In the culture of Ancient Russia, a special place was occupied by amulets - objects designed to protect against misfortunes and bring wealth and love to the house.
They could be very different: clay or bone figurines, jewelry, embroidery on clothes, pieces of birch bark with conspiracies …
Arising back in pagan times, the amulets were preserved among the people even after the adoption of Christianity - and each of them had its own specific sacred meaning, protecting a person from one or another danger.
Solar circle
Among the amulets, the most interesting are those that served to protect the home, since they, as a rule, were associated not with the material value of the thing, but with its sacred meaning. They were placed in the courtyard of the house, in front of the entrance to it, as well as inside - in places that, according to the owners, needed special protection.
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Even the painted household utensils served primarily to ward off misfortune, and only then to please the eye. For the same purpose, carvings were made on doors, shutters or platbands - these were not just decorations, but protective signs.
The oldest protective symbols were patterns associated with the three elements that the Slavs worshiped: Earth, Water and Fire. It was they who were most often called upon to guard the home. The sign of Earth and fertility was a rhombus, divided into four parts with dots inside each, the symbol of Water was wavy lines, and the Fire-oblique cross.
Our ancestors usually placed protective signs around holes or structures through which evil spirits could enter the house: gates, doors, windows, chimneys. They were covered with a special ornament - usually with the image of the sun (a six- or eight-pointed star inscribed in a circle) or crosses that protect a person from evil forces from four cardinal directions.
The symbols of the sun were supposed to protect the dwelling from the night evil. On the facade of the house, the sun was often depicted three times - morning, midday and evening (the middle sign is at the highest point, and two side ones are lower).
Next to the solar symbolism, there could be a thunder sign (a circle divided into six sectors) - the symbol of Perun, which protected the house from lightning, as well as the sign of Rarog (a cross surrounded by a circle) - a symbol of the harmony of heavenly and earthly fire, "responsible" for the health of the inhabitants houses.
Correct horseshoe
Solar symbolism is associated with the image of a horse, an animal sacred to the ancient Russians - it was a heavenly chariot driven by Dazhbog, personifying the sun. In order for the owners of the hut to live for a long time, this image was placed on the roof.
The swings in the courtyard were also decorated with figures of horses. In the songs and legends of the Slavs, the swing of a girl on a swing was correlated with her love for the sun and further success in marriage. And the joint swinging of a boy and a girl on a swing was seen as a wish for their happiness.
To attract happiness, old sandals and pots were hung on the fence, and horseshoes were nailed to the gate. It was believed that the horseshoe resembles a month in shape and is a talisman, because it is forged from iron in a purifying fire.
Our ancestors believed that if you put a horseshoe in the chimney, it would prevent the witch from flying into the house, and if you attach it to the bed, you won't have nightmares.
A horseshoe was also hung over the front door. This ancient custom has survived to this day - however, today such a talisman can often be found with its hanging ends down, while the ancient Russians had its ends up. After all, a horseshoe open upwards catches and preserves happiness, and an open downward one cannot keep it and misses it.
Archaeological finds of ancient Slavic amulets. This is what could be found in an ordinary village of Vyatichi. Bank of the Vysa River, Kaluga Region. The settlement was repeatedly burned and ruined. The main part of the finds is from the times of the Vyatichi (XI-XIII centuries). Above: buttons, a Radimichsky cape for a cloak, a temple ring for a girl, a lunar, belt pads, fragments of temple rings, pendants and objects of unknown purpose. It also has an arrowhead similar to the Polovtsian.
Broom for brownie
Inside the house, almost all household items were covered with protective ornaments: a stove, a kitchen table, utensils, and working tools.
The door was perceived not just as an entrance to a dwelling - it was the border between the inner and outer worlds. In addition to locks and bolts, it was supposed to be guarded by carved crosses, bundles of nettles lying at the threshold, fragments of a scythe or a knife stuck in the cracks of the threshold or jamb.
The threshold for the Russians was the border between the world of the living and the world of the dead (they used to bury the ashes of their ancestors under it so that they would guard the clan). For this reason, it was impossible to sweep the garbage through it, so as not to sweep out someone from the family. It was also impossible to talk or transmit anything across the threshold. The guest had to be met behind the threshold and allowed into the house in front of him.
The stove was very revered, it was perceived as a wet nurse, there lived fire, the protector and guardian of the family, a manifestation of the god Svarog. Therefore, in the ornament of the stove there were his signs - a square (family hearth) and two crossed spindles (symbols of a flame). The stove was kept clean, it was impossible to use foul language next to it.
When bread was baked in it, the doors were locked so that someone else would not enter - it was believed that this would attract poverty into the house. House cleaning should start from door to stove, not vice versa. The heated stove could not be left empty - they put firewood in it to dry it out, or put water in it to warm up.
The ancient Russians believed that the well-being of a home directly depends on a respectful attitude towards the housekeeper who lives under the stove. For him, a broom, bast shoes and a bread spatula were hung next to the oven - so that he knew that the house would always be clean, rich and satisfying.
Diagonally from the stove, there was a red corner (pokut), the best place in the house, to which the headboards of the beds were facing. A table was located here and most of the ceremonies associated with birth, wedding or funeral were performed.
Before the advent of Christianity, there was usually a bundle of ears in the red corner - a symbol of prosperity so that bread would not be translated in the house. Several grains from this bunch were necessarily added to wheat, which was sown in the field in spring.
Towel with roosters
A special protective role was assigned to embroidery, which adorned bed linen, towels, tablecloths and napkins. Its main purpose was to protect against misfortune and damage.
To create such a talisman, the ancient craftswomen followed numerous rules and rituals. For example, there should be no knots on the reverse side of the material, otherwise the needlework would lose its magical power.
You couldn't do embroidery - a talisman for yourself - just like you can't ask someone to create it. The amulet will have power if created by blood relatives and presented from a pure heart.
Each embroidery element had a specific meaning. Basically, when creating it, symbols of the sun were used (various crosses, including those with antennae directed in the direction of the luminary).
But the signs of a tree (herringbone) were also used - a symbol of long life, a star - a symbol of reason, a flower - a symbol of beauty, circles and squares - symbols of fertility.
The pattern was supposed to consist of a closed rounded contour - then it will not let evil spirits through and will serve as a real protection. It was not necessary to make several protective embroideries of different purpose on one thing - for each of them it was necessary to choose a separate canvas.
Ritual towels played a special role in the life of the Russians. The patterns on them reflected family or calendar events. On holidays, it was on ceremonial towels that bread and salt were carried out (salt served as a symbol of the sun and love, bread - of earth and fertility, and the towel itself - of human destiny). During the betrothal, the bride and groom joined their hands, wrapping them in a towel, so that the future family would be prosperous.
The midwife laid the newborn baby on a new, specially prepared towel. The symbols of loss were depicted on the funeral towel (a rhombus, similar to the symbol of the earth, but not with dots, but empty inside).
Embroidery on clothes
Everyday towels were also embroidered with a protective ornament - usually with the image of roosters, whose cry drives away evil spirits. And so that the embroidery did not lose its miraculous properties, it had to be done in one day.
When embroidering embroidery, preference was given to the red color of the threads. Although sometimes other colors were used: brick, scarlet, poppy, currant, cherry (that is, close to red). The drawing itself was not previously applied to the material, but only its size was outlined and its location was determined.
Key and bell
The function of amulets was also performed by many household items - for example, a hide (chest for clothes).
She was inherited from mother to daughter, she was necessarily decorated with protective carvings. It contained the girl's dowry, which she herself had to embroider: shirts, towels, scarves, bed linen.
A very important piece of furniture was the bed, also covered with protective patterns. She was placed in a good place, which was determined with the help of a cat - where she will sit. It was impossible to sleep on the bed with your feet to the door, and wormwood and garlic were placed under it as protection from evil forces.
Needles and pins also served as amulets. They were sewn into the hem of a wedding dress and stuck into clothes to protect them from evil spirits - or into doorframes to prevent a witch from entering the house.
Sometimes an old key was hung on the wall of the hut - it seemed to lock the house, not allowing evil spells to penetrate. The key also symbolized wealth, helping the owner to achieve material prosperity. One of the most ancient amulets was also hung on the wall - a clay bell, the ringing of which, according to legend, drove away any evil spirits from the house.
In Ancient Russia it was impossible to find a hut where there were no amulets. This is a part of the culture associated with pagan traditions and helps to better understand the spiritual essence of the East Slavic peoples.
Platon VIKTOROV