There were neither temples nor priests, but the oak was venerated and consecrated to Perun; and rude idols of wood stood upon the hills, where sacrifices were offered to them and they were worshiped by the people.
They believed that their dead passed into a future life, and from the time of the early Scythians it had been the custom to strangle a male and a female servant of the deceased to accompany him on his journey to the other land.

The barbarity of their religious rites varied with the different tribes, but the general characteristics were the same, and the people everywhere were profoundly attached to their pagan ceremonies and under the dominion of an intense form of superstition.
Slav society was everywhere founded upon the patriarchal principle.
The father was absolute head of the family, his authority passing undiminished upon his death to the oldest surviving member.

This was the social unit.
The Commune, or _Mir_, was only the expansion of the family, and was subject to the authority of a council, composed of the elders of the several families, called the _vetche_.

The village lands were held in common by this association.

The territory was the common property of the whole.