Symbolic Ritual of the Victim Selection for Perun: From Ancient DrawingLots to Modern ReinterpretationTwenty-fifth of July. In the Slavic pagan calendar, this date was marked by a special, troubling and at the same time sacred event — the Selection of the Victim for Perun. A week before the main holiday of the Thunderer, on the day when the sky was especially often illuminated by lightning, and the earth trembled from thunder, ancient Slavs decided who or what was destined to become a gift for the most powerful god of the pantheon. This ritual, shrouded in legends and disputes of historians, has passed a long way from bloody sacrifices to symbolic actions, and today, in the era of the revival of interest in original traditions, it acquires a new, deeply symbolic sound.Perun: the master of thunder and the patron of warriorsTo understand the meaning of the ritual of the victim selection, it is necessary to realize to whom it was intended. Perun occupied a central place in the pantheon of eastern Slavs. He was not just the god of thunder and lightning, but also the patron of warriors and the princely retinue. Slavs believed that Perun controlled the elements, cast thunderbolts and influenced the outcome of battles. That is why sacrifices to him were brought with special care, hoping for military victories, prosperity and protection from natural calamities. Symbols of Perun were the oak, the lightning and the sword, embodying power and justice. His sacred animal was the forest bull tur, and the flower was the blue iris, whose six petals resembled the thunderbolt sign. Temples of the Thunderer, built under the open sky, had the shape of this flower: in the center there was a statue of the god, and around it were eternal fires burning in the pits-«petals». In front of the idol was an altar in the form of a stone ring, where the sacrificial blood was poured.The Ritual of Selection: DrawingLots and the Sacred SheafThe day of the victim selection, marked on July 25th, was a ... Read more