In the previous chapter, we saw that the eagle is the sign of the first princes of the Western Slavs and, in combination, the bird of the Thunderer. We examined the connections of this vortex bird with the first cultivator of humanity, which turned out to be (in the developed version) also some kind of burned idol, idol or stuffed animal. Thus, we have two interconnected symbols: fire (as a transmitter) and a bird, and the bird is characterized as "with extended feathers."
Heat- (and not only) Bird
But in the Russian tradition there is a fiery bird, which is devilishly difficult to catch, but you can draw out its feather. Firebird. The Greeks, respectively, have a Phoenix. Of course, everyone associates the phoenix with the dying-resurrection, sung by culturologists, but here are the records of Herodotus, about which Wikipedia claims to be "the first written mention of the myth of the Phoenix." The primary source, so to speak …:
Well? A fiery eagle-like bird burying its father. Yes, this is still the same fire for cremation of an ancestor or a stuffed animal! Of course, a deceased ancestor, leaving with fire, is resurrected in descendants. So much for the Phoenix classic.
Distracted. In the Christian tradition, there are also creatures that combine the image of fire, a bird and a transmitter - these are Angels. Despite the fact that the word "ἄγγελος" is based on the Slavic "Ogulki, Yagilki" - calls, that is, calls, and, therefore, leading their root from the "Voice", now you can see the second root - Fire, which echoes the idea of calling and communications (see previous section). Connections with God, by the way. Only here it is necessary to clearly understand that ancestors are not gods (as the current neopagan likes to fantasize, whose god “did not call him“slave”…), but the ancestors gave us these“gods”in a sense … Angels are like “Fiery voices” (theologians attribute a fiery nature to cherubim and seraphim as the highest ranks of angels). Like much in Christian mythology, the image is caught and applied in a slightly different way than one would like. But this aspect is also interesting for the theme of the hearth, for example. Indeed, in the Christian tradition, the naming is done in honor of a saint, and his name day is called by the people “the Day of the Angel (Guardian)”. And it seems like you should initially pray to your Guardian Angel, and not to the entire pantheon. Compare with the Siberian and Indian shamanic traditions of searching for their own guardian spirits (guides).
Back to the topic.
Promotional video:
In Russian fairy tales we meet Finist, whose name dialectically repeats “Phoenix”. And, speaking of "elongated feathers", by the way, Afanasyev's tale is called "The feather of Finista is clear of the falcon". In it, Peryshko turns into a beautiful young man - Finist. The groom, in fact. The tale is interesting in that it considers marriage rites (like our other fairy tales) from the female side, when usually the main character is a young guy.
According to the plot, the girl is given Finist's feather as a gift, and she secretly "talks" with him every night or on Sundays when everyone goes to church. Ah, this careless youth …
Somewhere I have already given examples of the connection between a bird that drops its feathers and red maidens. I'll just copy them here:
Or here:
In general, the maiden weaves her wreath, signifying her willingness to be “married” from the feathers of the mysterious “Peacock” (the Firebird looks like a peacock, the peacock is the bird of Hera, the goddess of marriage). This wreath is then "carried away by the violent winds" - this is the image of the groom, stealing the honor of his beloved.
And this is echoed by the tale of Marya Marevna, in which:
Whirlwind is the groom. And we remember that in the Greek "eagle" (αἰετὸν) there is a root "vi" (going to the Sanskrit "vaye" - वया), which is both "wind" and "wings" at the same time (and also strength, youth and ligature - everything is in the dictionaries and fully reveals this image. We will talk about this "whirlwind" separately somehow).
And then we see the essence of these vortices:
Putting everything together, we see that the symbolic feathers from which the wreath is woven already belong to the suitors themselves, and the image of the bird is not tied specifically to the eagle, both the raven and the falcon appear here. That is, a virgin, going out into a round dance, definitely (I hope) knows which guy will “snatch” her (her “wreath” is made from his “feathers”). What Tereshchenko wrote about in the 19th century (with characteristic Christian moralism):
And if you remember, in the first chapter the image of centaur grooms was just reduced to the tradition of kidnapping brides. But the author is mistaken about the lack of ritualism. And if you have carefully read the article, then you should already be able to see it. But now let us remember one more bird … sitting on the world (in fact, on the ancestral) tree.
Sakharov, in his “songs of the Russian people”, cited one motive:
A nightingale nests on a tree that begins with a marriage bed. The next father of the family, similar to the supreme deity-thunderer, sits at the very top of the tree-world (like Zeus, say, on Olympus). Well, what is there to hide, scattered his "feathers" - be good, make a nest!
Returning to the Greek "ἀετός", which pecked at the liver of Prometheus, it is appropriate to add that this word is translated into Russian not only as "eagle", but also as "roof ridge (pediment)", which corresponds to the mentioned place of the bird at the very top of the tree.
And this is where …
Humay
Wikipedia reports:
Interesting mosaic, isn't it? Scavenger, happiness, royal bird, phoenix and swan (remember the libusha from the previous part). Everything will become clear if we compare this data with everything that I have written here.
And speaking of swans. In Sanskrit हंस - hamsa is a goose, a swan. Hamsa - Vahana Saraswati, which is the personification of Vedic culture: in her hands the Vedas, music, art. The modern day of Saraswati is something like our day of Cyril and Methodius, as it is associated with the custom of explaining the Indian alphabet to children. After all, it is Saraswati who is considered to be its inventor. In short, Saraswati = tradition (in this case). Well, HAM-sa and HUM-ai are quite consonant.
Other sources add spice, which say that sometimes Humai is a bird of both male and female sex, which, by the way, is quite consistent with our Nightingale, who lays a nest and lays eggs. The bird combines the functions of a male and a female. They also add that it is impossible to catch Humai, but it is considered happiness to catch at least her "glimpse" or shadow, which again corresponds to the stories about the Firebird, when her feather is already valuable.
In Ottoman poetry, Humay is a bird of paradise. It is believed that the feather in the turban of the eastern rulers is just the symbol of Humay (or Humayun), since its shadow makes a person a king (the shadow covers, which refers us to the previously disassembled biblical clothing of Adam). And the bird itself flies at unattainable heights, which echoes its position at the very top of the tree or Olympus.
In Russian late folklore, this description corresponds to the bird Gamayun. And since it flies somewhere far, far away, the artists deprived it of its legs and wings, making it something in the form of a comet … or a shooting star, under which, as we remember, people make a wish. And if we recall the legend about the birth of Aphrodite, then we can say that the image of the comet-gamayun in this perspective is similar to the cut off "μήδεα" of Uranus. We met this word in the epithets and the very name of Prometheus.
Well, I will add to the pile that the word "homa" - होम - in Vedic texts is a rite of offering a sacrifice to fire. These "homas" are made by the Hindus for all occasions: from the evil eye, and for health, and for good luck, and during the naming, etc. Very briefly from Wikipedia:
As I said above, fire is needed to invoke higher powers (for the profane, but we know that it is said about the power of the race), and the whole procedure is a prayer from these powers for something. Just like Christians light candles in church, or pagans with their fires. Such is the turn in the Humay case.
And I know that you are already tired of reading my "multi-letters" in two parts, so we are entering the home stretch …
Hymns and Hymen
It was with these two words that Gamayun reminded me when I first heard about it. So, you need to establish a connection or confirm its absence.
Here are some of the Greek rites:
You can read a separate article on the rune in a special article. And here, in fact, this is the whole marriage ritual - a bed and a wedding song called Hymen (ὙμὙν). Meanwhile, the word "Anthem (ῠ̔́μνος)" also means a song, especially in honor of the gods (think now why the main state song is called the Anthem).
During the Renaissance, Hymen was portrayed as a feminine youth in a cape with a flower garland and a torch in his hand. Here all the symbols are readable: a feminine youth is bisexual, like Khumaya, since it refers to the coupled pair of a boy and a girl; the cape refers us to the wedding veil, which is fully expressed by the word "bride, nubile", well, and again refers to the veil and biblical clothing; flower garland - a tribute to the girl's wreath, which is about to be "torn"; a torch in hand is both a created hearth and our Gamayun-Phoenix - a connection with the clan.
In Euripides' The Trojans, Cassandra appears on the stage with a burning torch in her hands and sings:
It is interesting that we still say "Play a wedding", because if you recall the Western words for "play", then this is "game", and in those days, when it was still written as "gaman, gamen, gamman", it had more the broad meaning of "joy, fun, play, fun, entertainment." At the same time, the Gothic "gaman" leans closer to "complicity, community, unification." This is understandable: any holiday is a gathering of people. And in principle, this "gaman" can be placed next to our "hubbub" (the full form of the word "gum") - collective fun, it turns out, and not just the noise of the crowd.
And here's another piece of information from Tereshchenko's notes:
Here is such a "hubbub" with "hymns" and "hymen".
There is a legend about Hymen, how he was kidnapped by pirates along with the girls and taken away on their ship. As befits a "real Greek", Hymen organized the maidens, and together they killed all the pirates, freeing them. Once again, Greek culture demonstrates that it does not know a damn about its origins. Indeed, in Slavic round dance songs, the image of the groom and his friends-matchmakers is expressed precisely in the form of guests or fishermen sailing on a boat, in Europe they are soldiers sailing on a boat. And then a little piquant moment … Varangians.
Rurik
The Varangians are always presented as warriors on a ship. The image is such, nothing can be done. I would not completely reduce him to the suitors, but there really is much that coincides, even the very motive of the warrior-poet drunk with "inspiration". But this should be discussed separately, since the topic is also large and not so obvious.
Like the Greek heroes, who are, in fact, suitors, they also sail on ships to foreign countries. For anyone who is somehow familiar with Slavic folklore, this should be noticeable … but somehow imperceptible.
And this forces us to return to the beginning of the narrative, where I focused on Piast and Přemysl, as ALIENS who are invited to the principality. As well as Rurik.
Quite open and official information:
Mikhail Zadornov, in his documentary about Rurik, also focused on the fact that Rarog is the Falcon.
And here's a little more from another area:
We have already met all these vortex birds before. And here is a direct gift - a connection with the cult of the hearth! And spoiler us: 9 days of "incubation" is a reference to funeral rituals.
Here is an article from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1969-1978) about Domovoy:
The brownie keeps the house and its order, and in general is the very spirit of the house, its personification. But we will not touch this uncle now, only his connection with Rarog is important to me.
The famous Polish folklorist Oskar Kolberg once wrote down the following tune:
That is, the Mazuras are compared with dogs (the theme is the same as with the intolerant Aryans) because the raroga is considered a god. This is probably a falcon.
Total
I just cited a huge amount of different-sized and varied information to collect just one image. It's funny, but I first encountered him, studying the Centaurs, and not birds. But he confidently infiltrated here too. This is such a thing that is not written about directly anywhere, but which shines through throughout the ritual part. Precisely ritual, since, apparently, there was some kind of rite, which we will talk about later when we return to the horses.
Here we will collect the "bird" part.
I will repeat all the symbols obtained by back-breaking labor:
- Eagle in the heraldry of the German-Slavs, and given the Slavic past of the lands of Germany, then just the Western Slavs
- Eagle as a bird of the supreme god-father-thunderer
- Eagle as a royal bird
- Humai, giving royal power
- Bird (falcon, nightingale, eagle), sitting on top of the family-world tree
- The family tree grows out of the marriage bed
- The hymen is sung before the wedding bed.
- Grooms turning into birds and whirlwinds.
- The Thunderer is associated with the winds.
- Eagle - αἰετὸν, which, knowing the rules for replacing letters when switching from one language to another, reads as "veeton, Vieton", which goes back to the Indian "vaye" - wind
- The eagle of Zeus with "extended feathers" and the Firebird, whose feathers were highly prized
- Bird grooms scattering their feathers for maiden wreaths
- (from the article about the Centaurs) the dignity of the bride and groom "prince and princess" at the wedding
- Patronage of the God of Thunder to the soldiers and princely armies (Perun, Indra, Tor). The thunderer's symbol is lightning fire.
- Khoma rites - offering and prayers to the fire
- Hymeneus symbol - wedding hymn - torch
- The legend of the abduction of Hymen by pirates.
- Kidnapping of virgins by grooms (still kidnapping a shoe at a wedding)
- Representing the groom as a warrior sailing on a boat from afar
- Rurik's call to Russia, Přemysl's call to the Czech Republic, Piast's call to Poland from afar. For the cultivation of the people.
- The coming of Prometheus to domesticate people.
- Prometheus - crafty devil
- Prometheus as a "creature" or "created idol" (filthy idol), or a straw stuffed animal
- Fire Phoenix, Rarog and Firebird
- The custom of burning stuffed idols
- The custom of burning the dead
- Phoenix burying his father
- The word "Prometheus" has the root "First" (Pro)
- Humai - scavenger (there are dead)
- 9 days of incubation of Rarashek - funeral rite
- The eagle pecking at the liver of Prometheus.
- Fire as a connection with the gods
- Hymns are sung to the glory of the gods
- Angels are fiery messengers of God
- Guardian angels
- Name day is the day of the Angel. Naming according to the calendar in honor of the holy ancestors of mankind
- Fire as a connection with ancestors
- Prayers through fire and candles to holy ancestors
- The hearth as a place of unification of clan and people
- Rarashek - brownie
- Hamsa-swan as a symbol of Saraswati, responsible for the tradition of the people
- Lybid is Kiya's sister
- Libusha is the wife of Přemysl
It is worth adding to this that the Slavs somehow got into the habit of organizing both commemoration of the dead and weddings in the same period. Just like the youth round dances went hand in hand with the commemoration. And during these love games there was always a revelry of the Naval power. And everywhere there are bonfires-lights …
So it turns out that we are talking about the transfer of the paternal tradition from the ancestor to the sons-suitors, who should carry it to new lands. The ancestor dies - the descendant, through the rite, absorbs this tradition into itself (hence the image of a scavenger or an eagle eating the liver of Prometheus: the absorption of the deceased, which in Christianity became the Eucharist). Only those who have adopted this tradition have the right to marry at all. That is why weddings are so similar to commemoration in everything, because it is, in fact, a single rite. This does not mean that the young man's father had to be killed without fail, if suddenly the offspring decided to "kidnap the maiden." Of course not. There are many ancestors, and there are a lot of deceased ("grandfathers") among them. All of them are carriers of the ancestral tradition. The connection with her is maintained by fire (remember how the “deceased” Baba Yaga bakes babies in the oven - transfers them from the “raw” state to the “ready”, cultivated state). This tradition is expressed by symbols - idols, stuffed animals, idols. The burning idol is exactly the very transmitter of the tradition, which the Greeks called "Prometheus", it is also the man-made image of the Forefather, the one who gave laws and technologies to descendants. The idol itself is only a conditional shell, the main thing is what is inside it, what it carries in itself and what releases fire.
This is what "Humay" says, which makes an ordinary youth a "king", that is, a bearer of the family tradition. That is why Gamayun (and not just an eagle) was depicted on the coats of arms of the first Slavic dynasties - an angel bird ("heavenly"), a king's bird, a hearth bird, a bird born by a deceased ancestor ("ascended to heaven" - wings). "Messenger" of the fathers, carrying their experience and knowledge. A bird symbolizing the spiritual and intellectual continuation and immortality of the clan, no matter how far the future "prince" will take.
Perhaps that is why the history knows “Rome”, “Holy Roman Empire” and “Moscow - the Third Rome”. And therefore, despite various treatments and alterations, depending on the goals and conditions, the main symbols (and this is precisely the spiritual and intellectual area) remain eternal throughout the world. Are we now worthy to wear eagles on our coat of arms, not knowing in principle the traditions of our clans (but believing in anything that came from anywhere, imposed and advertised)? But that's another story…
