This long article about a very unusual woman - Valentina Baranova, who had a whole set of superpowers and the authenticity of her unusual power is proved by the stories of local residents about her. This material was written in 1994, a few years after Baranova's death, and published in the Top Secret newspaper. Unfortunately, in our time, there are practically no publications about "Blessed Vale", and in fact she was essentially a Russian Vanga.
Valentina Pavlovna Baranova (Valya Blazhennaya) is a woman who knew the past, present and future. They say about her that she knew with evil spirits and did dark deeds. Her personal life remained a secret to everyone, and this gave rise to gossip, rumors and speculation. Valya Blazhennaya died tragically on March 3, 1988. Our story is about this extraordinary woman.
In the old Cossack village of Kugulta, in the Stavropol Territory, Baranova settled before the Great Patriotic War. At that time she was 45 years old. The stranger for some time became a topic of conversation among the villagers. She was, as the people say, wretched, blessed, not of this world.
From early spring to late autumn, she wore the same shirt, barefoot, she could sit on a cold stone all day, and no ailment would take her. When talking to people, she sometimes rolled her eyes and shook her head, but reasoned sensibly.
The first conflict with neighbors showed that it is better not to get involved with Baranova. The wretched one furiously showered opponents with areal abuse and did not immediately calm down. Where did she come from and what she did before, does she have any relatives - no matter how curious they fought, but they could not find out.
Valentina lived closed: she did not go to anyone and did not call to her. Those who managed to get into her house most often found her reading old books, of which Baranova had many. These books and a beautiful picture on the wall made the villagers think that she was of rich origin.
Soon after Valentina's move, people began to come to her, and a rumor spread through the village: the blessed one speaks of illness and predicts the future. During the war, women would secretly run to her to find out about the fate of their front-line husbands. And the words came true. As Valentina Pavlovna said, so it happened: Petro returned safe and sound, Ivan was wounded, and Vasil died. Not since that time did the fellow villagers dislike Valentina? Perhaps one of the bitter widows accused her of casting death on her husband, and threw a spiteful one in her face: "The sorcerer …".
Years passed, and the relationship of fellow villagers with Baranova did not improve. One was unpleasant about her appearance. By her old age, she more and more resembled a witch from fairy-tale films: hunchbacked, her fingers bizarrely twisted, which gave ill-wishers food for a whisper behind her back: "Look, look, the witch holds a satanic sign."
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Others were frightened off by Babkina's perspicacity and ability to read other people's thoughts. Just think of her unflattering, as she already knows about it. Being in a good mood, Valya the Blessed stopped the person who liked her and prophesied the future for him, along the way reproaching or warning for something. And it turned out that she knew so much intimate about the man that he did not trust his own mother either.
Sometimes I found a cheerful verse on Valya, and she allowed herself to make fun of her enemies. Sitting on a stump near the house, she shouted to the entire street to a woman passing by: "Dun, and Dun, why are you thinking of a fig in your pocket, I, Dun, can see everything …". And Dunka, who really protected herself from grandma's sorcery with a fig in her pocket, cursing and spitting, hurried to leave. Well, how, pray tell, was it possible to make friends with such a person?
In 1946, it was rumored that somewhere in Central Asia, Baranova's sister was found. And soon she arrived in Kugult with her son. Either their relationship did not work out, or for some other reason, only the found relatives did not indulge Valentina Pavlovna with attention. The next time the nephew visited the village 13 years later. In the 80s, Valentina Pavlovna, still hoping that her nephew would not leave her in her old age, even bought him a hut, but he was in no hurry to move to his aunt.
For a long time, Baranova herself managed her simple household, and since 1972, her fellow villager Praskovya Andreevna Svyatashova, who later became her confidant, began to help her. Baranova knew whom to trust: Svyatashova would not take a penny without asking and did not like to sharpen the fringes. At first, Praskovya Andreevna helped in gratitude for the cure, and then because she borrowed money from Baranova to build a house. Even having paid in full, she continued to help the old woman, felt sorry for her.
There were several more people in the village who treated Baranova kindly, but were not afraid of the old woman's child. The rest were wary and rarely approached her. True, Baba Valya had enough work even without the villagers. The number of her patients and clients increased from year to year. The healed came already with other needs, followed by their relatives, friends, colleagues. There was not a day that a modest Moskvich or a luxurious Volga, or even an Ikarus bus, did not appear at Baranova's house.
She accepted some immediately, others after long tears and persuasion. There were also those whom she chased, barely seeing, and if these people did not leave, Baranova turned into a fury: she screamed, spat, lifted her shirt over her head. She treated the patients with charmed water. What conspiracies she whispered over the water, what signs she drew in the air with a cross, no one knew.
And she predicted fate, looking into the eyes, in rare cases she used cards for fortune telling. At the same time, Valentina Pavlovna was not averse to surprising people. Sometimes, only a person stepped on the threshold, and she already answers a question that he did not have time to ask.
According to numerous eyewitnesses, Baranova very accurately described the past and present, her predictions have always come true. She spoke imperiously with the newcomers and did not tolerate any objections.
“Most of all she hated lies,” Svyatashova said. - I immediately felt whether the person was telling the truth or not. Those who tried to deceive her were chased away. On major church holidays and Sundays, she refused to receive people. Sometimes he swears, swears, and then he will help on a holiday."
The activity and glory of Baranova were a thorn in the eye of the local builders of communism, who more than once wrote denunciations to the district and regional committees. Once a commission from the district health department arrived with a check, but the nimble old woman kicked out the doctors with a scandal. In order not to repeat such an embarrassment, the authorities decided to further influence Baranova through the district police officer. He was indignant: "Yes, I will stand near my grandmother with a gun!" - but went to conduct explanatory work.
Each time the same dialogue was repeated: "Valentina Pavlovna, honestly, it’s already uncomfortable for me to pronounce it, but you again take up your own." - "I won't, Vasya, I won't, but don't pay attention to them." Somehow the district son got sick, and he turned to Baba Valya. “Bring the little boy, bring him,” she readily agreed, and then, catching herself, added: “Ugh, I forgot, you are not supposed to be in your position, well, let your wife bring you unnoticed.” For two days they washed the boy with charmed water, and the whole illness vanished as if by hand.
In the mid-80s, when the winds of perestroika blew and interest in the so-called alternative medicine arose in society, the grandmother was given the title of "folk healer". And all sorts of clever people began to cram into her students. She persecuted these "followers": "Is this what they teach? I had a vision of the Mother of God, and she blessed me. And to do this without the will of the Most High is a terrible sin …"
Baba Valya never told anyone about the troubles and sores of those who turned to her. Only once Praskovya Andreevna showed excessive curiosity, but the old woman cut off at once: "Curious Varvara's nose was torn off."
Everyone who knew Baranova unanimously testifies: she did not appoint or ask for payment for treatment and predictions. They brought it - good, no - and it is not necessary. Some gave a loaf of bread and 50 kopecks, and some a luxurious carpet and a large sum of money. There were rumors that they gave her a lot of gold rings and earrings, but no one saw these jewels. Two small rooms in her hut were a warehouse for industrial and food products.
What was not there: cuts of fabrics, scarves, dishes, perfumes, boxes of chocolates, cans of coffee, condensed milk, stew, homemade jams and pickles, bottles of vodka, champagne, expensive wines. All this has been accumulating over the years. Baba Valya herself needs a lot. She ate mainly vegetables and wore the same clothes.
And to give away - oh, how she did not like. Was stingy. Somehow Praskovya Andreyevna needed a bottle of vodka. Baranova gave it and was silent for two days, and on the third, resolutely, in a voice that did not tolerate objections, she said: "This is what you, Praskovya, where you took that half a liter, put it there."
Few people know that Baranova regularly gave money only for the church, she sent some gifts to the convent. At the same time, Svyatashova's attempts to persuade her to transfer an unnecessary carpet to the church came across a stubborn unwillingness to part with an expensive thing.
Rumors about Baranova's wealth circulated for more than one year, but for the time being no one dared to encroach on grandma's capital. This happened for the first time in the summer of 1985. A man dressed in women's clothes, with a black stocking on his head, came to Baba Valya's house, having walked through the gardens. Threatening with a knife, he demanded money from the old woman. The stranger was frightened off by the neighbors' boys who noticed him entering.
The second attack was carried out in November 1986 by two young men. They lived in Shpakovsky, had a criminal record. One of the criminals learned about Baranova and her treasures from her fellow villager during his stay in the remand prison. First, the robbers came to Kugult to scout the situation. We went into the house of Baba Valya and started a conversation: they say, one of the fathers is an alcoholic, if the grandmother will take on his treatment. But she said: “You did not come for treatment, but according to my soul, I can see it in your eyes” - and put out the “good” fellows.
A day later, late at night, after carefully breaking the lock, the guys entered Baranova's house. Slightly strangling the old woman who had awakened from the noise, one of the guys warned her: if, they say, you tell whom, we will kill you. And then, hitting the head with a tire iron, they threw it to the floor. Under a feather bed in a handkerchief, they found four thousand rubles, and they were like that.
Waking up after the scoundrels left, Baba Valya, wiping the blood that had flooded her face with her palm, barely knelt in front of the images. Crying, I prayed to God and asked to punish the offenders. Apparently, the Lord heard the prayers, for the car of the robbers turned over at the entrance to the neighboring village …
Investigator Sofya Bekbulatovna Tokova was charged with the criminal case on the fact of the robbery against V. P. Baranova. Looking ahead, let's say that the robbers were found in the shortest possible time, their guilt was proven, and everyone got what they deserved. Tokova, who had talked with Valentina Pavlovna more than once, recalled:
“Baranova in her 90 years had an excellent memory and a sound mind. She was a very interesting conversationalist. It was felt that Valentina Pavlovna received a good education and knew better times. I immediately noticed the books that belonged to her. These were Bibles, missives, herbalists, works on history, some other textbooks, all pre-revolutionary publications.
When I praised the books, she said that her entire attic was filled with them, and noticed that she was offered 5 thousand rubles for one book, but she would not sell it for any money. Money meant nothing to her, and she did not know the account.
During the first examination, 9 thousand rubles in one hundred ruble bills were found on the floor in a dirty scarf. Apparently, they also lay under the feather bed, but the robbers did not notice them. When Valentina Pavlovna was told about the find, she waved her hand indifferently: "I didn't even know that they were there."
In her room there was a large jug filled with coins of 50 kopecks and a ruble each, so she did not count them for money. She prophesied the future for me and my children. Eight years have passed, and everything comes out as predicted. Yes, and talked about the past as if I had written, and she read. She had unique abilities."
It is not known how she bribed Valentina Pavlovna tokova, whether with respectful attitude, compassion, which she lacked so much, or maybe a smart, beautiful, energetic woman, who herself experienced a lot, seemed to her a worthy companion, only Sofya Bekbulatovna was the second person after Svyatashova, to whom Baranova opened, albeit for a moment, the veil of mystery that enveloped her life.
“A lot has been given to me, my child,” Valentina Pavlovna told her. - I look at a person and see whether he is happy or not, what he had, what awaits him. I treat diseases of nervous, female, skin, sexual impotence. Whoever came to me, including very noble people.
Some I chase. They don't understand that I am not omnipotent. If I can’t cure, then I don’t undertake … Fool with the fact that they robbed me, let them choke on my goods. I have enough money for a hundred such scum. Does money make a person happy? I am afraid of human envy.
They do not like me, they are afraid, but others are ready to squeeze out of the light. What I see through a person is my cross, my calvary. To whom have I done something wrong? What I learn will die in me. Lord, if only they knew how much misfortune and misfortune, humiliation and suffering fell to my lot!
Instead of pitying the pitiful, lonely, sick old woman, they hate me so much. Did I ever think, a noble daughter, whom everyone loved and loved, that I would have to live like this …"
She rummaged through the papers lying on the table and handed Tokova a yellowed old photograph. And on her is a young beauty with her head held high, in a magnificent dress, with a delightful hairdo. Nearby in the armchairs are an elderly man and a woman - Baranova's parents. The shocked Tokova looks from the photograph to the ugly, unhappy old woman sitting opposite, then back to the beauty in the ball gown and does not believe her eyes.
Valentina Pavlovna was born in 1895 in Stavropol in a family of wealthy parents. Her father, she said, was a famous person. She didn't seem to be married. In 1918, the Bolsheviks shot her parents before her eyes. Her brothers and sisters were killed in the civil war. Presumably, while retreating with white troops, she came under shelling; wounded and shell-shocked, she was dug out of the ground. During the operation, the chest, torn by shrapnel, was amputated.
In the 20-30s, she went through prison, camps, was in exile.
“All mine were destroyed, I alone survived, and I was tried only for being a noble's daughter,” Valentina Pavlovna said bitterly, “and I lived by a wolf’s ticket without any rights. Then I huddled in Kugulta, I thought, at least I will live here peacefully, yes, apparently, it’s not destiny …"
Shortly before her death, Valentina Pavlovna made a will. Khatu refused to her nephew, property and money from savings books (15 thousand in total) bequeathed to Svyatashova with the condition that she would bury her, put a white marble cross on her grave and commemorate her in church. Soon Praskovya Andreevna's niece died. Valentina Pavlovna said: “Now she (niece) will take more of yours. One sick, another healthy. - After a pause, she added: - I will not be, you will have a big trouble.
“After some time,” Svyatashova said, crying, “my brother died, he was ill. I began to forget her words about how my son died in 1991. She knew what would happen to him, she only took pity on me, did not say directly, so that I would not suffer, did not live in terrible anticipation. She felt when someone dies, for that she was feared."
Valentina Pavlovna predicted her own death. Tokova, seeing the old woman walking barefoot on the frozen ground, noticed that she would catch a cold, Baba Valya chuckled: “Baby, nothing will happen to me, I'm not afraid of death. I will live long and boringly, and they will kill me. God will not take me away until they kill me. And every day I wait for a knife in the back. " When two boys burned down in a fire in the village, Baranova remarked: "Those are my brothers, they will burn me too."
On March 1, 1988, Praskovya Andreevna, as always, was in charge of the household at Baranova's. When she was about to leave, Baba Valya stopped her: “Well, I’ll leave you soon. Don't come tomorrow, I need to be alone. Come the day after tomorrow, but not in the morning, but for dinner. " And at parting, she quietly and affectionately said: "Thank you for not leaving me …".
On March 3, Svyatashova found her half-burnt corpse in the kitchen of Baranova's house. On the neck of Baba Vali there was a large open wound. After killing the old woman, they doused her with gasoline and set her on fire, hoping that the fire would hide the traces of the crime. But due to the lack of oxygen (shutters and doors were closed) only the kitchen burned out.
The investigation into the murder of Baranova continues to this day (recall, this article was written in 1994). Since nothing seems to have been stolen, the version of the murder for the purpose of robbery has disappeared. According to one version, they killed Baba Valya out of revenge, they say, she annoyed someone. The locals are firmly convinced of this: “They took revenge on her. She brought people a lot of harm. The witch was and did not go to church. She transferred the negative biofield from patients not to herself, but to those who lived in the village. How many families she broke, how many people she made unhappy.
But no one could give a single concrete example. Everything is at the level of rumors. Svyatashova continued to stand her ground: “If they killed her out of revenge, then by slander. She did not harm people. She treated me with the cross and prayer. And she went to church while she was strong, and what she repented of to the priest, God knows, she only received absolution. And they sang it as it should be."
Already during the investigation, someone hinted to Svyatashova that it would be nice to transfer the money bequeathed to her by Baranova to the needs of the orphanage. Then Valentina Pavlovna's nephew came to Kugulta - and immediately to Svyatashova: "Why does she need such an expensive cross, I'm building a dacha, I need money."
Only Praskovya Andreevna turned out to be a tough nut to crack and did not give the money. She traveled to Stavropol for a year and a half and managed, shortly before the price increase, to put a snow-white marble cross on Valentina Pavlovna's grave. The property of Baranova, bequeathed by Svyatashova, was plundered by the nephew and neighbors of the deceased.
Friendship with Baba Valya cost Svyatashova dearly. They accused her that she went to learn to conjure, that she cut the old woman's throat and profited from her money. “God is their judge, he sees everything, and the blood of her murderers will pour out, I know for sure,” she said confidently …
Today in the Stavropol Territory of folk healers divorced even a dime a dozen. They have offices, security guards, a tax for all types of services. Only now people do not have faith in them. And they believed Baba Vale.
And after her death, all people came to Kugulta. Upon learning of the death of Valentina Pavlovna, many cried …
Author: Taisiya Belousova. Newspaper "Top Secret" No. 5
