“Knock on wood! Don't whistle at home! - from childhood grandmothers tell us. And how they intimidate us with all kinds of evil spirits, brownies and black cats! The tradition of superstition is firmly entrenched in the subcortex of the Russian consciousness, combining the remnants of pagan heresy with folk wisdom.
And in spite of the fact that today very few people are afraid of brownies and goblin, Russian people always “sit down on the path” and prefers not to spill salt.
To spill salt - to shed tears
Probably, almost every one of us, when spilling salt, one way or another recalls one of the most common signs that this bodes well for quarrels and misfortune. Salt in world culture is already quite an interesting and multifaceted symbol, but the Russian folk tradition has always attached it, first of all, to everyday significance. It is believed that this sign appeared during the riots and uprisings in Russia in the middle of the 17th century, when salt was literally worth its weight in gold. Hence the meaning - to overwhelm such a precious thing in vain - inevitably leads to a quarrel in the house. But the resourceful Russian people quickly found a way to avoid trouble. So, if you believe in omens and still sprinkle salt, it's okay. It is enough just to laugh, or give yourself a blow on the forehead, or sprinkle sprinkled salt on your head. Later they began to jokethat if the food is too salty, then the cook is in love with someone.
Whistle at home - you will overlook money
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Everyone knows this sign, even the most distant from superstition Russian people. In addition to the fact that whistling in the house can simply be impolite, whistling, according to popular beliefs, could attract various evil spirits into the house. And you could offend the brownie. Then he will run away, taking with him not only the acquired property, but also peace. With a whistle, the wind comes into the house, which can also take all the wealth out of the house. It is not surprising that sailors were always afraid to whistle a storm. Besides, if you whistle in the house, you can whistle not only money, but also memory. In fact, whistling means turning away the face of the Mother of God, and whistling in the house, one way or another, means devastation.
Clothes inside out - to a squabble
Contrary to other peoples, in the Russian tradition, clothes dressed inside out do not promise good luck to a person. Folk wisdom formulates this clearly and clearly: "Dress inside out - either drunk, or you will be beat", and "to spit on the dress by chance - endure vain". It is not surprising, because people used to treat clothes much more carefully and carefully than modern people. In ancient times, clothing also performed a certain protective function. It is not for nothing that sometimes special charms were depicted on clothes. In addition, she was almost always very expensive and only a careless person could dress her in an inappropriate way. Sometimes the truth was given a good, even funny, meaning. For example, it was said among the people that if a married woman's skirt wrapped up when dressing, then she will soon give birth.
You sew on yourself - you sew memory
Another sign associated with clothing warns that you cannot sew clothes directly on yourself, as you can sew a memory. This is not only physically dangerous, but also has some mystical connotation. However, it is not known for certain why this sign is associated with memory. Most likely, the pagan overtones are strong here. We can only assume that the clue is that in the old days, when there were no antibiotics or antiseptics, and the needles were large, crooked and, accordingly, uncomfortable, if pricked with a needle, you could get serious blood poisoning or tetanus. However, for this sign, the people came up with a counteraction: in order to protect their memory from mysterious processes, it is enough just to take a thread in their mouth. So this superstition should be treated with humor.
You step on the threshold - you will wake up the ancestors
There are a lot of signs associated with the threshold, and not only in our culture. The most famous Russian variations on this theme, perhaps, are about the fact that you cannot greet or pass things across the threshold, so that the devils do not part or that the children are not dumb. The threshold is the border area between the outer space and the inner space, the territory where spirits live. And this is not about any evil spirits, but about spirits. The fact is that for the ancients, the threshold of the house had a certain sacred meaning. This is the place where the spirits of the ancestors lived, who were supposed to protect their living relatives from all kinds of evil. Indeed, in the old days, the ashes of the dead were often buried under the threshold. Hence the special attitude to this part of the house.
A woman's hair falls - the grass doesn't grow
There has always been a special attitude towards hair, especially women. The color of the hair and the structure were both important, since at times it was possible to determine the character of a person from them. It was also believed, not without reason, that a woman with an uncovered and disheveled head should not go out into the street in a thunderstorm, otherwise she would be killed by thunder. And, of course, simple-haired, disheveled women were always treated with caution: what if a witch? So it is not surprising that the hair was endowed with a certain mystical power. You cannot cut your relatives, you cannot store cut hair, and where a woman's hair falls at all, the grass does not grow.
You step on someone else's trail - you lose your legs
But with traces in Russian superstitions, everything is relatively simple. If you follow someone else's trail, you will pick up someone's illness, or even worse, fate. But in the old days people sometimes seriously feared that the traces might be "spoken". And if a sorcerer has worked here, trouble is inevitable. And even if today many superstitions seem ridiculous to us, all the same, when we see someone's footprints in the sand, we automatically pay attention to them.