In 2012, home improvement according to Russians became very popular. Feng Shui laws. Wisdom of China firmly entrenched in our minds.

But the Slavs have a very rich heritage, with a unique system of knowledge on how to make your home and life in it prosperous, successful and healthy!

Slavic traditions of home improvement

We try improve your house or apartment by any methods: some with the help of beliefs, and some adhere to Feng Shui rules. Applying the traditions of the Slavic people in your home will help. The term feng shui (風水) in this article I use, meaning ours, Slavic traditions home improvement. Let us recall some half-forgotten customs that can still be used today.

House threshold

Start, foundation of the house- his threshold. Since ancient pagan times it was considered place of residence of ancestral spirits. This is apparently where the tradition of not talking to a guest on the threshold came from, so as not to needlessly disturb the spirits. On the front door or directly above it they hang or draw a horseshoe or cross- symbols and bringing happiness into it.

Feng Shui Kitchen

For ours
great-grandmothers room with stove was a place where they spent a lot of time preparing food for their numerous household members. Yes even now life of the whole house revolves around the kitchen.

In the kitchen - always clean and hospitable, they cook, conduct conversations, and greet guests. House Guardian Spirit, according to legend, also lives here.

In this cozy and most popular place at home, it is good to place:

• Wooden spoons - symbolize a satisfying life
• Decorative keys - symbol of wealth, abundance
• Dried up sunflower inflorescences and corn cobs - children's amulets that protect babies from diseases and the evil eye
• Bells, whistles, brooms - protect from various troubles
• “Braids” of garlic, onions and peppers - give good health

Living room arrangement

Common room, where the whole family gathers in the evenings and where you invite guests should be the lightest and most spacious. It’s very good when there are big windows, covered with light-transmitting curtains, as well as several lamps.

Because the more there will be air and light in the living room, the more pleasant life in the house will be. And so that harmony and grace do not leave your home, the living room should not be empty for a long time.

Towels

One of
main home amulets in Rus' embroidered linen towels were considered. A symbol of life, a guarantee of the health of the inhabitants of the house, a line of fate - that’s what they meant embroidered towels and napkins, and they decorated all the rooms in the house.

Flowers

Our ancestors attached great importance to the surrounding plant world: flowers, trees, herbs were healers, water providers, and amulets. For example, so that at the entrance to the house they plant juniper, fern and calendula. It is very useful to grow in an apartment agave, various geraniums, delicate violets.

Home construction

Beginning construction of any building, and especially at home for your own family, pay attention to. For successful implementation work, the result of which will be a strong and well-ordered house, the beginning of this important task must be timed to coincide with growing moon.

Slavs, before laying the foundation, a tree was planted in the yard. Well, now the owner-developer, depending on what breed of this symbol of life he prefers, then “spells up” for the future.

• If you plant oak, You can attract strength and luck to your home.
• Cedar will bring longevity
• Nut health
• Pine promotes recovery and helps with money
• Cherry and maple will be endowed with material wealth, devotion and fidelity

House windows

Windows are a kind of peculiar connection with the surrounding nature. The personification of life, warmth, summer in Slavic traditions- This east and south. Therefore, our ancestors sought to build their houses in such a way that The windows of the rooms faced southeast. And the kitchen, pantries and other rooms, as well as the entrance to the house, were with north or west side.

Unnecessary things

Not in vain
the house has always been considered a family nest, protection from evil and bad weather.“Houses and walls heal” is an indisputable truth. Our Slavic ancestors made their lives safe and meaningful with the help of images and spiritual ideas.

According to them, each an item in the house serves a specific purpose. Unnecessary, meaningless items in the house create chaos and disorder. These are the ones that need to be systematically gotten rid of, and it is best, according to custom, to do this before Christmas and.

Conclusion

Appeal to folk Slavic traditions, connection with the origins will help us make the “home universe” a full cup and add harmony, good luck and goodness to life. How is this Slavic feng shui it will succeed, it depends only on good thoughts, hard work and desires of the owners of the house themselves.

KNOW YOUR MEASURE. Northern tradition of house building

Interview with the master of wooden architecture Igor Tyulenev, who creates houses according to the principles of old principles of house building and fathom proportioning. The interview was conducted specifically for readers of the Pashkovka newspaper.

“The foundations of our Russian, Northern Tradition found a deep response in my heart,” shares Igor Tyulenev. – Gradually I learned to perceive, understand and pass on the traditions of house building. And I continue to study. In Rus', osmerik or shesterik (a house with eight or six (like a honeycomb in a beehive) corners) was installed everywhere. And this is directly related to the harmony of the ascending and descending flows of power: The Earthly and Heavenly Yari are alive (as it is now fashionable to call these flows - Yin and Yang, and the Ancestors called them - the nature of the Father and Mother, male and female energy) with their flow in a spiral. The towers and huts were mostly round in shape. Everything in a house building has a certain importance, and the form is no exception.

For example, try, without changing the shape of the vessel or product, to fill a bottle with ripe apples. mineral water. It won’t work, either you’ll have to break the bottle or finely chop the apples. A basket is better suited for storing apples; they will breathe easily in it, and, accordingly, they will be stored well, but stored in wicker basket fresh honey, or mature kvass, will not occur to anyone. That is, everything needs a proper container.

Life is Power, and the form is activated by that Power, and the house is the filling. For example, a “gasoline” car will not run on diesel fuel. Thus, a form may or may not be able to accommodate and perceive this or that energy or force. The well-known expression: “home is full bowl“, is now perceived as a house full of all kinds of “good” - things, furniture, but initially no one put such a meaning into this expression-wish. “A house is a full cup” is a house filled to the brim with harmoniously intertwined flows of Earthly and Heavenly power, which need definite form, here the location of the house is also crucial.

I repeat, gradually dwellings and other buildings acquired a geometrically more “simple” shape, becoming square and rectangular. At the intersection of the walls, a right angle is formed, but the Heavenly force tends to flow down and the Earthly one to rise. The Force, like water in a river, does not flow at a right angle, and therefore in the corners of today’s brick, stone and panel houses, “negativity” constantly accumulates, there the current of the Force is disrupted, without movement it “fades out”, the river turns into a swamp. A permanent minus point is formed in the corner. Subsequently, to avoid this process in wood, already square houses, began to hew the walls, thus giving rounding to the corners, and allowing the streams of Power to flow.

– Why was wood preferred? building material?

– The trunk of a tree is essentially a revolving (coil, spiral, and Vita – Life) structure of tubular systems, since the entire trunk from the butt to the top is penetrated by bellies - channels through which, while the tree grows, sap flows - from the roots up the trunk , and the materialized sunlight from the leaves of the crown also flows through the bellies, spreading throughout the entire tree. Depending on the purpose of the tree: to receive or give out force, its trunk in the process of growth acquired a left-sided or right-sided twist, the so-called twist, and because of this, the felled log became “right” or “left”.

Previously, huts were cut by combining these logs proportionally, or consciously giving the structure certain qualities, placing predominantly right-handed or left-handed twisted logs into the frame. Thanks to the method of laying logs in rows in a log house (butt - top), a continuous flow of Zhiva and Yari in a spiral was achieved. In the cups (places of cutting), the poles of energy change, a phase transition of 90 degrees takes place - plus to minus, the Force of the Father “becomes”, filled with the Force of the Mother, and vice versa. But this only happens if the core, the core of the tree, is not damaged. That’s why they used to chop into the okhryap at home – into the lower bowl. Today, experts criticize this method of cutting, saying that moisture accumulates in the lower bowl, and the wood in the log house is more susceptible to rotting, and they offer log houses cut into a hook - into the upper bowl. At the same time, they avoid making locks - fat tails, not realizing that the core of the tree damaged in the log house in this case This is a disservice to the residents of such houses.

The roof closes the entire contour of the house. And here the angle of the roof, or rather the corners, already matters, since there are many options for them in the canon of house building. They built a house with one corner of the roof, and a barn with another... Nowadays, few people think about this, approaching this issue from the concepts of aesthetics, or the possibilities of the material, nothing more. The house is designed to accommodate Life with certain qualities. Thus, it is necessary to take into account the location of the installation (have you heard the expression “a house must be placed on a stone”, this is because the current of power intersects differently). Do not build houses on sand, not only because it can collapse, but also because sand is not a conductor, there will be no strength in such a house.

You also need to take into account the shape of the house, the angle of the roof, as well as the material from which the house is built, and then the house can be given any properties - Healing House, Ritual House, Residential House. All structures and houses must have 100% compliance with Form and Content.

By the way, the stove in a house, like its engine, must necessarily rest on load-bearing floor beams, and not on an independent foundation - as is often customary now. Depending on how the stove is positioned in the house in relation to the entrance, to the right or to the left of it, the stove can be Spinner or Unspinner, respectively. So in your house, either everything is “rushing”, going well, or not so well... We can and should talk about the magic of the Russian stove separately, its ability to Generate bread, warm the house and keep the Fire of the hearth is priceless in itself.

– How were houses built in the old days?

- In the old days, houses were built by the whole Relatives, and often by the whole world, the term was - help, everyone got together and built them together. The ovens were made of adobe, and only virgin girls and boys were invited to “beat” the ovens; what power they put into the oven! “In your own home, even the walls help” - that’s what they say. Since we are talking about home as a concept, about the essence of its purpose, so to speak, I can say it more simply: Home is a place of Power that you create artificially. Home is an instrument of evolution given by Rod. Your home, a universal tool with which you can do everything! This house has now been built, but we don’t know how to interact with it. I mean with the house itself, with its space.

Of course, in order for the house to truly become yours, you must build it yourself, or at least take maximum part in its construction. You need to structure it for yourself, in the process of birthing a house, water it, where with your salty sweat, and maybe where even with a little blood if you get hurt, the more valuable it will become for you, the more of your strength you put into it, into your home. Previously, at least three generations of relatives lived in one hut: Father, Mother, Grandfather and Grandmother, and children. Knowledge was passed on naturally. There was a continuity of knowledge transfer, from grandfather and father to grandson and son.

– Have you heard that there used to be a concept of “Construction victim”?

- Yes it is. Before cutting down a tree, gifts were brought to each tree and permission to cut down was directly asked from each tree. Promising him continued existence in new form, in the form of a Dwelling. And if the tree gave such permission, then it experienced a state of supreme joy. As a result of the action of such a higher emotion, the entire molecular structure of the wood changed, and now it was friendly to humans. In the new incarnation there is a new measure, this expression is equal to everyone. A tree cut down in this state will imprint it forever in its body, and a house built from such a log will constantly share this state of joy with the residents. It will also protect them from all misfortunes.

Now almost no one does this. But what I want to say: the attitude of a person himself towards home, towards Life can change everything down to the atomic level. It is very important what is inside you, in what mood you live and act. Even a house built from railroad sleepers impregnated with creosote can become a source of positive power if a bright person full of the Joy of Life lives in it...

House, Family Estate as an artifact.

The estate is not only a hedge, a garden, a vegetable garden, a forest, a clearing, a pond, but also a variety of buildings - a house, a storage room, a barn, a bathhouse, a gazebo.

Nature and man himself should be the model and measure for the structures created on the estate. Then all the buildings will be harmonious and beautiful, life will flow in them as beneficially as possible for the psyche and health, and it will become possible to discover and realize many of the abilities inherent in a person.

Today in architecture there are:

1. Estates and houses built to living dimensions.

These houses have the properties of all living beings - they were created taking into account the golden ratio and the so-called wurf coefficients. Wurf is a three-member division of the human body (it will be discussed in more detail below). This includes houses created using the ancient Russian fathom system. This is how houses are built for a comfortable and pleasant life.

Basic fathoms in meters:

Policeman 2,848
Large 2,584
Great 2,440
Greek 2,304
Breech 2.176
Pharaoh 2,091
Piletsky 2.055
Tsarskaya 1.974
Church 1,864
Narodnaya 1,760
Chernyaeva 1,691
Egyptian 1,663
Masonry 1,597
Simple 1,508
Small 1.424
Minor 1.345

All 16 fixed fathoms, according to which it is proposed to design structures, are calculated based on the size of historical buildings - cultural monuments. Fathoms increase in accordance with the harmony coefficient of the musical series - 1.059.
I would like to emphasize that fathoms are a tool for creating volume, and not just a unit of measurement of length. You can make a fathom from any size.

Harmonious dimensions give buildings and structures the following properties:

1. Beauty;
2. Durability;
3. Durability;
4. Excellent acoustics;
5. Health effect for people;
6. Harmonization of space.

Before the introduction of design by meters, not only houses, but also parks and cities were created by fathoms; the name of one of the fathoms reminds us of this - gorodovaya.

The land on the estate varied in tithes - 1 tithe - 109 acres. One tithe contains 2400 square fathoms. 4,548 sq. m – square fathom.

2.848x1.597=4.548 sq. m;
2.548x1.76=4.548 sq. m;
2.44x1.864=4.548 sq. m;
2.304x1.974=4.548 sq. m;
2.176x2.090=4.548 sq. m;
1.508x2x1.508=4.548 sq. m;

When creating a house by fathoms, it is taken into account that in nature there are no identical figures - diversity pleases the eye and pacifies the psyche.

Amazing harvests were also noted on the ridges marked by fathoms.

A separate topic on the estate is the creation of a “living pond”, i.e. such a reservoir, where the water is self-purifying as much as possible (does not become overgrown), everything is favorable for the life of fish, crayfish and, at the request of the owners, for swimming. Of course, for the construction of a pond, it is important, first of all, to have a water source (source indicators are green grass, willow, alder), a clay bed, and the location of the banks along geodetic lines. And only then the pond is marked by fathoms.

The depth of the bottom should be different, and it is desirable that the reservoir be deeper in the north and shallower in the south. For convenience, it is possible to build 1 or 2 terraces deep into the pond, about 0.5 m wide, for planting aquatic plants, such as water lilies and reeds. It is advisable to extend the banks of the pond in the direction of the wind. The combination of natural shapes and geodetic lines is important. Thus, a pond in the shape of a shrimp or snake will not self-clean if built on a plain. But this form is perfect for a pond at the foot of a mountain or in a ravine.

Paths in the estate should not be straight. The energy moves in a tortuous way. A striking example is the streets of old Moscow. Standing at the beginning of such a street, you will not see its end - it is so crooked. It is necessary to follow nature, and there are no straight lines in it, especially parallel ones. The same goes for ridges. It is better when long ridges are arranged in the shape of a meander or snake.

2. Dead estates and houses.

These structures slow down natural processes, therefore, they are used to preserve inanimate products and bodies, such as refrigerators, storehouses, and crypts. Such houses are based on regular geometric shapes that are not found in nature - a square, a circle, an isosceles and equilateral triangle. The exception here is the hexagon - a honeycomb, a regular geometric figure, but alive.

The earth is measured in squares - square meter, square weave, square hectare.

Ponds are created in the shape of regular geometric shapes, regardless of geodetic lines, cardinal directions and wind direction.

The paths are straight, turns at clear angles.

3. Other structures.

Not “living” and “dead” estates and houses. Such structures are created by amateurs or are intended for some unknown, cosmic purposes. These include new buildings and city apartments. The topic has not been studied, you can write a dissertation....

Used Books:

2. Seminar July 6-10 by Sepp Holzer in Krameterhof.
3. Website sazheni.ru
4. Forum http://forum.anastasia.ru/topic_47351_90.html

Justification for the use of fathoms

God created the World, and the Harmony of the World distantly reflects the perfection of God. God gave people reason and feelings capable of perceiving the Harmony of the World. Moreover, Harmony is inherent in Man himself. And Man can not only perceive, but also reproduce the Harmony of the World in his works.

Harmony is measurable. One of the measures of Harmony is the human measure - the fathom. By creating something fathom by sazhen, Man imparts Beauty and Harmony to his works. As much as it is natural for Man to live in nature created by God, so natural is it for Man to live and use creations that reflect this Harmony.

It is natural for a person to live in a harmonious environment created by himself. This so-called “cultural” environment. It is a secondary, artificially created habitat by Man. However, this secondary nature must also comply with the laws of Harmony and be favorable for humans. Such a correspondence can be ensured by the fathom.

The uniqueness of the Old Russian fathom system is that “there is fundamentally no single standard measurement unit for fathoms, and the measurement system itself is not Euclidean.

For many centuries, the lack of a unified standard did not hinder, and moreover, contributed to the construction of magnificent, aesthetically proportional structures to the nature also because in ancient Russian architecture all divisions were tripartite,” notes A. F. Chernyaev in the book “Golden Fathoms of Ancient Rus'” .

For example, fingers, toes, arms (shoulder-forearm-hand), legs (thigh, lower leg, foot), etc., have a three-part structure. Moreover, a two-membered limb did not exist in nature.

The ratio of the 3 lengths makes up a proportion called wurf. Wurf values ​​across the human body vary, averaging 1.31.

Moreover, the coefficient of the golden section squared, divided by two, is equal to the wurf. (1.618x1.618):2=1.31.

Currently, most architects in Russia have undeservedly forgotten the design methodology by fathoms and use the metric system.

Let's look at the history of the meter. The meter was first introduced in France in the 18th century and originally had two competing definitions:

Like the length of a pendulum with a half-period of swing at a latitude of 45° equal to 1 s (in modern units this length is equal to m).

As one forty-millionth of the Paris meridian (that is, one ten-millionth of the distance from the north pole to the equator along the surface of the earth's ellipsoid at the longitude of Paris).

The modern definition of the meter in terms of time and the speed of light was introduced in 1983:

A meter is the distance traveled by light in a vacuum in (1/299,792,458) seconds.

It turns out that the meter is an artificially derived unit of measurement, not directly related, and, accordingly, does not reflect the Harmony of the World and Man. Meter is a standard that forms a line. Fathoms are a natural measure for Man. They form a three-part (3 is a sacred number) system, according to which the area and volume are harmoniously formed.

Peter the Great, as D.S. writes. Merezhkovsky, in his work “Antichrist,” abolished the natural measures: fathom, finger, elbow, vershok, present in clothing, utensils and architecture, making them fixed in a Western manner. It was not for nothing that the meter was introduced in France and Russia during the revolutions. The destroyers knew why it was necessary to forget the wisdom and traditions of their ancestors, to destroy the roots...

Ancient people felt Harmony intuitively, without thinking about measurements. But the connection with God weakened, and therefore rigidly fixed sizes of fathoms arose, and construction rules appeared. various structures by fathoms.

Our ancestors carefully preserved and passed on age-old wisdom and beauty, embodying them in the temples of Ancient Rus'. Life on estates and houses built by fathoms made it possible not to lose the feeling of the Harmony of the World and reminded Man of God.

Now we are visiting estates miraculously preserved after collectivization and urbanization. For example, in Moscow, near Red Square, there is the Romanov family estate, where now only the house-museum, “House of the Romanov Boyars,” remains. The house-museum and part of the estate of the artist Vasnetsov have been preserved in the former Troitsky Lane near the Sukharevskoye metro station.

On Novy Arbat, behind the high-rise buildings, a piece of the estate and the Lermontov family home are hidden. Everyone knows Boldino, the family estate of the great Russian poet Pushkin. A charming corner is the estate of the artist Polenov in Tarusa, the museum in which is run by his descendants.

The family estate of the “father of Russian aviation”, the memorial house-museum and Zhukovsky’s estate are located in the village of Orekhovo, 30 km from Vladimir, on the Vladimir-Alexandrov highway. And there are many such examples.

The revival of the ancient traditions of creating estates and estates will undoubtedly serve the socio-economic recovery and improvement of life in the country, the development of the spiritual, creative forces and abilities of new landowners.

Used Books:

1. A. F. Chernyaev “Golden fathoms of Ancient Rus'”.
2. Forum http://forum.anastasia.ru/topic_47351_90.html
3. Wikipedia.

Variety of fathoms

Let's consider various options the use of fathoms in the design of a residential building. Common to all methods: when building a house by fathoms, the external dimensions of the house must have different dimensions along the 3 coordinate axes, and only an even number of fathoms is laid off. The space inside the house is planned in a similar way, only an even number of half-fathoms, elbows, spans, pasterns or vershoks is taken.

Details such as windows and doors rounded at the top, a high roof, various terraces and porches, asymmetrical elements and parts of the house make it original and memorable. A separate topic is decorating the house with carvings, the so-called “patterning”. This is a whole language of different figures, telling about the family living in the house. Furniture is made according to the size of the house and the owners. The color of the decoration complements the interior space of the house: curtains, carpets, paintings.

Design for 16 fixed fathoms

An even number of fathoms is laid out along the 3 axes, which must be different and not appear next to each other in the list.

1. Piletsky 2.055
2. Egyptian 1,663
3. Smaller 1.345
4. State-owned 2,176
5. Folk 1,760
6. Small 1.424
7. Greek 2,304
8. Church 1,864
9. Simple 1.508
10. Great 2,440
11. Tsarskaya 1,974
12. Masonry 1,597
13. Big 2,584
14. Pharaoh 2,091
15. Chernyaeva 1,691
16. Policewoman 2,848

So, the external dimensions of the house can be as follows: length - 6 church fathoms, height - 4 royal fathoms, width - 4 folk fathoms. If the house is round or polygonal, then the outer diameter is equal to an even number of fathoms, for example, 4 masonry fathoms.

Fathoms according to the owner's golden proportions.

It is proposed to take five consecutive numbers of the golden ratio 0.382/0.618/1/1.618/2.618. These coefficients must be multiplied by the height of the owner - the result is a series of fathoms proportional to his height. For example, with a height of 1.764 m, the scale will be as follows: 0.674/1.090/1.764/2.854/4.618 m. The specified series is successively multiplied by 2, 4, 8, 16... - a table is formed from which the sizes of individual fathoms are determined. The fathoms calculated by this method are divided into 2, 4, 8, 16, 32... parts, respectively. As a result, we obtain independent units: half fathoms, cubits, spans, pasterns, tops.

Types of “human” fathoms.

The most famous “human” fathoms:

- flywheel. This is the length of outstretched arms;

- height. Just the height of a person;

- oblique. The height of a person with his arm raised up.

Based on the specified fathoms, the house is designed taking into account the size of the owner and mistress. The external dimensions of the house are calculated according to the size of the owner, and the internal dimensions - according to the size of the owner. There is a hidden meaning here: such correspondence is intended to reflect the relationship between the roles of men and women in the family.

In conclusion, it should be noted that regardless of the units of length (distance can be measured in feet, meters or parrots), when designing by fathoms, we create a “living”, harmonious Human space for Love, creativity and relaxation.

Used Books:

1. A.F. Chernyaev “Golden fathoms of Ancient Rus'”.

Feedback from the owner of a house built according to the Old Russian fathom system about her house

My house is really built according to Russian fathoms. But only outside. Inside - that’s how it happened. It’s comfortable to live in it, we don’t want to leave it - we perceive it as a living being, very friendly and cheerful.

Is it the reason for this fathom, or the fact that it was built with Love by our like-minded person, very pure and kind person, with extensive construction experience – it’s hard to say.

Most often I hear the following words about my house: “how nice it is!” It seems small, but it seems not very, moderately tall, moderately wide, so strong - in a word - okay. But this, I think, is the merit of the fathoms.

It is pleasing to the eye with its proportions, and, of course, elegant (after all, we love it - so we dressed it up). Guests, coming in for a minute, do not leave for hours - they just sit on the steps or on the terrace. This is especially noticeable in children; the baby’s mother lowers him to the ground to go home, and he again climbs the stairs into the house - and is so happy.

Six months after the house was built, I attended Chernyaev’s seminar in Lipetsk. There I learned an important thing that everyone should take into account when building a house, even if the construction is not in fathoms.

The ceiling height in a stove-heated house should be as high as possible - superheated air rises up and hangs near the ceiling. If the ceilings are 3 meters (Chernyaev says 3.20 is better), then everything is fine. If it is lower, then our head is always in the discomfort zone.

Indeed, during the heating season, my son could not sleep on top of the bunk bed (our ceiling height is 2.5 meters) - it was very hot and stuffy up there.

I am for the settlers’ houses to be solid, beautiful and in good order. Extra costs“for beauty” pay off handsomely - how many times does my

Disputed area

The plot of land, the ownership of which was in dispute, was considered an unfavorable place to build a house. This custom has a completely rational explanation, if only for the reason that the outcome of the litigation is unknown, and therefore all costs may be in vain. On the other hand, the disputed area is a border, a boundary that separates two territories, without belonging to either one or the other of them. Since ancient times, such places (and sometimes entire areas) were almost universally considered unfavorable, since something that is neither here nor there is connected with the other world and partly belongs to it, which means that a house built on a disputed territory can become accessible for spirits, including evil ones.

Another possible explanation is related to the following interesting observation. Borders, including boundary ones, often ran along energy structures on the surface of the earth, that is, exactly where building a residential building was by definition avoided. The ban on building on disputed land or on borders is common both for Russia and, in fact, for the whole of Europe (for example, in Ireland "... there are bans on the construction of houses or other structures crossing fairy paths)." I think it goes back to the times of the Indo-European community.

Home and raw meat

At different points of the site where construction was supposed to begin, pieces of approximately the same quality were hung on fairly high poles. raw meat. Those places where the meat spoiled in the first place were considered unsuitable.

What caused the different rates of meat spoilage - even those pieces that were placed close to each other, at points with approximately the same external characteristics (relief, humidity, lighting)?

Perhaps, in this case, the leading role is played by not obvious, but hidden (energy, information), so-called “subtle ecological” factors? Invisible factors... To be honest, I would really like to conduct an experiment.

A close, apparently “relative” of the Russian custom of hanging raw meat was known to the ancient Romans. It is described by the classic of architecture, the ancient Roman architect Marcus Vitruvius Pollio in his famous ten-volume treatise “De Architectura”. To choose a place to build a city, it was necessary to establish a pasture on the selected territory. After some time, the animals were killed and then their insides were carefully examined. If the majority of them had an affected liver, the chosen place was considered “unhealthy” and another had to be looked for.


Thunder, lightning and water elements

It was not customary to build a house where lightning had once struck, or in a place where people once lived, but abandoned it due to disease and flooding.

The actual geomantic justification for the ban on building a house in a once flooded place is difficult to find. Perhaps it’s just a matter of the danger of a repetition of the tragedy.

As for lightning, while doing geomantic research and constantly going on field expeditions, we noticed that many areas have a unique microclimate. We also know places where trees are almost completely damaged by lightning. The increased frequency of lightning strikes at one point is easy to explain if the point is located on a hill or mound. If we are not talking about a dominant height, we can only assume that lightning strikes the ground above accumulations of groundwater or metal-containing rocks.

By association, I remember from ancient times a sign widespread throughout Europe: “Do not sleep on a vein of water.” Indeed, it is groundwater, and sometimes ores, that form geopathogenic zones that cause ill health. This is partly why, perhaps, another way of choosing a place for a house has appeared, associated with the old fashioned way groundwater detection.

Overnight, in several places on the site, frying pans or metal baking sheets (sheets) were left upside down. In the morning, at sunrise, they were raised and looked at which of them had collected the most moisture. Abundant moisture at the bottom of the dishes indicated that an underground water vein passed through this place. It was these places that were considered most suitable for digging wells. Accordingly, it was not worth building a house on them, and not only because high humidity the logs of the log house will begin to rot, but also because people will, at the very least, sleep poorly and wake up with a headache.

Blood and accidents

It was impossible to build a house and in the place where human bones were found, someone was injured to the point of bleeding, where a cart overturned or a shaft broke.

Respect for cemeteries, not to mention the fear of disturbing the peace of the dead buried inappropriately (or according to unfamiliar customs), is a well-known and widespread fact. He is probably quite familiar to most readers. But the ban related to injuries and, technically speaking, accidents seems very interesting. Now, with the rapid development of transport, we began to pay attention to numerous sections of roads that seem to attract accidents and emergencies.

I also know modern houses built in geopathogenic zones, the effect of which is very peculiar: people there do not get sick so much as get injured. They are constantly injured, no matter how they, taught by bitter experience, take care. For example, in the Moscow region there is an apartment building in which all the residents of one of the entrances have constant problems with... their legs. Even if they get into an accident somewhere completely different, it is their legs that suffer first.


"Patsir"

“...The owner brought pebbles from four different fields (and carried them under a hat on his head, or in the bosom of his naked body) and laid them out in a chosen place, marking future corners. He himself stood in the center of the crosshairs - in the center of the Universe, in the place of the World Tree - and, baring his head, prayed, and with an indispensable appeal for blessings and help to the deceased ancestors. Three days later they came to look at the stones: if they turned out to be undisturbed, then it was possible to build...” [Semyonova M. We are Slavs. - SP6., 1997.]

The quadrangle had to be such that the length of its side did not exceed nine steps (that is, about 4.5 m), which approximately corresponds, according to current concepts, to twice the length of a Hartmann network cell. Sometimes, instead of stones, four piles of grain were poured and left until the morning. If by morning the piles remained untouched, then this is a good place. The prayer “Patsirya,” addressed to our ancestors, obviously came to us from the distant past.

Our northwestern neighbors knew something similar. The Scandinavian “Saga of Cormac” tells that before building a house, it is necessary to conduct a fortune-telling in order to find out whether the new home will be happy. If the results of several repeated measurements of the site coincided, this meant that living there would be good; if the result of repeated measurements turned out to be less, then there is nothing good to expect... Of course, all possible discrepancies and discrepancies can be attributed to the imperfection of the measuring instruments, but...

Construction victim

Construction sacrifice (Bauopfer) was widespread. [Baiburin A. Dwelling in the rituals and beliefs of the Eastern Slavs. - L., 1983.]
Before the act of laying the first crown, a tree (symbol of the World Tree), cut down or dug up with roots, was installed - a birch or rowan. Some people erected a wooden cross on a high place. To do this, they took cedar (Surgut), a Christmas tree with an icon installed on it (Upper Volga, Vologda), oak (Kaluga), rowan (Dmitrov), and sometimes the tallest burdock (Tula)...

“The Eastern Slavs used horses, roosters, and chickens as construction sacrifices. Possibly cattle... Sacrifice of a rooster and chicken were very common until recently, and the sacrifice of a horse was recorded in the last century only in Ukraine.” [Ibid.]

From private informants I heard about the custom of bookmarking different angles houses of strictly defined sacrificial objects. It was about a frog, a rooster, a copper coin...

If we cast aside doubts about the reliability of this information, then we can assume that these, so different, victims have a deep hidden meaning and should be placed only at the appropriate angles of the building. Objects that had a protective and symbolic purpose, for example, gold chervonets or silver, were also placed under the corners of the house. I have come across many such “correct” houses...

Home - Universe

Our homes are a mirror reflection of ourselves. They reflect our interests, our beliefs, our doubts, our spirit and our passions. They talk about how we experience ourselves and the world around us. Home is more than a comfortable and safe space. This is a place where you can come face to face with the universe. It is the intersection of space and time that receives or reflects energy. (D. Lynn, “Sacred Space”)

The house is not just a structure, the purpose of which is to shelter from bad weather, cold, the enemy and provide more comfortable living conditions than outside it.

“The peasant house was usually built as a model of the World. The oven represented the earth, and the red corner opposite it with icons represented the Sun and God in the sky...

...The women's corner (kitchen) is closest to the stove vent. The feminine, birthing element is indeed associated with the furnace-earth.

Among other things, the symbolism of the central pillar, which is the axis of rotation of the World, is of interest. It can also be represented as a certain central principle uniting the Black God of the earth and the White God, juxtaposed with the sky. (Belkin I. What did the Black God look like? // Myths and magic of the Indo-Europeans - M., 1997.- Issue 4)

In other words, a house or dwelling can be considered as a semblance of a “special place”, or a place of Power, possessing specified properties and functions, which can be conventionally designated as “security and protection”.

You can trace the layout scheme, common both for the house (yard) and settlements, and for the places where religious buildings were erected. In each case, rituals were used, which, although they differed in details, were undoubtedly identical in the main, since they expressed the same idea. The difference stemmed from its functional purpose, although the dwelling could also act as a religious building: it is known that in pre-Christian (and even later) times a significant number of rituals took place inside the house under the leadership of the head of the family.

“A whole series of pagan festivals were held inside the house. We are talking not only about narrow family matters such as christenings, tonsures, matchmaking, weddings, funerals.

Almost all community-wide or community-wide crowded councils and events were held in two ways: some part of the ritual was performed in squares, sanctuaries and temples, and some - by each family in its own mansion, at its stove, at its bunk.

New fortune-telling and spells for the future harvest, carols and generosity, masquerades, bear dressers, Maslenitsa riotous feasts with pancakes, rituals associated with the first pasture of livestock, harvest celebrations and much more - all this began in every family, inside the house where the head of the family ( "prince" in wedding terminology) performed the functions of a priest and led the entire festive ceremony." [Rybakov B. Paganism ancient Rus'. - M., 1991.]

It is not without reason that the statement “my house is my temple” was one of the main theses of the medieval Strigol heretics. We find something similar among the Old Believers. The construction and orientation of a dwelling in space, as we already know, were usually accompanied by numerous magical actions and were regulated by temporary and other rules and prohibitions.


“The outskirts consisted of two orders of houses. Both orders faced the river because it was south. This special meaning was given here in the North.” (Kruglova O. My North // Panorama of Arts. - M., 1986. - Issue 9)

It is possible that such a custom dates back not a hundred years, but millennia. Here, pure utilitarianism, the inherent desire for beauty, and the symbolism of archaic beliefs are intertwined together. The ancient dugout houses had no windows, and the south side is lighter than all the others, since the Sun shines from there. But at the same time, a house facing south is better protected from adverse influences - from “evil spirits”.

The courtyard also carries sacred symbolism. This can be traced, say, through ritual songs.

“How Kaleda walked on Christmas Eve,
How Kaleda searched for Nicholas's court!
How Kaleda came to Nikolai's yard.
Nikolaev is a courtyard, it is not small, not great:
On seven miles, on eight pillars,
On eight pillars - on tall ships!
The pillars are turned and gilded!
And around his yard there is an iron wall,
On each stamen there is a zamchuzhinka.”

(Quoted from: Rozov A. Towards a comparative study of the poetics of calendar songs // Poetics of Russian folklore. - L., 1981. - (Russian folklore. - T. XXI))

In the above code, it is interesting not only to describe the structure of the yard, but also to mention the name of its owner: “Nikolai” is a fairly common male name, which, however, is consistently associated with the corresponding saint. Much has already been said about the transfer of the functions and attributes of ancient pagan deities to Christian saints, including the endowment of St. Nicholas with some of the attributes of Veles... That is, in this case, the name is an expression, rather, of an archetype than of a specific person or saint.

It is logical to assume: a “correctly placed” house should have some kind of special spatial orientation; its placement relative to energy power structures on the surface of the earth (Hartman networks, etc., the significant elements of which are stripes and nodes - points of intersection of stripes) can be similar, for example , the one discovered by Professor P. Poddar in the Himalayas. (Poddar P. Mysterious energies in and around us // Architecture & Design. - Delhi, 1991) According to him, the house was placed in such a way that each of its internal rooms was inside a cell of a geobiological network.

House amulets

A special attitude towards home is equally strongly developed in the traditional cultures of all peoples of the world. In some cases, we can even talk about the sacralization of an entire settlement as a kind of “ancestral” or “tribal” home. Indo-Europeans - and therefore the Slavs - are no exception. The cult of the house itself is very ancient; The age of ideas about the need to protect a home from the invasion of invisible enemies is equally respectable.

Housing, which arises as a means of protecting a person from the dangers of the environment, itself begins to need protection: “...The idea of ​​​​protecting the walls, windows and roof of a home with the help of magical images arose in ancient times and lasted for a very long time. (Rybakov B. Cited op.)

It can be added that the mentioned “idea of ​​protection” continues to exist to this day, sometimes taking completely paradoxical forms among townspeople who are interested in, say, bioenergy... But that’s not what we’re talking about.

Not only the inhabitants of the house, but also the house as such, were protected with the help of amulets.

“... I was mentally transported to the distant past, when, indeed, the house was guarded on all sides by guards, amulets, ancient symbols and people believed in them magical power. And even now, you just have to look closely - traces of these pagan beliefs we will see everywhere around us, as if the whole village is filled with ancient spirits.

Over the roofs of huge northern houses rise ohlupni in the form of horses and ducks. According to legend, they guard the entire house. Skates from above can see all the front windows of the house, and there are a lot of them - four huts on the facade, and that means sixteen windows...

The side facades, which have a huge extent, where there are also many windows and windows cut through and where the front porch and all the utility entrances to the house are located, are under the reliable protection of chickens, which protrude from under the roof drain in a real formation...

On the back façade of the house, where the intake is, the drains have the same wide bells, since each drain is made up of two colossal trees, with their tops together; the length of one tree would not be enough. And this entire mighty chute is held on the backs of the chickens. There are a lot of them. (...) But this is not all home security.

I think that the massive pillar into which the high northern porch was cut was once also a talisman for the main entrance to the hut.

In addition, all the doors and gates of the houses still have forged rings as round as the sun, horse horseshoes hang above the entrances, in front of the porches here in Zasulye, as in other places, they liked to place a round stone - often it was an old millstone. Thus, the house was surrounded on all sides by spirits." (Kruglova O. Cited op.)

So, the magical protection of the house was carried out through its correct placement in space and the observance of special rituals when choosing a place and construction, and after construction with the help various kinds symbolic images.


If a house is a “mini-model” of the Universe, then the ornaments that decorated it were, first of all, designed to clearly show its similarity and identity to the entire Universe. Obviously, this is why the famous carvings that adorn the northern huts to this day (not only huts, however, but also many wooden and later stone temples) actually serve as an illustrated reflection of the traditional idea of ​​our ancestors about the world.

A properly built house depicting an ideal world order in itself should have served as the best protection against possible troubles and troubles. And there was something to defend against...

“In the summer of 6600. It was wonderful to see the miracle of Polostets, in darkness: there were nights, wandering along the streets like people daringly enraging. If someone crawls out of the mansion, although he can see it, he is wounded, invisibly, from demons with an ulcer, and from there I die. And I don’t dare to climb out in unison. At seven o'clock in the day they began to appear on the horses, and not to see them themselves, but to see their horses' hooves. And so the people of Polotsk and its region were wounded. This is why people say that they will beat the enemy.” (Description of events in Polotsk in 1092 from the Radziwill Chronicle is given according to: B. Rybakov, op. cit.)

It is officially accepted that this is how the chronicler described the pestilence. (See: Rybakov B., op. cit.) Maybe, but personally, this description reminds me most of all of a poltergeist of colossal power (German myth.: gnome; brownie): otherwise, where could the hooves of “their horse” come from? - that is, visible footprints and stomp (tutan)? And what can be considered “miraculous” in the pestilence even from the point of view of a person of the 11th century?

However, some images actually served defensive functions. These are carved or painted crosses, the tradition of depicting which seems to be much more ancient than their Christian content. We find something similar in Western Europe: Nigel Pennick in “Magical Alphabets” reports on ancient houses on the walls of which the runes of Gebo, Berkana, Ansuz, Laguz, etc. are applied (or even “built into” the very structure of the walls), providing thereby magically protecting the house from external attacks. (Pennik N. Magic alphabets. - Kyiv: Sofia, 1995)

They tried to protect the yard in a similar way. Stones with holes were hung on the fence poles - “ chicken gods" It is not without reason that the word “chicken” is believed to be a modified version of “churiny,” that is, related to Chur, or Shur, the deity or spirit of ancestors (perhaps simply some concept associated with ancestors). It is important that “chur” simultaneously means “interface”, “border”. In other words, we can talk about Chura both as the spirit of an ancestor - a guardian, and as the deity of the boundary.
Clay pots and jars, which are still hung on fences and fences in Russian villages, also had protective magical meaning. It is believed that in this way it was possible to drive away birds of prey and protect domestic birds. But very closely - and hardly by chance - this custom echoes the Western European tradition of placing traps (or bottles) around the house to catch unkind spirits.

Spirit traps, widely used in ancient times to protect individual houses and entire settlements, took the form of special devices, bottles, cleverly woven nets and similar structures. It is they, it seems to me, that became the prototypes of the current protective devices that are widely used to eliminate the harmful effects of pathogenic zones.

Living tradition at home

In search of traces of the ancient Russian tradition, we usually rush to the outback, to the North, to Siberia... Where, they say, do these traces come from, in the very center of Russia, where almost the entire (or completely all) population has become, as many believe, in “Ivanov, who do not remember kinship”? But if Tradition is something living, continuous and always - whether hidden or open - present in us and around us, we should look not for its traces, but for its manifestations. And for this - think about it! - it is not at all necessary to go far away.

For example, when I travel a lot around the Moscow region, I often come across old and not so old houses in villages and villages, many of which could serve as models for historical researchers, ethnographers or for artists who use traditional motifs in their work. Such houses can be found in various places in the Moscow region, and not only somewhere on its outskirts, but, sometimes, near the Moscow Ring Road itself. Some of them are interesting with their unusual layout, others with their marvelous carved patterns, others are decorated with signs and amulets, and what kind...

We will talk about one of these “just decorations”.


... About fifteen years ago I first found myself near a small village near the city of Serpukhov. The farmstead is like a farmstead, quite Russian in appearance: several houses, sheds, rickety fences... well, in general, everything is as it should be. And the only thing that caught my attention and was remembered was, from my point of view at that time, the not-quite-usual design of the porch of one of the houses. Then, I must admit, the only thing that remained in my memory was that a rather interesting carved image was placed above the front door.

On the painted wall of the house covered with boards, almost under the very ridge of the porch roof, an unknown artist placed three carved reliefs. They are made using the technique of applied carving, quite simply - no more complicated than weather vanes, which other jewelry lovers often place on the roofs of country houses. Two round rosettes in the shape of a flower, located one above the other, and between them is a human figurine. What would seem simpler?

Only many years later did I understand the meaning and realize the full significance of what I saw. Anyone who has some idea of ​​traditional Russian symbolism will easily recognize in this carving not just a pretty decoration, but a rather clever composition, which is nothing more than a traditional house amulet, containing an echo of our ancestors’ ideas about the world and man's place in it.


The upper rosette is eight-pointed, the lower one is six-pointed. The most logical assumption seems to be that the entire composition as a whole is a symbolic image three worlds: top, middle and bottom. This model is typical for most traditional cultures. Above is the sun, below is a man, even below... Stop! The lower rosette is also made in the shape of the sun. Exactly the same or similar suns are found in abundance on the towels of northern huts. (The towel is here: an element of decoration of a traditional Russian house in the form of a flat-cut board located at the junction of two roof slopes.) But why did the master depict two suns?

Perhaps, so that trouble cannot enter this house either in the summer (the upper rosette can symbolize the “summer” sun) or in the winter (then the lower rosette will be an image of the lower, “winter” sun)? In this case, the human, or more precisely, female, figure turns out to be, for example, something like a beregin. Be that as it may, what we have before us is not just a decoration, but another version of a house amulet. I am not inclined to say that this kind of amulet is something unique, but I could not find anything similar on houses in neighboring villages and hamlets.

It would probably never have occurred to me to write about this amulet if not for one most remarkable circumstance, namely, the age of the house in question. It is logical to expect that you will see such an image on old houses, built, say, in the nineteenth or, at worst, at the beginning of the twentieth century. But, according to the inhabitants, the house and, accordingly, the image are a little more than... half a century old.

The very people for whom this house was built live in it. However, they cannot explain what exactly the image means. We decided to build, found a craftsman, he built the house, placed carvings on the façade: the customers felt better, that’s all...

The owners do not remember the name of the carpenter who built the house. Of course: by the standards of human life, half a century is a considerable period of time. We are always in a hurry to get somewhere and are often unable to remember the names of people we met a week ago. And yet those whose memory stores much more knowledge than ours continue to live among us. It is not so important for them that we remember them by name, they need something else much more. In this case, it seems to me, the unknown master most of all wanted to live well and happily in the house he built.

Stanislav Ermakov
http://www.velesova-sloboda.org/heath/russianhouse.html
http://zdravomislie.ru/opitpredkov/narodnie-primeti/237-slavyanskij-dom-1-vybor-mesta-.html?start=4

The interior of Russian huts is for the most part very similar and includes a number of elements that can be found in any home. If we talk about the structure of the hut, it consists of:

• 1-2 living spaces
• upper room
• lumber room
• terrace

The first thing a guest encountered when entering the house was the canopy. This is a kind of zone between the heated room and the street. All the cold was retained in the hallway and did not enter the main room. The canopy was used by the Slavs for economic purposes. The rocker and other things were kept in this room. Located in the entryway lumber room. This is a room that was separated from the entryway by a partition. It contained a chest with flour, eggs and other products.

The heated room and the canopy were separated by a door and a high threshold. This threshold was made to make it more difficult for cold air to penetrate into a warm room. In addition, there was a tradition according to which the guest, entering the room, had to bow, I greet the owners and the brownie. The high threshold “forced” the guests to bow down when entering the main part of the house. Since entry without bowing was ensured by hitting the head on the doorframe. With the advent of Christianity in Rus', bowing to the brownie and the owners was supplemented by making the sign of the cross and bowing to the icons in the red corner.

Stepping over the threshold, the guest found himself in the main room of the hut. The first thing that caught my eye was the stove. It was located immediately to the left or right of the door. The Russian stove is the main element of the hut. The absence of a stove indicates that the building is non-residential. And the Russian hut got its name precisely because of the stove, which allows you to heat the room. Another important function of this device is cooking food. Still no more useful way cooking than in an oven. Currently, there are various steamers that allow you to preserve the maximum of useful elements in food. But all this is not comparable to food cooked from the stove. There are many beliefs associated with the stove. For example, it was believed that it was a favorite vacation spot for the brownie. Or, when a child lost a baby tooth, he was taught to throw the tooth under the stove and say:

“Mouse, mouse, you have a turnip tooth, and you give me a bone tooth.”

It was also believed that garbage from the house should be burned in a stove so that the energy does not go outside, but remains indoors.

Red corner in a Russian hut

The red corner is an integral part of the interior decoration of a Russian hut. It was located diagonally from the stove (most often this place fell on the eastern part of the house - a note to those who do not know where to install the red corner in a modern home). It was a sacred place where towels, icons, faces of ancestors and divine books were located. A necessary part of the red corner was the table. It was in this corner that our ancestors ate food. The table was considered a kind of altar on which there was always bread:

“Bread on the table, so the table is a throne, but not a piece of bread, so the table is a board.”

Therefore, even today tradition does not allow sitting on the table. And leaving knives and spoons is considered bad omen. To this day, another belief associated with the table has survived: young people were forbidden to sit on the corner of the table in order to avoid the fate of celibacy.

Shop with a chest in a hut

Everyday objects in a Russian hut played their own role. A hiding place or chest for clothes was an important element of the house. Skrynya was inherited from mother to daughter. It included the girl’s dowry, which she received after marriage. This element of the interior of a Russian hut was most often located next to the stove.

Benches were also an important element of the interior of a Russian hut. Conventionally, they were divided into several types:

• long - different from the others in length. It was considered a women's place where they did embroidery, knitting, etc.
• short - men sat on it during meals.
• kutnaya - installed near the stove. Buckets of water, shelves for dishes, and pots were placed on it.
• threshold - walked along the wall where the door is located. Used as a kitchen table.
• ship - the bench is higher than others. Intended for storing shelves with dishes and pots.
• konik - men's shop square shape with a carved horse's head on the side. It was located near the door. Men were engaged in small crafts there, so tools were stored under the bench.
• The "beggar" was also located at the door. Any guest who entered the hut without the permission of the owners could sit on it. This is due to the fact that the guest cannot enter the hut further than the matitsa (a log that serves as the basis for the ceiling). Visually, the matica looks like a protruding log across the main laid boards on the ceiling.

The upper room is another living space in the hut. Wealthy peasants had it, because not everyone could afford such a room. The upper room was most often located on the second floor.Hence its name, the upper room - “mountain”. It contained another oven called a Dutch oven. This is a round oven. In many village houses they still stand today as decoration. Although even today you can find huts that are heated by these ancient appliances.

Enough has already been said about the stove. But we cannot fail to mention those tools that were used in working with Russian stoves. Poker- the most famous item. It is an iron rod with a curved end. A poker was used to stir and rake coals. The pomelo was used to clean the stove from coals..

With the help of a grabber it was possible to drag or move pots and cast iron pots. It was a metal arc that made it possible to grab the pot and move it from place to place. The grip made it possible to place the cast iron in the oven without fear of getting burned.

Another item used when working with the stove is bread shovel. With its help, bread is placed in the oven and taken out after cooking. And here is the word " Chaplya“Not many people know. This tool is also called a frying pan. It was used to grab a frying pan.

The cradle in Rus' had various shapes. There were hollowed out ones, wicker ones, hanging ones, and “vanka-standers”. Their names were surprisingly varied: cradle, shaky, coli, rocking chair, cradle. But a number of traditions are associated with the cradle, which remained unchanged. For example, it was considered necessary to install the cradle in a place where the baby could watch the dawn. Rocking an empty cradle was considered a bad omen. We still believe in these and many other beliefs to this day. After all, all the traditions of their ancestors were based on their personal experience, which the new generation adopted from their ancestors.

Russian hut: where and how our ancestors built huts, structure and decor, elements of the hut, videos, riddles and proverbs about the hut and reasonable housekeeping.

“Oh, what mansions!” - this is how we often talk now about a spacious new apartment or cottage. We speak without thinking about the meaning of this word. After all, a mansion is an ancient peasant dwelling, consisting of several buildings. What kind of mansions did the peasants have in their Russian huts? How was the Russian traditional hut built?

In this article:

—Where were huts built before?
— attitude towards the Russian hut in Russian folk culture,
- arrangement of a Russian hut,
- decoration and decor of a Russian hut,
- Russian stove and red corner, male and female halves of a Russian house,
- elements of the Russian hut and peasant yard (dictionary),
- proverbs and sayings, signs about the Russian hut.

Russian hut

Since I come from the north and grew up on the White Sea, I will show photographs of northern houses in the article. And as the epigraph to my story about the Russian hut, I chose the words of D. S. Likhachev:

“Russian North! It is difficult for me to express in words my admiration, my admiration for this region. When, as a boy of thirteen, I first drove along the Barents and White seas, along the Northern Dvina, visited the Pomors, in peasant huts, listened to songs and fairy tales, looked at these extraordinarily beautiful people who behaved simply and with dignity, I was completely stunned. It seemed to me that this is the only way to truly live: measuredly and easily, working and receiving so much satisfaction from this work... In the Russian North there is the most amazing combination of present and past, modernity and history, watercolor lyricism of water, earth, sky, the formidable power of stone , storms, cold, snow and air" (D.S. Likhachev. Russian culture. - M., 2000. - P. 409-410).

Where were huts built before?

The favorite place to build a village and build Russian huts was the bank of a river or lake. The peasants were also guided by practicality - proximity to the river and boat as a means of transportation, but also by aesthetic reasons. From the windows of the hut, standing on a high place, one could see beautiful view to the lake, forests, meadows, fields, as well as to your yard with barns, to a bathhouse near the river.

Northern villages are visible from afar, they were never located in the lowlands, always on the hills, near the forest, near the water on the high bank of the river, they became the center of a beautiful picture of the unity of man and nature, and fit organically into the surrounding landscape. At the highest place they usually built a church and a bell tower in the center of the village.

The house was built thoroughly, “to last for centuries”; the place for it was chosen to be quite high, dry, protected from cold winds - on a high hill. They tried to locate villages where there were fertile lands, rich meadows, forests, rivers or lakes. The huts were placed in such a way that they had good access and access, and the windows were turned “towards the summer” - to the sunny side.

In the north, they tried to place houses on the southern slope of the hill, so that its top would reliably cover the house from the violent cold northern winds. The south side will always warm up well, and the house will be warm.

If we consider the location of the hut on the site, then they tried to place it closer to its northern part. The house protected the gardening part of the site from the wind.

In terms of the orientation of the Russian hut according to the sun (north, south, west, east) there was also a special structure of the village. It was very important that the windows of the residential part of the house were located in the direction of the sun. For better illumination of houses in rows, they were placed in a checkerboard pattern relative to each other. All the houses on the streets of the village “looked” in one direction - towards the sun, towards the river. From the window one could see sunrises and sunsets, the movement of ships along the river.

A safe place to build a hut it was considered a place where cattle lay down to rest. After all, cows were considered by our ancestors as a fertile life-giving force, because the cow was often the breadwinner of the family.

They tried not to build houses in swamps or near them; these places were considered “chill”, and the crops there often suffered from frosts. But a river or lake near the house is always good.

When choosing a place to build a house, the men guessed - they used an experiment. Women never participated in it. They took sheep's wool. It was placed in a clay pot. And they left it overnight at the site of the future home. The result was considered positive if the wool became damp by morning. This means the house will be rich.

There were other fortune-telling experiments. For example, in the evening they left chalk on the site of the future house overnight. If the chalk attracted ants, it was considered a good sign. If ants do not live on this land, then it is better not to build a house here. The result was checked in the morning the next day.

They began cutting down the house in early spring (Lent) or in other months of the year on the new moon. If a tree is cut down on the waning Moon, it will quickly rot, which is why there was such a ban. There were also more stringent daily regulations. Timber harvesting began from winter Nikola on December 19th. The best time for harvesting wood was considered to be December - January, after the first frost, when excess moisture leaves the trunk. They did not cut down dry trees or trees with growths for the house, trees that fell to the north when felled. These beliefs applied specifically to trees; other materials were not subject to such standards.

They did not build houses on the sites of houses burned by lightning. It was believed that Elijah the prophet struck places with lightning evil spirits. They also did not build houses where there had previously been a bathhouse, where someone had been injured with an ax or a knife, where human bones had been found, where there had previously been a bathhouse or where a road had previously passed, where some misfortune had occurred, for example, a flood.

Attitude to the Russian hut in folk culture

A house in Rus' had many names: hut, hut, tower, holupy, mansion, khoromina and temple. Yes, don’t be surprised – a temple! Mansions (huts) were equated to a temple, because a temple is also a house, the House of God! And in the hut there was always a holy, red corner.

The peasants treated the house as a living being. Even the names of the parts of the house are similar to the names of the parts of the human body and his world! This is a feature of the Russian house - “human”, that is anthropomorphic names of parts of the hut:

• Brow of the hut- this is her face. The pediment of the hut and the outer opening in the stove could be called chel.
• Prichelina- from the word “brow”, that is, decoration on the brow of the hut,
• Platbands- from the word “face”, “on the face” of the hut.
• Ocelye- from the word “eyes”, window. This was the name of a part of a woman’s headdress, and the same name was given to the decoration of a window.
• Forehead- that was the name of the frontal plate. There were also “heads” in the design of the house.
• Heel, foot- that was the name of part of the doors.

There were also zoomorphic names in the structure of the hut and yard: “bulls”, “hens”, “horse”, “crane” - well.

The word "hut" comes from the Old Slavic “istba”. “Istboyu, stokkoyu” was the name for a heated residential log house (and “klet” was an unheated log house for a residential building).

The house and the hut were living models of the world for people. The house was that secret place in which people expressed ideas about themselves, about the world, built their world and their lives according to the laws of harmony. Home is a part of life and a way to connect and shape your life. Home is a sacred space, an image of family and homeland, a model of the world and human life, a person’s connection with the natural world and with God. A house is a space that a person builds with his own hands, and which is with him from the first to last days his life on Earth. Building a house is a repetition by man of the work of the Creator, because the human home, according to the ideas of the people, is a small world created according to the rules of the “big world”.

By the appearance of a Russian house one could determine the social status, religion, and nationality of its owners. In one village there were no two completely identical houses, because each hut carried its own individuality and reflected inner world clan living in it.

For a child, a home is the first model of the outside big world; it “feeds” and “raises” the child, the child “absorbs” from the house the laws of life in the big adult world. If a child grew up in a bright, cozy, kind home, in a house in which order reigns, then this is how the child will continue to build his life. If there is chaos in the house, then there is chaos in the soul and in a person’s life. From childhood, the child mastered a system of ideas about his home - the house and its structure - the matitsa, the red corner, the female and male parts of the house.

Dom is traditionally used in Russian as a synonym for the word “homeland”. If a person does not have a sense of home, then there is no sense of homeland! Attachment to home and caring for it were considered a virtue. The house and the Russian hut are the embodiment of a native, safe space. The word “house” was also used in the sense of “family” - so they said “There are four houses on the hill” - this meant four families. In a Russian hut, several generations of the family lived and ran a common household under one roof - grandfathers, fathers, sons, grandchildren.

The interior space of a Russian hut has long been associated in folk culture as the space of a woman - she looked after it, restored order and comfort. And here external space– the courtyard and beyond – this was the space of a man. My husband’s grandfather still recalls the division of responsibilities that was customary in the family of our great-grandparents: a woman carried water from a well for the house, for cooking. And the man also carried water from the well, but for cows or horses. It was considered a shame if a woman began to perform men's duties or vice versa. Since we lived in large families, there were no problems. If one of the women could not carry water now, then another woman in the family did this work.

The house also strictly observed male and female halves, but this will be discussed later.

In the Russian North, residential and economic premises were combined under the same roof, so that you can run a household without leaving your home. This is how the life ingenuity of the northerners, living in harsh, cold natural conditions, was manifested.

The house was understood in folk culture as the center of the main life values – happiness, prosperity, family prosperity, faith. One of the functions of the hut and house was a protective function. A carved wooden sun under the roof is a wish for happiness and prosperity to the owners of the house. The image of roses (which do not grow in the north) is a wish for a happy life. The lions and lionesses in the painting are pagan amulets that scare away evil with their terrible appearance.

Proverbs about hut

On the roof there is a heavy wooden ridge - a sign of the sun. There was always a household goddess in the house. S. Yesenin wrote interestingly about the horse: “The horse, both in Greek, Egyptian, Roman, and Russian mythology, is a sign of aspiration. But only one Russian man thought of putting him on his roof, likening his hut under him to a chariot" ( Nekrasova M, A. Folk art Russia. – M., 1983)

The house was built very proportionally and harmoniously. Its design is based on the law of the golden ratio, the law of natural harmony in proportions. They built it without measuring instruments or complex calculations - by instinct, as their soul dictated.

A family of 10 or even 15-20 people sometimes lived in a Russian hut. In it they cooked and ate, slept, weaved, spun, repaired utensils, and did all household work.

Myth and truth about the Russian hut. There is an opinion that Russian huts were dirty, there was unsanitary conditions, disease, poverty and darkness. I used to think so too, that’s what we were taught at school. But this is completely untrue! I asked my grandmother shortly before she passed away, when she was already over 90 years old (she grew up near Nyandoma and Kargopol in the Russian North in the Arkhangelsk region), how they lived in their village in her childhood - did they really wash and clean the house once? a year and lived in the dark and in the dirt?

She was very surprised and said that the house was always not just clean, but very light and cozy, beautiful. Her mother (my great-grandmother) embroidered and knitted the most beautiful valances for the beds of adults and children. Each crib and cradle was decorated with her valances. And each crib has its own pattern! Imagine what kind of work this is! And what beauty is in the frame of each crib! Her dad (my great-grandfather) carved beautiful designs on all household utensils and furniture. She recalled being a child under the care of her grandmother along with her sisters and brothers (my great-great-grandmother). They not only played, but also helped adults. It used to be that in the evening her grandmother would tell the children: “Soon mother and father will come from the field, we need to clean the house.” And oh - yes! Children take brooms, rags, clean full order so that there is not a speck of dust in the corner, not a speck of dust, and all things are in their places. When mother and father arrived, the house was always clean. The children understood that the adults had come home from work, were tired and needed help. She also remembered how her mother always whitewashed the stove so that the stove would be beautiful and the house would be cozy. Even on the day of giving birth, her mother (my great-grandmother) whitewashed the stove, and then went to the bathhouse to give birth. The grandmother recalled how she, being the eldest daughter, helped her.

It was not like the outside was clean and the inside was dirty. They cleaned very carefully both outside and inside. My grandmother told me that “what appears on the outside is how you want to appear to people” (outward is the appearance of clothes, a house, a closet, etc. - how they look to guests and how we want to present ourselves to people clothes, appearance of the house, etc.). But “what’s inside is who you really are” (inside is the backside of embroidery or any other work, the backside of clothes that should be clean and without holes or stains, the inside of cabinets and others invisible to other people, but visible moments of our lives). Very instructive. I always remember her words.

Grandmother recalled that only those who did not work had poor and dirty huts. They were considered like holy fools, a little sick, they were pitied as people who were sick at heart. Whoever worked - even if he had 10 children - lived in bright, clean beautiful huts. Decorated your home with love. They ran a large household and never complained about life. There was always order in the house and yard.

Construction of a Russian hut

The Russian house (hut), like the Universe, was divided into three worlds, three tiers: the lower one is the basement, underground; middle – these are living quarters; the upper one under the sky is the attic, the roof.

Hut as a structure was a log house made of logs that were tied together into crowns. In the Russian North, it was customary to build houses without nails, very durable houses. The minimum number of nails was used only for attaching decor - piers, towels, platbands. They built houses “as proportion and beauty dictate.”

Roof– the upper part of the hut – provides protection from the outside world and is the border between the inside of the house and space. No wonder the roofs were so beautifully decorated in houses! And the ornaments on the roof often depicted symbols of the sun - solar symbols. We know such expressions: “father’s roof”, “live under one roof”. There were customs - if a person was sick and could not leave this world for a long time, then so that his soul could more easily pass into another world, they would remove the ridge on the roof. It is interesting that the roof was considered a feminine element of the house - the hut itself and everything in the hut should be “covered” - the roof, buckets, dishes, and barrels.

Upper part of the house (rails, towel) decorated with solar, that is, sun signs. In some cases, the full sun was depicted on the towel, and only half of the solar signs were depicted on the sides. Thus, the sun appeared at the most important points on its path across the sky - at sunrise, zenith and sunset. In folklore there is even an expression “three-bright sun”, reminiscent of these three key points.

Attic was located under the roof and items that were not needed at the moment and removed from the house were stored on it.

The hut was two-story, the living rooms were located on the “second floor”, as it was warmer there. And on the “ground floor,” that is, on the lower tier, there was basement It protected living quarters from the cold. The basement was used for storing food and was divided into 2 parts: the basement and the underground.

Floor they made it double to preserve heat: at the bottom there was a “black floor”, and on top of it there was a “white floor”. Floor boards were laid from the edges to the center of the hut in the direction from the facade to the exit. This was important in some rituals. So, if they entered the house and sat on a bench along the floorboards, it meant that they had come to make a match. They never slept and laid the bed along the floorboards, since they laid the dead person along the floorboards “on the way to the doors.” That’s why we didn’t sleep with our heads towards the exit. They always slept with their heads in the red corner, towards the front wall, on which the icons were located.

The diagonal was important in the design of the Russian hut. “The red corner is the stove.” The red corner always pointed to noon, to the light, to God's side (the red side). It has always been associated with wotok (sunrise) and the south. And the stove pointed to sunset, to darkness. And was associated with the west or north. They always prayed to the icon in the red corner, i.e. to the east, where the altar in the temples is located.

Door and the entrance to the house, the exit to the outside world is one of the most important elements of the house. She greets everyone who enters the house. In ancient times, there were many beliefs and various protective rituals associated with the door and threshold of the house. Probably not without reason, and now many people hang a horseshoe on the door for good luck. And even earlier, a scythe (a gardening tool) was placed under the threshold. This reflected people's ideas about the horse as an animal associated with the sun. And also about metal, created by man with the help of fire and which is a material for protecting life.

Only a closed door preserves life inside the house: “Don’t trust everyone, lock the door tightly.” That is why people stopped at the threshold of the house, especially when entering someone else's house; this stop was often accompanied by a short prayer.

At a wedding in some places, a young wife, entering her husband’s house, was not supposed to touch the threshold. That is why it was often carried in by hand. And in other areas, the sign was exactly the opposite. The bride, entering the groom's house after the wedding, always lingered on the threshold. This was a sign of that. That she is now one of her own in her husband’s family.

The threshold of a doorway is the border between “one’s own” and “someone else’s” space. In popular belief, this was a borderline, and therefore unsafe, place: “They don’t say hello across the threshold,” “They don’t shake hands across the threshold.” You cannot accept gifts through the threshold. Guests are greeted outside the threshold, then let in ahead of them through the threshold.

The height of the door was below human height. When entering, I had to bow my head and take off my hat. But at the same time, the doorway was quite wide.

Window- another entrance to the house. Window is a very ancient word, first mentioned in chronicles in the year 11 and found among all Slavic peoples. In popular beliefs, it was forbidden to spit through the window, throw out garbage, or pour something out of the house, since “the angel of the Lord is standing under it.” “Give (to a beggar) through the window - give to God.” Windows were considered the eyes of the house. A man looks through the window at the sun, and the sun looks at him through the window (the eyes of the hut). That is why signs of the sun were often carved on the frames. The riddles of the Russian people say this: “The red girl is looking out the window” (the sun). Traditionally in Russian culture, windows in a house have always been oriented “toward the summer”—that is, to the east and south. The largest windows of the house always looked out onto the street and the river; they were called “red” or “slanting”.

Windows in a Russian hut could be of three types:

A) The fiberglass window is the most ancient look windows Its height did not exceed the height of a horizontally placed log. But its width was one and a half times its height. Such a window was closed from the inside with a bolt that “dragged” along special grooves. That’s why the window was called “volokovoye”. Only dim light entered the hut through the fiberglass window. Such windows were more often found on outbuildings. Smoke from the stove was taken out (“dragged out”) from the hut through a fiberglass window. Basements, closets, sheds and barns were also ventilated through them.

B) Box window - consists of a deck made up of four beams firmly connected to each other.

C) A slanted window is an opening in the wall, reinforced with two side beams. These windows are also called “red” windows, regardless of their location. Initially, the central windows in the Russian hut were made like this.

It was through the window that the baby had to be handed over if children born in the family died. It was believed that this could save the child and ensure his long life. In the Russian North there was also a belief that a person’s soul leaves the house through a window. That is why a cup of water was placed on the window so that the soul that had left a person could wash itself and fly away. Also, after the funeral, a towel was hung on the window so that the soul would use it to ascend into the house and then descend back. Sitting by the window, they waited for news. The place by the window in the red corner is a place of honor, for the most honored guests, including matchmakers.

The windows were located high, and therefore the view from the window did not bump into neighboring buildings, and the view from the window was beautiful.

During construction, free space (sedimentary groove) was left between the window beam and the log of the house wall. It was covered with a board, which is well known to all of us and is called platband(“on the face of the house” = platband). The platbands were decorated with ornaments to protect the house: circles as symbols of the sun, birds, horses, lions, fish, weasel (an animal considered the guardian of livestock - they believed that if a predator was depicted, it would not harm domestic animals), floral ornaments, juniper, rowan .

From the outside, the windows were closed with shutters. Sometimes in the north, to make it convenient to close the windows, galleries were built along the main facade (they looked like balconies). The owner walks along the gallery and closes the shutters on the windows for the night.

Four sides of the hut facing the four cardinal directions. The appearance of the hut is facing the outside world, and interior decoration- to the family, to the clan, to the person.

Porch of a Russian hut it was often open and spacious. Here those family events took place that the entire street of the village could see: soldiers were seen off, matchmakers were greeted, newlyweds were greeted. On the porch they talked, exchanged news, relaxed, and talked about business. Therefore, the porch occupied a prominent place, was high and rose up on pillars or frames.

The porch is “the calling card of the house and its owners,” reflecting their hospitality, prosperity and cordiality. A house was considered uninhabited if its porch was destroyed. The porch was decorated carefully and beautifully, the ornament used was the same as on the elements of the house. It could be a geometric or floral ornament.

What word do you think the word “porch” came from? From the word “cover”, “roof”. After all, the porch had to have a roof that protected it from snow and rain.
Often in a Russian hut there were two porches and two entrances. The first entrance is the front entrance, where benches were set up for conversation and relaxation. And the second entrance is “dirty”, it served for household needs.

Bake was located near the entrance and occupied approximately a quarter of the hut’s space. The stove is one of the sacred centers of the house. “The oven in the house is the same as the altar in the church: bread is baked in it.” “The stove is our dear mother,” “A house without a stove is an uninhabited house.” The stove had a feminine origin and was located in the female half of the house. It is in the oven that the raw, undeveloped is transformed into cooked, “our own”, mastered. The stove is located in the corner opposite the red corner. They slept on it, it was used not only in cooking, but also in healing, in folk medicine, small children were washed in it in winter, children and old people warmed themselves on it. In the stove, they always kept the damper closed if someone left the house (so that they would return and the journey would be happy), during a thunderstorm (since the stove is another entrance to the house, the connection between the house and the outside world).

Matica- a beam running across a Russian hut on which the ceiling is supported. This is the boundary between the front and back of the house. A guest coming to the house could not go further than the mother without the permission of the owners. Sitting under the mother meant wooing the bride. In order for everything to succeed, it was necessary to hold on to the mother before leaving home.

The entire space of the hut was divided into female and male. Men worked and rested, received guests on weekdays in the men's part of the Russian hut - in the front red corner, to the side of it towards the threshold and sometimes under the curtains. The man's workplace during repairs was next to the door. Women and children worked and rested, staying awake in the women's half of the hut - near the stove. If women received guests, then the guests sat at the threshold of the stove. Guests could only enter the women's area of ​​the hut at the invitation of the hostess. Representatives of the male half never entered the female half unless absolutely necessary, and women never entered the male half. This could be taken as an insult.

Stalls served not only as a place to sit, but also as a place to sleep. A headrest was placed under the head when sleeping on a bench.

The bench at the door was called “konik”, it could be the workplace of the owner of the house, and any person who entered the house, a beggar, could also spend the night there.

Above the benches, above the windows, shelves were made parallel to the benches. Hats, thread, yarn, spinning wheels, knives, awls and other household items were placed on them.

Married adult couples slept in beds, on a bench under the blankets, in their own separate cages - in their own places. Old people slept on the stove or near the stove, children - on the stove.

All utensils and furniture in a Russian northern hut are located along the walls, and the center remains free.

Svetlyceum The room was called a small room, a little room on the second floor of the house, clean, well-groomed, for handicrafts and clean activities. There was a wardrobe, a bed, a sofa, a table. But just like in the hut, all objects were placed along the walls. In the gorenka there were chests in which dowries for daughters were collected. There are as many marriageable daughters as there are chests. Girls lived here - brides of marriageable age.

Dimensions of a Russian hut

In ancient times, the Russian hut did not have internal partitions and was shaped like a square or rectangle. The average size of the hut was from 4 x 4 meters to 5.5 x 6.5 meters. Middle and wealthy peasants had large huts - 8 x 9 meters, 9 x 10 meters.

Decoration of a Russian hut

In the Russian hut there were four corners: stove, woman's kut, red corner, back corner (at the entrance under the curtains). Each corner had its own traditional purpose. And the entire hut, according to the corners, was divided into female and male halves.

Women's half of the hut runs from the furnace mouth (furnace outlet) to the front wall of the house.

One of the corners of the women's half of the house is the woman's kut. It is also called “baking”. This place is near the stove, women's territory. Here they prepared food, pies, utensils and millstones were stored. Sometimes the “women’s territory” of the house was separated by a partition or screen. On the women's side of the hut, behind the stove, there were cabinets for kitchen utensils and food supplies, shelves for tableware, buckets, cast iron, tubs, and stove accessories (bread shovel, poker, grip). The “long shop”, which ran along the women’s half of the hut along the side wall of the house, was also women’s. Here women spun, weaved, sewed, embroidered, and a baby’s cradle hung here.

Men never entered “women’s territory” and did not touch those utensils that are considered female. But a stranger and guest could not even look into the woman’s kut, it was offensive.

On the other side of the stove there was male space, "The male kingdom of the home." There was a threshold men's shop here, where men did housework and rested after a hard day. Underneath there was often a cabinet with tools for men's work. It was considered indecent for a woman to sit on the threshold bench. They rested during the day on a side bench at the back of the hut.

Russian stove

About a fourth, and sometimes a third, of the hut was occupied by a Russian stove. She was a symbol of home. They not only prepared food in it, but also prepared feed for livestock, baked pies and bread, washed themselves, heated the room, slept on it and dried clothes, shoes or food, and dried mushrooms and berries in it. And they could keep chickens in the oven even in winter. Although the stove is very large, it does not “eat up”, but, on the contrary, expands the living space of the hut, turning it into a multi-dimensional, multi-height space.

No wonder there is a saying “dance from the stove”, because everything in a Russian hut begins with the stove. Remember the epic about Ilya Muromets? The epic tells us that Ilya Muromets “lay on the stove for 30 and 3 years,” that is, he could not walk. Not on the floors or on the benches, but on the stove!

“The oven is like our own mother,” people used to say. Many folk healing practices were associated with the stove. And signs. For example, you cannot spit in the oven. And it was impossible to swear when the fire was burning in the stove.

The new oven began to be heated gradually and evenly. The first day began with four logs, and gradually one log was added every day to heat the entire volume of the stove and so that it was without cracks.

At first, Russian houses had adobe stoves, which were heated in black. That is, the stove then did not have an exhaust pipe for the smoke to escape. The smoke was released through the door or through a special hole in the wall. Sometimes they think that only beggars had black huts, but this is not so. Such stoves were also found in rich mansions. The black stove produced more heat and stored it longer than the white one. The smoke-stained walls were not afraid of dampness or rot.

Later, the stoves began to be built white - that is, they began to make a pipe through which the smoke came out.

The stove was always located in one of the corners of the house, which was called the stove, door, small corner. Diagonally from the stove there was always a red, holy, front, large corner of a Russian house.

Red corner in a Russian hut

The Red Corner is the central main place in the hut, in a Russian house. It is also called “saint”, “God’s”, “front”, “senior”, “big”. It is illuminated by the sun better than all other corners in the house, everything in the house is oriented towards it.

The goddess in the red corner is like an altar Orthodox church and was interpreted as the presence of God in the house. The table in the red corner is the church altar. Here, in the red corner, they prayed to the icon. Here at the table all meals and main events in the life of the family took place: birth, wedding, funeral, farewell to the army.

Here there were not only images, but also the Bible, prayer books, candles, branches of consecrated willow were brought here on Palm Sunday or birch branches on Trinity.

The red corner was especially worshiped. Here, during the wake, they placed an extra device for another soul who had passed into the world.

It was in the Red Corner that the chipped birds of happiness, traditional for the Russian North, were hung.

Seats at the table in the red corner were firmly established by tradition, not only during holidays, but also during regular meals. The meal united the clan and family.

• Place in the red corner, in the center of the table, under the icons, was the most honorable. Here sat the owner, the most respected guests, and the priest. If a guest went and sat in the red corner without the owner’s invitation, this was considered a gross violation of etiquette.
• The next most important side of the table is the one to the right of the owner and the places closest to him on the right and left. This is a "men's shop". Here the men of the family were seated according to seniority along the right wall of the house towards its exit. The older the man, the closer he sits to the owner of the house.
• And on the “lower” end of the table on the “women’s bench”, Women and children sat down along the front of the house.
• Mistress of the house was placed opposite the husband from the side of the stove on the side bench. This made it more convenient to serve food and host dinners.
• During the wedding newlyweds They also sat under the icons in the red corner.
• For guests It had its own guest shop. It is located by the window. It is still a custom in some areas to seat guests by the window.

This arrangement of family members at the table shows the model of social relations within the Russian family.

Table- he was given great importance in the red corner of the house and in the hut in general. The table in the hut was in a permanent place. If the house was sold, then it was necessarily sold along with the table!

Very important: The table is the hand of God. “The table is the same as the throne in the altar, and therefore you need to sit at the table and behave as in church” (Olonets province). It was not allowed to place foreign objects on the dining table, because this is the place of God himself. It was forbidden to knock on the table: “Don’t hit the table, the table is God’s palm!” There should always be bread on the table - a symbol of wealth and well-being in the house. They used to say: “Bread on the table is the throne!” Bread is a symbol of prosperity, abundance, material well-being. That's why it always had to be on the table - God's palm.

A small lyrical digression from the author. Dear readers of this article! You probably think that all this is outdated? Well, what does bread have to do with it on the table? And you can bake yeast-free bread with your own hands at home - it’s quite easy! And then you will understand that this is a completely different bread! Not like store bought bread. Moreover, the loaf is shaped like a circle, a symbol of movement, growth, development. When for the first time I baked not pies or cupcakes, but bread, and my whole house smelled of bread, I realized what a real home is - a house where it smells... of bread! Where do you want to return? Don't have time for this? I thought so too. Until one of the mothers whose children I work with, and she has ten of them!!!, taught me how to bake bread. And then I thought: “If a mother of ten children finds time to bake bread for her family, then I definitely have time for this!” Therefore, I understand why bread is the head of everything! You have to feel it with your own hands and your soul! And then the loaf on your table will become a symbol of your home and will bring you a lot of joy!

The table must be installed along the floorboards, i.e. the narrow side of the table was directed towards the western wall of the hut. This is very important because... the direction “longitudinal - transverse” was given a special meaning in Russian culture. The longitudinal one had a “positive” charge, and the transverse one had a “negative” charge. Therefore, they tried to lay all the objects in the house in the longitudinal direction. This is also why they sat along the floorboards during rituals (matchmaking, as an example) - so that everything would go well.

Tablecloth on the table in the Russian tradition it also had a very deep meaning and forms a single whole with the table. The expression “table and tablecloth” symbolized hospitality and hospitality. Sometimes the tablecloth was called “bread-salter” or “self-assembled”. Wedding tablecloths were kept as a special heirloom. The table was not always covered with a tablecloth, but only on special occasions. But in Karelia, for example, the tablecloth had to always be on the table. For a wedding feast, they took a special tablecloth and laid it inside out (from damage). A tablecloth could be spread on the ground during a funeral service, because a tablecloth is a “road”, a connection between the cosmic world and the human world; it is not for nothing that the expression “a tablecloth is a road” has come down to us.

The family gathered at the dinner table, crossed themselves before eating and said a prayer. They ate sedately, and it was forbidden to get up while eating. The head of the family - a man - began the meal. He cut food into pieces, cut bread. The woman served everyone at the table and served food. The meal was long, leisurely, long.

On holidays, the red corner was decorated with woven and embroidered towels, flowers, and tree branches. Embroidered and woven towels with patterns were hung on the shrine. On Palm Sunday, the red corner was decorated with willow branches, on Trinity - with birch branches, and with heather (juniper) - on Maundy Thursday.

It's interesting to think about our modern houses:

Question 1. The division into “male” and “female” territory in the house is not accidental. And in our modern apartments there is a “women’s secret corner” - personal space as a “female kingdom”, do men interfere with it? Do we need him? How and where can you create it?

Question 2. And what is in the red corner of our apartment or dacha - what is the main spiritual center of the house? Let's take a closer look at our home. And if we need to fix something, we’ll do it and create a red corner in our home, let’s create it to truly unite the family. Sometimes you can find advice on the Internet to put a computer in the red corner as the “energy center of the apartment” and organize your workplace in it. I'm always surprised by such recommendations. Here, in the red - the main corner - be what is important in life, what unites the family, what carries true spiritual values, what is the meaning and idea of ​​​​the life of the family and clan, but not a TV or an office center! Let's think together about what it could be.

Types of Russian huts

Nowadays, many families are interested in Russian history and traditions and are building houses as our ancestors did. It is sometimes believed that there should be only one type of house based on the arrangement of its elements, and only this type of house is “correct” and “historic”. In fact, the location of the main elements of the hut (red corner, stove) depends on the region.

Based on the location of the stove and the red corner, there are 4 types of Russian huts. Each type is characteristic of a specific area and climatic conditions. That is, it is impossible to say directly: the stove has always been strictly here, and the red corner is strictly here. Let's look at them in more detail in the pictures.

The first type is the Northern Central Russian hut. The stove is located next to the entrance to the right or left of it in one of the rear corners of the hut. The mouth of the stove is turned towards the front wall of the hut (the mouth is the outlet of a Russian stove). Diagonally from the stove there is a red corner.

The second type is the Western Russian hut. The stove was also located next to the entrance to the right or left of it. But its mouth was turned towards the long side wall. That is, the mouth of the stove was located near the entrance door to the house. The red corner was also located diagonally from the stove, but food was prepared in a different place in the hut - closer to the door (see picture). A sleeping area was made on the side of the stove.

The third type is the eastern South Russian hut. The fourth type is the Western South Russian hut. In the south, the house was placed towards the street not with its facade, but with its long side. Therefore, the location of the furnace here was completely different. The stove was placed in the corner farthest from the entrance. Diagonally from the stove (between the door and the front long wall hut) there was a red corner. In eastern South Russian huts, the mouth of the stove was turned towards the front door. In western South Russian huts, the mouth of the stove was turned towards the long wall of the house, facing the street.

Despite the different types of huts, they adhere to the general principle of the structure of Russian housing. Therefore, even if he found himself far from home, the traveler could always find his way around the hut.

Elements of a Russian hut and a peasant estate: a dictionary

In a peasant estate the farm was large - each estate had from 1 to 3 barns for storing grain and valuables. There was also a bathhouse - the building farthest from the residential building. Every thing has its place. This proverbial principle has always been observed everywhere. Everything in the house was thought out and arranged intelligently so as not to waste extra energy and time on unnecessary actions or movements. Everything is at hand, everything is convenient. Modern home ergonomics comes from our history.

The entrance to the Russian estate was from the street through a strong gate. There was a roof over the gate. And at the gate on the side of the street there is a bench under the roof. Not only village residents, but also any passerby could sit on the bench. It was at the gate that it was customary to meet and see off guests. And under the roof of the gate one could welcome them cordially or talk goodbye.

Barn– a separate small building for storing grain, flour, and supplies.

Bath– a separate building (the furthest building from a residential building) for washing.

Crown- logs of one horizontal row in the log house of a Russian hut.

Anemone- a carved sun attached instead of a towel to the gable of the hut. Wishing a rich harvest, happiness, and prosperity to the family living in the house.

Barn floor– a platform for threshing compressed bread.

Cage- a structure in wooden construction, formed by crowns of logs placed on top of each other. The mansions consist of several cages, united by passages and vestibules.

Chicken-elements of the roof of a Russian house built without nails. They said: “Chickens and a horse on the roof - it will be quieter in the hut.” This refers specifically to the elements of the roof - the ridge and the chicken. A water tank was placed on the chicken - a log hollowed out in the form of a gutter to drain water from the roof. The image of “chickens” is not accidental. The chicken and the rooster were associated in the popular mind with the sun, since this bird notifies about the sunrise. The crow of a rooster, according to popular belief, drives away evil spirits.

Glacier– the great-grandfather of the modern refrigerator – a room with ice for storing food

Matica- a massive wooden beam on which the ceiling is laid.

Platband– decoration of a window (window opening)

Barn– a building for drying sheaves before threshing. The sheaves were laid out on the flooring and dried.

Stupid– horse – connects the two wings of the house, two roof slopes together. The horse symbolizes the sun moving across the sky. This is a mandatory element of the roof structure, built without nails, and is a talisman for the house. Okhlupen is also called “shelo” from the word “helmet”, which is associated with the protection of the house and means the helmet of an ancient warrior. Perhaps this part of the hut was called “okhlupny”, because when put in place it makes a “pop” sound. Ohlupni were used to do without nails during construction.

Ochelye – this was the name of the most beautifully decorated part of the Russian women's headdress on the forehead (“on the brow”And also called part of the decoration of the window - the upper part of the “decoration of the forehead, brow” of the house. Ochelie - the upper part of the platband on the window.

Povet– a hayloft, you could drive here directly on a cart or sleigh. This room is located directly above barnyard. Boats, fishing gear, hunting equipment, shoes, and clothes were also stored here. Here they dried and repaired nets, crushed flax and did other work.

Podklet– the lower room under the living quarters. The basement was used for storing food and household needs.

Polati- wooden flooring under the ceiling of a Russian hut. They settled between the wall and the Russian stove. It was possible to sleep on the floors, as the stove kept the heat for a long time. If the stove was not heated for heating, then vegetables were stored on the floors at that time.

Policemen– figured shelves for utensils above the benches in the hut.

Towel- short vertical board at the junction of two piers, decorated with the symbol of the sun. Usually the towel repeated the pattern of the hairstyles.

Prichelina- boards on the wooden roof of a house, nailed to the ends above the pediment (edge ​​of the hut), protecting them from rotting. The piers were decorated with carvings. The pattern consists of a geometric ornament. But there is also an ornament with grapes - a symbol of life and procreation.

Svetlitsa- one of the rooms in the mansion (see “mansions”) on the women’s side, in the upper part of the building, intended for needlework and other household activities.

Seni- a cold entrance room in the hut; usually the entryway was not heated. As well as the entrance room between the individual cages in the mansions. This is always a utility room for storage. Household utensils were stored here, there was a bench with buckets and milk pans, work clothes, rockers, sickles, scythes, and rakes. They did dirty work in the hallway homework. The doors of all rooms opened into the canopy. Canopy - protection from the cold. The front door opened, the cold was let into the hallway, but remained in them, not reaching the living quarters.

Apron– sometimes “aprons” decorated with fine carvings were made on houses on the side of the main facade. This is a board overhang that protects the house from precipitation.

Stable- premises for livestock.

Mansions- large residential wooden house, which consists of separate buildings united by vestibules and passages. galleries. All parts of the choir were different in height - the result was a very beautiful multi-tiered structure.

Russian hut utensils

Dishes for cooking, it was stored in the stove and near the stove. These are cauldrons, cast iron pots for porridges, soups, clay patches for baking fish, cast iron frying pans. Beautiful porcelain dishes were stored so that everyone could see them. She was a symbol of wealth in the family. Festive dishes were stored in the upper room, and plates were displayed in the cupboard. Everyday utensils were kept in wall cabinets. Dinnerware consisted of a large bowl made of clay or wood, wooden spoons, birch bark or copper salt shaker, cups of kvass.

Painted baskets were used to store bread in Russian huts. boxes, brightly colored, sunny, joyful. The painting of the box distinguished it from other things as a significant, important thing.

They drank tea from samovar.

Sieve it was used for sifting flour, and as a symbol of wealth and fertility, it was likened to the vault of heaven (the riddle “A sieve is covered with a sieve”, the answer is heaven and earth).

Salt is not only food, but also a talisman. That’s why they served bread and salt to guests as a greeting, a symbol of hospitality.

The most common was earthenware pot. Porridge and cabbage soup were prepared in pots. The cabbage soup cooked well in the pot and became much tastier and richer. Even now, if we compare the taste of soup and porridge from a Russian oven and from the stove, we will immediately feel the difference in taste! Tastes better out of the oven!

For household needs, barrels, tubs, and baskets were used in the house. They fried food in frying pans, just like now. The dough was kneaded in wooden troughs and vats. Water was carried in buckets and jugs.

Good owners immediately after eating all the dishes were washed clean, dried and placed overturned on the shelves.

Domostroy said this: “so that everything is always clean and ready for the table or for delivery.”

To put the dishes in the oven and take them out of the oven you needed grips. If you have the opportunity to try to put a full pot filled with food into the oven or take it out of the oven, you will understand how physically difficult work this is and how strong women used to be even without fitness classes :). For them, every movement was exercise and exercise. I’m serious 🙂 - I tried it and appreciated how difficult it is to get a large pot of food for big family using a grip!

Used for raking coals poker.

In the 19th century, metal pots replaced clay pots. They're called cast iron (from the word “cast iron”).

Clay and metal were used for frying and baking. frying pans, patches, frying pans, bowls.

Furniture in our understanding, this word was almost absent in the Russian hut. Furniture appeared much later, not so long ago. No wardrobes or chests of drawers. Clothes and shoes and other things were not stored in the hut.

The most valuable things in a peasant house - ceremonial utensils, festive clothes, dowries for daughters, money - were kept in chests. Chests always had locks. The design of the chest could tell about the prosperity of its owner.

Russian hut decor

A house painting master could paint a house (they used to say “bloom”). They painted strange patterns on a light background. These are symbols of the sun - circles and semicircles, and crosses, and amazing plants and animals. The hut was also decorated with wood carvings. Women weaved and embroidered, knitted and decorated their homes with their handicrafts.

Guess what tool was used to make carvings in a Russian hut? With an axe! And the painting of the houses was done by “painters” - that’s what the artists were called. They painted the facades of houses - pediments, platbands, porches, porches. When white stoves appeared, they began to paint the huts, partitions, and cabinets.

The decor of the roof pediment of a northern Russian house is actually an image of space. Signs of the sun on the racks and on the towel - an image of the path of the sun - sunrise, sun at its zenith, sunset.

Very interesting ornament decorating the piers. Below the solar sign on the piers you can see several trapezoidal protrusions - the legs of waterfowl. For the northerners, the sun rose from the water and also set in the water, because there were many lakes and rivers around, which is why they were depicted waterfowl- underwater and underground world. The ornament on the sides represented the seven-layered sky (remember the old expression - “to be in seventh heaven”?).

In the first row of the ornament there are circles, sometimes connected with trapezoids. These are symbols of heavenly water - rain and snow. Another series of images from triangles is a layer of earth with seeds that will wake up and produce a harvest. It turns out that the sun rises and moves across a seven-layer sky, one of which contains moisture reserves, and the other contains plant seeds. At first the sun does not shine at full strength, then it is at its zenith and finally sets down so that the next morning it begins its path across the sky again. One row of the ornament does not repeat the other.

The same symbolic ornament can be found on the platbands of a Russian house and on window decor middle zone Russia. But window decoration also has its own characteristics. On the lower board of the casing there is an uneven relief of a hut (a plowed field). At the lower ends of the side boards of the casing there are heart-shaped images with a hole in the middle - a symbol of a seed immersed in the ground. That is, we see in the ornament a projection of the world with the most important attributes for the farmer - the earth sown with seeds and the sun.

Proverbs and sayings about the Russian hut and housekeeping

• Houses and walls help.
• Every house is held by its owner. The house is being painted by the owner.
• What it’s like at home is the same for yourself.
• Make a stable, and then some cattle!
• Not according to the house is the lord, but the house according to the lord.
• It is not the owner who paints the house, but the owner who paints the house.
• At home, not away: once you’ve been there, you won’t leave.
• A good wife will save the house, but a thin one will shake it with her sleeve.
• The mistress of the house is like pancakes in honey.
• Woe to him who lives in a disorderly house.
• If the hut is crooked, the mistress is bad.
• As is the builder, so is the monastery.
• Our hostess is busy with work – and the dogs wash the dishes.
• To lead a house is not to weave bast shoes.
• In the house the owner is more than the bishop
• Getting a pet at home means walking around without opening your mouth.
• The house is small, but it doesn’t allow you to lie down.
• Whatever is born in the field, everything in the house will be useful.
• He is not an owner who does not know his farm.
• Prosperity is not determined by the place, but by the owner.
• If you don't manage a house, you can't manage a city.
• The village is rich, and so is the city.
• A good head feeds a hundred hands.

Dear friends! In this hut I wanted to show not just the history of the Russian home, but also to learn from our ancestors how to run a household - reasonable and beautiful, pleasing to the soul and eye, to live in harmony with both nature and your conscience. In addition, many points in relation to the house as the home of our ancestors are very important and relevant now for us living in the 21st century.

The materials for this article were collected and studied by me for a very long time, checked in ethnographic sources. I also used materials from the stories of my grandmother, who shared with me the memories of her early years of life in a northern village. And only now, during my vacation and my life - being in the countryside in nature, I finally completed this article. And I realized why it took me so long to write it: in the bustle of the capital in the usual panel house in the center of Moscow, with the roar of cars, it was too difficult for me to write about the harmonious world of the Russian home. But here, in nature, I completed this article very quickly and easily, with all my heart.

If you would like to learn more about the Russian home, below you will find a bibliography on this topic for adults and children.

I hope that this article will help you talk interestingly about the Russian house during your summer travels to the village and to museums of Russian life, and will also tell you how to look at illustrations to Russian fairy tales with your children.

Literature about the Russian hut

For adults

1. Bayburin A.K. Dwelling in the rituals and beliefs of the Eastern Slavs. – L.: Science, 1983 (Institute of Ethnography named after N.N. Miklouho-Maclay)
2. Buzin V.S. Ethnography of Russians. – St. Petersburg: St. Petersburg University Publishing House, 2007
3. Permilovskaya A.B. Peasant house in the culture of the Russian North. – Arkhangelsk, 2005.
4. Russians. Series "Peoples and Cultures". – M.: Nauka, 2005. (Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology named after N. N. Miklukho-Maclay RAS)
5. Sobolev A.A. Wisdom of the ancestors. Russian yard, house, garden. – Arkhangelsk, 2005.
6. Sukhanova M. A. House as a model of the world // Human House. Materials of the interuniversity conference – St. Petersburg, 1998.

For children

1. Alexandrova L. Wooden architecture Rus'. – M.: White City, 2004.
2. Zaruchevskaya E. B. About peasant mansions. Book for children. – M., 2014.

Russian hut: video

Video 1. Children's educational video tour: Children's Museum of Village Life

Video 2. Film about a northern Russian hut (Museum of Kirov)

Video 3. How to build a Russian hut: a documentary for adults

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