Secrets of Chermoz

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

Among several settlements, villages and villages marked by researchers for study (Oleni, Molebka, Shalya, Chermoz, Cherdyn) Chermoz was overgrown with myths, legends and stories of local residents about encounters with strange creatures in the swamps.

The world of modern man is divided into two halves: “inside the city” and “outside the city”. The city, like a bastion, protects a person from many phenomena and events that can happen to him if he finds himself in a different environment. Many people, during their life, travel from metropolis to metropolis by cars, trains, planes and are unaware of the existence of another reality. No mysticism. Everything is extremely simple. To understand this, it is enough to leave the city limits, go deeper into the forest thicket, where you cannot hear the noise of highways, the hum of power lines, the hum of flying airplanes, lean your back against an old tree and try to listen to the whisper of leaves and grasses. You will notice how your pulse levels out, your breathing becomes deeper, even, your sense of smell and hearing intensify, your body is filled with strength, you begin to change. And is it only connected with clean air, the smell of herbs and the soothing singing of birds?

Chermoz - the city of sorcerers

Among several settlements, villages and villages marked by Perm researchers for study (Oleni, Molebka, Shalya, Chermoz, Cherdyn) Chermoz was overgrown with myths, legends and stories of local residents about encounters in swamps with strange creatures. And in the very name of the village - "Chermoz" - there was a secret meaning. According to legend, it was founded by the Cheremis Mari people, which means "sorcerers, sorcerers, magi". Having loaded the equipment and equipment into the car, having received a blessing from the Permian sage Svetogor, the RUFORS researchers set out on a two-hundred-kilometer journey to Chermoz.

The village of Chermoz (Chermos) was first mentioned in K. Tsizarev's abandoned books for 1701 for the right of ownership D. Stroganov Obvinsky and Inva estates.

The village was located near the ford, along which the old tract passed from the village. Kylosovo on the river Inwe to S. Dmitrievskoe on the river. Obe. The area above the ford attracted the attention of Baron N. G. Stroganov because of the favorable conditions for the construction of a large pond. In 1761, N. G. Stroganov received a permit for the construction of the Chermoz copper-smelting plant. Due to the depletion of local cuprous sandstones, in 1766 the plant switched over to iron production. Soon it was sold to the court jeweler I. L. Lazarev and his brothers. In 1781-1782. a rolling mill for roofing iron was put into operation at the factory and the construction of a wooden church began.

But Chermoz was not only a workers' village. The life of its inhabitants was closely connected with the forests, swamps, and the river that surrounded the village. Each man was a fisherman, a hunter, observing the traditions of his fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers, who knew not only animal habits, but also knew how to communicate with the spirits of the forest, water and land, so that hunting and fishing would be successful.

Booth in the swamp

Balagan is a hunting lodge set up in the forest. In fact, he was the reason why the researchers preferred to go to Chermoz in the first place. In June 2007, a letter came to the RUFORS station's email inbox with a local resident's story about an unusual meeting in a swamp - a hunter saw a strange creature of small stature. Over the course of a month, researchers collected additional information, chatted on forums in those who had been to Chermoz, collected an impressive collection of myths and legends about these places, and at the end of the day they made a decision - we must go and sort things out in the wrong place!

“The booth must be built according to certain rules,” the Cherzmoz local historian began his story, “if they are not observed, it will be impossible to live in such a booth. You need to choose the right place, an old experienced hunter examines it, asks permission from the Master of the forest, and only then gives the go-ahead for the construction of a booth. Each forest has its own owner and you need to know how to communicate with him. We have several booths in the vicinity, which were built at random, just like that, in a place convenient for hunters. Well, and then toil then, then the gnarly gnawing will save you, then different misunderstandings occur … Twenty years ago, in one of these booths, a hunter at night with a gun riddled all the walls and windows, firing back from someone unknown. I couldn’t tell you anything, I just mentioned a tiny creature half a meter in height, looking like a woman with long blond tousled hair …"

It was not possible to get to the cherished booth, in which the night shootout took place. The local hunters refused all persuasions and requests. It was evident that they do not like strangers in these places and are afraid, no one was in a hurry to reveal local secrets. Only one of the hunters invited the researchers to the opening of the season, which was supposed to take place a month later: “Come, we will float to that booth, at night by the fire we may remember something else … Or maybe we will see …” After conversations with residents of Chermoz, a strange thing remained There was a double feeling, it seemed that the village kept some kind of secret, intimate and very ancient, which could not be entrusted to everyone. This is its own dirty linen, which should remain in its hut …

The local police station was another valuable source of information. The talkative and smiling lieutenant on duty told the researchers the latest news, recalled the sad incident that happened to three schoolchildren who decided to go in search of the MiG-25 fighter that had crashed in these places. The guys got lost in the forest, wandered for almost a week, one of them died of exhaustion. They also said that they allegedly saw a small, fair-haired creature, although maybe these were ordinary hallucinations from overwork and fear …

Batin log

The same strange feeling of understatement remained after attempts to find Batin Log, about which there are fewer legends than about a booth in a swamp. All three residents from whom the researchers tried to find out its location gave the opposite information. At first it turned out that it was very difficult to get to Batinoy log, supposedly it was located almost 10 kilometers from Chermoz, all the roads were overgrown and it would be very difficult for a stranger to get there without a guide. The second interlocutor pushed the border by half, reassuring that “you can get there and by car”. The last hunter confidently slashed with his palm, indicating the direction: “walk a couple of kilomers in-oh-oh-he there … and you will see Batin Log”.

Batin Log is located northwest of Chermoz. A ravine is a ravine in a flat area, with gentle slopes overgrown with vegetation, a flat bottom and an insignificant lateral catchment.

Batin Log is notorious among the Chermozyans. In it, people have repeatedly disappeared under mysterious circumstances. One of the most famous cases - a schoolboy disappeared during a ski relay. It is believed that evil spirits are being brought into the log. The ravine is full of berries and mushrooms, but no one picks them up: mushroom pickers bypass Batin Logza a kilometer.

Why Batin Log?

The answer to this question is given in the story "White Lake" by the Chermoz author Igor Yurkevich (born 1932). Below is an excerpt from the story:

“We passed the last houses and entered the fields. To shorten the long road, the guys began to tell stories.

- Do you know why Batin Log is called that? - asked Tamara.

- Father told me, - Tolya answered first, - in this ravine before the revolution the chieftain with a gang of robbers was hiding. His name was Batey.

- So yes not so. Dad is a nickname, - interrupted Georgy. - And his name was Alexander, surname - Lbov. In the revolution of 1905, the Bolsheviks appointed him the commander of the workers' combat squad in Motovilikha. The ataman was dashing! Touched the nerves of the landlords! When the uprising in Perm was suppressed, Lbov went into the forests, and look for him, fistulas. The forests are dense, and the robbers are mighty. What's next? And then, they say, he left Batiny Log and in vain! He made his way to the city, where the gendarmes grabbed him and shot him.

We walked in silence for several minutes. The guys felt sorry for the dashing chieftain."

There is another amazing story about Batin's Log connected with the "escaping stone". Once a local hunter walked towards his house, noticed a strange large stone in the grass, looked closely, and on the stone there were strange letters, similar to church ones. The stone turned out to be too large and heavy, the hunter picked up a stick, stuck it next to the stone, in order to find it later by this mark. I went to the village for help. We returned with the men to this place. The stick is still stuck in, but the stone is not.

The owners of the forest

The farther from the big cities, the more strange stories you can hear about the unusual inhabitants of the forests, the more stories about unusual phenomena. Climbing to the north of the Perm Region towards the Krasnovishersky Reserve, you find yourself in a completely different world, in which different laws operate and other forces rule. Here people talk about the spirits of the forest as a self-evident fact, shamans can control the weather, and some places, for example Isherim, are generally reserved and forbidden.

Gathering ethnographic information and preparing for the summer season, RUFORS researchers have collected a wealth of material on village mythology. Almost everywhere there are stories about meetings with the inhabitants of the forest: goblin, water, Moksha, mermaids. But there are stories that are even more incredible. In the Urals, there has long been a legend about the mysterious Chud people, who allegedly went underground in ancient times. Until now, strange people are met in remote corners of the region. Andrey B. shares his experience: “The last information about the meeting with the representative of Chudi refers to the 40s, the information is oral, I have not found confirmation anywhere. A resident of the Solikamsk region told (not me) that he met an old man of small stature with white eyes in his childhood in the forest. He said that he lived underground and the entrance to the underground was in a small wooded mound. But he could not talk longer, because the voices of other people were heard, and the old man quickly disappeared. There is a person in Perm who knows the place of entry, but does not tell anyone."

At first glance, all this seems at least strange, but only for those who have never gone on long hikes, did not stay alone in the night forest, did not sit by the fire. Last year, the author of these lines twice personally had a chance to encounter strange phenomena during an expedition. I told the Cherzm ethnographer about my night meeting, he just shook his head: "You are playing with fire, guys!.."

It only seems to us that we know everything about the forest. This is an illusion born of the eternal self-confidence of a person who is accustomed to being the master of everything and everyone. But the true masters are not people at all, they are other forces and entities that we know about from legends, tales and traditions, whose lowly presence we can occasionally feel. And believe me, from personal experience, it is better to avoid meeting with them …

Airplane

Chermoz has another secret …

On May 7, 1971, military pilot Valery Rubanenko flew on a Mig-25 aircraft with full ammunition (on an aircraft of this type it can reach 1300 kg), which took off from an airfield located in the north of the Perm Territory. An engine caught fire in the Chermoz area. At the cost of his life, the pilot took the plane away from the city and fell on the other side in a swamp.

This is what Olga Anufrieva, an eyewitness to the events, says: “I was then in the tenth graduating class. Before Victory Day we were shown some kind of documentary about the war. In the study, the windows are closed with black curtains, the crackle of a movie projector. We sit and miss. Suddenly the monotonous voice of the announcer was interrupted by a terrible explosion. The school building shook, the walls shook. Everyone rushed into the corridor. From there shouts of “War! The war has begun! " People ran out into the street and ran towards the Kama, from where they heard explosions and poured a thick column of black smoke. Hundreds of people gathered on the shore. They all looked to the other side, wondering what had happened. Then we learned that a military plane with a full load had crashed."

Local residents tried to find and raise the plane, but it got stuck in a swamp. Those who have seen it tell of the "tail with a red star" sticking out of the quagmire. It is strange that this plane was not raised by the military, because in 1971 it was the most advanced and secret plane, which was put into service only in 1969, that is, the “25e” MIGs “officially” flew no more than two years. We tried to trace the route from which this MIG could fly, communicated with former military pilots, but we could not even roughly determine the location of the "northern airfield" where the 25s nested at that time.

Night in a dead village

Imbued with the original Chermoz spirit, having listened to amazing stories, but never made it to the protected areas, the researchers learned from the villagers that there are several extinct villages near Chermoz, in which previously incomprehensible events also took place.

Along the deaf country roads, almost planting the car in a viscous slurry, the researchers got to the place. From the village remained a couple of lopsided, blackened log cabins, a bathhouse and a country house, the roof of which fell completely down from dilapidation, hiding it like a cocked hat.

The wind carried a sweetish familiar scent. A body of a bull was found a hundred meters from the camp; it was not clear how it got here 15 kilometers from the nearest living village. Someone carefully ripped open his belly - a straight cut. We walked around everything - no traces of people were found, no paths in the tall grass, no old fireplaces. It seems that over the past 20 years, since this village has become uninhabited, we have become the first guests here. So it was not possible to understand what or who drove the bull here and killed. But this neighborhood was a little creepy …

Toward nightfall, fog began to gather from the hollow. First, he filled all the lowlands, then with a white cotton cloud crawled low along the ground towards the camp. The full moon illuminated it as if a sea of milk was moving towards us.

Began nighttime photography experiments on ultrasensitive long exposure film, and strange balls and lines appeared in some of the photographs.

Despite warnings and beliefs, we went to the old bathhouse at night, took pictures, however, asked permission from the Boss before entering.

Nothing terrible or unusual happened to us that night.

But in the morning, when we were already going home, we were covered with a terrible downpour, literally 10 meters away we could not see anything. I had to stand on a forest road and wait for it to become a little quieter, and then carefully drive towards the road in a complete blockage, with difficulty holding the car, which strove to slide off the clay into the thick grass …

Author - Nikolay Subbotin, Director of RUFORS