We often laugh at foreigners who have stereotyped, stereotypical ideas about Russia that fit into several concepts: - vodka, balalaika, earflaps, matryoshka, snow, cold, Kalashnikov. However, how are we ourselves different from foreigners? It is forgivable for them, but we, who have been living on this earth for generations, why are we ourselves in captivity of practically the same stereotypes?
Why don't we even understand the language in which we think? We repeat a set of sounds without even bothering to understand their meaning. We use the "native Russian" names of rivers, cities and villages, without even thinking about their origin and meaning. We are Russians? Well, then we must know the meanings of words such as Alol (a lake in the Pskov region), Kama, Vaga, Edoma (rivers), Udomlya, Gverston (settlements). But we don't know! These words are heard from birth and do not seem foreign to us, but, in fact, they are as foreign to us as to tourists from China or Africa.
We even borrow Russian words distorted by Western dialects as foreign ones, while we believe that our own words are not enough for us, and they are "second-rate". So, "Chairman", this is too simple, vulgar, and quite another thing "President". But the "president" is the "chairman". For some reason, the word "price" seems significant and weighty to the Russians, and it never occurs to anyone that this word sounded like "recognition" before, the English simply try to shorten all words, and "prize" is a shortened "recognition". There are thousands of such examples.
A completely incomprehensible situation has developed with Russian folk culture. All our ideas about Russian songs and dances are embedded in our heads from early childhood, and are limited to a narrow set of concepts: - kokoshnik, sundress, kosovorotka, round dance, "Kamarinskaya". Most Russians are sure that the song "Oh, viburnum is blooming …" is a Russian folk song, but …
This song has authors who wrote it specifically for the film "Kuban Cossacks", and these authors are by no means Russian. They themselves had a set of stereotypes about Russian culture. “Citizens of the world”, as the representatives of the people call themselves, to which M. Isakovsky belong, and I. Dunaevsky, who wrote “Oh, the viburnum is blooming …”, there simply cannot be ideas about the culture, a people alien to them.
In fact, it turns out that everything that is considered to be "Russian folk" was created and replicated all over the world already in the twentieth century by authors who had nothing to do with genuine Russian culture. By the way, they also carried out the reform of the Russian language, so the modern Russian language is far from Russian. To make sure of this is as easy as shelling pears: - just read the pre-revolutionary publications. But if the printed sources of the nineteenth century are still understandable to us, and the editions of the eighteenth century can be read, periodically using a dictionary, then only specialists can read medieval Russian texts.
Cathedral of the Archangel. Perspective of the end faces of the tombstones of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich (1629 - 1676), Tsarevich Alexei Alekseevich (1654 - 1670), Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich (1596 - 1645), infant princes Vasily and Ivan Mikhailovich. Photo by K. A. Fisher. 1905 From the collections of the Museum of Architecture. A. V. Shchuseva.
Thus, we inevitably come to the conclusion that on our land we are like invaders who do not have the slightest idea about the life, culture, traditions and history of those who lived here before. Our ancestors, in our opinion.
Promotional video:
In fact, we do not know about the past of the country in which we live, practically nothing. The same attempts to reconstruct Russian culture that can be seen throughout Russia today look pitiful and helpless. It is impossible to recreate that - not knowing what. For example, one can often hear that our ancestors lived in luxurious mansions. Do the respected Slavophiles know what a terem really is? I know. And I will upset everyone very much. Terem, these are not chambers. Terem, this is a home prison.
And the hint lies in the most conspicuous place. More precisely, it sounds.
My joy lives
In a high mansion
And in the tower that tall
No move to anyone.
I know the beauty
There is a watchman at the porch
Nobody will block
Good fellow's way …"
Do you think this is a folk song? You are wrong. The author of this romance is the son of a merchant of the III guild, Sergei Ryskin, who was born in 1859.
So that's it. It is enough just to ponder the meaning of the song to understand that “prison” and “terem” are related words. The "framework" of both words consists of the same consonants T, P, and M. That's the whole skaz, as they say. Terem, this is not a popular building with turrets and ladders. Terem is a log tower with a staircase inside, and the only room under the roof itself, in which there were not even windows. Instead of windows, there were only narrow horizontal openings, similar to loopholes. So that it was impossible to escape by getting out through the window.
Households were kept in the chambers as punishment, as well as maidens for marriage. This is exactly what S. Ryskin's song is about.
And here is how the tower is depicted on engravings from the book of the Holstein writer Adam Olearius "Description of the journey of the Holstein embassy to Muscovy and Persia":
Sleigh of a noble woman.
Olearius made his journey in the middle of the 17th century, at a time when Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Quiet, the second monarch from the Romanov dynasty, according to historians, ruled Muscovy. Only in Russia the book was published already in the nineteenth century, and it is clear that practically nothing remained of the original version. The most truthful evidence is engravings. But they also provide abundant food for thought.
You need to start with the name of our country. Where does the word "Rus", "Russia", or "Russia" at worst sound? Nowhere. Muscovy was, but Russia was not. The full title of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich contained only: - "… Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Duke of All Great and Little and White Russia Autocrat." Those. besides the fact that he was the Prince of Moscow, he also ruled other lands at the same time, among which were Great Russia, Little Russia and White Russia. Later, these lands in the titles of monarchs were no longer divided, but they wrote "All-Russian". Those. all three "Russia" were combined into one. Here, for example, is the title of Nicholas II:
“By God's mercy advancing, We, Nicholas II, the Emperor and Autocrat of the All-Russian, Moscow, Kiev, Vladimirskiy, Novgorod; Tsar of Kazan, Tsar of Astrakhan, Tsar of Poland, Tsar of Siberia, Tsar of Tavrichesk Chersonis, Tsar of Georgia; Sovereign of Pskov and Great Prince of Smolensk, Lithuanian, Volynsk, Podolsk and Finland; Prince Estland, Liflyand, Kurland and Semigalsk, Samogitsk, Bulostok, Korel, Tversk, Yugorsk, Perm, Vyat, Bulgarian and others; Sovereign and Great Prince of Novgorod, lower lands, Chernigov, Ryazansk, Polotsk, Rostov, Yaroslavl, Bulozersk, Udorsk, Obdorsk, Kondinsky, Vitebsk, Mstislav and Kabitel lands and allCherkassky and Gorsky princes and other inherited Sovereign and Owner; Sovereign Turkestan, Heir of Norway, Duke of Schleswig-Golstinskiy, Stornmarnskiy, Ditmarsenskiy and Oldenburgskiy and others, and so on, and so forth."
Just don't be fooled by modern Belarus, which appeared on maps only in the twentieth century. Previously, White Russia was called a completely different land. The one where Mikhailo Lomonosov was born. These are Beloozero, Vologda and Arkhangelsk:
Belaya Rus (Rossia Bianca) in the region of Novgorod and Kholmogory from the map of G. Rushelli, 1561.
With White Russia sorted out, this is Pomorie. Well, where, then, is Great (big) Russia? After all, this is clearly not Muscovy, not Pleskavia (Pskov Princes), not Novgorod and not Smolensk, which clearly follows from the royal titles. Then what is Great Russia? Nobody hides the answer to this question. The same “Wikipedia” informs us that Great Russia is: - “the southern part of the Sumy region from the city of Putivl inclusive, the regions of Kharkov, Lugansk and Donetsk. It was also part of it in the period 1503-1618. and the northern part of Sumy, the eastern part of the Chernigov region (including Chernigov itself).
Suddenly? And it was so. Modern Ukraine was Great Russia, plus Little Russia: - “In 1764, from a part of the Left-Bank Ukraine, Little Russia province was created [16] with the administrative center in the city of Glukhov. In 1775, Little Russia and Kiev provinces were united, the provincial center was moved to Kiev. In 1781, the Little Russian province was divided into three governorships (provinces) - Chernigov, Novgorod-Seversky and Kiev. In 1796, the Little Russian province was recreated, Chernigov was appointed the provincial center, after which in 1802 it was divided again into two provinces: Poltava and Chernigov. In 1802, the Malorossiyskoe general-governorship was established within these provinces. " (Wikipedia)
Here is "Mother Russia" for you, here is "Russia" for you. "Autocrat of All Russia", in the title of monarchs, meant the possession of three Russia, along with other lands, this is Pomorie, and modern Ukraine, which previously consisted of Greater (Great) Russia, and Lesser Russia. It turns out that we have no reason to apply the word Russia and Russia to that union of principalities united by the power of the Tsar of Muscovy, which is now habitually called Russia.
But that's not all. Returning to the full title of Nicholas II, we can notice a very curious detail. All the Romanovs, starting with Peter the Great, were autocrats of such lands as Norway, Schleswig-Holstein (part of Denmark and Germany), Oldenburg (Lower Saxony), Dietmarschen (Heide, Germany), Stornmarn (Land in Schleswig-Holstein with a center in the city of Bad- Oldesloe). And that's not counting the "other and the like", which included Liechtenstein, and Monaco, and many other small European principalities. So, a question for filling: are these lands also Russian, or not?
And under the weight of these facts, all ideas about the political map of the world that existed before the twentieth century collapse like a house of cards.
I dare to suggest that the modern foundations of the Theory of State and Law are completely inapplicable to those forms of statehood that existed a little over a hundred years ago. The states corresponding to the now classical definition of the term "state" simply did not exist at that time. There were no nations, there were no strictly delineated borders, currencies, official languages, unified legislation and centralized government. This is the root of most of the contradictions in history, which prevents us from understanding the essence of what is happening, before the Second Patriotic War, renamed by historians into the First World War.
But let's get back to where we started - to the description of Muscovy by Adam Olearius. The engravings from his book are capable of confusing any connoisseur of Russian history.
The costumes of "Russians" for the most part coincide with the traditional ideas about what our ancestors looked like. Unless, the abundance of people dressed as Hindus or Arabs is surprising: - in robes, and with turbans on their heads. Apparently, the residents of Moscow did not differ much in appearance, in terms of their dress preferences, from the residents of Samarkand and Delhi. And, in general, then, this is not surprising. The only surprising thing is that this layer of our native culture has been "erased" in recent years and made to believe that this is not ours, it is all Asian. It's funny … We're Asian after all. Here are curious images that also do not correspond to our ideas about medieval Russia:
Puppeteer. (painted).
Here is the notorious Russian trained bear. But! Pay attention, the show is arranged for simple kids, hicks, who are not able to pay for entertainment.
What do we know about the culture of entertainment in Russia? We are told that Peter the First banned buffoons, which were a unique phenomenon that did not exist, and still does not exist anywhere in the world. It was a synthesis of ballet, theater, puppet theater, circus, instrumental music, operetta at the same time. In our time, the closest to this genre is the musical. So why did Peter want to destroy his family? Why has the harp become life-threatening to keep in homes? Why were they collected in carts and burned like the victors burn the books and archives of conquered peoples?
Pleasure of Russian women.
Is that how you imagined the leisure of Russians? We were told that the Russians generally plowed in the field from morning till night … And here … A playground, like those that are now in almost every yard.
And now one of the main "highlights" of the book by Adam Olearius:
Russian women mourn the dead. Engraving from the book of Adam Olearius Description of the journey to Muscovy and through Muscovy to Persia and back. Ed. SPb. 1906
So the origins of the “strange” Russian tradition of eating food in the cemetery, which brings “enlightened” Europeans to a swoon, have become clear.
But the most important thing … This is what?
1. Is it a cross? Magendavid? Crescent? No. What is this we do not know
2. Golden apple? Sun symbol? Or maybe the moon?
3. What is the "crown"? Symbol or structural element?
4. Have you seen such domes anywhere?
5. What about Buddhist roofs?
For many, this design is associated with some kind of technical device, but not with a cult object.
Monastery.
There are already crosses here, but where are they? You can't call it domes. How do you call it? But haven't you heard that the tops of temples today are stubbornly called “poppies”. Question: - Why? What do poppies have in common with modern domes, which are more like “onions” than poppies?
And the national memory is very tenacious. She preserves the truth about our past against the will of the falsifiers of history, with the help of the Russian language. Well, of course, now the domes are Christian, and they no longer look like pre-Christian ones, but the name "makovka" allows us to penetrate into the essence, it has been preserved so that today we can solve this historical "puzzle". Poppy, it is a poppy. The domes were given to us by foreign ones, but the Russian word remained:
Makovka.
The meaning of this, we are unlikely to ever guess. It is not clear why the tops of Russian churches copied the poppy head, we can only state a fact. Only one thing is indisputable: - during Olearius's journey across Muscovy, we did not have Christianity. As it stands, at least. But what was it? Obviously something that is now called paganism. And here are some more interesting snippets:
Beams on … How to call that? Let them be crosses for now. So, on the crosses, two short ones are parallel to the ground, one long one is obliquely and below the short ones.
On the graves - the mirror opposite - short crossbars - in an inclined position, and the long one is higher than the short ones, and, moreover, is parallel to the ground, and even covered with two crossbars in the form of a 90-degree square.
Obviously, this is how the living and the dead are distinguished. Very similar to the Russian runica:
A fair question arises: - How does this all agree with the official version of the “millennium of the baptism of Rus”? Suppose that Great and Little Russia was actually christened into Christianity of the Western, Byzantine persuasion, but Muscovy and Russia are not the same thing, as we found out, it means that it is logical that the faith to the east of Kiev for a long time had nothing to do with Jesus and The Bible. And there are many confirmations of this.
Semargl.
This image was found under a layer of plaster in one of the supposedly medieval churches in Russia. It is obvious that Russian churches were originally not Christian at all, because every year there are more and more such finds. Where the ancient images were not knocked down, they were simply plastered and whitewashed.
The situation is the same with old crosses, ornaments, and clothes of priests:
World duck from pagan Slavic mythology.
Comments, I think, are superfluous. Images are too eloquent to be voiced. It turns out that all our history, culture, religion, everything that we know about the past of our Motherland, in fact, was completely different from what we used to imagine. Well, where was Russia then? Who are the Russians?
It is bitter to realize that everything is not so … But maybe this is for the best?
Author: kadykchanskiy