Also called Ród, Rod and the Rozhanitsy.
Their story
Medieval Russian sermons condemned people for setting out bread, cheese and honey for Rod and the Rozhanitsy, spirits of birth and fate. Little else is known. In modern Slavic paganism he is often honoured as the supreme creator, an idea that grew from twentieth-century scholarship.
Best times to give to them
- births and naming days
- the winter festival
- family gatherings
- ancestor days in spring (Radunitsa)
What they like being given
- bread
- cheese
- honey
- porridge (kasha)
- a lit candle
How to honour them
- Keep a family tree or photographs on your altar.
- Set a place at a family meal for the ancestors.
- Bake bread or kasha at a birth and share it.
- Learn and tell your family's stories.
How they can help you
- family bonds
- blessings for a newborn
- honouring ancestors
- understanding your roots
Symbols
- the family tree
- the hearth
- bread
- the Rozhanitsy (birth spirits)
Rod's role as a high creator god is modern and debated; the older evidence points to a god or spirit of kin and birth.
Festivals
- Dziady Several times a year in different regions; the main autumn Dziady is usually around 1 to 2 November, or on a Saturday in late October or early November
- Koliada Midwinter, now kept at Christmas Eve, 24 December, or 6 January where the Julian church calendar is followed, and through the following Svyatki holy days
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
- Stribog Grandfather of the winds
- Khors The bright disc of the sun
- Simargl The enigmatic winged guardian