We continue the conversation about imaginative thinking and the search for truth.
How does Pattern make you feel?
The pattern is what we can see. What do you see in the Pattern? You understand that just a cursory glance is enough and it becomes completely clear - this is not just a chaotic set of squiggles and crosses. This is the language, this is the code. How can you read it, understand it?
Now it is fashionable to say all sorts of incomprehensible, even scientists, words, such as meditation. Our ancestors simply saw the whole Universe on the Patterns. Is this Universe opening up to you?
Folk embroidery is an excellent example of the use of the Slavic pattern. Embroidered patterns were used to decorate towels, wedding gowns, tablecloths, curtains, festive shirts, white canvas sundresses, light outerwear, hats and scarves.
Example: a towel is a symbolic and ambiguous product. It not only adorns everyday life, but is also a symbolic reminder of the invisible ties that connect each person with his family, ancestors, and is an object of art. We can say that the patterns of embroidered towels are an encrypted story about the life of the people, about nature and people.
Towel.
It is believed that those parts of the costume were decorated with embroidery through which, according to our ancestors, evil forces could penetrate the human body. Hence, the main meaning of embroidery in antiquity is protective. The collar, cuffs, hem, and neck slit were embroidered with a protective pattern. The fabric itself was considered impenetrable to evil spirits, since objects abundantly supplied with incantatory ornaments participated in its manufacture. Therefore, it was important to protect those places where the fabric of clothing ended and the human body began.
But the main thing: the pattern on the clothes said a lot about the owner himself. The pattern on clothes as a talisman is not its main purpose. Your shirt is closer to your body because it is like skin, only yours, for you and about you.
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Clothes were, as it were, a unique picture of their owner and carried a rich semantic load. Not only by the cut of clothes, but above all by the pattern, it was possible to understand where the person was from, who he was, what kind of activity he was, what was his spiritual status and idea of the world, and so on. And the pattern carried the security function as a matter of course. I will give an example - if a child walks hand with his father, the father of course will protect his child in case of danger, but this has nothing to do with where they go and what they talk about along the way.
Children's clothes were usually sewn from the old clothes of parents - not only and not so much because they have already been washed many times and therefore soft, will not damage or rub the child's skin, but because it absorbed the parental energy and strength, and will protect it, will save the child from the evil eye, damage, misfortunes. The girl's clothes were sewn from the mother's, the boy, of course, from the father's, thus prejudging the correct development depending on gender - the girl was transferred the power of motherhood, the boy - the male power.
When children grew up and already acquired some of their own protective power, they were entitled to their first shirt, made of nova. This usually coincided with the time of the first age initiation - at three years old. From the age of twelve, the girl received the right to wear her own (albeit, for the time being, a girl's), nevertheless, the boy was entitled to the first pants-ports.
Since for children under three years old, the clothes were often altered from the parent's, the protective embroidery, of course, remained the same as the parent's. It was not only inconvenient and impractical to change it, but also impractical - after all, in addition to its protective function, it also provided a connection between generations, kinship and continuity. So, if the child's father was a hunter, then the amulets on his clothes were associated with hunting, and it was they who were passed on to the boy with these clothes. In the same way, the craft was “passed on” to the girl through the female line. Rather, not the craft itself, but the strength of many years of parenting experience in it protected the child. Everyone protects in their own way, right? The weaver will protect the canvases with a special pattern, the spinner - with nauses, the hunter - with the fang of an animal … And the result will be the same.
But the protective embroidery for the child's own clothes was already different from the amulets of adults. Firstly, the color of the protective embroidery for children was always red, while for adult clothes it could be different. So, women often used in embroidery, in addition to red, black - the color of mother earth, thus trying to protect their womb from infertility. Men, on the other hand, often needed blue or green colors for amulet - blue protected from death from the elements, green from wounds. The children did not have this. It was believed that children are under the care and protection of a kind. On the shirt of a girl-girl, embroidery mainly went along the hem, sleeves and a necklace, and for a married woman - the chest, collar, embroidery along the hem was wider - it also reflected a new relationship, belonging to the husband's family.
The main protective symbols for the girl were: the patron goddesses of fate, the symbol of the clan, tree ornaments, the symbol of the patron saint of her birthday, symbols of the earth (again, differing from the female symbols of the earth - for those they basically seemed to be either plowed up or already sown) and women's crafts.
Boys (like girls) up to twelve years old wore shirts without belts. The main symbols protecting boys were considered: symbols of fire, solar symbols, images of totem animals, of course, also a symbol of the patron clan and patron spirit of the birthday, bells-bells and symbols of men's crafts.
Until adulthood, boys and girls could also wear common amulets. Passing initiation at the age of twelve, the boy's amulets changed, became (like the girl's) more sex-definite. The belt appeared and, of course, the amulets became less - after all, their own strength grew.
Images of the Gods have already appeared in embroidery, no longer so much for protection as for patronage, young girls have symbols of fertility, and young boys have military ones. Of course, neither the girl nor the boy needed them. In addition to embroidery on clothes, many objects were often used as children's amulets, which were hung over the cradle of a baby, the bed of a girl or boy, then worn on the shoulder or on the belt. All this performed not only a protective and protective function, but also served as a link between man and Nature.
Patterns
Often ancient masters depicted signs that indicated the sun. These are solar signs. Over the millennia, the sun has received a great variety of image options. These include a variety of crosses - both in a circle and without it. Some crosses in a circle are very similar to the image of a wheel, and this is not without reason: a person saw how the sun moved, that is, "rolled" across the sky, like a wheel of fire. The eternal movement of the heavenly body was marked by a hooked cross, a swastika. The swastika meant not only the moving sun, but also the wish for well-being. It is especially often found in northern embroidery of both towels and shirts, and in abusive weaving.
Wedding shawl. Detail of the embroidery. First half of the 19th century Tambov province. Shatsk district. Reversible sewing and stitching.
Protective patterns
The essence of the amulets exactly corresponds to their name: their vocation is to protect people, especially during hard times, during periods of military conflicts and other hardships. In other words, to protect your owner from any directed negative impact, whatever it may be and wherever it comes from. Negative influences can be purely physical influences, such as diseases (caused, by the way, often not only by natural causes, but also overpowered us due to the evil eye or damage). Amulets can protect their master from any impact on his psyche, soul, emotional sphere. They will protect you from the imposition of someone else's will, love spells, suggestions from the outside and from severe depression.
The impact of amulets is associated with the colors of the spectrum of the human aura. Putting on ourselves a charm of the corresponding color, we get the opportunity to quickly patch up energy breakdowns in one or another part of the aura, which can be dangerous for our health and even life. From the point of view of a person who is able to see the aura, this will look like an increase in the glow of a certain color of the aura when wearing a talisman.
Signs
- The wavy line is the sign of Water. Rain is depicted as vertical lines, rivers, underground waters - horizontal, "heavenly abyss" - horizontal.
- Thunder (six-pointed cross in a circle or hexagon). Thunder Sign (and Perun). Used as a lightning guard; also is a military amulet.
- A square (or rhombus) divided by a cross into four parts - (plowed field). If there are dots inside - the sown field. These are signs of the Earth and fertility.
- Kolokres (cross in a circle). Sun sign. barrier and aversion of evil, a sign of closeness.
- Krada ("lattice") is a sign of Fire. Krada is a sacrificial or funeral pyre.
- Kres (equilateral cross: straight or oblique) is a sign of Fire (and the God of Fire - Aguni).
- Month - Sign of the moon, month. Pendants "lunar" are known.
- A cock's comb with seven projections is a sign of Fire.
- Cornucopia. A sign of wealth, abundance.
- Yarga (swastika). Otherwise - a brace. There are a huge number of style options. Yarga is a sign of the Sun (and, accordingly, the Sun Gods: Khorsa, Dazhdbog, etc.). According to the direction of rotation (salting / anti-salting), the sign of the bright Sun (Sun of Reveal) and the sign of the dark Sun (Sun of Navi) are distinguished. The Sun of Reveal is a beneficial, creative Power; Sun Navi is a destructive Power. According to Slavic myths, after sunset the Sun illuminated the Underdark (Nav), hence the name. We know that the Sun is not under the Earth at night, but it is difficult to doubt the presence of a destructive aspect of the Sun … There are two interpretations of determining the direction of rotation of the sign; the traditional one, as far as I know, is as follows: the ends of the rays are bent against the direction of rotation.
- A tree (most often a herringbone) is a symbol of the interconnection of everything in the world, a symbol of long life.
- The spiral is a symbol of wisdom; if the color scheme is blue-violet - secret knowledge. The most powerful disgusting sign for all dark entities of the shadow world - if the color is red, white or black.
- The triangle is a symbol of a person; especially if accompanied by small dots or circles on the side of the apex. Human communication symbol.
Gods
Woman with raised palms: Makosh.
Lowered: Lada.
Towel. Detail of the embroidery. End of the 19th century Novgorod province, Ustyuzhensky district. Reversible sewing.
End of the towel. Second half of the 19th century Olonets province Kargopol district. Double-sided sewing and a set.
Makosh.
From an unusual perspective, this image is revealed in the article "Ivan. Kupala etymology"
Animals
- The bull is the sign of Veles.
- The wolf is the sign of Yarila.
- Raven is a sign of wisdom and death.
- The tree is a sign of life and fertility; or - the Universe (World Tree).
- The serpent is a sign of the Earth, wisdom. Connected with the Downworld.
- The horse is a sign of the Sun, Solar Gods.
- The swan is a sign of Mary, death, winter.
- The bear is the sign of Veles.
- Deer (vazhenka) or elk is a sign of the Goddesses of Fertility (Rozhanits).
- Eagle is a sign of Thunder, Perun.
- Rooster is a sign of Fire, Aguni.
- Falcon is a sign of Fire, Aguni. It is believed that the "trident" (the coat of arms of Rurik and modern Ukraine) is a stylized image of a falcon in flight.
Towel. Detail of the embroidery. Late 19th - early 20th century Pskov province, Porkhovsky district. Tambour sewing.
Colors
Specifically, the colors of the amulet are associated with the protection of one of the seven human chakras. Red - for the lowest one, located in the coccyx region and responsible for the genitourinary system, rectum, musculoskeletal system. Orange - for the second, located a few fingers below the navel, which is responsible for sexual energy and kidneys. Yellow - for the third chakra (solar plexus area) - the center of vital energy, which is also responsible for all organs of the abdominal cavity. Green is for the fourth, heart chakra. It controls the activity of not only the heart, but also the lungs, spine, hands, and is responsible for our emotions. Blue - for the fifth, throat, responsible for the respiratory and hearing organs, throat and skin, as well as human creativity. Blue is for the sixth ("third eye" zone), which is responsible for our intellectual abilities. Purple - for the seventh (crown),connecting us with the Higher powers, with God.
- White. Associated with the idea of Light, purity and sacredness (White Light, White Tsar - king over kings, etc.); at the same time - the color of Death, mourning.
- Red - Fire, (and the Sun is like a heavenly Fire), blood (vital Force).
- Green - Vegetation, Life.
- Black is Earth.
- Gold - the sun.
- Blue - Sky, Water.
- Purple is rarely found in Russian embroidery.
Author: Sil2