Secrets of Russian Wells, or the Difficult Story of a Simple Device

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

Today, when every apartment has water supply and sewerage, it is difficult for people to imagine how our ancestors lived. How they did without cold and hot water supplied to the house and without other benefits of civilization. If you look at a map of the world, it will be clear that all ancient cities are located mainly near lakes and rivers. This was done for a reason, since it is impossible to live without water. Where there were no reservoirs, wells were dug. Read how in Russia they chose a place for a well, what was thrown into it, and why well water was considered unique.

Bottle shape, drowned people and how water got into the Kremlin well

In Russia, ancient wells had a peculiar shape in the form of a bottle. They coped well with their function of storing water, but if a person fell into such a well, then it was very difficult to save him. In order to avoid excesses, the aboveground part was made high enough. But some losers still managed to fall inside, while this did not affect the use of water in any way - the device continued to work.

The secret well for supplying water to the Kremlin was very interesting. It was created at the time when Ivan Kalita ruled. The pipes that supplied the water were made of oak. The well belonged to the category of treads, that is, it had a large wheel equipped with wide crossbars. Men twisted it, walking on a kind of steps, and thus pumping water. Such devices were very common in Russia.

What was customary to throw into wells and why

Not only did they take clean water from the well, they also threw all sorts of things there. It could be sheep's wool or yarn brought by needlewomen, weapons thrown by serving soldiers, coins and slices of a wedding loaf, lowered down by the newlyweds. It was believed that this method will increase wealth, everything will return in abundance. In ancient chronicles, you can find a mention of one besieged city, whose inhabitants came up with an interesting way to survive hunger - they lowered oak barrels with honey and jelly into the well. When negotiations were carried out with the enemy, the reserves were taken out "from the ground" in order to make it clear to the enemy that it was not so easy to strangle the will of the Russian people.

Wells have always evoked sacred awe. Our ancestors perfectly understood that high-quality well water is very important, they considered it healing, and the wells were attributed to concentrators of mystical energy. No wonder the travelers, passing by the well, tried to collect as much water as possible in the container, and when leaving they left some little thing near it. This was done so that the well helped to get to the next source of water without incident and trouble. The elders could talk to the well water and ask her for advice.

Unique properties of well water and what healers could learn from it

Special properties were attributed to well water. During important holidays such as Easter, Epiphany, Christmas, the value of water increased a hundredfold. To remove the evil eye, it was necessary, for example, to properly wash with Epiphany water. Witch doctors on the water could identify the person to whom the damage was sent. It was necessary to bring her water, scooping it up from at least three wells.

If a small child was loud and capricious, he had to be bathed in well water, but it was necessary to take it from a new well. They said that after that the child would stop screaming. Another sign: when the well water was crossed out by a bucket, it was no longer possible to pour it out. They said that ancestors looked out of the bucket. Potential brides tried to determine how happy married life would be. To do this, they dipped into a bucket a ring that their betrothed gave them and watched how long the water would fluctuate.

The elders came to the wells to talk to water, gain wisdom and calmness. This place was considered a kind of island of relaxation, a detachment from worldly concerns, self-knowledge. Very often there were not one, but two wells in the village. The first was necessarily located in the center of the settlement, water was taken from it for cooking, drinking and household needs. The second well was dug somewhere in the forest or at the edge of the village. This was done so that the magical forces that live in the forest could drink pure water. Such a well was practically not used, and they took water from it only when it was necessary to ask for help from the higher forest forces - in case of illness or other misfortune.

The brownie who lives in the well, and how not to make him angry

The well had to be covered with a lid. This was done so that garbage would not get there, the second reason was so that people would not fall inside, and the third, most importantly, not to see the brownie in the well.

They tried to make the water springs beautiful, using openwork flat-relief carving, various ornaments and even icons with saints and crosses. The well has always been considered a special place, and therefore demanded a special attitude towards itself. On Trinity, it was decorated with birch twigs, to which multicolored festive ribbons were tied.

Where to dig and how vine twigs helped in choosing a place

If it was necessary to dig a well, it should have been done on the day of the so-called "well", the great martyr Theodore Stratilates, that is, on June 21st. It was necessary to find the right place for the water source. For this, twigs of the vine were used - as soon as the twig bent down, it means there is water under the ground. And one more way: on June 21, it was necessary to spread the pans throughout the district, and in the morning to see how much dew appeared on each of them. Where it was most, there and dig. The place where the lightning struck was also considered suitable for the construction of a well.

If today wells are built mainly on their own plots, that is, they are private, then in ancient times the water source served as the center of the settlement. Houses and outbuildings were erected around it.

In India, however, a completely different technology for building wells. Their made stepwise for this reason.