Karelia has always been famous as the land of miracles and mysteries associated mostly with the ancient tribes that once lived here. What is most surprising, many legends and traditions find real confirmation in archaeological finds made in recent years by the Karelian regional public organization "Raseya", engaged in ethnographic research on the territory of the republic.
Singing boulders
One of such finds is the boulders found in the Karelian taiga by ethnographer Alexei Popov. They, as rumor testifies, not only traditionally fulfill wishes and heal from ailments, but also sing! And in the truest sense of the word.
For the first time A. Popov read about the mysterious boulders hidden in the Karelian taiga and being idols and landmarks in the archival records left by the journalist of the Karelian radio Nikolai Isaev: “Somewhere in the Karelian wilderness there is a large boulder, as ancient as the Earth itself. And that boulder stands on a rock in the middle of the swamps. And our ancestors put that boulder in such a way that day and night he "sings" only songs that he understands. But a man with good thoughts and a bright heart will come to him, and a stone will help him and tell him how to be, and will relieve pain and fatigue, and will give him protection from the forest beast and night fears."
At first, the researchers assumed that this was just a beautiful fairy tale, especially since looking for a lonely block in the middle of endless swamps is, frankly, a thankless task. But in the end, the members of the KROO "Raseya" decided to try their luck, and after a long search came to a small rocky hill. At its top, there really was a seid stone, set on a flat support. He really sang! A strong wind, thanks to a support, broke through a narrow gap between the top of the rock and the bottom of the stone. The feeling was unforgettable. The sounds seemed very melodic. Sometimes they resembled the marching polyphony of an orchestra, sometimes - a soulful melody of a flute … Everything depended on the strength of the wind and, what is most incredible, on the position of the stone, which from time to time moved, swaying back and forth, right and left … In other words,a flat stone stand was necessary not only to make a special "musical" gap between the top of the rock and the stone, but also acted as a kind of hinge. The stone seemed to be balancing on it, which was observed even with the naked eye.
It was not possible to determine to which of the ancient peoples that once lived on the territory of Karelia this megalith belongs. However, the members of the expedition soon had to make sure from their own experience that the boulder is really capable of fulfilling wishes. All of them made their dreams in this place according to their deepest desire, and all of them made their dreams come true over time!
Promotional video:
Homeland of giants?
However, the story of the singing boulder was only a prelude to the miracles our researchers had to face. Aleksey Popov claims that on the territory of modern Karelia and Finland today there are quite a few archaeological monuments, confirming that people of truly gigantic growth once lived in these places!
Thus, in the summer of 2009, ethnographers discovered a whole “island of giants”. The reason for the expedition was the information about the small island of Okhsan-lakhti (translated as “The Bay of the Forehead”) on Lake Ladoga, which is part of the Kilpol Archipelago. The archipelago, which unites about 40 islands, got its name from the island of Kilpola, one of the largest islands on Ladoga. It was here, according to numerous sources, that in ancient times a "tribe of giants" allegedly lived. Moreover, this circumstance, apparently, was enough so that ordinary people never settled there and did not use these islands for domestic and practical purposes. By the way, this archipelago today remains uninhabited and practically unexplored.
Scientists saw with their own eyes the fields cleared from the forest and the remains of multi-ton boulders, and local hunters told them that sometimes they find huge human bones on these islands.
Folk legends attribute the stone burial grounds and mounds that have survived throughout Finland and Karelia to the ancient people of giants. For example, in the “History” of the Danish king Christian IV for 1601, the legend of the Lapland elders is given that “there was once a giant named Valit in Korela and in the whole Korela land. And that fell on the Korelian possession from the Novgorod mayor. He himself was stout, a military man and an extraordinary hunter by himself. " Once, “for his glory, having brought it from the shore, he put a stone with his own hands, there is still more than a slanting fathom high above the ground. That stone is known to this day as the "Knocked Stone".
Valitov stone
The riddle of rock ciphers
But the main, "proprietary" local secret is petroglyphs - rock paintings made by representatives of an unknown ancient civilization.
The very tradition of rock art in Karelia spans thousands of years - from the end of the 5th to the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC. In other words, the age of the rock engravings is no less than six thousand years. Perhaps even more, given the current radiocarbon date corrections. It turns out that they were created even before the construction of the famous Egyptian pyramids!
But if the age of the petroglyphs is determined, then the question of their authorship is still open. Of all the known Karelian petroglyphs, the researchers managed to interpret no more than half. As a rule, petroglyphs are small in size, 10-50 centimeters, but there are also large, one might say, giant specimens. Some of them show figures of swans, fish, forest animals, hunters. There are also vague images, strange figures that do not even remotely resemble any known objects. For example, the signs attributed by scientists to the solar-lunar type, which are oriented only to the west or east. According to a number of researchers, they mean the Moon or the Sun, but then it is not clear why these symbols seem to be installed on the "legs" … Some experts believe that ancient people depicted some flying objects.
There is a lot of incomprehensible in the images of human figures. People are usually engraved in profile, with one arm and one leg, and only rarely in full face. But still they at least look like people … But what can mean a "portrait" of a two-legged creature, which has two huge balls instead of a head?
Today the most famous and mysterious petroglyph is the figure of the so-called "Demon". This is an image of a two-meter humanoid creature with disproportionately small legs and spread fingers. Located among the images of an otter, a catfish and many smaller animals carved on a rock, it may well symbolize the "master of the underworld", a deity or demon worshiped by ancient peoples.
According to Scandinavian mythology, the first gods were born in the ancient world distant from us in time - the brothers Odin, Willie and Be, who killed the giant and built the Earth from his corpse. In the sanctuary "Demons Nose" the largest images are "Bes", "otter" and "catfish". All three are knocked out side by side and, apparently, at the same time period. It turns out that the primitive artist wanted to show that all three creatures are somehow united. But with what?
Many strange designs can be found on the boulders
Perhaps all this is nothing more than a projection of the "World Tree" - the symbol of the ancient world, personifying the unity of all life on Earth and in space! Perhaps the figure of the "Demon" is the image of Odin, ancient and formidable?
One eye of the "Bes" (blind) looks into the kingdom of the dead, the other (seeing) - into the kingdom of the living. The face of the creature is crossed by a crescent-shaped sign - possibly a symbol of the moon, the night world. Next to the head of the "Bes" is a circle with a dot in the center, the so-called third eye. It is possible that this is the "eye of wisdom" or the symbol of the Sun - the world of the living. And the longitudinal stripe crossing the body of the figure is nothing other than that famous spear that nailed Odin to the "World Tree". Then, in their totality, all this personifies and symbolizes neither more nor less - the source of wisdom, spiritual and magical Knowledge based on the unity of the Divine and Human.
It is not for nothing that the famous “Kalevala” and the sacred verses “Righteous”, fragments of the sacred knowledge of the Northern Magi, were born in the vastness of Karelia. Perhaps the mysterious petroglyphs indicate that it is here that the most ancient sacred center of the Earth is located?
Source: Secrets of the XX century, No. 24, June 2010, Dmitry SOKOLOV