Svarog

**Svarog** (Russian, Ukrainian: Сварог) is the Slavic god of the sun, fire, the forge, and creation.

## History

In some myths, Svarog is depicted as the creator of the world, awaking from his dreams before forging the Sun and creating the other gods. He is also believed to be the one who taught early humanity to use and make tools, and he was the father of Dazhbog, the god of the sun.

He rules over Pravi, a celestial realm inhabited by the gods.

## Appearance

Svarog is commonly depicted either as a handsome bearded man or an elder.

## In the Rinnarverse

The colony-republic of Novy Bodrich that orbits the star of Alpha Centauri B worships Svarog as its patron deity.

## In the Rabydosverse

Svarog is a popular deity among the Slavonic peoples of Jerde. He is worshipped as the national god of Sevestrana and Narivo, and nearby peoples also worship him in thanksgiving ceremonies or in great emergencies. Long ago in the Sixteenth Age, the Slavonian Brotherhood worshipped him as their patron deity, using his Loop as their symbol.

His symbol, the kolovrat-wheel, is usually displayed to invoke the god or fight demons. Some superstitious non-Darroskei people in the neighbouring countries do not use the kolovrat or even look at it, as they believed that their souls are not pure enough to approach the god's presence, so Narivo had to use an alternate flag for public functions.

People who refuse to look at kolovrats or touch them due to the sanctity of the symbol are known as "sun-eyed". In consideration for their religious beliefs, some Rodnover countries use different symbols to represent Svarog. For example, in Vozolaz and nearby countries, the eight-wheels flag is used in Rodnover or Slavic temples, including those belonging to a syncretic sect venerating Pjosaroz.

### Southern Palkyras

After the Green Years, a king of Sevestrana had a vision where he is visited by Svarog. His dream inspired him to construct two great stone temples -- one in Narivo and the other in southern Sevestrana -- to honour his god. The Northern Kolovrat Temple was also the site of a great battle to stop the siege of the Third Vilonian Empire. The immortal Enedris was there during the siege of the Northern Kolovrat Temple in the side of the defenders, as he did not want his home and his friends to be enslaved by the Vilonian armies.

Among the Kekhaulids of the southern lands, he is sometimes syncretised with Knaito, because of his association with falcons. Likewise, temples in Narivo have falcon statues, and the high priests of Narivo wear headdresses resembling falcons with red sun-discs.

### Kodequara

When the kodequara dolls or robots were exposed to the outside world, they began worshipping solar deities, including Svarog, as they associated him with their patron god Kojarena, the ruler of all the stars in the sky. To the surprise and dismay of Narivo's neighbours, they freely used wheels and kolovrats to worship Svarog, as they consider him to be their creator who loves them. These magical dolls also boasted that they are under Svarog's protection, and that the sun god loves them all as his children.

### Kingdom of Bujan

In Bujan and other Slavonian nations, Svarog's association with the forge was extended towards machines, technology, and science. Statues of him and shrines to him are found outside and inside laboratories and universities. Devout scientists and engineers say short prayers to Svarog to bless their work. The native Wonao peoples of Bujan also venerated one of his symbols, the kolovrat, due to its resemblance to the korurai, a whirlpool emblem in their own religion, leading to frequent syncretism between the two peoples.

Many Ontemazei are also worshippers of Svarog, as they became scientists and archaeologists to get out of poverty. As a result of cultural assimilation into Bujanski society, they no longer look away from kolovrats or images of Svarog, but freely worship him just like their fellow human Bujanski.

As a scientist, Svarog is Radumo's patron deity. When her family was freed from slavery, many of her ancestors venerated Svarog as they started careers as scientists to earn a livelihood. When she was younger, her fear of learning turned to love and joy, as she started to enjoy learning about languages, history, mythology, and art. She then went to the shrine of Svarog at her living room and thanked the god for inspiration.

When she was older, Radumo wrote a tale about Svarog, based on her pursuit and love of knowledge. There, the sun god invited her into an endless library filled with countless bookshelves and surrounded by stars. Of all the shelves and volumes, she chose a marble shelf, representing the histories of Jerde's civilisations and peoples.

### Veneration of the holy kolovrat

Because the kolovrat symbol is considered as an image of Svarog or an emblem of the Gods, Bujanski and various Slavic peoples on Jerde even pray to the symbol as if it were an idol. Some shrines only have a simple image of a kolovrat, surrounded by portraits of ancestors and other statues of holy beings.

Due to the strong veneration of the Slavic deities in Bujan, the kingdom practices a strict protocol on how to display or handle kolovrat symbols. While it is permissible to go near, look at, or touch one; the kolovrat must be properly displayed as a sign of respect to the kingdom's Gods. For example, it is not allowed to be placed below chest level, on skin, in dirty places, made of dirt, or used as a hate symbol.

The punishment for irreverently displaying or handling a kolovrat, if the act is done willingly and out of spite, is a weeks-long prison sentence or a fine. In Bujanski slang, kolovrats done improperly or to glorify hateful views are known as "Section 8s", referring to the part in the Royal Constitution that punishes blasphemy and fascism.

Furthermore, Bujanski people consider religious symbols used for extremism, racism, or autocracy to be blasphemous against their Gods. The strict protocol on using holy symbols was done as an act of resistance against various tyrants who formerly ruled the island nation, including adherents of fascist cults who sought to slaughter or enslave the peoples of Bujan. Perhaps that was also done out of outrage, after seeing the invaders smeared their temples with Bujanski sacrificial victims' blood.

One example of the most frequent and strongest violations of this holy protocol was the frequent, careless usage of kolovrats by the Tyrskan aristocracy as they tormented the peoples of Bujan. Aside from their cruelty against Bujan's people and plans to exterminate them, another reason why the Bujanski hated them was because they reduced the holy kolovrat into filthy graffiti and a hateful curse, committing an outrageous blasphemy against the Heavens. Because of the Tyrskans, some Bujanski replaced their own kolovrats with the eight-wheels symbol, claiming that they are returning the symbols back to the Gods so they will never be abused, ever again.

At other times, during Wannaenid-Terran rule, some Bujanski mocked their enemies for misusing the kolovrat as a hate symbol. Graffiti of kolovrats ended up being cleaned up, redrawn, and having a new shrine set up around it. Prayers were written below the kolovrats, and hateful depictions of the Bujanski were replaced by scenes from the natives' mythology.

Later, all the kolovrats used by Terrans vanished, with newer ones fading away. In some prisons, Terrans tortured captives and mangled their limbs to resemble kolovrats. When the symbols vanished, so did the captives, but they ended up outside the prisons, fully-healed. Those prisoners told about their mysterious rescue to the Bujanski resistance members, who took it as a miracle from the Gods, and a sign that Svarog was helping the resistance.

### Others

Darnovanos, a fire sdachel, practices two techniques for his powers. The Way of the Chakra are his dances used to protect his allies (or even heal them), and the Way of the Kolovrat consists of lash-like flames to tear the enemy apart.

## Trivia

* Three symbols represent Svarog: the Loop of Svarog (representing the endless cycles of energy across the universe, also known as the Star of Svarog), the kolovrat (a wheel of eight scythes, a symbol of divine order; which resembles the notorious swastika), and the Hands of Svarog.
	+ Other symbols of Svarog include the colour blue (for the sky or Heaven, Svarog's domain) and Tuesday.
	+ In Bujan and many Rodnover countries on Jerde, it is illegal to have a tattoo of a kolovrat. The main reason for the ban is mostly because these countries consider such tattoos to be blasphemy against Svarog, as human skin is considered inappropriate for a holy symbol for becoming dirty too easily.
		- Many Terran visitors to those countries ended up in prison because they had such tattoos. In Narivo, one Terran gangster spent *one whole year* in jail because he had a kolovrat tattoo, other than beating up other Svarog-worshippers!
	+ They also have laws prohibiting the usage of the kolovrat on certain "unclean" areas, such as the skin (as a tattoo), the back of an animal, footwear, fascist/racist/extremist usage, pants, bathrooms, pubs, nightclubs, alcohol, cigarettes, or near anywhere that is dirty.
	+ In Bujan, any disrespectful or "unclean" usage of the kolovrat is known as a "Section 8", referring to a law that prohibits desecration of holy symbols.
	+ The Bujanski ban on kolovrat tattoos may have been inspired by similar complaints about tattoos and other disrespectful gestures against the Buddha, in Thailand and Sri Lanka. On the other hand, the use of kolovrats by Jerdiskar Slavs was influenced by countries using Hindu or Buddhist symbols among their national emblems.
* Svarog's name is related to the Sanskrit word "Svarga", which means "Heaven".
* In October 2021, the author sometimes considered adding Egyptian themes for Narivo, because Svarog's falcon and solar themes would make him seem like Horus or Ra.
	+ Fittingly, the Primary Chronicle of John Malalas (a mediaeval text) mentions a legend where Svarog was supposedly worshipped as Hephaestus (or Ptah) in Egypt.

## See also

* Perun and Mokosh
* Svetovid