In Belarusian folklore, primarily in legends, such anomalous events as the appearance of mysterious lights and ghosts and other strange and mystical creatures on the spot of hidden treasures in the ground are often described.
According to popular beliefs, such treasures are considered enchanted, they rise to the surface of the earth from time to time and, as it were, "dry up" in the form of red (gold), blue or white (silver) lights.
But when a person approaches or touches a treasure, the glow suddenly disappears. According to some legends, similar lights and various infernal creatures near them can be seen in the middle of the night on rivers, lakes, swamps, mounds, cemeteries, settlements, hills and near cult stones …
Stones
So, near the village of Kolchuny, Oshmyanskiy district, there is a large boulder in the forest with a cross carved on one side. The people believe that a treasure left by Napoleon himself is buried under this stone. Previously, the boulder lay on the mountain, but many treasure hunters tried to move it, even wanted to blow it up. Yes, all in vain, the stone, on the contrary, began to "climb" into the ground. And the villagers began to see an unusual glow in that place at night. People thought that someone was looking for a treasure, however, there were also those who called this phenomenon paranormal.
Boulder near the village of Kolchuny (Oshmyany district).
Promotional video:
In the vicinity of the village of Imenina, Kobrin district, on a high mountain covered with a pine forest, once there was also a large stone. Once one person decided to spend the night on it. But an invisible force threw him fifty steps aside. From there, he saw on the stone alternately flashes of blue and red fire. When a person approached the stone, the fire disappeared, and as soon as he moved away from the boulder, the fire reappeared. The next day, three silver coins were found by the stone. As the legend says, the fire still appears in that place.
Quite often, stories about such stones feature not only lights, but also mysterious sounds, various creatures. For example, not far from the village of Lyntupy, Postavy district, somewhere 0.5 km east of it, in the Prydatki2 tract, there was once a "Devil's Stone". Local people claimed that they heard some bells ringing near him, saw lights and fires without smoke. If they approached closer in the morning, they did not find any fireplace there.
Similar phenomena are observed by people at the present time near the villages of Polesye and Petruti, Postavskiy district, as well as the village of Bogdanovo, Braslavskiy district. So, between the villages of Polesye and Petruti near Krivoy Gora on the shore of the lake, not far from the "Holy Spring" there is a boulder, which the locals call "Devil's Stone" and say that devils used to play cards on it, but at night they saw lights.
According to the legend, one guy was returning from a party in Petruti at dusk from Polesye. When he approached Crooked Mountain, a richly dressed stranger suddenly appeared in front of him and invited the guy to play cards with his friends. The guy began to refuse, citing lack of money, but the stranger lent him a full palm of gold coins. From the shining of money, the guy lost his mind and went with the stranger over Crooked Mountain, where two more men were sitting on the stone, also smartly dressed.
There was a fire burning next to the stone, which did not give heat and smoke, which did not surprise the guy, and he began to play cards. It goes on to say that, carried away by the game, the guy almost pledged his soul to the devils (under the guise of wealthy strangers it was they), but the cock crowed, and the demons disappeared.
In the popular imagination, the cursed (cursed) treasures could take the form of zoomorphic creatures. For example, near Sorochanskiy lake, in the Vysokaya apiary tract, which is 1.5 km from the village of Mikulki in Postavshchina, lies the so-called Zhvirasty (gravel) Stone. They say that if someone was late and drove through this place at night, then a lamb jumped out from under the stone and shone with a bright flame. As he approached him, he gradually began to fade to blackness.
The horses harnessed to carts reared up, overturned the carts, freed themselves from the harness and ran away. Local residents are sure that a cursed treasure or a chaise with gold is hidden under the stone, and the devil guards all this, which appears to people in the form of a lamb.
They say there is also a cursed treasure buried near Mount Kostelok (Grodno region).
And in the Rossony district on one hill lay the so-called Serpentine Stone. According to legend, a snake turned into stone, which flew at night, “blazing with fire”, as if “carrying with him a lot of gold and silver to a sinner who sold his soul to the devil”. But thunder struck, lightning flashed, and already, "defeated by heavenly braids," fell on the hill and turned into stone. And those treasures that he already carried with him went into the ground there and now appear in different parts of the hill in different forms. Some of them are shown in the form of a Cry (Mourners), she wiped her tears with a handkerchief that was blazing with fire, others saw black and fat dwarfs, the third were black goats.
Near the village of Sutarovshchina, Braslav district, there is Beli (Bely) or Vyaliki (Bolshoi) Stone with a human footprint, which lies on a hill. People say that gold is hidden under the stone, and near the stone you can see a Yellow Woman with a child in her arms, who guard the values. Once a guy and a girl, who wanted to take possession of the treasure, saw at this place at dawn a golden dog, whose coat sparkled and shone, but that dog did not fall into their hands.
In the village of Bogdanovo, Braslavsky district, on a local miraculous stone after sunset, they see a "toothy flame" or an old woman with a huge sack. At midnight devils are supposedly dancing by the stone. Near Tsudadzeinag (Miraculous) Stone in the village of Zharnelishki in the same district, according to the stories, miracles also happen: three horsemen appear, a forest fire is seen, a dog barks … They say that a pot of gold is hidden under a stone.
In the village of Oshmyanets, Smorgon District, there is a stone, not far from which, according to legend, the Swedes buried a carriage with gold while retreating, others say that a boat with gold is buried here. Locals see a shine near the stone, if you come closer, the shine disappears. According to legend, one man at the stone met a beautiful girl, she asked him to come here tomorrow at noon (the time of service in the church).
The next day, instead of a beauty, at this place a man saw a snake and cursed him. It turned out to be a girl turned by a snake, who said that she also cursed him forever, and disappeared. Archaeologist Konstantin Tyshkevich conducted research there and discovered two circles of smaller stones around the stone. He believed that in pagan times the boulder was an altar.
A stone called Semigayun or Gayun lies in the forest on the left bank of the Dnieper near the town of Orsha, Vitebsk region. According to legend, during the rain, the stone remains dry and radiates healing heat, heals diseases. The stone has the greatest strength on September 14 - at the beginning of Indian summer.
Stone Semigayun (Orsha district).
In the Bialystok region, near the village of Minkovtsi (formerly Grodno province), at noon a fire came out of a pile of stones. According to legend, a cursed treasure is hidden there. If someone came closer, a "soldier's hand with a saber" flew out from there and tried to hack to death.
There are many legends about the sworn treasures buried in castles and settlements, or in the hills. Usually such treasures, according to legend, were buried during wars either by the Swedes, or by the French, or by the Russians, and at night they can also appear in the form of lights. For example, at the settlement near the village of Bolshie Spory, Postavy District and Latygovo, Verkhnedvinsky District, as well as some others. So, on the settlement near the village of Degtyarevo on the left bank of the Drissa River and the former Latygovo of the Verhnedvinsky District, there are hidden cursed treasures that come to the surface on Kupalya.
The settlement near the village of Zbochno, Slonim district, is connected, according to the stories of local residents, with the war with the Swedes or with the struggle of the princes of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania with the crusaders. They say that a treasure is buried in the settlement, therefore, lights are often seen here. In the village of Lyskovo, Volkovysk district (now Pruzhansky district, Brest region), we are sure that a treasure is also buried on their settlement, which is located nearby, which sometimes "blazes with flame", but in another way "is dried.
In the same area, not far from the village of Mstibovo, on and near the castle, according to local residents, white and red fires very often appear. They are sure that a lot of money and all kinds of wealth are buried here. And once the shepherdesses saw on the castle “a certain person with a brush in his hand,” who kept asking to be scratched. People were sure that it was the treasure itself that they were asking for, and the shepherdesses got scared and fled.
Varganskaya Gora (Dokshitsky district).
Residents of the village of Shadintsy, Grodno region, are sure that at the foot of their cult mountain Kostelok, into which, according to legend, the church fell, there is also a cursed treasure buried. Sometimes they see him come to the surface and glisten with fire, usually at noon.
Mountains, where, according to legend, the treasure is hidden:
Varganskaya Gora - the village of Vargany, Dokshitsky district, - the treasure comes to the surface in different ways. There used to be an iconic stone here as well.
The castle near the village of Mstibovo (Volkovysk district).
Tamilava Gora between the villages of Bryanchitsy, Chepel and Pivashi, Soligorsk district. According to legend, the Swede buried three barrels of gold on golden wheels on the mountain, the gold is "dried" from time to time, and then the whole mountain glistens. If you see those lights and have time to throw the removed boot over your shoulder, then where it falls - there you will unearth the treasure. Now the mountain is destroyed - covered with waste heaps.
Yanavskaya Gora near the village of Smolyary, Borisov district. Here nearby is Zdan-Stone (Ghost-Stone), a holy source, ghosts in the form of beautiful young women appear. If a person got lost, they undressed him and put him to sleep on a stone not far from the swamp, and at that time it seemed to him that he was at home. We also heard horses neighing, sheep bleating there before.
Mount Chertovka near the village of Voronichi, Polotsk district. Ghosts appear on the mountain.
Zdan-Kamen not far from the village of Smolyary (Borisov district).
Shalamy mountains near the village of Shalamy-1, Slavgorod district, Mogilev region. Allegedly, cities have collapsed there together with temples and people, noise, ringing, singing is heard there.
Zolotaya Gora - village Minyanka, Kobrin district, Brest region. According to legend, Napoleon buried a carriage with gold here.
Zolotaya Gorka in Minsk - thieves buried many treasures there; according to another legend - believers poured a heap of gold coins to build a temple.
Catholic church of the Holy Trinity in Zolotoy Gorka (Minsk).
Princely wealth is buried on Mount Princely Mogila (village of Perevoz, Rossony District).
Lysaya Gora in the village Lotochki, Braslav district. They say that a cursed treasure is buried on the mountain, and in order to get it, you need to: a) make a fire on the mountain; b) peel off the skin from a live horse; c) harness this horse and draw three furrows on it around the fire - then the treasure will come out into the light.
Lysaya Gora in the village of Sperizhe, Bragin district. According to legend, Tsarina Catherine buried a golden carriage here.
Pokrov-Gora or Krasnaya Gorka (Vishchin village, Rogachevsky district) - a golden carriage is buried.
Shpileva Gora between the village of Polonevichi and Andrievschina of the Dzerzhinsky district - the French buried 100 carts with gold and weapons [6].
Sometimes lights appear in those places where, according to popular belief, as a result of the curse of people, a building falls into the ground. So, not far from the village of Lyskovo, Volkovysk district (now Pruzhansky district, Brest region), where the palace of one noble lady Beni collapsed in the Okopy tract in ancient times. It was during the war with the Russians, when the palace was destroyed, and the lady, so that her wealth would not go to the enemy, cursed this place. Subsequently, from time to time, a fire is shown here, which immediately extinguishes with the approach of a person.
According to the second version of the legend, when someone approaches the fire, he sees a chest on which candles are burning, and a beautiful young lady sits on it, next to her are two terrible dogs on chains. The young lady asks the man to take the treasure, but the dogs do not let him do this, and the young lady says that she will have to sit here for another three hundred years.
The next legend tells that once near the village of Sloboda, Bykhovsky district, not far from the forest, there was a church where a priest named Khrol served. Father was good, everyone respected him, but suddenly he deteriorated - he began to stare at other people's girls. Mother was very angry and cursed him, and God himself was angry with her: the church fell into the ground, and a lake formed in its place. Only at night does the church rise to the surface, and the devils light candles in it, so it seems that something is shining there. After that, people began to call that place Devilish. They say that it is called that now.
It is often mentioned that cursed treasures are flooded in a lake or river. As in the aforementioned Sorochanskoye Lake, where Napoleon allegedly sank a carriage with gold. From time to time it comes to the surface and “glows”. The same is said about Lake Glukhoe or Dikoe in the village of Kolpinskie, Dyatlovsky district. There allegedly Napoleon flooded the treasure. If someone tries to take possession of the treasure, a ghost comes out of the lake and strangles him.
Not far from the village of Shebrin near Brest, on the bank of the Mukhavets River, there is a hill called Castle Adam or Adamukha. According to legend, Pan Adam lived here, who, before his death, buried all his money at the bottom of the river. In clear weather, people see money in a chest float to the surface to "dry". And in Lake Khotomlya near the village of Shepelevichi, Kruglyanskiy district, a golden carriage was flooded.
Sometimes in legends a swamp is mentioned where a cursed treasure is drowned. For example, as in the village of Kukarevo, Berezinsky district. There, according to local beliefs, Napoleon himself in his golden carriage fell through in the Lyashevsky swamp during the retreat. And it happens that one of the villagers sees from afar how gold is "dried" there.
It is worth approaching closer, and the treasure disappears. In a swamp near the village of Sychkovo in the Bobruisk region, allegedly during the Swedish war, many weapons and horse-drawn carts were sunk, among them a golden carriage. The same is said about the swamp near the Krevlyanka River in the Smorgon region, where a carriage is allegedly flooded.
Krynica near Janavska Gora.
And it happens that an unusual fire is seen in a cemetery or mounds. Between the village of Novoselki and Miloshevichi, Slonim district, there is a spruce forest, which is called Boyars. According to legend, rich boyars once lived here, and after their death they were buried in that forest. On their graves to this day there are large carved stones, overgrown with moss for a long time. They say that boyars leave the other world once a year, and then a terrible storm rises in the forest. And if they find someone at this time in the cemetery, then they tear him to pieces. They also say that these boyars, together with wolves, sing songs and burn a fire until morning.
In the village of Derevnaya in Logoyshchina, a box with money is supposedly buried in an old cemetery. At midnight, as the locals say, here you can see flashes of fire, and then a certain "young lady" with a box in her hands. But before a person has time to orientate himself, the box turns into a polar bear. Near the village of Imeniny, Drogichinsky district, in the old cemetery, according to legend, every year on Holy Saturday at dusk and until midnight there are flashes like flames, they are either white, or red, or blue. They say that this is "dried" cursed money, once buried here by the Swedes.
And on the burial mound near the village of Lyatokhi, Vitebsk District, in place of the treasure, fire appears and a white horse jumps between the embankments. In the Gorodok district, at the burial mound, you can see two huge horses and a white wagon pulled by three horses. In the village of Bolshoy Rozhan, Soligorsk district, the Belarusian ethnographer Alexander Serzhputovsky wrote down a legend that on the bank of the river, where there are many mounds, from time to time a fire burns on some hill. They say that "money blooms" there, and if someone wants to come closer, the fire will go out. According to legend, this is damn money. This is how money shows where it is hidden so that it can be freed from the earth.
They also see lights on the so-called "proshchah" (goodbye). An example - forgiving near the village of Khutor, Svetlogorsk district, Gomel region. Natural objects here: a hill, an oak grove, previously there was a holy spring and a trace stone, next to a burial mound. Gold was once hidden here, so they see lights here. It is said that one woman found that gold, but it is given only to the one to whom it is "intended."
The hidden treasure can be under the tree. Example: Nikolsky oak in the village of Mikolka (formerly Peschanka), Uzdensky district. According to legend, the French buried a gold treasure under an oak tree.
Yanavskaya Gora (Borisov district).
Let's draw conclusions:
- most of the information about the infernal phenomena described above is recorded in areas like cult hills and around cult stones. Moreover, on many hills there were, and in some places are now cult stones;
- in addition to the lights at the place of the cursed treasures, people see visual hallucinations and feel sound hallucinations;
- the time when such phenomena occur - these are significant calendar holidays (Kupalye, Easter, Indian Summer, etc.), as well as at midnight, or noon, at dawn and at dusk - border time, also significant for ancient people.
In Belarusian mythology, the image of the god Veles was identified with wealth and gold. Most likely, in those places where people observe such infernal phenomena, such as visual and sound hallucinations - they see lights and various ghostly visions, hear noise, bells - there were ancient temples where our ancestors performed pre-Christian rituals and rituals dedicated to this deity or his analogue.
It is known that ancient people built their temples in special places that from the very beginning possessed a certain "power", for example, those in which geologists are now discovering geomagnetic anomalies. After the establishment of a new faith, these places were additionally prayed by those people who came here to perform various rituals, and the most susceptible of them could enter into a trance, during which they could see and hear all kinds of hallucinations.
Author: Irina Klimkovich
