Veles and Slavic Mythology: Serpent God of Shadows, Music, and Return
- L7
- Sep 17
- 5 min read
Introduction: The Whisper of Veles
In Slavic mythology, not all power comes with thunder. Some of it coils in roots, flows through rivers, and waits in the silence of the underworld. This is the realm of Veles (also Weles, Volos), the god of earth, cattle, poetry, sorcery, and the dead.
He is a shape-shifter, often serpent or dragon, sometimes bear or wolf. A trickster and protector, rival and guardian. Where Perun, the thunder god, hurls bolts from the sky, Veles stirs below, stealing cattle, weaving spells, and returning after each defeat.
For Veles Streetwear, his name is more than decoration. It is an emblem of cycles and rebellion, a god who refuses to disappear. He does not shout. He whispers — and always returns.
Veles in Slavic Mythology
Names and Aspects
Veles appears under many names: Weles in Polish, Volos in Russian, Veles across Ukraine and the Balkans. His domains are as broad as they are paradoxical:
God of the underworld and the dead.
Protector of cattle and herds.
Patron of trade, wealth, and poetry.
Master of sorcery, shapeshifting, and hidden knowledge.
This mix makes him one of the most complex figures in the Slavic pantheon. Unlike Perun, who is fixed as lord of the sky, Veles changes shape and realm, slipping between forms like the serpent he so often becomes.
From the Book: Festivals and Cycles
According to Introduction to Slavic Mythology: History, Deities, Festivals, and Related Mythologies, Veles’ mythic role is tied to seasonal festivals. In winter, when the land is frozen, he rises from the roots as guardian of cattle and the underworld. In spring, he is challenged by Perun, the storm god, in a cosmic battle that mirrors the thaw of the earth and the clash of sky and soil.
Agricultural rituals such as Koliada (winter solstice) and Kupala Night (summer solstice) preserve traces of these cycles. Songs sung at these festivals often mention cattle, rivers, and serpents — echoes of Veles beneath the Christian layers.
The Eternal Rivalry: Veles and Perun
At the center of Slavic myth lies a battle between sky and earth.
Perun, bearded and armed with axe or hammer, rules from the heavens. Veles, coiling serpent of the underworld, challenges him. The myth says Veles steals Perun’s cattle — a symbol of wealth, life, and prosperity. Perun hurls his thunderbolts, chasing Veles across forests, rivers, and stones. Each time Veles shifts form to escape. Eventually, Perun strikes him down.
But Veles never dies forever. With the cycle of the seasons, he returns.
This battle is more than story. It encodes the rhythm of nature: lightning storms breaking drought, rains feeding the soil, harvests feeding herds. Veles is destruction and rebirth, the underworld rising to challenge the sky.
A reconstructed folk verse sings:
“Perun thunders in the heavens, Veles slithers through the earth. Sky splits, waters tremble, But always the serpent returns.”
The Slavic Pantheon Around Veles
Slavic mythology was never frozen in a single form. It shifted across regions, blending local gods with broader Indo-European motifs.
Perun: thunder god, akin to Thor or Zeus.
Svetovit: a four-headed deity of war, prophecy, and abundance, worshipped by Baltic Slavs at Arkona. Chroniclers describe his white horse and great temple.
Mokosh: earth mother, linked with weaving, fertility, and fate.
Devana: wild goddess of the hunt, forests, and untamed nature.
Morana: goddess of death, winter, and darkness, banished each spring in effigy-burning rituals.
Together, these deities create a web of cycles. But Veles remains unique as the rival to the sky, the one who rises from below, trickster and guardian at once.
Veles in Folklore and Christianity
With the arrival of Christianity, Veles transformed. In Orthodox tradition, Volos survived as a saintly protector of cattle and musicians. In folk tales, he became a trickster, sometimes even a devilish figure.
Yet his older role persisted in charms and songs. Farmers called on him to protect their herds. Poets invoked him for inspiration. Folklore blurred the line between saint and serpent, showing how deeply he was woven into everyday life.
The Book of Veles: Myth and Forgery
One of the most controversial texts linked to Veles is the so-called Book of Veles. Claimed to be an ancient Slavic scripture, it appeared in the 20th century through the émigré writer Yuri Mirolyubov. Published in fragments in the 1950s and later spread by Sergei Lesnoy, it purported to describe pre-Christian Slavic history and faith.
But scholars have shown it is a modern forgery. The language is artificial, the content inconsistent with genuine Old Slavic. Linguists and historians agree it is not ancient.
Yet the Book of Veles still had an impact. It fueled neopagan movements, inspired art, and shaped modern ideas of Slavic identity. Even as a forgery, it became part of the living myth of Veles — proof of how strong the longing for ancestral roots can be.
Veles in Art and Modern Symbolism
Alex Kujawa: Slavic Beings of Myth and Magic
Illustrator Alex Kujawa has brought Slavic spirits and deities into vivid form in his Slavic Beings of Myth and Magic. For modern audiences, her work is a visual bridge to myths once passed only by word of mouth.
Statues in Kyiv and Reconstructed Icons
In Kyiv I photographed two things, a modern community statue of Perun, and a copy of the Zbruch Idol marked “Збручанський ідол.” The original Zbruch Idol is a medieval four sided stone pillar found in the Zbruch River, now kept in Kraków, and scholars read its tiers in different ways. A common interpretation, following Boris Rybakov, sees the top tier as four major deities under one cap, Lada, Mokosh, Perun, and Dazhbog, the middle tier as human figures in a ring dance, and the bottom as a kneeling supporter often identified as Veles. The Kyiv piece is a replica, not an original, but together with the modern Perun it shows how these images of Perun and Veles still shape local memory and storytelling.
Veles in Music and Metal
Behemoth and the Slavic Gods
Poland’s Behemoth began their career with black metal steeped in Slavic imagery. Their debut Sventevith (Storming Near the Baltic) (1994) invokes Svetovit. Their second, Grom (1996), draws directly on Slavic mythology, mixing Perun, Veles, and folkloric forces into raw chaos.
This early work shows how the gods survived not in temples, but in riffs and screams.
Pagan and Folk Metal
Beyond Behemoth, many bands have invoked Slavic gods:
Nokturnal Mortum (Ukraine) fuses black and folk with pagan themes.
Arkona (Russia) explicitly sings of Veles, Perun, and Slavic rites.
Graveland (Poland) turned to pagan themes in later albums.
Drudkh (Ukraine) uses Slavic poetry to summon the atmosphere of myth.
In metal, Veles is not just a name. He is atmosphere — underground, ambiguous, serpentine.
Veles as Symbol in Streetwear
Clothing is not just fabric. It is symbol and signal. To wear Veles is to carry myth into the everyday.
At Veles Streetwear, we use the name not as costume but as code. Our designs draw from myth, art, and underground culture.
Veles whispers. He protects, he deceives, he returns. That is why his name fits what we do.
Conclusion: The God Who Returns
Veles is the serpent below, the rival of thunder, the patron of poets, the guardian of cattle, the lord of shadows. He is killed, he returns. He is demonized, he survives. He is forgotten, he is reimagined.
In myth, he battles Perun across the sky. In folklore, he protects herds and songs. In the Book of Veles, he is forged anew. In art, he is painted, carved, and drawn. In metal, he roars. In streetwear, he whispers.
Veles does not shout. He endures. He is the god who always comes back.
