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{{Slavic Native Faith}}
'''Prav''' (Правь), '''Yav''' (Явь) and '''Nav''' (Навь) are the three dimensions or qualities of the [[cosmos]] as described in the first chapter of the Book of Light and in the ''[[Book of Veles]]'' (a fabrication from the 19–20th century)<ref>Творогов О. В. Что же такое Влесова книга? // Русская литература. — М., 1988. — № 2. — С. 77–102.</ref> of [[Slavic Native Faith]] (Rodnovery). Older sources mention only Nav and Yav concepts of ancient slavic cosmology, similar to Yin and Yang in Taoism, and Prav was not part of the concept.<ref>Творогов О. В. . Влесова книга. // Труды отдела древнерусской литературы. — Т. 43. — 1990. — C. 245.</ref>{{sfn|Schnirelmann|2017|p=101}} The literal meanings of the Prav, Yav, and Nav words, are, respectively, [[Slavic paganism#Cosmology, iconography, temples and rites|'''"Right"''', '''"actuality"''' and '''"probability"''']]. They are also symbolised as a unity by the god [[Triglav (mythology)|Triglav]] (the "Three-Headed One").  Already [[Ebbo]] (c. 775 – 20 March 851, who was [[archbishop of Reims]]) documented that the Triglav was seen as embodying the connection and mediation between '''Heaven''', '''Earth''' and the '''underworld''' / '''humanity'''; these three dimensions were also respectively associated to the colours white, green and black as documented by [[Karel Jaromír Erben]].{{sfn|Dynda|2014|p=60, 63}}

==History of the concept==

Book of Veles, Tablet No. 1:

{{blockquote|'''праве''' бо есь невідомо уложена дажьбом, а по ньяко пря же ся теце '''яве''' і та соутворі живо то нашо а токо лі одіде сьмртье есь явь есь текоуща а творено о '''праві''' '''наве''' нбо есте по тоія до те есте '''нава''' а по те есте '''нава''' а в '''праві''' же есте '''явъ'''<ref>Quote according to the edition of Oleg Tvorogov,{{harvnb|Tvorogov|2004}} broken down into words and sentences.</ref>}}

In the interpretation of the neopagan ideologue and popularizer of the Book of Veles, [[Alexander Asov]] (1992), this means:

{{blockquote|For what is laid down by [[Dazhdbog]] in Prav, we do not know. And since this battle takes place in Yav, which creates our life, and if we leave, there will be death. Yav is the current, what is created by Prav. Nav is after it, and before it, there is Nav. And in Prav, there is Yav.}}

The publisher and probable falsifier of the Book of Veles, Yury Mirolyubov, interprets these terms as follows:

{{blockquote|We managed only after long efforts to establish that "Yav" was reality, "Prav" - the truth, the laws that govern reality, and finally, "Nav" was the other world, where there was a "Yav" that was not connected with "Prav", and therefore incorporeal...

The deceased came "from Nav, where no one vein comes veniti." Such communication with the dead takes place in Yav through Nav. Paradise, or the divine abode, where... Ancestors and Shuras ..., communicate with Yav through "Nav". This is, as it were, an intermediate step, because if we live in Yav, if Life itself, the outflow of Alive through time and space can only go on thanks to Prav - the basis that exists under it and established by the gods (the incarnations of [[Svarog]]), then in the future a person will "enter Nav," i.e., into the afterlife. Thus, there was no death, but only the contemplation of the "Nav sight" of those who left.<ref>Rig Veda and paganism // ''Yury Mirolyubov''. Sacred Rus'. ADE "Golden Age", 1996.</ref>}}

According to Slavic neopaganism, death as such does not exist. There is a state of afterlife, in which a person does not lose consciousness and waits for his reincarnation in Nav - parallels are drawn with ancient [[Hades]]. After bodily death, a person can remain in Yav as a guardian of a kind - chur or [[domovoy]]. They can go to the Veles Meadows in Nav, awaiting their fate, or be attributed to the gods and heroes in [[Iriy]] (Prav) and create the fate of other worlds. The world of Yav belongs to people, and they determine its fate.{{sfn|Prokofiev|Filatov|Koskello|2006|p=186}}

From Mirolyubov, the idea of "Yav, Prav and Nav" was borrowed by one of the founders of Russian neopaganism, [[Valery Yemelyanov]]. In his book ''Dezionization'' (1979), he wrote that the "[[Vistula Veneti|Veneti]]" constituted the "backbone" of the "Aryan" community and were the main guardians of the "general Aryan" ideology. The purity of language and ideology, according to Yemelyanov, was preserved only "in the vastness from Novgorod to the Black Sea", where the idea of "the trinity of three triune trinities" ("Prav-Yav-Nav", "Svarog-Perun-Svetovid") was preserved and reigned a golden age.

The neopagan writer Vladimir Shcherbakov believed that the formula "Yav, Nav, Prav" means the trinity of the world of people, spirits, and gods and was the basis of the Slavic pagan faith, which was the key to the invincibility of ancient ancestors.

Another writer close to neopaganism, Yuri Petukhov, also wrote about the triad of "Prav, Yav, Nav", borrowed from the Book of Veles.

"Yav-Prav-Nav" appears in the neopagan [[Conceptual Party "Unity"|Concept of Public Security of Russia "Dead Water"]] (KOB) by Major General Konstantin Petrov (volkhv Meragor).

In the "Slavic-Aryan Vedas", the sacred scripture of [[Ynglism]], a direction of Slavic neopaganism created by the Omsk esotericist Alexander Khinevich, a fourth component, "Slav" (Glory) is added to the native faith triad "Yav, Prav, Nav". Like Yemelyanov and Asov, several different "trinities" ("Great Triglavs of the Worlds") are constructed, the number of which reaches seven.{{sfn|Schnirelmann|2012}}{{sfn|Schnirelmann|2015}}

The neopagan ideologue Dmitry Gavrilov (Yggeld, the Bera Circle community) interprets the triad "Yav, Prav, and Nav" by Gavrilov without reference to the original source (Book of Veles) within the framework of [[Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel|Hegel]]'s philosophy as thesis, synthesis, and antithesis. After the publication of ''Izvednik'', Gavrilov admitted that the noun "Prav" is not found in reliable sources and is a [[Lexical Innovation|lexical innovation]]. However, he expressed confidence that there was a "third component of the triad," but it had a different name.<ref>{{cite book|title=Russian pagan world outlook: the space of meanings. Dictionary experience with explanations | editor-first1=Dmitry |editor-last1=Gavrilov|editor-first2=S. E. |editor-last2=Yermakov|location=Moscow |publisher=Ladoga-100|year=2008}}</ref>

==General meaning==
[[File:Ynglist cosmology and cycle of incarnation.svg|thumb|upright=1.0|Prav-Yav-Nav as seen in [[Ynglism|Ynglist]] cosmology though they also add a fourth concept '''Slav''' (Славь) which means "'''Glory'''". The four are said to represent the four dimensions of, and of the cycle of life throughout them.<ref name="Derzhavarus-four-worlds">{{cite web|title=Явь, Навь, Славь, Правь|trans-title=Yav, Nav, Slav, Prav|url=http://derzhavarus.ru/jav-nav-slav-prav.html|website=Derzhava Rus |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170626220720/http://derzhavarus.ru/jav-nav-slav-prav.html|archive-date=26 June 2017}}</ref>]]
Following the description in the Book of Veles, many modern practitioners of Slavic Native Faith describe Prav ("Right"; cf. Greek ''[[Orthotes]]'', Sanskrit ''[[Ṛta]]'') as being the universal order otherwise described as the "Law of Heaven", which is enacted by the supreme God (Род ''Rod'', "Generation" itself in Slavic theology) and permeates and regulates the other two hypostases.{{sfnm|1a1=Ivakhiv|1y=2005b|1p=202|2a1=Ivakhiv|2y=2005c|2p=230|3a1=Laruelle|3y=2008|3p=290|4a1=Aitamurto|4y=2016|4pp=66–67}} It is conceived as being at the same time the plane of gods, who generate entities in accordance with the supreme order; gods and the entities that they beget "make up" the great God. Yav ("actuality") is believed to be the plane of matter and appearance, the here and now in which things appear in light, coalesce, but also dissolve in contingency; Nav ("probability") is held to be the world of human ancestors, of spirit, consisting in the memory of the past and the projection of the future, that is to say the continuity of time.{{sfn|Rabotkina|2013|p=240}}

==Descriptions==

===Triglav: soul, flesh and power===
Represented as [[Triglav (mythology)|Triglav]] the three worlds are traditionally associated, respectively, to the three gods [[Svarog]] ("Heaven"), [[Perun]] ("Thunder") and [[Dažbog]] ("Sun") or [[Svarog]], [[Perun]], and [[Svetovid]] ("Sacred Lord") or [[Veles (god)|Veles]] ("Underworld"). These three gods are also seen, respectively, as representing the qualities of soul, flesh and power.{{sfn|Schnirelmann|1998|p=8, note 35}} Perun and Svetovid are regarded as manifestations of the same Svarog, and other names for them are Dazhbog ("Giving God", "Day God") and Svarozhich (the god of fire, literally meaning "Son of Heaven").{{sfn|Mathieu-Colas|2017}} The netherworld (Nav), especially in its dark aspect, is also traditionally embodied by [[Veles (god)|Veles]], who in this function is the god of waters but also the one who guides athwart them (cf. Sanskrit ''[[Varuna]]'').{{sfn|Dynda|2014|p=72}}

In his study of Slavic cosmology, [[Jiří Dynda]] (2014), identifies Triglav as a conception of the ''[[axis mundi]]'', and compares it to similar concepts from other [[Proto-Indo-Europeans|Indo-European]] cultures. He gives weight to the Triglav as a representation of what [[Georges Dumézil]] studied as the "Indo-European [[trifunctional hypothesis]]" (holy, martial and economic functions reflected by three human types and social classes).{{sfn|Dynda|2014|p=63}}

The Triglav may also represents the interweaving of the three dimensions of time, metaphorically represented as a three-threaded rope.{{sfn|Dynda|2014|p=74}} By [[Ebbo]]'s words, the Triglav is definable as ''summus deus'', the god representing the "sum" of the three dimensions of reality as a mountain or tree (themselves symbols of the ''axis mundi'').{{sfn|Dynda|2014|p=64}} According to Dynda, this threefold vision originating in [[Proto-Indo-European religion]] was also elaborated in early and medieval Christianity giving rise to the theology of God who is at the same time creator (father), creature (son) and creating activity (spirit).{{sfn|Dynda|2014|p=76}}

===Heaven, Earth and humanity in "genotheism"===
In her theological commentaries to the ''Book of Veles'', the Ukrainian Rodnover leader [[Halyna Lozko]] emphasises the cosmological unity of the three planes of Heaven, Earth and humanity between them. She gives a definition of Rodnover theology and cosmology as "genotheism". God, hierarchically manifesting as different hypostases, a multiplicity of gods emerging from the all-pervading force Svarog, is genetically (''rodovid'') linked to humanity. On the human plane God is incarnated by the progenitors/ancestors and the kin lineage, in the Earth. Ethics and morality ultimately stem from this cosmology, as harmony with nature is possible only in the relationship between an ethnic group and its own land.{{sfn|Ivakhiv|2005a|p=23}} The same vision of a genetic essence of divinity is called "rodotheism" by the Rodnover denomination of the [[Ynglism|Ynglists]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Rodotheism – the veneration of the Kin (Родотеизм – это почитание Рода) |url=http://derzhavarus.ru/rodoteizm-pochitanie-roda.html |website=Derzhava Rus |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170703182508/http://derzhavarus.ru/rodoteizm-pochitanie-roda.html |archive-date=3 July 2017}}</ref>

The worship of human progenitors, such as the alleged forefather of the Slavs and Aryans ''"Or"'' or ''"Oryi"'',{{sfnm|1a1=Ivakhiv|1y=2005a|1p=14|2a1=Schnirelmann|2y=2007|2p=54}} or local forefathers such as ''"Dingling"'' worshipped by [[Vladivostok]] Rodnovers, is common.{{sfn|Schnirelmann|2007|p=54}} Divine ancestors are believed to be the spirits who both kin and generators and holders together of kinship.  The Russian [[volkhv]] and [[neo-Nazi]] leader<ref>{{cite book|author1=Kaarina Aitamurto|author2=Scott Simpson |title=Modern Pagan and Native Faith Movements in Central and Eastern Europe|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2L3oBAAAQBAJ |year=2014|publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn= 978-1-3175-4462-3|pages=66}}</ref> [[Alexey Dobrovolsky]] (also known as Dobroslav) emphasised the importance of blood heritage, claiming that the violation of kinship purity brings about the loss of the relationship with the kin's divine ancestor.{{sfn|Schnirelmann|2007|p=54–55}}

==See also==
* [[Nav (Slavic folklore)]]
* [[Triglav (mythology)]]

==References==

===Footnotes===
{{Reflist}}

===Sources===
{{refbegin|indent=yes}}
* {{cite book |last=Aitamurto |first=Kaarina |year=2016 |title=Paganism, Traditionalism, Nationalism: Narratives of Russian Rodnoverie |publisher=Routledge |location=London and New York |isbn=9781472460271}}
* {{cite journal |last=Dynda |first=Jiří |authorlink=Jiří Dynda|year=2014 |title=The Three-Headed One at the Crossroad: A Comparative Study of the Slavic God Triglav |url=http://sms.zrc-sazu.si/pdf/17/03_sms17_Dynda.pdf |journal=[[Studia mythologica Slavica]] |volume=17 |publisher=Institute of Slovenian Ethnology |pages=57–82 |doi=10.3986/sms.v17i0.1495 |issn=1408-6271 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170707213317/http://sms.zrc-sazu.si/pdf/17/03_sms17_Dynda.pdf |archive-date=7 July 2017}}
* {{cite journal |last=Ivakhiv |first=Adrian |title=In Search of Deeper Identities: Neopaganism and 'Native Faith' in Contemporary Ukraine |journal=Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions |volume=8 |number=3 |year=2005 |pages=7–38 |doi=10.1525/nr.2005.8.3.7 |url=http://www.uvm.edu/~aivakhiv/Insearch.pdf |jstor=10.1525/nr.2005.8.3.7 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200214053214/http://www.uvm.edu/~aivakhiv/Insearch.pdf |archive-date=14 February 2020}}
* {{cite journal |last=Ivakhiv |first=Adrian |author-mask={{long dash}} |year=2005b |title=Nature and Ethnicity in East European Paganism: An Environmental Ethic of the Religious Right? |journal=The Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies |volume=7 |number=2 |pages=194–225|doi=10.1558/pome.2005.7.2.194 }}
* {{cite contribution |last=Ivakhiv |first=Adrian |author-mask={{long dash}} |year=2005c |contribution=The Revival of Ukrainian Native Faith |title=Modern Paganism in World Cultures: Comparative Perspectives |editor=Michael F. Strmiska|pages=209–239 |publisher=ABC-Clio |location=Santa Barbara |isbn=9781851096084}}
* {{cite journal |last=Laruelle |first=M. |year=2008 |title=Alternative Identity, Alternative Religion? Neo-Paganism and the Aryan Myth in Contemporary Russia |url=https://www.academia.edu/7896480 |journal=Nations and Nationalism |volume=14 |number=2 |pages=283–301|doi=10.1111/j.1469-8129.2008.00329.x }}
* {{cite contribution |last=Mathieu-Colas |first=Michel |year= 2017 |contribution=Dieux slaves et baltes |title=Dictionnaire des noms des divinités |publisher= Archive ouverte des Sciences de l'Homme et de la Société, Centre national de la recherche scientifique |location=France |contribution-url=http://www.mathieu-colas.fr/michel/Classes/Dieux_slaves_et_baltes.pdf |access-date=24 May 2017}}
* {{cite book |last1=Prokofiev |first1=A. V.|last2=Filatov |first2=Sergei |last3=Koskello |first3=Anastasia |chapter=Slavic and Scandinavian paganism. Wicca |title=Modern religious life in Russia. Experience in systematic description |lang=ru |editor-last1=Bourdeaux |editor-first1=Michael |editor-last2=Filatov |editor-first2=Sergei |location=Moscow |publisher=Logos |date=2006 |volume=4 |page=155—207 |isbn=5-98704-057-4}}
* {{cite journal |last=Rabotkina |first=S. |year=2013 |title=Світоглядні та обрядові особливості сучасного українського неоязичництва |trans-title=Worldview and ritual features of modern Ukrainian Neopaganism |journal=Herald of Dnipropetrovsk University |series=Philosophy, Sociology, Politology |volume=4 |number=23 |pages=237–244 |language=uk}}
* {{cite book |last=Schnirelmann |first=Victor A. |author-link=Victor Schnirelmann |year=1998 |title=Russian Neo-pagan Myths and Antisemitism |series=Analysis of Current Trends in Antisemitism, Acta no. 13 |publisher=The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, The Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism}}
* {{cite journal |first=Victor A. |last=Schnirelmann |author-mask={{long dash}} |year=2007 |title=Ancestral Wisdom and Ethnic Nationalism: A View from Eastern Europe |journal=The Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies |volume=9 |number=1 |pages=41–61 |doi=10.1558/pome.v9i1.41 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/250013345}}
* {{cite book |last=Schnirelmann |first=Victor |author-mask={{long dash}} |date=2012 |title=Russian Rodnoverie: Neopaganism and Nationalism in Modern Russia |lang=ru |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9bdgBwAAQBAJ |publisher=Biblical Theological Institute of St. Andrew the Apostle |page=xiv + 302 |isbn=978-5-89647-291-9}}
* {{cite book |last=Schnirelmann |first=Victor |author-mask={{long dash}} |date=2015 |title=Aryan myth in the modern world |lang=ru |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Aa8qCwAAQBAJ |publisher= New Literary Review |isbn=9785444804223}}
* {{cite contribution |last=Schnirelmann |first=Victor A. |author-mask={{long dash}} |year=2017 |contribution=Obsessed with Culture: The Cultural Impetus of Russian Neo-Pagans |title=Cosmopolitanism, Nationalism, and Modern Paganism |editor=Kathryn Rountree|pages=87–108 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=New York |isbn=9781137570406}}
* {{cite journal |last=Tvorogov |first=Oleg |title=The language of the Book of Veles (end) |url=http://knigavelesa.narod.ru/knigi/Chto_dymaiyt_uchenye_o_VK/tvorogov_2.html |date=2004 |page=227—232}}
{{refend}}

[[Category:Slavic neopaganism]]
[[Category:Modern pagan theology]]