Paganism. A huge layer of ancient culture, which from time immemorial merges with our modern life. Sometimes we, without noticing it, find ourselves under the influence of pagan beliefs: we believe in omens, tell fairy tales to children, bake pancakes for Shrovetide, guess at Christmas time, although we consider ourselves to be believing Christians, go to church, read prayers. Archbishop Makarii (Bulgakov), the author of the multivolume History of the Russian Church, says the same, he admits that “many of the Christians practically remained pagans: they performed the external rites of the holy church, but retained the customs and superstitions of their fathers”.
So it is unfair to say that true religious ideas appeared among the Slavs only with the adoption of Christianity. Yes, and how could the most powerful cultural contribution of Byzantium be Russified if the ancient Slavs did not have a high level of their own culture. And one cannot say that before there was only the darkness of barbarian cults, about which nothing is known in our time. But after all, we ourselves know a bunch of funny and interesting obviously pagan superstitions: we break plates at weddings for good luck, we believe that we cannot say hello or pass something across the threshold, we often let the cat into a new house first, and at every opportunity we pour proverbs.
The ceremonial side of many twelve-year holidays, a reverent attitude towards nature, belief in talismans, amulets, omens - all this and much more testifies to the amazing vitality of pagan cultural traditions even today, at the beginning of the third millennium. As a matter of fact, even today we are two believers, and Christians and pagans at the same time. In fact, all twelve Christian holidays celebrated in Holy Russia are essentially Christian, but on the ritual side, many of them are firmly connected with pagan traditions: the Baptism of the Lord, Meeting, Maslenitsa, Annunciation, Trinity, Intercession, etc.
It is significant that in Russia all these holidays have long been associated among the people with one season or another, a natural phenomenon. Where does this reverent attitude to nature come from, if not from paganism, from his worship of natural phenomena? Is it not from paganism - the animal style in architecture, vegetative relief in the design of religious buildings, the tent style of Russian architecture of later times? And if all this is true, if the influence of paganism turned out to be so long-lasting and noticeable, then we must definitely admit the following: the powerful pagan roots of Slavic culture are not its weakness, but an indicator of strength, originality, originality. Without these roots, there probably would not have been such a wonderful Russian culture, the importance of which has long been recognized by the entire world community.
Thus, it is obvious that the continuity of paganism and Christianity is one of the dominant features of domestic culture (here and hereinafter, domestic culture is understood, first of all, Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian cultures as something single).
Considering this organic connection, we draw attention to the following: Russian culture is an organic fusion of Byzantine culture and the pagan culture of our distant ancestors. The height of the culture of pagan Rus turned out to be so significant that the Byzantine contribution soon became Russified; time has shown that pagan cultural traditions and customs, pagan outlook did not become a part of pre-Christian Russia only. Only because of the equivalence of cultures could the above-described intertwining and complementarity occur, which the monks of the era of Ancient Russia called "dual faith."
However, we know that everything did not happen quickly and not easily. It was a long-term struggle between two equal ideologies. This struggle was accompanied by violence and persecution of the pagans. It is enough to recall the methods of Vladimir: the destruction of pagan temples, forced baptism, etc. Of course, this was cruel towards the people, who were not really explained what they wanted from them. Why did people suddenly have to change their way of life for the sake of the incomprehensible and unknown? It is now, after a millennium, that we understand that the adoption of Christianity was the most important event in our history, a political and cultural leap towards the West.
Of course, the transition to Christianity was not abrupt. In such conditions, the process of Christianization proceeded gradually, and according to B. V. Rauschenbach took 100 years. Most likely, this process proceeded much more slowly, especially given the territorial dimensions of Russia. Indeed, the news of the adoption of Christianity came to the far corners much later. The mistake is obvious, especially if you consider that the Christianization of Sweden and Norway (baptized at the same time as Russia) dragged on for 250 and 150 years, respectively. We also note that such a process cannot be traced in a clear time frame.
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Moreover, Prince Vladimir himself preserved, for example, princely feasts, which paganism also knew. True, he gave them new content. They discussed "current politics" between representatives of the squad and the tribal nobility, and this served to rally the classes. So it turned out that the prince himself, perhaps without suspecting it himself, was in no hurry to get rid of paganism. So it was customary in Russia to tighten the knot more and more tightly from the pagan inheritance inherited by Prince Vladimir from time immemorial, and the Christian heritage left to us by the prince himself.
By the end of the 11th - beginning of the 12th century, the struggle between pagans and Christians in Russia stopped. This is due to the fact that the cities as sacred centers were captured by the adherents of Christ. In addition, the Magi were practically exterminated. Finally, the princely authority ceased to provide military support to the Church. all resources were directed towards internecine strife.
Having lost "fire and sword" the Church turned to the word (sermon). It was to this time that the first Teachings against paganism belong - laconic works that exposed the customs and vices of pagans. In these texts, the incompleteness of the process of the Baptism of Rus appears: the sanctuaries were destroyed, the Magi were expelled, the nobility was baptized, but all this is not yet Christian Rus.
One of the most eloquent "Teachings" is the so-called. "A Teaching to a Simple Child" of the Novgorod abbot Moses, dated 1170 - 1180 … It follows from the text that the Christian God with the saints was perceived as an addition to the pagan pantheon. In churches built on the sites of ancient sanctuaries, pagans put images of their gods in the altar. Most likely, the clergy, in order to attract people to the church, did not interfere with this. The teaching, as the most barbaric custom, mentions the blood oaths of children in the presence of mothers. The ritual is clear: in the era of the death of the ancient faith, the most effective means were used. Hegumen Moses considers one of the vices to be people's excessive belief in witchcraft, conspiracies, and superstition. By the time Christianity was adopted, witchcraft had "specializations" - for successful hunting, trade, and even for the mercy of those in power!The author also mentions some "deceitful writings", with the help of which, allegedly, they cured the tremor (fever). In the teaching of the Bishop of Belgorod, dating from the same years, another "pagan" vice is mentioned - drunkenness. In the bishop's vision, drunkenness is a vice because drunks are playing games (which is sinful).
From the information provided, it is clear that the common people in the XII century. kept elements of paganism in everyday life for a long time. But from the same teachings it follows that the pastoral word also bore the imprint of paganism. Both church hierarchs positioned themselves practically as apostles in Russia, but pagan-naively threatened the flock for their sins with heavenly punishment. Obviously, later Christian teaching did not interpret the punishment and wrath of God so literally.
To understand how deeply paganism penetrated into the Christian world, one must certainly turn to the history of medieval Novgorod. Firstly, because Novgorod, although it was not a typical Russian city and stood a little apart, was an example of a highly developed center. And, secondly, because in connection with successful excavations on its territory, we received from antiquity itself quite reliable information about the life of the Slavs, this is one of the largest historical sources of ancient Russia.
In the article by B. A. Rybakov "Culture of medieval Novgorod" the results of this archaeological expedition led by A. V. Artsikhovsky. These excavations were the most important event in science. After all, a powerful cultural layer of the earth contains deposits of hundreds of years. In layers from the X-XVI centuries. well preserved wood, fabric, bone, birch bark. All of this is invaluable historical material.
Thus, - writes B. A. Rybakov is almost the only source of knowledge about the life of ancient Russia. Excavations in Novgorod made it possible to penetrate into the mysterious and enigmatic realm of pagan ideas.
For example, it was found that at the very beginning of the construction of the city, where the Volkhov flows from Lake Ilmen, there was a pagan sanctuary of the ancient Slavic gods Perun and Veles, who were worshiped by Russian warriors - pagans. On the site of the Veles temple stands the architecturally not yet studied church of St. Vlasia, and in the Peryn tract there was a special sanctuary under the open sky, round in plan, with a sacrificial place and an idol in the center. Eight bonfires burned around him in isolated recesses. Adam Olearius, who visited Novgorod in 1635, describes the legends about the eternal fire of oak wood around the idol of Perun.
Legendary Russian legend of the 17th century. about the beginning of Novgorod indicates that an ancient lizard (crocodile) deity of the Volkhov River was buried in Peryn. In general, beliefs in the legends about the dragon are confirmed by many images of a lizard dragon on things: the handles of wooden buckets, the backs of chairs, sometimes dragon's muzzles hung from the roofs, the oars of ships were decorated with the heads of lizards. This veneration was traced in Russian and Belarusian folklore right up to the turn of the XIX-XX centuries.
But in this period Christianity has long become the way of life of the Russian people, its spiritual support. In the same way, along with Optina Pustyn, rituals and games associated with a pagan lizard calmly coexisted. Another thing is that there is a lizard in the Christian tradition, only in this interpretation of snakes is a sign of devilish cunning, temptation, and sin. And in the pagan view - a deity. And such ideas got along in one era, without interfering with each other.
Small wooden figures of bearded people are associated with the domestic cult. In them you can see images of brownies, ancestors or forefathers. Figures of brownies were more common in the layers of the X-XI centuries, however, there are also in the layers of the XII-XIII centuries. And in the 16th century, bearded human heads reappeared at the same time as the strigolnik sect. In addition, at the same time when the definitely negative moods of the people towards the feudal church intensified, manifestations of anti-clerical views and even a return to pagan ideas are observed. For example, city artists began to decorate the pages of church books with initials that were not associated with the text, images of everyday life: a herald with a pipe, a hunter with a dog, a city dweller warming his hands over the fire…. woodcarver Yakov Fedotov in 1339.made a huge cross with the inscription of the strigolnik sect with dragon heads in an ornament. At the same time, the old symbols of fertility reappear - rhombs with antennae.
The fact that although pagan beliefs and customs are becoming more and more a thing of the past, nevertheless, they still exist in Russia in the XIII-XIV centuries, D. S. Likhachev writes in his book “Culture of Russia in the times of Andrey Rublev and Epiphany the Wise”. So, for example, he writes that: “back in 1274. the church cathedral in Vladimir celebrated the merrymaking, at which on Saturdays and Sundays Novgorodians gathered, "grinning and neighing like a ladle, and doing filth." Back in the end of the XIII century. in Novgorod there was a pagan custom to lead brides to the water. Back in the first half of the XIV century. when pouring kvass, those around them raised a terrible noise, calling and magnifying the pagan gods (including kvass), and beat them into the barrels. But already under 1358. in the Novgorod chronicle it was noted that the Novgorodians "of the same summer kissed (ie swore) the barrels not to beat."
And the Russian village was pagan for a long, long time. There are very few items related to Christianity in the materials of rural mounds of this time. On the other hand, there are numerous decorations due to pagan symbols. Of particular interest are the pendant-amulets that appear in the sources under the term "nauza". They are associated with spell magic. Pendants in the form of stylized birds and animals and animals were obviously associated with their animal properties. The image of the teeth and claws of predators served to ward off evil. Amulets-crests were amulets against diseases and were often worn on the chest along with a consecrated cross. In the design of weapons and military armor, many ornamental compositions were formed on the basis of polytheistic mythology.
However, the greatest manifestation of paganism in the Christian environment is observed in the calendar and ritual holidays. Celebrated the meeting of winter - Kolyada and farewell - Maslenitsa. The festival of Krasnaya Gorka and Radunitsa meant the meeting of spring, which was seen off to Semik. There were summer holidays - Rusalia and Kupala.
For a long time people lived in the villages on three calendars. The first is natural, agricultural. The second - pagan also correlated with natural phenomena. And the third, the latest calendar - Christian, Orthodox, in which there are only one great holidays, not counting Easter, - twelve, the rest are innumerable. Some Russian holidays have changed their dates more than once over the years. So, for example, New Year in Russia until the middle of the XIV century. celebrated on March 1, and then postponed to September 1, and in 1700. Peter I ordered to celebrate the New Year on January 1, and even with a Christmas tree. However, in ancient times Christmas was considered the main winter holiday, not New Year.
Particularly mysterious was the Christmas night, which was believed to be full of unusual phenomena. And on Christmas Eve. They began on December 25th and ended on January 5th, old style. At this time, they gathered, arranged carols, mummers' games, fortune-telling.
Fortune-telling on Christmastide was the main entertainment of the girls: they threw the slipper outside the gate so that, according to where the sock pointed, to find out from which side the betrothed would come, if he pointed to the house of the local fortune-teller, it meant that they had to sit in girls for another year; tossed the snow up and watched it fall: if it was even and loud, the girl would soon be married. One of the most common was subtle fortune-telling. The girls, putting their rings in a dish and covering it with a handkerchief, sang songs of divination. After each such song, the dish was shaken and one ring was pulled out at random. Its mistress included the content of the song just performed, predicting fate. Fortune-telling on wax candles, fortune-telling with a mirror and with a candle, fortune-telling from someone else's conversation, when, thinking about life in marriage, they went to eavesdrop under the windows of houses. If the talk was heard cheerful,then life was expected not boring, and the husband - kind and affectionate.
On Christmastide we went to carol. Stopping under the windows of someone's hut, they sang special songs - carols. Their content was traditional - the glorification of the owner, wishes to his family and home for well-being and prosperity. There was a reward for this. If the carolers did not receive it, then they sang songs of a different - menacing content, frightening the owners with crop failure and cattle diseases. Among the carolers, there was also a special carrier for the gift bag - the mehonosha. Of course, the most pagan remained the ancient Russian buffoonery of the game of the mummers. Persecuted by the church and the authorities, this tradition has survived the centuries and has become an inseparable part of the holidays. They dressed up in costumes and masks (hari), a fur coat turned out in fur - a bear, the same fur coat with a poker inserted into the sleeve - a crane, girls dressed up as guys, guys - as girls. Groups of mummers enjoyed particular success - a horse with a rider, a bear with a leader, and with him a wooden goat. The mummers went into the huts and had fun as they could: tumbling, fooling around, shouting in a voice that was not their own, and sometimes playing out whole performances.
On the first spring holiday of Soroca (March 9, the day of the forty martyrs), children gathered in the gardens and brought sandpipers with them, which were baked from wheat or rye dough. They were sometimes called larks. These waders were tied with threads to poles that were stuck in the ground. The wind shook the waders, so that they seemed to be flying, and the children sang, inviting spring.
And the most noisy holiday was, of course, Maslenitsa. She, too, has been known since pagan times as a holiday of seeing off winter and welcoming spring. In the Christian tradition, she became a harbinger of Great Lent before Easter. It is no longer allowed to eat meat during Shrovetide week, but dairy products, including butter, which are abundantly poured over pancakes, are not yet banned. In Russia, Maslenitsa was celebrated for a whole week. Each day had its own name: Monday - meeting, Tuesday - flirting, Wednesday - gourmet, Thursday - revelry, Friday - mother-in-law's evenings, Saturday - sister-in-law's gatherings and, finally, Sunday - seeing off Maslenitsa, the forgiven day. On the first day of the holiday, a straw effigy was made - the personification of Maslenitsa. He was taken on a sleigh with songs and dances. This day ended with a fist fight: at the signal wall to wall, two teams converged. It was forbidden to use any weapon, you can not beat a lying person, catch up with a fleeing person. There were also tragic outcomes, so at the end of the 17th century, the tsar issued two decrees banning fistfights. However, this measure had no effect. Cruel fun continued almost until the beginning of the 20th century. On Tuesday, for flirting, boys and girls rode down the ice slides or in a sleigh. These skates were accompanied all week. In the process, the guys looked after their brides, the girls - grooms. On Wednesday, mother-in-law invited their sons-in-law to pancakes, demonstrating mutual love and respect. On Thursday, the celebration was in full swing: they again carried a stuffed animal, accompanied by a sleigh train with mummers. They sang, played, grimaced. Collective feasts were often arranged - brothers. On Friday, it was the turn of the sons-in-law to treat their mother-in-law with pancakes. And the next day, sister-in-law gatherings,the young daughter-in-law received her husband's relatives. Vyunishnik is associated with Shrovetide - the custom of honoring the young. The fact is that in the winter, the time free from agricultural work, there were many weddings in the villages, so they honored the young - the vyunitsa and the vyunitsa, who had recently married. Friends came to visit them and sang health resorts to them. On the last day of Maslenitsa, it was accepted, and it is still accepted now, to ask each other for forgiveness. The farewell to Maslenitsa was arranged. Once again, a straw scarecrow was taken around the village, and beyond the outskirts of it they burned and went home. Shrovetide revelry ceased, on Monday Great Lent began: "Not everything for the cat is Shrovetide!"therefore, they honored the young - the vyunitsa and the vyunitsa, who had recently married. Friends came to visit them and sang health resorts to them. On the last day of Maslenitsa, it was accepted, and it is still accepted now, to ask each other for forgiveness. The farewell to Maslenitsa was arranged. Once again, a straw scarecrow was taken around the village, and beyond the outskirts of it they burned and went home. Shrovetide revelry ceased, on Monday Great Lent began: "Not everything for the cat is Shrovetide!"therefore, they honored the young - the vyunitsa and the vyunitsa, who had recently married. Friends came to visit them and sang health resorts to them. On the last day of Maslenitsa, it was accepted, and it is still accepted now, to ask each other for forgiveness. The farewell to Maslenitsa was arranged. Once again, a straw scarecrow was taken around the village, and beyond the outskirts of it they burned and went home. Shrovetide revelry ceased, on Monday came Great Lent: "Not all the Shrovetide cat!"Every day is not Sunday!"."Every day is not Sunday!".
Even in the spring, around the end of April in Russia, in many localities, yariks were celebrated. Already this holiday was directly associated with paganism. Yarilo is a solar god, strong, emotional, bearing fertility. He was introduced as a young man. And the image of the head that Yarilo held was probably associated with the fact that he, like the Egyptian Osiris, belongs to the annually dying and resurrecting gods of fertility. His influence was so strong that for many centuries after the baptism of Rus, the rituals associated with the name of Yarila survived until the 19th century. In addition, this word has penetrated into our lexicon: rage, ardent, furious - means a character with demands, unaware of obstacles, striving without limits. In pagan myth - Yarilo can be described as something that belongs to spring and its beneficial effect on nature. No wonderthat the beginning of the year in antiquity was in the spring, because it was then that nature was revived. For a long time there was a custom in Kostroma to "bury" Yarila. So, for example, some poor man, a beggar, took it upon himself to bury a man's doll, with extremely developed productivity accessories, put in a coffin, while drunk, and sometimes sober, but very superstitious women saw off this coffin and cried unfeignedly. There was Yariliy holiday and near Galich. Even at the beginning of the 19th century. there they still did this: they gave the peasant a drink and joked with him as they wanted, demanding that he play Yarilo. Not everywhere Yarilin holiday was designated by one number. In the villages of the Ryazan and Tambov provinces, it was timed to coincide with the day of all saints, then Peter's day. In Vladimir on the Klyazma - on Trinity Day,in the Nizhny Novgorod province, the Yarila holiday on June 4 was combined with a fair. In Tver, this holiday began on the first Sunday, after Peter's day. Passed in Trekhsvyatsky garden, where young people gathered in the evening. They sang and danced. Taking advantage of this, many families let their daughters go there to visit. There, this holiday was destroyed by archpastors Methodius and Ambrose in the 19th century. In Voronezh until 1763. annually celebrated Yarila's folk games before the Peter's Lent. There was a fair on the square of the city, a person chosen by society to be a deity was decorated with flowers, ribbons, bells. In this outfit, he walked around the city. All this was accompanied by games and dances, drunkenness and fistfights. These feasts continued until the Monk Tikhon destroyed the feast forever. In Tver, this holiday began on the first Sunday, after Peter's day. Passed in Trekhsvyatsky garden, where young people gathered in the evening. They sang and danced. Taking advantage of this, many families let their daughters go there to visit. There, this holiday was destroyed by archpastors Methodius and Ambrose in the 19th century. In Voronezh until 1763. annually celebrated Yarila's folk games before the Peter's Lent. There was a fair on the square of the city, a person chosen by society to be a deity was decorated with flowers, ribbons, bells. In this outfit, he walked around the city. All this was accompanied by games and dances, drunkenness and fistfights. These feasts continued until the Monk Tikhon destroyed the feast forever. In Tver, this holiday began on the first Sunday, after Peter's day. Passed in Trekhsvyatsky garden, where young people gathered in the evening. They sang and danced. Taking advantage of this, many families let their daughters go there to visit. There, this holiday was destroyed by archpastors Methodius and Ambrose in the 19th century. In Voronezh until 1763. annually celebrated Yarila's folk games before the Peter's Lent. There was a fair on the square of the city, a person chosen by society to be a deity was decorated with flowers, ribbons, bells. In this outfit, he walked around the city. All this was accompanied by games and dances, drunkenness and fistfights. These feasts continued until the Monk Tikhon destroyed the feast forever.many families let their daughters go there to visit. There, this holiday was destroyed by archpastors Methodius and Ambrose in the 19th century. In Voronezh until 1763. annually celebrated Yarila's folk games before the Peter's Lent. There was a fair on the square of the city, a person chosen by society to be a deity was decorated with flowers, ribbons, bells. In this outfit, he walked around the city. All this was accompanied by games and dances, drunkenness and fistfights. These feasts continued until the Monk Tikhon destroyed the feast forever.many families let their daughters go there to visit. There, this holiday was destroyed by archpastors Methodius and Ambrose in the 19th century. In Voronezh until 1763. annually celebrated Yarila's folk games before the Peter's Lent. There was a fair on the square of the city, a person chosen by society to be a deity was decorated with flowers, ribbons, bells. In this outfit, he walked around the city. All this was accompanied by games and dances, drunkenness and fistfights. These feasts continued until the Monk Tikhon destroyed the feast forever.bells. In this outfit, he walked around the city. All this was accompanied by games and dances, drunkenness and fistfights. These feasts continued until the Monk Tikhon destroyed the feast forever.bells. In this outfit, he walked around the city. All this was accompanied by games and dances, drunkenness and fistfights. These feasts continued until the Monk Tikhon destroyed the feast forever.
Among the spring and summer holidays, three were especially revered among the people - Semik, Trinity and Ivan Kupala. Trinity is still celebrated on the 50th day after Easter, and Semik was celebrated the day before - on Thursday. Since it was the seventh post-Easter week, the holiday was also called "seven". He was associated with the cult of nature. Houses, courtyards, temples these days were decorated with flowers and branches of trees, mainly birch. Trinity week in Russia was called “green”. The wildflowers collected for Trinity were dried and stored behind icons in the red corner, placed in barns from mice, in attics, protecting houses from fires. The girls, putting on their best outfits, went to a birch grove, found a young beautiful birch, curled branches with it, decorated them with ribbons and flowers, danced round dances, sang songs praising the birch. The rite of boom was performed. Wreaths were sent over the water. The wreath is calmly floating - it will fold happily, it will spin - the wedding will be upset, it will sink - there will be trouble, someone close to you will die. Here is one of the legends confirming the popular omen: “In the vicinity of the ancient town of Aleksin, lovers, having decided to get married, threw wreaths into the Oka. At first they swam calmly, then suddenly the water swirled and pulled to the bottom. The guy and the girl rushed into the river to save their happiness, but they themselves drowned. They say that on the same day, drowned wreaths emerge from the bottom of the river. The guy and the girl rushed into the river to save their happiness, but they themselves drowned. They say that on the same day, drowned wreaths emerge from the bottom of the river. The guy and the girl rushed into the river to save their happiness, but they themselves drowned. They say that on the same day, drowned wreaths emerge from the bottom of the river.
The holiday of Ivan Kupala was celebrated by almost all peoples of the world. It falls on the summer solstice - June 24, the eve of the Christian feast of the Nativity of John the Baptist. Kupala is a pagan holiday of man's worship of water elements. Two of them, fire and water, participated in the festive ceremony. It was believed that fire cleanses a person, and water washes it, so they made sure to kindle bonfires and arrange bathing. Fire had to be obtained by an ancient method - friction. Among her favorite games were bonfire jumping. It was believed that if a guy and a girl did not open their hands, they would soon get married. They believed in another sign: the higher you jump, the better the bread will be born. In some places they made a straw doll - Kupala. They dressed her up in a woman's dress, decorated her. According to popular beliefs, bathing night is a mysterious time:trees move from place to place and talk among themselves, the river is covered with a mysterious silvery sheen, and witches flock to the Sabbath. And at midnight, the magic fern flower blooms. This lasts only one moment, everything around is illuminated with bright light. Anyone who can catch this moment and pick a flower acquires the magical power of finding treasures. They also searched for a magical herb-break, which supposedly destroyed iron and opened any locks.destroyed iron and opened any locks.destroyed iron and opened any locks.
And here is the legend associated with this holiday: “One guy went to look for Ivanov's flower, to Ivan Kupala. He stole the Gospel somewhere, took the sheet and came to the forest, to the clearing. He outlined three circles, spread the sheet, read prayers, and exactly at midnight a fern bloomed like an asterisk, and these flowers began to fall on the sheet. He picked them up and tied them in a knot, while he himself reads prayers. Only out of nowhere bears, a storm has risen…. The guy does not let go, he reads to himself. Then he sees: dawn and the sun rose, he got up and went. He walked, walked, and held a bundle in his hand. Suddenly he hears - someone is driving behind; looked around: he was rolling in a red shirt, straight at him; swooped down, but as soon as he hit it all, he dropped the bundle. Looks: it’s night again, as it was, and he has nothing.”
Thus, on a pagan holiday a person went with the Gospel, on a Christian one - he worshiped nature and divined. And after that someone else will argue that paganism was not a serious part of ancient Slavic culture and died out at the time of the adoption of Christianity.
What should be attributed to the fact that not only in Russia, but throughout Europe, there are so many superstitious concepts and beliefs? They can neither be forgotten nor destroyed, from century to century one generation passes on to another with all the little things, often attributing incomprehensible properties to completely insignificant things. From time immemorial, all imaginary miracles were done with the help of knowledge inaccessible to the people and were kept in the hands of the priests or shamans of the ancient tribes.
When Christianity came into its own, the old order and way of life of the peoples changed, and a struggle began over the new doctrine. Then favorable conditions were created for the development of everything miraculous and supernatural. With the fall of paganism, the priests, who were the main keepers of mystical secrets, exiled and desecrated, spread their knowledge throughout the world. But they were in charge, if I may call it that, the scientific knowledge of the ancient Slavs. For example, where did the recipes for traditional medicine come from?
Do we not know that: "Whoever drinks soot, and from that the disease will pass - a spoonful of sheep's milk, and bear bile the size of a grain of peas, and wipe it off to drink on your heart and drink it twice”; or from a toothache: “Get a living snake, take out the living bile from it; but if there is a living serpent without bile from that grease, and in that hour the sacs (worms) will disappear."
And where did the brownie come from? People always believed that someone was guarding their homes. The brownie is the soul of the hut, the patron saint of the building and the people living in it. There were all kinds of myths about its origin. For example, as in the Voronezh province, there was a story about the appearance of brownies, intertwining with the biblical legend: “In the Babylonian pandemonium, God punished the people who dared to penetrate the secret of its greatness by mixing languages, and having deprived the main of them of their image and likeness of eternal times to guard waters, forests, mountains, etc. Whoever was in the house at the time of punishment became a brownie”.
According to other legends, the brownie was born from the souls of trees cut down and used for construction. Brownies had wives and children: therefore, a brownie for a new dwelling could be born “naturally”. If you do not respect, offend the soul of the hut with something, the little master will build all sorts of dirty tricks until you obey. However, he himself sometimes got naughty and crossed the boundaries of what was permitted. In this case, he had to be reassured: “What are you, grandfather-sibling, throwing a cat on the ground! What farm is there without a cat? " Perhaps such admonitions can also work on a modern little drum, or in German, "noisy spirit" - a poltergeist. And then there will be peace and well-being in the house.
And now about bread. Everyone has heard the words that bread is the head of everything. This is not easy because a lot of work is spent on making bread, and the fact is that now few people remember the deep mythological roots that our views on bread have. In the visual arts of ancient cultures, a sown field was depicted with the same sign as a pregnant woman. This sign (a rhombus divided into four parts, each of which has a dot) has survived to our days in traditional embroidery on clothes. From this it follows that bread was a sacred gift for the Slavs. It was forbidden, by the way, to hit the table with a fist: the table is God's palm! And in order to cook the simplest porridge, you need to ensure the "union" of Fire, Water and Grain - the product of the Earth. Sweet (honey-boiled) porridge, seasoned with wild berries, was the oldest pagan ritual food,she carried a powerful idea of fertility, victory over death, the eternal return of life.
Is it any wonder that pagan porridge, perfectly fitting into Christian rituals, still lives under the name of kutya, which I treat at the commemoration. Unless they put sugar instead of honey, raisins instead of wild berries, and rice instead of whole wheat.
Of course, many superstitions were associated with the animation of inanimate nature and its gifts. So, for example, if God had mercy on the peasant from all kinds of misfortune, and good bread was born, it was time for the harvest. People called it "zhinka" and was accompanied by ancient rituals. The first sheaf, "bastard", like the last, autumn, was decorated with flowers and ribbons, brought into the house and placed in a red corner. Later, this sheaf was threshed first, and miraculous powers were attributed to its grains.
Wedding traditions, too, were distinguished by their original primitiveness. For example: the bride and groom, who were going to get married to church, were stuck in a dress, shirt, collar and hem with earless and headless needles and pins, and scraps of hemstitch were screwed over the body. During the wedding, when a fly is under the feet - a canvas or a scarf, the one that steps forward on it will be the big one - the highway in life. And with whom of the spouses the candle will soon burn out, that first and die. During the wedding, one should not look at each other, and if they do, in particular, they look into each other's eyes, they will not love each other, or someone will change in their married life.
And here are superstitions directly related to Christian holidays. More precisely, not superstitions, but folk omens. So, in the Mesyatseslov, compiled by VI Dahl, all Russian holidays are traced and this is what happens: “On the Epiphany night, before the morning, the sky opens. Snow flakes - for the harvest. A clear day is a bad harvest. Starry Night on Epiphany - Harvest for peas and berries "; or: “Winter met with summer for a meeting. Sun for summer, winter for frost. For the Meeting of Drops - a harvest for wheat."
Here, you and the animation of inanimate nature and the interweaving with the Christian tradition. And everything in this is so perfectly harmonized that it seems wonderful how two such different things merge so beautifully and harmoniously with each other. In general, the variety of pagan customs that have survived almost to our days (although, who knows, maybe they have survived) is striking, and, moreover, they not only survived, but, moreover, did not change for centuries. Is it necessary to talk about the adaptation to Christianity of such a custom as stone veneration? Preserved, for example, the legend of the Turov crosses, which sailed against the current in Turov during the period of Baptism. Some researchers tend to consider them crossed by pagan idols. However, these stones are now a local shrine. Thus, what may have previously been a pagan shrine is now revered by Christians. Is this not proof of the vitality of paganism and at the same time of its unity with the Christian tradition?
Thus, based on the above materials, we have come to several conclusions. Namely: at the time of the adoption of Christianity, paganism was at the highest point of its development and power; during Christianization, forceful methods were used, which did not bring the desired results; in the process of communication of priests with the flock, there was an interpenetration of pagan and Christian cultures, which eventually became invisible to the bearers of the culture themselves - they considered themselves Christians. In the process of interpenetration, the pagan holiday was supplemented with Christian rituals, and sometimes only the name remained from the Christian holiday. Such a system of Christian - pagan values came to an unchanged state almost until the beginning of the XX century,when the Church's rejection of the state and her loss of control over society almost completely undermined the religiosity of the Russian people, and at the same time marked the almost complete oblivion of ancient culture.