"Without a brownie like without a master!" - said people in the old days, and really believed that without the housekeeper the house would become an orphan. The patron saint of family and home was an integral part of the prosperous life of people. In the house, the brownie usually lived behind the stove or under it, he could also choose a chimney, or he could live in the underground or in the attic.
It was believed that not only a person needs a brownie, but the brownie himself is very attached to the house. Over the long years of coexistence, the housekeeper got used to the people and the hut in which he lived. Therefore, it was extremely difficult to make him leave his abode.
But people, as a rule, did not try to get rid of the brownie. On the contrary, when moving to a new place of residence, they invited the spirit of the house to go with them. To lure the brownie into a new hut, there were special rituals. As a rule, a brownie with certain conspiracies was transferred to a new home with a part of the old economy (pots, bast shoes, etc.), transported on a shovel or broom.
The brownie could stay in the old abandoned house only if the owners forgot to call him. Also, the brownie could take offense at people and not follow them if they called him carelessly and disrespectfully. Left alone, the brownie was bored, toiled and grieved and could even die.
There are many stories about brownies who have lost their homes. So, there is a legend among the people that in one of the regions an entire village was burned down as a result of an accident. And on its ashes every night there was a loud cry - this was the grieving and groaning of the brownies. Then the peasants built temporary huts for them and invited the brownies there, spreading slices of bread with salt near the huts. The crying in the ashes stopped that night - apparently, the house-mates accepted the invitation of the people and lived in huts until the village was rebuilt.
Another story tells about the following case. One night a lonely traveler saw a burning house and hurried to it. The fire was very strong, and it was hardly possible to extinguish it. Approaching, the traveler heard a cry and saw an elderly man of small stature running towards him. On a raid, he lamented: "I can't find a home, it's better than this!" Apparently, it was the spirit of a burnt house.
People's ideas about gods and spirits, as a rule, are always anthropomorphic. In the same way, folk fantasy has given the image of the brownie a lot of human features. So, according to popular beliefs, a brownie could have a family, the spirits of the house could be in a quarrel or on friendly terms with the spirits of another house, go to visit each other, etc.
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According to popular beliefs, brownies from all over the village gathered for a kind of "parties". To do this, they chose an abandoned hut, standing on the outskirts, and danced there at night. At this time, sounds similar to the screams of animals and the stamping of feet were heard from the hut.
The brownie took care of the house, the welfare of the people, and helped them manage the household. People, in turn, showed him all kinds of signs of attention and respect - they left gifts and treats for him. The brownie guarded livestock and poultry, but he could also dislike some animal. Therefore, the owners tried to select pets so as to please the housekeeper.
If the brownie treated family members well, he could warn them about the danger that threatened them. To do this, he gave signs to the owners of the house.
So, for example, if one of the household members was threatened with a serious illness or even death, the brownie began to moan and cry at night. If a fire broke out in the house and in the yard in the middle of the night, the housekeeper would wake people up, call them by name, or he could help to get out of the burning house or barn.
When the brownie wanted to warn the owners about the threat of ruin looming over them, he showed himself to one of the owners naked, and if people were threatened with legal proceedings, he knocked with the chimney damper on the roof.
The brownie watched the relationships in the family. He did not like idlers, slovens and instigators of quarrels. At night, he could pull such people by their hair, douse them with water, push them out of bed and pinch them. This behavior of the housekeeper should be regarded as a warning, otherwise he could begin to significantly harm the farm, spoil furniture and torment livestock. And vice versa, if the family lived amicably, without quarreling, took care of the household, then the brownie combed the owners in their sleep, stroked them with a warm, shaggy hand, and sometimes you could hear him laughing.
In connection with the ideas about brownies, some signs arose. For example, it was forbidden to work at night, use foul language in the house and in the barn, etc. It was believed that if people did not follow these instructions, the brownie would get angry with them and stop helping them.
If, nevertheless, the brownie for something took offense at people and began to harm them, it was possible to make peace with him. Then for him, behind the stove or in another secluded corner, they left some tasty treat, snuff and all kinds of gifts, for example, bright colored patches.
But there were also such cases when the brownie had a negative attitude towards the owners of the house, and no treats and gifts had any effect on him. He tortured animals, strangled people at night, spoiled things. In such situations, it was recommended to drive away the raging spirit with prayer or abuse, and a goat was introduced into the barn or a mirror was hung there (it was believed that the brownie did not get along with the goats, but was afraid of mirrors).
If the brownie did not calm down and continued to do bad things to people, the owners of the house had no choice but to carry out the rite of expulsion of this spirit. For these purposes, a healer was invited, who, pronouncing special conspiracies, was supposed to slaughter a rooster at midnight and release all his blood onto a broom (a broom of bare twigs).
Then, without ceasing to read the conspiracies, the medicine man with this holik swept all the corners in the house and in the yard. Thus, the brownie was driven out and could not return to the house.