Nime is a collective help organized by fellow villagers when performing labor-intensive and troublesome work. There are many moments in the life of a villager when collective efforts are required to complete certain chores in a timely manner. It was necessary to remove the forest, build a house, harvest the already crumbling crop in time - everywhere the custom of nime came to the rescue. Usually nima is carried out during the day. During a long summer day, participants manage to cope with an entire paddock. In the evening, all nima participants gather at the owner’s house. The owners of the house treated all the villagers in gratitude. Hard work ended with a festive feast.
NAME NAMING traditional - the ceremony of naming a newborn with a personal name. The Chuvash attached great importance to the name, believing that the fate of a person largely depended on it. Chuvash anthroponymy has been recorded in several thousand traditional ways. names The newborn was supposed to be named as early as possible, because, according to beliefs, Esrel could forestall him and take his soul. There were several options for I.: 1) the grandmother-midwife, while bathing the baby, whispered in his ear different names; Whenever the child raised his voice, that was accepted; 2) the father, who was told the sex of the newborn, went out into the street, and he chose the name of the first person he met; 3) in families where children often died, the midwife took the baby out into the yard in a headdress and let the dog lick it; then the parents “bathed” him through the window, named him ©™ppi (Mote), Tuppy (Foundling), etc.; 4) in agreement with older relatives, parents chose the name of the child before his birth. At the same time, for boys, a name was preferred that was in tune with the names of their deceased ancestors; it was believed that this contributed to procreation. The name of the baby, in all variants of I., was confirmed and fixed during the maternity rite of acha yashki (lit. infant soup).
With the Christianization of the Chuvash, I. occurred at baptism, but continued. time, a pagan name was also used, given traditionally. ritual actions.
MATERNITY RITES - customs and rituals associated with childbirth, which, according to the traditional ideas of the Chuvash, protected the life of the baby, protecting him from disease. The birth was attended by a midwife, who acted as the first recipient, introducing the child to the family and society; her help was accompanied by conspiracies and actions, the Crimea was attributed to magic. functions. The services of midwives were used in some cases until the present time. 20th century She accepted the baby on her hem with an invitation and blessing. It was believed that the guardian angel Pirĕshti brings the soul at the moment of birth, and the deity of death Esrel stands guard here with the aim of abducting it. To prevent the soul from leaving the body, the midwife rubbed the umbilical cord towards the baby’s belly, then cut it, for a boy - on the ax or handle of a kochedyk, for a girl - at the bottom of a spinning wheel or the handle of a sickle, and tied it with linen thread; at the same time she uttered incantations. The navel was considered a conductor between the soul and the body; they tried to preserve it, believing that it would help the newborn (they usually hid it at the bottom of the chest). The birth of a child “in a shirt” was considered good luck, which was also kept. The midwife with a curse lowered a silver coin, metallic, into the trough. object, a pinch of salt and bathed the baby; the placenta was placed in an old bast shoe, then it was hidden: for a boy - under the lower crown of a hut or stable, for a girl - in a stable. These and other R.o. and ritual actions expressed hope for the future economy and hard work of the newborn. Then the midwife helped the woman in labor wash herself, performing both hygienic and supposedly magical acts. cleansing If a child was born prematurely or weak, a ritual was performed to let the soul into him. After the birth of a child, sacrifices were made to the spirits.
Before putting the baby into the cradle, the grandmother or another older relative brought him to the stove and blessed him, smearing his tongue with a mixture of cream. oil and honey so that his speech is soft and sweet. They put something in the shaky talisman as a talisman. cutting tool (knife, scissors).
The ritual of acha pµtti (lit. porridge of a child) was carried out with the participation of the father, grandfather (or father’s brother) and close relatives. The grandfather, with a loaf of bread and a circle of chăkăt cheese in his hand, prayed to the gods and spirits, turned to the ancestors, asking for the well-being and health of the baby and his mother. From ser. 19th century My grandmother began to perform this ritual. Those who were baptized lit a candle in front of the images and prayed to the Mother of God, not forgetting to remember their ancestors. Bread, cheese, scrambled eggs or omelet, milk porridge or soup were served on the table. A piece of bread, cheese, or a spoonful of porridge was taken out into the yard and a sacrifice was made with prayer. The mother, in gratitude, presented the midwife with a piece of canvas and soap. The guests presented the woman in labor with pieces of canvas, and put coins for the baby.
The child received a name on the same day or after some time. The Chuvash had several variants of the naming ritual, which, with the adoption of Christianity, was gradually supplanted by Orthodoxy. baptism. In the beginning. 21st century such an element of R.O. as the feast of acha yashka (lit. child's soup) is preserved. Along with others, ritual dishes are served on the table. Guests give gifts to the baby and mother.
Calendar holidays are associated with the change of seasons and the cycle of nature. Another group of holidays and rituals - family and everyday ones, are dedicated to the most important milestones of another cycle - the cycle human life, reflects a person’s life from birth to death, traditional life and family traditions.
These include: births, christenings, name days, housewarmings, weddings, funerals. It should be noted that family and calendar holidays and rituals are closely related to each other. Many scientists believe that agricultural and family rituals, especially wedding rituals, once formed a single whole, having one common goal - achieving well-being in the family and a good harvest. Not by chance great similarity is observed in calendar and wedding songs of an incantatory nature. A number of songs are performed at calendar holidays and weddings. One can often observe the transformation of agrarian-calendar rituals into family-domestic rituals (for example, bathing a newborn in a trough with cereal grains, meeting young mothers-in-law after the wedding in an inverted fur coat, ritual dishes of christening and funeral meals, etc.).
At the same time, the timing of the most striking events in personal life each person, and not constantly repeating dates due to the changing seasons, and, accordingly, other functions and other content make it possible to distinguish family holidays and rituals into a separate group. The sequence of implementation is objectively determined by human life itself. Therefore, we will begin our acquaintance with family and everyday holidays by considering maternity rituals.
Maternity rites
Customs and rituals of the maternity cycle have played a huge role since ancient times. We must not forget that the first form of social organization of people was the maternal clan, and under difficult living conditions and the short life expectancy of ancient man, the fulfillment by women of their natural function of childbearing was the main condition for the existence of the clan. Events related to this were elevated to a cult. Rituals of the maternity cycle have existed for millennia and are the oldest in human history. The main meaning of the maternity cycle was determined by concern for the birth of a healthy child and the preservation of the life and health of the mother. This led to the holding of magical rituals, almost not modified under the influence of the church.
There was a popular saying: “There are many children, but God does not send “extra” children to anyone.” And in the old days they said: “Whoever has many children is not forgotten by God.” People have always welcomed large families, condemned large families, and sympathized with the childless. In some places in Russia, precautions were taken already during the wedding to ensure the successful birth of a young woman. They often wore a superstitious connotation. N. Sumtsov "wrote that in the Nizhny Novgorod province, the newlyweds are taken out from the wedding table in such a way as to avoid walking in a circle, otherwise the young woman will not give birth. During the covering of the young woman's head, a little boy is placed on her lap in order to position the young woman for the birth of her first male child. floor.
Quite rich in various rituals, customs, and superstitions is period of bearing a child.
A pregnant woman in Rus' was the object of many superstitions, in which, however, one cannot help but see a rational grain. Some of them regulated her behavior, prohibited or, conversely, encouraged certain actions.
"Sumtsov N. People's view of a newborn child // Journal of the Ministry of Public Education. 1880. No. 11.-P.70-72.
These include:
Prohibitions on contact with certain objects. To avoid difficult childbirth, a pregnant woman was forbidden to step over a pole, shafts, collar, broom, axe, pitchfork, rake, climb over a fence, window, or step on the horse's trail. It was forbidden to pick up the rope or walk under it, so that the umbilical cord would not wrap around the child’s neck and strangle him. It was not recommended to look at the fire - the child would have a birthmark.
Temporal and spatial restrictions. Pregnant women were supposed to avoid “unclean places” and “unclean times.” They were forbidden to stand or sit on a threshold, on a log, on a boundary, to be at a crossroads, in a cemetery, to approach a house under construction, or to leave the house after sunset.
Prohibitions on drinking and eating. Pregnant women were forbidden to eat fish, otherwise the child will not speak for a long time, eat on the go - the child will become a crybaby, do not eat hare meat - she will give birth to a timid child, do not eat secretly, otherwise the child will become a thief, do not eat honey - otherwise the child will be “scrofulous”, not eat fused fruits - you will give birth to twins, do not drink wine - the child will become a drunkard.
Social prohibitions. During pregnancy, you cannot quarrel with neighbors, get irritated - so as not to spoil the child’s character, as well as steal, imitate someone, participate in rituals (being a godmother, matchmaker, groomsman at a wedding, attending a funeral, washing the deceased).
Prohibitions to look at everything unpleasant and without reward, because an object that disgusts a pregnant woman will certainly affect her child. It was not recommended to look at animals (otherwise the child will be born furry, with long claws), at ugly people, and especially those with some kind of defect - the child will be ugly. And vice versa, it was considered useful to contemplate the beautiful: flowers, the moon, beautiful children in reality and in various images - then the child would be born not only healthy, but also with a pleasant appearance.
The attitude of others towards the pregnant woman was also subject to certain regulation. So, a pregnant woman could not be denied food (after all, it is not she who asks, but the baby) - otherwise “the mice will gnaw the clothes”, do not fulfill her request (you yourself will not eat, but do not refuse the pregnant woman), you could not quarrel, shout, or speak loudly in front of her - you will scare the child
True, the attitude of the people towards the pregnant woman was twofold. On the one hand, she brought goodness and was the personification of fertility. The ability of a pregnant woman to magically transfer fertility was used in many ritual actions: to increase the fertility of livestock, poultry, increase grain yield, fruit trees. During droughts, the expectant mother was doused with water to make it rain. During a fire, she walked around the house, which helped extinguish the flames. On the other hand, according to superstitious beliefs, danger came from a woman expecting a child. Obviously, this was due to the presence of two souls in her and her proximity to the border of life and death. (“To walk with your belly is to wear death on your collar”). And this caused various protective measures on the part of others and gave rise to certain superstitions. For example, they believed that meeting a pregnant woman brings misfortune.
At the same time, a woman expecting a child herself needed protection from evil forces that could harm her and her descendant. To protect against them, she always had with her objects - “amulets”: red woolen threads, rags, ribbons that she tied around her finger, arm or belt, bundles of multi-colored yarn tied in a “dead knot”, iron objects - a needle, a knife, as well as chips from a tree broken by lightning, coal, pieces of brick from a stove, salt.
Naturally, both the expectant mother and the whole family were very interested in the sex of the child. And not out of simple curiosity: the well-being of the family directly depended on this. The birth of a boy meant the appearance of an assistant and future breadwinner, while the girl was perceived as a ruiner, who had already early age need to prepare a dowry. And when she grows up and gets married, she will leave her home and work for someone else’s family. There were many ways to guess the sex of a child. An ancient Russian testimony about fortune-telling of this kind has been preserved: “... and pregnant wives give bread to the bear from their hands, but the maiden will roar, but the boy will be silent.” Having finished weaving, the expectant mother ran out into the street and waited for the first person she met; it was believed that his gender would correspond to the gender of the child. A boy should be expected when the last child in the family does not have a braid of hair on his neck, when the father of the unborn child finds a whip along the way, when a child seated at the wedding table chooses some of the man’s accessories, for example, a pipe rather than a scarf. or a thimble.
The next stage of maternity rituals is rituals accompanying the birth of a child. It should be noted that mainly women participated in these rituals: the midwife, relatives and neighbors. The participation of men was very limited. She acted as a kind of master of ceremonies for childbirth. grandmother-midwife. Not a single peasant family could do without a midwife. She not only dealt with childbirth, but, most importantly, knew how to perform the necessary, from the point of view of the peasants, procedures on the child and the woman in labor, accompanying them with magical actions. The main procedures were: cutting the umbilical cord, handling the afterbirth and bathing the child. All actions of the midwife with the newborn were united by one term - “baby”. A midwife is a person who is not elected by anyone, who voluntarily assumes certain responsibilities that are not written down anywhere, but are recognized by her. She could not refuse a request to come to the woman in labor, even if she really did not want to, she could not demand remuneration for her work, but was content with what she was given. The community made rather strict demands on the personality of the midwife. The role of midwife was usually played by an elderly woman (girls could not be midwives). She must be of impeccable behavior, be happy in family life, fearing God and devoutly observing all Orthodox rituals.
In some places it was believed that only widows, and not “husbands’ wives,” could midwife. The midwife was not supposed to wash the dead, otherwise the newborns she received would die. For the same reason, the midwife was forbidden to participate in getting rid of unwanted children:
She had to direct all her knowledge and skills only to preserve the life of the child. When choosing a midwife, they also paid attention to whether her own children or the children she midwifed had died.”
In accordance with all the requirements, the Russian peasant chose a midwife and called her into the house. Immediately after the birthing mother appeared in the house, the midwife lit the lamps near the icons and prayed. Then she took measures “from the evil eye”: she washed the woman “from the coal”, ordered her to wipe herself with her husband’s fur coat “from the evil eye”, and anointed her with “persuading oil”.
Then the midwife takes the woman in labor to the bathhouse (which is heated in advance) to steam and soften the bones. Having placed the woman in labor on the shelf, she rubs her with oil. Before going to bed or going to the bathhouse for childbirth, the mother in labor “says goodbye to her family,” turning first to her father-in-law, then to her mother-in-law, and then to the rest of the family.
In addition to their direct responsibilities associated with a number of symptomatic actions to facilitate childbirth, grandmothers constantly take care of protecting the woman in labor from evil spirits, using Christian paraphernalia: incense, holy water and prayers. In conspiracies, the midwife usually turns to various saints for help: Zosima and Savvatey, Anna the prophetess, Kuzma and Demyan, the Most Holy Theotokos and her main patron and helper - grandmother Solomonida (Solomeya, Solomonia).
"Listova T. A. Russian rituals, customs and beliefs associated with the midwife / Russians: family and social life. M: Nauka, 1989. P. 143.
According to popular beliefs, it was Solomea who performed all those actions with the infant Christ that the village midwife should have performed. It was to her that the midwife turned, asking: “Grandmother Solomonida, put your hands on the servant of God... (name of the woman in labor)” or: “Grandmother Solomonida, midwife of Christ - help!”
Husband of the woman in labor played a significant role during childbirth, although he obeyed unquestioningly all the midwife’s instructions. There was an extremely widespread belief among the people that childbirth was greatly facilitated if the husband was next to his wife in moments of suffering. The husband gave the woman in labor water from his right boot, untied her belt, pressed his knee on his wife's back - all these actions, according to popular belief, supposedly speeded up and made childbirth easier. Sometimes, for the same purpose, the midwife ordered the future father to break down the fence, sent him to the priest, etc.
Another fairly common way of alleviating the pains of childbirth was the custom of playing the role of a woman in labor with her husband. Thus, among the Belarusians of the Mogilev province and in the Elninsky and Smolensky districts, the husband dressed in women's clothing: a shirt or skirt, tied a scarf around his head and moaned during childbirth, as if sharing the suffering of his wife. It happened that the husband often began to feel seriously unwell, so successfully did he “get into character.”
To facilitate childbirth, they resorted to various kinds of techniques and manipulations, most of which had a magical meaning: they lit a consecrated wax candle and held it in front of the woman in labor, they knocked on the ceiling of the hut with a broom, turning to the “house spirit”, the patron saint of the family, for help. In many places in Russia, they open and untie everything that is closed and represents any obstacle that can interfere with the speed of childbirth: they unlock all the locks, chests, cabinets in the house, open doors and stove dampers, untie knots, unravel a braid, untie a belt and a scarf. on the woman in labor, remove her earrings and rings. During a difficult birth, they go to the priest with a request to open the Royal doors (gates), light the wedding candle, serving a prayer service to the Altar Mother of God, that is, to her icon, which is located behind the throne in the local church." It was believed that in such cases it helps a lot and the priest's belt, with which he was girded during the service. It was placed on the belly of the woman in labor. Almost everywhere, the woman in labor was led three times around the table, on the corners of which there was salt. The pregnant woman tasted it from each pile and, following the midwife, uttered a spell to facilitate childbirth: “You, "Salt, holy; you, salt, are salty; you, salt, are strong! Make way for the salt, let go of my ailments, what is in the animal bones, in the black blood; sweeten all the pains and pains in difficult times, and I rejoice!" ""
Once the birth is complete, the midwife brings the baby to the father and asks him to be baptized. The father baptizes the baby and goes to light a candle in front of the icons. Next, they watch the child, trying to guess his future fate. The lucky one is considered to be the one who appears “in a shirt” - an intact uterine lining. Everywhere the shirt was carefully preserved so that “happiness” would never leave its chosen one. Happiness was also prophesied for that newborn who, being female, looks like his father, and male - like his mother. Good luck awaits the baby if there was some profit in the house on the day of his birth, as well as the one who is born with hairs on his head, etc.
Much attention is paid to the day and time of birth. Thus, in the Vladimir province, Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday were considered happy birthdays, while other days foreshadowed illness and poverty for a person. The happiest time of day for a birth is the morning “between mass and matins,” as they say in a Great Russian wedding song.
"Uspensky D.I. Birthplaces and christenings, care for the mother in labor and birth number // EO. 1895. No. 4.
"" Dmitriev V.V. Family rituals of the Vladimir village. Vladimir, 1995. P.9.
Night birth is considered unlucky. “Not a resident” is a baby born at the end of the month.
At the same time, measures were taken that could have a beneficial effect on the future fate of the baby. These include: cutting the umbilical cord, first bathing and baking of the baby.
In the Vladimir province, cutting a boy's umbilical cord was always done with a knife and some kind of carpenter's or joiner's tool. The peasants believed that only in this case the child would become a hard-working and business person. On the contrary, the girls' umbilical cord was cut with scissors, and in such a way that it fell on women's work (knitting, sewing, etc.). In this case, the newborn will certainly become a housewife. The umbilical cord, like the shirt, was dried and stored, or buried in the ground.
Great importance was also attached to the baby's first bath. The trough was filled with river water, barely heated, and sometimes ice-cold, into which grains of rye, oats, and buckwheat were added, and gold or silver coins were thrown in, which was supposed to contribute to the happiness and future wealth of the baby.
“Re-cooking” was used only for weakly born babies to give new strength for life. The baby was tied with a wet towel and thrust into the heated oven three times on a wooden shovel, quickly pulled out again. At the same time, the midwife uttered a spell, turning to the fire and asking it to “cook the bones, strengthen the child.” Thus, the child was, as it were, born again, but already healthy, his illnesses burned out in the cleansing fire.
The born child was most often wrapped in a shirt or other clothing of the father, taken directly from him. The mother's shirt is mentioned much less often. This custom demonstrated the symbolism of the father’s connection with the child, the wish for the child’s health, father’s love and care, as well as the transfer of positive paternal qualities to the child. The parent's shirt became not only the first clothing of the newborn, but also a talisman “against the evil eye.” Often, for this purpose, worn father's things were hung from the newborn's cradle. Clothes were not supposed to be washed, otherwise “a father’s love would be washed away.” The ritual of accepting a newborn into the clothes of the father thus constituted the act of adoption of the newborn by the father, recognition of the child. This is also the meaning of handing over a newborn to his father when he is taken out to the hut for the first time.
During this period, great importance was attached to protecting the child and mother from the “evil eye”, “intimidation” and “evil spirits”. According to popular views, childbirth makes the mother and child “unclean”, so they are especially vulnerable to “evil spirits.” In addition, the baby has not yet been baptized and is therefore deprived of heavenly protection. The midwife takes protective measures: from time to time she baptizes windows, doors, the head of the child and the mother in labor. A woman in labor should not leave the house for nine days, and if she does, then with prayers and making the sign of the cross. From the moment of birth until baptism, the woman in labor and the newborn should not be left in the room alone, so that evil spirits did not take possession of the soul of an unbaptized baby and did not harm the parent. In addition, an abandoned baby can be carried away by a brownie or a goblin. For protective purposes, the baby's cradle was arranged in a special way. “From the evil eye” aspen bark was used to ward off sorcerers. To deter evil spirits, a tuft of dog hair or sharp objects were placed “under the head” of a newborn child: a knife, fork, etc. Well, according to the peasant understanding, Thursday salt and an Epiphany candle helped in this case.
When all precautions had been taken, the floor in the hut was washed, and the doors were opened for visiting relatives and friends. The latter carried gifts with them - “tooth” - delicacies or bread with salt. Not visiting a woman in labor was considered shameful, the same as not remembering the deceased.
Baptismal rites - one of the most significant stages of maternity rituals. It should be noted that the time from birth to baptism of the baby was, as a rule, short. And that's why. The baby could die “not brought” to faith, and his innocent soul would go to the devil. The unbaptized one could easily be “jinxed”, “spell damage”, he was an easy prey for evil spirits. Baptism was carried out preferably on an empty stomach, without putting the baby to the mother's breast. According to church canons, they were baptized on the eighth or fortieth day. These dates were associated with significant dates in the infant life of Christ - Circumcision and Candlemas.
Main characters baptismal rites - godparents or godparents(i.e. receiving the child from the font). The Orthodox Church entrusted them with a guarantee before God upon the child’s entry into the fold of the church and with further care for their spiritual children. Among the people, foster parents were considered the child’s second parents, his guardians and patrons. For the most part, foster children became one of the close relatives - adults, respected and wealthy. But it happened that the recipient could be a random passer-by who met the midwife who was running to the river for water to bathe the baby. Thus, only one foster child was invited and in the case when the children did not live with anyone. Sometimes priests were also invited to be foster parents, giving the baby his name. The godfathers not only became patrons of the godson, but also entered into a spiritual connection with each other and were called “godfather” and “godfather”.
The invitation of the godfather was made by the father of the newborn, who came to the house of the future godfather with bows and refreshments. An invitation was considered an honor, and refusal was a great sin. Adoption was associated with high costs. For baptism, the recipient bought a cross for the godson, paid the priest for the christening, gave gifts to the mother, and gave money to the midwife. Kuma carried the child's baptismal shirt; the mother was given a piece of chintz or canvas. In addition, the godfather had to give the priest a towel and wipe his hands after dipping the baby into the font. Before baptism, the midwife performed a series of magical actions on the child: she bathed him in a trough with running water, pronouncing incantations that would protect the child from the evil eye and evil spirits and should ensure good health. Then she dressed the child in a cut mother’s or father’s shirt, depending on the sex of the baby, and with prayer gave it to the “kum” - the boy, “kuma” - the girl.
When leaving the house, the godfather and godfather should not turn around, speak loudly, or stumble over the threshold, otherwise it would be bad for the baby, and they themselves “would have no way - no road.” Baptism usually took place in church, but if the child was weak, they were baptized at home, but always not in the room where the birth took place, since it was considered desecrated. We will not consider the church sacrament of baptism. Let us dwell only on some of the superstitions that have developed among the people based on the elements of this strictly canonized rite. So, while the baby was immersed in the font, his behavior was observed. If he “stretched out” over the font and was silent, this meant that the baby would not stay long in this world. When the priest cut the hair on the head of a newly baptized baby, the recipients rolled it up in wax and threw it into the font. If the wax ball sank, then the baby will soon die; if it floats on the surface, it will live.
A number of superstitions were associated with the water used in the baptismal ceremony: it was necessary to fetch it without a rocker (otherwise the baby would be hunchbacked). After baptism, water should not be poured anywhere, into the dirt and especially into the slop, otherwise the child’s fate would be spoiled and would not work out. For this purpose, it was necessary to find a secluded place where people, and especially animals, would not walk. The newly baptized from the church were greeted with special rituals. Kumovyev and the child were greeted with bread and salt by the midwife. The child was placed on a fur coat, sheepskin turned upside down, or on a soft bedding, under which amulets were hidden. The fur coat was supposed to provide the child with wealth and well-being. The baby was placed on a bench under the icon or on the stove or brought to the outer opening of the stove and they turned to the brownie (and the stove was his home) with a request to accept the newborn into the house: “Dear, come, welcome the child, strengthen the house.” The godfathers and relatives congratulated the child’s parents on the “newly initiated.”
A special place in maternity and baptismal rituals was occupied by rituals symbolizing the acceptance of a new member into the family and community. These rituals were most clearly manifested in the ritual of approval of the so-called. table of the cross, a kind of home celebration of the birth and baptism of a newborn.
All family members gathered for the christening, and the godfather and mother were certainly invited. Guests brought gifts and treats with them in order to free the still fragile hostess from household chores. The midwife became the hostess of the table of the cross. She set the table, served dishes and prepared the main dish of the holiday - “baptismal porridge”. The porridge was cooked from millet and differed from the Lenten sochik served on Christmas or Epiphany Eve in that it was “rich,” that is, modest, filling and tasty. They did not eat this porridge just in a “pinch”, as if it were luscious, but they treated themselves to it to their heart’s content. When preparing porridge, the grandmother did not regret adding milk, butter, cream, and eggs to it. The finished porridge was decorated with halves of boiled eggs. Sometimes a chicken or a rooster was baked into the porridge, depending on who was born: a boy or a girl
Baptismal porridge was a ritual dish through which the birth of a baby was identified with the fertility of the land and livestock. The midwife, who placed a pot of porridge on the table (sometimes it was brought directly in a fur hat), said: “There are children on the shelf, calves under the shelf, piglets under the stove, chickens on the floor. And my grandson will grow high and high!” Or: “As much as there is in the market, there would be so much in this house, a little bread would be born, there would be livestock, and the baby would grow big and know happiness.”
The grandmother was the first to treat the newborn’s father, bringing him heavily salted porridge in a spoon: “Eat, father-parent, eat, and be more kind to your son (or daughter)!” “As it was salty for you, so it was salty for your wife to give birth!” Or: “The porridge was salty, and it was salty for the wife to give birth, and the father and mother will get even saltier children after!” The godfathers and then all those present are treated to the baby’s father.
Rituals with “baba’s porridge” necessarily included the collection of money, known in many places as “selling porridge.” Money and gifts were placed “to bite the bullet” either on a scarf that covered the pot, or directly into the porridge. The midwife took the money and gifts for herself, which was her reward for | work. The one who brought the most expensive gift (ransom) received the right to treat the guests to porridge. As a rule, this was the godfather. Thus, collecting money for the midwife represented a kind of collective payment for her activities, gratitude from the rural community for her work in relation to the new member of the team.
Family holidays and rituals: structure, functions and artistic elements
Cultural studies and art history
The concept of custom, rite, ritual, tradition We see that the desire of people to celebrate the key events of their lives in a bright, beautiful, solemn and memorable manner is determined by giving these events the forms of holidays and rituals. are turning points in people’s lives that change their relationships with others, giving them new rights and making new demands. What is the concept of ritual? What is its essence? Why at all times, starting from the primitive communal system, people celebrated with solemn ritual actions the most outstanding events...
Family and everyday holidays and rituals: structure, functions and artistic elements.
The concept of custom, rite, ritual, tradition
We see that people’s desire to brightly, beautifully, solemnly and memorablely celebrate the key events of their lives is determined by giving these events the forms of holidays and rituals. Events such as a wedding, the birth of a child, coming of age, etc. are turning points in people’s lives, changing their relationships with others, giving them new rights and making new demands. And it is quite understandable that people want to celebrate these events with solemn, memorable rituals that pass from generation to generation in a certain established, fixed form and express the inner meaning and content of this event.
Ritualism - component culture, reflecting the spiritual essence of the people, their worldview in different periods of historical development, a complex and diverse phenomenon that performs the functions of transferring to subsequent generations the experience accumulated in the struggle for existence, a unique human reaction to living conditions, a specific form of expression of people's aspirations and aspirations.
The historical change of social formations, living conditions, needs and relationships of people also influences the development of holidays and rituals. As a result of changes in reality, ritual goes through a long and complex path of evolution. Some rituals die out, which conflict with the worldview of people, others are transformed, in which new content is put into previous forms, and, finally, new rituals are born that meet the needs and requirements of the new era.
What is meant by the concept of “rite”? What is its essence? Why at all times, starting with the primitive communal system, people celebrated the most outstanding events of their lives with solemn ritual actions?
The term “rite” comes from the verb “to rite”, “to rite” - to decorate. The ritual is a kind of break in everyday life, a bright spot against the background of everyday life. He has amazing property influence the emotional world of a person and at the same time evoke in all those present a similar emotional state, which contributes to the affirmation in the consciousness of the basic idea for the sake of which it is being done.
The first elements of ritual arose long before the advent of the Christian religion from the needs of people, in solemnly joyful and solemnly sorrowful moments of life, to gather together and express the feelings that gripped them in a certain way. This is the socio-psychological nature of ritual.
Each ritual has its own content, but it is always a conditional action, the purpose of which is to express specific ideas and certain social ideas in symbolic form. Rituals reflect the diverse connections and relationships of people in society. “This is a symbolic and aesthetic expression (and manifestation) of the collective ties of society, the collective essence of man, ties that not only connect a person with his contemporaries, but also unite him with his ancestors. The ritual is created as an expression of the spirit, habits, traditions, and way of life of society,” in it gets reflected real life a person, his connections and relationships with society, with the people around him.
Ritual is one of the ways of existing traditions.
Tradition is a broader social phenomenon, special shape consolidation of social relations, expressed in stable and most general actions and norms of social behavior, passed on from generation to generation. The content of traditions is determined by the social relations that gave rise to them, and therefore traditions are a product of certain historical conditions.
Traditions, as firmly established, habitual ideas of people, are born in response to the demands of life and exist as long as they meet the needs of a particular group of people. Traditions are one of the powerful means of influencing a person. The development of society goes from the past to the present, from the present to the future, therefore, in society, on the one hand, there are always traditions in which the experience of past generations is concentrated, on the other hand, new traditions are born that concentrate the experience of today, corresponding to a new worldview.
Changes in living conditions, needs and relationships of people also have an impact on the development of holidays and rituals. As a result of changes in reality, ritual goes through a long and complex path of evolution, is modified, and changes.
There is much in common between traditions, customs and rituals: they all represent forms of transmission to new generations of social experience accumulated by society, and this transmission occurs in a vivid figurative form with the help of conditionally symbolic actions.
Traditions cover a wider range of phenomena than holidays and rituals. They are found in all spheres of public life.
Thus, we will focus on the following definitions of the main concepts used.
Tradition is a social phenomenon that reflects historically established customs, order, norms of behavior and passed down from generation to generation, a special form of social relations, expressed in common actions and preserved by the power of public opinion.
Custom is a narrower concept compared to tradition. This is a firmly established rule in a particular social environment that regulates the behavior of people in public life. The implementation of the custom is not ensured by the state. It is maintained through its repeated repetition and application over a long period of time.
A holiday is a solemn form of commemorating various events in personal or public life, based on the beliefs and customs of the people, a day free from work and everyday everyday worries.
A ritual is a social phenomenon, which is a set of conventionally symbolic actions established among the people, expressing a certain magical meaning associated with the celebrated events of personal or public life; this is a kind of collective act, which is strictly determined by tradition, as well as outer side religious life and human beliefs.
Ritual is the order of performing a ritual, a sequence of conditionally symbolic actions that express the main idea of the holiday, the external manifestation of a person’s beliefs.
These concepts in everyday life tend to expand their scope and are quite often replaced by one another. Nevertheless, dividing them and defining their content from broader to narrower seems legitimate to us, since it allows us to freely operate with them in the course of our reasoning and distinguish one from the other.
Family and household rituals. Wedding
A wedding is the most striking example of a dramatized ritual, one of the main pictures of the great drama of life, that drama, the length of which is equal to a human life... The action of the wedding lasted many days and nights, it involved many people, relatives and non-relatives, sometimes touching not only other villages, but also other volosts.
The inevitability of the ritual is explained simply: the time has come to get married, and the necessity of marriage has never been questioned. Therefore, both for the young and for their loved ones, this is just one of life’s episodes, although this episode is special, perhaps the most remarkable. Marriage is the most important link in an unbreakable chain, prepared by all previous links: childhood, the events of adolescence, the affairs of youth, the aging of parents, etc.
This ritual originates much earlier, somewhere at a village celebration, perhaps even in childhood, but its action is always definite and figurative. It begins with matchmaking.
In the old days, in places rich in water, the custom of the Chud tribe was preserved to bring their daughters on boats to holiday and fair villages. Such brides were called floaters. The father, brother or mother, who had “melted” the girl, left her under an overturned boat along with her dowry, while they themselves went to the village to watch the holiday. Local groomsmen immediately appeared on the shore. One by one they turned over the boats, looking at and choosing brides. (“Can something that is revered by a whole people be a vice in a private person?” asks A.S. Pushkin thoughtfully. The Russians did not disdain the customs of neighboring peoples, although they were picky) True, this custom was not widespread in Russian villages . The acquaintance of boys and girls took place at the goryuns and columns, at summer and winter festivities.
In winter, at the beginning of the new year, the parents of the grooms figure out what and how, whether the guy will be able to choose his future wife, they consult. A full-fledged groom did not allow options, several candidates, but not all of them were like that. Many people needed parental help when making their choice, often simply because the guy was shy.
On the appointed day, having chosen a “route” and prayed, the matchmakers - parents or close relatives - went to make a match. It is difficult not only to describe, but simply to list all the signs, conventions and figurative details of matchmaking. From now on until the first wedding morning everything became special meaning, foreshadowed either good luck or misfortune, everything took its specific place. It was necessary to know: how, where and after whom to step, what to say, where to put this and that, to notice everything that happens in the house and on the road, to remember everything, to warn, to think about it.
Even the sweeping of felt boots at the porch, drying boots at the stove damper, the behavior of domestic animals, the creaking of floorboards, the sound of the wind acquired a special meaning in the external design of matchmaking. Despite the clarity of the basic rules verified over centuries, each matchmaking was special, different in form from others, the same expressions and proverbs were spoken differently. For some it came out particularly figuratively, for others not so much. Of course, all this was recorded in unwritten rural chronicles. Later, the most uninteresting things were forgotten forever, and everything remarkable was passed on to other generations. Traditional expressions in mediocre lips became cliches, images, borrowed. Tradition, however, did not fetter creative imagination at all; on the contrary, it gave it an initial impetus, freeing the tongue of even the most tongue-tied matchmaker. However, a tongue-tied matchmaker is the same as a horseless plowman, or a sexton without a voice, or, for example, a lame postman. Therefore, one of the matchmakers was certainly a talker.
They entered the house without warning, as always. They crossed themselves, sat down, and exchanged greetings. The quick-witted owners immediately tuned in to a certain mood, the bride went out of sight. A real verbal duel began. Even in the case of a pre-determined matter, the father and mother of the bride refused at first, saying that we need to wait, our goods are not in good condition, they say that she is still young and has little property, etc. The matchmakers acted all the more recklessly, praising the groom and using all their eloquence. How to look people in the eyes if things end in complete failure?
There were cases when, having achieved nothing, matchmakers, at their own peril and risk, wooed another bride, a younger, or even older, sister who had stayed too long as a girl, or went to another house and even to another village, if the groom was not very picky, and the marriage became urgent.
Conventional, traditional tricks and tricks are used during matchmaking interspersed with genuine, natural ones, associated with certain circumstances of a material and moral nature. But it turned out that the traditional provisions in such cases of cunning themselves helped the ritual participants. The folk custom spared Self-love; it seemed to help out the poor, and knock off excess arrogance from the rich, encourage the timid, and discourage the overly cheeky.
Matchmaking rarely ended with a firm promise, however, the matchmakers sensed agreement in the unsteadiness of the voice, in the uncertainty of the reasons for the refusal. Sometimes one of the bride’s parents zealously refused, while the other made a secret, subtle sign: they say, everything will be fine, don’t give up. In the end, having worked pretty hard, everyone parted, and the bride’s parents, as if out of mercy or out of respect for the groom’s family, promised to come and see the place.
Seeing the place, getting to know the house where the “beloved child” will live is the second wedding operation. The bride's parents tried to come by chance to see everything as it was, but the groom's relatives were also on the alert. In order not to fall face down in the mud, she secretly prepared for the meeting. Here folk tradition allowed a small forgery: it was allowed to take “estate” from neighbors for show, and sometimes neighbors’ blankets and fur coats were stolen into the groom’s house... And yet it happened that those looking at the place based on the appearance of the house firmly decided not to give their daughter away, so as not to offend groom, were looking for a plausible excuse for refusal.
The bride's parents walked around the whole house, looked into the barns and into the yard, curious about how much livestock and utensils the groom had, whether there was enough bread, whether there was anything to sleep on, and what the bathhouse was like. Only after this it became clear whether the matchmaking was successful or the groom was refused. If it was refused, they equipped new matchmakers...
If successful, there was a short break, after which the third part of the wedding action followed. In different places it was called differently: handshake, conspiracy, guarantee. But the essence remained the same everywhere: at this moment they finally decide to become related, the wedding day is planned, the place where the newlyweds will live and the amount of the dowry are determined.
Funeral
As already mentioned, death from old age was considered a naturally necessary event. In some cases, they waited for her and called for her, embarrassed to live. “I’ve already begun someone else’s life, I’ve been missed in the next world for a long time,” said Yulia Fedosimova from the village of Lobanikha. Ivan Afanasyevich Neustupov from Druzhinin, feeling the end approaching, made himself a house. The coffin stood on the top barn for almost a year. From the outside it seemed somewhat creepy. But in the popular perception of death there is a combination that is strange at first glance: respect for mystery and everyday calm. To die with dignity in old age meant the same thing as to live life with dignity. Only the weak in spirit were afraid of death; those who died were those who were ill in the prime of life, people deprived in some way by fate, etc.
To die without suffering and without suffering from loved ones seemed to a normal person to be the greatest and ultimate blessing. As in christenings, the Christian rite here is closely integrated with the ancient custom of forgiveness and burial. Communion, unction and parental blessing were supplemented by requests to forgive all offenses, and an oral will of personal property (clothing, professional and musical instruments, jewelry).
In a Russian peasant family, under any circumstances, the deceased was washed and dressed in clean, sometimes very expensive clothes. They laid the deceased on a bench, with his head in a red corner, covered him with a white canvas (shroud), folded his hands on his chest, putting a white handkerchief in his right hand. The funeral took place on the third day; the especially honored dead were carried in their arms to the cemetery. All this was accompanied by crying and lamentations.
There were professional screamers in the North, like professional storytellers. They were often considered fortune tellers and healers. Many of them, possessing true artistic talent, created their own verses, complementing and developing the traditional imagery of funeral folk poetry.
The death of a very old man was not considered grief; lamentations and laments in this case were more of a formal nature. A hired weeping woman could instantly transform, interrupt her crying with some ordinary remark, and scream again. It’s another matter when close relatives lament or when death is premature. Here the traditional form took on a personal, emotional, and sometimes deeply tragic overtones.
Funerals always ended with a wake, or funeral feast, for which special funeral dishes and dishes were prepared. All relatives and funeral participants took part in the funeral feast.
Relatives and friends celebrated the ninth day after death and the fortieth (magpie). We also visited the cemetery in parent's Saturday- day of remembrance of the soldiers who died on the Kulikovo Field.
In addition, every spring the graves of relatives were tidied up. The current fashion for fencing was, however, completely alien to our predecessors; the entire cemetery was fenced, and not individual graves.
Farewell to the army
Alas, few people managed to buy themselves off from “soldiership,” as the proverb says. “Recruitment duty,” wrote the collector of northern folklore Alexander Melnitsky in 1894, “takes guys away from peasant work, and sometimes completely weans them from village farming.”
Throughout the centuries-old history of the state, the army and navy drew their main strength from the peasantry, which for this reason earned the hatred of Russia’s external enemies. Man-bear, Lapotnik, Moskal, Smerd - all these contemptuous names were born, if not entirely in enemy camps, then, in any case, not on village streets, but rather in palaces and chambers, where foreign speech was heard more than Russian. For the same reasons, the external enemies of the state hated the entire system of life, the entire Russian peasant way of life, which allowed Russia to have a large and combat-ready army.
Meanwhile, as the same collector of folklore writes, “a soldier’s life, in the opinion of the peasants, is gloomy, “unusual”; there “they won’t give you any treats,” “they will bruise your sides,” they will teach you “to walk in line.”
However, let’s take a closer look at A. Melnitsky’s note.
Guys who are “on the waiting list” begin to enjoy various privileges long before conscription... They are not forced to work, are not sent to do difficult winter work, are given greater freedom in everything and turn a blind eye to their actions and pranks.
In the summer before conscription, a “nekrut” usually (if he is not one of the rich) goes to work... There he always buys himself a harmonica and puts on a festive suit, in which the main role is played by “exhaust” black boots and a cloth “jacket”. Leaving the rest of his earnings for pocket money or, as they say, “for tobacco,” the “nekrut” returns home in August. From this time on his festivities begin. Almost not a single “fair” or “festival” takes place wherever he appears. Typically, recruits serve as a center around which young people group on parties... In the month of October on Sundays and holidays The recruits' festivities with their fellow villagers begin. In the evening, the guys gather in the hut of some old man or woman; here sometimes the “nekrut” puts out vodka, or else they all buy it together and, having raised their spirits, begin their nightly walks through the villages, which often continue “until the roosters.” Here the recruits are the main characters: they are given complete freedom. They start all the dances and games, do different “stunts”, sit on the laps of all the girls, even the “slavutnitsa”, treat them with gingerbread and sweets.
The “conscription” usually occurs in the month of November. A week before the appointed day, the recruits’ partying becomes especially intensified, and two or three days later their “visiting” begins with their relatives, to whom they go to say goodbye, starting with their closest relatives.
Lamentation
Lamentation, crying, lamentation - one of oldest species folk poetry. In some places in the Russian North-West it has survived to this day, so a cry similar to Yaroslavna’s cry from the eight-hundred-year-old “Tale of Igor’s Campaign” can still be heard today.
The chanter in some places was called a cryer, in others - simply a cryer. Like storytellers, they often became professionals, but narration, to one degree or another, was accessible to most Russian women.
Lamentation has always been individual, and its cause could be any family grief: the death of a close relative, missing person, some natural disaster.
Since grief, like happiness, is not standard, similar to grief in another house, then the calculations cannot be the same. A professional weeper must improvise, a relative of the deceased is also individual in her cry, she laments to a certain person- by husband or brother, by son or daughter, by parent or grandson. Traditional images, which have lost their freshness and strength due to frequent, for example, fairy-tale repetitions, when applied to a certain family, or to a certain tragic incident, acquire an amazing, sometimes eerie emotionality.
Crying out the unbearable, in normal conditions unimaginable and even unacceptable grief was almost a physiological need in people's life. Having cried, the man half-overcame the irreparable misfortune. Listening to the lamentations, the world and the surrounding people share the grief and take on the burden of the loss. Grief seems to unfold among people. In crying, in addition, sobs and tears seem to be ordered, their physiology fades into the background, suffering acquires spirituality thanks to imagery.
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What are family holidays?
Rituals and customs, the origin of which is not always clear, accompany a person at every step, from the moment of birth to death. Ritual actions accompany both personal and social life person.
Traditions surround a person throughout his life, although sometimes their meaning and significance are forgotten or even lost. Rituals associated with birth, wedding, and death are called family rites.
What are family traditions and rituals?
Family household rituals and holidays since pagan times reflect the complete family cycle, which includes funerals, weddings and births. Divorce proceedings were not part of the traditions, so they did not receive the appropriate ritual formalization.
All rituals associated with family events carried magical properties, the purpose of which was to protect a person from evil forces and attract good luck.
Wedding ceremonies
The traditional time to celebrate weddings is autumn, after harvesting work, or winter after the celebration of Epiphany. The wedding ceremony and celebration took a lot of time and consisted of several stages. The creation of a new family was equated to a new cycle of births.
Each stage of the wedding cycle was accompanied by ritual songs appropriate to the moment. Each stage had its own magical meaning, including the abduction of the bride and wedding riots.
Birth of a child
The sacrament of birth was truly a sacrament and it was believed that the fewer people knew about the beginning of labor, the easier the woman in labor would endure the pangs of labor.
However, the involvement of the child's father in the birth was marked by a number of magical actions that existed unofficially in the Kuvad code.
A woman who had passed the childbearing period was called to become a midwife. At the time of birth, everything in the house was swung open and untied to stimulate the opening of the birth canal. The umbilical cord was cut on the instrument, in accordance with the desired future profession baby.
Housewarming
Housewarming in the Russian patriarchal village was a rather rare occurrence, but it had its own traditions of celebration.
With the advent of Christianity, a tradition arose to bless new housing. But what remains from paganism is the bringing of housewarming gifts, as well as the custom of letting a cat into the house (you can also have a black rooster).
Ancient traditions in modern family and everyday holidays
Some of the traditions of celebrating family holidays have faded into oblivion due to a change in the social structure of society. Partially the traditions were banned by the Soviet regime.
But even in modern wedding ceremonies there are elements whose origin is difficult to explain without knowledge of the history of one’s own people. .