Russian hut - the abode of harmony and happiness

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

A person is born into the world to become free, reasonable and responsible. Man is by nature a creator.

Each human dwelling is the result of his life philosophy and worldview, and, in turn, his dwelling forms the philosophy and worldview of the next generation. How the hut, the eternal abode of our Ancestors, influenced the inner world of the Russian man.

Izba, as part of the worldview

The hut is one of those phenomena that at first glance does not attract much attention, seems to be commonplace. They usually pass by her, simply not noticing. But upon closer examination, it turns out to be a miracle like a flower, which you can endlessly admire, admire, wonder, as if this is not the work of human hands. There are such flowers: seemingly nondescript, but if you look closely - the height of perfection. Just like a flower, our hut is multifaceted: on the one hand, it is simple, rational, nothing superfluous, on the other, everything that is in it is necessary, beautiful, harmonious.

Russian hut. Is it a primitive or is it still perfect, deliberate, verified over the centuries, habitable and spiritually forming simplicity?

The hut is the cradle of our Ancestors: Fathers, Grandfathers, Ancestors. It combines maximum coziness, warmth, convenience (but not corrupting comfort!), With a minimum of costs - time, materials, energy … Ideally used volumes - almost without losses on aisles, nooks and crannies.

Protecting from the harsh manifestations of nature, the hut protects the owner's spiritual world: freedom, intimacy, originality. The owner built, decorated, improved, furnished in his own way. In accordance with tradition and own design.

All Western anti-Russian literature, journalism, cinematography, tried and are trying to debunk the Russian hut, branding it as an ordinary, cramped, short-lived, stupid building.

Well, we want to sing a hymn to her. Its beauty, light, convenience, harmony, perfection and expediency.

About materials

Today we drive steel cars, live in apartments and houses built of concrete and cement and lined with vinyl siding. We sleep on box-spring mattresses and step on carpets made of viscose and other materials of unknown origin. We eat chemically and genetically processed food from ceramic dishes using stainless steel spoons and forks. At work, we sit on the phone all day and gaze at the computer screen.

But our subconscious mind will never accept such a course of things. The Russian person feels and values natural beauty. Our ancestral memory has always lurked and lurks an incredible love for simple log houses, for simple products made of wood and clay. Indeed, by and large, we were taught to build from brick, reinforced concrete and plastic quite recently, and in Russia - from time immemorial, wood was the main building material.

It is a generally accepted fact that the most environmentally friendly and human-friendly houses can only be built from wood. Wood is the most ancient building material presented to us by the most perfect laboratory on Earth - Nature.

In the premises of a wooden structure, air humidity is always optimal for human life. The unique structure of the wood mass, consisting of capillaries, absorbs excess moisture from the air, and in case of excessive dryness, gives it to the room.

Log houses have natural energy, create a special microclimate in the hut, and provide natural ventilation. From the wooden walls emanates homeliness and peace, they protect in summer from heat, and in winter from frost. Wood retains heat well. Even in bitter frost, the walls of the log house are warm inside.

Anyone who has ever visited a real Russian hut will never forget its enchanting benevolent spirit: subtle notes of wood resin, the aroma of freshly baked bread from a Russian oven, the spice of medicinal herbs. Due to its properties, wood neutralizes heavy odors by ozonizing the air.

The durability of wood has proven itself for centuries, because the log cabins built by our great-great-grandfathers back in the 16-17 century stand to this day.

And it’s not without reason that interest in wood construction arises again and grows with incredible speed, gaining more and more popularity.

Esoterics

But for our ancestors it was important not only to solve a purely practical problem - to provide a roof over their heads for themselves and their families, but also to organize the living space so that it would be filled with the blessings of life, warmth, love and peace.

Such a dwelling can be built only following the traditions of the Ancestors. Departures from the covenants of the Fathers could be minimal.

Already in choosing the place of its construction, our Ancestor was very demanding both in a practical and aesthetic sense. The place had to be dry, high, light - to carry the guna of goodness. They were built mainly along the right bank of the river. The proximity of water, in addition to solving everyday problems, provided energy integrity for celebrations and ceremonies of the villagers.

Of decisive importance was the fact that each house was built with their own hands, and not bought with money.

The craft of the carpenter-builder has been passed down from generation to generation. It is not for nothing that our proverbs have preserved and conveyed this sacred meaning to us: to build a house, plant a tree, raise a son. Only a house built by the owner himself will carry his energy for his family. In such a house it will be really cozy, blissful, warm as dear.

The Old Believers steadily preserved the sacred knowledge of mankind about the World. And the apparent fabulousness of the decoration of the hut is not accidental. In addition to aesthetic functions, they protected the hut from negative influences. The carved ridge on the hut, the patterned platbands, like an ornament on clothes, made sense and served as amulets.

Living forms

The very wildlife of the logs tells us about freedom. The long horizontal lines of the logs contain a certain mystery and intrigue. They resemble an endless perspective stretching beyond the horizon. Like a barely marked line between the sea and the sky, the lines of logs create a sense of endlessness, a journey into the unknown. Round cuts look sensual.

The Russian hut has never slavishly copied European models, preserving its originality and individuality. But our intelligentsia passed by all this perfection of simplicity and delicate taste with disgust, seeing the scarcity and lack of imagination.

Growing laziness

Baddest topic: restrooms. The main achievement of civilization is the water closet. The most common, consumed daily. Do I need to bring it into the hut? Necessarily. With only one caveat - for the sick. For those who physically cannot run out 3-5 meters in any weather, disperse stagnant blood, take a sip of fresh air, look back at the horizon, smile at the sun, run barefoot through the fresh dew! Listen to the birds, caress the dog, sit down next to the new sticky leaf. So, in the house you need to have a water closet for those for whom such a charge is contraindicated.

How to equip a toilet depends on the owner, its cleanliness too. In the northern huts, where they try to unite the economy under one roof, the restroom is also located there, often warm: the climate dictates.

Technologies

The main initial module of the hut is the cage - most often there are 3 windows to the street. The sizes were determined in the span system, for the person himself is the measure of things for the harmonious ordering of his living space.

The tree is harvested ahead of time, suitable woods are lovingly and carefully marked when they are met in the forest.

The knots are usually chopped either “in a flash” (“in a bowl”) or “in a paw” (“in a clean corner”), but there are still many ways. Purpose: the fortress of the structure, thermal insulation, beauty.

In the upper log, a groove (groove) is selected that exactly repeats the configuration of all the bulges of the lower log. It is laid with moss or flax. After a year of shrinkage, dig through again.

Everything in the hut is not tough, everything is conducive to creative initiative and improvement, replacement and adaptation to the given moment. The owner is an artist himself, an architect himself, a designer himself; in the course of work can change and improve everything. A staircase outside, a staircase inside, bulkheads, different levels of the floor - everything is available to him, there is no deadening “it should be so”.

How long does it take to build a hut? It used to be built in one day. The whole world was building, the speed depended on "help", on how many relatives and friends the owner had.

Link between generations

A grandmother or grandfather on the stove always has a place and time for a sick or offended or bored granddaughter, and the connection “through a generation” is very strong, for mutual benefit. It is not for nothing that grandmother's fairy tales and grandfather's crafts and toys, or even there were memories, fill our literature.

Yes, both the grandfather and the woman are in business - they are needed, loved, appreciated (according to their merits), radiate and receive affection, without feeling loneliness, abandonment and the need for senile shelters, in individual and group therapy of other people's psychiatrists and psychologists.

The basics of theology and morality, history, ethics and aesthetics, and much more were instilled in the kids on the stove …

The path to evolution

Residents of Moscow and other cities have long rented huts for the summer, and also went to their grandparents in the village. And a rare child in Russia did not live in a hut for at least a couple of weeks, remembering this with gratitude and delight then all his life.

Even now, in Russia, the craving for log dwellings is so strong that everyone who begins to realize its value strives to acquire a hut built in the Russian tradition.

The material from which the hut is built does not remove a person from nature. A wooden house creates conditions for emotional completeness, mutual understanding and mutual assistance, for high morality, for community and, at the same time, diversity of interests. And may every owner of a log hut, a zealous esthete and craftsman, make it even more beautiful, even more convenient for life and breathing, for communicating with relatives and just for thought - for happiness!