Sugaar, the serpent in the Lauburu. Also known as Sugaar, Sugar, Sugoi, and Maju is a Basque god one of the most well known and prominent gods of Basque paganism. Sugaar is the husband of Mari and on Fridays he mates with her and produces storms, when they are traveling it is said to hail. He is considered at times to be on fire and when lightening strikes it is the flaming Sugaar streaking across the sky. He is considered to have had a child with a Scottish princess who gave birth to the mythical Basque lord of Biscay. Though this was likely done to try to give divine rights to certain families. Another tale tells of how two Basque brothers found the serpent in a cave and the younger cut off his tail at the cave in Baltzola the older brother disapproved of his brothers actions. Years later an old man approached the older brother who took him to the same cave and gave him gold and a belt to give to his brother, his brother refused to wear the belt and tied it to a tree and the tree caught fire leaving nothing but a hole in the ground. A rather odd version of the thunderer and storm deity in Europe Sugaar is the serpent in the Lauburu (Basque sun wheel) and it seems as if he is one part while his shedded skin is the other. He is usually depicted as a red snake, a red dragon, or a red snake with the body of a young man at the top half. His name may mean “High fire/flame” “Male serpent” or “Old Serpent”. What is your favorite thing about Sugaar?

Our friend Alex of Trova de Lid is having his album released on cassette if you like Dungeon Synth feel free to support this album based on t her 5 classical elements of Europe and the spirits who govern them.

New song from Alex from his project Luces Lejanes

Morena, the mistress of winter and the Slavic goddess of the underworld who is associated with death. She is often considered the daughter of Svarog or of Perun and is the sister and/or former wife of either Jarilo or Dazbog. Symbolized with a sickle and residing in the underworld in a mirror palace from which both spirits and her enemies can be seen and trapped. She is also at times considered the wife of Koschei the Deathless or even Veles. She was originally a sort of nature and hearth goddess but her heart grew stern and cold when she was betrayed by her lover. In another tale Morena is carried away by the winds (Stribogs children) and Vesna is brought to the mortal realm by them. Morena is also the mistress of both the souls of the dead and the mistress of nightmares. She is said to ride a pale horse and cloak the land in snow and death. However her hearth and nature part may not have faded and may have shifted as winter shifted. Winter is harsh yes, but it is also a time of rest and connection, of subtle casual creation and a way to forge stronger bonds with kith and kin. Perhaps as the ways of being during winter the subtle slight hibernation like times and the community around the fire sewing or carving while the children played was lost or faded. Other names for Morena include Mare, More, Marzana, Morana, and more. An effigy is ritually returned to the underworld via fire or water in some parts of the Slavic peoples especially the western half such as in Poland. (This has been a cliff notes version of a script for a video that will be made on Morena in the near future)

Album preview for our friend Alex, for the band he is now a part of

Erlkoenig (Elf King). Moritz von Schwind (Austrian, 1804-1871).

Death and the Maiden. George Clark Stanton (Scottish, 1832-1894).

Perchten the "Duck Billed" ones

Some good after effects from talking with Goy on his stream

Svarog is generally considered to be the Smith of the Slavic pantheon, as well as a god who created the concept of a monogamous marriage and in some versions the creator of the world himself. However like much of Slavic myth, Svarog is bathed in contradictions, misunderstandings, and at times controversy. His written mythology is very little while if more modern scholarship is taken into account much more can be gleamed of this “Idle God” than would seem at first glance.
Aside from many Slavic place names such as in Poland, The Czech Republic, and even in the East into Russia. One of the oldest mentions of Svarog is in the Hypatian Codex from the 15th century that translates a John Malalas story from Egypt concerning Greek gods and transcribes the Slavic gods over the Greek ones. Replacing Helios with Dazbog and Hephaestus with Svarog. The story ends up relating Svarog as the father of the Solar deity Dazbog and by equating him to Hephaestus in the story ties Svarog in with not only black smithing but also relates him as a god tied directly into Monogamous marriage. Now what can we truly tell of the gods of this manuscript? Not much, the story itself likely had little if nothing to do with the Slavic gods it mentions, but it does bring two good points on both deities to the forefront. Their associations. While Svarog and Dazbog may not have been the actual figures in the story, replacing the Greek with Slavic counterparts to make the information more appealing to Slavic readers implies the gods were likely at least loosely tied into their respective associations. This gives a good starting point to Svarog, a god of blacksmiths and possibly of marriage.
From here comes the secondary main aspect of Svarog and that is his association as the Father of the gods and the creator of the world. The Slavs have quite a variety and to this day no one can truly agree on the order of the pantheon. With Perun, Rod, Svarog, Yarilo, Svetovid, Dazbog, and even Mokosh vying for the throne, as chief of the pantheon. However for the sake of Svarog as he is the focus here, I will give it to him for the time being. Two differing versions of this tale seem to exist, one deems him a sleeping god, and that the world is his dream, if ever he should wake the world will end. This is oddly reminiscent of Lovecraft's Azathoth, the great dreamer, and calls to mind a sort of apocalyptic conception as the world is merely a dream of a higher being. Though another interpretation could be that the world exists as it is due to the idleness and general slumber of Svarog, and when he wakes this world will change or end as it were. Another version yet not mutually exclusive conception of Svarog is that he forged the world and gods into being. This version is from the controversial book of Kolyada, but as it is disputed and not outright rejected it deserves at least some acknowledgment regardless of personal feeling towards its merit. Involving the Alatyr or Altar stone. This stone ties into the story of Svarog sending numerous gods and then eventually a duck to retrieve land from beneath the waves, breathing power borrowed from Rod into the bird, the bird returned three years later and gifted Svarog with a certain amount of land from the bottom within its beak. Svarog knew something was amiss as the Duck did not give over the stone. Still Svarog breathed into the earth warming it with his hands and the sun which slowly expanded the land further and further, while at the same time the Duck unable to hold onto the growing Alatyr stone dropped it and where it landed formed the Mountain Elbrus also known as Golden mountain, though in another tale it remained with Svarog. The stone was said to be a center of knowledge and wisdom and drew many people to it. Believing no man should know about the stone Svarog took his hammer and attempted to destroy the Altar/Alatyr stone, however this only created sparks which supposedly birthed gods such as Simargl, and created winds that bore Stribog.