How in ancient times people in Russia treated natural phenomena: Who owned the clouds, took the water and how it was possible to return the missing sun

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

Today, people for the most part perfectly understand why natural disasters occur. No one is surprised by a downpour, thunderstorm, strong wind and even a solar eclipse. And in antiquity in Russia, each of these phenomena had its own special, sometimes very ambiguous, explanation. The beliefs of that time, considered today superstitions, greatly influenced the life of every person, regulating his daily routine. There was practically no doubt about their truth.

How to beg for water from heaven and who is to blame for the drought

In Russia, rain was considered a good phenomenon. Rainwater was used for washing, healers made tinctures on it, and the peasants were glad that the heavens were watering the fields and vegetable gardens. Rain was credited with the ability to influence well-being. For example, if a downpour began during a wedding celebration, young people could expect a long, rich and happy life.

If the weather without rain was established for a long time, they said that the witches were to blame: they stole the clouds in order to harm people. There was another belief - drought occurs because suicides, whom the earth does not want to accept, suffer from thirst and suck the last drops from the soil. Therefore, the peasants tried to appease the deceased and beg them for precipitation: they poured water on the graves, begged the deceased to stop being greedy and let the rain fall.

People used to say that a drought could arise due to the fact that the rule was violated - not to use the spinning machine during the big holidays. They were looking for a woman who was guilty and poured water from a bucket on her and the machine itself.

Drought was believed to be the punishment for sins. So that the water finally poured from heaven, an icon with St. Elijah was sent down the river. People cleaned wells and abandoned springs, prayed near them, begging the saints to send rain.

The burning arrows of God and why those killed by lightning were not buried in the cemetery

Many people today are afraid of thunderstorms, huddling together with thunder and flashing lightning. In ancient times, it was believed that lightning is a weapon of God that helps him fight evil spirits. With its help, the sky was illuminated and at the same time it could hit the enemy.

In Russia, they said that when God uses his fiery arrow to hit the devil, he, possessing inhuman cunning, can find refuge in a person or a tree. Therefore, during a thunderstorm, trees often burn. And if a person was killed by lightning, he was never buried in the cemetery, but ranked among suicides.

It was also believed that lightning is a trace from the chariot of Saint Elijah. He flew across the sky on fiery horses, leaving sparkling zigzags. If this happens on August 2, on the day of Elijah the Prophet, then there must be thunder. Otherwise, it means that there will be a fire or someone will die from lightning.

Fear waited for protection. Here's what it was suggested to do: as soon as a thunderstorm began, one should kneel down and pray, then go around the hut, holding a candle lit and lit in the church in his hands. It was forbidden to work during Orthodox holidays so as not to anger Elijah the Prophet.

How the peasants took the sun from evil spirits

The people found reasons for the eclipses of the sun and moon. Some beliefs said that it was the Gods who punish people for their sins. Darkness is given for edification, so that people understand how sinful they are.

There was also an opposite opinion: these are witches and sorcerers who want to steal the heavenly bodies, steal the light of the sun, because darkness is very convenient conditions for catching a person. People didn't like eclipses. They were afraid of diseases that, it was believed, could appear in a person if he worked in the field during the eclipse. Moreover, in speed, he could die. Eclipses were frightening, they were considered signs of misfortune: it could be hunger, a terrible war, an epidemic, a poor harvest. If a red moon appeared in the sky, it was believed that this was the color of blood and it was worth waiting for a war, or a bloody battle was already happening somewhere.

The way to deal with the eclipse was as follows: drive away the evil spirits that encroached on the sun. To do this, people shouted loudly, knocked on metal dishes, teased the dogs to bark, and shot into the air. Since the eclipse ended anyway, it was believed that the sounds frightened the spirits, and they flew away. And an easier way to bring back the sun is to get fresh clothes and use church candles, which must be consecrated.

Good and evil winds

Today the wind can be strong, not very pleasant, refreshing, warm, or cold. And before he was good or evil. A good wind carries the long-awaited rain during a dry summer, and an evil wind is a hurricane, destruction, a flood. Since it is quite difficult to imagine the wind, the people endowed it with certain external signs. In some provinces they said that this was a huge old man with a big head. In some areas, the wind was supplied as a rider flying on a fast horse.

When the wind died down, it was believed that he went to his home. And he lived in different places, for example, on a high mountain, in dense forests, or on some abandoned island on the sea. Since the wind is, in fact, air and it felt exactly like that, then it was connected with the soul. After all, the soul flies out of the body with the last exhalation. If a hurricane swooped down, they said that somewhere far away some person died tragically, and this is his sorrowful breath. As for kindness and evil, the hurricane has always been considered evil, this is the breath of bad people. And a small pleasant breeze, refreshing and necessary in the heat, is the soul of a kind person.

In order not to quarrel with the wind, they tried to appease him. In some provinces of Russia, they even treated the breeze, offering him flour, meat, various dishes from the table. The fishermen read prayers to St. Nicholas, fed the wind with bread, threw it into the water and asked him to appear to inflate the sails, for this they whistled and sang.

In pre-revolutionary Russia, superstitions have changed significantly. It is not custom that has come to the fore, but the persona of a person who knows, knows secrets. So, even a whole galaxy of elders arose, such as Rasputin, Blavatsky, and others. Their influence on history has always been negative.