Researchers of the Institute for Problems of Northern Development SB RAS (Tyumen) Nina Aleksandrovna Liskevich and Angela Khairullovna Masharipova studied the practices of influencing the weather and natural disasters in different Komi groups in Western Siberia. The research results are published in the third issue of the "Bulletin of Archeology, Anthropology and Ethnography" for 2015. A review of this article, prepared by Diana Khomyakova, was published by Science in Siberia.
The meteorological magic of this people largely depended on the conditions of their residence and type of activity. So two groups can be distinguished: mountain livestock breeders and lowland farmers.
On the territory of the Northern Trans-Urals, the Izhma Komi, whose main occupation was reindeer breeding, used methods of influencing the wind, whirlwind, rain, and preventing avalanches. The activities of these people were associated with everyday danger and extreme situations that pose a threat to both humans and animals. Difficulty passing through the passes, where avalanches and avalanches occurred, fogs and squally winds, crossings over rapid mountain rivers, attacks of predators, sudden epizootics (epidemics), due to which it was possible to lose the entire herd … and the safety of people.
When migrating, reindeer herders looked at the phase of the moon - it was believed that if you set off on the road in the final stage of waning, you could get into bad weather. "Meteorological report" was compiled as a result of observing the clouds over the mountains Ner-Oyka, Tel-Poz-Iz or Sablya. When the clouds went below the peaks and, crawling over them, stretched out in the form of smoke coming from the chimney, they said that in the Urals "stoves are being heated", and this is a sign of bad weather.
In the mountains, noise bans were traditional, although to a greater extent they were observed near the top of Tel-Poz-Isa, on the border of the Northern and Subpolar Urals. It was considered a "nest of the wind", and therefore even the faintest sound of a voice, the slightest knock, seemed to cause a terrible storm. The industrialists, passing by, kept a deep silence and even wrapped the oarlocks with rags so that they would not creak.
If it was necessary to go somewhere urgently during bad weather, then 40 notches on a stick were made to improve it, recalling 40 bald old people. After that, this stick was placed against the wind or hung up so that it dangled. This method is similar to the Vologda belief, according to which winter frosts could be reduced by counting “forty bald men”.
The rain was stopped with an old jagged ax, which was turned with a blade towards the cloud. Iron objects, according to traditional Komi ideas, had great magical and healing powers. There are stories that a strong wind can be calmed down by throwing a knife or an ax over the left shoulder over the left shoulder with an inverted hand, or "chopping" the blowing with them.
If, on the contrary, in calm weather they were going on a journey in a small town - a boat with a sail - then the necessary air movements could be caused by making special sounds three times a day. This method is still used by children to escape the gnat. “I don't know if it's true or not, but I believe in it. Here is the mowing, the heat, the midges. And we shout: tale, tale, babet kule - "Wind, wind, grandma is dead." And the wind starts to blow. At least a little, but it will be."
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The agricultural groups of the Komi, settled in the more southern regions in the Tobol and Irtysh basins, had very diverse meteorological signs. The weather was predicted by trees, birds, and rivers. It was even possible to make a forecast for the week ahead. During the mowing, the morning dew was used to determine whether to wait for precipitation: if it is, it will not rain, if it is not, it will go. The red sky was a sign of the strong wind; blizzard predicted barking dogs, a circle around the moon. The horse does not lie down in the stall in the frost, and if snow sticks to its hooves, "as it walks on heels, to the cold."
The upcoming weather was also judged by the behavior of the birds. It was believed that a loon cackles before a clear day, and groans before a rainy and rainy day, and a raven "sits on a dry branch," shouts in its own way, and even bows, "the cuckoo cuckoo before thunder.
Long-term signs about the weather among Komi agricultural groups were associated with determining the amount of future precipitation, the size of the harvest: “This is how a new moon will appear at Christmas, look how it hangs, if it bends a little, what can be hung with a bucket of water, it means there will be rains … And if she stands straight, that there is nowhere to hang the bucket, then it will be dry."
In an attempt to influence the weather, they also resorted to Orthodox rituals - in particular, it was believed that they were good help from large and destructive fires, which were a terrible disaster for the village. So, the way to stop the fire was to bring home icons, prayers, procession. Here is one of the surviving legends: “It was about 150 years ago, the mother told my mother. In general, three women went to rowing resin to do. When they left, these women, it seems, were making a fire, it was hot, and the forest caught fire. They are from there, let's run faster. We left by boat. They were frightened because the forest was approaching the village. The well-to-do had already taken their things, and that things then - a table, stools, clothes of some sort, moved to the other side. And the priest gathered everyone who could, and according to this Tiltimka they went with prayer, moleben. Seven kilometer, here. We got there, you seeand it started to rain. And the priest said - you do not close yourself, they asked God what, God gave it. Duck this, the rain extinguished this fire, and the Men were saved. This is how the fire was extinguished. The cross was then raised."
Also, a popular way of stopping the fire or changing its direction among all Komi groups was to throw Easter eggs into the fire - for this, one of them was specially kept behind the icon. “In the village of Staroaleksandrovka, during a forest fire, elderly women threw Easter eggs into the fire and stood with icons near the cemetery to defend it. As a result, in their opinion, the wind changed its direction and the fire retreated, although other villagers explained the stopping of the fire by a wide furrow plowed by a tractor."
In the summer, during unfavorable weather conditions, ceremonies were carried out to induce or, less often, to stop rain, which combined Christian and pagan traditions. Older women, as a rule, became their main participants. They gathered with icons and sang prayers in all the fields, over the crops, in the middle of the village and on the river. Usually, a complex event was timed to the date that fell on the next Christian holiday. For example, Trinity.
One of the features of the ritual among some Komi groups was the custom of visiting the cemetery. On Trinity, when there was no rain, they took icons, buckets of water and went to water the graves of the drowned. And here is another variation of a similar rite: “There was no rain for a long time, and then we went with a friend to the cemetery, dug a cross from an old grave, tied it to a block and drowned it in the river. It rained very hard, for two or three days it rained incessantly, we even got scared and ran out of the water to pull the cross. As they pulled it out, the rain began to subside."
When there was no precipitation for a long time, they said: "May God give it rain, lazy people will have shortness of breath." Children, tired of work, had fun to call out bad weather: “if the rake is thrown with its teeth upwards on the mowing - to the rain, the parents swear. Or if the frog is drowned, burned or killed, it will rain. " To stop the downpour, it was believed, a poker carried out on the porch will help. During mowing, the approaching cloud was "held with a pitchfork." This tool was also used to protect against a whirlwind, directing its teeth towards the spinning funnel of wind.
"At present, the Komi practically do not practice meteorological magic, some techniques are remembered as childish amusements, but prayer requests for preferred weather remain," the researchers write.