He’s big and he’s bad

Old Slavic gods were usually in charge of two or three things. Ok, sometimes four. However, there was one Slavic god who had so many skills he was what you would call a Jack of all trades. He was so deeply involved in all aspects of everyday life, he was like a sort of ancient Google. His name was Veles, and since his name starts with a V, it makes sense that he is one of those guys whose name you shouldn’t say out loud (Voldemort, (Darth) Vader…).

If one had to describe Veles (or Volos) in only two words, they would probably say: he’s big and he’s bad. That is because some people saw him as the greatest among the greats, strong and dashing fellow (the son of a cow and the Slavic god Rod), determined and righteous protector, what you would call a saint; and some saw him as an old man with gray hair and long beard, with an old shepherd’s crook in his hand, the dark ruler, the tyrant, the ultimate bad guy, what you would call a devil. 

Although he had an army of followers who worshiped him and only him, there were still more people who thought of him only as Mr. Hyde, never Dr Jekyll. BUT, love him or hate him, one thing is for sure: everyone feared him. Like I said – he’s big and he’s bad.

If he was to apply for a job in the contemporary world, his CV would be longer than the list of Henry VIII’s wives and mistresses. Veles was in charge of the crops, wealth, property, trade, cattle, art, shepherds, tricks and cons, and wizards. He was all a god could be. He handled all the buying and the selling, contracts, media, music, and models. It is fun to note that his significance in making contracts of all kinds was so great, it was enough just to swear by him, and the contract was automatically valid. That’s it. No kind of ID necessary.

Since he was the god of cattle and crops, he was extremely important when it came to survival. People worshiped and venerated him, because they believed that his mood will decide if the harvest would be rich and if there would be enough cattle. That is why everyone did their best not to offend him, or, God forbid, make him mad in any way. He was also, when needed, in charge of the forests, wildlife, shepherds, and fertility.

It is interesting to note that Veles was creative, too. Apart from inspiring numerous musicians and writers, helping countless druids and wizards, he himself was a kind of a poet, a philosopher, a writer… He loved taking notes; it was almost as if he was keeping a journal. It is assumed that that is how the Book of Veles came into being. Still, so far, no one was able to prove that the book discovered in 1919 in Russia was actually written by the mighty god himself.

Now, if you take a closer look at the Slavic pantheon, Veles and Perun are the only two gods who appear in all Slavic mythologies, and it doesn’t matter if you’re Team V or Team P: the story about the two of them is more or less the same. They are in constant conflict. On one hand, Veles is always trying to defeat Perun, by kidnapping his wife, children, cattle, followers, basically everything and everyone he can get his paws on, while on the other, sooner or later, Perun always wins.

According to the most common version of the story, Veles, disguised as a snake, crawls up the World Tree, trying to reach its top. Namely, Slavs believed that the world is in fact a giant tree, with its roots representing Nav – the underworld – and its treetop representing the sky – that is, Jav.  As soon as Perun sees Veles the Snake crawling, he throws lightning bolts at him. According to the legend, once he beats Veles, Perun lets rain descend on the Earth, as a sign of victory. However, Veles always returns, so their antagonism basically represents the eternal struggle of good and evil and the universal goal of the bad guys everywhere: to become Caliph instead of the Caliph.

And finally, whether you’re one of those who see Veles, the god of beasts, as the mighty bear, the Slavic ruler of forests and nature, or you see him as the dark ruler of the underworld and the master of the dead, keep in mind: he’s big and he’s bad!

Perun vs Veles

(images retrieved from www.comicvine.com i www.kriegerman.deviantart.com)