Bereginya in Slavic mythology. Beregini


On the far shore of the sky, above the top of Mer-mountain, in the starry temple of the Gods, the sacred fire of faith and love burns. This living Fire is supported and protected by the great Bereginya. Sparks of the sacred flame scatter into billions of stars throughout the universe. There are so many rays of the magic fire, so many stars in the sky, so many wonderful incarnations of Beregini. She sails in a heavenly boat to appear on Earth to ignite the hearts of people with the light of divine love. Bereginya carefully protects all living things and things, both in the sky and on land, and in green forests, and in clear rivers, and in mysterious mountains, and in every house, in every little place. There is nothing unnoticed by the great Bereginya.

The messenger of the gods, Bereginya, settles near rivers and lakes, filling the flow of water with the sacred spirit, and sensitively guards the banks, night and day. She especially liked coastal birches and weeping willows. There she turns into a beautiful green-eyed girl with long golden hair and wreaths of white lilies. Some lonely travelers and fishermen sometimes met a banker swinging on birch branches by the river... And people saw her combing her beautiful hair with a magic comb. And while she touched her hair with the magic comb, the water flowed stronger in the rivers and streams, flooding the banks... And when she removed the magic comb from her hair, the streams of water subsided...
Beregina is subject to all the elements and secrets of nature. She helps people who find themselves in difficult situations on the river, especially those who are meek and pure in soul..

And in the dense forest Bereginya does not sleep. Carefully protects the trees, bushes and magical herbs there. She especially loves fragrant herbs, wormwood, lovage, mint. If anyone wants to please Bereginya, then the best gift for her will be her favorite herbs/ Bereginya takes maternal care of the animals in the forest, feeds them, treats them, plays with them...
If she meets a kind person on a path in the forest, she will immediately feel that he is not a stranger and that he will not harm nature. She will help such a person in every possible way, and will lead him onto the road to the forester’s hut, and protect him from predatory animals, and show him a clearing with delicious berries and mushrooms, and will direct him to a healing spring, and encourage him on the way. And if a good traveler gets tired in the forest, then she will spread out a soft silk grass-ant for him, and will be invisibly present somewhere nearby, protecting his sleep. And if anyone comes to the forest with unkind thoughts, Bereginya does not let him into the secrets of the forest, and confuses the paths, hiding the forest kingdom.

And Bereginya lives in the mountains like a real mistress, every trail there is dear to her. Protects mountain minerals and gems, and the underground secrets of caves... She will not reveal the secrets and treasures of the mountains to every person, but only to a disinterested, loving, sincere soul, to one who loves and honors nature like his own mother. She will give such a traveler a tireless surge of magical powers, filling him with the sacred spirit, vigilance of the eyes, sensitive hearing, courage and inspiration...

And Bereginya also appears invisibly on the battlefields, where loyal warriors defend their beloved homeland. Beregia is always on the side of a noble heart, on the side of worthy knight-defenders, those who live according to conscience and love. Bereginya does not allow the good defender to die, and blesses him to victory; she can create a magical protective circle around the warrior, which the enemy’s evil spears are powerless to penetrate.

"Great rivers flow in Rus'.
And they gurgle, full of water,
the ancient singing about those boyars
who were not afraid to go to the fields against those who were ready to go out
and fight for Russian freedom for many years.
Those glorious ones did not save anything, not even their lives.
Bereginya told them so"
(From the Book of Veles)

And Bereginya’s main concern on Earth is the protection of family, peace, faith, goodness.. In every house, mansion and little room, Bereginya carefully observes whether everything is okay there, whether everyone is healthy and happy. She rejoices when peace, justice, tranquility, love, understanding, and fidelity reign in the family. And he becomes sad, sad, if he sees discord and tears. She wants to caress, caress, console, protect, reconcile everyone... She tries to help everyone, like her beloved children...
The ancient Slavs revered and believed in Bereginya, considered her the protector of the clan and family, and in every possible way fulfilled the spiritual commandments of the gods.

Since ancient times, the stove has always occupied the homes of the Slavs. For the family, the stove is not only a source of warmth; it signifies the spiritual guardian of goodness and the sacred fire of Beregini. In the evenings, all family members gathered around the stove and found peace, comfort, joy, peace, and a surge of new strength and hope. The fire in the furnace was considered a tribe of love; it was maintained so that it would never go out. Bereginya still constantly takes care of the hearth... If she sees that the fire is beginning to go out, then she, smiling tenderly, adds more firewood so that the love in the house will always be unquenchable. Our ancestors had a tradition - if someone left for another village, they took a light from their home fireplace with them and lit it in a new place, and always made sure that all the lamps in the house were burning. The ancestors considered sacred fire not only the stove, but also mother’s lullaby, grandfather’s fairy tale, grandmother’s embroidery, a birch tree on the native porch, a well in the yard... Loyalty, faith, love, cordiality, tenderness, trust - this is also Beregini’s heavenly fire.

And since then in Rus', when preparing for a wedding, round bread is baked in the family hearth. Both the bride and groom are traditionally greeted with a loaf of bread. The belief has been preserved that bread baked in the Beregini hearth will give happiness, fertility and longevity to a young family. In the old days in Rus', before the wedding, girls embroidered towels with patterns that depicted the magical signs of Beregini. Such embroideries were considered amulets. The same patterns were used to decorate shutters and doors in houses to protect families from witchcraft.
And also, according to tradition, amulet dolls were passed down from generation to generation, which, according to faith, contained the spirit of Beregini. These Beregin dolls were placed in the most sacred places of the house, and people turned to them for advice and help. Our ancestors believed that Bereginya responded to every request and helped.

Bereginya is still present nearby, and monitors how young wives, daughters-in-law, and sisters treat the family. To those women who have a kind, wise heart, she gives them the gift of magic, and they themselves also become guardians. In simple household chores, and in cooking, done with love, blessing, and prayer for loved ones, food becomes magical, capable of benefiting the family, healing, adding strength, confidence, and joy. When cleaning and washing the house, the bereginya drives away all illnesses and adversities from the house, adding beauty, sunshine and comfort. When ironing clothes, the sorceress-beregin attracts good luck to the house, and any task and any path in the family is easy. And those people who take on the same work grumpily and with gloomy thoughts, the fruits of their labor do not bring benefit to anyone, and loved ones in the family suffer from this.

Beregina obeys the clouds in the sky, the wind hears her prayers, and at her request the rain and thunderstorms can stop when her husband or children are on the road. She can also call on rains during a drought to water fields and vegetable gardens with life-giving moisture. Bereginya knows the secrets of magical plants, trees, bees, butterflies understand her and willingly give healing fruits. Bereginya can calm predatory animals, and they will never attack a person, and will live peacefully nearby. Where Bereginya passes, flowers bloom more magnificently, peace, harmony, kindness, love and joy are sown there.

Our ancient ancestors celebrated Beregini’s birthday every year on July 15th. On this holiday, girls gathered on the banks of rivers, danced in circles, and wove wreaths of wild flowers. They asked the birch tree for blessings for a happy family life. We washed ourselves with magic dew at sunrise, collected healing herbs. Dew, herbs, flowers collected on such a day have miraculous powers. On such a beloved holiday, people had fun, sang songs, played the harp. And they prayed to Beregina for a good harvest, for health, for the well-being of the family, and asked for peace on earth.

Bereginya is a very controversial image, preserved in the beliefs of the Slavs different descriptions this protectress, but it is known for certain: they worshiped her with special diligence. It has been proven that this is a Slavic goddess, who was personified with spirits who protected from evil and evil spirits, who protected the family and the entire clan.

Who is Bereginya among the Slavs?

According to the legends of our ancestors, Bereginya is the goddess of fertility and family hearth, goodness and family happiness. She helps people, but gives her protection only to those who act according to the laws of conscience. This Slavic goddess was also considered the guardian of earthly riches, which she gave to people. Legends have preserved several names of Beregini: Alive. Dana, Lada and Lelya. There are 2 versions of the origin of this word:

  1. "Pregynia" - a hill covered with forest - is the guardian of nature.
  2. “Shore” - protect - protector of people from evil forces.

The Slavs believed that this spirit brings heavenly fire into the house and sanctifies the stove as a symbol. And:

  • protects young children;
  • preserves the family;
  • protects the harvest and sends rain in severe drought.

What does Bereginya look like?

Several descriptions of this deity have been preserved, and in many respects they agree. Ancestors believed that the goddess Bereginya appears to people as:

  1. A young girl in white clothes.
  2. A beauty with light or greenish hair.
  3. A beautiful woman with green eyes and a perfect figure.

There are several versions about the origin of Beregini:

  1. Unusual mermaids, who do not offend, but protect people, appeared from the water naked or in white shirts. Innocent girls who died a violent death or committed suicide after the betrayal of a loved one turned into such beregins.
  2. The strongest witches of the clan after death, so this image was described as a woman in rich clothes with ears of wheat in her hair.

Bereginya among the Slavs was considered a symbol of fertility and home; they asked her for health for the whole family, for help in love and protection of a loved one, to protect her from evil forces. Beregini trees are called weeping willow and birch; the latter was called magical by the ancestors, protecting against witchcraft and evil forces. Bereginya is a Slavic goddess, personifying the image of a mother who always helps everyone. But the legends still preserved the following images:

  1. The progenitor of existence and the guardian of all life on earth. She is accompanied by luminous horsemen - servants of the sun. Therefore, Beregina was often contacted during the harvest months.
  2. The protector of warriors during battle, she surrounded the brave men with a protective circle and saved their lives. According to legend, she saved the knights from the singing of the Sirin bird, which plunged them into oblivion.

Beregini and ghouls

Bereginya, the goddess of the Slavs, was considered the only one whom ghouls were afraid of. This was the name given to the spirits who brought death and pestilence. The ancestors believed that such personifications of evil were strangers who died not in their native land, but also those buried without a ritual, drunkards or suicides. They were called hostage dead, and sacrifices were made to the souls of the dead to appease them. There was a belief that only Bereginya could stop the ghoul, so the pagan Slavs tried to bring daily demands to this goddess - for the sake of protecting their home and family.

Beregin symbols - their meanings

And today it is considered very popular Slavic amulet“Bereginya”, which protects from evil. Two of these have survived to this day:

Fabric dolls, as intermediaries in human communication with creatures from another world. They were made without a single stitch with a needle, from white fabric - a symbol of purity of thoughts. Hopes for love and prosperity were invested in such a doll; it was a protective amulet for a person.

  • Special embroideries. The Slavic sign “Bereginya” is still preserved in the following patterns:

    • Other popular symbols:

    The ancient Slavs, professing paganism, had many different gods. Bereginya occupied a special place among them. She was considered the creator of all things and had an inextricable connection with the Sun. This goddess loved people and often helped them in difficult lean years. In terms of her status, she stood on a par with the thunderer Perun, that is, she belonged to the elite of the Slavic pantheon. However, everything changed after Christianity replaced paganism.

    After this, the pagan gods began to be forgotten or given a different, sinister meaning. But Beregini was not affected by general denigration, since her authority was extremely high. However, as centuries passed, the true essence of this goddess began to fade in people's memory. Gradually, her image transformed and stood on a par with mermaids and other ancient Slavic mythological characters.

    The creative beginning of the once powerful goddess was safely buried, and the opinion became stronger that this image always had a low status in Slavic mythology. Moreover, he personified not one entity, but many. Legends and myths began to claim that there are no less beregins in the world than mermaids. Only they do not live in water, but in forests and look like young beautiful girls.

    A belief arose that betrothed brides who did not live to see the wedding become beregins. They could die from some kind of illness or commit suicide due to the groom’s betrayal. There was also another explanation. It featured young girls who committed suicide as a result of abuse.

    However, these mythological characters did not harbor any grudges against people. On the contrary, they protected and protected all those who found themselves in a dangerous situation. This could be a meeting with mermaids or ghouls. The former could drag a person into the abyss of the water, and the latter could drink the blood from the unfortunate person and feast on his flesh.

    According to one legend, the Bereginya saved a man sailing on a boat from the song of the Sirin bird. She covered his ears with her palms and steered the boat towards the shore. When the traveler got out of the boat, she showed him a safe path. And there are many such cases described in legends and myths. That is, we see a positive character who has nothing to do with the forces of evil.

    These mythological creatures appeared on earth when the rye began to ear. They appeared from the otherworldly kingdom and found themselves in the crowns of birches and willows. They descended along branches and trunks to the earth's surface, sat down on the shore and began to comb their long, thick green hair, looking into the river or lake water.

    Having put themselves in order, the beauties began to frolic on the shore. They tumbled in the grass, wove wreaths, and swung on the branches of birch and willow trees. But the most important entertainment was the round dances. The guardians began to lead them around, sing songs, and thereby lured young guys to them. Each of them personified a lost groom for these girls, and therefore the attitude towards the young men was affectionate and tender. The fun continued until the rye faded. Immediately after this, the mythological beauties left the earth and were transported to their other world.

    This image in mythology always contained a positive principle, and the symbol of these forest mermaids were trees such as birch and weeping willow. It was they who personified young beautiful girls who passed away in the prime of life and found refuge in a fabulous afterlife. Despite their broken fate, they brought love and kindness to people. They protected them from evil forces and showed them the right path in life. They helped many, and made the unworthy worthy.

    Stanislav Kuzmin

    Bereginya repeatedly mentioned in Slavic fairy tales. This is a Goddess who is capable of incarnating in other Slavic Goddesses, as well as in earthly women. This confirms her omnipresent nature and power. The Slavs recognized the power of the Goddess Beregini in protective dolls without faces. There is a special holiday dedicated to the Beregins and the Goddess Beregin herself.

    Some researchers of Slavic mythology believe that Bereginya among the Slavs is, rather, a collective and abstract image of some ancient feminine force aimed at helping people who live by honor and truth. The deification of such a force and its personification occurred ambiguously and not among all Slavs. There are peoples who still reverence Bereginya as a patron spirit.

    Bereginya turns into a Goddess every time she is given names - Zhiva, Lada, Lelya, Dana and others. This is how our Slavic ancestors imagined that the feminine primordial Origin has many forms, incarnations, and aspects. Therefore, Bereginya could well be some kind of Goddess, endowing separate personality her qualities, at the same time she could be an elemental natural spirit.

    The word “bereginya” itself, according to experts, could come from both “pregynya” - a forest hill, and from “bereg” - to protect, protect. In the first case, it served to protect nature, and in the second, to protect people from evil. From time immemorial, people believed that Bereginya protects the human race, especially protects small children and helps preserve fields so that they achieve a rich harvest. Let us also highlight three main versions of occurrence Take care:

    1. Beregini are female maternal powers, initially found only with the Progenitor Family, helping Him to create in every possible way. Subsequently, this power, dividing into itself, was manifested on Earth to help people, keep the fire of the hearth in the house, protect people from evil spells, witchcraft powers, and give fertility.
    2. Kind mermaids emerging from the water in long white robes with flowing hair. Slavic beliefs endowed them with a fatal fate, believing that they were young, innocent girls who died prematurely. The mermaids at the same time acted as Beregins, protecting the harvest.
    3. Powerful witches and sorceresses, who after death expressed a desire to protect part of nature, or part of the human race, or some kind of family. In this sense, any Bereginya was classified as a new Goddess (from the world of Navi).

    The Rusal-Oberezhnaya theme has been entrenched among the Slavs to this day. But for the sake of fairness, it should be noted that the spirits of trees, rivers, lakes, meadows, fields, hills, forests, and air were also considered beregins. At the same time with all these “regalia”, the beregins endowed their power with women who got married and became mistresses of their homes. Now and today, good wives who live according to the covenant and law of the Slavic clans are called beregins of the clan, or beregins of their husband, family, and their children.

    Goddess Bereginya - what do the Slavs know?

    Portrayed Bereginya(or beregins) as follows:

    1. A very young girl in white clothes, with blond hair and blue eyes.
    2. A fabulously beautiful girl with green hair.
    3. A beautiful green-eyed woman who gives fertility and protection to the Slavs.
    4. In embroidery they depicted a woman with her arms raised as a sign of protection, her legs in the form of roots, symbolizing stability and strength from the Family.
    5. The symbol is a rhombus with dots, other rhombuses, as well as protective dolls.

    In literary descriptions and fine Slavic art, Bereginya was “painted” with peace and tranquility on her face. In her hands there will certainly always be either a flower (or a wreath of herbs and flowers), or a spikelet, or a noble bird. Some legends mention that ghouls, who bring pestilence and death to people, were fiercely afraid of her. Therefore, demands were brought to her to protect the family, home and the entire village. After all, only she can stop the approaching evil force.

    In other cases, Bereginya was revered as the Goddess-Giver of all sorts of blessings.

    She could bestow wealth, protect the harvest, the first shoots, and was known as the guardian of the family and hearth. Sending their husbands to war, women themselves played the role of guardians - they made various amulets, clothes, etc. with their own hands and spells.

    For example, it was customary among the Western Slavs and southern border Cossacks to put on a shirt before a battle, with a wife’s hair (or several hairs) sewn into the collar. It was believed that with the strength of his wife, the husband would not be lost in the war. Identifying the Goddess with a mermaid sitting on the branches of a tree, the girls went to look for her in the forest along the banks of rivers. They hoped to ask for a good betrothed, joy in the future family life or health and strength to conceive and give birth to children.

    Other Slavs believed that Beregini were natural spirits who could be asked for anything. If you live according to the laws of the Rule (you live according to the truth and do not violate universal laws), then any bereginya you call will help you.

    Beregina was contacted:

    • for the safety of the treasure dug into the ground, they cast a spell with the spirit of the guardian;
    • they made dolls on which they cast a spell with the names of the beregins;
    • They accompanied their relatives on a long journey, calling upon the family’s protectors.

    Today, the revival of the Slavic primordial way of life is not happening so quickly that people everywhere can clearly perceive the Goddess Bereginya. With the advent of man-made civilization and its consequences, all the guardian spirits were offended. Rivers were polluted, forests were cut down (especially protected ones - fruit trees, relict forests and forests of sacred significance) and so on. After such neglect, many guardian spirits left, leaving their places on Mother Raw Earth, which they had protected for centuries and millennia.

    Beregini's Special Day

    Beregini's Day revered by the Slavs July 15(in the Christian tradition - Petrova Utka, or Mother Raw Mother of God). The birch tree was especially revered on this day. On this day, all work was postponed, especially mowing. In the morning or afternoon, embroidered towels and treats were carried to the field, to the forest, to the river. All this is laid out and offered as a requirement to the Goddess Beregin of the clan, or to the Beregin spirits. Young girls and women loved to wash their faces and dry themselves with these towels. It was believed that this would give them more strength, health and beauty.

    The wealth of Slavic culture lies precisely in being able to imagine the diversity of this world, other worlds and the entire Universe. Nothing in the world is static - everything moves and develops. Nothing in the world is monotonous - everything is diverse. Slavic mythology recognizes that Bereginya is a collective image, but has her own powerful personification, expressed in some Slavic deities - goddesses. So, Bereginya also appears in different creatures, spirits, in people and even spiritualized certain ritual and religious objects.

    Bereginya is a great goddess in Slavic mythology, who together with Rod gave birth to all things. She is accompanied everywhere by luminous horsemen, personifying the Sun. According to popular beliefs, betrothed brides who died before the wedding turned to beregins. Each guy was a lost groom for the beregin, and they drove many crazy with their beauty and cruelty.

    Church Slavonic teachings against paganism list the beregins among the minor characters. The author of “The Lay of Idols” mentions the beregins along with ghouls. Scribes mention that there were thirty beregins or “nine sisters,” which connects them with the fever sisters from the apocrypha of Byzantine origin.

    V. Dal also considered beregins to be mermaids in his “Explanatory Dictionary”. Possible relics of the cult of beregins, recorded in ethnographic records, are also associated with the cult of trees and vegetation. In the Kanevsky district of the Kiev province, peregeney was the name given to the ritual that accompanies the weeding of beets, and the main character of this ritual.

    Bereginya is a rather abstract image. Obviously, this is a female creature (with a female polarity of energy) and is quite good-natured, not carrying a single drop of negativity. Bereginya is most often depicted as a young fair-haired girl in a simple light-colored dress. There are other versions that say that after death the strongest witches of the clan or kind-hearted women who gave the clan many glorious descendants become Beregins.

    Perhaps, by Bereginya, our ancestors meant the type of “good” mermaids who did not carry any negative aspects for humans. The cult of Beregini was represented by the birch tree - the embodiment of heavenly radiance and light. Over time, birch began to be especially revered at “mermaids” - festivals in honor of beregins (mermaids).

    Bereginya - Slavic goddess, protector and patroness of the worthy

    For example, those girls who committed suicide because of the betrayal of a treacherous groom. The goddess Bereginya, according to Slavic legends, gave birth to all life on Earth. She loves people, but protects only the worthy - those who live according to their conscience and do not violate the laws of their ancestors.

    Bereginya in Slavic mythology is presented rather abstractly; there is very little information about this deity. Bereginya never acted as a goddess who punishes for wrong actions, like, for example, the goddess Makosh, who punishes people who have forgotten the traditions of their ancestors. The goddess was usually depicted as a young girl in a light dress. Willows were associated with mermaids; below is an explanation of the connection between water spirits and Bereginya.

    Beregini Day - July 15

    Beregina Day is celebrated on July 15, and if according to the old style, then on July 2. It is associated with a holiday in honor of this Slavic goddess that has almost become a thing of the past. On this day it was supposed to turn to her with requests for a good harvest, especially if we were talking about bread. In the old days, Bereginya was asked to protect the family from hunger and give a lot of bread in the coming autumn.

    You cannot work on most Slavic holidays. Since the birch was considered the tree of the protector goddess, it was given special honors on the Bereginya holiday. Women and girls who honored this goddess went outside the village, found a birch tree, bowed to her and asked her for happiness in love, prosperity in the home, health and protection from ill-wishers. It is believed that on July 15, Bereginya hears everyone who needs her protection and help.

    Bereginya Pokosnitsa - amulet doll for children and young girls

    The trees cleaned the fabric from the negativity collected from a person, and also charged it with the power of Beregini. Over time, the cult of Beregini disappeared; in legends and myths she remained in the role of a patron spirit who protects people who live with dignity, have a clear conscience and observe the laws of their ancestors. The Guardian Spirit is confident that the main measure of a person’s righteousness is his actions and the presence of conscience.

    It is believed that Beregins become girls who have already been matched, but died before marriage. People who settled near rivers, in close proximity to bodies of water, tried to be friends with them. During life in the old days, some women were called Beregins. In the old days they believed that Bereginya Pokosnitsa would pass on to the child the wisdom of ancient traditions that were passed down from generation to generation. Gradually, clearer images of gods and goddesses formed, acquiring a specific appearance. The worship of the Beregins began to be combined with the worship of Rod and Mokosha - the patrons of fertility.

    The fact is that the latter are goddesses or spirits of disease and have and cannot have anything in common with the beregins

    Some scientists believe that the name “bereginya” is similar to the name of the thunderer Perun and the Old Slavic word “pregynya” - “a hill covered with forest.” In turn, this word is related to the word “breg”, “berer”. Beregini are Slavic goddesses of nature, female good spirits are guardians of nature and forests. They cast spells in wild, untouched places, and also maintain fertility. This is a warrior and protector who lives in the forests, making friends with everyone living along the banks (the second name of this word).

    More recently, beregins were quite seriously considered connected with the shore and were even called coastal mermaids. These are some faceless forces: bereginii, ghouls, navyi. Perhaps there was not even a clear distinction between them as beneficent and harmful; they were revered with equal zeal.



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