Contemplating the Slavic soul
Recently I was following a Facebook discussion about Slavic souls, focusing particularly on when the soul develops. As it usually happens with this sort of discussions in a few comments the topic branched off towards abortion, pro-life movements and family planning. Again – as it usually happens - the gist of some of the comments indicated that at least some of the commentators remain under a more or less conscious influence of Judeo-Christian ideas. Therefore, I decided to contemplate the topic of the Slavic soul, to try and separate the Judeo-Christian layer of indoctrination from the true Slavic tradition.
The basic facts
Before we start discussing the existence of soul in Slavic tradition it is important to establish first the facts that are beyond discussion:
1. Pre-Christian Slavs did not have microscopes and thus – they didn’t have a slightest clue about sperm, egg cell or its fertilization.
The first microscope was built at the turn of the XVI and the XVII century, which lead to the discovery (end of XVII century) of sperm in human ejaculate. The female reproductive cells and the hormonal cycle remained a mystery for another 300 years – until the beginning of the XX century.
1. In the initial period of the development of human embryo a microscope is necessary to see the embryo and find it/distinguish it from the menstrual blood (to diagnose a miscarriage).
Around the 7th week of pregnancy the human embryo is approximately 1 cm long. If a miscarriage happens at this stage of pregnancy it is pretty much impossible to see the embryo with a naked eye and finding it requires sieving off the menstrual discharge. It does not seem very likely that anyone, including an ancient/medieval Slav, would get an idea to sieve off menstrual blood – out of curiosity or boredom – to discover that it contains something 1 cm long, which looks like that:
Considering the above I think we all can agree that Slavs did not have a clue about the existence of a human embryo and thus – could not possibly have advocated protecting it from any harm (or abortion) from the moment of fertilization.
The symptoms of pregnancy
We have already established that pre-Christian Slavs did not know about the early period of human embryo development. But did they know about the existence/development of a human fetus?
We know that Slavs not only farmed the land but were also hunters. After killing an animal, like all hunters do, they removed the animal’s entrails and – if they killed a pregnant female – they could have noticed the pregnant uterus, even if the animal’s pregnancy was not obvious before the disembowelment. Probably some Slavs considered the possibility of human pregnancy developing before it became visible, but nobody could possibly come up with an idea to gut a woman to rule in or out her pregnancy!
The early symptoms of pregnancy (for example: morning sickness, breast enlargement, lack of period) are not exclusively symptoms of pregnancy. Let’s not forget – pre-Christian Slavs did not have refrigerators, supermarkets, veterinary services monitoring the quality of meat and other animal products, they did not have food banks or international help in the time of drought/famine. They did not have the modern medicine, reference laboratories or ultrasound. Malnutrition, food poisonings, ovarian tumors or even polycystic ovaries, as well as other diseases could cause delayed (or lack of) period, vomiting, breast swelling etc. This is why the only way to definitively confirm pregnancy in a woman living in ancient/medieval times was to see gradual enlargement of the tummy which ended with a labor and giving birth to a child.
Poroniec and dziwożona
Depending on the size of the fetus and the woman’s anatomy, without specialized testing (pregnancy tests, ultrasound) typical for pregnancy enlargement of the tummy can be seen at the earliest in 18-20th week (4,5-5th month) of pregnancy. Of course, some women, particularly those who were pregnant before, can self diagnose pregnancy much sooner, but in this post, we do not discuss the woman’s view of her own pregnancy, but the Slavs’ (read-society) view on it. Hence, we will hold on to the statement that the 18-20th week is the earliest a pregnancy can be seen by a bystander. At this stage the fetus is 22-25cm long, it does resemble a human and can most certainly be easily noticed if it is miscarried. The ancient and medieval Slavs did not have any specialized tests to detect pregnancy, therefore it can be said with certainty that in the 18-20 weeks of pregnancy they started noticing it and – what can also be said with certainty – started to look after and care about both the mother and the unborn child.
Why is it so certain that Slavs actively looked after and cared about future mothers and their 4,5-5 months pregnancies? Because those mothers and their unborn children could, if harm came to them, turn into demons – dziwożonas and poroniec’s.
Dziwożony are Slavic demons who are “born” from the souls of women who died during pregnancy, in labor or shortly after it. Porońce are demons “born” from the souls of miscarried fetuses or babies who died during or shortly after being born. Both those demons were malevolent and very dangerous, particularly for pregnant women and young mothers. Porońce attacked them and sucked their blood, while dziwożony sought to (depending on the source/region) either take away healthy newborns and swap them for changelings – their own, hideous and deformed children; or they wanted to hurt unfaithful wives, young women and the elderly ones. It’s also possible that dziwożony did both.
Considering how dangerous demons could be “born” if harm came to an obviously pregnant woman, it is certain that Slavs protected those women and looked after them with care. After all they could not allow for a pregnant woman to miscarry (or – even worse – die) and for her miscarried baby (or herself) not to receive a proper funeral ritual. This would cause a demon to develop and that in turn would be a direct threat for the whole community.
Dziwożona (“Slavic Bestiary” W. Vargas, P.Zych)
Bribing the Rodzanice
Even in modern times, with cutting edge diagnostics, medicines, and medical care pregnancy does not come without risk. Currently one of the countries of the highest maternal mortality (number of women who die from pregnancy-related causes while pregnant or within 42 days after the end of pregnancy) is Sierra Leone, where 1-in-75 pregnancies ends in the death of the mother. The maternal mortality was as bad or even worse in Antient and Medieval times. It’s no wonder then that pre-Christian Slavs did not celebrate pregnancy (which for many women was a death sentence), but only the birth or a live and healthy child.
We know at least one ritual related to the birth of a child. It is the bribing of Rodzanice – a ceremony which was held for several days after the birth of a live child. The purpose of the ritual was to ask Rodzanice (Slavic deities responsible for weaving of the human fate) to weave for this child a strong and righteous Dola (a protective spirit, symbolizing the fate of a Slav).
Modern medical knowledge suggests that this ritual made sense not only from religious reasons, but also was deeply rooted in physiological factors. Statistical analysis of infant mortality indicates that 75% of neonatal deaths happens in the first week of life. It looks like our Slavic ancestors have noticed this terrible regularity – this is why they prayed for the fate of the child in the period when his or her fate was most uncertain.
One body, one soul
But, after those (hopefully not too boring) considerations it is time to come back to the original topic of this post – Slavic soul and the question of when it developed. As it usually happens with the Slavic tradition – we do not know for sure. But we do know something:
1. Slavs believed that the soul of a miscarried fetus can turn into a demon – a poroniec.
2. They also believed that from a soul of a pregnant woman another demon can rise – a dziwozona.
3. After the birth of a healthy child Slavs held a ritual to pray for a good Dola (fate) for this child.
Have you noticed the rule here? From a fetus/a newborn a demon can develop only after the fetus/newborn leaves the body of his/her mother. From a pregnant woman’s soul (if proper funeral rites are not performed) a demon (Dziwożona) – only one, not two demons – can raise. And the Dola (the fate) of the child is being bargained for after the child is born.
One body-one soul seems to be the Slavic rule. As long as the fetus/baby remains in the body of the mother, he or she did not have his/her own soul (hence from a pregnant woman only one demon could raise, not two). It looks like Slavs believed that the soul of a Slav is born together with him/her; not in the womb, but only after leaving it.
At the end I would also like to tackle to topic of abortion and whether it is “acceptable” by the Slavic religion/culture. Modern abortion – performed by a qualified medical professionals – is one of the most safe medical procedures, certainly more safe than a natural birth. Additionally, most of the pregnancy termination procedures take place in the first trimester of the pregnancy – the first three months which our Slavic ancestors could not even distinguish from a food poisoning. Therefore, any opinions about abortion (in the early stage of the pregnancy) not being “allowed” by the Slavic faith can only be personal opinions of the people who say such things. Those opinions have nothing to do with the faith, religion or culture of our Slavic ancestors, who did not even know that there is such a thing as the first trimester of pregnancy.
Slava!
Tales of old Gods, “The Forest Mother” (art by Goria