Vasilyev's evening (the evening of January 13) is popularly considered the most suitable time for Christmas divination. According to popular belief, at this time, evil spirits are especially activated, helping people to look into the future. During Christmas time, you can't remember the devil - he may show up. But there are places in the Middle Urals where devils have forever settled in the names of rivers, mountains and even villages.
Usually people don't call their villages scary names, but there are exceptions. For example, according to one version, the name of the village of Shurala near Nevyansk comes from the Tatar "shurale". This is such a long-legged forest spirit, like a Russian goblin.
And near Nizhny Tagil there is the village of Nikolo-Pavlovskoe. This is its official name, and residents often use the first name - Shaitanka. They are not at all embarrassed by the fact that "shaitan" in translation from the Turkic is a devil. Of course, the first inhabitants were not worshipers of evil spirits, but named the village in honor of a river that ran past. She received a name for her character. In the summer, Nikolopavlovskaya Shaitanka is quiet and modest - her chicken wade. But in the spring it makes a noise and overflows so that it heats the yards.
There are enough rivers with bad temper in the Middle Urals, therefore, in addition to this one, there are two more Shaitankas and one Shaitan in the region.
Mountains have the same damn memorable name. As many as two coastal rocks on Chusovaya were named Shaitan. There is also a fighter named Mogilny on the river. Apparently, more than one raftsman found death at its foot.
By the way, the cemetery theme is very widespread in mountain toponymy. For example, not far from the Silver River there is Mount Kokuy. Throughout European Russia, one of the meanings of the word "kokui" is "cemetery". It is believed that the mountain got its name from the Ermak squad. Aleksey Ivanov wrote about the ominous situation prevailing in these places in his novel "The Gold of Riot":
“The traveler fell into the lowland, cluttered with forestry. Through a broken and plentiful forest, he suddenly led to the dry mountain Kokuy. At the top of Kokuya, like gray teeth, the pillars of the sacred Vogul chamias still stuck out of the ground. Here, in huts on chicken legs, the wooden Vogul dead of the roadside cemetery - kokuya - slept for many centuries. Quite a bad, devilish place … “- the author writes.
Kokuyu relied on a personal goblin who kept order here. In particular, stepping on a gray field mouse, the traveler lost his way and disappeared.
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The mountain of the Subpolar Urals Kholat Syakhyl has the same unkind reputation - in translation from the Mansi language - the Mountain of the Dead. Experienced tourists do not call the route to it difficult, but many people died here under inexplicable and mystical circumstances. Legends say that in ancient times the blood of nine Mansi was shed on this mountain. And on February 1, 1959, Dyatlov's group perishes at its foot. And these are not the last victims of the Mountain of the Dead: geologists died there, plane crashes occurred …
However, in order to plunge into the atmosphere of mysticism, it is not necessary to step into the forest jungle. Just six kilometers from the village of Iset there are majestic rocks - the Devil's fortified settlement. Near the jagged ridge of granite outlier towers, according to many travelers, there is a feeling of depression. The stone wall looks like it was created by supernatural forces. Among the indigenous peoples of these places, it was the haven of shamans.
Where magical rites were once performed, crowds of tourists now walk.
“We can offer mysticism lovers to visit the Neiva shaman, learn about witches and mermaids from the Voznesenskoye village, visit dolmens and other places of power,” said Natalya Guryeva, director of the Gorodishche travel agency in Tagil.
If you believe in folk legends, during Christmas time, the territory of the power of the supernatural expands, and evil spirits can penetrate directly into our home. So we will be more careful and, following our ancestors, we will impose a taboo on the phrases "Damn it!" or "Let the goblin take you away!"
Galina Sokolova