Our ancestors - the Slavs believed that with the help of a birch broom, you can drive evil spirits from a person in a bath. But it should be noted that witches in Slavic legends also flew on birch brooms. It turns out that this wood is multifaceted and does not always serve good forces. The magical properties of birch have long been known to our ancestors. She had a special religious significance not only among the Slavs, but also among other peoples of the world.
Mystical properties of birch
This wood has always been respected in the areas where it grew. This is quite logical, since many useful household items were produced from it: clothes, houses, brooms for a bath. In addition, they wrote on birch bark that it served as a kindle for a fire. When burning, birch releases a special substance - tar. It was widely used by the ancient Slavs and continues to be used by modern people.
The Scandinavians associated birch with the goddess Nerthus, who represented Mother Earth. Residents of Sweden to this day, at the end of April, arrange celebrations in honor of the aforementioned timber. The Celts compared the light bark of a birch to the Sun. When they buried a person, they put a special hat made of birch bark on his head, which soothed the soul of the deceased.
Asians made the central support of their tents from birch, therefore they considered this wood a symbol of endless life. The Mansi and Khanty believed that the goddess Kaltash called her main symbol a golden birch with silver branches. With two birches in hands, the goddess of the Turks Umayya appeared to people.
The peoples of the North have always considered birch to be a shamanic wood. She allegedly served as a connecting element between earth and sky. The shaman made marks on the trunk of a birch, making steps leading to the higher or divine worlds. The most famous sacred birch grew on a hill near the Vym river. There was a huge temple near it, where various peoples came to pray, perform various types of rituals, ask for help from higher powers.
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In 1379, the above-described sacred tree was cut down and burned by Orthodox missionaries led by Stephen of Perm (originally Stepan Khrap). On the site of the pagan shrine, he built a church "in honor of the Archangel Michael." Gradually, a town and the first monastery for men in Komi was formed near the temple.
An ambiguous attitude towards a birch - what was it
The sacred wood was treated ambiguously, although it was respected. Birch had two main meanings. She was considered a symbol of innocence and purity. At the same time, and this, she served as a repository and repository for evil spirits. Also, mermaids were very fond of birch, who constantly sat next to it at night or on its branches.
Sabbaths of witches and other evil spirits were held on birch branches. Witches made brooms from it. They could fly not only on classic brooms, but also on stupas and even ordinary birch sticks.
Some Slavic legends said that devils can give a person beautiful white horses (in exchange for a soul, of course), which in the morning turned into crooked birch branches. The bread presented by the evil spirits in the morning became birch bark. Thus, it can be assumed that birch was used not only for good purposes, but also for committing atrocities.
Residents of northern Russia tried not to build houses in birch groves, as they believed that the souls of the dead dwelt in the branches of these beautiful plants. At night they go down to the ground and kill passers-by.
In Polesie villages, before the funeral, a deceased woman was covered with birch branches, and a man - with poplar branches. In the Kostroma Territory, they believed that dying young girls or girls turn into birches. In Belarus, the deceased representatives of the fair sex were also considered birches, and men - "green bushes". On Trinity, houses were decorated with birch twigs, which were supposed to comfort and entertain the souls of deceased relatives.
It should be noted that our ancestors were ambivalent about everything. This is what makes their religion special, exclusive and very interesting. Various beliefs are associated with birch: good, evil, harmless and frightening. It is about them that will be discussed further.
Beliefs associated with birches
The most famous holiday, the obligatory attribute of which was the above-described wood, is considered to be the Slavic "Semik". In the modern world it is also celebrated, but it is called differently - "Green Christmastide" or "Mermaid Week". This holiday falls on the beginning of June, when summer finally triumphs over spring.
To this day, it is believed that throughout the "Mermaid Week" mermaids come out of their houses-reservoirs and gather in large groups in the forests, in the clearings, in the birch groves. There they lead round dances, sing songs, have fun. Sometimes, if they are lucky, they lure the fellows to their holiday, but, unfortunately, the guys do not return from them later. Therefore, it is believed that in the "Mermaid Week" guys are not allowed to swim in reservoirs.
The Slavs celebrated this holiday according to certain rules. It started on Thursday. In the morning, all the villagers gathered together and went to the cemetery in order to decorate the graves of relatives and friends with birch twigs. After that, people went home and had family dinners. In the evening, everyone gathered again and organized mass festivities that did not stop all week. The main rite of the holiday was the making of wreaths from thin birch twigs. Wreaths were woven only by girls and women, since this ceremony was associated with Mother Earth (woman). Men were even forbidden to watch how beautiful girls are engaged in a kind of needlework. It was believed that a man's gaze could take away magical properties from a wreath. Also, women who gave birth had no right to participate in the ceremony.
By the way, the expression “break the birch” came precisely from the above-described tradition. Girls went to weave wreaths in a birch grove or forest. To appease the mermaids who could be on the birch chosen for weaving, they decorated it with beads, ribbons and other girlish things. While decorating the birch, the girls tried to sit in its shade. The one who managed to do it first was to get married the next year. After decorating the birch, the girls laid a tablecloth under it and dined. The menu was sure to include: kvass, pies, cottage cheese, beer, eggs. Only after that it was possible to start the rituals. At first, the girls had to dance in circles. To do this, they twisted three pairs of birch trees with "gates", after which they walked under them in single file. Thus, the girls tried to establish contact with the mermaids, who, in turn,could reveal the future to them and guess the suitors.
Then the tired, dancing beauties weaved the wreaths mentioned above. With their help, you could guess your betrothed or fate. The wreaths were lowered into a river or lake, after which they were watched. If the birch wreath swam to the shore, the one who made it was to get married soon. If he was drowning, then this portended a quick death.
In the evening guys joined the girls. They chopped down young birches or branches, dressed them up in dresses, put jewelry on their “heads” and called them “maiden beauty”. Also, such birches were called "godfather", "guest", "seven", "baba", "beauty". Christmastide ended with wires of mermaids. When the "magic week" ended, people removed the decorations from the birches, dismissed the wreaths, created a stuffed mermaid, which they then carried around the village, after which they sent it to the forest and burned it.
Such popular mass holidays are in the distant past. Despite this, we continue to admire the beauty of the birch, which the Russian classical landscape cannot do without.
