Page:The Mythology of All Races Vol 3 (Celtic and Slavic).djvu/366

 CHAPTER III THE HOUSEHOLD GODS HE Slavic belief in household gods is confirmed by old reports. Helmold alludes  $8$ to a wide-spread cult of penates among the Elbe Slavs; and Cosmas relates   $9$ how Czech, one of the forefathers, brought the "penates" on his shoulders to the new country and, resting on the mountain of the Rzip, said to his companions: "Rise, good friends, and make an offering to your penates, for it is their help that has brought you to this new country destined for you by Fate ages ago."

Various names were given to the household gods by the Slavs, but the terms děd, dědek, děduška, i. e. an ancestor (literally "grandfather") raised to the rank of a family genius, clearly shows that the penates had their origin in ancestor-worship. $10$

Děduška Domovoy ("Grandfather House-Lord") Is well known In Russia, and many vivid reports are circulated concerning him. He is commonly represented as an old man with a grizzled, bushy head of hair and with flashing eyes; his whole body is covered with a thick, soft coat of hair; and his garments consist of a long cloak girded about his waist with a light red belt, or sometimes only of a red shirt. He often appears in the shape of a well-known person belonging to the people in whose home he lives, most usually in that of the master of the house or that of an older member of the family, whether dead or alive. The belief that he resembles some one of the ancestors in the colour of his hair, his dress, his attitude, his voice, and even his manner shows that he is closely con-