What in Russia was strictly forbidden to be thrown into a landfill, and What threatened violation of the rules

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

According to archaeologists, stumbling upon an ancient landfill is a rare piece of luck. You can find items that will tell how people lived in this area, how rich they were and other information. But there were items that never ended up in the trash heaps. Read how in Russia one should have dealt with cut hair and nails, what fate awaited the rag rags, and what they did with the clothes of recently deceased people.

Why it was necessary to reliably hide nails and hair

In all world cultures considerable attention is paid to personal hygiene and appearance. From time immemorial, people shaved their beards, combed their hair, cut their hair, tried to care for their nails. Over the centuries, many superstitions have arisen based on caring for your body. For example, in Russia, it was often believed that one should not throw away cut hair and nails so that evil sorcerers would not find them. The question is, why be afraid? It turns out that if an evil sorcerer finds at least a hair or a piece of a nail, he can damage their owner.

And again a legitimate question: why would a sorcerer do this? Such actions were explained by the inner essence: sorcerers, healers and other personalities were considered servants of evil spirits. And the evil spirits have one principle - harm as much as possible and to more people. That is why it was necessary after a haircut to reliably hide hair and nails in a distant, most secluded place. For example, burning was a good way, and it was also possible to bury these objects as deep as possible in the ground.

In addition, great importance was attached to the hair, they were endowed with special magical powers. They said that the hair is saturated with energy and serves for "contact" between a person and the other world. They seemed to have stored strength, energy, human health. Therefore, it was impossible to allow even one hair to fall into the hands of an ill-wisher.

Bread as a divine gift, used down to the last crumb

Bread in Russia was not easy to get. Plowmen, reapers and millers worked in the sweat of their brow, because then there was no talk of devices that mechanized physical labor. Therefore, not a single piece of bread was lost in families, not even crumbs were lost. The bread was never thrown away. The stale one was soaked, spoiled with pleasure, ate poultry and livestock. And if such joy was an extra loaf, then it could be given to those who needed it.

The most convenient way to store bread is to make croutons out of it. Each hut had a stove, so there were no problems with the preparation of this dish. A delicious delicacy that both adults and children ate with pleasure. And today, many housewives dry the leftover bread by cutting it into small pieces. To do this, use ovens, microwaves, or simply lay out bread on the table.

In Orthodoxy, bread has always been treated as a gift from God, a gift that feeds a person and gives him the opportunity to live.

Pieces that were supposed to serve until they decay

Since ancient times in Russia it was customary to keep old scraps. Beautiful pieces of fabric or those that remained from expensive things were used to sew blankets and swirls, funny dolls were made from them, and used to decorate clothes. Craftswomen knew how to do this perfectly, although they did not know the modern name "patchwork". Patchwork technique today belongs to the very popular folk crafts. Tasteful patchwork products really look incredibly stylish, interesting and beautiful, especially if they are used to create an interior in a country wooden house.

In "Domostroy" you can find a mention that a good housewife should sort the scraps and remnants of tissue. In this case, linen pieces were used many times. For example, if the shirt was very old, then, naturally, it became worn and soft. Such a thing was perfect for sewing children's clothes. If the fabric was completely worn out, then it turned out to be a wonderful accessory for cleaning the house, that is, a rag for washing floors and dusting.

Cult objects launched on water and belongings of the deceased that could not be touched for 40 days

Cult objects were never thrown away in Russia. Icons and religious books, as well as pectoral crosses were used until they literally fell apart at hand. They were given, passed down from generation to generation as an inheritance, and were highly valued. Many have probably seen old icons in village huts, on which almost nothing is visible, but which occupy an honorable place in the red corner. If for some reason it was necessary to part with such a thing, people took it to church. There were several more ways: to bury it deeply in the ground, but so that no one's foot would step on this place, or to run it through running water early in the morning.

There were many superstitions about the things of recently deceased people. The people believed that the soul of a person does not immediately go to heaven, that the road there takes at least forty days. In the meantime, this period has not passed, the soul has a strong connection with the body, suffers, asks back, wants to return. In order not to fly to heaven after the deceased, it was not recommended to touch personal dishes, clothes, tools and other items that belonged to the deceased. When the soul finds peace, then this prohibition was lifted.

A well-known popular proverb is associated with garbage and landfills: "they can't stand dirty linen in public." Today it is often used in this interpretation: all quarrels and problems should be hidden from strangers, you should not share them with strangers. But in fact, earlier everything was much simpler and meant that the garbage could be easily destroyed simply by sending it to the oven. The double benefit is the cleanliness of the house and the warmth from the fire.

Well, bread has always been revered in Russia. AND it was strictly forbidden to do these things with him.