Perunu
Perunu EuropeThe ancient Slavic thunder-god. He was the pre-eminent deity, even a creator god, and at Kiev he had an important cult centre till the tenth century. Though there are obvious parallels with the Germanic Thor, an overlap suggesting influence, it is likely that Perunu derived from an autochthonous cult of the thunderbolt in Russia. His name is connected with the oak, the oak forest, or the oak-wooded hill. Details of a ritual for rain-making survive: a chaste girl, naked and draped with flowers, whirled ecstatically in the middle of a ring, invoking the fructifying moisture of Perunu. Whirling and drinking seem to have played a not inconsiderable part in his worship. Perunu was portrayed as a man, usually‘carved out of wood with a silver head and a gold moustache.’
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