Then Surya ordered his sons Veles and his brother Khors to look for spouses. Khors and Veles shot arrows into the field - wherever the arrow lands, there they should look for the bride.
So Horse found Zarya-Zarenitsa, and Veles’s arrow flew far over the mountains and fell into a swamp, falling right in front of the Frog Princess. Veles brought the Frog home.
And then Surya and Amelfa began to test her and Zarya-Zarenitsa - what kind of housewives are they? They ordered to bake bread and sew a carpet. The Frog Carpet and Bread turned out to be the best. Then the Frog and Zarya-Zarenitsa were invited to a feast to see how she danced. And the Frog took off her frog skin, turned into the Wise Fork and came to the feast.
Then Veles decided to burn the frog's skin. He came Home and threw her into the fire. And so he broke the ancient spell. That’s why Vila went to Nav. And Veles himself turned into Miracle Yudo.
Veles was predicted that the spell would subside only if a beautiful girl fell in love with him in this terrible form.
Veles wooed many girls, but everyone was afraid of him and avoided him. He also wooed Domna, the daughter of the Ra River. But Domna killed herself out of horror and became a river.
But, nevertheless, Veles, as the god of love, managed in this terrible guise to make the man’s daughter Asya Zvezdinka fall in love with himself. The beautiful Asya lifted the spell from him, and they lived happily ever after on the island of Buyan and in the Holy Mountains.
But she was mortal, the time came and Asya went to Nav. Veles followed her.
Arriving in Nav, he met the guardian of the Path to Nav Vila Sida. And he learned that all his wives were faces, descents into the earthly world of Sida. And Azovushka, and the Golden Mother, and Yasunya Svyatogorovna, and Burya-Yaga, and Diva Dyevna, and Domna, and Asya Zvezdinka.
However, this did not prevent her faces from living a separate life and even being jealous of Veles for each other.
Since then, Veles has not parted with Sida. And when Koschey kidnapped Sida, he defeated both Koschey and his entire army with the help of his friends.
In that great battle, the tree spirits and animals led by Svyatibor and Veles became famous. And since then, Veles has been revered as the lord of forests, wildlife, wealth, poetry, the god of Moonlight, the brother of the Sun, the Descent of the Almighty and the Great Guardian of the Rule.
Veles is the great ruler, the basis of faith, the third face of the Slavic Vedic Trinity. At first he appeared as the son of Rod and the cow Zemun. That’s why they see him as Bull-Headed (the word “bull” is a way of pronouncing the word “god”). He is also the Minotaur of the ancient Greeks, Govamard (Gayomard) in Ancient Iran (“brand”, “govya” means “bull” - cf. Russian words “brand” (brand on a bull), “beef”, as well as “man” - “man”, “smerd”).
In Rus' he was also called Tavr Busich, Gvidon, that is, Korovich. Tavrida (Crimea) is named after him. He was called Gwydion by the Celts (in the Welsh song about the Battle of the Trees). In the epics, the affairs of Veles-Tavr are performed by Stavr Godinovich, in fairy tales, Tsar Guidon is occupied with his affairs.
Veles has many names, he has many guises. The name Veles itself means “great ruler.” In Asia Minor he is Baal, in India he is Valu (who is at enmity with Indra and is killed). But he cannot die; Death itself means immortality for him. He is reborn again under different names, revealing his new qualities. He returns to Earth again and again, leaves Svarga from the Most High, for he has compassion for people. That’s why he always brings the Vedic Faith to people and destroys the spell of Chernobog.
In the oral Russian tradition, he appeared under names consonant with the name Veles (all heroes bearing these names perform deeds similar to the deeds of Veles). So, the heirs of Beles in the epics were Vasily Buslaev, Alyosha Popovich (he is also Oleksa in Ukrainian thoughts, the same as Veleksa). In the Russian Orthodox Christian religion, the place of Veles was taken by Saint Blaise, the patron saint of livestock, Saint Basil the Great of Caesarea, the patron saint of musicians, as well as the martyr Vasily of Ancyra. They showed themselves, as it were, three different hypostases of Veles.
Veles is also called the Strong God, or Asila (his children-heroes in Belarus are called asilki, or volotomanov, that is, velesichs). He is the god of Asir (Ashur), who gave the name to Assyria. He is the Avestan Ahura Mazda (Lord Wisdom). The Egyptians called him Osiris, and considered him the son of the Sun-Ra and the father of Horus.
Associated with the name Asila is his other name - Aster, which means “Starry”. He is born from the Blue Star, which flew from the throne of the Most High. Both Aster and Asila as well as Azov have the root “as”, which means “god”. The Aesir are a class of gods among the Scandinavians, as well as the Asuras and Ohurs in India and Iran.
The divine energy of Veles - his wife is called Azovushka in Rus'. The Sea of Azov and Mount Azov in the Urals are named after her. Initially, she was born the daughter of Svarog and Mother Sva-Glory (the spirit of Ra - the river, the Volga). She also has many hypostases and at different times appeared under many names and was born from different parents. She was Azovka in the Urals and the Caucasus. She also became Asya Zvezdinka, the daughter of Sadko (from the fairy tale about the Scarlet Flower). Then Yasunya Svyatogorovna (who became Yaginya, Storm-Yagoy, out of grief after the departure and death of her husband). She was also Vila the Wise (Vasilisa the Wise of Russian fairy tales). She is Slavunya (daughter of Slava), Domna from Russian ballads (daughter is the wife of Don-Ra), Sida (which means Wise: Seduns are sages and wizards of the Russian Vedas).
And Veles himself was born several times in Slavic myths. In one of his births he was the god Don - the spirit of the Don River and the husband of Yasuni Svyatogorovna. Then they gave birth to the mermaid Ros, whose son was Dazhbog, who gave birth to the Russian people. Therefore, the Russians are the grandchildren of Dazhbog and the great-grandchildren of Veles—the Slavs are Dazhbog’s grandchildren (according to “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign”), and were born “through the cow Zemun”: “For we are the descendants of Dazhbog, who gave birth to us through the cow Zemun. And therefore we are Kravenians: Scythians, Antes, Russes, Borusins and Surozhtsy..." (Rod IV, 4:3).
And this is how the Slavs were born. A certain husband, “Father Rus,” asked Dazhbog for offspring. “And Dazhbog... gave him what he prayed for... And he bewitched a clear cloud. And then the god Veles brought the boy.” That is, both Veles himself and his foremother the cow Zemun participate in the birth of the Slavs - the grandchildren of Dazhbozh.
In his next birth, Veles became Ramna - the son of the god Ra and the Cow Amelfa Zemunovna. In Russian folk ballads he became Prince Roman. After the Christianization of Rus', Amelfa became the epic Amelfa Timofeevna, the mother of Vasily Buslaev, her worship was supplanted by the veneration of Emilia, the mother of St. Basil of Caesarea.
Veles-Ramna in India is now called Rama (the incarnation of Vishnu, the hero of the Ramayana), and the Pomak Bulgarians also called him Rama. And in Iran, this hypostasis of Veles was called Roman (deity of cattle and keeper of sources).
His wife in Asia Minor was called Astarte, in Egypt - Isis, Ishtar, and was even identified with Venus and Aphrodite (although Lada and Lelya are closer to them). In Ancient Sumer - with the goddess Sidura, in India - with Sita (wife of Rama), in the Caucasus - with Satan-gouache. Sida is named the wife of Veles in the Slavic translation of the “Chronicles of John Malady”: “Velos... pocha zhenou Sidou.”
Veles was also the son of the constellation Ursa Major, in Russian fairy tales - Ivan Medvedka (completely indistinguishable from Ivan Bykovich), Mikhail Potapych, in ballads he is also Prince Mikhailo, and in the legends of Russian Orthodox Christianity he is also Saint Mikola (Nicholas of Myra) Mikola Vodny (aka Santa Claus, Father Frost). Therefore, by the way, the deeds of Veles, the god of plowmen, are accomplished in the epics by a peasant whose name is Mikula Selyaninovich.
Veles has many lesser-known names among small nations, who nevertheless have preserved the most ancient traditions and legends dating back to the Primordial Book of the Vedas. So he is the Nart Eryuzmek in the Caucasus, Ermelchinek in the Urals, Geser and Mergen in Altai, etc.
Sometimes, especially in the Wendish-Baltic lands, Veles is identified with Viy, as well as the biblical Beelzebub, or even simply with the devil with whom Pyarun (from the “Belarusian collection” by E.R. Romanov) or Perkunas fights.
In Baltic mythology he is Vels, or Vnelona, the god of the underworld. This image of him is given by the Polish author of the 16th century J. Lasicki (Vielona), talking about him as the god of the dead, to whom sacrifices are made. The 17th century author G. Stender (Wels) said the same thing. This interpretation also existed in Kyiv after the arrival of the Varangians. And it is explained by the ancient Wendish heresy. The “Book of Veles” also speaks about this; it is written there that “the Veneds have shaky faith” (Troyan III, 3:4). This was precisely the precariousness of the Wends’ faith: they rejected Veles and did not understand the essence of the opposition-unity of Perun and Veles.
The very opposition of the cult of Veles and Perun is a consequence of earthly causes, maybe even ancient wars. But Perun and Veles are also united in their struggle. The meaning of this struggle is unity. And it is no coincidence that the constellations Veles (Boots) and Perun (Ophiuchus) are located nearby, and they are crowned with the constellation Crown. Perup and Veles also, according to the most ancient teaching preserved by the “Book of Veles,” are different faces of the One God, who is called Triglav (Dido-Oak-Sheaf, that is, Svarog-Perun-Veles).
The myths about Veles are so numerous and have so many layers of meaning that they are not discussed here. I advise those interested to study them in the “Book of Kolyada”. Here I will tell only about some of the manifestations of his spirit, the closest and most accessible.
According to Vedic teachings, after death, human souls rise along the moonbeam to the Navi gates. Here Veles meets souls. The pure souls of the righteous are reflected from the Moon and follow the sun's ray to the Sun - to the abode of the Almighty. Other souls either remain with Veles on the Moon and are purified, or are reincarnated on Earth into people, plants or animals.
Veles is the Moon God, in one of the myths he appears on the Moon - the Moon Hare. But he is also the Solar God, for he is the son of the Sun God; in the “Book of Veles” he releases the horses of the Sun-Surya into the sky (Kryn, 4:1). Veles stands on the border of Yavi and Navi. That is why it stands on the border of the world of people and animals. He is the patron of livestock and forest animals. He is served by the god Svyatibor, the god of forests.
Veles conveys orders from the Almighty to people. He inspires poets, illuminates them with Divine light, reflected from the Moon, but having its source in God the Sun. That’s why Veles is the god of poetry. Veles is a mediator between God and people, and he is also a mediator in all matters, and above all in trade.
Veles is great. In the ancient Novgorod Triglav, he is the Third Face of God, the Holy Spirit, spiritualizing the world, carrying divine sparks into mortal bodies.
Veles walks in Svarga at night along the heavenly milk, along the Milky Way, which poured out from the teats of the Heavenly Cow Zemun. Veles is a heavenly shepherd, he drives cows across the sky - the daughters of Zemun. And that milk is the essence of the heavenly Ra-river that flows over the earthly Ra-river, which is the line between Reality and Nav, between Russia and another world, unknown to where the ancestors of the Russians went.
Myths about Veles from the “Book of Kolyada” are restored on the basis of songs about Veles from “Veda of the Slavs” by Verkovich, epics about Stavr Godinovich, Alyosha Popovich, Vasily Buslaev, the son of Amelfa Timofeevna.
I note that, according to Greek myths, the goat Amalthea fed not only Zeus, but also Pan (the god of herds). Pan here is identified with Veles—Ban (Ban means lord, ruler). This Pan (Ban) should not be confused with Pan the son of Viy. This is also an ancient heresy, echoes of an ancient dispute about the origin of Veles. In The Book of Kolyada, Pan steals Veles’s cradle (they are already close at birth).
In the Veda of the Slavs, one of Veles’ names is Ramna, and Russian ballads about Prince Roman repeat some parts of the Indian Ramayana. Rama (Ramna) is his oldest name, and Veles is the definition of his essence.
The most complete collection of songs about Vasily Buslaev is in the academic publication “Novgorod epics” (M., 1978) and in other editions of epics. The myth of Veles’s marriage to Bura-Yaga was restored on the basis of fairy tales about Ivan Bykovich, Ivan Medvedko and folk songs about the young man’s dispute with the Smorodina River, and also the song “Usishchi”.
The texts of fairy tales about the Scarlet Flower were also used. The Sleeping Princess, the Frog Princess, Vasilisa the Beautiful, Morozko.
God le Vlas lying down ma Yuda taught Yes si pee Yasna the Book, da si pee and yes write. Ma taught, God, taught. And you, God, yes ma teach Yes si pravo kusherta. Yes you give me three hundred ox, Three hundred ox, three hundred beautiful God our God Veles! You are Alive - Yuda taught you how to sing the Yasna Book, how sing and write. Your Mother taught you and taught you. And now you yourself teach Mother how to give sacrifices correctly. Give me three hundred oxen, and three hundred oxen, and three hundred cows. Original and translation of the text from "Veda of the Slavs" IV, 5,5-13.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru