A stupa is one of the most essential folk household items. It was used to make cereals from unrefined grains of buckwheat, millet, wheat, barley. In a mortar, they crumpled cracked, that is, soaked and dried hemp stems (female stems), ground hemp and flaxseed.
The stupa was a deep bowl on a pallet, hollowed out of a thick piece of sturdy wood, mostly oak. She was heavy, massive and stable. It had a cylindrical or conical shape, with a rounded space inside. Below from the bottom, four wings were often hollowed out for stability.
The obligatory accessory of the stupa was the pestle (pusher). This is a long (70-75 cm) thick round heavy stick with a cut out grip in the middle for the arm.
There is a version about the origin of the stupa. Since the 17th century, after the Christianization of Russia, the dead began to be buried in logs hollowed out of oak, which resembled stupas, and then received the same name. The custom of burying the dead in oak logs continued until the beginning of the 18th century, until Peter I, who issued a decree prohibiting, under threat of death, the felling of trees in oak groves. After that, the coffins were made of boards. But the expression "give an oak", that is, to die, has come down to our days.
The stupa was considered by the Slavs as an object that performs an essential ritual role, including in wedding and funeral rituals. It was believed that a mortar with pestle has healing properties: you can crush a disease, "crush" a sick animal into a healthy one. The use of the stupa for medicinal purposes is dictated by the idea that it is easier to get rid of the disease by dismembering it into small pieces.
There are many beliefs associated with the stupa that existed in the past in our region. So, it was forbidden to leave a mortar with a pestle inside for the night - evil spirits would crush all night long. It was impossible to leave the stupa open, otherwise you will die with your mouth open, etc.
A stupa as an item of household utensils is often found in the works of Russian folklore. This is, first of all, an attribute of Baba Yaga. She "rides in a mortar, drives with a pestle, sweeps the road forward with a broom." In science, there are still different points of view on why Baba Yaga chose such a strange type of transport for herself.
Material taken from the book by M. I. Emelyanova "Russian traditional culture of Starooskolya".
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