One of the consequences of the process of globalization as the unification and integration of all spheres of human activity in the twentieth century. was the emergence of a "rebellious man" (A. Camus). But not always the revolt of people against unification and integration in favor of first state and then transnational associations was revolutionary in nature, which Camus wrote about. This revolt may take on more latent forms. One of such forms, as we were able to notice in the process of field research in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region, may be a craving for the mystical and sacred. Our contemporaries, residents of the city and region, are actively immersed in the construction of sacred spaces, using both already known historical objects and revered shrines, and creating them again. For new sacred objects and the use of old residents of the city and region, they use a variety of technologies that perfectly fit into everyday reality.
The purpose of this article is to study the folk practices of hierotopization [4] of "old" and newly created by modern Petersburgers and residents of the Leningrad region of the objects of worship, which form the sacred landscape of the Nevsky region.
In our expeditionary work1 we used cultural and anthropological methods and qualitative sociological methods (narrative interview).
The consciousness of people who organize the relationship between artifacts and geographic objects (natural environment) places them in the space of symbolic discourse. The controlling influence of people on the natural or inhabited (for example, urban or rural) landscape in the process of transforming it into a sacred one is expressed in the creation of artifacts that organize the semantic core of the sacred landscape.
A man of the archaic and traditional society of Ancient Eurasia managed natural landscapes [6], ordering and organizing them using structuring technologies: setting specific markers (rocks with drawings, steles, stone mounds in the shape of animals, fields of burials and burial mounds, structures for observing movement celestial bodies) and socio-communicative technologies: mental mapping of sacred landscapes, hierotopization of physical spaces. Hierotopization is the creation of sacred spaces, the inclusion of natural monuments or history in rituals, including rituals of sacrifices), as well as the mythologization of these places and places of worship. In other words, the sacred is a space controlled and organized by a person. Today, the number of hierotopic technologies is not only expanding,but it is also transformed due to the emergence of new techniques of handling objects of worship.
The sacred landscape of St. Petersburg, according to urban legends, which have gathered many over the more than 300-year history of the city, is represented by the following at least five varieties of "places of power".
Positive "places of power" and fulfillment of desires
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Petersburg is famous for its courtyards-wells, which arose as a result of the high cost of building land in the northern capital back in the 19th century. The guides tell the legend that Vasilievsky Island can be walked from one end to the other through the courtyards. On the 4th line of Vasilievsky Island, there is the smallest courtyard-well in the city: 1.5 x 2 m. A lattice is visible above the heads of the tourists. According to legend, it is not worth reporting the location of this courtyard: a bad omen. But, according to another legend, anyone who finds himself under the bars in this courtyard can raise his head to the sky and make any wish that will surely come true.
Another major object of the "mystical power of the place" is the Alexandrian Pillar, decorated with Masonic symbols on the Palace Square. The legendary mystical practices associated with it boil down to the following: it is necessary to go around the column clockwise three times, mentally drawing a picture of the desired. Those who performed such a mystical ritual told the author that their wishes had come true [1].
Another mystical object is located in the St. Petersburg Zoo. This is a bronze monument to Owl. The object that the Owl clenches in its claws is interpreted by students as a grade book. The mystical ritual of interaction with an owl is as follows: you need to go to the monument, rub the "record book", pat the Owl on the head and a successful session will be ensured!
Other "places of mystical power" are a metal tree in the Opochinin's garden (the ritual by the tree holds the union of the newlyweds), the monument to Peter the Great on the Admiralteyskaya embankment (helps those who are preoccupied with career growth), the Lamplighter monument (the ritual at the monument: you need to rub the nose of the figure and make desire, brings wealth and prosperity) [1].
The Atlanteans of the New Hermitage are especially powerful. The figures are made of Serdobolsk granite and reach a height of 5 meters. The ritual of fulfilling desires for people of creative professions is known among the Petersburg bohemians and newlyweds: you need to touch the right toe of Atlanta, standing on the right and looking at the Champ de Mars. At the moment of touch, you need to ask for inspiration, and the wish will come true. For newlyweds, the ritual is more difficult: only the bride, standing on tiptoe and closing her eyes, can touch Atlanta's fingers. A powerful “energy of positive mystical force” that fulfills wishes is transmitted through the bride's dress. Therefore, everyone who touches her dress at this moment can be charged with this power [8].
According to other legends, if you approach the monument to Peter I at the Mikhailovsky Castle at three in the morning on White Nights, you will notice how he begins to move. At this time, you can ask the sovereign to fulfill your innermost desires. If you stroke the wing of a griffin on the descent to the water near the Academy of Arts, your career will go up, and if you hold on to its tooth, looking into the eyes of the sphinx sitting above, your innermost wish will come true [5].
Negative places of power in St. Petersburg
One of the most famous places of negative mystical power, according to urban legends, is the Rotunda on st. Gorokhovoy. If you move from the Admiralty along Gorokhovaya, then the courtyard with the Rotunda is on the right hand. But it is impossible to see this structure from the yard. You need to open the door to the usual front door and unexpectedly find yourself in a round structure of six columns under the dome. This building was built by the merchant Ustinov in 1827. According to legend, the Rotunda was built by the Count of Teeth to carry out Masonic rituals and to perform devilish sacrifices. If you go down to the basement of the Rotunda, you can age for several years, go crazy or not return at all. According to legend, the Prince of Darkness sometimes descends into the city at night on the steps of the spiral staircases of the Rotunda. He can fulfill any of your wishes upon meeting,only the consequences of the realization of these desires can be unpredictable [8].
According to urban legend, there are secret rooms in the Yusupov Palace. In one of them, even today, an old goblet is supposedly kept, donated to one of the ancestors of the family of the Yusupov counts. This gift brought the family financial well-being, which made them richer than the Romanov family. But at the same time he was doomed to misfortune [1].
Another place of negative mystical power, according to urban legends, is the Obvodny Canal. Even during the construction of the canal in 1803, convicts refused to work here, calling these places "unkind". At the beginning of the XX century. Borovoy bridge across the canal became the site of numerous suicides, and people were pushed to this irreversible act by, as they said, unknown voices. In 1923, during the construction of the Leningrad bus station, traces of a pagan temple were discovered: slabs with embossed runic signs arranged in a circle. The invited “old-regime archaeologist” Gvozdinsky asked to suspend the work, but the slabs were taken out. They were used to make curbs for the canal embankment. The bus station was successfully completed, but suicides continued, and in 1923 their number reached 89 cases. A police picket was even set up on the bridge. Professor-psychiatrist Efimson took over the suicides. Together with the archaeologist, they wrote a memo to A. Zhdanov. Efimson's memoirs contain information that in the XIV century. on the site of the Obvodny Canal there was a settlement of Karelians. The Swedes founded a fortress here, destroying the inhabitants. The Swedes, led by Marshal Torkel, observed the rituals that the Karelians sent to the temple. The priests and participants in the ceremony were killed by orthodox Christian Swedes. Then the Swedes were afraid of the revenge of the local gods and held a sacrifice ceremony on the temple. Since then, this place is considered to be full of "negative mystical power" [8]. The Swedes, led by Marshal Torkel, observed the rituals that the Karelians sent to the temple. The priests and participants in the ceremony were killed by orthodox Christian Swedes. Then the Swedes were afraid of the revenge of the local gods and held a sacrifice ceremony on the temple. Since then, this place is considered to be full of "negative mystical power" [8]. The Swedes, led by Marshal Torkel, observed the rituals that the Karelians sent to the temple. The priests and participants in the ceremony were killed by orthodox Christian Swedes. Then the Swedes were afraid of the revenge of the local gods and held a sacrifice ceremony on the temple. Since then, this place is considered to be full of "negative mystical power" [8].
Mystical animals in the "places of power" of St. Petersburg
Traveling around St. Petersburg today, you can see the palace architecture through the prism of mystical bylikas. One of these little stories is the story of the black cat of Count Pyotr Ivanovich Shuvalov. During the construction of the count's palace at the corner of Malaya Sadovaya and st. Italian in the middle of the 18th century. the architect Dmitry Kokorinov complained to the count that unexpected absurd errors constantly appear in his drawings and calculations, blots appear on the paper of the drawings, the plaster in the ceremonial halls collapses. Misfortunes haunted the palace even after the construction: at the ball in honor of the completion of the construction of the palace in the front back, a chandelier falls on the guests, and in the halls of the palace the count himself often saw a devil, allegedly given to him in Switzerland, making faces at him. Ex-chamberlain of Shuvalov, Pierre Bernard, later in Lyon will publish the book "Petersburg Fun", where he will describe in detail the deeds of the "prankster imp". To get rid of the misfortune, the count went on a pilgrimage to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. The monks advised him to get a black cat: two evil spirits do not get along in the same house. The monument to the black cat of Count Shuvalov is shown to tourists on the second floor of the Eliseevsky store. It is also believed that this cat personifies destiny.
True, there is another version of the history of the monument to the black cat. It is associated with the Siege of Leningrad. In the days when the ring of German troops was tightening around the city, hordes of rats devoured the remaining food supplies in the warehouses. The command decided to bring to Leningrad four carriages of smoky cats: excellent rat catchers. It was these cats, according to the stories of the inhabitants of besieged Leningrad, that saved the meager food supplies of the city, and with it the lives of thousands of townspeople in that mournful hour. The sculpture of Elisey the cat was installed on the facade of the Eliseevsky store in 2000. In the same year, another monument dedicated to the cat Vasilisa was erected on Malaya Sadovaya (house No. 3) [1].
Positive rituals were associated with the monuments to Chizhik-Pyzhik on the Fontanka and with the monument to the “good dog” Gavryusha, which stood until recently on Malaya Sadovaya [5].
Residents of the city tell mystical stories about the sphinxes at the pier of the Academy of Arts and the griffins of the Bank Bridge, numerous treasures, the most famous of which are associated with Palace Square and the Eliseevsky store. A halo of mysticism and mystery surrounds the brick tower of Wilhelm Pel, the famous St. Petersburg pharmacist, the author of many medical innovations of the 19th century. on Vasilievsky Island. By 1858, his pharmacy turned into a research and production complex, including an organotherapy institute, research laboratories, pharmaceutical factories, libraries, warehouses, offices. Pel's chemical laboratory was closed during the Civil War, and then some of the bricks of the pipe were dismantled. Nevertheless, rumor spread across St. Petersburg the news that Wilhelm Pel was fond of alchemy, and in a brick tower he brought out griffins. It was even said that when Pel's griffins, invisible during the day, flock to their nest in the tower at midnight, their reflections are visible in the windows of neighboring houses. Our contemporary, artist Alexei Kostroma used bricks on a pipe to number the city's objects, which must be preserved for posterity. Immediately, a legend was born that the numbers written on the bricks are the encrypted code of the universe. The one who reads all the numbers on the tower is promised at least the fulfillment of desires, according to another version - immortality [9].written on bricks are the encrypted code of the universe. The one who reads all the numbers on the tower is promised at least the fulfillment of desires, according to another version - immortality [9].written on bricks are the encrypted code of the universe. The one who reads all the numbers on the tower is promised at least the fulfillment of desires, according to another version - immortality [9].
Places of the ghostly force of contact with the world of shadows
Many urban legends are associated with ghosts, ghosts, innocent murdered and restless souls. According to the legend, connected with the monument "Bronze Horseman", the ghost of Peter the Great met Paul I on Senate Square and said to him: "Pavel, goodbye, but you will see me here again!" [nine].
Old-timers of St. Petersburg communal apartments said that once a year, in March, the ghost of Sophia Perovskaya appears on the bridge of the Catherine Canal with a white handkerchief, with which she gave a sign to the bombers. One of the houses on Bolshaya Dvoryanskaya Street, according to urban legends, was a gathering place for the “disguised dead,” who played cards in the dim light of their skulls. But, the doors and windows of this house were always closed [1].
The necropolis of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra is considered a negative “place of power”. According to legend, on white nights a ghost of a "drunken gravedigger" wanders around the cemetery, demanding vodka from the night passers-by.
Another ghost allegedly roamed the halls of the Kunstkamera Museum at night. Rumor had it, including the story of the famous Russian ethnographer R. Itsa, who was director of the Kunstkamera in the 1970s, that it was the spirit of the giant Bourgeois, one of the guardsmen of Peter the Great. After one of the fires at the end of the 18th century. The skull of a Bourgeois skeleton on display in the Museum is missing. Only after the skull of another person was placed on the skeleton, the ghost disappeared [1]. According to other urban legends, the ghosts of five executed Decembrists wander in the Peter and Paul Fortress, in a house on the street. Gorokhovoy is inhabited by the ghost of Rasputin, who supposedly even benefits: keeps order in the apartments [1].
Another legend has it that a biological weapons laboratory was located under the building of the House of Soviets on Moskovsky Prospekt in the pre-war period. It was assumed that if the Germans captured the city, then the laboratory was blown up, which would lead to the destruction of all life in the area. The floors of the laboratory went underground to the height of the building itself. After the war, the laboratory was closed. The entrance was walled up. We found out about the laboratory by chance, while working in the basement, which was produced by tenants from the Leninets holding [1].
Apotropic places of mystical power:
urban legends tell about the mystical power of such famous monuments of St. Petersburg as the monument to MI Kutuzov, AV Suvorov and MB Barclay de Tolly. These monuments are revered by the mystical defenders of St. Petersburg. Their transportation from the city, and even reinstallation, is strictly prohibited. This ban was also very strict in the besieged Leningrad. The monuments were carefully hidden, but not removed [1].
Today, using the methods of cultural anthropology, one can study not only the old ones, that is, those already described in the scientific and popular literature, but also new technologies for hierotopization of sacred landscapes. Today, such hierotopization technologies have become group and individual practices of using cult objects, close to esoteric ones. The process of hierotopization, that is, the creation of religious objects both in St. Petersburg and in the Leningrad Region, goes through several stages.
The first stage of the process of hierotopization of the sacred landscape
- one of the initial stages - includes personal emotional experiences of experiencing urban or rural legends. Here is an example of such an urban experience: “It happened around 1980 or 1981 in St. Petersburg. I was returning with one of my acquaintances from a literary evening. It was autumn, mid-October. As always at this time in St. Petersburg, a drizzle was drizzling, the dampness created a special St. Petersburg atmosphere, when time becomes viscous and sticky, and the difference between the past, present and future gradually disappears, and instead of them there is something that lasts without end and without a beginning … along Petrogradka in the direction of the metro and from Zelenina Street they tried to find the shortest route to Kronverksky Prospekt in order to catch the last train. Rare lanterns cast a deathly yellow light, and he was an elm in a veil of rain. Diving into the courtyards, we left in zigzags,as from a chase, shortening the route. One of the streets turned out to be almost completely dark, there were no people, no cars left for the night … But the direction was correct, and we moved forward … The house seemed to be getting ready for major repairs and was almost settled. Only one window on the second floor was shining. Heavy dark curtains peeped through the glass, and in front of them were tulle curtains. In the window one could see an old chandelier in an orange fringed lampshade, suspended from a stucco rosette on the ceiling … The tulle pattern resembled a drawing of a cast-iron balcony fence under the same window … Suddenly a woman's silhouette appeared in the window. The distance was short and it was perfectly possible to see a dress with puffy sleeves and a thin waist, a high collar, and a characteristic hairstyle. There was a feeling that she came off some old painting or photograph. The woman rested one hand on the windowsill, and raised the other to her eyes, as if shielding from the light … For a few seconds she peered into the darkness, and then picked up the medallion hanging low around her neck, and, opening the lid, looked at it. It was probably a watch. The woman closed the lid of the watch, and the medallion hung on her chest again … Once again, glancing at the street, she disappeared into the back of the room … In the wrong light of the chandelier, an old-fashioned dress and hair once again flashed a knot on the crown, a hairstyle. The light in the window slowly dimmed. We finally found the strength to remember that the last metro train was about to leave, rushed forward …Opening the lid, she looked at him. It was probably a watch. The woman closed the lid of the watch, and the medallion hung on her chest again … Once again, glancing at the street, she disappeared into the back of the room … In the wrong light of the chandelier, an old-fashioned dress and hair once again flashed a knot on the crown, a hairstyle. The light in the window slowly dimmed. We finally found the strength to remember that the last metro train was about to leave, rushed forward …Opening the lid, she looked at him. It was probably a watch. The woman closed the lid of the watch, and the locket again hung on her chest … Once again casting a glance at the street, she disappeared into the back of the room … a knot on the crown, a hairstyle. The light in the window slowly dimmed. We finally found the strength to remember that the last metro train was about to leave, rushed forward …finally, we found the strength to remember that the last metro train was about to leave, rushed forward …finally, we found the strength to remember that the last metro train was about to leave, rushed forward …
A couple of days later I again found myself on Petrogradka and even on this very street … The house was immediately recognized by the drawing of the balcony grate on the second floor. It was really settled, and the glass in the familiar window on the second floor was dusty and without any curtains … There was a stomp, a hard worker in a quilted jacket and boots was dragging an old chandelier with scraps of orange lampshade from the doors of the front staircase …”[2].
The second stage of hierotopization of the sacred landscape
- these are experiences of recreation of a cult object at the individual and group levels. We managed to record one of the examples of such an individual new hierotypic practice during our expedition to the village. Mozhaiskoe in the fall of 2015. During a conversation with a local resident Arvi Korkka, we heard the following story about the Ukko-Kivi stone, which lies on the top of the Kirchhoff mountain [3]: “… There is Ukko-Kivi - a strange stone. It may be several thousand years old. The stone is large, half a room, divided into three parts. These are three large stones, each weighing at least three tons. Ukko-Kivi is the brightest point on the Kirchhoff mountain (Fig. 1) [1]”.
Figure: 1. Ukko-Kivi stone, Kirchhoff mountain.
Photo by V. G. Mizin.
As we managed to find out during a conversation with Arvi Korkka, the process of hierotopization of the sacral complex of Mount Kirchhoff (including a cult stone, an old Lutheran cemetery - E. O.) contained several stages.
The first stage is the anthropomorphization of the mountain. According to our interlocutor: “… The mountain itself, if viewed not only as a geological phenomenon, like any other mountain, can be considered as an element of life. There is life in grief. There is warmth in the mountain, on the mountain there are special plants that grow only here, for example, the Lady's slipper. The mountain is now under state protection. If you look from above, for example, from space, then on the contours of the mountain you can see the nose, there are two lakes nearby - these are the eyes, and the mouth is the fontanelle directly under the mountain. Any mythology is overgrown with specifics. It turns out that if we look at the mountain, we will see a face looking up. And further, if you look to the southeast, there are three flat stones. These stones lie about 50 meters apart. They partially form a human foot … When I read Kalevala, I think about this place,about our mountain Kirchhoff, about these stones … The following picture turns out. Ancient Gods-heroes, described in Kalevala, have been to our places. And they walked on the mountain, walked on these stones … I can be trusted. I'm the coolest here in these matters, I'm the headman! " [1].
The second stage is the rethinking of the function of the mountain as a pagan temple. Arvi Korkka continued his story about the Kirchhoff mountain, developing his idea that this mountain, in his subjective opinion, is the sacred territory (Fig. 2). It is this mountain that forms the "place of power" of the sacred landscape of a large part of the Leningrad Region. He told us that: “… People have lived here for a long time, and the Finns lived here 400 years ago. I know that, I've seen old Swedish maps. I am the headman of this village, so I know that our village (Mozhaiskoye - E. O.) is older than St. Petersburg … So, the Finnish population, which has lived here for a long time, believed not in Jesus Christ, but in different gods. Kirchhoff - this was the highest part of the Leningrad region, the so-called Duderhof heights. This is exactly the mountain where God descends to earth: after all, somewhere he must descend to earth. And why is it here that God descends to Earth? What is Ukko-Kivi? So Ukko-Kivi is God [1]”.
Figure: 2. Arvi Korkka with his wife during our conversation (November 2015)
Photo by the author.
In the above quote, it is worth making some clarifications. When our respondent spoke about Swedish maps, apparently he meant “Map of the Noteburg region, P. Wassander”, 1699 (made from the original of the first third of the 17th century); "Map of Ingermanland: Ivangorod, Yama, Koporye, Noteborg, based on materials from 1676"; “General map of the province of Ingermanland” by E. Beling and A. Andersin (1704), compiled on the basis of materials from 1678.
Reconsideration of the territory where revered objects are located (cult stones, springs, sacred trees, etc.), as pagan temples are found in other places of the Leningrad region. For example, in s. The village of the forest next to the "Devil's Stone" is described by modern residents as an ancient pagan temple. There is no reliable information that this place was sacred to the local population in the Middle Ages or earlier period of history. Nevertheless, teachers of the local school from among our respondents who took part in the study described the area around the stone in this way [1].
The third stage is the foundation by our interlocutor of his subjective ideas about the sacredness of the landscape with literary sources, including esoteric literature and the Kalevala. Arvi Korkka managed to bring a philosophical basis under his reflections on the "place of power" using eclectic information that he drew from secular, religious, scientific, educational, mythological and historical literature. In his opinion: “… The bottom line is that Duderhof Heights (Mount Kirchhoff) is a sacred place. A person cannot turn into dust, then enter the world of the dead, then return back. Change of consciousness is the first level of getting into another reality. The second level is a meeting with God, with the Cosmos. For believers today, God is Jesus Christ. I do not understand this. I understand Christ as a preacher. A real person who knows. There is no God on Earth. But there is a place on earth where people can meet God. Mount Kirchhoff may be such a place. Religion is sociology. This is the desire of a person. The priests brought the beliefs of people into a system, made the image of God humanized, understandable for man. Most people don't understand abstraction well. They understand only something human [1]”.
The fourth stage is the description of the algorithm of the subjective process of hierotopization, the “place of power” on the Kirchhoff mountain: “… How did I learn about the Ukko-Kivi stone? Well, I partially took information from literature, and since I go to the stone every day with a dog, I feel that the atmosphere itself there evokes these thoughts. Walking with the dog, thinking, remembering Kalevala. In addition, the sensing in this place is very aggravated. I know from stories that some people on the top of the mountain have cramping hands. The spasm releases only when they leave the mountain, leave the stone. Well, you know there are places like this. The slope of the mountain where the cemetery is located is called the slope of the dead. There was an old Lutheran cemetery with burials. Why can't we think that it is on this slope that the gateway to the world of the dead is located? Now I equip this slope with heaps of stones in the form of pyramids,such pyramids of eternity. I brought in stones, I already have ten pyramids there. My friends and I have already fenced off this place. The general director of the park has already been involved in this case. Now a new landscape is already emerging there, which can be called the "Park of the Dead", where people can come. Here, you see, my wife and I here not only are engaged in a vegetable garden, but we also organize subbotniks on the mountain, at the Lutheran cemetery. Mostly retired women work there; they are the backbone of the Lutheran parish. We fix the cast-iron crosses, they are Lutheran, we clean the territory [1]”.where people can come. Here, you see, my wife and I here not only are engaged in a vegetable garden, but we also organize subbotniks on the mountain, at the Lutheran cemetery. Mostly retired women work there; they are the backbone of the Lutheran parish. We fix the cast-iron crosses, they are Lutheran, we clean the territory [1]”.where people can come. Here, you see, my wife and I here not only are engaged in a vegetable garden, but we also organize subbotniks on the mountain, at the Lutheran cemetery. Mostly retired women work there; they are the backbone of the Lutheran parish. We fix the cast-iron crosses, they are Lutheran, we clean the territory [1]”.
The fifth stage is the invention of personal verbal practices of hierotopization of the “place of power”. Arvi told how he “opens the entrance to the world of the dead”: “… But so far I still don’t tell anyone what wise words should be uttered in order to open the entrance to this world of the dead in my“Park of the Dead”. People should know these words, but they can be spoken both in Russian and in Finnish. By saying these words out loud, we change the consciousness of a person. Words can lead a person into a state of trance, but how to bring it out? How do I know these words? And they blow to me with the wind, the very atmosphere of this place … If you walk there with the dog every morning … and the winds will bring you some words. The wife does not know these words. I tell some people my ideas, but only partially … I work for the public (laughs). Actually, the process itself is the transfer of some mythological images to oneself …,and then to other people. There are now people here who come to Ukko-Kivi, sit here in Buddhist style. Why not? [1]".
The third stage of hierotopization of the sacred landscape
- the extraction of commercial and other forms of benefits from the "work" or use of the recreated cult object. The program of mystical excursions around St. Petersburg includes a visit to the chapel of Xenia the Blessed with an indispensable ritual of making wishes.
The first option for gaining benefits is the inclusion of cult objects that form the sacred landscape in the tourism industry. A striking example of such inclusion is tourism. Now in the city excursion bureau there are several author's tours: "Myths and Legends of St. Petersburg", "Myths and Secrets of St. Petersburg", "Mystical Petersburg" [5, 9].
Tour programs are designed in such a way that tourists can comprehend the main symbols of the urban landscape through the mystical meanings preserved by urban folklore.
Author's excursions using the mystical potential of the monuments of the sacred landscape of the Leningrad Region are aimed at animating and ritualizing the environment in which these objects are located. The hierotopization of modern sacred landscapes by the guides is carried out through the participation of the project participants in the story of the guide. Here's how one of the organizers of this kind of excursion talks about his projects:
“… At the moment, I conduct individual tours for small groups on request. The main route is built on acquaintance not only with different objects - cult stones, holy springs, stone crosses, etc., but on their perception in certain contexts - folklore, natural, religious, etc. That is, the program is built so that show not the object, but the environment in which it was perceived as sacred. This is the format in which it is interesting for me to work [7]”.
Second option- the use of the recreated cult object for esoteric and psychotherapeutic practices of folk healing. With. Seltso (Volosovsky district, Leningrad region) in a swampy area in the forest there is a large granite boulder, which the locals call "Demon Stone". Our respondents during field research described it as a place of pilgrimage: “People come here from all over the area, and now from afar. Usually in the summertime there are now a lot of people. They come, pray in their own way near the stone … collect water from the depressions on its surface, wash the diseased parts of the body … [1]”. A similar stone with the "footprint of Paraskeva Pyatnitsa" was recently located in the sacral complex near the village of Ilyesha. After the stone was deliberately broken by local officials in the 1960s, miraculous people began to worship a nearby stone.attributing to it the same healing properties [1].
The third option is the use of cult objects for the verification of scientific (ethnographic information). For example, the experiments of the candidate of geological and mineralogical sciences N. N. Sotchevanov with biolocations at seids, etc.
Thus, today, a two-hundred-year study of the components of the sacred landscape of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region has brought several significant results.
The first such result can be considered the accumulation of positive scientific information about this historical and cultural phenomenon, namely: about the sacred landscape of the Leningrad region. This information makes it possible to trace the peculiarities of the dynamics of the ideas of various groups of the population living in different eras, about the functions, structure and system characteristics of the objects that made up this landscape.
The second result is the fact that we recorded during the 2015 expedition the fact of broadcasting information about the function (negative / positive) of the components of the sacred landscape (sources, crosses, sacred trees, religious stones, etc.) from generation to generation with minor changes.
The third result is the tendency of hierotopization of the basic components of the sacred landscape that we noted in the course of narrative interviews with respondents. This tendency is an indicator of the latent reaction of the “rebel” against globalization with its unifying effect, depriving the modern independent person of the search for the meanings of being using ancient mystical symbols preserved by myths and legends.
The hierotopization of the basic components of the sacred landscape is carried out today in two main ways: 1) by including them in tourist programs, 2) by forming around them (cult stones, springs, revered trees, old stone crosses) new esoteric practices of both individual and group plans.
Notes
1. The author's expedition in 2015 included field research in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region (village Kotly, Monastyrki, Luizino, Kingseppsky district, village Seltso, village Dobryanitsy, Volosovchsky district, settlement Siversky, town Gatchina Gatchinsky district, as well as the city of Pavlovsk, Pushkin district).
Literature
1. Author's archive (2015).
2. Riddles and legends of St. Petersburg houses [Electronic resource] / Architectural site of St. Petersburg. - Access mode: forum.citywalls.ru/topic27.html. - Date of access: 07.12.2015.
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About the author: Elena Alekseevna Okladnikova (St. Petersburg), Doctor of History Sci., Professor of the Russian State Pedagogical University named after A. I. Herzen
The study was supported by a grant from the Russian Science Foundation (project No. 14-18-02785).
The report was read on January 16, 2016 at the conference "Mysterious Belarus" (Minsk).
Author: Elena Okladnikova