This paper results from the research conducted at the Institute for Balkan Studies, Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, funded by the Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation of the Republic of Serbia based on the Scientific Research Realization and Co-Funding Contract for 2023 no. 451-03-47/2023-01 of 17 January 2023.

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This paper results from the research conducted at the Institute for Balkan Studies, Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, funded by the Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation of the Republic of Serbia based on the Scientific Research Realization and Co-Funding Contract for 2023 no. 451-03-47/2023-01 of 17 January 2023.

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Mythological Notions of the Deceased among the Slavic Peoples

Djurić, Dragana

(Basel : MDPI, 2024)

TY  - JOUR
AU  - Djurić, Dragana
PY  - 2024
UR  - https://dais.sanu.ac.rs/123456789/16377
AB  - Many taboos and a high resistance to change are the hallmark of posthumous rituals and customs among all Slavic peoples, which has helped maintain their archaic nature. According to Slavic beliefs, in the otherworld, the souls of the deceased who were kind-hearted during their lifetime join the group of their ancestors who guard the living, providing them with prosperity and fertility. In return, living descendants had an obligation to periodically organize commemorations for the deceased, invoke memories of them, and make (food) offerings meant for the salvation of their souls. On the other hand, Slavs believed that the deceased who died prematurely or violently, or those who were dishonourable throughout their lives, became “the revenant deceased” or “the impure deceased” and could bring harm, sickness, and death to the living. For these reasons, people tended to prepare all of the dead—particularly the ones whose souls could potentially become members of the “impure” group—adequately for the funeral and to see their souls off from this world following traditional rites. This research is based on the presupposition that, among folk beliefs, customs, and rituals regarding the deceased (and their souls), there is a substratum whose archaic nature reaches back to the period when Slavic peoples lived together. These are folk beliefs and customs which appear in all three groups of Slavic peoples but are not related to any of the predominant religions, primarily Christianity, nor did they emerge under the influences of those religions. The sources used in the research include a published ethnographic corpus of data and scientific papers on posthumous rites among the Slavs. Also taken into account were archaeological, historical, and linguistic sources.
PB  - Basel : MDPI
T2  - Religions
T1  - Mythological Notions of the Deceased among the Slavic Peoples
VL  - 15
IS  - 194
DO  - 10.3390/rel15020194
UR  - https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_dais_16377
ER  - 
@article{
author = "Djurić, Dragana",
year = "2024",
abstract = "Many taboos and a high resistance to change are the hallmark of posthumous rituals and customs among all Slavic peoples, which has helped maintain their archaic nature. According to Slavic beliefs, in the otherworld, the souls of the deceased who were kind-hearted during their lifetime join the group of their ancestors who guard the living, providing them with prosperity and fertility. In return, living descendants had an obligation to periodically organize commemorations for the deceased, invoke memories of them, and make (food) offerings meant for the salvation of their souls. On the other hand, Slavs believed that the deceased who died prematurely or violently, or those who were dishonourable throughout their lives, became “the revenant deceased” or “the impure deceased” and could bring harm, sickness, and death to the living. For these reasons, people tended to prepare all of the dead—particularly the ones whose souls could potentially become members of the “impure” group—adequately for the funeral and to see their souls off from this world following traditional rites. This research is based on the presupposition that, among folk beliefs, customs, and rituals regarding the deceased (and their souls), there is a substratum whose archaic nature reaches back to the period when Slavic peoples lived together. These are folk beliefs and customs which appear in all three groups of Slavic peoples but are not related to any of the predominant religions, primarily Christianity, nor did they emerge under the influences of those religions. The sources used in the research include a published ethnographic corpus of data and scientific papers on posthumous rites among the Slavs. Also taken into account were archaeological, historical, and linguistic sources.",
publisher = "Basel : MDPI",
journal = "Religions",
title = "Mythological Notions of the Deceased among the Slavic Peoples",
volume = "15",
number = "194",
doi = "10.3390/rel15020194",
url = "https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_dais_16377"
}
Djurić, D.. (2024). Mythological Notions of the Deceased among the Slavic Peoples. in Religions
Basel : MDPI., 15(194).
https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15020194
https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_dais_16377
Djurić D. Mythological Notions of the Deceased among the Slavic Peoples. in Religions. 2024;15(194).
doi:10.3390/rel15020194
https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_dais_16377 .
Djurić, Dragana, "Mythological Notions of the Deceased among the Slavic Peoples" in Religions, 15, no. 194 (2024),
https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15020194 .,
https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_dais_16377 .