefore, I do not have that benefit for smaller and daily practice, but I am blessed enough to have a backyard with a variety of vegetation where I can connect to nature.
Important Holidays
During important holidays such as both Solstice and Equinoxes, I love to organize myself to do something bigger and honor some tradition connected to the holiday itself. Usually,
I take time off work for these, or if it’s a multi-day celebration I organize my time well enough to be able to fully devote myself to solitary practice. Usually, these bigger holidays are celebrated for a couple of days!
(Editors note) I love that Marko is able to take off work to celebrate his pagan holidays! This has been a challenge for many of us. Read our article Challenges of Being Pagan to learn more.
Kupala 2021 - Marko’s Solitary Practice of the Summer Solstice
After all this talk I think it’s most convenient to tell you how I celebrated this year's Summer Solstice, which was not long ago!
Kupala is a multi-day festival that starts with a day of God Vid, a week before the Solstice itself. It’s a tradition that on Vids days and the week before the Solstice you have to wake up before the sun rises, which I gladly did.
I incorporated my morning run routine with this, reaching a certain viewpoint in my town where I could watch the sun fighting its way to the sky through hills and forests. The first rays of sunshine on this particular week bring us the blessings of the Gods and it’s very valuable to soak that energy in if you can.
I have a meadow on my property and every night during this week I gathered various herbs in it and left them to soak in water. Then I washed my face with the herbalized water in a cleansing ritual every morning after the run, right before tending my vegetable garden.
Feeling very blessed and cleansed, I felt like something nice was going to happen to me on Kupala day, and the blessings of Vid have indeed brought me a surprise.
On Kupala Eve it’s common to go on a hike and watch the sunset, and I am blessed to live near some awesome hiking trails. So I went into the beautiful nature to watch the eve of the Solstice. According to tradition, on Summer Solstice morning you should take a ritual bath in natural waters such as lakes or rivers, and I do that every year in a lake near my city.
However, this year was very different. I was accompanied to my ritual bath by my Orthodox Christian father, who showed support for my Pagan path for the first time in 10 years!
In the evening, I lit a sacred fire in my backyard, enjoyed the company of my neighbors who listened to my stories about Rodnovery, similar to what you are reading now while gazing into the endless sky!
Take Away
Rodnovery can be beautiful even in solitary practice, so if it interests you, do some research yourself and try it out!
Guest Author, Marko, is a young pagan from Southeastern Europe, specializing his pagan path in his Native Faith called Rodnovery and dwelling into Wiccan solitary practices. Years of research and practice, from a very young age when curiosity blooms, gave Marko a good level of expertise on the topic of the Rodnovery religion.