As our meeting within the Ufokom project with Russian and correspondence with Russian folklorists showed, the use of the term “poltergeist” has not yet found support among them, although it is occasionally used, for example, to denote the function of a mythological character. There are several reasons for this. Firstly, the poltergeist is not included in the circle of traditional characters of folk demonology. And secondly, the interviewed informants, as a rule, do not use this word in their stories-stories about encounters with supernatural phenomena, preferring other definitions, for example: "devil", "demon", "evil spirits", "miracle", etc..d.
This state of affairs is quite understandable from the point of view of folklore as a science. But from an anomalistic point of view, it is quite legitimate to consider this or that story as information about a possible case of a poltergeist, even if the word "poltergeist" is not mentioned in it. After all, here the object of study is no longer a mythological character, but a certain phenomenon that may underlie the reasons for the appearance of a bylich or a corpus of bulls. If the events described in them fit into the proposed phenomenological definition of the "poltergeist" phenomenon, then these stories can be considered as messages about a poltergeist.
As the most striking example, here I would like to analyze the story of the "Belyakovsky line", which was recorded by domestic folklorists during field expeditions of the past two decades in more than ten settlements of Beshenkovichi, Lepel and Ushachsky districts of Vitebsk region. The collected materials were published in articles by T. V. Volodina and in the "Polotsk ethnographic collection". It is noteworthy in this story that it took place in an already non-existent settlement - vil. Belyaki, and the memory of her still lives on among the population of a fairly wide range of surrounding villages.
The settlements in which the story of the "Belyakovsky line" was recorded. This diagram does not show only the village. A trough located north of the selected map fragment
Location. The village itself Belyaki was located on the territory of the modern Lepel district, on the shore of Lake Mugirino, near the modern village. Zavadino. According to the information of the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus, before the Great Patriotic War, there were 9 houses and 28 residents in Belyaki, and during the war the village was destroyed, 6 people from among the residents were killed. After the war, Belyaki was not rebuilt again, and only the name of the tract of the same name remained in memory of this village.
Der. Belyaki on the 1936 map (left) and Belyaki tract on modern satellite images (right)
Promotional video:
Unfortunately, the dating of the events described in the publications of folklorists is not given. In the published folklore texts (reports of informants) and their fragments, it was possible to find only a couple of indirect indications that the history belongs to the interwar period (1920-1930s). Theoretically, an approximate dating can still be established by additional questioning of informants, or by referring to the archives of folklorists-collectors who could record this moment.
Informants
According to information from the published materials, at least 17 informants were interviewed in 12 localities. Of these, 2 people were born in the 1910s, 5 - in the 1920s, 8 - in the 1930s, for two more people the year of birth was not indicated. In fact, all (or almost all) were contemporaries of the events described, although most of the informants at that time were in childhood. None of them was a direct eyewitness, and the information they reported was received from other people: "kazali", "gavorats", "dzyadzka gavaryk", "geta told may tsetka", "daddy told," "mom told."
Reliability of descriptions
T. V. Volodina, who conducted a folklore analysis of the collected array of byliches, noted in her publications that the further from Belyakov (the epicenter of events) the stories were recorded, the more variability manifested in details, the main storyline was simplified, and the narrative itself was more consistent with the laws of mythological genres. This is quite natural, since with the spread of rumors, the reliability decreases according to the increase in distance, giving room for imagination. The same principle should be relevant when increasing the time interval from the moment of the event to the moment of the story. The more the storyline of the narrative matches the typical storylines of mythological prose, the less credible it is.
Thus, one should count on a more accurate description of events either in the settlement itself, where they took place, or (if it ceased to exist, as in this case) in the nearest to it. This is in an ideal situation. But in reality, other factors also have to be taken into account, for example, family ties, natural migration of the population, historical factors (in this case, resettlement to another place of residence under military conditions). So, for example, an informant from the village, quite remote from the center of events. In the first years of the war, after the retreat, Zaruchev lived for some time directly in Belyaki themselves and could hear this story directly from eyewitnesses.
All these nuances should certainly be taken into account when collecting and analyzing folklore information about old cases of poltergeist.
Main characters
The informants call here a married couple of two people - the owner of the house in Belyaki named Vasil (nickname Bazyl) and his wife Katerina (nickname Bazylikha). The latter was from the nearby village. Mountain, quite beautiful and not at all poor, was engaged in sewing (dressmaker), but no one took her in marriage, as they believed that she was engaged in witchcraft. Bazyl's personal life was also not going smoothly, although he was "handsome in appearance", but "so shaggy." On the basis of loneliness, they got along, got married, but God did not give them children ("they had no slaves"). But, apparently, family life was not at all rosy, because after that (according to an informant from the village of Zavadino) he "sank" - overgrown with a beard and somehow aged.
Reasons for the appearance of the "devil"
Here, in the array of collected byliks, several lines can be traced in the interpretation of the reasons:
Option 1. The culprit is Katerina, who knew how to conjure. Before her, there was no devil in Belyaki, but when she got married here, she brought the devil (informant from the village of Zavadino). This devil helped Katerina, since she was a witch, because not every person has devils (informant from the village of Kugoni).
Option 2. The culprit is Basil. This basil, they say, conjured there or something (an informant from the village of Sokorovo). And he, they say, learned to do magic, but did not finish his studies. And since he didn’t finish his studies, then the devil followed him (informant from the village of Zaluzhenie, born in the village of Novoselki). He learned to conjure and failed to learn (informant from the village of Novoselki).
Option 3. Both are to blame. They were learning something [to conjure]. Here they studied and could not finish their studies. And they "violated" the line, made him angry. So he settled in a hut with them (an informant from the village of Pola, previously lived in the village of Gorovye).
Option 4. "Violated" house. This motive appears in messages, apparently, with the suggestion of folklorists who conducted a survey and asked appropriate leading questions. For example: "So maybe it was a little house?" - “No, this is not a small house… Or maybe they also violated the house” (informant from Gorovye village). "So the little house is the devil?" - “He turns into the devil there” (informant from the village of Nizgolovo).
Option 5. Punishment for sacrilege. The owner went to church before Easter or Christmas, before some holiday, he did something there, probably said something, and the devil appeared with him (an informant from the village of Turospolye).
Thus, we see that the main motive in popular interpretations is the accusation of the owners of witchcraft: they say that devils do not attach themselves to good people. The mentions of the little house (brownie) here are casual. The last of the listed motives (punishment for sacrilege) is fixed on the periphery of the revealed area of existence of the story about the "Belyakovsky devil" and is already associated with the degradation of the original content of the spreading rumor.
Locus of action
The zone of tricks "devil", if we proceed from the reports of informants, was mainly limited to the space of the house and outbuildings (barn). In some cases, the baking is highlighted: “and they [the devils] will run under the stove” (1st informant from the village of Kugoni), “they said that they were under the stove” (2nd informant from the village of Kugoni). Here you can see a certain allusion to the image of the brownie, which is associated with the locus of the furnace, but nevertheless, in this region, apparently, the image of the devil, as more generalized for all evil spirits, prevails. In isolated episodes, the scope of action of the "trait" extends beyond the space of the house. So, according to folk tales, the "devil" drowned Bazyl in an ice hole in the lake (see below the item "Tragic finale"). Another episode describes a case of the so-called "poltergeist induction" - the movement of the "devil's" zone of action to another village. According to an informant from the village. Paula (previously lived in the village of Gorovye), a relative (niece?) Of the owners of the house with the "devil", who got married in the village. The mountain ones, took from them a chest with her goods in order to protect it from damage, and transported it to her. On the same night, as soon as they dozed off, someone in her house knocked out the window and threw through it into the kitchen garden the husband's pouch with tobacco and other smoking accessories lying on the table. And I had to take the chest with good things back to Belyaki so that they would no longer be "disturbed."someone in her house knocked out the window and threw through it into the garden the husband's pouch with tobacco and other smoking accessories lying on the table. And I had to take the chest with good things back to Belyaki so that they would no longer be “disturbed”.someone in her house knocked out the window and threw through it into the garden the husband's tobacco pouch with tobacco and other smoking accessories lying on the table. And I had to take the chest with good things back to Belyaki so that they would no longer be “disturbed”.
Tricks "hell"
The described phenomena were quite varied. They can be divided into the following groups:
1. Almost all informants talked about damage by the "devil" of material (fabrics), clothing and even footwear: "pastryzhets", "pakusaits", "adzezhu paests", "parezhats", "paparvets". Since Katerina was a dressmaker, people constantly came to her with orders and brought material. Moreover, some informants noted that the "devil" did not touch someone else's, but spoiled only the clothes of the owners (informants from Novoselka, Sokorovo), and others - that he also spoiled the customers' material (informants from Kugoni, Turospolye, Starye Turos). There were also mentioned episodes when things and clothes of visitors were spoiled in this way. One woman came in, sat for about an hour and put her cap down - ate, ate - small holes (informant from the village of Nizgolovo). Both the robe of the priest invited to the house and the clothes of the “sergeant” (see below) were damaged by the "devil".
2. The warp threads were cut off on a loom (on crossbars). “And the scissors walk by themselves, they see the scissors walk for themselves. There is not a person anywhere, but scissors are walking around, cutting, cutting threads (informant from the village of Susha).
3. Spreading of bulk food supplies. “Earlier, cereals were pounded in a mortar. Everything, he says, amazes, scatters everything”(informant from the village of Kugoni). “There are some sacks, there is a bulb or barley, whatever was there, and he will scatter it and that's it” (informant from the village of Zavadino).
4. Spoilage of cooked food and food. “They had such a thing that they would whip up the oil, and they would stir up this oil and mix it with manure” (informant from the village of Susha). “And they are cooking. And those [devils] will put sticks in the cauldrons. Yes, for food. They say they will take out, but there is nothing there”(informant from the village of Kugoni).
5. Blocked chimney. “She bought a large handkerchief (…) and put it in the chest. And then she flooded, the next day to heat the stove, all the smoke goes into the hut. (…) Her basil climbed right up to this roof, into the chimney, this kerchief turned out to be in the chimney, the chimney was plugged up”(informant from the village of Zaluzhenie, born in the village of Novoselki). “They said that the stove would be flooded, but they would close the chimney and the smoke would not go out” (informant from the village of Kugoni).
6. Moving objects. “And at this time from behind the stove flies, clothes fly from behind the stove, what else is there, sand that was poured behind the stove” (informant from the village of Susha).
7. Shed and livestock. “She said that we would close everything for the night, close it up, wake up, and all the barns were open. Cattle in the yard”(informant from the village of Kugoni).
8. Aggressive actions against people. “They say the devil will come to their house, climb into the stove, hold a brick and throw it at them, but they do not see” (informant from the village of Zaluzhene, born in the village of Novoselki). “Somehow he pulled the blanket off, even though the two of them were all the same” (informant from the village of Zaezvino). “They said that there was no way to live there. And he drives him away and strangles him”(informant from the village of Zaruchevye).
Visual manifestations
Almost all reports say that the "devil" operating in Belyaki was invisible. Only in the message of the informant from the village. Sokorovo, who tells the story from the words of his uncle, says that the latter saw this dirty trick with his own eyes: “And the uncle said, is it true or not, sitting on the gate and chatting with his feet.” It also speaks of another form of manifestation: "it is swinging with a firebrand on the roof."
Acoustic manifestations
“All they had there - they squeaked, and rang, and played …” (informant from the village of Pola, lived in the village of Gorovye). “They don't see it, but it thundered, knocked, they said”; “And she will anger him with what, mistress, he will walk, blurt out, knock, fondle” (informant from the village of Kugoni). “And they beat me with rocking chairs. They knocked. And with sticks "; "A lot of them. And they laughed among themselves there. As soon as they laugh, as if they were sleeping soundly, they would still wake up”(informant from the village of Kugoni).
Voice manifestations
What is interesting in the story about the “Belyakovsky devil” is that the latter, while remaining invisible to people, manifested himself in a voice, uttering certain phrases. So, for example, in the episode with the cut threads on the crosses, a voice told them: "This is for you because you slander me, slander" (informant from the village of Susha). To the owners' intention to move away from the "devil" to Siberia, he answered them: "And I am with you" (informant from the village of Pola), "And I will be in Siberia before you" (informant from the village of Novoselki), " While you are going, I will already be there "(informant from the village of Susha)," Wherever you go, I will be ahead of you. I'll stop by you in Siberia”(informant from the village of Zavadino). There were also direct threats to the owner of the house: “Until then I will walk until Bazyl is drowned” (informant from the village of Zaluzhene, born in the village of Novoselki).
Attempts to get rid of the "devil"
Here, as it usually happens, they resorted to the help of the church - they invited a priest, but this did not bring a positive result. “They brought the priest - there is no one. Batiushka prayed - all the same”(informant from the village of Zaluzhenie). A number of informants indicate that during the visit of the priest, the "devil" also ruined his robe. “I even ate my ass's clothes”; “But the devil ate a robe for the priest” (informants from the village of Starye Turosy). “While he was praying there, he was baptized, and he cut his robe there” (informant from the village of Susha). “He began to pray, and he began to eat away this robe on him in pieces, and he ran away” (informant from the village of Pola, lived in the village of Gorovye).
Two informants recorded a story about a visit to the house by a “sergeant” (a police sergeant?), Which ended with the same result. “And so that sergeant came, he’s standing, and here is a sypezza from the oven. And then he will look, and his whole floor is twisted with holes. A-yay. He then caps in an armful and out of the hut. Run away from them. I went to other huts and asked questions”(informant from the village of Zavadino).
Tragic ending
The logical conclusion of this whole story with the "Belyakovsky devil" falls on the death of Bazyl, who was found drowned in a hole in the lake in winter. Went to fish - and found drowned at the hole. This event found a corresponding interpretation in the popular mind. The overwhelming majority of informants agree that "the devil drowned him." At the same time, additional details are given: "They pulled back to the hole, the tracks were backwards, and drowned" (informant from the village of Pola). “And he, probably, is already there with his muzzle in this hole, he choked” (informant from the village of Zaluzhenie, born in the village of Novoselki).
Informant from the village. Zavadino cites a completely different version of what happened - they say, the "devil" drowned not Basyl, but his younger brother Ivan, who was not yet married: "And his brother - Ivan was called - went to fish, and there was a hole in the lake, where do I get water. He fell into the wormwood, and only the cap floats. But he is not. And everyone says that it was the devil who shoved him. He himself would not have gone into the wormwood, a reasonable one. (…) It was the devil who managed it. This is the devil, they say, Ivan shoved that one. They had a fight with that Katerina, with his brother, so she did to him. " Zavadino is the village closest to Belyaki, so this version of events may be more consistent with reality. T. V. Volodina notes that in Zavadino the nature of the story has a more prosaic character: Bazyl's sister was the dressmaker, and his brother drowned in the hole, Katerina simply died,and the owner of the house himself was burnt in the war when the village was burned. And the farther from the center, the more the story fits into the laws of mythological genres.
But, be that as it may, in the folk legend, the plot with the drowned Bazyl found further development. Before the funeral, during the funeral service for the deceased, the "devil" does not appease: “The priest has already been invited to perform the funeral service for this drowned, deceased. And now the priest is already praying. And at this time, it flies from behind the stove, clothes fly from behind the stove, what else is there, the sand that was poured behind the stove. And granny's uncle was a master … to make coffins. He came there, hung the saw in the shade or something. This saw rings, as someone hits it. No one is visible. This is what is happening”(informant from the village of Susha).
The informant from the village. Sokorovo, in the course of the story, another absolutely mythological motive arises: the devil puts the deceased in a bowl (a wooden tub for kneading bread). “They came, and this devil brought him in a bowl, in a breadbasket, into a bowl, in a breadbasket. - [Who put him in the bowl, the devil?] - Yes. - [Already dead?] - He drowned him in a hole, in a lake, in winter. Well, they buried him, everyone, and then they will look, and he is in the bowl. - [After they were buried?] - Yes, how they buried. Is it true or not."
After Bazyl's death, everything allegedly calmed down: “Then she [Katerina] was already living, she did not touch (an informant from the village of Zaluzhenie).
General conclusions. Thus, the collected array of bylichs tells about an outbreak of supernatural phenomena that took place "before the war" in the already defunct village of Belyaki. Poltergeist phenomena were expressed in the movement, scattering and damage of objects, acoustic and vocal manifestations, as well as, possibly, visual (here the most interesting moment with a firebrand on the roof, which may have parallels with the “fiery snake”). As a source of poltergeist, the informants call "devil", the appearance of which is associated with the fact that the owners of the house were allegedly involved in witchcraft.
What useful lessons can you draw from this story?
1. In folklore sources, as well as in historical and ethnographic materials, one can find information about phenomena that can be classified as poltergeist.
2. The story of the "Belyakovsky devil" shows that rumors about rather striking cases can go far beyond the boundaries of one settlement. This circumstance makes it possible to search for information about "historical poltergeists" in certain regions blindly - by polling according to a "grid" of pre-selected settlements - and, having found the trail, then localize the specific place of certain events.
3. When fixing folklore information about "historical poltergeists", it is necessary to take into account the tendency to "mythologize" the original text, which increases with an increase in the spatial, temporal and social distance. That is, it is worth paying attention to the following: how far the informant lives / lived from the place of immediate events, was he their contemporary or not, how close he is in terms of family or other social ties to direct eyewitnesses, through how many “hands” this information reached him … It is also worth paying attention to the presence in the recorded stories of typical and widespread mythological motives, which in themselves indicate the creative processing of the original text of history among the people.
Note: In this publication, the statements of the informants are given not in strict accordance with the texts of the recordings, but in translation into Russian with the maximum accurate transmission of the meaning. Directly with the original records can be found in the named sources, which form the basis of this analysis.
Victor Gaiduchik