The pantheon of the gods of a particular people is a reflection of its religious traditions and relations with the outside world. The Slavs considered themselves to be long-standing descendants of their gods, respectively, they followed their laws throughout their lives. For the ancient Slavs, God was not only a creator, but also an ally.
Gods are always there
Svarog, Perun, Yarilo and many other deities - belonged to the same "clan". Each God performed a specific function. However, in addition to the main Gods, the Slavs also had secondary mystical creatures. They did not belong to the higher powers, but were responsible for issues such as crops, weather, family welfare, and so on. One of these characters is the bannik.
As you might guess, he lived in a bathhouse. Our distant ancestors saw him as a small naked old man with a long beard. According to Slavic beliefs, this spirit lived behind the stove and was engaged in scaring the visitors of the bath with hot water. It was believed that Bannik could steam a person to death.
Bath rituals
Since ancient times, despite its useful function, the bathhouse was considered an ominous place. After dark, it was impossible to enter the bathhouse. And they tried to build the bathhouse as far from home as possible.
There were also certain rules for visiting the bath. For example, in the beginning men steamed, and after them women. Pregnant women could only visit the bathhouse with their spouse. And in order not to anger the bathhouse, at the end of the water procedures he was left with a small gift - warm milk on a saucer.
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Our ancient ancestors believed that the bath is a place where evil spirits live. The reason is clear, because in the bath there was not only dirt from the washed body, funeral ceremonies were held here and the demons were driven out of the possessed. Moreover, according to the ancient traditions of many Slavic peoples, young wives lost their virginity in the bathhouse, and after a while they immediately gave birth to children. Accordingly, the bath is a place where dirt, evil spirits and blood remained, and all this was absorbed by the bathhouse. Why shouldn't he be an evil spirit?
The main enemy of the bannik was the brownie. If the bannik attacked the bather, then the brownie was called for help. And also, every night the bannik invited other evil spirits to take a steam bath: devils, goblin and even Baba Yaga. For this reason, the bathhouse has become a mysterious place where evil spirits live. The bath was often used for divination and other occult rituals.
One of the most ancient "bath" fortune-telling was that an unmarried girl had to stand in the middle of the bath and lift her skirt. If a girl feels the touch of a hairy paw, then the future husband will be rich, if the bare and smooth hand will be poor, if wet, then the husband will be a drunkard, and if the hand is rough, then the future husband will have a strict character.
Don't go to wash at night
Legend has it that once five young girls violated the ban and went to the bathhouse in the middle of the night. One of them took her little sister with her. Suddenly, while swimming, there was a knock on the door.
On the threshold of the bath there were five handsome young guys who said that they had come a long way and, having seen the light in the bath, decided to go in and ask for some food. The girls invited strangers to the table, while the little girl dropped a spoon on the floor. She crawled under the table behind her and there she saw that the guys had goat hooves instead of legs.
The girl persuaded her older sister to leave the bath. In the morning it became known that the guys turned out to be devils, guests of the bannik, who took four unfortunate girls underground with them.
Healing power
Bannik is not always aggressive towards a person. He knows how to cure any disease. It is no coincidence that the bathhouse was always heated before important events, in honor of all holidays, before weddings and childbirth.
Of course, in order for the patient to be cured, the childbirth was successful, and the soul of the deceased calmly left for the next world, it was necessary to treat the bathhouse well, listen to him and appease him with fresh milk.
Of course, in our time, ancient beliefs can not interfere with a pleasant pastime in the steam room. However, let's not forget that in every fairy tale and legend, there is some truth. And someday the essence of the bannik will definitely be revealed!