People dream of seeing with their own eyes something incomprehensible, incredible, to face a real miracle. Crowds of seekers go to mystical places, find nothing and touchyly call the information collected by the people, fairy tales, folklore. Of course, some of the things described are really invented in an attempt to understand the unknown. What is surprising here is that much more of what has been told has both a completely historical and, at the same time, inexplicable origin. And the fact that people cannot see this is explained very simply. For example, you went to the forest to pick mushrooms. Firstly, the forest must be mushroom, and the time is right, and you need to adjust your eyesight with intuition, and understand what you are looking for …
And here are phenomena of a completely different kind, which the eyes and hearing of not every person are able to catch. Yes, and we are looking for confirmation at a time when it is convenient for us, not agreeing not only with the time of year and day, but also in a large company, where there are so many distractions that you can even lose people, let alone find something. I'm not even talking about the fact that this subtle world mystically sees us well and is in no hurry to come out to meet us for the sake of idiotic selfies. We scare them, we interfere with them and we do not understand them - so why should they help and communicate with those who have lost touch with nature?
I managed to face completely incredible phenomena, but it was, as a rule, alone, in complete silence, at night, and completely unexpected. By the way, such meetings are not at all funny, but rather dangerous, from the category of "you won't wish for the enemy." However, this is really very interesting and, of course, these phenomena need to be studied, if only in order to understand the way of life and attitude to nature of our ancestors …
Riddles of stones
53 ° 30'25 ″ N 48 ° 20'21.6 ″ E
Skripinsky Kuchury has recently become a place for walking thousands of tourists. The beautiful and unusual place attracts people who like to take pictures among the bizarre stones. But practically no one can imagine how special this place is, how much mystical and inexplicable here.
So, let's start our unusual journey.
Promotional video:
Pagan temple
Not far from the entrance there is a place that I have christened "pagan temple". There is a huge flat boulder ("stone table"), at the foot of which there are stone idols, deeply embedded in the ground. Among these idols, two stand out strongly - these are "skull" and "face". The "skull" looks especially impressive - an oval stone more than a meter high has a mouth, empty eye sockets, and a slightly outlined nose. Moreover, this "head" is firmly attached to a massive base completely underground. And the base itself is very unusual, they say that when this stone was dug up by wild boars, the "skull" showed a small neck and shoulders. How solid the figure is and how deeply it went underground is unknown - no one dug.
Another interesting feature is that the "skull" looks exactly to the east, where the mentioned "Stone Table" is located. A little further from the "skull" one more idol is clearly visible. The "face" with a distinctly outlined mouth and the remains of a nose looks up into the sky. You can immediately see that it broke off in the neck region from some larger base, and this base lies very close. It seems that this idol fell or was dropped, but what is remarkable is that he is also looking at the “stone table”. Still no obvious stone idols are visible, but it is worth considering the thickness of the soil layer that has accumulated here for millennia, inside which anything can be.
Now let's take a closer look at the "stone table". This huge block of sandstone weighs more than a dozen (or maybe a hundred) tons. This "pebble" has a number of interesting features. First, its shape is close to a rectangle, and in some places traces of machining are visible. Secondly, despite the slopes, the stone lies in a horizontal plane, which is completely uncommon for the surrounding boulders. Thirdly, practically in the center of the stone there is a niche with dimensions of 1.5 by 2 meters and a depth of 20-30 cm, from which a channel is laid to the edge. This niche is now covered with earth and needles, but during the drought of 2010 it was possible to clear it and then it turned out that there are letters (runes) from the inside, many of which are no longer easy to see. It is on this stone table that idols look.
Such an unusual combination of stones with their location in space and runic inscriptions with a high degree of probability indicates the use of the place as a pagan altar in ancient times.
In order to understand this interesting monument, I decided to pay attention to the cultural customs of the peoples living in these places. The fact is that even after millennia, many rituals, although they were transformed, but often survived to this day, in addition, the rituals of previous peoples easily passed on to later peoples, for example, the same holiday of Ivan Kupala, which retained the pagan essence, despite huge pressure from Christianity. A similar holiday called Ligo was preserved among the Latvians, although they did not in any way belong to the group of Slavic peoples. Based on this, I decided to consider the customs of the most ancient of the existing peoples of the Volga region - the Mordovians.
And then an interesting discovery awaited me: the fact is that the Mordovians preserved the rite of sacrifice on the stones. According to their beliefs, the blood of the sacrificial animal cannot be spilled on the ground, and for this they cut it on a stone, and the blood was drained under the sacrificial stone itself, where the pit was located. It is also interesting that three pillars, called yuba, were placed on the western side, to which they tied the animals prepared for sacrifice - a horse, a bull, a ram. It is worth noting that only blood, beer, bread were given to the gods, and the meat itself was cooked right there and shared among people.
Another feature is that the Mordovians had several altars at once, from small (located in the courtyard) to large ones, usually hidden in the forests, where the whole village or community gathered. Such large altars were dedicated to the main gods, for example, Nishki-Pas (the god of the sky, sun, fire and light) or Ange-Patay (the mother goddess). And sacrifices were made infrequently, on major holidays. After such discoveries, it becomes clear why there is a "stone table", and a bloodstream, and a niche carved in stone, and a thoughtful arrangement of stones in space. Here are just incomprehensible runic inscriptions and images of faces, because the Mordovians did not have idols. Here you can give the following explanation: the inscriptions are random marks from an ax, and "idols" were formed by rubbing the ropes of sacrificial animals. However, it is not at all necessary that this altar belonged to the Mordovians. It could have been a place of prayer for more archaic peoples with traditions unknown to us.
Of course, the altar has long been abandoned, but the fact that it survived in principle is also a miracle. The fact is that the Christianization of all pagan peoples began in our area since the 17th century, and it was the ancient altars and places of worship to the gods that were mercilessly destroyed. Sacred groves were burned out, stone idols and altars were split and covered, and peoples often moved to other regions. There was one more move to attract the people to the Christian faith - temples were erected in place of the old altars so that the people would go to their usual place, but pray to a new God.
However, despite the abandonment of the "temple", this place still has considerable strength. So, for example, local boys come to an idol and, clasping his head, make a wish for a successful exam. And they do it … I personally came across other unusual phenomena. So, a couple of years ago I brought a group of tourists to the altar. Everyone was listening to my fairy tales with slight skepticism, when suddenly one lady noticed that the clock on her cell phone had “lost” an hour. When everyone took out their mobile phones, they were surprised - many of them lost their watches at intervals of several hours, that's what it means to come at the right time to the right place. By the way, the condescending smiles disappeared until the end of the tour.
In addition, I personally had cases when the camera refused to photograph in that place, but when leaving the forest it worked again, as if nothing had happened. A similar incident happened to travelers from Dimitrovgrad. They came to shoot a film about this area, but after returning home they could not open the video files from the two cameras they took with them (the third camera was tied to the car and valiantly filmed their arrival and departure). It is interesting that after the Skripinsky Kuchurs these same guys with the same cameras and on the same day left for Racheyevsky Rocks and also filmed a video, and no problems arose. There was such a case in my practice. Somehow in 2016 I brought here a girl I know. This place caused her some kind of special euphoria. Throwing from corner to corner, she decided to lie in a niche on the "sacrificial" stone. For about five minutes she plunged into a kind of sleep, but she could not remember anything later, although she had bursts of visions. An interesting thing happened later. It turned out that the girl's fontanelle did not grow on her head from birth, and after visiting this place, the bones finally grew together … In general, a strange, but strong place, whose secrets have been lost in centuries. However, there are no less amazing places here.
Now we will head further into the forest, to a clearing near the most popular mountain of stones among tourists. It is here that the ancient "observatory" is located.
Observatory
So, we are in a clearing in front of a large mountain, dotted with huge boulders. Taking a closer look, we understand that for the entire journey, this is the only flat area suitable for gathering people.
Suppose that in ancient times some rituals were performed on this place. But then significant artifacts could have survived here. And, if you look closely, there are such artifacts here. The first thing that attracts attention is that at the very edge of the mountain there is a huge round stone-disk, standing almost perpendicular to the surface of the earth. This stone simply had to attract attention to itself, and given that many ancient peoples were sun worshipers and arranged their sanctuaries near such stones, then the name of this stone asks for itself - "the sun".
In passing, we note that this artifact is not very similar to a natural formation. In addition, in the middle of the Sunstone, a long, even vertical strip runs across its entire surface. And this, in my opinion, is not at all accidental. I think that earlier the priests were guided by it, calculating the days of the equinox. And it was very easy to do it. If you dig into the ground from the south side of the pillar, then at noon its shadow will fall on the stone, and by the intersection with the strip on the boulder itself, you can determine the day of the year. It is known that on the longest day (the day of the summer solstice) the sun is at its maximum height, that is, the shadow will fall on the bottom of the stone, and on the shortest day (the day of the winter solstice), the shadow will fall on the top of the stone. In the middle between these marks are the days of the equinox. Surely it seemsthat such a marking of the star does not give an accurate result of the day, especially without taking into account the lunar phases. And what do we find very close?
Three meters away, also standing on the edge, there is another stone-disk, but of a smaller diameter. (Could it be the Moon?) And, as if in confirmation of this version, we see that there are crescent-shaped cuts on the left and right sides of the stone. It seems that the lunar calendar was also tracked here by the phases of the night star. However, for a complete observatory, only a map of the starry sky is not enough. And she is here, and also made of stone! Behind the bend of the mountain, twenty meters from the day and night stars, and also on the edge, there is a huge stone wall, dotted with a large number of round holes of different diameters and depths. Moreover, many of these "holes" are connected by a thin web of cuts, forming combinations unknown today. However, if you distract yourself from these cobwebs and just look at the holes a little further, then painfully familiar constellations suddenly pop up,from the Big Dipper to Sirius. The only thing that is confusing is the unimaginable density of stars on this "map". However, we do not know the principle of their drawing and tracking, without understanding the logic, it is impossible to understand the map. Which, by the way, I would very much like. After all, this map could answer the question about the time of its creation, that is, about the dating of the entire observatory. At the base of the "starry sky" there is a very strange round stone "table", on which traces of chiseling or chisels are simply obvious. It seems that there was some ancient instrument on it that allows you to determine something by the stars - for example, is it time to harvest, and perhaps the time for magical rituals.we do not know the principle of their drawing and tracking, without understanding the logic, it is impossible to understand the map. Which, by the way, I would very much like. After all, this map could answer the question about the time of its creation, that is, about the dating of the entire observatory. At the base of the "starry sky" there is a very strange round stone "table", on which traces of chiseling or chisels are simply obvious. It seems that there was some ancient instrument on it that allows you to determine something by the stars - for example, is it time to harvest, and perhaps the time for magical rituals.we do not know the principle of their drawing and tracking, without understanding the logic, it is impossible to understand the map. Which, by the way, I would very much like. After all, this map could answer the question about the time of its creation, that is, about the dating of the entire observatory. At the base of the "starry sky" there is a very strange round stone "table", on which traces of chiseling or chisels are simply obvious. It seems that there was some ancient instrument on it that allows you to determine something by the stars - for example, is it time to harvest, and perhaps the time for magical rituals.on which traces of processing with a chisel or cutters are simply obvious. It seems that there was some ancient instrument on it that allows you to determine something by the stars - for example, is it time to harvest, and perhaps the time for magical rituals.on which traces of processing with a chisel or cutters are simply obvious. It seems that there was some ancient instrument on it that allows you to determine something by the stars - for example, is it time to harvest, and perhaps the time for magical rituals.
So, our cursory glance already at the foot of the mountain gives us reason to assume that there was once a megalithic astrological complex here, the remains of which are quite obvious. But this is not all that is interesting about this mountain. And the key to further understanding of this place is another stone, which is now hidden in the bushes to the left of the "sun". As soon as you get closer to it, you can see a human face heavily damaged by time, somewhat resembling the famous figures of Easter Island. Moreover, its "neck" emerges from a massive round plinth. Now the face is looking into the sky, but it is worth mentally setting it in place - and it becomes clear that it was looking at our mountain. We will also take a closer look.
Ritual Square
Almost in the middle of the mountain, a strange ridge of huge stones stands out, which seem to hang over the clearing. And only if you climb on them, their purpose becomes clear. The surface of the stones is almost flat and very comfortable to stand. I especially found one interesting, which I called the "shaman-stone". It is positioned so correctly that a person standing on it can see the whole clearing, and the "sun", and the "moon", and the "starry sky", and the "stone idol".
Accordingly, and vice versa, the "shaman-stone" is visible from all sides and represents the central observation and ritual platform. Interestingly, the stone itself has the shape of a trefoil, that is, three people can simultaneously look and broadcast from it in different directions. Carrying out several excursions, I noticed the following fact: people, without saying a word at all and despite the difficulty of the ascent, love to climb here to relax, and everyone notes that this is a very good pebble. Perhaps the ancient energy of the priests is still alive in the stone. I have a very strange confirmation of this. When my friend and I spent the night in these places in 2015, we put several candles at the "shaman-stone" for night photography. In the photo, standing light waves turned out, which did not appear in me in any other place.
But this is not the only site on the slope. Nearby there are three more densely knocked down stone pedestals, but on a smaller scale. From the side of the mountain, they look like "gorilla", "fish" and "shell". It seems that these sites were intended either for magicians of the junior level, or for working with individual elements.
Thus, in addition to the "astrological observatory", we have a cult object. And it is quite logical to look for the place of residence of the clergy nearby. Something tells us that we should climb the mountain itself.
City of priests
Ancient settlements were usually organized on the tops of mountains or hills and were carefully fortified with walls or ditches in order to keep the defenses. And the top of the mountain does not disappoint us: it turns out to be flat, as if it was specially leveled. But the most impressive thing is that in many places the approaches to the summit are covered with massive slabs, which are almost impossible to climb from the side of the rise. It turns out a fortified settlement, which can be defended by a very small army. Well, if this is a settlement, then there should be houses. And they are, or rather, what is left of them now, after thousands of years. In the very center of the mountain's top, there are three vast "rooms" built of massive blocks. All of them have entrances from different sides and different preservation. One of the rooms is very badly destroyed, the second is smaller,but the third is well preserved. Here you can see not only that the blocks are stacked in one level, but also the complete rectangular configuration of the house has been preserved, and even traces of block fit in the wall. Even now cover this "room" with trunks and dead wood and live.
True, the dimensions of the dwelling are a little embarrassing: either people lived here of great stature, or it was a temple complex. But what is most surprising is the dimensions of some stones, which it is simply not clear how they were put on the edge, and even more so it is not clear how they laid out such an even masonry from these massive blocks. By the way, near one of the "rooms" there are interesting stones: one in the form of a hemisphere, it is quite worn out, the other is a round "sacrificial table". Both stones have clear traces of machining. It is difficult to judge their purpose. Perhaps, and it is true, these are altars, and, perhaps, and millstones. But they were clearly intended specifically for this "settlement", since it is problematic to bring them down and not split along the road, especially since there was enough material throughout the district and more accessible.
Another interesting feature of the “settlement” is the presence on its outskirts of several “dolmens” - stone houses with a small space inside. There are quite a few types of these dolmens in the world, but ours can be attributed to the most primitive, however, and to the most ancient. Nobody knows the purpose of these structures, but judging by their huge number in the world, most likely, they were a kind of means of communication, although, perhaps, a means of communication with the world of spirits. There are a few more features here. So, walking around the neighborhood in early spring or late autumn (at this time the grass does not cover the ground), you can notice several deep dips. It seems that these are either ancient wells, or these are the entrances to underground structures, which may well be, since there are many references to the caves that existed here.
However, the main mystery of this city is who, when and why it was built. None of the local people had a need for such a complex, labor-intensive and massive structure. Moreover, none of those who lived in our era built such cities here, which gives us the right to suggest a very ancient origin of this megalithic complex, rooted in millennia. Similar structures are found in the mountains of Latin America and also have difficulties with dating (ranging from 1000 to 6000 BC), and archaeologists also do not understand how they were built. It seems that there was once a proto-civilization that died for an unknown reason and the fragments of which we are collecting all over the world.
Decisively, this is only a small part of the mysteries of the Skripinsky Kuchurs. It is definitely worth noting that this is an amazing place with its incredible energy, where you can meet many inexplicable phenomena.
Dmitry Ilyushin