Beliefs of the “Hoste” in the Context of Old Faith in Slovenia and the Faith of the Ancient Slavs

[The belief of “hoste” in the context of Old Belief in Slovenia and the belief of the ancient Slavs]
The author reconstructs the belief system of the ancient Slavs, which included a mythical story about
a cosmic couple that changes its behaviour during the seasons and a complex divine being composed
of partial beings. These were associated with both certain material and immaterial aspects of
life. He establishes the connection between the ancient religion, which survived in Slovenia into the
20th century, and the belief system of the ancient Slavs. The author goes into more detail about the
modern worship of Triglav in western Slovenia, and in this context interprets the unusual carnival
figure called Pust in Cerkno.
The best known group of Old Believers in Slovenia was territorially organised in units called
“hosta“(= forest). They probably came to Posočje at the beginning of the 16th century, either from
Dolenjska or from the lower Posavje region. Therefore, the structural similarities between the relief
from Svete gore above Bistrica pri Sotli, which the author interprets as a representation of the
Dajbog, and the two reliefs from Posočje, which are connected with the name Nikrmana, are also
revealing.
Keywords: Slavs, religion, mythology, Triglav, Dajbog, Svetovit, Slovenia, depictions, unity of god