Also called Czernobog, Zcerneboch, Černobog, the Black God.
Their story
Helmold of Bosau, writing in the 1160s, says that the Slavs at their feasts passed round a bowl and spoke words over it in the name of the gods, good and evil, and that they called the god of misfortune Zcerneboch, the black god. This is the only medieval mention. Much of what is now said about a grand cosmic struggle between Chernobog and Belobog is modern, partly shaped by Christian dualism and nineteenth-century romanticism.
Best times to give to them
- Koliada (the dark of the year)
- feasts, as a spoken acknowledgement
What they like being given
- no offerings are recorded; a respectful word of acknowledgement is enough
How to honour them
- Acknowledge that bad luck is part of life without dwelling on it.
- Balance any mention of misfortune with thanks for good fortune.
How they can help you
- accepting hardship
- understanding balance
- naming fears
Symbols
- black
- a passed drinking bowl
- night
Helmold's single sentence is the whole early evidence; the dualist cosmology built around him is modern.
Sources
- Helmold, Chronica Slavorum, Book I, chapter 52
More Slavic gods
- Perun The thunder god of oak and axe
- Veles Lord of cattle, wealth and the underworld
- Dazhbog The giving god, the sun
- Svarog The heavenly smith, father of fire and sun
- Jarilo The youthful god of spring and growth
- Rod The god of kin, birth and fate
- Stribog Grandfather of the winds
- Khors The bright disc of the sun