Sorcerer - in Russian beliefs, more often, an experienced old man who knows how to conjure, cast enchantments, communicates with the other world and creatures. He possesses secret magical knowledge and techniques, Sorcerers, who are found in the villages not so often as healers and witches, are perceived by the peasants as older, "strong" sorcerers. Sometimes the sorcerer is represented as a formidable, evil or terrible, ugly old man, but he can be an ordinary-looking person, a peasant, endowed with the ability to sorcery. Such a person who does not stand out from others is really often distinguished by an "unkind look" or "unkind eye". But this means that he is not so angry in appearance, as he causes harm, "spoils" with one glance.
In addition, for sorcerers who know the inhabitants of the other world, the reflection in the pupils can be turned upside down, and sometimes it also has two shadows (Tulsk.).
Distinguish between sorcerers "natural", "nuggets" (they have a small tail), and those who have learned to conjure after concluding a contract with evil spirits. Sorcerers - "born" are stronger than "scientists"; in some provinces of Russia it was even considered that they were "from God" and could do good to people [Ushakov, 1896]. Sorcerers, who are more specialized in the treatment of people and livestock, are somewhat different from sorcerers who have almost universal abilities and power.
Sorcerers are endowed with the ability to "turn around", but this property does not manifest itself as constantly as in witches, and the forms of transformation are more limited. The sorcerer turns into a bird (falcon) (V. Sib.), A fish (Surgut.), But most often into animals (a wolf, a bear) (see Volkodlak). He can also be a cat, a dog: “We were sitting with this, with Petka Frolov. He says: "Tonight [the night of Peter's day] let's sit until twelve. The sorcerer will go, turning into a black cat. " And it's true. We are sitting - he even confused me: how he will push me - "Look!" - as the cat walked straight to the yard! We ran [after her] - how then this cat fell through the earth! " (Novg.).
The sorcerer usually turns around, like the witch; "Thrown over", overturning legs, rope, branch. However, quite often he casts in his usual, human form.
It was possible to become a sorcerer (if sorcery abilities were not given by nature) in different ways: by learning from another sorcerer, by directly turning to evil spirits, or even by accident (for example, by accidentally inheriting demon helpers). According to popular beliefs, a person who did not “surrender the devils,” who did not transfer witchcraft skills to someone, was doomed to a painful death, and therefore with all his might he tried to “endow witchcraft” with his relatives and friends (even against their will).
Conscious training in witchcraft could also occur in different ways, but usually it involved a renunciation of God and of your loved ones, for example: to become a sorcerer, you need to renounce your kind up to twelve knees, go to a crossroads where there are many devils, and stand there with your feet on the icon (Tulsk.). The Tulyaks talked about how a huge dog appeared at the crossroads to a peasant who decided to learn witchcraft and told him to climb into its mouth. The peasant, scared half to death, forgets about everything in the world and runs away. Training in witchcraft often took place in the bathhouse (where from under the regiment no longer a dog could appear, but a large frog) (Vologda).
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The one who has entered into a contract with evil spirits gets at the disposal of assistants - devils (kolvertysh, kuzutikov, kulish, jokers, etc.). Assistants constantly demand work from the sorcerer, harass him, harass him. Therefore, the master-sorcerer seeks to come up with the most laborious or impossible tasks for the devils: wind ropes from the sand, carry water with a sieve, count the grains in the ears, weigh the smoke, bring light in a bottle, etc. If the sorcerer forgets to give the assistants work, they can greatly annoy him, for example: they push a drunken sorcerer into the cracks, throw logs at him (Novg.). At the moment of death, the sorcerer is placed at the complete disposal of the devils-assistants, who cause his painful death, are even able to gnaw out the insides of the sorcerer and move into him.
Sometimes the sorcerer, long before his death, tries to get rid of overly zealous helpers: he puts them in a stick and leaves them in the forest (the devils go to the one who raises the stick) (Arch.). “The sorcerer, not knowing how to get rid of the evil spirits, always asking him for work, lets her break the ears of rye; then he seats each devil in a spike that is broken or bent by him, with the condition, however, that each of them enter the soul of a person, as soon as someone touches him”[Tereshchenko, 1848].
A "strong" sorcerer, according to legends, can command not only helper-devils, but also snakes and animals; he puts on a kikimora, lets in a “strange brownie”. Often the sorcerer acts without the visible medium of evil spirits. Some vagueness of popular concepts of witchcraft power and methods of enchantment can also be traced in historical and literary monuments, in particular in documentary evidence of the 17th-18th centuries. on the trials of sorcerers and witches Zapolsky, 1890; Krainsky, 1900]. According to legends, it was possible to conjure not only through some actions, through objects, but with a word or just a glance, "down the wind", etc., that is, almost any movement of a suspect in witchcraft was considered "enchantment."
Almost all aspects of the existence of nature and man are subject to the sorcerer. He commands the celestial phenomena, the weather (sends hail, wind, "removes" clouds, which is already reflected in the ancient Russian historical and literary monuments). Commanding the elements, natural phenomena, the sorcerer can "interpret" them, that is, guess, predict the future through them, explain the present.
Such a role of a sorcerer, a sorcerer, a sorcerer, apparently very significant for the life of Ancient Rus, is not so clearly expressed in the beliefs of the 19th-20th centuries, although at this time they continued to turn to sorcerers for clues to the causes of certain events (mainly a request to find the source of damage, the cause of the disease, loss, etc.).
The notions of the primordial and special power of sorcerers over water, moisture, weather were reflected in later stories about robbers-sorcerers, in particular about Stepan Razin, who, according to legend, could swim on the river on felt or in a drawn boat, knew how to send wind, storm.
Like a witch, a sorcerer can "spoil" livestock, fields, people: he takes milk from cows, makes gaps, creases, twists, dolls in the field. Making a twist or a doll, the sorcerer ties the ears into a bundle, often bending them to the ground. Such knitting is a witchcraft action: it "binds", destroys fertility, harvest. A person who has inadvertently ripped off a doll or simply touched it becomes dangerously ill and dies. The doll (like the twist, in the hall) was removed, destroyed with special precautions (not with hands, but, for example, with a poker) and burned; remove the doll, twist, the audience invited a "strong" sorcerer or priest. Like witches, sorcerers who “spoil” crops and livestock were considered especially dangerous on the days of the summer solstice, but in general, the connection of their actions with a certain time of year or day is not as clearly expressed in beliefs as among witches. The weather,sorcerers, in the opinion of the peasants, spoiled cattle and fields less often than witches, whose intrigues were often attributed to all significant and minor deviations in the life of the peasant community. In the XIX-XX centuries. often it is the "strong" sorcerer who finds the source of such deviations and punishes the witch, in general, similar to the wise men of Ancient Russia, who persecuted witches who ruined the harvest. The role of the sorcerer, therefore, can be positive, necessary, although less significant than that of the Magi, who even influenced the state of life of Ancient Russia. The attitude of the peasants to the sorcerers, the sorcerers, apparently, always remained ambiguous: it is respect mixed with fear.quite often it is the "strong" sorcerer who finds the source of such deviations and punishes the witch, in general, similar to the wise men of ancient Russia who persecuted witches who ruined the harvest. The role of the sorcerer, therefore, can be positive, necessary, although less significant than that of the Magi, who even influenced the state life of Ancient Russia. The attitude of the peasants to the sorcerers, the sorcerers, apparently, always remained ambiguous: it is respect mixed with fear.often it is the "strong" sorcerer who finds the source of such deviations and punishes the witch, in general, similar to the wise men of Ancient Russia, who persecuted witches who ruined the harvest. The role of the sorcerer, therefore, can be positive, necessary, although less significant than that of the Magi, who even influenced the state life of Ancient Russia. The attitude of the peasants to the sorcerers, the sorcerers, apparently, always remained ambiguous: it is respect mixed with fear.it is respect mixed with fear.it is respect mixed with fear.
Foreigners - Finns, Lapps, Tatars, etc. were traditionally famous as skilled sorcerers. In one of the stories recorded on the Terskiy Coast of the White Sea, the wedding is spoiled by a lopin (Lapp): “There used to be my grandfather, Polycarp. I went to fetch the bride … And here they lived in neighbors. Lapps also lived, duck. Lopin came out alone … He threw a brand name. And from the bunt, sparks flew, flew, and through the window, but into the trim. A spark flew in, and screamed in the windows - like a woman. Everyone was scared, they didn't know what to do. And my father - this is my great-grandfather already - went to grandfather Semyon. I came. “Well, I'll come to you,” he says. He sits, sews shoe covers. Says: "I am now!" Dedko got up, put the shoe cover down, took the dumbass and a big nail. I didn’t ask - where, why, but I came and put the nail in the trim, punched a hole … Squealed in the trim! He says: "What, got a little more?" He turned around, and even knocked,let it go … And it was quiet. And there was such a howl - you could hear it across the river. The girls were afraid to go for water."
The sorcerer can "let go" on a person hiccups, put a demon in him, make him an epileptic, whoop; he also "removes" damage, heals: "Who gets along for good, who for evil."
Particularly feared was harmful witchcraft during weddings. A significant part of Russian stories about sorcerers are narratives about wedding corruption or about the wedding rivalry of sorcerers. Since the bridegroom and the bride and the men were considered especially prone to spoilage, a “strong” sorcerer was invited to the wedding, who was given one of the most honorable places. “Before, you can't play a wedding without a sorcerer. Otherwise, the wedding will be ruined … They will turn it into either brooms or wolves. And all will scatter. You can't put together a wedding. And they take a strong sorcerer: he goes after the godfather, in front of him, and he will cut it off [cast a spell]”(Novg.).
The types of wedding spoilage are diverse: the wedding train cannot move from its place, the horses unharness and die, and on the traveler finds something like a collective clouding of mind, young people fall ill, etc. Quite often a wedding becomes an arena of rivalry between sorcerers, one of whom “spoils” and the other removes damage.
“At one wedding there is a sorcerer to protect the young from corruption. When the young people went to church, they noticed a man standing motionless near their house. Returning from the church, we again noticed this man in the same place. Suddenly this man turned to the sorcerer who was with the young: "Let go, don't hold me!" The sorcerer replied: "I am not holding you." Then the man started running away from them. It turned out that it was a sorcerer sent to spoil the young. But the defender of the young recognized him and by the power of his charms made him stand motionless all the time of the wedding”(Vologue).
There are numerous stories about the witchcraft turning of wedding participants (most often - into wolves) (see WOLFLAK). Wedding witchcraft metamorphoses that sorcerers produce and prevent may have once been a necessary part of the rite (for example, turning into a wolf as a necessary and natural introduction to the sacralized image of an animal, an "elder", ancestor, patron, which occurs at the most important moments of human life). In the XIX-XX centuries. such "communion-transformations" are already perceived as the threat of damage inevitably hanging over the wedding participants, which the sorcerer has the power to "take away" or "not to take away".
Sorcerers are a kind of wedding planners, which, probably, most clearly reflected and preserved their once very significant role of elders in the community, who have special knowledge of people who explain and eliminate the sources of misfortune, who know the past and future, and who instruct people how to behave. In Ancient Rus sorcerers-wise men “were a social class that played the role of priests. They made sacrifices and directed the divine service, took care of the purity and inviolability of idols and places of worship, as well as the preservation of mythology, performed spells of the mysterious forces of nature …; they controlled nature, sent rain and a bucket; collected magic herbs and roots and healed the people; they wondered by the flight of the birds. The Magus was invited to the house at the baptism of the child, to whom he gave a pagan name and tied a magic knot (nauz) around his neck;the magi were invited to weddings and especially appeased in order to protect the young from spoilage; they were addressed in all difficult circumstances of life. The people were under their influence for a long time, only sometimes during a famine or drought they were violent, burning them, drowning them in water, removing their corpses from their graves like a pagan beats his idol, not having received what he wanted from him”[Ryazanovsky, 1915].
The ideas about the basic skills of sorcerers have remained almost unchanged for a millennium, while the social status of the sorcerer-sorcerer was not so much undermined with the adoption of Christianity, as in a bizarre way it was extended to all people who, according to the peasants, had special power and strength.
In addition to the "noble robbers" (Razin, Pugachev, etc.), priests and the church clergy sometimes also think of sorcerers in the popular worldview. Even the educated classes did not shy away from this view. The Council of Laokidia by the thirty-sixth rule was forced to forbid members of the clergy to be magicians. Protopop Avvakum “was famous in Lopatitsy and Yuryevets as a charmer of devils”; in 1672, Patriarch Nikon wrote to the tsar that the archimandrite of the Kirillov Monastery and his brethren were letting devils into his cell. In the beliefs of the peasants of the XIX-XX centuries. sorcerers and mentors of sorcerers can be, for example, deacons (Tulsk., Novg.).
In general, the sorcerer in the beliefs of the peasantry is a more "secular", socialized figure than a witch: the basic ideas about him are stable, but change their color in the process of historical development.
The names of "powerful" sorcerers were commonly known throughout the area; other suspects of witchcraft could be recognized in the church at Easter. In the church, sorcerers are "the most pious," although their candles go out all the time during Easter morning. If you take the first egg from a young hen, painted red, and, holding it in your hand, look at those present in the church during the procession, then all the sorcerers will be standing with their backs to the icons, with horns on their heads (Tulsk.). In the Saratov province, it was believed that if you light the same candle all through Easter week, and then (for a year) hang it down with a wick on an apple and light it again during the next Easter, then all the sorcerers in the church will turn over in the light of this candles upside down.
It was possible to be safe from the sorcerer, to deprive him of his witchcraft spells, mainly by crippling, hitting "backhand" (including with a cart axle or an aspen log), as well as reading in his presence the prayer "May God rise" three times from the end. However, sorcerers, especially "strong" ones, were feared and dealt with them not as often as witches.
According to popular beliefs, a deceased sorcerer often became a heretic, a ghoul after death: he began to "rise" from the grave, persecute and destroy people (see HERETIC, GUM). The grave of such a dead man was torn apart, his heels were cut off, an aspen stake was driven into his back. Often, sorcerers were buried with a number of precautions: by tying their hands, feet, face down, etc., to prevent "getting up and walking."
The very appearance of the sorcerer, strict and imposing, is very reminiscent of an old oak tree.
The superstitious fear of sorcerers rests on the general popular belief that they are all in the closest relationship with evil spirits and that the devils not only fulfill all their orders, but even get bored, demanding more and more work for themselves. Whatever the sorcerers come up with - ~ all the devil doesn't care, it's just fun; one sorcerer invented to force their barn to thresh - in one night they thrashed so that there was no need to pick up straw: only chaff remained. He gave another measure of oats and a measure of flaxseed, ordered them to be mixed and selected one grain at a time, each in a separate place: I thought that the devils would take over the flaxseed, slippery and dodging, and they finished the whole work in half an hour. Some sorcerers will send on the Christmas tree to count the needles, to sort out each needle, so that the demons prick their paws, bleed from injections, and they say the correct count and even smirk smugly. Other entertainers point out to them aspen: count, they say, the leaves (and the aspen leaf, as you know, is unyielding: it bends without the wind, moves tirelessly, it is not given to grab itself with its paws). For a long time the devils fight with them: sweat pours from them in a hail, despite the fact that there are fewer leaves on the aspen than there are needles on the Christmas tree - however, the customer barely has time to blink an eye when the devils' work is over. Again they grinned their teeth, again imposed on work. One sorcerer drove a stake into the lake and left the end above the water: "Fill in, -says, -call." - They began to fill in the devils - they cannot. "Now they won't come soon," the sorcerer thinks, "they will be tormented for two days, and in the meantime I will take a break from them." However, the sorcerer was mistaken: although he ordered to carry water with a sieve, but forgot to "mine" it, make it through prayer so that they could not put their spell on - turn the sieve into a basket. So the devils poured the stake. They came again, laughed out loud: give them something harder. Then the sorcerer got angry: “Here's a block of that accursed tree that you love because Judas hanged himself on it, and under the bark of which you can see blood (the bark under the skin is reddish); I cut the block out to its full height, and at one end I cut off half an arshin from it. It is necessary to stretch the ridge so that it becomes in line with the growth again”. The devils pulled for three whole days - nothing came of them. They came to repent and again ask for work, at least even more boring, for example, to drag sand from the bank into the river, along a grain of sand, or even more tricky: to scatter flour in the wind and collect it in powder.and under the bark of which blood is visible (the bark under the skin is reddish); I cut the block out to its full height, and at one end I cut half an arshin from it. It is necessary to stretch the ridge so that it becomes in line with the growth again”. The devils pulled for three whole days - nothing came of them. They came to repent and again ask for work, at least even more boring, for example, to drag sand from the bank into the river, along a grain of sand, or even more tricky: to scatter flour in the wind and collect it in powder.and under the bark of which blood is visible (the bark under the skin is reddish); I cut the block out to its full height, and at one end I cut half an arshin from it. It is necessary to stretch the ridge so that it becomes in line with the growth again”. The devils pulled for three whole days - nothing came of them. They came to repent and again ask for work, at least even more boring, for example, to drag sand from the bank into the river, along a grain of sand, or even more tricky: to scatter flour sacks in the wind and collect it by powder.scatter a sack of flour in the wind and collect it in powder.scatter a sack of flour in the wind and collect it in powder.
Sorcerers are natural and voluntary, but there is no difference between them, except that the latter are more difficult to recognize in the crowd and not so easy to protect themselves from them. The natural sorcerer, according to the views of the people, has his own genealogy: a girl will give birth to a girl, this second one will bring a third, and a boy born from a third will become a sorcerer at age, and a girl a witch. However, in addition to these two categories of sorcerers, there are, although very rarely, involuntary sorcerers. The fact is that every kol-dun before death tries to impose his magical power on someone, otherwise he will have to suffer for a long time, and the earth will not accept him. Therefore, knowledgeable and careful people carefully avoid taking any thing from him, even the closest relatives try to stay away, and if the patient asks for a drink, they will not give it out of their hands, but put the ladle so,so that he himself can reach it. They say that one sorcerer called the girl and said: "On you!" - She guessed: "Give it back to the one from whom you took it." He groaned, gritted his teeth, turned blue all over, his eyes were bloodshot. At this time his niece came to visit; he and to her: "Here," he says, "as a keepsake!" “She just took an empty hand,” he laughed and began to end.
For the "involuntary" sorcerer, repentance and salvation are possible: they are reprimanded by the priests and prayed for in monasteries, while for the "free" there is neither one nor the other.
Initiations into sorcerers in general are accompanied by homogeneous rituals, the meaning of which is everywhere reduced to one thing - to renounce God and the kingdom of heaven, and then to sell the soul to the devil. For the first one, it is enough to remove the cross from the neck and hide it under the right heel or put the icon on the ground face down and stand on it with his feet, so that in this position he can speak blasphemous oaths, pronounce incantations and listen to all the guiding instructions of Satan. The best time for this, of course, is considered to be deep midnight, and the most convenient place is the crossroads, as a favorite place of evil spirits. They are also convenient for transactions with the devil of the bath, to which, as you know, a special perfume is attached. When concluding contracts, other devils trust the vows at their word, others demand receipts from the literate in blood,and the illiterate are told to tumble a certain number of times through so many knives stuck in the ground 1)). When all the rituals are safely completed, little brisk devils are assigned to the initiate for life.
To expose sorcerers in some places (for example, in the Penza province), they know three means: a palm candle, aspen wood and a mountain ash twig. If you light a skillfully prepared candle, then sorcerers and witches seem upside down. Likewise, if you heat the stove on Maundy Thursday with aspen wood, all the sorcerers will immediately come to ask for ash. A rowan-tree stick helps to identify these ill-wishers during light Matins: they stand with their backs to the iconostasis. This is considered the surest remedy everywhere, and if there are contradictions, it is only in the indication of the time (for example, in the Oryol and Saratov provinces they consider the singing of the Cherubim at the Easter mass to be a more convenient moment for observation, and it is advised to put on everything clean and new to the last thread). In the Novgorod province, sorcerers are identified somewhat differently. To do this, it is advised to take the first egg of a young hen in your hands and during a bright matins stand in such a place from where all the worshipers would be visible; then the sorcerers even manage to notice the horns on the head. In the Kaluga province, sorcerers are recognized by the fact that on St. They come to someone else's hut to ask for fire, etc. Finally, there are several more ways that are very strange; among them is one, for example, of this kind: you need to put the knife with the tip up and read the Sunday prayer (May God rise) from the end - then the sorcerer will either roar or start swearing badly. In the Sarapul district of the Vyatka province, they also point to the "forty-dinner incense" (which lay on the throne during the forty-day). If such incense is ground into powder and poured into wine, beer and given to a suspicious person to drink,then he will start walking around the hut from one corner to another and will not find the door. This method is so good that if at this time the sorcerer is given a drink of filthy water; even from the pelvis, he will drink willingly and then lose all strength.
All these worries about looking for protective means against sorcerers stem directly from the unshakable popular belief "in corruption." Here, in this corruption, the entire activity of sorcerers is concentrated, and it also explains their influential significance in the village environment, external respect for them, honorable bows at every meeting and treats with vodka in the form of compensation. Nevertheless, under the outward signs of ingratiating reverence, embryos of deep hatred secretly lurk, which flares up every time a daredevil denouncer is found, who will bring all the magic things to fresh water. People willingly laugh at the goofy sorcerer, and, following the ridicule, there quickly comes a loss of all confidence in him, complete indifference and inattention. This is the best ending. In the same cases,when the anger accumulated for a long time and was caused by the failure of the evil antics of the sorcerer, the general indignation is accompanied by severe beatings, reminiscent of the reprisals against horse thieves. But there is a way to single-handedly deal with the sorcerer. To do this, it is enough to hit him with a backhand with your left hand, without turning back. If blood is shed at the same time, then the sorcerer has already deteriorated and the sorcerers are no longer suitable. He ceases to be dangerous and then, of course, is lost in the very rear rows, being in complete contempt and utter alienation.then the sorcerer is already spoiled and the sorcerers are no longer suitable. He ceases to be dangerous and then, of course, is lost in the very rear rows, being in complete contempt and utter alienation.then the sorcerer is already spoiled and the sorcerers are no longer suitable. He ceases to be dangerous and then, of course, is lost in the very rear rows, being in complete contempt and utter alienation.
The dark matter of "corruption" - in whatever hysterical form it is expressed: whether in the form of hysteria, numbness, epilepsy, demonic possession, and even the dance of St. Vitta, - is produced by the "evil eye", conspiracies, "admission" and "rejection". They talk about bread, salt, water, and so on, let it go down the wind and follow the trail, send spoilage to the "relative" 2)), that is, they throw in the said things, and whoever picks them up gets sick. There are countless examples of this kind of corruption: a woman found a spoken egg at a well and began to scream at voices; another raised a knot on the road with a shirt, a cross, a belt, a chain and coals! - and lost food, melancholy sent, all became not nice; took it back to where she found it and began to recover.
The techniques used to send damage are very diverse. It is enough for a strong sorcerer to look with his unkind sidelong glance to make him languish. A weakened sorcerer needs a sworn powder to throw it on a trained victim in the wind: the deed is done if at least one powder gets on a person or cattle. The removed trace, that is, a pinch or a handful of earth from under the feet of the doomed man in a bag, is suspended in the brow of the oven, and his hair is covered with clay in the pipe; the earth and clay will begin to dry - dryness will overwhelm that person too. It is enough to step over a thing said by a strong sorcerer, it is worth sitting down in a covered place to fall ill.”The hoarfrost sorcerer will only lightly hit on the shoulder, but you look - the person is spoiled.
The sorcerer who caused the DAMAGE) is no longer able to remove it - we must look for another, albeit a weak one. And vice versa: if his sorcerer managed to protect him from any spells, then the stranger has nothing to do here. The latter is more visible to everyone “is noticed at weddings, around which the activities of sorcerers are mainly concentrated.
To save the young from spoilage, sorcerers, as a rule, are invited to weddings as guests of honor, and the host himself is greeted by the owner himself with a low bow, with a glass of vodka. The sorcerer will ask for the second glass himself and then he boldly begins to wiggle about a good goal to prevent the possibility of spoilage: he takes the bread and salt brought from the hands of the hostess, breaks the bread into pieces, sprinkles it with salt and scatters it around. After spitting three times to the east, he enters the hut, examines all the corners, blows into them and spits, so in one he sprinkles rye, in the other his grass, in the other two ash: rye against spoilage, grass for the health of young people. Looks intently at the floor: is there not a yellow powder - a guided, dangerous potion; will look into the stove: are not such herbs thrown on the filling with coals, from which the stench intoxicates everyone's head,and in some women it causes vomiting (there were cases when people who went because of this stench left the hut and postponed the wedding). Then the sorcerer goes out into the courtyard and goes around the horses assigned to the train for the bride and groom three times. Looks under the collar: has any ill-intentioned burdock or other thorns been planted. In the hut, he sprinkles the young with rye, makes them pass through a black sheepskin coat spread under their feet, and this completely exterminates the induced spoilage. Escorting to the church, he whispers spells at every intersection and under every gate (which are considered the most dangerous places). From under the aisle orders to go the other way. At the wedding feast, he takes the first glasses and drinks first of all to complete insensibility. Then only he is taken home with gifts that have been pronounced, over and above money: canvas and towels embroidered in a pattern, but not in crosses.when the people who went because of this stench left the hut and the wedding was postponed). Then the sorcerer goes out into the courtyard and three times bypasses the horses assigned to the train for the bride and groom. Looks under the collar: has any ill-intentioned burdock or other thorns been planted. In the hut, he sprinkles the young with rye, makes them pass through a black sheepskin coat spread under their feet, and this completely exterminates the induced spoilage. Escorting to the church, he whispers spells at every intersection and under every gate (which are considered the most dangerous places). From under the aisle orders to go the other way. At the wedding feast, he takes the first glasses and drinks first of all to complete insensibility. Then only he is taken home with gifts that have been pronounced, over and above the money: canvas and towels embroidered in a pattern, but not in crosses.when the people who went because of this stench left the hut and the wedding was postponed). Then the sorcerer goes out into the courtyard and three times bypasses the horses assigned to the train for the bride and groom. Looks under the yoke: has any ill-intentioned burdock or other thorns been planted. In the hut, he sprinkles the young with rye, makes them pass through a black sheepskin coat spread under their feet, and this completely exterminates the induced spoilage. Escorting to the church, he whispers spells at every intersection and under every gate (which are considered the most dangerous places). From under the aisle orders to go the other way. At the wedding feast, he takes the first glasses and drinks first of all to complete insensibility. Then only he is taken home with gifts that have been pronounced, over and above money: canvas and towels embroidered in a pattern, but not in crosses. Then the sorcerer goes out into the courtyard and three times bypasses the horses assigned to the train for the bride and groom. Looks under the yoke: has any ill-intentioned burdock or other thorns been planted. In the hut, he sprinkles the young with rye, makes them pass through a black sheepskin coat spread under their feet, and this completely exterminates the induced spoilage. Escorting to the church, he whispers spells at every intersection and under every gate (which are considered the most dangerous places). From under the aisle orders to go the other way. At the wedding feast, he takes the first glasses and drinks first of all to complete insensibility. Then only he is taken home with gifts that have been pronounced, over and above money: canvas and towels embroidered in a pattern, but not in crosses. Then the sorcerer goes out into the courtyard and goes around the horses assigned to the train for the bride and groom three times. Looks under the collar: has any ill-intentioned burdock or other thorns been planted. In the hut, he sprinkles the young with rye, makes them pass through a black sheepskin coat spread under their feet, and this completely exterminates the induced spoilage. Escorting to the church, he whispers spells at every intersection and under every gate (which are considered the most dangerous places). From under the aisle orders to go the other way. At the wedding feast, he takes the first glasses and drinks first of all to complete insensibility. Then only he is taken home with gifts that have been pronounced, over and above the money: canvas and towels embroidered in a pattern, but not in crosses.whether any unkindness has planted burdock or other thorns. In the hut, he sprinkles the young with rye, makes them pass through a black sheepskin coat spread under their feet, and this completely exterminates the induced spoilage. Escorting to the church, he whispers spells at every intersection and under every gate (which are considered the most dangerous places). From under the aisle orders to go the other way. At the wedding feast, he takes the first glasses and drinks first of all to complete insensibility. Then only he is taken home with gifts that have been pronounced, over and above money: canvas and towels embroidered in a pattern, but not in crosses.whether any unkindness has planted burdock or other thorns. In the hut, he sprinkles the young with rye, makes them pass through a black sheepskin coat spread under their feet, and this completely exterminates the induced spoilage. Escorting to the church, he whispers spells at every intersection and under every gate (which are considered the most dangerous places). From under the aisle orders to go the other way. At the wedding feast, he takes the first glasses and drinks first of all to complete insensibility. Then only he is taken home with gifts that have been pronounced, over and above the money: canvas and towels embroidered in a pattern, but not in crosses.he whispers spells at every intersection and under every gate (which are considered the most dangerous places). From under the aisle orders to go the other way. At the wedding feast, he takes the first glasses and drinks first of all to complete insensibility. Then only he is taken home with gifts that have been pronounced, over and above the money: canvas and towels embroidered in a pattern, but not in crosses.he whispers spells at every intersection and under every gate (which are considered the most dangerous places). From under the aisle orders to go the other way. At the wedding feast, he takes the first glasses and drinks first of all to complete insensibility. Then only he is taken home with gifts that have been pronounced, over and above the money: canvas and towels embroidered in a pattern, but not in crosses.
In the backwoods of the forest, stories are still alive about how dashing people turned whole wedding trains into wolves, how one not invited sorcerer stuck his head out the window and shouted to the train traveling through the village: "The road to the forest!" “The road to the field!” - and what happened to the opponent was that he had such horns that he could not free his head from the window until on the way back he was forgiven and released. Another time, under the feet of the front horse, the sorcerer threw a mitten with wolf fur, and the horse snorted, stopped as if rooted to the spot, and detained the entire train, which must make its way without hindrances and obstacles. Against all these intrigues of sorcerers, an innumerable variety of the most diverse, albeit few valid, means have been invented: here and onions, and garlic, and amber, and incense, so hated by magicians, and a cross,sewn on the bride's headscarf, and a coin put into her stockings with a slander, and needles without ears sewn into the hem of her dress, and linseed poured into her shoes. All these precautions are usually the care of the matchmaker, although the sorcerer, in turn, has a pea pod with nine peas, a remedy against which nothing can resist.
Sorcerers, for the most part, are old people, with long gray hair and unkempt beards, with long uncut nails. In most cases, they are rootless people and are always single, enlisted, however, by mistresses who are very sticky to such strong and honorable people. The sorcerers' huts, in one window, small and huddled together, huddle at the very edge of the villages, and the doors to them are always locked. During the day, sorcerers sleep, and at night they go out with long sticks, which have an iron hook at the end. Both in summer and in winter they all wear the same sheepskin coat, belted with a sash. Outwardly, they are always impressive and strict, since by this they expect to maintain in those around them an overwhelming impression that is required by their exceptional skill and knowledge of the dark science of witchcraft. At the same time, they refrain from being talkative, keep themselves aloof, do not make friends with anyone and even walk always frowning, not raising their eyes and frightening with that look from under the brows "which is called" wolf gaze ". They do not even love their mistresses and often change them. They almost never go to church, and only, for fear of the Jewish people, make plans there on the biggest holidays. All this, taken together, on the one hand, completely enslaves the frightened imagination of the provincial inhabitants, and on the other hand, gives the sorcerers themselves extraordinary confidence in their abilities. Here is a typical story, showing how great the charm of sorcerers among the masses and how self-confident in their "work" these dark people.without looking up and frightening with that look from under the brows "which is called" wolf gaze ". They do not even love their mistresses and often change them. They almost never go to church, and only, for fear of the Jewish people, make plans there on the biggest holidays. All this, taken together, on the one hand, completely enslaves the frightened imagination of the provincial inhabitants, and on the other hand, gives the sorcerers themselves extraordinary confidence in their abilities. Here is a typical story, showing how great the charm of sorcerers among the masses and how self-confident in their "work" these dark people.without looking up and frightening with that look from under the brows "which is called" wolf gaze ". They do not even love their mistresses and often change them. They almost never go to church, and only, for fear of the Jewish people, make plans there on the biggest holidays. All this, taken together, on the one hand, completely enslaves the frightened imagination of the provincial inhabitants, and on the other hand, gives the sorcerers themselves extraordinary confidence in their abilities. Here is a typical story, showing how great the charm of sorcerers among the masses and how self-confident in their "work" these dark people.completely enslaves the frightened imagination of the provincial inhabitants, while another, gives the sorcerers themselves extraordinary confidence in their abilities. Here is a typical story, showing how great the charm of sorcerers among the masses and how self-confident in their "work" these dark people.completely enslaves the frightened imagination of the provincial inhabitants, while another, gives the sorcerers themselves extraordinary confidence in their abilities. Here is a typical story, showing how great the charm of sorcerers among the masses and how self-confident in their "work" these dark people.
“They stole money from us,” said one peasant who needed the help of a sorcerer. “They took fifteen rubles from my father out of his fur coat. - Go, they say, to Taneyevka to the sorcerer: he will point you to the thief, and he will tell you about water, or about church candles, or else the roots of the spoken Dast. The thief himself will then come to you and bring your good. We are coming. The sorcerer is sitting in a hut, and next to him is a woman with a boy, which means she brought him to treat, we prayed to God, we say: "You are living great!" And he looked at us like a shy horse, looked sideways and did not say a word, but only pointed to the bench with his hand: sit down, they say! We sat down. Look, there is a glass pot with water between his legs. He looks into the pot and says God knows what. Then he spat first forward, then backward and again began to mutter in his own way. Then he spat to the right, then to the left, at us (I almost hit my father's face),and began to twist and twist. And the water in the pot just walks and splashes, and it just mows his mug. I shiver. Then, as he jumps up, grab the boy from the woman, and well, shove him into the pot! Then he gave it to the woman and poured water into a bottle: he ordered twelve dawns to be washed and given to drink, and then he told the woman to leave.
“Well,” he says to us, “and you came. I know, I know, I've been waiting for you. Tell me how it was.
I gasped: I guessed it, unclean! Tyatka says: so and so, and he again:
- I know I know! There is a lot of trouble with you! His father asks him, and he breaks down, then he says:
- Well, okay: we'll find it, just don't be stingy. Father threw half a shtof out of his pocket on the table. The sorcerer took it, swallowed straight from his throat three times, and said to his father:
- You can't! d- and took the wine to the closet. He leaves the closet, sat at the table and sat down his father. He began to guess at cards. I wondered for a long time, and kept purring, then pushed the cards together and said: ~ The white guy took your money (and who in our villages is not white in his hair and face?).
Then he got up from the table and went into the closet. Brings out the boiler. He put it in the middle of the hut, "poured water, washed his hands and went back to the closet. Carries from there two church (wax) candles; took his father by the sleeve and led him out into the yard. I follow them. He brought him under the shed, brought him behind him, leaned forward and somehow twisted the candles, turned them over. He gave one to his father, left one with him and began to mutter something. Then he took the candle from his father, put both together, took it by the ends with his hands, and in the middle he caught it with his teeth and how it twisted - I almost ran away! I look at the tyatka - there is no face on it. And the sorcerer, meanwhile, well hiss, well, roar, gritting his teeth like a wolf, And the snout is terrible. His eyes were filled with blood) and well shout: “Bend him in a convulsion, upside down, upside down! Flip it west, east, smash it into 777 pieces! Pull it out from him. vein belly, stretch it 33 sazhens!"And he said a lot more. Then they went to the hut, and he carries those candles in his teeth. He stopped his father at the threshold, and then he turned his head into the stove - only his legs were left, and well, hum there like a cow roars. Then he got out, gave his father candles and said:
- As you drive up to the house, go to the gate post, light a candle and hit the post, and bring it to the hut and stick to the jamb: let it burn up to half. And when it burns out, look, don't just extinguish it, otherwise it will be bad, but take it with your thumb and fourth (ring) finger and extinguish it: do not take it with your other fingers, otherwise you will burn it with everything, and the fingers will fall off.
And so he ordered to burn the candles three times. We came home with our father and did as the sorcerer ordered. And in five days Mitka comes to us - a bang at the feet of his father: so and so - my fault!
And he gave five rubles, and left a fur coat for ten, he says:
- I have no strength, longing overcame. I know - all this Taneyevsky sorcerer has done 3)).
These are the methods by which sorcerers maintain their charm among the people. But at the same time, they firmly know that outward reverence is quickly replaced by hatred, when the spell oversteps the measure and begins to inflict offense. True, cases of harsh lynching of a criminal nature have become remarkably rare, but cases of contempt for unfortunate sorcerers associated with the loss of all respect for them are still talked about in all the provinces of both forest and black earth provinces. There are still possible cases of public competitions between two rivals on the basis of a boastful advantage."
On this score, in the southern Great Russian forest backwaters (for example, in the Karachev and Bryansk regions) there is a walking story of such content.
- In the old days, at the end of one village, there lived an old woman. Her nose was blue, big. Like night, the old woman is thrown off like a pig, then like a dog, and everything is white-throated. If he drops off, he’ll walk around the village: where the soldier will roll under his feet and lead the woman out of the way, and where he strives to separate the husband and wife. Gnawing does not gnaw, but only rolls under the feet. And at the other end of the village lived a sorcerer. And that sorcerer did not like the old woman, he began to harass her and boast in the village: I’ll finish her off! That's how night fell, and the old woman, throwing herself off as a pig, ran through the village, the sorcerer stood in the middle of the village and said:
"Stop," he says, "I have twelve strengths, and you only have five!" A pig screeched and suddenly became a woman. Then the people and let's beat her with stakes: "Give up, - they say, a cursed force!" - For a week after that she did not leave the stove, so as not to show bruises, and there she caught her breath and again for her own. And she took it into her head once to sit on a broom: "On a broom," he says, "he won't catch me." But as soon as she drove into the middle of the village, as he sensed, he sensed and on one wheel in pursuit of her how to start, knocked her off the broom, and then ordered her not to engage in this craft anymore.
In the northern forest places, namely in the Totem regions, such a case is generally known.
A sorcerer was invited to one wedding to protect the young from spoilage. When the young people went to church, they noticed a motionless man standing near their house. Returning back, they saw him again in the same position, as if nailed to the spot. When the wedding sorcerer approached him, everyone heard him ask: " Let go of me - do not hold me, do mercy. " - "I'm not holding you -" go. " Then the one who was standing jumped from his place and ran, with all his shoulder blades, set off. It became clear to everyone that it was a sorcerer sent for damage: the defender recognized him and, with his charms, forced him to stand in one place during the entire wedding and not harm.
But if the belief in sorcerers is still very strong in remote places, backwoods, then in areas adjacent to large centers, it began to weaken significantly. For example, a competent witness reports with complete certainty from the factory sites near Moscow that "there are now very few sorcerers there, compared with the recent past" (Vladimir province, Shuisky district). It happened, they say, that there were five of them per village. All women used to be spoiled. It used to be that everyone clicked, but now you can't get five for a whole volost, there are more doctors now. In accordance with this change, the stories of the sorcerers from the central region are obtained in a completely different way. For example, here is a story about a clash between a sorcerer and a soldier.
The soldier returned home and went straight to the wedding of a rich peasant. Everyone at the table is sitting, and in the place of honor, in the front corner, the Savka the sorcerer sits, lounging, and swaggers. The soldier could not bear it, he decided to have a chat with him: he began to "ride" at his expense, letting off chuckles. Savka the sorcerer could not stand it either, hit the table with his fist, growled:
- Hey, who's talking big there? It seems; the soldier is too much of a daughter. Wait, I’ll get it, I’ll get it right in my gut.
Matchmakers and matchmakers fell at their feet, began to beg:
- Savely Fyodorovich, breadwinner, forgive him: in the age of your washing, we will be happy!
- Okay, just drive out this little soldier, otherwise I won't sit with you anymore. Spoke and create:
- You, Savely Fyodorovich, do not step on me painfully, it is better to talk to you, and then we will turn around and see who is quick to leave here.
- Well, let's bewitch!
They both took a glass of vodka. The sorcerer began to whisper into his own, put some kind of root, sprinkled the sand on it, and gave the soldier a drink. He crossed himself and immediately drank, so that everyone did not even have time to blink an eye. The soldier grins, and even asks:
- Why did you goggle at me? - Nothing will happen to me. Better look at Savely Fyodorovich.
The soldier did not whisper over his glass, but poured his powder directly into you:
- Take it, Savely Fedorovich, “- drink it and you will be healthy.
Savka spoke the lapel words and drank. And the soldier ordered to close the door and ordered his friends not to let the sorcerer out of the table.
Beginning to grab Savka, he began to push from the place of honor. He did not reach the middle of the hut, as everyone fell down with laughter.
From that time on, the defeated sorcerer locked himself in his hut, did not go out anywhere and did not let anyone in. Faith in him was shaken forever, although the women took for a sorcerer and a soldier.
To use the sorcerer's help, as well as to believe in his supernatural powers, our people consider it a sin, although they believe that for this sin in the next world there is no threat of great punishment. But on the other hand, the magicians themselves, for all their deeds, will surely suffer a fierce, painful death, and a righteous and merciless judgment awaits behind the grave. (The local court is not suitable for them, at least, not only are complaints against sorcerers not submitted to government courts, but, in view of obvious offenses, even the volost and zemstvo authorities are not invited to the proceedings.)
The very death of sorcerers has many features. First of all, sorcerers know in advance about the death hour (three days in advance), and, in addition, they all die in approximately the same manner. So, for example, Penza sorcerers are beaten with convulsions and so badly that they do not die on a bench or on the beds, but certainly near the threshold or under the stove. If the "psalter" is read over such a sorcerer, then at midnight he jumps up and catches the reader who has turned blue with fear. Vologda sorcerers, before mortal suffering, manage to give their relatives a verbal testament: if they die in the field, do not bring them into the hut, dies in the hut, do not carry them out feet first, according to the custom of all Orthodox, but with their heads, and stop in advance at the first river, turn them over in a coffin supine and trim the heels or hamstrings. Smolensk sorcerers are not required to have similar wills: everyone there knows for surewhich is necessary immediately, as soon as they bury the sorcerer's grave, drive an aspen stake into it 4)), in order to prevent this deceased from rising from the coffin, wandering around the world and scaring living people 5)). Material taken from the site
Sorcerers will certainly die for a very long time, since they are instructed to suffer beyond what they should. One Oryol witch, for example, died for six whole days: by the evening
If she dies completely, she will calm down, they will put her on the table, and in the morning she will again crawl underground and be alive again. They will pull her out of there, and she will again begin to suffer: she crumbles and breaks her, she turns blue, sticks her swollen tongue out and cannot hide. The people are amazed, and will not guess to remove the skate (top of the roof) or at least one perch to ease the suffering of death 6)). In short, all the storytellers who paint the horrors of the dying sufferings of sorcerers cannot find words to express these torments. Some of the sorcerers go so far as to beat their heads against the wall, trying to split their skulls, tear their tongues to pieces, etc. One of them did not tell his wife to come up to him and look at his face, and when she, custom, did not obey, then after the death of her husband for six weeks she lay motionless, like a madman, and all the time looked at one point. The funeral of sorcerers themselves is far from a safe thing, and when burying them in the ground, one must look both ways so that some trouble does not happen. So, at the funeral of one sorcerer (Oryol province, Bryansk district), the peasants did not notice how his daughter, blindly obeying the share of the deceased, put fresh compressed rye in the grave. Immediately after that, thunder struck, a thundercloud with hail found, and knocked out all the field crops. Since then, every year, on the day of the funeral of this sorcerer, it began to comprehend "God's punishment" (and in fact, during 83, 84 and 85 years of hail, during a thunderstorm, only beat bread in this village), so that the peasants finally, decided to dig up the grave with the world, take out the rotten sheaf and only then calmed down (it was drunk, it was apparently invisible).at the funeral of one sorcerer (Oryol province, Bryansk district), the peasants did not notice how his daughter, blindly obeying the share of the deceased, put fresh compressed rye in the grave. Immediately after that, thunder struck, a thundercloud with hail found, and knocked out all the field crops. Since then, every year, on the day of the funeral of this sorcerer, it began to comprehend "God's punishment" (and in fact, during 83, 84 and 85 years, hail during a thunderstorm broke bread in only this village), so that the peasants, decided to dig up the grave with the world, take out the rotten sheaf and only then calmed down (it was drunk, it was apparently invisible).at the funeral of one sorcerer (Oryol province, Bryansk district), the peasants did not notice how his daughter, blindly obeying the share of the deceased, put fresh compressed rye in the grave. Immediately after that, thunder struck, a thundercloud with hail found, and knocked out all the field crops. Since then, every year, on the day of the funeral of this sorcerer, it began to comprehend "God's punishment" (and in fact, during 83, 84 and 85 years of hail, during a thunderstorm, only beat bread in this village), so that the peasants finally, they decided to dig up the grave with the world, take out the rotten sheaf and only then calmed down (they were drunk, it was apparently invisible).on the day of the funeral of this sorcerer, they began to comprehend "God's punishment" (and in fact, during 83, 84 and 85 years, during a thunderstorm, hail broke bread only in this village), so the peasants finally decided to dig the grave in peace, take out the rotten sheaf and only then calmed down (it was drunk, while it was apparently invisible).on the day of the funeral of this sorcerer, he began to comprehend "God's punishment" (and in fact, during 83, 84 and 85 years, during a thunderstorm, hail broke bread only in this village), so the peasants finally decided to dig the grave in peace, take out the rotten sheaf and only then calmed down (it was drunk, while it was apparently invisible).
Summing up the evil activities of sorcerers, we can say with confidence that almost all village misfortunes have a direct or indirect connection with the intrigues of sorcerers. This evil spirits harm people, harm to livestock and transfers their hatred even to plants. The harm caused to humans is most often expressed in the form of diseases. Sorcerers, for example, "put keels" on people, that is, they arrange so that a healthy person falls ill with a hernia or malignant dark blue abscesses, accompanied by unbearable pain and inexplicable melancholy: a person just climbs a wall. Binges are also sent by sorcerers, when the unfortunate person leaves his family, goes wherever he goes, they look, sometimes they lay hands on themselves. Sorcerers, on the other hand, take away a person's mind, make him fit, arouse the husband's disgust for his wife and back, and in general catch up with all those diseases from which the poor are reprimanded,and they carry enough people around the monasteries to St. relics. As for plants and animals, then, as mentioned above, sorcerers, yielding to the insistent demands of evil spirits, are forced to turn their activities to them 7)), and this activity maintains the environment of the dark population of constant nervous tension arising from continuous expectations of unexpected misfortunes and unforeseen troubles. It comes to the point that the peasants, for example, having bought new cattle, try to hide it away from the evil eyes of the slave sorcerer: as soon as he drove his hand along the back of the cow to take milk from her, or along the back of the horse in order to put it on its hind legs. Above horses - especially on wedding trains - the influence of sorcerers is limitless: if they want, they will not leave their place or fall on the restraints while the train moves to the church. Cattle rampages are also related to the work of sorcerers.
Of the plants, sorcerers harm grain most of all, knowing full well that by destroying peasant fields, they cause the greatest misfortune not only to individuals, but to entire peasant societies. Most often, sorcerers resort to the so-called "crease" or "twists" (otherwise "dolls").
The hall is a very tangled bundle of stalks of bread that has not yet been compressed, broken to the right and left, twisted into a knot together with the ash and sprinkled at the roots with salt, earth from the cemetery, eggshells and steamed old grains. If the ash is taken from the oven of one owner, then the hall is made with the expectation of harming him alone, foreshadowing various disasters: fire, death of livestock and even death. This is the opinion of the southern Great Russians of the chernozem belt and the inhabitants of the Desna region (Bryansk district); the northern ones (for example, in Poshekhonye) are even more afraid of creases, firmly believing that the consequence of such twists is inevitably a complete crop failure throughout the field. The peasants of these places are convinced that if the hedgehogs manage to warn or weaken the intrigues of sorcerers on the spoiled strips, then all the same, the grown bread will not "argue"that is, it will be consumed in the family much more than the usual average amount, so it will be necessary to buy bread on the side ahead of time. Moreover, from the blackened tithe grain is obtained lightweight, and in terms of quantity it will not be half equal to the neighboring ones. Not a single owner of the field will dare to start up such bread for home consumption, but will try to sell it to the side as soon as possible. In addition to the poor quality of the grain, the hall also has the peculiarity that it is extremely difficult to fight with it: no matter what the owners of the blackened field do, no matter how they plucked and burned the crease, the misfortune will certainly come true, if you do not serve a prayer service with blessing of water and ask of the priest himself, pull out the whole twist by the root with a cross. At the same time, besides the priest, in many places of the grain-growing governorates, they still pin their hopes on experienced old people and even on clever healers. In the Karachevsky district, for example, in the village of Yachny, there lived a 75-year-old man who was taken everywhere to "untie" the creases in an old and very tricky way 8)). burned in front of the owners, from whom he demanded only a strong meal at home.
This was not the kind of tradesman from Maloarkhangelsk, who was also a specialist in the tea of zalomov. This one took expensive and went to places reluctantly. But he already quite, it happened, will reassure and reassure not only the victim himself, but also all the neighbors. He usually came with a book and read prayers from it (the prayer book of Peter Mogila): "To me," he says, "the Moscow Metropolitan gave it and said: feed and remember me!" He arranged the reading itself very solemnly: “As a hall, fly up under fire, scatter ashes on the ground, do no harm to anyone! Fire cleans, drives away the disease, "he said in the field, and moreover," he usually raised his hands up, keeping his palms facing the fire, which he ordered to prepare for his arrival. Then he blew on all four sides and spoke some mysterious words. Where he himself went, he sent there either three sticks (he would fold two with a cross,the third will cover it and tell them to lift it up in the hall), or gave a note with incantatory words, which he ordered to burn together with the hall, and bring the ashes to it, for a final dissuasion. At the same time, the men were surprised that no matter where the wind was, the flame was drawn directly to him.
In addition to creases, the so-called “grooves” (or cuts) should be considered equivalent, and almost even a great misfortune. This is not a defect in the sheaves or heaps, but that path in the rye, an inch wide, which runs from one edge of the corral to the other and along which all ears are cut off. They are cut off by bugs and worms at a time when the rye is in bloom and therefore, of course, no traces of human legs are ever noticed on the sides, but, on the contrary, the walls of rye are even noticeably thicker than in other places of the same grain strip. But the peasants explain this phenomenon by the fact that the sorcerer, making a projectile, stands at this time with both feet on two icons, like on skis, and leads the path like a wheel rolls.
When experienced owners notice a projectile, they call the priest and raise the icons, attaching great importance to the "Saints" between them (the icon of 12 feasts with the Resurrection in the middle). The priest walks through the living with the cross and sprinkles holy water on the sides. If these precautions are not taken, then the results of the harvest will affect, and the hopes for a harvest will not be justified: at the root of the entire field, rye seems to be good, that is, it is large with straw and is profitable in grain, but as soon as it was squeezed, threshing floor and began to thresh, then they immediately began to notice that, instead of 5 or 4 measures from the heap, only two, or even one clean grain came out. Some at the same time interpret what the sorcerers and prodigies then do to pour grain into their bins (the fifth from the entire field), others explain it by unreasonable anger and desire to all owners of complete crop failure 9)
1) "Transfer", that is, things removed from an infectious patient and carried to the road or hanged in the forest on a branch. The disease goes into the tree or into that careless person who picks up or removes those things. The cautious will never pick up the finds without crossing themselves and thinking it over with prayer. up
2) Up to 12 times, as reported from the Penza province. up
3) I. Kablukov's story (reported from the Saransk district, Penza province). up
4) In the Vladimir province, crosses are usually not placed on such graves and it is believed that sorcerers usually die in baths, in a standing position. up
5) A stake is driven in, usually by a public judgment, in cases where relatives do not allow to put an aspen stick in the grave during burial. up
b) In other places of the northern forest provinces, with the same purpose, in order to give the soul room to get out of the teyaa and out of the hut, they remove whole roofs, believing, however, that the devils can fly out in their usual way - into the chimney … up
7) There are, however, plants, animals, and even things that help magic: eagle owls, owls, black, spotless, cats, frogs, snakes and all sorts of reptiles m: s indifferent; 12 iron knives, - for transforming into werewolves, aspen ash obtained from neighbors on Maundy Thursday; soot from the church stove, herbs: tear-grass, lubzha, ivan-da-marya and others. up
8) It is necessary to get up three dawns before sunrise and whisper water. And you have to whisper for a long time, so that another grandfather moves, moves his lips and tongue, and he will fall asleep. The whole corral is sprayed with whispered water, and then the hall is cut off and burned. up
9) Forest ants in the grass make the same holes, paving their own roads, sometimes 2-3 miles from the anthill, but such holes are not given ominous importance.