Slavic amulet traditions

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

Amulet - this word comes from the root "ber". Ber is a spontaneous uncontrollable Spirit, violent, stormy, furious. Our ancestors called the Bear Berom, who woke up from hibernation ahead of the appointed time and left his BERlog, Ber's lair. In this state, the bear posed a special danger, destroying everything around him and turning him into disorder. Thus, it was forbidden even to mention the name of Ber, so as not to incite trouble. The word amulet is understood as protection from Ber. The amulet humbles the elemental Spirit, makes it okay, brings beauty, order and harmony to life.

From the root "ber" came such words as "to protect", "coast" (seas, rivers). Water (seething, spontaneous, and therefore dangerous) by our ancestors connected with Mara (Mora) - the Navya goddess, the goddess of winter and death. Consequently, the "sea" is, in fact, a dangerous element, and the "coast" is the border between danger, "berm", an uncontrollable elemental spirit and a safe territory. The coast is an obstacle line for Ber.

What we now understand as decorations on clothes, ritual vessels, in folk ornaments, on household items - these are the amulets that are applied to objects.

Amulets are one of the interesting directions in the traditions of the Slavs. Our ancestors in the old days, tried to turn into a talisman almost all things, weapons, clothes, objects, tools, furniture, utensils, and even a house.

The art of applying a talisman to clothes and objects has been passed down from generation to generation, and has been an integral part of our traditions. The folk ornament is the created amulet. If the household utensils were without a talisman, then they were considered an ordinary household item. The amulet gives any object a magical property, makes it a living, thinking friend.

In addition to decorating clothes, houses, weapons, furniture, utensils, making a talisman as an independent tool was a separate art. Only magicians and wise men knew the secrets of this art.

The power of the amulet directly depended on the Power and knowledge of the sorcerer (sorcerer). Absolutely everything was taken into account: time of day, season, material, location of the luminaries, purpose and form of the amulet.

The symbols that were used in the composition of the amulet were the keys to Divine Power. Each individual symbol carried within itself the Power of its respective God. The combination of symbols and their location on the amulet, as well as the number of repetitions, creates a ligature of a conspiracy, which carries the idea of achieving goals, desires, dreams.

The task of creating a personal amulet is the formation of an internal potential, which subsequently finds expression in the external World.

The purpose of the amulet is to create an internal mood for the wearer.

Wearing a talisman is a sign of connection with the Gods, which allows the streams of Divine Powers to flow from the hidden world into the manifested one.

The amulet, made correctly, opens the energy channel through which the Force flows, which is aimed at achieving the desired result of the wearer. From the non-manifest comes the manifest, in this regard, the clarity and purity of intentions play an important role in the materialization of desires and intentions.

A talisman is made with the intention to bring the inner "I" of a person in line with the "external" life, to reveal the hidden possibilities and abilities of his personality.

There are several purposes and types of amulet:

Guardian conductor performs an attractive, connecting action. Helps to follow the Path of Rule. Allows you to find the way, the shortest way to reach the goal. Possesses love spelling properties. Leads to sources of knowledge (knowledge, information).

Guardian defender allows you to defend, defend, take the first blow, repel an attack, warn of danger, summon "fire", hide, cover, look away or attention, hide something.

Guardian guardian allows you to hold, store, accumulate (matter, Force, time, information). For example: to accumulate knowledge on any topic; stay healthy; to grow Strength; save and accumulate money and other material goods.

Protective dolls

The doll was a person's helper in rituals aimed at life. Until now, many agrarian rituals with dolls are known. These are dolls - Mermaid, Cuckoo, Harvest, Yarilo, dolls - images of natural entities.

There are dolls depicting Christian saints who were previously worshiped by the people. These are Paraskeva Friday, Simeon the Stylite, Spiridon Soltsevorot, Kozma and Demyan and others.

Dolls depict people in ceremonies and agrarian holidays - Semik and Semichikha - a married couple, with whom they collect a club for the Semik holiday. Known dolls that depict the phenomena of the universe - Day and Night. And dolls with the help of which you can interact with the forces of nature - Mokredin, Sukhoveyka.

With the help of dolls, they arranged a happy fate (for luck, for a happy marriage), defended the wedding (lovebirds), childbirth (kuvadki) and protected them on the Path.

Dolls replaced men who had left the house, for this they made dolls (male doll images), which were fed and consulted with them. Sometimes dolls were placed on the roof of a house or in a vegetable garden, and they were used to judge the fate of those who left. The dolls protected the house, sleep, served as amulets for Satiety and Prosperity. There were many dolls depicting women in one state or another: Vesta, Mother, Grandmother (Beauty, Motherhood, Moskovka) or at the mowing, harvest (Pokosnitsa, Reaper).

The doll was used to judge needlework. There is a vykhvalka doll (boast,) which served as a kind of exam for a pass to a gathering, where you could watch a couple. Work - an embroidered apron served as a pass.

There were dolls, by which they watched how the husband would treat his future wife. By the way he takes the doll, they judged it, and if there was something wrong, then they helped - ruled, taught. The Slavs always took care of the world within themselves and helped others in this form.

The help of dolls in translating diseases into them, which were seen as spirits or entities tormenting a person, is invaluable, they were called Fevers and Likhomanki.

In the Slavic worldview, the basis was observation of the world and natural phenomena, this vision of the natural world and the laws of the universe helped a person to survive, and dolls were part of this vision, helpers of a person in preserving life, health and achieving a happy fate. The very creation and methods of making dolls carry this knowledge and reflect the vision of the real world.

After the rituals, some of the dolls were given to the children for play; in the traditional play doll, the basis of ritual and protective dolls has been preserved. Children painted faces and put on dolls. They made dolls for play themselves and for younger children. The play dolls were made from natural materials and old rags from used clothes. Grass, flowers, straw from the field, branches, wood chips, bast, everything that was near the house or place of work of adults was used.

There was a rag doll in every home, and in some families their dolls numbered up to a hundred.

Due to the fact that the creation of the fabric was very time-consuming, the children donned the clothes of the adults, and the worn-out fabric remained on the dolls. It was easily torn by hands, which is important in protective dolls, since it was believed that iron, piercing and cutting objects should not be used in their manufacture. It was believed that worn clothes in themselves are already protective, as they keep the warmth of the soul of the person who wore them.

They also made dolls from new fabric - for Weddings and Gifts.

The doll was dressed up, but the face was not painted … According to popular beliefs, a doll without a face was considered inanimate, inaccessible for the instilling of evil spirits and unkind forces into it. If a face was painted or embroidered, which was found in later dolls for admiration, then the doll's mouth was drawn or embroidered tightly closed.

Dolls were made from fabrics of clothes, so the doll clothes repeated the clothes of a person, reflecting the costume of the area in which they lived. A skirt was made of poneva, and aprons were embroidered. Vesta made dolls for the wedding, in the dress of dolls they showed their skills, they were richly decorated with lace and embroidery, the fabrics were new, such a doll also served as a guardian of Vesta herself on the wedding day.

You could tell the doll about grief and sorrow, complain, ask for something, like mother's doll from a fairy tale, about Vasilisa. In the north, such substitute dolls of deceased relatives were seated at the table, fed, they had chests with things they loved during their lifetime. Such dolls were buried several years later.

The dolls were treated with care, they dressed them according to the weather, if the doll was made in the summer, then the clothes on it were light, and in the winter they were warm.

The traditional folk doll has survived to our time, almost unchanged, exactly as it was passed down from generation to generation: from mother to daughter, from grandmother to granddaughter, this method is called direct transmission, this is a transfer from hand to hand in space of time.

The dolls that lived in the house were not scattered wherever they had to, but were carefully kept in chests and baskets and passed on by inheritance.

In wealthy houses, there were dolls, whose clothes repeated the clothes of people, from elegant rich fabrics, with embroidery and ornaments. Such dolls were very valuable, had their own rooms and were also inherited.

In our time, the traditional folk doll is being revived and returned to life, by people who are passionate about and caring for the preservation of folk traditions.

She has not lost her beauty, warmth and ability to please people.

Ten-pen

The Ten-Hand doll helped a girl or a young woman (a girl who recently got married) in the household. Such a doll was often presented at a wedding so that the woman could do everything and everything went well for her.

The ten-handed is a ritual multi-armed doll. It was made of bast or straw on October 14 on Pokrov, when they sat down to handicraft. In the manufacture are used red threadwhich is protective. On the bottom of the sundress, it is necessarily tied round 9 red string bows … The doll was intended to help girls preparing their dowry and women in various activities such as weaving, sewing, embroidery, knitting, etc.

You can hang the doll in a prominent place in the room where the woman spends time at work.

The Russian people had dolls in which people saw their assistants and considered them a talisman. Such dolls were made throughout life, starting from early childhood. They were twisted from old clothes worn by a father or mother. And the dolls lived in houses, becoming not just a toy, but a part of the world and a member of the family. Therefore, they were also addressed to them in difficult moments of life, they talked, shared their sorrows, and did not forget in joy.

Bunny on a finger

A bunny on a finger was made for children from the age of three, so that they have a friend, an interlocutor … The bunny puts on a finger and is always by your side. Parents used to give this toy to their children when they left home, and if you get bored or scared, you can turn to him as a friend, talk to him, complain or just play. This is both a friend and a talisman. Children are very responsive and see a kindred spirit in their favorite toy, open up and talk as if they were a living person.

It is more difficult for adults to open up and share their grievances, problems, and sometimes just not with anyone. It is easier for a bunny to articulate his sorrows and troubles. And somehow more fun. The feeling that you have a friend who will listen to you and help you.

Doll Goat

The goat and the bear are indispensable participants in the Yuletide Christmas tour of the courtyards, dressing up, since these animals have long been associated with the cult among the Slavs fertility.

The goat was a symbol of vitality, and she had to bring this power to the owner of the hut and his land, the field, so that bread would be better born.

A goat is an amulet of good mood. "Goat" is always cheerful, always careless. She helps very serious people to look at the world a little more fun, she helps a little more detached look at their problems. With her bells, she seems to give her joy and cheerfulness and drives away longing and sadness from the heart. This doll awakens a woman in a woman, gives her strength.

One of the Christmastide rituals was a round of courtyards with festive congratulations, dressing up. In some provinces, the "Goat" doll replaced the carol-driver disguised as a goat. It is based on a wooden crosspiece, horns, and a beard made of bast. The "Goat" was dressed in a bright dress, on top of which were attached ritual objects: pipes, tambourines, a horseshoe as a gift for good luck, bells, bells, beads, earrings. It was believed that if the "Goat" comes to you on Christmas time, the year will be merry and joyful. This amulet is very suitable born in the year of the goat.

"God's Eye"

This is the most ancient protective doll of our Ancestors - the Eye of God, or the Eye of God.

A cruciform composition expresses an idea spreading the forces of good or protecting forces to all four cardinal points.

The eight-ray amulet is our Slavic 8-ray Kolovrat! This is a symbol of the universe and our universe.

"God's eye" placed above the front door to the house, room, above the child's bed, in a place that is clearly visible to the person entering. The bright and unexpected image of the amulet attracts the attention of the incoming person, who forgets about the bad intention towards the owners of the house.

White the color symbolizes purity and innocence, green - life, youth, blue - Knowledge, Red - vitality, energy, Orange - creativity, development of creative abilities, heavenly - the color of thought, mental plane, yellow - the color of the sun and personal achievements, will, purple - victory, scarlet - the color of desires, turquoise - the color of balance of emotions and mind, pink - Love.

Nurse

A doll that accompanied the child from childhood until it "left", that is, not torn, spoiled. This is a "Vepsian doll". This doll was found somewhere near the Baltic States. It was made from old things of the mother, and without the use of scissors and needles. Why is that? So that the child's life is not "cut and not chopped." Before the birth of the baby, in order to warm the cradle, this doll was placed in it. And after birth, the doll hung over the cradle and protected the baby from damage … When the child grew up, he played with her.

The girl made this doll when she was gaining the desire and strength to marry, continue the family, give birth to children. I put it on the window, and the guys knew that they could send matchmakers.

Such a doll was made in different parts of Russia. Vepsians living on the Volga call it Kormilka, Kapustka; in Siberia, Rozhanitsa. She carries within herself mother-nurse image … Her large breasts symbolize the ability to feed everyone. This doll is very pleasing for both men and women. Men - because she's busty. And women - because it carries the Image of Motherhood, Kindness and Caring for Children and Family. This amulet will suit both a woman who has already given birth to a baby, and a woman who wants to get pregnant.