Funny bans for men that existed in Russia

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

Our ancestors lived according to different laws, traditions and rules of behavior were different from modern ones. This also applies to such a subtle area as the ratio of the sexes. In ancient times, there were customs concerning men and women, which today can cause great surprise. Read why a man was not allowed to marry several times, because of which partner childbirth was prohibited and why in the old days there were no female hairdressers-men.

Don't you dare comb and cut a woman

In the old days, Slavic women did not wear haircuts. Hair had to be long. The female braid was considered not just an adornment or a hairstyle, it was a symbol of the energy of life and female honor. Hair was taken care of, braided, and losing it was a real tragedy. Therefore, men were forbidden to comb women's hair, let alone cut it. And not only that: a male representative did not even have the right to remove a headdress from a woman. So there were no female hairdressers-men in Russia and could not be.

There were situations when the girl still lost her braid. This was done as a punishment for fornication. In this case, the ban was removed from the man, the father or husband of the offending lady mercilessly cut the hair of his daughter or wife.

No kisses before marriage and partner childbirth

Before marriage, boys and girls were not entitled to sexual relations. This was severely condemned by the church. Kisses on the lips were also prohibited. Of course, couples violated this prohibition when they were alone. It was considered an indelible shame if someone caught the kissing people. So it was by the rules, in fact, among ordinary villagers, the attitude towards kissing was more loyal. The most important thing is not to allow sexual contact before marriage. If this happened, then only the girl was condemned. Sometimes the parents of the "fallen" forced her lover to marry.

Today, the popularity of partner childbirth is very high. Many women negotiate the conditions of childbirth in advance and want their husband to be with them during the birth of the child. This is considered normal and no longer surprises. In old Russia, everything was different: there was a secret, men were not allowed into the room. The midwife was bustling around the woman in labor, but there was work for the father of the unborn child. He had to arm himself and walk around the bath (most often the process of childbirth took place there), protecting the expectant mother from the nasty evil spirits. The Slavs believed that during the birth of a child, the boundaries between the world of the living and the dead become thinner. To prevent spirits from entering the human world, the future father had to make every effort. Taking an ax, a gun, a whip and other weapons, the agitated husband made circles around the yard while his wife gave birth.

Control yourself: pori with a whip, but don't hit on the head

Our ancestors lived according to harsh laws. Their life cannot be called easy, cloudless. The man in charge of the patriarchal village family has always been. They had to obey him unconditionally, the power was complete. Some heads of families were too carried away by their position, demanding unquestioning obedience from their wife and otherwise using force, including physical force.

According to Domostroi, assault was allowed and was not considered something special. Fortunately, there were norms limiting this unpleasant action. For example, in the same "Domostroy" it was recommended to teach a guilty wife using a whip, but slightly. But it was strictly forbidden to use a stick for these purposes, as well as to strike blows to the head.

The fourth marriage is a misfortune, do not marry

After the arrival of Christianity in Russia, the fourth marriage began to be considered illegal, unhappy and impious. There is a simple explanation for this. Often the first marriage was not very successful. Sometimes wives died, leaving their husbands a widower, there were divorces, after which the stronger sex got married again. The church had its own opinion on this matter: she considered the first marriage a law, the second - a kind of chance, forgiveness of human weakness, the third was attributed to crime, and the fourth to wickedness. If you look at it, then the second marriage is a conditional right to make mistakes for those who could not get along in the first.

The church condemned the third marriage, but still allowed it, since living in sin is even worse. And for the fourth time, it was strictly forbidden to marry. It got to the point that the priest who married the couple, not knowing (not considering) that this was the fourth marriage, could lose his dignity. At the same time, the union was forcibly terminated.

Bath rules or don't touch the women's broom

The bath in Russia was treated with special trepidation. It was not just an opportunity to wash, but a kind of cleansing, physical and spiritual. The bathing procedure was also strictly regulated, there were some prohibitions for men. Male representatives had to enter the bath first and never after women. A special attitude was also towards the bath broom. It was a purely individual subject, say, like a modern toothbrush. In ancient times, it was believed that using someone else's broom, you can attract the illnesses and misfortunes of its owner.

Men were entitled to a personal bath accessory made from tree branches. Moreover, women's and men's brooms were knitted from trees of different species. For example, for women they took linden, birch, willow and alder. These trees carried strong feminine energy. But for men, ash, oak, elm and maple were suitable. Such mighty trees had a harsh masculine energy, the brooms of them were tougher and more durable.

There were also prohibitions related to funerals. Today they would seem strange to many.