In life, we sometimes encounter situations that seem supernatural, impossible. However, they do happen. In my opinion, this only testifies to the fact that we, the inhabitants of the enlightened twenty-first century, still do not know everything about the world in which we live. When such supernatural situations touch the home, the first thing that comes to mind is to consider them for the machinations of a brownie. What kind of curiosity is this - a brownie?
Somehow, out of interest, we asked fifteen people who did not know each other to make a description of the brownie, to compose, so to speak, a "composite". There were as many different portraits as the respondents. Although the types were somewhat similar to each other, each person put something of his own, unique in the image of the housekeeper. When we asked where these or those features of the image came from, our informants answered that … from life. Someone saw a grandfather or a grandmother in their youth, someone told a neighbor, someone personally had the opportunity to contemplate a mysterious inhabitant in their own apartment.
As a rule, in front of unintentional observers, houseworms appear in an image similar to a human, but there is reason to believe that our brain interprets this way, draws the image of a creature, which, in fact, has a completely different shape - the shape of a spherical or oval translucent energy bunch.
Some photographs taken in places of poltergeist activity (or, in simple terms, where the "brownie is playing naughty") suggest that such places are marked with special energetic activity.
Such flares in photographs may indicate the presence of some kind of energy activity, invisible to the ordinary eye.
For now, let's not talk about the possible physical nature of these visions, about whether brownies really exist or are just randomly occurring images. It is important that in folk culture, the magical image of the brownie is an integral part of it. Legends, stories, fairy tales are associated with it, and along with them - eyewitness accounts. The idea that there is a kind of semi-magical, semi-real life form next to us has led to the emergence of traditions that have retained their strength for hundreds of years. It is believed that this mysterious creature is at the same time the personification of good and evil, that it depends on his mood whether a person will observe peace and comfort in his house or a constant mess and confusion.
Folk rituals quite unambiguously prescribe to show the housekeeper some signs of attention, just like any other family member or (let the housekeepers not be offended:-) to their beloved pet. They laughed at the housekeepers among the people, but at the same time it was considered unacceptable to offend or disrespect such a “householder”.
However, attention does not remain unanswered. For example, there was such a case in the Avtozavodsky district of our city. The woman lost the key to the apartment. The husband went to work, she stayed on guard. But she also had a need to urgently leave home. How to be? Do not leave the apartment unattended? Thinking, she in all seriousness gave an order to her housekeeper (in whose existence, according to some signs, she was almost sure) - keep, they say, protect, and do not let anyone in. The brownie, one must think, took the order literally - no one, that means no one. Two hours later, the spouse returns home, and the husband sits on a bench in front of the entrance. He was unable to open the OPEN door and enter his own apartment. When they came to the door together, the woman had only to lightly press the handle, the door quietly opened.
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The people believed that housekeepers also have their own "table of ranks." Depending on the place of residence, they were divided into bannichki (they lived in baths), barn women (lived next to livestock in barns), courtyards and house owners themselves.
This is how a bannik can look like, or a bath brownie
It is not clear what value our material food has for these beings (if we assume that they really exist). However, eyewitness accounts suggest that it has some meaning. For example, in one car factory "kopeck piece", someone invisible often and loudly "clicked" in the air in the middle of the room, and especially liked to do this when the hostess (not a young woman already) went to bed. Sometimes she noticed how a translucent fluffy ball rolled across the floor, throwing the attacking dust into the air. The woman was frightened by these events, but she could not understand what was happening, so she only swore aloud and without an address.
And then one day the landlady of the apartment remarked with surprise to herself that she was experiencing some unusual sensations. It is difficult to describe how this was expressed - either the air became clearer, and the sounds are louder, or something else that happened … Turning to the bedside table, she saw that a small man was sitting on it, as if he had descended from an illustration to a Russian fairy tale, but quite alive and real. Sits and grumbles: “Why are you hiding candy and jam from me? What am I, volume? I need a little bit, you won't even notice …"
The woman was startled by surprise, and the man disappeared from sight. He was - and he is not … Deciding to check her vision, she began to leave some sweets and jams in the kitchen, accompanying this with a mental invitation to taste the delicacies. Coincidence or not, but from that day on, all noises in the apartment stopped.
I would like to remind readers of one more case, it is especially appropriate for the birthday of the brownie. He lived in a Togliatti family as a small housekeeper. As befits a normal brownie, he was invisible, only made noise sometimes. One evening, the hostess of the house was sitting in front of the TV, was carried away by the program, and suddenly she heard muttering: “I want so much cheese! What a shame, they left cheese on the table, but such a huge piece - can you bite? If only I cut it down a little! Turning to the voice, the woman saw a very small old man - beard and gray hair, disheveled, crafty eyes, and a shirt and pants were tied with a rope. He walks up and down the room and grumbles. The hostess perked up with surprise - who, they say, is - and the old man disappeared. She went to the kitchen to look, and it turned out that there really was a piece of cheese of a very decent size lying on the table. Cutting off a smaller piece,she left it on the table.
It happens that a brownie unambiguously declares not only the right to food, but also to the territory. The grandfather of one of the residents of our city did not believe in brownies, or in ghosts, or in other, as he called her, nonsense. But one day he himself had to face this "nonsense". Offended by his grandmother, the grandfather went to the attic and lay down on a pile of hay. He just closed his eyes - someone pushed him in the side. I opened my eyes - nobody. I closed it again - again a push, and again no one was around! For the third time, closing his eyes, the grandfather suddenly heard a voice: "Fedor, get off, you took my place." "And who are you?" - asked the grandfather, without opening his eyes, - "I am a brownie, I live in your house." Grandfather had to move to another place, and no one touched him there.
There was another such case in the Togliatti family. A boy of about twelve, playing Tarzan, jumped from bed to bed and made an incredible noise. At the cry of his mother, he jumped out into the corridor and face to face ran into a curious little man dressed in a spacious shirt, belted with a rope, a hat and some shapeless onuchi. Despite its size, it was a quite adult male creature, disheveled and curiously looking at the troublemaker of family peace. The son gasped in surprise, and everything was gone.
Often the housekeeper appears in the form of a little peasant Often the housekeeper appears as a little peasant
Whatever we think about the folk legends about brownies, there is some kind of force that not only took root next to us, but also protects us by virtue of its capabilities. Who knows, maybe this same creature once helped the mother of the above boy? During the next cleaning, the woman climbed onto a stool to reach out and wipe the dust from the ventilation grill. Almost finishing her work, she suddenly felt herself losing her balance and falling. Imagine what it would be like to thunder from the ceiling of your own apartment! Bending over at an angle of forty degrees, the woman suddenly felt that someone supported her with a firm hand under her back, and then put her in place along with the stool. Taking a breath, she went down to the floor and was about to go to thank her husband for his support - and only then it dawned on her that there was no one in the apartment!Husband at work, son at school …
And here is another case that I was allowed to tell about just now. The Togliatti family at the end of the 80s bought on the occasion a village house in the village of Vali (if anyone does not know, this is behind Zhigulevsky along the M-5 highway). We lived there for several years, and then there was a fire. There were no casualties, but the house burned down clean. The ashes were gradually dismantled, but there was not enough money to build a new house. After a couple of years, they decided to make a shield tent. The next day, tired of work, the hostess sat down at the threshold of the future house, closed her eyes and was about to rest for ten minutes. And suddenly, completely unexpected for herself, she so clearly and vividly saw an image that touched her to tears. A winter landscape of this place appeared in her mind's eye (but in reality it was summer), ashes covered with deep snow, and a creature that had previously lived in this house,and now left homeless. The creature was sentient and sensitive, and looked like a small fluffy translucent ball. It could not go anywhere - this was his home. This woman felt such a pain of loneliness, such a melancholy of this “fluffy ball”, the image of which she dreamed of, that, as she says, she involuntarily shed a tear. As time went on, this vision gradually began to be forgotten. The family decided to change the place of their summer cottage, prepared this plot for sale and purchased a plot of land closer to the city. According to folk tradition (not even attaching much importance to this rite), on the last day, the hostess took some kind of rag bag and with sentences suggested that the local housekeeper move to a new place of residence. She even laughed at herself a little - superstitious, they say …like a small fluffy translucent ball. It could not go anywhere - this was his home. This woman felt such a pain of loneliness, such a melancholy of this “fluffy ball”, the image of which she dreamed of, that, as she says, she involuntarily shed a tear. As time went on, this vision gradually began to be forgotten. The family decided to change the place of their summer cottage, prepared this plot for sale and purchased a plot of land closer to the city. According to folk tradition (not even attaching much importance to this rite), on the last day, the hostess took some kind of rag bag and with sentences suggested that the local housekeeper move to a new place of residence. She even laughed at herself a little - superstitious, they say …like a small fluffy translucent ball. It could not go anywhere - this was his home. This woman felt such a pain of loneliness, such a melancholy of this “fluffy ball”, the image of which she dreamed of, that, as she says, she involuntarily shed a tear. As time went on, this vision gradually began to be forgotten. The family decided to change the place of their summer cottage, prepared this plot for sale and purchased a plot of land closer to the city. According to folk tradition (not even attaching much importance to this rite), on the last day, the hostess took some kind of rag bag and with sentences suggested that the local housekeeper move to a new place of residence. She even laughed at herself a little - superstitious, they say …such a longing for this "fluffy ball", the image of which she dreamed of, that, as she says, she involuntarily shed a tear. As time went on, this vision gradually began to be forgotten. The family decided to change the place of their summer cottage, prepared this plot for sale and purchased a plot of land closer to the city. According to folk tradition (not even attaching much importance to this rite), on the last day the hostess took some kind of rag bag and, with sentences, suggested that the local housekeeper move to a new place of residence. She even laughed at herself a little - superstitious, they say …such a longing for this "fluffy ball", the image of which she dreamed of, that, as she says, she involuntarily shed a tear. As time went on, this vision gradually began to be forgotten. The family decided to change the place of their summer cottage, prepared this plot for sale and purchased a plot of land closer to the city. According to folk tradition (not even attaching much importance to this rite), on the last day, the hostess took some kind of rag bag and with sentences suggested that the local housekeeper move to a new place of residence. She even laughed at herself a little - superstitious, they say …According to folk tradition (not even attaching much importance to this rite), on the last day, the hostess took some kind of rag bag and with sentences suggested that the local housekeeper move to a new place of residence. She even laughed at herself a little - superstitious, they say …According to folk tradition (not even attaching much importance to this rite), on the last day the hostess took some kind of rag bag and, with sentences, suggested that the local housekeeper move to a new place of residence. She even laughed at herself a little - superstitious, they say …
In the new place, everything went well: little by little, a new house was being built, the harvest was ripe, the changes were pleasing. And then one day something happened that made me think differently about that first vision. One summer, in the middle of weekdays, the hostess returned from work (and on weekdays she and her family, as a rule, did not go to the dacha), sat down to rest, and suddenly - just as then - a strange picture appeared in her mind's eye … As if her brownie - the one - was next to her. He was very annoyed and frightened, rushing from side to side, trying to convey to her the idea that an urgent need to go to the dacha, that there is bad, dangerous … Let's go. And they found the thieves, as they say, at the crime scene. The housekeeper did not bother them either before or after. There was no reason.
Here, apparently, a similar story of relationships over many centuries of coexistence led to the emergence of a special holiday - the Day of the Brownie, or the Day of the Name Day of the Brownie. This year it is celebrated on February 10th.
The tradition of a day dedicated to the owner of the house appeared several centuries ago. History mentions Elder Efim Sirin, a poet and theologian. In his stories, he emphasized that in every living space there is an invisible force that makes residents either successful or unhappy. According to the established tradition, it is forbidden to quarrel on the birthday of the brownie, but it is also undesirable to persistently force someone to participate in the celebration of the celebration. In this day, the main thing is not fun and festive enthusiasm, but the realization that family values and home comfort for each person is the most important thing that can be in life.
It is believed that the housekeepers themselves understand what date they should celebrate the solemn date, therefore, on their name day, they indulge in every possible way, play pranks and have fun. Our ancestors believed that the Master of the house can be attracted by various sweets. On the night before the name day, it is customary to put on the table a variety of delicacies, a pie, cake or sweets, milk or compote. Of course, all these delicacies will not disappear overnight, but here, as it is believed, a sign of attention is important. Although, who knows? Whether we understand the mechanism of mystical and mysterious events or not, they still happen.
Tatiana Makarova