Buddhist patterns - meaning and sacred meaning. Ornaments and symbols
NATURAL ELEMENTS
Solar symbolism - the symbolism of the solar element, the sun, solar light gods.
The sun gods in Slavic paganism - Dazhdbog, Svarog, Khors. They are light, that is, the gods representing the power of Rule. Rule - the upper, heavenly world in Slavic mythology. The Slavs represented Rule as an ideal world where the laws of justice and honor reign. Many Russian words tell us about this: correct (as in Rule), fair (with Rule), rule (in fairness), right (in both meanings). Solar symbolism is one of the brightest in the Slavic tradition. Among the solar signs, perhaps, there is not a single one that is harmful. On the contrary, all signs are associated with the acquisition of both material and spiritual benefits, their augmentation. The sun in paganism is also an all-seeing eye, which is why, if there was a need, they committed a crime at night - perhaps the gods would not notice the Rule; therefore, evil spirits and dark wizards are activated at night. On the contrary, during the sunny time of the day, light forces predominate, helping man and nature. However, this is only one side of the coin.
The sun
The image of the heavenly waters was only part of a more general picture of the world, where the heavenly water layer was only a distant background, and the main thing was the sun in its measured path across the firmament of the middle sky.
It is extremely important to note that in the entire decor of Russian huts of the 18th-19th centuries, throughout the vast expanse of twelve northern provinces of Russia, the sun signs abounding in this decor have never been placed above the sky-water zone, that is, they did not violate the ancient Slavic ideas about the upper sky. Since the Chalcolithic times, the zone of movement of the sun has been the middle sky, separated by a firmament from the heavenly-water zone of the upper sky.
This ancient picture of the world was observed with surprising rigor in the system of architectural decoration: the path of the sun across the middle sky was emphasized by the fact that artificial boards, which did not play any constructive role, were used to display the sun signs - "towels", descending vertically down from the piers.
The positions of the luminary at sunrise and sunset were indicated by the placement of sun signs at the lower end of both piers, and they thus appeared in the overall composition of the pattern below that part of the piers, on which the "heavenly abyss" were depicted. Sometimes here, too, to show the morning-evening positions of the sun, they resorted to using two vertical "towels" at the edges of the piers.
Sometimes the path of the sun was marked not by three standard positions, but additionally by several more intermediate signs attached to the lower edge of the piers. The daily course of the sun in these cases was marked by twelve solar signs.
Consider the sun signs included in common system defense of the Russian house from ghouls and navias.
First of all, it should be said that in these three positions (morning, noon and evening), the sun signs were depicted not just as one of the elements of decoration, but quite meaningfully, with a deep symbolic meaning... This is convinced by the fact that they were almost never placed separately, but always in combination with other symbols - land, a sown field, sometimes water. The mutual position of different symbols in one complex additionally emphasized the daytime movement of the sun.
The sun signs themselves are of several types. The most stable is a circle with six radii ("Jupiter's wheel"). There is a circle with a cross inside it, and sometimes with eight rays. The rising or setting sun can be shown in a semicircle (arched up) with three rays.
Of particular interest are the numerous signs depicting the "running" sun: inside the circle, several arcuate lines are cut out, located radially; they give the impression of a rolling wheel with curved spokes. The direction of curvature is always the same: the upper line in the circle has a bulge to the left, the lower one to the right, which determines the position of all intermediate spokes of this sun wheel. Sometimes the movement of the sun is expressed by only three such arcs, but usually there are many of them.
Near the symbol of the sun, one or another symbol of the earth, field is almost always adjacent.
The sign denoting the earth is an ancient, still Eneolithic symbol of the field and fertility in the form of a rhombus or square, set at an angle and divided into four parts. It steadily existed for several millennia and is well reflected in Russian medieval applied art, in church decorative painting and presented in ethnographic material, mainly in the patterns of the bride's wedding clothes, which once again testifies to the connection with the idea of fertility.
The second group of signs depicts the plowed land in the form of a large rectangle or rhombus drawn along and across. On the piers of the huts, rectangles and rhombuses were also depicted, formed by rows of small holes. In addition, rhombuses are almost always carved on the edge of the pins.
a) "Towels" of the morning, midday and evening complexes with security signs;
B) The midday complex of the image of the entire daily sun (three daytime suns and two night and white lights - in the center);
C) Morning security complex of patterns: the symbol of the night sun on the "towel" and the rising sun - on the quay;
D) "Towel" with the image of white light;
E) "Towels" of the midday complex with two suns and a cross
Sometimes the sun is shown already risen, above the earth; in these cases, the land is shown not by a rectangle, but by the sign of fertility - a crossed square. In the complex of the lower ends of the prism, very often the sun is depicted as "running", which is quite consistent with visual perception the course of the sun - at sunrise and sunset, the movement of a luminary, rapidly rising or falling in relation to the horizon, is especially noticeable.
Noon. The midday sun was depicted on the facade of the hut, at the very top, under the dominant figure of the gabled horse, but, as already mentioned, nevertheless below the "heavenly abyss", which was the upper sky. In order to leave the sun in its proper tier, the old craftsmen attached a short "towel" board to the tong, hanging vertically down the facade. It was at the lower end of this "towel" that the midday complex of sun signs was located.
The midday complex has always been richer than the morning and evening ones. Most often, two suns were depicted here, just like the month on the calendar summer solstice(June) was designated not by one cross, like other solar phases, but by two crosses.
Two suns, one below the other, could be the same (usually with six rays), but one of them could be given in the dynamic form of a running wheel. In some cases (in Christian times) an image was placed above the suns Orthodox cross, which gave clarity to the semantics of the sun signs - they were also sacred and possessed the same power as the cross with which they drove away demons.
On some "towels" the entire daily movement of the sun was depicted: at the top there are three daytime positions of the sun (morning, noon and evening), below are two positions of the night underground sun, and in the center is a huge radiant circle, symbolizing the "white light", the Universe, shining, along the opinion of the Russian people of the XII-XIII centuries, "intangible and inscrutable light."
Earth symbols are usually absent from the midday composition, but sometimes they are still depicted. In these cases, they are necessarily associated with the sun: either the sun shines on the earth approaching it (from above and below), or a small earth symbol is placed between two running suns, and it turns out to be, as it were, comprehensively illuminated.
Perhaps, the fundamental sign of solar symbolism. For the first time, this symbol, along with some other symbols of Germanic paganism, was appropriated by Adolf Hitler for his fascist state. Since then, it has become customary, if the swastika means it comes about fascism. In fact, the swastika has nothing to do with the ugliness called fascism. This sign is an image of the sun, an appeal to the light gods; he brings good and justice to the world of Reveal, carries a huge charge of light magical energy.
The classic Sanskrit name for this symbol comes from the Indo-European root "su / swa", which means "associated with the good." Let's remember the bird Mother Sva (patroness of Russia), the god Svarog, Svarga - the habitat of the light gods of Slavic myths. The word "light" refers to the same root. Among the Slavs, the swastika was called the Kolovrat or solstice. However, the Kolovrat still begins with six rays. Since a colo is a circle, a ring, a wheel, a well, a bun. Kolovrat in all ages and among all peoples was a symbol of the sun, there is even reason to believe that the sun in ancient times was called exactly "kolo".
Also, some authors associate it with the unity of statics and dynamics. Moreover, only a rotating swastika has a dynamic meaning. If it rotates clockwise (to the right), then it symbolizes the desire for everything connected with life, with positive qualities and an active masculine principle; counterclockwise rotation, on the contrary, indicates dying, the denial of all positive and passive behavior. Quite the opposite, the Greeks interpret the direction of rotation of their swastika (they called this sign "tetraksele" - "four-legged", "four-pointed"), since they learned about the swastika from the Slavic peoples unfriendly to them and decided that what the Slavs rule is, they are Hades ... Hence there is a lot of confusion with the direction of rotation and the direction of the beams of the swastikas. The swastika is not only a four-pointed sign. There are also swastikas with 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8 and more rays. Each type of swastika has its own specific magical meaning... Let's look at some types of swastikas.
The six-pointed cross, enclosed in a circle, is the thunder sign of Perun.
This sign was very widespread, Scandinavians, Celts, and Slavs knew it. We can see the thunder sign in the ornament of Russian spinning wheels and on the huts up to our time. They cut it out on them for a reason. In the huts, it was carved on a kokoshnik (a board hanging from the end of a ridge) as a magic lightning rod.
Also, a thunder sign - a sign of courage, military valor - was a magical sign of the Russian squad. This sign can be found on helmets, armor plates. This sign was also embroidered on a men's shirt.
The eight-ray Kolovrat is a sign under which the revival of Slavic paganism is now taking place.
You can see him on the banners of modern pagan communities. Such an honor was given to this sign for a reason. This is the sign of Svarog, the creator god, the god of wisdom. It was Svarog who created the Earth, people (through Dazhdbog), gave people a lot of knowledge, including metal and a plow. The sign of Svarog is a sign of wisdom and supreme justice, a sign of Rule. Also Kolo Svarog is a symbol of the universe. The device of the universal wheel of Svarog is very complicated. Its center is located on Stozhar-Stlyazi - the celestial axis. It turns around Stozhar in one day and makes a turn in a year. The slowest rotation of the wheel leads to a change in the zodiacal eras. This wheel rotation lasts 27 thousand years. This time is called the days of Svarog.
Trixel is a three-branch swastika. In the north, a "broken" line is used, that is, a trixel that has no connections between the rays. Its magical meaning is not known very precisely. This is a sign of "that which leads", a sign that directs the development of an event in the right direction. This is a rune associated with the direction and orientation of human activity. Simply put, this sign orients a person in life, serves as a kind of guiding star for him. Also, some scientists associate this sign with time and the god of time, among the Slavs - with Chislobog, and the three rays of the trixel - with three legs bent at the knees (running), but this definition is very superficial: it is based only on the Greek interpretation of the name of the sign: tri - "three", kselos - "bone, limb".
Following Greek terminology, the four-pointed swastika is called the tetraxel.
So, the main forms of the solar symbolism of the swastika are considered. However, there are also many other solar symbols that are less characteristic of the Slavic peoples, for example, the "dragon's eye" - a three-rayed swastika with connected rays, used in the territory of Wales (Great Britain) in earth magic; the so-called "Celtic version" - a swastika with wavy curved rays inscribed in a circle, sonnenrad (by the way, it was the emblem of some SS divisions), "dedication cross" and many others ...
Also a solar symbol. We do not refer it to the swastika very conditionally - the cross is also a swastika, only without the rays emanating to the side. The cross has become one of the most famous Christian symbols. And not only. For example, Catholic missionaries who preached in China saw crosses depicted on statues of Buddha, whose teachings arose about six centuries earlier than Christianity, and the Spanish conquistadors witnessed the veneration of the cross by the North American pagan Indians as a fusion of Heavenly Fire and Earthly Fire.
The word "cross" comes from the common European root cru, which means "curved". We can observe this root in the words circle, curve, steep. In Latin, crux is "cross". There is also a version that the word "cross" comes from the Slavic root "kres" - "fire" (compare: kresalo - a tool for kindling a fire).
Archaeological evidence suggests that the cross was revered as a symbol in the Upper Paleolithic. The cross is a symbol of life, heaven and eternity. The correct (equal-ended) cross symbolizes the principle of connection and interaction of two principles: the female (horizontal line) and the male (vertical). Also, crosses are divided into a straight line, that is, having horizontal and vertical lines, and an oblique, having two diagonal lines, and a straight cross personifies an aggressive male creative principle, an oblique one - a softer creative principle.
A straight cross can also serve as a primitive model of the World Tree, where the vertical line is the World Tree, and the horizontal line is the World of Reveal. Accordingly, a cross with a horizontal line shifted upwards denotes the location of the world of Prav on the Tree, downwards - the world of Navi. Naturally, these crosses have a corresponding magical meaning.
Let's consider the main types of crosses typical for the Nordic tradition.
The Celtic cross, or bell, most accurately demonstrates the similarity of the cross with the swastika and the whole conventionality of their division. Look at the six- and eight-rayed rotifers presented in this work. In addition to the number of rays, these signs do not change anything. Despite the fact that this cross is called Celtic, it is known to almost all Indo-Europeans, including the Slavs. The history of the Celtic cross goes back at least 8-9 millennia. The Celts especially revered this cross. The Celtic cross was also called the “warrior's cross”, “Wotan's cross” (Odin).
The twelve-pointed cross is a cross with a crossbar on each ray, or a swastika with rays extended to the left (in the dark to the right). The purpose of this cross is protection from external influences. Also, many researchers speak of this sign as a magic sign of the Rod. It is also called the "helmet of terror". This symbol was widespread in ancient times: there is archaeological evidence for this - many amulets with a "helmet of horror" were found in the territories of the Scythians, Mordovians, Indo-European peoples; in the Middle Ages, they were used to decorate the walls of houses and wooden products, as well as often church utensils. The most powerful symbol among the "helmets of horror" is the so-called Egishjalm (Scandinavian name), or the Cross of Invincibility - this symbol surpasses all others in its effectiveness.
Heavenly abyss
The magical system of protection from the spirits of evil provided for the image not only of the sun and its path through the sky, but also of the sky itself as a reservoir of rainwater necessary for the growth of all living things.
So, the upper contour of the gable pediment of the Slavic house represented the firmament, along which the sun makes its daytime journey from the lower left end of the roof up to the roof gable, to its ridge and further down to the lower right end of the roof.
The firmament consisted of two heavens - water and solar-air, separated by a transparent "firmament of heaven". As for the rain, the ancient Slavs believed that rain moisture is taken from the heavenly reserves of water stored in the upper sky, which is above the middle sky, along which the sun and moon move. In the Old Russian language, the water reserves in the sky were called “heavenly abysses”. Heavy rain, downpour was defined by the phrase: "the heavenly abyss opened," that is, the heavenly water opened, got freedom and rushed down to earth.
The "firmament" in the medieval sense kept the "abyss of heaven" somewhere in an unattainable height above the airspace of the ordinary sky. This bifurcation of the sky was reflected in the Russian language in the words "sky" (singular h) and "heaven" (plural).
The heavenly abysses of the upper sky on the quays of house roofs were almost always depicted. The most common is a wavy ornament or a pattern from towns, which are also perceived as waves from a distance. Usually, the waves of the hut "firmament" go in 2-3 rows, as if emphasizing the depth of the water sky. Very often, small circles are depicted along with wavy lines, symbolizing raindrops.
Quays with the image of wavy jets are known in the Novgorod region, in the Arkhangelsk, Vologda, Yaroslavl, Ulyanovsk, Gorky, in the Russian villages of Karelia and in a number of other places in Central Russia and the North.
Another symbol depicted along with the heavenly water was the symbols of women's breasts. They are known to us from the Novgorod quays of the XI-XV centuries. The breasts were depicted either in the form of a pattern, where this plot is repetitive, or in the form of paired images of two breasts, carefully marked by the carver, but also forming a wavy pattern in their repetition.
Sometimes the motif of a woman's breast was conveyed by rounded protrusions on the lower edge of the prism (running continuously or in pairs, with intervals between pairs), but much more often it was depicted in the form of small jagged (stepped) towns, which at a distance, for a person looking from below, gave a complete illusion that symbolic figure of the breast, which was carved so carefully and naturally by the Novgorod carver of the time of Yaroslav the Wise.
The farmers of the Eneolithic imagined the rain streams as the flow of milk of the Mother Goddess. And initially the Slavic pagans worshiped two heavenly goddesses-women in labor, whose cult was later combined with the worship of the male heavenly deity - Rod and even survived it, surviving until the 19th century. in a whole series of peasant embroidery.
In the Russian medieval language, words such as "chest" and "pile" were very close. "Dew chest" - drops of dew, helping plants to drink heavenly moisture - "birth and drops of dew". Russian pagans XII-XIII centuries believed that dew, falling from heaven in the form of a fog-cloud, is sent by the god of the sky, Rod, precisely as the moisture of life.
The porches of Russian huts were decorated in two or four rows. The top row was most often occupied by a zigzag line, a stable ancient symbol of water, in in this case- "Heavenly abyss", inaccessible rain reserves. Below there was a series of towns or paired images of women's breasts, obviously associated with the idea of heavenly goddesses-women in labor, who, according to the ancient hunters, gave birth to "small reindeer", and according to the thought of farmers, poured rain on the fields. These two main rows were sometimes interspersed with rows of circular through holes representing raindrops. Towns and semicircles of the lower row were often supplied with the same circles.
Often there is (moreover, in different distant places) a combination in one row of semicircles-breasts with a circle in the middle and short zigzags between them. Here, obviously, the denticles between the semicircles can be interpreted as adding the symbol of water to the image of clouds-breasts.
So, in the patterns of the hut, two ideas were shown inextricably linked with each other: firstly, the presence in the upper sky (above the firmament) of supplies of rainwater, and secondly, the transfer of this water down to the ground to the plowmen, shown by means of a mythological symbol the breasts of the heavenly goddesses, irrigating the earth with "giving birth" with "dewy breasts."
Fire
Fire ... Probably, even the most urban person at least once in his life looked at a live fire, not from a gas stove or a lighter, but a real one, which is in a stove or fire. A spectacle that bewitches the eye and mind. Naturally, fire evokes the same feelings in a heathen.
Fire is not easy for a heathen chemical process, this is a sacred phenomenon. The concept of sacrificial fire (earthly fire) is directly related to this phenomenon - the smoke from the sacrificial fire carries away the essences of the victims to Iriy (essences because it is difficult to say that, for example, a pancake has a soul or not, but any object has an essence ). There is also a heavenly fire - the fire of the heavenly forge of Svarog. Torah is one of the main creative forces... Let's draw some analogies with the Sun and plasma and the theory of the big bang and the period of the formation of the Earth, when active tectonic processes and volcanic eruptions took place on it. It would also be appropriate to recall the fiery sword - a symbol of justice and rule, with which many fantasy and historical heroes in modern works are armed. Even the Jedi Knights from the films of George Lucas, who profess, in fact, paganism, are armed with lightsabers.
There is also the fire of Navi, here we will draw analogies with the Christian cult, in which sinners in hell are roasted by devils on fires in seven modes while cooking these very sinners (see “ Divine Comedy"Dante). This primitive belief about the unfortunate fate of sinners has its roots in a broader and more grounded pagan idea of the fire of Navo. The pagan associates Nav with the underground fiery kingdom (remember the Greek Hades) - and, by the way, no one fries there, it's just that underground fire is understood as an element. Here it will be appropriate to recall the fire-breathing dragons and snakes - they are also children of Navi. Fire Navi can be interpreted as a regressive, destructive force that burns good and light. After all, you can burn your heart with love (heavenly fire), or you can burn your soul with drunkenness and deceit.
Now let's look at the graphic images of these signs. The signs of fire, especially of the heavenly forge, are rather complex signs in execution and understanding.
They are, as a rule, four-part swastika-shaped signs, but this is not quite a swastika, because the fire does not spin anywhere, the rays, but rather even the tongues of flame, are located differently than in the swastikas. They are associated not only with the formation and orientation of human activity (at any level) in the right direction, but also with giving him the necessary strength. The second aspect is disclosure. It is obvious that both aspects are interconnected - it is impossible to realize the plan by revealing oneself to the world. The rune of fertility and heritage is made up of these signs.
Fire is a means for obtaining and maintaining fire - in Ancient Rus was a common and familiar household item.
A device for producing fire, an oval-shaped metal plate with open ends, which are bent inward or outward in such a way that rings - "antennae" are formed. At an earlier time, in Russian life, a flint was known, which had the shape of a dagger without a handle, with blunt edges and a sharp end. Its length ranged from 9 to 30 cm. To obtain fire, it was necessary to have, in addition to flint, flint and tinder. The man who was striking the fire hit the flint with a flint, the sparks that appeared during this were caught on the tinder lying in a box with a lid - a tinderbox. The fire flared up in a box, from where it was transferred to birch bark, straw, tow, pine coals or to seryanka - homemade matches. The fire was extinguished after using it by closing the lid of the box.
Fire obtained with flint is considered to be especially beneficial to humans. He brings happiness and prosperity to the house. In the Russian countryside, there were a number of instructions on how to handle fire so as not to anger it, not offend it, and not tarnish its purity. You could not spit into the fire, urinate into it, throw various rubbish, impurities into it, you could not trample with your feet, extinguish. The fire could only be blown out or wait for it to die by itself. If these rules are violated, then the fire will punish the whole village with fire, and the person who offended the fire - a vognik, a red rash on his face.
The idea of fire and its magical properties was carried over to the weapon for making fire - flint. In Russians fairy tales flint - an object that serves to evoke spirits, as well as acting as an intermediary between "our world" and the other world. Usually the hero of a fairy tale summons the spirits by striking the flint on the flint.
Water
Water, one of the creative elements, is very interesting from a pagan point of view, it has a lot of sacred aspects, which cannot but be reflected in its symbolism. First, water for a pagan is what gives life to all living things. With the help of the life-giving heavenly water, herbs and forests turn green in spring, the harvest ripens, everything blooms, bears fruit and ears. According to the ancient myth, from the water was born the earth, brought in the beak of the World Duck. Water carries the sacred meaning of purification. A pagan, washing in a bath, washes off not only physical dirt, but also spiritual dirt - the shell of vice, darkness, hatred. A ritual is created, because the sacred act of rebirth, renewal of a person is performed - like the renewal of the skin and body of a person in a bath, the soul, his aura is renewed. The ablution was performed before important matters - the priest must necessarily wash in the bath in order to perform the rite, the person must wash, for example, before the wedding - first of all, not for beauty, but so that the dark forces do not interfere with the ritual. The warrior always washed himself before the battle, and after it, so that the same forces would not influence the battle. And the third in a row, but far from last aspect the meaning of water for a heathen is its flow. Everyone knows the proverb that you can't enter the same river twice. Many do not understand it - for them the river is a blue line on the map. For a pagan, a river is a stream of water - the water has flowed under the bridge, and the river is different. That is, the flow of water is a kind of indicator of time. No wonder they say: “how much water has flowed under the bridge since then,” meaning that a lot of time has passed. So, flowing river water is also a sacred comparison with time - water inevitably flows away, as days, years, centuries do.
Accordingly, the symbols for water have different meanings.
Life-giving water is heavenly water, or, as the ancients called it, “heavenly abyss”. Rain, watering the field, gives vitality to the plants, fills them with juices. Also, the idea of a cornucopia is associated with heavenly water. Rains water the earth, the earth gives rise to succulent grasses, which means there is something to feed the cattle, there is an abundance of milk and meat, grain is sprouting in the fields and fruits and vegetables ripen. Sometimes a cornucopia is depicted with water pouring out of it. The word "rain" is akin to the word "Dazhd" - one of the names of the great god - the giver of blessings and the progenitor of people Dazhdbog. By the way, the name Dazhdbog came from two roots - "dazh", that is, to give, to do good, to help, and actually "god". Unlike river rainwater, it symbolizes the male fertilizing principle.
Quite different water - river water, unlike rainwater, it basically came just from the ground - from springs, springs. By the way, the spring was considered sacred place- to desecrate it was the same as to desecrate a temple. After all, water is "born" in the spring - coming from the bowels of the earth, it flows from the spring in a thin stream, the stream connects with another, they connect with the third - this is how a mighty river turns out. Some springs had miraculous healing properties. Again, this is not a fiction - it has been scientifically proven that some springs flow water enriched with salts and minerals, which is very beneficial to health.
Since spring and river water flows, it is depicted as wavy horizontal stripes. River water, unlike rainwater, and along with a thread, can act as a symbol of the flow of time and life. The water flows away along with the moments that are forever gone. This is the truth of life ... Water is not just fate, this leading force, that is, there is a sacred symbolism of fate in water, something that cannot be avoided, however, as a rule, in a positive sense. Running water, moving, forms a stream and carries it along.
There are many amazing legends about magical rivers, they will seem familiar to you from fairy tales - this is the Irian milk river flowing out from under the Alatyr stone (which is on the Buyan island), it symbolizes not something, but Milky Way... The Milk River is a poetic representation of the outskirts of our galaxy. WITH The milky way and the milk (White) river is associated with many legends, most of them with stories about life after death. However, one more river appears in these stories - Smorodina, a fiery river. She shares the Java world and the "great open spaces of Navi" (saying - "Naviy Shlyakh", community "Bor"). The borders of Navi are guarded by Baba Yaga, familiar to many, if not all.
With this knowledge, many plots of fairy tales become clear - the hero crosses the fiery river and gets to Baba Yaga - this is a plot that is somewhat similar to the ancient Greek plot about Orpheus and Eurydice. And there the geese-swans of brother Ivanushka carried away from his sister Alyonushka. Vanya died, and his sister rescued him from the clutches of death.
The idea of the Kalinov Bridge is also associated with mythical rivers. Kalinov Most is a multifaceted and very complex concept. It is associated with subtle states human soul- love, high feelings. In later times, "To meet someone on Kalinov Bridge"- meant to love (see the article by VN Vakurov" Hot Kalina ", the magazine" Russian language abroad ", No. 4, 1990). However, not everything is so rosy. In fact, on Kalinovy Most, the main battle of the human soul between the beginning of Prav and Navi is taking place - a battle with oneself (our life is an eternal struggle). The genius Russian artist Konstantin Vasiliev portrayed this fight very accurately. A real man in his soul is always a warrior, a warrior of the spirit, but if he is not a warrior, then he is a reptile, both figuratively and literally, that is, a snake, a worm. In a battle on the Kalinov Bridge, it is very difficult to win a complete victory, to destroy one side or the other, just as one cannot be absolutely kind, absolutely wise - therefore, the heavenly palace of Pravi cannot in any way defeat the forces of Navi.
The Slavs considered water to be the element from which the world was formed. Without the life-giving power of light, motionless water fills space in the form of snow, ice, but when light and heat awaken it, it spreads and under the influence of light gives birth and nourishes the annual world. On this basis, the Slavs-light-worshipers revered water and inhabited it with various deities (moraines, water, mermaids). They also adored special female aquatic creatures - bereginas, whose cult is directly related to water. Worshiping water deities, the Slavs purified themselves with water as a sacred element, made sacrifices to water - flowers, food, chickens. All sacrifices were left on the shore so that the water could take them away.
The worship of bereginas, as well as ghouls and vampires, belongs to the most ancient period in the history of the Slavs: evil vampires who need to be driven away and placated with victims, and kind caretakers who need to "lay treasures" in order for them to help a person.
Numerous fabulous images living water and living fire. Living water heals wounds, gives strength, restores life. The Slavs opposed water to "living" water to "dead". "Dead" water was sometimes called "healing": it splices together the dissected parts of a dead body, but does not yet resurrect it. "Living" water gives him back his life. In the folk epic it is said that the killed heroes are first sprinkled with "dead" and then with "living" water.
In the folk tradition, rain is an object of reverence and magical influence. Power over rain, like other elements, is attributed to representatives of the other world - the dead and especially the gallows and drowned men, who are considered the masters and leaders of the clouds - the heavenly herds of cows, bulls, oxen, etc. The Serbs turned to the latter to drive away thunderclouds and hail clouds. in the village to a drowned man or to a gallows, calling him by name and beckoning to take his "beef" away from the fields and lands.
During the drought, the inhabitants of Polesie mourned the mythical drowned man Makarka, stirring the water in the well with sticks and wailing: "Makarko, son, get out of the water, pour tears over the holy land!" Wells, springs and other bodies of water, according to popular beliefs, are associated with the heavenly waters as communicating vessels, therefore, the impact on the waters of the earth causes the "opening" of the heavenly waters. During a drought, they went to springs, wells and rivers, blessed the water and prayed for rain.
Often they went to abandoned springs, cleaned them, pouring water over each other, causing rain. We went around villages, fields, performed prayers at a well or a river. In the Zhytomyr region, it was customary to walk around the old well to end the drought: three widows walked in front, one was carrying an icon, the other was bread and salt, and the third was accompanying them. Everyone joined hands, prayed, asked to send rain. The well was bypassed three times, only women participated in the ceremony.
In Polesie, poppies were often poured into the well, money, salt, garlic, consecrated herbs, wheat and rye grains, prosphora were often poured, consecrated water was poured, all the water was scooped out of the well, etc. Sometimes clay pots were thrown into the well, and in many villages Polesie believed that the pot should have been stolen - from neighbors, foreigners, from potters. On Go-melytsin they said: “As there is no rain, then we will steal somewhere ... smooth, but into the well - boom! And also, they say, it will rain. " This method turned out to be more effective when the rite was performed by the widow or when the pot was stolen from the widow. In the Chernihiv region, a pot of borscht was stolen from the oven and thrown into a well. The motif of borscht is typical for widespread children's songs about rain: “To a plank, to a plank, I am toby to a borscht. Meni porridge, tobi borscht, schob looking for thick boards "; "Go, go, to the plank, to the glazed potter." Sometimes the stolen pots were first broken and then thrown into the well.
Close to this method of causing rain are the Bulgarian and Serbian methods of protection against "tiled magic": the products of labor or tools for their manufacture were stolen from the tiles and brick-makers, and all this was thrown into the water. This action was understood as the removal of damage ("blocking the rain"), which was allegedly induced by the shingles. They, like potters, were considered to be the culprits of the drought due to their involvement in the elements of fire (burning pots, tiles) and professional interest in dry weather (for the sake of drying their products).
In Western Bulgaria and Eastern Serbia, a special rite is known, performed during a drought in order to make it rain: girls sculpted a doll named German (a male figure up to 50 cm in size with a hypertrophied phallus) from clay and then, imitating burial, buried the doll on the river bank or thrown into the water, lamenting: “Oh! Herman, Herman, Herman died from drought for the sake of rain. " In such rituals of mourning, tears were magically likened to rain. In Polissya, with the same purpose and with the same motivation, the ritual of the frog's burial was performed: during a drought, children caught a frog, killed it, dressed it up in clothes made of rags, put it in boxes, shouted at it as if it were a deceased, and buried it near the krynitsa; on the "grave" they drew a cross with their hand. Instead of a frog, they could kill some other small animal or insect - a crab, a snake, a bear, a louse, etc. The snake and insects were sometimes hung from a tree or a fence. They believed that it would rain after that.
The ritual dousing with water during a drought had an even more direct magical meaning. People poured water over each other, saying: "As water pours on you, so that rain poured down the earth" (Zhytomyr region). This was done by the river or by the well. Sometimes they poured water over people who, according to popular beliefs, possessed special magical powers: a pregnant woman (symbolizing the mother earth of cheese), a shepherd (the ruler of the earthly flock, capable of influencing the heavenly "flocks" of clouds), a priest (the same symbol of a shepherd-shepherd). In Polesie, the corners of the hut were also poured.
Dousing could also be redemptive in nature, it was used when the violation of certain prohibitions was considered the cause of the drought. So, in the north of the Zhytomyr region, the drought was explained by the fact that some woman in the village on the Annunciation, in spite of a strict ban, baked bread. Then, in order to atone for this sin and remove the punishment (drought), three women gathered, took two buckets of water each, went into the house to the "culprit," poured out all the water in the middle of the hut and poured over the corners of the house outside, and in some places poured over the woman herself. ...
The ritual of pouring water on (or destroying) the grave of an unclean (false) deceased is also redemptive if, in violation of the prohibition, he is buried in a cemetery. Sometimes such a grave was dug up, and the corpse was thrown into the river. The Serbs removed the cross from some unmarked grave, carried it into a river or stream, and fortified it so that it would stand until the water carried it away. When the cross was erected, they said three times: “The cross is in the water, and the rain is in the field! A cross from an unknown grave, rain from an unknown mountain! " In Polesie, a towel from icons was stolen from one of the neighbors, soaked in water and hung in its original place (secretly from the hostess). Gauze also helped against drought, with which they tied the jaw of the deceased: they carried it to the field, burned it there and asked: "For us, Lord, send a rain!"
In Polesie and the adjacent regions of Belarus and Russia, to make rain, they performed the rite of "plowing the river": during a drought they plowed or harrowed a dried-up river bed or simply dragged a plow along the bottom. Symbolic plowing could also be performed right in shallow water: in the Surozh district, they chose a beautiful girl at the age of 15, stripped her naked, hung her with wreaths and made her harrow the water in this form. In our time, a similar method of causing rain is noted in the Grodno region: old women gathered, stole a plow in a collective farm yard, brought it to the river - only women.
Some harnessed, while others drove. Sometimes, instead of the river, they "plowed" the road or dug holes in the road, symbolically "opening up" the water (Polesie).
Since drought was understood kick disaster, to stop it, general protective measures could be applied, which helped in cases of pestilence, illness, fire, etc.: plowing a village or a roadside cross, bypassing villages and fields, making a stern canvas, a towel or installing ordinary crosses. Another way of causing rain, which is of a purely magical nature, was the destruction of the anthill. The anthill was raked with a stick, just as water was pounded in the barn; the creeping ants symbolized and magically caused raindrops. This method is known in Polesie and among the southern Slavs. The Serbs, raking the anthill, pronounced a special incantation: "How many ants, so many drops!"
The pagan methods of making rain, especially the services at the wells, were severely condemned by the church.
To stop the rain, they performed a variety of stopping or disgusting actions: they threw an egg into the yard, carried it out or threw it out into the yard, under the house, on the roof, a bread shovel, a poker, a bread bowl, burned Trinity greens in the oven, consecrated willow, etc. Lingering rains were considered desecration of the water. For example, in Bosnia, they thought in this case that there is something "filthy" in the water - an illegitimate child once thrown into the water or killed, and the rain will not stop until the corpse is removed from the water.
During bad weather, women left the house, took out a wedding shirt and, naming the drowned from the village by name, asked them to take the bad weather away from the fields. Well-known children's songs like "Rain, rain, stop ..." undoubtedly go back to magical, incantatory texts.
Air is one of the elements of the universe (like earth, water, fire); the sphere of residence of souls and invisible demonic beings. In folk beliefs, the concepts of air and breath, breath, wind converge. The space filled with air is larger than the earth; the sky "rests" or "hangs" in the air.
Air serves as a conductor, a medium through which damage is sent, disease spreads. The appearance of evil, unclean air is associated with a moment of complete calm, an eclipse of the moon, etc. open air, it is prescribed to fall facedown on the ground, so as not to "catch this air."
In the form of steam, air or smoke, the soul leaves the dying person.
The Eastern Slavs say about the agony of a person: the spirit is out, the spirit is out, or the steam is out. Air, steam, emanating from the deceased, can be dangerous to others. In Polissya, there are many byliks, which tell how a passer-by sees above a fresh grave of couples, taking the images of a woman in a white dress, a pillar (or a fiery column of air), the deceased himself. This ghost pursues a person when the wind blows in his back, and after catching up, sits on the captive and kills. Fleeing from the spirit, you cannot stop, you should hit it backhand, run against the wind and hide around the corner, but you can also dispel it with clothes, especially a white handkerchief.
V Western Belarus after the death of a person, everyone left the hut and opened the stove so that the air would go up. The custom known in Polesie to “lift the air” (usually on the fortieth day after death) is associated with the Orthodox idea that the souls of the dead rise into the air and stay there for forty days, after which they fly to the higher spheres, to the judgment of God, etc. e. In one of the villages of the Sumy region, "air is blowing" at the grave of the deceased: those present take the corners of the tablecloth and lift it up three times with the words: "The body is in the pit, the soul is with us, we are home, the soul is uphill!" ...
Many demonological characters living in the air, including illness, have the appearance of steam, wind, air column, thick smoke, gas, etc. So, according to the beliefs of Belarusians, a witch, having drunk a wonderful liquid, becomes light as fluff and is worn in the air, in the wind. Perfumes dangerous to humans, causing strong wind, a whirlwind, a tornado, can lift a person into the air and throw him down, tear him to pieces in the air, etc. The view of the air as a habitat for demons is also inherent in the Christian book tradition.
Earth
Niva - the idiogram of fertility
Mother earth, mother nature ... Everyone knows such phrases, but few have wondered why they say so. But this expression came to us from paganism. There is nothing surprising in the fact that our pagan ancestor called the earth mother, she is the giver of all blessings. She feeds and drinks, and dresses, and warms. Earth in union with Heaven (in folk mythology they are spouses) gives us the world in which we live ... Naturally, much is said about the land in folk legends. The goddess of the earth, fertility and fate is Makosh. Her name is formed from two roots: Ma - "mother" and kosh - "purse, storehouse of wealth." Such a decoding gives a clear idea of how our ancestors treated Mokos and the land itself. The earth is associated with the feminine principle - firstly, the earth is capable of giving birth to life, and secondly, its sisters, Dolya and Nedolya, spin the threads of fate (Share spins a happy fate, Nadolya - an unhappy one), because the thread is a symbol of life. For Dolya, the thread is soft, even, for Nedola, it is flimsy, thin, like the fate of a person. When the thread breaks, the person dies.
An indispensable attribute of Mokosh is a cornucopia, which once again speaks of its importance for people and their relationship to the earth.
Let's talk first about the symbolism of fertility. It is represented by a very characteristic pattern - a rhombus (or square), divided into four more rhombuses inside. This field. Small diamonds are seed holes. If dots are depicted in small rhombuses, this means that the field has been sown - this is a symbol of fertility. If the small diamonds are empty, then the field is not sown. These symbols have a corresponding magical meaning. Countless variations are possible with rhombuses, squares and dots. In general, a rhombus (square) with a dot in the middle is something that can give birth, something that is a source of well-being and abundance.
An empty rhombus is the same, but unable (not fertilized) to give birth. Fortune-telling "for a good place" was used until the end of the 19th century, this is how it was guessed, for example, in a Belarusian village: a large square was drawn on the ground on the whole supposed place of the estate, then it was divided into four parts crosswise. The head of the family went “to all four sides”, brought four stones from four fields (and carried them under a hat on his head or in the bosom of his naked body) and laid them out in the centers of small squares. As a result, an ideogram of fertility appeared on the site of the future estate, which has come down to us since the Eneolithic and is found on Russian wedding embroideries even at the beginning of the 20th century. Bread, a sown field, pregnancy - these concepts for the ancient Slavs were identical and directly related to the image of the "home universe", and through it - with space, with the harmony of the world.
Then the owner stood in the center of the crosshairs - in the center of the universe, in the place of the World Tree - and, having bare his head, prayed, and with the indispensable appeal for blessing and help to the deceased ancestors. Instead of stones, heaps of grain were sometimes poured. Grain, on the other hand, was often used to outline the contours of the future house, "holding the corners together." Piles of grain or bread were placed in the corners. Three days later, they came to see: if the fortune-telling objects (pebbles, grain or bread) turned out to be undisturbed, then it was possible to build.
Such fortune-telling, like the sowing of bread, was performed exclusively by men. Women have never participated in it.
Sprouts
The scheme of the first shoots is common: inside the heart-shaped shell, a "krin" with three shoots or a sprout with five leaves, resembling a fern, was depicted. It is possible that the so-called "krin" (lily) in this case depicted a seed with a burst shell (two bent lateral spurs) and a bud, a future sprout. The bud-sprout is often reddish in color, differing from the spurs of the shell. The plant is given in the dynamics of growth, in its initial phase; such a "krin" is the spell of all future development of the seed. These pictograms were usually placed in a central circle, giving them more meaning than seeds. The four-part composition of four fern leaves reflects the real appearance of a spring fern, the leaves of which are directed in all directions. The sacred nature of the fern is well documented in folklore: beliefs about the blooming of the fern on the Kupala night.
The heart-shaped pattern (point upwards) has become a stable form of expression of the agrarian essence of the ornament.
Seed pictograms do not occupy the center circle. Germinating seeds are sometimes arranged in four.
Flowers
Small flowers with four petals are found on women's jewelry as a secondary theme. The floral character of these miniatures is emphasized by the color of the petals in red and white or red and blue.
One of the main plant plots is a stable diagram, which shows a conventional plant (usually with two roots, well-rooted) with branches and petals widely spaced to the sides. An oval "grain" of pollen is depicted above the cleft in the plant. The importance of the pollination process is emphasized by the disproportionate amount of pollen penetrating into the plant and the obligatory color in red.
On later ryasns, an oval grain is depicted under a flourishing cross, and on the reverse side of the plaques there are four flower cups pollinated with oval pollen.
There is a legend. The white-combustible stone Alatyr was revealed at the beginning of time. He was raised from the bottom of the Milky Ocean by the World Duck. Alatyr was very small, because the Duck wanted to hide him in his beak. But Svarog uttered a magic word, and the stone began to grow. The duck could not hold him and dropped him. Where the white-combustible stone Alatyr fell, the Alatyr Mountain rose. It is a sacred stone, the focus of knowledge of the Vedas, an intermediary between man and God. He is both "small and very cold" and "great as a mountain." Both light and heavy. He is unknowable: "... and no one could know that stone, and no one could lift from the earth." When Svarog hit Alatyr with his magic hammer, the gods were born from sparks. On Alatyr, the temple of the Most High was built by the half-horse Kitovras. Therefore, Alatyr is also an altar, an altar-stone to the Most High. On it, the Almighty Himself sacrifices Himself and turns into the Alatyr stone.
According to ancient legends, Alatyr fell from the sky, and the Laws of Svarog were carved on it. So, Alatyr connected the worlds: the heavenly - the heavenly and the manifested - the valley. The mediator between the worlds was also the book of the Vedas, which fell from the sky, and the magic bird Gamayun. Both the Book and the Bird are also Alatyr.
In the earthly world, Alatyr is shown by Mount Elbrus. This mountain was also called Bel-Alabyr, White Mountain, Belitsa. The White River flows from Elbrus-Alatyr. Near Elbrus there was in antiquity the White City, here lived slavic tribe Belogorov. Alatyr is associated with the heavenly world, Iriy, Belovodye, that is, with paradise, along which rivers of milk flow. Alatyr is the White Stone.
The Baksan River flows from Elbrus. Until the IV century. n. NS. it was called the Altud or Alatyrka river. These names contain the root "alt", which means "gold" (hence - "altyn"). Therefore, Alatyr is also a magic stone, the touch of which turns everything into gold. This is the Golden Mountain, Mount Zlatogorka and Svyatogor. This means that Alatyr is the Holy Mountain.
There is also the Alatyr stone in the Urals in the Irian mountains, from where the sacred Ra-river originates. And at its mouth on the Buyan island there is also the Alatyr stone, which cures diseases and gives immortality. The Altai Mountains were also called the Alatyr Mountains, the Golden Island of the Sun in the Northern Ocean was also called the Alatyr Island.
Alatyr is not only a mountain or a stone - it is the sacred center of the World. It is triune, therefore it means the path of Rule between Revealed and Navyu, between the valley and the upper worlds. It is twofold - small and large, and light and heavy. He is one, because all the worlds are united in him. He is unknowable, like Rule. This is the original stone.
History of costume, armor
Traditional symbols in Slavic embroidery and amulets
Ancient images in folk art. Fairy bird, proud horse, female figure, an outlandish tree, radiant circles ... Who and when invented these images, transmitted from century to century? What did they mean?
Even our distant ancestors decorated their products with the simplest ornaments. The man tried to figure out how the world works, to find an explanation for the incomprehensible, mysterious, mysterious. He strove to attract the good forces of nature to himself, and to defend himself from the evil, and he did this with the help of his art. Man expressed his concepts of the world with conventional signs: a straight horizontal line denoted the earth, a wavy horizontal line - water, a vertical line turned into rain; fire, the sun were depicted with a cross. The pattern was built from these elements and their combinations.
The ancient farmer endowed natural phenomena actions, feelings inherent in living creatures, putting them in the form of birds, animals, fantastic creatures... Thus, a person expressed his ideas about the world in images. Centuries passed - Russian embroidery did not disappear, passing from generation to generation.
The sun has long been revered by all agricultural peoples. "Not the earth will give birth, but the sky," says a Russian proverb. How elegant and festive look objects of peasant life, decorated with solar circles - symbols of the sun! The image of the sun occupies one of the main places in the decoration of the home. The sun in the form of round rosettes, rhombuses, horses can be found in various types of folk art.
The Russian peasant has lived on land since ancient times. He connected the earth, its fertility with the image of the mother. The female figure is a deity that expressed ideas about the land that will give birth, and about the woman - the continuer of the clan. This image is called differently: the great goddess of the earth, fertility, mother - the earth is damp, Makosh, which means "mother of a good harvest."
The female figure is always associated with symbols of fertility: trees, birds, animals, sun signs. Look at how conditionally it is solved. Branches often sprout from the body of the goddess, and instead of a head she has an image of a rhombus - an ancient sign of the sun. Sometimes her figure resembles a tree.
Folk embroidery is an excellent example of the use of ornament. Embroidery was used to decorate towels, wedding gowns, tablecloths, curtains, festive shirts, white canvas sundresses, light outerwear, hats and scarves.
There is an assumption that those parts of the costume were decorated with embroidery through which, according to our ancestors, evil forces could penetrate the human body. Hence, the main meaning of embroidery in antiquity is protective. The collar, cuffs, hem, and neck slit were embroidered with a protective pattern. The fabric itself was considered impenetrable to evil spirits, since objects abundantly supplied with spells ornaments participated in its manufacture. Therefore, it was important to protect those places where the enchanted fabric of clothing ended and the human body began.
The embroidery was carried out mainly with red threads; special importance was attached to it. Its shades are varied: scarlet, currant, poppy, lingonberry, cherry, brick ... The seams used to make old embroidery are counted. That is, the threads of the fabric are counted for each stitch. Previously, the pattern is not transferred to the fabric, but only its place and size can be outlined with large stitches. The most widespread are such countable seams as "painting", "set", "counting surface".
Cotton threads are best for permanent protection from the evil eye and spoilage. Silk is good for maintaining clarity of thought, helps in difficult career-related situations. Linen has a pacifying effect, it "works" especially well when using ancient symbolic patterns - when depicting the sun, stars, birds, trees.
Wool protects those people whom evil has already touched, alas. It closes breakdowns in your energy. Wool embroidery is performed on clothes in the neck, heart, solar plexus, lower abdomen, that is, where the main human chakras are located. Silhouettes of animals are usually embroidered with wool (those that you like, for which you intuitively reach), less often - trees and fruits. Do not embroider with the wool of birds and stars. But the sun is quite suitable, it will constantly protect you from the cold and darkness in life!
Attention! You should not embroider several different protective patterns on one thing, it is better to choose a separate thing for each of them, otherwise the result of such embroidery will result in some kind of energetic confusion. This also applies to the material from which the threads are made - it is not necessary to use several types of material in one pattern. In addition, you should know: it is customary to make a protective embroidery smooth, without knots - the knots cut off the energetic connection of the embroidery with its bearer, make it difficult for the smooth flow of energies.
It is important to do protective embroidery without knots, since knots cut off the energy connections of the embroidery with the wearer. Embroidery locations: traditional - circular (collar, belt, sleeves, hem). Non-traditional, that is, any that perform different protective functions:
- protection of the love sphere - red-orange patterns in which circular and cruciform shapes prevail;
- protection little child from adversity - the silhouette of a horse or rooster, threads are red or black; for an older child, a schoolchild - a blue-violet range, which protects against severe mental fatigue;
- blue or golden-green embroidery helps to successfully conduct business in any field of activity.
Do it yourself
When creating amulets, you must follow some rules. Rule one. Charms cannot be crafted for oneself. The second rule. No one can force someone to make a talisman for themselves or beg to do it. Amulets are made only of good will and from a pure soul. Rule three. The most powerful amulets are those that are made, made for you by yours blood relatives: father, mother, brother, children. Marital ties are traditionally not considered blood kinship, but if the marriage is harmonious and happy, mutually created amulets also have great power.
By the way, there is no need to invent anything here: the most powerful marital amulets are wedding rings. True, it is better if they are, as in the old days, silver, not gold. In addition, wedding rings must be smooth, without any patterns and stones. Unlike other magical items, wedding rings lose a significant part of their magical power from inserts made of stones, even precious ones. Wedding rings need to be worn constantly, without taking them off even while sleeping. The ring removed by at least one of the spouses weakens the protective forces, these rings are so inextricably merged together. This is an example of so-called paired magic items.
Rule four. You need to be very careful about the choice of materials for amulets, because often the material (stone, wood) that is good for you is completely unsuitable for the one to whom you are creating this amulet. The fifth rule. In the process of creating a talisman, you must constantly think about the person for whom you are making it, keep his image in front of your mind's eye, feel his energy, mood, character, needs.
If you strictly observe all five rules, it is likely that the amulet you made will really be able to protect its owner from many troubles and misfortunes. The safest, most affordable and convenient materials for making amulets are ordinary threads: woolen, linen, cotton. And the simplest amulet for a long time was considered to be embroidery. She was traditionally present on any fabric, towel, clothing. The main thing in amulet embroidery is color and pattern. The color scheme should correspond to the part of the spectrum that the embroidery is designed to protect.
Protective embroidery of children's clothing of the Slavs
Children's clothes were usually sewn from the old clothes of parents - not only and not so much because they have already been washed many times and therefore soft, will not damage, will not rub the child's skin, but because it has absorbed the parental energy and strength, and will protect it , will save the child from the evil eye, damage, misfortunes. The girl's clothes were sewn from the mother's, the boy, of course, from the father's, thus prejudging correct development depending on gender - the power of motherhood was transferred to the girl, the male power to the boy.
When children grew up and already acquired some kind of their own protective power, they were entitled to their first shirt, made of novina. This was usually timed to coincide with the time of the first age initiation - at the age of three. From the age of twelve, the girl received the right to wear her own (though still a girl's).
Since for children under three years old, the clothes were often altered from the parent's, the protective embroidery, of course, remained the same as the parent's. It was not only inconvenient and impractical to change it, but also impractical - after all, in addition to its protective function, it also provided a connection between generations, kinship and continuity. So, if the child's father was a hunter, then the amulets on his clothes were associated with hunting, and it was they who were passed on to the boy with this clothes. In the same way, the craft was “passed on” to the girl through the female line. Rather, it was not the craft itself, but the strength of many years of parenting experience in it that protected the child. Everyone protects in their own way, right? The weaver will protect the canvases with a special pattern, the spinner - with nauses, the hunter - with the fang of an animal ... And the result will be the same.
But the protective embroidery for the child's own clothes was already different from the amulets of adults. Firstly, the color of the protective embroidery for children was always red, while for adult clothes it could be different. So, women often used in embroidery, in addition to red, black - the color of mother earth, thus trying to protect their womb from infertility. Men, on the other hand, often needed blue or green colors- blue protected from death from the elements, green - from wounds. The children did not have this. It was believed that children are under the care and protection of a kind. On the shirt of a girl-girl, embroidery mainly went along the hem, sleeves and a necklace, and for a married woman - the chest, collar, embroidery along the hem was wider - it also reflected a new kinship, belonging to the family of her husband.
The main protective symbols for the girl were: the patron goddess of fate, the symbol of the clan, tree ornaments, the symbol of the patron saint of her birthday, the symbols of the earth (again, differing from the female symbols of the earth - for those they basically represented it either plowed up or already sown) and women's crafts.
Boys (like girls) up to the age of twelve wore shirts without belts. The main symbols protecting the boys were considered: symbols of fire, solar symbols, images of totem animals, of course, also a symbol of the patron clan and patron spirit of the birthday, bells-bells and symbols of men's crafts.
Until adulthood, boys and girls could also wear common amulets. Passing the initiation at the age of twelve, the boy's amulets changed, became (like the girl's) more sex-definite. A belt appeared and, of course, there were fewer amulets - after all, their own strength grew.
Images of the Gods have already appeared in embroidery (for children they were simply too strong, not allowing the child to develop their "immunity"), not so much for protection as for patronage, young girls have symbols of fertility, and young boys have military symbols. Of course, neither the girl nor the boy needed them. In addition to embroidery on clothes, many objects were often used as children's amulets, which were hung over the cradle of a baby, the bed of a girl or boy, and then worn on the shoulder or on the belt. All this performed not only protective and protective function, but also served as a link between man and Nature.
Ornaments
The ornament appeared long before the appearance of writing. This is confirmed by the fact that even ancient man, who dressed in animal skins, warmed himself by the fire, dug dugouts for his dwelling, decorated household items with ornaments. On earthen vessels, tools of labor of ancient people, you can see the simplest patterns: dots, straight, wavy lines, rhombuses. Reading the signs is a difficult task. Scientists solve mysteries like this. It is known that ancient man was a hunter. He knew that the power of the beast was in the tusk - that is his weapon. The tusk or its cut was drawn in the form of a rhombus. This sign contained strength and power. Therefore, the ancient man painted it on his body, objects that surrounded him.
Rhombuses running over each other are a sign of a happy hunt, good luck, a sign of life, fertility. In order for the fields to be generous for the harvest, a person asked Heaven, Sun and Earth for good luck, cast spells. To do this, he repeated the patterns. And also: wavy lines symbolized water; horizontal - ground; oblique - rain crossing the path to the sun; the dots between them are grains thrown into it.
Often, ancient masters depicted signs that indicated the sun. These are solar signs. Over the millennia, the sun has received a great variety of image options. These include a variety of crosses - both in a circle and without it. Some crosses in a circle are very similar to the image of a wheel, and this is not without reason: a person saw how the sun moved, that is, "rolled" across the sky, like a wheel of fire. The eternal movement of the heavenly body was marked by a hooked cross, a swastika. The swastika meant not only the moving sun, but also the wish for well-being. It is especially often found in northern embroidery of both towels and shirts, and in abusive weaving.
Ancient ornaments can reveal many secrets. Solving them, we begin to understand that the language of the symbols of the ancestors conveyed to us their attitude to nature. Bowing before her, as if asking her for mercy, protection, patronage, the ancient master inscribed with his hand a kind of spell in the form of an ornament. Note that the people carefully selected from a variety of signs and carefully preserved only those that, in their opinion, contributed to the good, good harvest, abundance, good luck.
The essence of the amulets exactly corresponds to their name: their vocation is to protect people, especially during times of hard times, during periods of military conflicts, terrorist attacks and other adversities. In other words, to protect your master from any directed negative impact, whatever it may be and wherever it comes from. Negative influences there may be purely physical influences - such as diseases (caused, by the way, often not only by natural causes, but also overpowered us due to the evil eye or damage). Amulets can protect their master from any impact on his psyche, on the soul, on the emotional sphere. They will protect you from the imposition of someone else's will, love spells, suggestions from the outside and from severe depression.
Amulets are experimentally selected magical objects for many centuries, having studied which our ancestors came to the conclusion that they can protect, protect us from unfriendly forces. Amulets are different. These are beads, bracelets, embroidery on clothes, the patterns of which are stylized symbols of the ancient gods or patrons of the clan, decorations on windows, shutters, platbands, over the porch and roof, over the gates of the house.
Today we have practically lost the skills of everyday protection that our ancestors used. And this can hardly contribute to our quiet life. With the disappearance of solid day-to-day defenses, we find ourselves very easy prey for malevolent forces from the shadow world. They easily penetrate into our life, and we often do not even notice it. We go to doctors, complaining of weakness, irritability, insomnia, general malaise, that "something is wrong with me, doctor, is going on." And how can the doctor help us in these cases? Yes, nothing - such ailments are not at all his profile.
The impact of amulets is associated with the colors of the spectrum of the human aura. Putting on ourselves a charm of the corresponding color, we get the opportunity to quickly patch up energy breakdowns in one or another part of the aura, which may turn out to be dangerous for our health and even life. From the point of view of a person who is able to see the aura, this will look like an increase in the glow of a certain color of the aura when putting on the amulet (more about the colors will be discussed at the end of the article).
What amulets can be useful to us? Of course, the most powerful will be your personal amulets, inherited in the family: earrings, rings or rings, beads - any thing that, according to legend, brings happiness to family life... Most often, such objects are passed along the female line - rings and earrings, less often - knives, belt buckles for the male. If there are no such things in your family, you will have to choose them yourself, and this is not easy if you do not have pronounced psychic abilities... Therefore, let's talk about the simplest, but at the same time, very effective tool. These are protective embroideries. Flowers and figurines that carry the traditional guarding meaning should be embroidered: silhouettes of a horse, dog, rooster or a fairy-tale bird with a woman's face. These symbols come from the times of cults of veneration of pagan gods and symbolize friendly protective magical creatures to us. It is especially convenient to use protective embroideries and appliques for children's clothing, since it is difficult for babies to constantly wear beads, rings or bracelets.
SIGNS
1) The wavy line is the sign of Water. Rain is depicted as vertical lines, rivers, underground waters - horizontal, "heavenly abyss" - horizontal.
2) Thunderbolt (six-pointed cross in a circle or hexagon). Thunder Sign (and Perun). Used as a talisman against lightning; is also a military amulet.
3) A square (or rhombus) divided by a cross into four parts - (plowed field). If there are dots inside - the sown field. These are signs of the Earth and fertility.
4) Kolokres (cross in a circle). Sun sign. obstacle and aversion of evil, a sign of closeness.
5) Crada ("lattice") - a sign of Fire. Krada is a sacrificial or funeral pyre.
6) Kres (equilateral cross: straight or oblique) is a sign of Fire (and the God of Fire - Aguni).
7) Month - Sign of the moon, month. Pendants "lunar" are known.
8) A cock's comb with seven projections is a sign of Fire.
9) Cornucopia. A sign of wealth, abundance.
10) Yarga (swastika). Otherwise - a brace. There are a huge number of style options. Yarga is a sign of the Sun (and, accordingly, the Sun Gods: Khorsa, Dazhdbog, etc.). According to the direction of rotation (salting / anti-salting), the sign of the bright Sun (the sun of Reveal) and the sign of the dark Sun (the sun of Navi) are distinguished. The Sun of Reveal is a beneficial, creative Power; Sun Navi is a destructive Power. According to Slavic myths, after sunset, the Sun illuminated the Underdark (Nav), hence the name. We know that the Sun is not under the Earth at night, but it is difficult to doubt the presence of a destructive aspect of the Sun ... There are two interpretations of determining the direction of rotation of the sign; the traditional one, as far as I know, is as follows: the ends of the rays are bent against the direction of rotation.
11) A tree (most often a herringbone) is a symbol of the interconnection of everything in the world, a symbol of long life.
12) Spiral - a symbol of wisdom; if the color scheme is blue-violet - secret knowledge. The most powerful disgusting sign for all dark entities of the shadow world - if the color is red, white or black.
13) The triangle is a symbol of a person; especially if accompanied by small dots or circles from the side of the apex. Human communication symbol.
Gods
Woman with raised palms: Makosh.
Lowered: Lada.
Most often they are depicted with deer on the sides. These goddesses were identified with the two northern constellations - Ursa Major and Mala. As you know, in Russia these constellations were formerly called Losins.
LIVING BEINGS
1) The bull is a sign of Veles.
2) The wolf is the sign of Yarila.
3) Raven is a sign of wisdom and death, Veles.
4) The tree is a sign of life and fertility; or - the Universe (World Tree).
5) The serpent is a sign of the Earth, wisdom, Veles. Connected with the Downworld.
6) Horse is a sign of the Sun, Solar Gods.
7) Swan is a sign of Mary, death, winter.
8) Bear is a sign of Veles.
9) Deer (vazhenka) or elk - a sign of the Goddesses of Fertility (Rozhanits).
10) Eagle is a sign of Thunder, Perun.
11) The Rooster is a sign of Fire, Aguni.
12) Falcon is a sign of Fire, Aguni. It is believed that the "trident" (the coat of arms of Rurik and modern Ukraine) is a stylized image of a falcon in flight.
13) Cuckoo - a sign of life, Alive.
14) Goat is a sign of fertility, fertility.
15) Pig is a sign of fertility, abundance.
COLORS
Specifically, the colors of the amulet are associated with the protection of one of the seven chakras of a person. Red - for the lowest one, located in the coccyx region and responsible for the genitourinary system, rectum, musculoskeletal system. Orange - for the second, located a few fingers below the navel, which is responsible for sexual energy and kidneys. Yellow - for the third chakra (solar plexus area) - the center of vital energy, which is also responsible for all organs of the abdominal cavity. Green is for the fourth, heart chakra. It controls the activity of not only the heart, but also the lungs, spine, hands, and is responsible for our emotions. Blue - for the fifth, throat, responsible for the respiratory and hearing organs, throat and skin, as well as human creativity. Blue is for the sixth ("third eye" zone), which is responsible for our intellectual abilities. Purple - for the seventh (crown), connecting us with Higher powers, with God.
1) White. Associated with the idea of Light, purity and sacredness (White Light, White Tsar - king over kings, etc.); at the same time - the color of Death, mourning.
2) Red - Fire, (and the Sun is like heavenly Fire), blood (vital Force).
3) Green - Vegetation, Life.
4) Black - Earth.
5) Golden - the Sun.
6) Blue - Sky, Water.
7) Purple is rarely found in Russian embroidery.
Knowledge is most often hidden in symbols, images, numbers, notes, letters, patterns. Speech, song, rituals, embroidery, carving are woven from signs and images. Not everyone knows their deeper meaning, but the sense of harmony, measure and beauty through creativity are the right steps to the truth. And everyone can master this.
Solar embroidery, "Deer with a tree of life", - Nevreva Klavdia Petrovna
Symbolism is a heritage of the history of mankind, when people began to express their thoughts, their perception of the world through conventional signs. The study of ancient cult symbolism reveals the spiritual world human societies in the preliterate era. Similar cult symbols and ornamental motifs are widespread. Quite often, similar or even identical elements are found in related and unrelated peoples.
Mass relocations of people contributed to the spread of ideas and experience. But sometimes a small tribe of aliens transmitted rich information to the population. Therefore, the migration of spiritual phenomena of culture: language, myths, rituals, religion took place on a larger scale than the migration of people. It is difficult to trace the history of symbolism. Is this because the materials used for the images are short-lived? bark, leather, wood, clay. Most examples of the symbolism of antiquity have come down to us from 2-1 thousand BC. e., when there was already a departure from the use of symbols and began to be used as an ornament or as sacred signs fixed by custom.
Ancient symbolism is a layering of motives related to different eras, and an interweaving of plots of various ethnocultural origins. Hard to install chronological sequence and the geographical routes of their distribution. And yet, in the exhibits and traditions that have come down to us, there are, along with the big picture the world, its original shades. Great similarity in patterns among the East Slavic and Finno-Ugric peoples.
Symbols, signs, ornaments - an amazing book about the life and beliefs of our distant ancestors, the leaves of which are mostly lost. And, apparently, what was left is what should have remained, what is eternal.
Ornament is the language of millennia, it is older than all works of art. Academician B.A. Rybakov said about it this way: “Looking at intricate patterns, we rarely think about their symbolism, we rarely look for meaning. It often seems to us that there is no more thoughtless, light and meaningless field of art than ornament. Meanwhile, in the folk ornament, as in ancient writings, the thousand-year-old wisdom of the people, the rudiments of their worldview and the first attempts of man to influence the forces of nature, mysterious to him, were deposited. "
Our material world is currently adorned with plant and subject ornaments, but the most ancient ornament is geometric.
Sockets different types- a favorite ornament in architectural decoration and applied arts. The disc served as a designation for the sun in the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Asia Minor, Mesopotamia, although it should be borne in mind that in the Bronze Age a circle, disc and rosette could mean the sky. B. Rybakov believes that the sign in the form of a six-rayed rosette ^ was obtained as a result of a combination of a circle supposedly symbolizing the sun and a snowflake scheme supposedly symbolizing the sky. For both the Slavs and Dagestanis, a six-petal rosette was depicted on salt shakers, and salt is a product associated with the sun. The rosette wheel is almost always depicted on a spinning wheel.
The Rig Veda says that the sun "rolls like a wheel." The sun is compared to a wheel in Slavic, Polish and Lithuanian songs. Such a sign can be found on an old boat, a wagon, on a chariot, on everything that moves. All European peoples with Slavic influence retain the tradition of lighting the wheels on Ivan Kupala and letting them down the mountain into the river as a symbol of the dying sun from that day.
A wheel with teeth and a cross represents the sky, rain clouds and the sun. In the Rig Veda, the sun is called the divine eye, in the mythology of the ancient Greeks the sun was represented as the eye of Zeus, among the ancient Germans - Odin, among the ancient Egyptians the sun and the moon were represented by the eyes of Horus, among the Romans - through the eyes of Jupiter. But they are all associated with the concept of "light-eye". In this case, the luminary was designated by a circle with a dot and a small circle inside.
In the sun, our ancestors felt two principles - male and female. The feminine is indicated by a circle, the masculine by a square or a triangle (which is rare).
Spinning wheels with the image of the Universe - the Earth and the firmament ("white light")
Sometimes the sun is depicted through a spiral - the movement of the sun across the sky.
Zigzags and streaks can often be a symbol of the water of heaven, if there is a cross among them
In ancient Russia, fire was called Svarozhich, and the sun was called the son of Svarog, that is, fire and the sun had the same epithets. The lights lit at the summer and winter solstice celebrations symbolize the heavenly fire-sun. This is confirmed by the fact that there were customs to light the wheel at the top of the pole or roll it down from a hillock burning. Ritual fires were kindled not only on holidays, but at any disaster in order to appease the god who was incarnated in fire and was considered the source of these disasters. At the same time, it was assumed that nine different types of wood burned in the ritual fire and that 9 people participated, and the number "9" was associated with the god of the underworld. On These examples show that fire can be the personification of the sun, and God, and the subterranean ruler. Kindling a wheel on a pole is the connection of heaven and earth by fire.
The geometric shapes that make up the simplest patterns once carried a great semantic load, personifying the forces of nature and being protective signs. They were used to decorate all household items, clothes and the house itself.
In rhombuses, crosses, squares, dots, there is primarily repetition in certain numbers. Counting, rhythm helps to feel and explain the structure of the world. Numbers are elements of a special numerical code with which you can represent the whole world and a person, that is, numbers can be one of the images of the world. These numbers are: 3 - the image of the Absolute, the divine Trinity, three spheres of living space (heaven, earth, the underworld), time (past, present, future). Number 4 is an image of integrity, ideally stable structure: 4 cardinal points, 4 elements, top-bottom-right-left, 4 seasons. 5 - sacred number - 4 sides + center - balance. The number 7 became the symbol of harmony. Through it, humanity was given 7 colors of the spectrum, 7 notes in music, 7 days a week. From the product of numbers 3 and 4, the number 12 - 12 months, 12 zodiacal constellations arises. Accordingly, all these numbers, and not only in the ornament, are considered lucky.
The number of teeth, rhombuses, crosses was necessarily associated with this series of magic numbers or a multiple of them.
The laws of the cosmos, the mutual influence of the elements and their connection with man are also reflected in the ornament. Moreover, more often the elements are depicted in their correct combination: fire - air, earth - water. Earthly images were placed below, heavenly ones above. The laws were also reflected in the observance of color (in embroidery, painting). There were no invented and unnatural shades, only the colors of nature, and their arrangement in the folk costume corresponded to the trinity of the world (the bottom from the ground is darker, and the higher, the brighter the color).
In Slavic arts and crafts, the cross is often found. Straight equal-ended cross - the image of the sun. The terminal cross is associated ‘with earthly fire, which was a kind of heavenly fire. If the cross-shaped patterns in the center of the circle and square can also mean the illuminated four cardinal directions, then the swastika 4-6-8-1 2rays are always a sign of the revolving sun. And they still call it a brace. Kolovorot is an ancient Slavic sign of the sun. It is considered a talisman from everyone dark forces... The word "colo" in Russian means "circle", "wheel", "swerve" - rotation. An equilateral cross is a sign of justice, goodness, balance. More often he is depicted with tips rotating to the right - this is a sign of active, real justice.
In the design of Russian fairy tales, we can often see a symbolic dome - this is a diagram of the firmament. The ancestors imagined the sky as a transparent dome, and life underneath. In the domes, as a rule, the letter "Ж", called in the Slavic alphabet "lives" - "life". The letter is made up of plant weaves, which also symbolize endless life. In the arches you can also see scenes from the life of gods and people, scenes of sacrifices. On the diagram we see Simargla (Semargla).Semargl from the word "seed". They portrayed him as a winged dog guarding crops and seeds. Semargl was also the personification of "armed good", fiery, always ready to protect peaceful fields. Later, the archaic Simargla began to be called Pereplut. It was associated with plant roots and closely related to the theme of water - mermaids. Mermaids were also depicted under the domes - winged maidens, at that time they were the deities of irrigation of fields, rains or wet morning mists
Nodular weaves are often found in Russian ornament and in the design of capital - red letters. Among other peoples, the dome of the sky was depicted in the form of a circle, with waves or a cross - the sun and rain clouds.
The schemes of the water element are recognizable and varied. The ancient water ornament is geometric, this is the time when people did not know how to draw smooth lines. They especially liked to decorate bowls for water, drinking, wine, sacrificial bowls with such a pattern. A "traveling wave" of different inclinations looks rhythmically and in a special way. Divorces on the bowls can also be free (Trypillian bowls). The snake theme is also a favorite. The snake among the Slavs is a symbol of the first water, spring, warmth. Seasonal calendars often feature snakes. Snake means spring, summer, rain. Consider a few more examples of water symbolism.
Single, double and triple clouds carrying heavenly moisture were depicted with rain and without rain. In carving, such patterns are usually called "heavenly abyss". Rain clouds also look like a woman's breast, because rain was considered heavenly milk, feeding the earth.
All patterns are dominated by the theme of the fertility of the earth. First of all, these are the images of Rozhanitsy, giving crops and benefits. The bottom of such an image is usually decorated with a seed or sprout.
The rhombus among the ancient Slavs was revered as a universal symbol of fertility and childbearing, i.e. a symbol of the feminine principle in nature, inextricably linked with the idea of the Mother-Progenitor, who was also thought of as Mother Nature. In geometric patterns, this is embodied in a rhombus shape with hooks at the top and bottom vertices. Women in a simple way call him "frog" or "diamond-frog".
With the transition of the Nomadic tribes to a settled way of life, barns, barns, fenced with poles, and log dwellings appeared. The greatest discovery was made - the principle of fourfoldness of time, space (four cardinal points, four seasons) was discovered. Hence, the rhombus was associated by the ancients with the idea of the cyclical nature of time, when a person was already aware of the beginning and end of a period; realized the main provisions in the diurnal movement of the sun - sunrise, zenith, sunset. As in nature, in a person's life, periods of birth, flowering, maturity, withering - old age are successively replaced. Generation succeeded generation just as it blossomed and died from year to year at birth.
But the cycle that people live during their "century", nature experienced before their eyes several dozen times .. Therefore, ancient farmers saw in nature only a regular repetition. Not change, not disappearance, but repetition was the defining motive of their consciousness and behavior. And this is conveyed in the image of a diamond with hooks on the vertices.
B. Rybakov, who writes: “Ancient people saw ubiquitous bone images of female ancestors covered with a rhombic pattern of natural origin, inherent in the very structure of the tusk from which the sacred figurine was carved.
Because of this, the rhombic pattern united two important concepts in the eyes of the primitive hunter: the mammoth (the source of life, satiety, prosperity) and the sacred image of a woman (a symbol of fertility, continuation of life, counting kinship). The rhombus and the rhombic meander themselves became symbols of vitality and prosperity, the first ideogram of Life and Good in the history of human thought. "
On the other hand, for the farmer, the 4 cardinal points were associated with the sides of his rectangular dwelling. It is known that in a hut, logs in a log house were laid with a remnant, this remnant looked like a spear, a fork. The Russians even have a riddle: "Outside - horned, from inside - kamola" (hut). With the laying of the first crown, space was ordered, its isolation was ensured, impenetrable to external, unkind forces, chaos turned into space (that is, order). It is noteworthy that even when the hut was cut down without a trace, the first crown, the ground one, was necessarily horned. Apparently, the close proximity to the "earth-underworld", the "house of the dead" required security from such a neighborhood, from possible unkind "intrigues" of the "inhabitants of the underworld." Moreover, the earth was given the remains of enemies slain in battles during raids, and the ancient Slavs burned their relatives at a funeral pyre. Burials of the log type are also known. Hence, it is clear why the presented motifs of a rhombus with sides extended at the corners, with a marked middle, called "rhombus-burr" (also known as "small lattice"), symbolized a frame, a fenced space with a hearth or an altar - the habitat of the ancestors.
And a rhombus of another configuration of three pairs of intersecting lines is a funeral or sacrificial fire, which was a sign of sacred action during burning - according to the belief of ancient people, during this rite contact with ancestors is established.
A rhombus with dots is a sign of a sown field. Crosses can often be seen at the ends. This is a typical four-part scheme for spreading the good in 4 directions.
The motif of the hand (palm) is very often found in geometric woven ornaments. This motive played an important role in the art of the ancients among many peoples. The palm - the hand - was synonymous with the brush (bunch) of plants, which was relevant to the consciousness of early farmers. A woman's figure is well known from Russian subject embroidery, often depicted with enlarged palms and with a head - a radiant rhombus, with solar rosettes in the middle of the figure. Academician B.A. Rybakov associates the weekly festival of light - Sunday with the embroidered goddess. This goddess could be only the Great Goddess, and such a title was preserved in Russian folklore for Lada.
Lada was revered as the goddess of marriage, marriage, fun, consolation and all prosperity. She, Lada, is still called in many traditional rituals, songs are sung, with her hands on her hands or hitting the table. Apparently, by clapping their palms (palm-Lada) or striking the table with their palms, the pagans thereby "established" a connection with the deity, asked her for a cheerful, blissful life. And the image of crossed palms on the patterns of towels is signs this deity.
Serpentine pattern. Trypillian culture bowls
The land, in the sense of a plot that yields a crop, was represented in the form of squares, rectangles, covered with a dense net, i.e. sown. Grains were placed between strips of earth and water. The main theme of the Earth, fertility, fertility prevails in the Russian pattern. The image of the Earth is a favorite in embroidery.
TREE. The image of a sacred tree is found in all peoples of the world. In one of the Russian fairy tales, the hero climbs a tree to the sky. Siberian shamans put a tree at the ritual place and performed actions near it. On the Christian feast of the Ascension of Christ, Russians baked small ladders from dough and imagined that one could climb to heaven by a tree or a ladder. The Bible calls the sacred tree the "Tree of Life", while it is said that it is "in the middle of the garden," by clouds) which means the center of the world. In the hymns of the Rig Veda and Edda, a snake dwells between the roots of a tree. The roots of the Tree go into unknown depths, its top goes into the sky. The snake is a symbol of time, spiral movement and repetition, wisdom and caution, and it all starts from the roots of man, nation, humanity. Therefore, you can find the image of the Tree entwined with the Serpent.
The world tree was thought to be the embodiment of the Great Mother of the world - the Earth. The motive for determining the fate of people is associated with the tree. In the Rig Veda, the World Tree was compared with a woman giving birth. Among the peoples of the world, the Tree in the form of a woman is represented as a snake-legged and light-headed; among the Slavs and Latvians, the girl stood on one leg at cult holidays - this is the pose of the embodiment of the Mother of the World - the Tree that holds all the white light. In India, standing on one leg expresses the idea of fertility. In Russia, birch became the tree of the goddess. In the spring, girls bring gifts to birch trees, guess at them, dress one of the girls with birch branches, a wreath and dedicate songs to Lada, Lelia, asking for love and marriage, childbirth. In ancient times, if a child was punished, then it was obligatory with a birch twig, as a ritual of sacrifice for sins, so that Mother Destiny would not get angry. |
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| Abyss of heaven (rain clouds) |
In the oldest dwellings of the Slavs, there was always a tree-pillar holding a roof. The tree-pillar symbolized a woman, the ancients always believed that a house, a dwelling, rests on a woman. The pillar supports the roof of the house, as the world tree supports the firmament. The world tree is the pillar of the universe, the pillar that supports the sky.
Plant motifs predominate in wood carving and embroidery of the South Slavs. Endless sprouts of sacred herbs and flowers are shown in the process of germination and flowering. The sprouts are portrayed, as a rule, strong, strong, and they are guarded by either a lion or a bird of Syria, since only they are trusted to guard the infinity of life. Is the plant world an image of Reveal, manifested life, sprouts and flowers? symbol of earthly life. The images of plants are different, it depends on which plants are considered pure, sacred in a given area. In the south - a rose, periwinkle, in the middle lane - cornflower, fern, in the north - coniferous twigs, a bathing suit.
Labyrinths and spirals. Meander-spiral images date back to the Paleolithic era. One of the oldest spirals on a mammoth tusk was found in Western Siberia. Spiral motifs were found on the banks of the Desna, in Pskov and Tver, in the White Sea, on Solovki, in all corners of the earth. Especially the Indians have a lot of them. There are many spirals on the bronze statuette of the Lithuanian pagan god Perkunas - Perun. He holds in one hand a bunch of spirals, in the other - a wheel. Spirals are popular among Russians in jewelry, especially on temple rings. They can be found in fibulae, tiaras, buckles. Spiral ornament is a favorite image in Russian traditional embroidery. The women of Novgorod loved to decorate their hats with spirals. | |
| Trypillian figurines with grain prints or with signs of the sown field |
Deities with a spiral, sitting astride a wolf, were found on the territory of Russia, Kama region. The images of the wolf and the snake were the embodiment of the demons of the underworld. And the labyrinth is a trap, the way along which you need to find a way out. But the labyrinth is also considered a home, a fortress. For many peoples, the labyrinth also reflects the sky. The floor in many temples is made like a labyrinth. Floor - earth? reflects the sky. Both Heaven and the Underworlds, where everything is subject to perpetual motion, repetition through the life and destinies of people, were presented to the ancestors in a labyrinth scheme.
“Spiral-like codes were passed from generation to generation, from people to people, from worldview to worldview, from religion to religion. The spiral is one of the oldest symbols of the Universe. And the space itself is dotted and permeated with spirals - galaxies, vacuum quantum vortices. According to the torsion theory, the Universe as a supercomputer forms a kind of biocomputer with the human brain, working in accordance with torsion laws, that is, according to the principles of the same twisted spiral. 0
Cross of Lada-Virgin- A symbol of Love, Harmony and Happiness in the family, the people called him Ladinets. As a talisman, it was worn mainly by girls in order to have protection from the "evil eye". And so that the power of the Ladinets was constant, he was inscribed in the Great Kolo (Circle).
Ladinets, he is also the Harmony of the Feminine - the female Amulet, leading to harmony of the feminine essence. Calmness and joy in your soul are immediately reflected in your appearance - you become more beautiful and attractive, and most importantly - healthier.
The amulet gives peace, joy and self-awareness as a Woman.
The red ray remains unchanged in any case, the color of the second ray changes depending on the sign of the zodiac.
Fire - Aries, Leo, Sagittarius,
Water - Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces,
Earth - Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn,
Air - Gemini, Libra, Aquarius
For the elements of the Earth - the classic black color (many embroider dark green).
For the element of Fire, black is also used (many embroider dark brown).
For the element of Air - blue.
For the element of Water - blue or turquoise.
Ladinets are usually embroidered in combination with roses.
A girl, a woman who was presented with the Ladinets charm or the Harmony of the Feminine Principle must, after receiving the gift, wear a skirt and dresses for 40 days !!! Even at home you need to wear robes or sundresses, in trousers, shorts, etc. it is forbidden! This also applies to your beloved !!! It is very important!
Ladinets is also a popular and simplified name for the "Kolo - Ladnik" amulet.
Ladinets is a couple to Kolyadnik (Rodovich). Together, they personify the feminine (Ladinets) and masculine (Kolyadnik) beginnings, and represent the heavenly family.
The Slavs called the Goddess Lada the great Goddess Mother, or the Woman in Childbirth. It is Kolo (circle, feminine principle) and 8 elements (infinity symbol) that emphasize female character amulet, harmony and embodiment in eternity of all living and being.
Kolo-Ladnik or Ladinets can be seen paired with Kolyadnik inside the family house - these are symbols of the giving and receiving principle, they personify the unity of man and woman, and are twisted in a whirlwind of solar movement, which is embodied in 2 amulets.
Ladinets are given to a woman, and regardless of her marital status... If Ladinets is worn by an unmarried girl, a girl, he reveals in her femininity, feminine qualities and character traits. Ladinets will help a married woman give birth to healthy children, promote family well-being, keep Peace, Ladin and Harmony in the house.
The Cross of the Lada of the Virgin (Ladinets) is a Symbol of Love, Harmony and Happiness in the family. This amulet was worn mainly by girls in order to have protection from the "evil eye". In order for the strength and power of the Ladinets to be constant, the amulet was inscribed in the Great Kolo (Circle).
If there is a Ladinets charm in the house, Trouble will never befall him. The traditional colors for this pattern are blue and emerald green.
When to embroider: 10, 14 lunar days.
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