Lord777
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Rituals, ceremonies and customs are an integral part of culture, no less important than the achievements of science or examples of high art. The most ancient rituals and customs have come down to us through the thickness of the centuries in the form of signs, superstitions and holidays. The familiar superstitions that guard against broken mirrors and spilling salt, in historical consideration, become a source for the restoration of an archaic type of thinking. An analysis of the origin of superstitions sheds light on the true meaning of omens that unconsciously live in human consciousness.
Let's recall the signs in which our grandmothers and mothers believed, and perhaps we continue to believe ourselves: a bird or butterfly that flew into the house - to death, to return home before the road and not look in the mirror - to failure, to meet a woman with empty buckets - unfortunately, and congratulating in advance on your birthday - unfortunately. Each sign is a kind of law that must be obeyed relentlessly. For almost every misfortune, superstitions offer a kind of magical countermeasure: either spit over your left shoulder, or show your tongue to the mirror. The simplest magical procedures performed to save oneself from misfortunes are no longer recognized as magical, they are automated and desemantized. In order to understand why our ancestors were afraid of black cats and birds that flew into the house,
Bird that flew into the house
A bird that has flown into a house is one of the most terrible signs. According to the beliefs of our ancestors, such a bird is a herald of the imminent death of one of the inhabitants of the house. A bird that has flown in must be released as soon as possible, and not spend the night in the house the next night.
The meaning of this sign is hidden in beliefs about the afterlife: in many Indo-European cultures, it was believed that birds were the spirits of the dead. Drawings of a bird, as if flying out of the body of the deceased, can be found already in rock art. The ancient Greeks believed that birds could move freely between worlds, plying from the land of humans to the underworld of Hades.
Another option for signs is a butterfly that has flown into the house. A butterfly is also a messenger of death, typologically similar to a bird, able to fly, and therefore, following the logic of ancestors, freely move between worlds. In this respect, the most interesting is the etymology of the word. In ancient Greek, the words "butterfly" and "soul" were almost identical. In Russian, we observe a similar situation: a butterfly is a diminutive form of the word "grandmother", that is, the spirit of the progenitor. Again, there is a correspondence with the image of the bird-soul. In Germanic languages, the etymology is slightly different. Butterfly - butterfly or Schmetterling - is translated as oil thief, that is, witch. In the Middle Ages, it was believed that witches were capable of supernaturally transforming into various living creatures - including black cats and butterflies in order to steal oil. Obviously,
Come back before the road
Everyone is familiar with this sign: after returning home, forgetting something, you must either show your tongue to your reflection, or sit on the path. Otherwise, we will fail. Why?
The crossing of any spatial border has long been considered a sacred act. Crossing the border and finding himself in a “foreign”, non-home space, a person felt unprotected. Not only the walls and the roof served as protection in the house, but also the host of ancestors: since ancient times, all burials were made not in remote cemeteries, but right on the home site. Hence the tradition of aristocratic family crypts, usually located in close proximity to the house. Under the threshold of each house, the stillborn were often buried - a ritual marking the border of home and foreign space. Here you can also recall pseudoscientific theories that suddenly become relevant - try to pronounce the word "threshold" in reverse to make sure that the border is connected with the other world. And the rapids in many villages still look like coffins.
Accordingly, salvation from the "penalty" crossing the border, returning home - this is an introduction to the power of home space, then the very grandmother's "sit on the path." The reflection, which, according to many omens, takes on all illnesses and adversities, acts in this omen as a symbolic double of the returning one, to whom he conveys all the failures.
Happy birthday in advance
It was obvious to our ancestors that accepting congratulations earlier than the indicated deadline could be a bad omen. After all, it was possible not to live up to the birthday. But why did simple words mean so much to people?
Words in the representation of archaic cultures had a sacred meaning. The word itself was magical (hence all conspiracies and spells) - just like writing. The Old Russian word "pesati" meant "to represent something." This is where the expressions "paint an icon" and "paint a picture" come from. In this etymology, we see that writing is identified with a real deed - an image, albeit in writing, a device for drawing and writing, reality. The German verb lesen - to read - also refers us to magical practice: the second meaning of the verb is "to collect", and linguists tend to believe that the ancient Germans collected runic words from special sticks for magical purposes.
Woman with empty buckets
Meeting a woman with empty buckets is a disaster. Of course, there is a way to avoid it: you need to cross yourself, spit three times over your left shoulder, or cross a fig in your pocket. In this sign, the logic of participation works, correlating the part with the whole: in other words, if the bucket you see is empty, then your pockets, on the table, in the pot at your home will also be empty. Methods of dealing with misfortune are also transparent: since devilish forces are responsible for adversity, then you need to fight them either with the sign of the cross, or by spitting (it was believed that demons walk behind the left shoulder - spitting was aimed straight at their faces).
Another way, no less archaic, is to demonstrate sexual power, or rather, to reduce it to crossing two fingers in a pocket. The fig, symbolizing the male genitals, drives away the demon, showing him the vitality of a person. It is no coincidence that many of the ancient Greek border pillars - herms - were shaped like men with a phallus. They symbolized, most likely, not fertility, but the potential use of the phallus in relation to offenders who illegally cross the border, or simply demonstrated the power of the owners.
Thus, we can see that a large number of everyday rituals, signs and superstitions are associated with archaic ideas about crossing the border. The correct initiation rite, competent crossing of real boundaries and a conversation with otherworldly beings have always been important for our ancestors, and therefore, in the form of laws, they have survived to this day.
Let's recall the signs in which our grandmothers and mothers believed, and perhaps we continue to believe ourselves: a bird or butterfly that flew into the house - to death, to return home before the road and not look in the mirror - to failure, to meet a woman with empty buckets - unfortunately, and congratulating in advance on your birthday - unfortunately. Each sign is a kind of law that must be obeyed relentlessly. For almost every misfortune, superstitions offer a kind of magical countermeasure: either spit over your left shoulder, or show your tongue to the mirror. The simplest magical procedures performed to save oneself from misfortunes are no longer recognized as magical, they are automated and desemantized. In order to understand why our ancestors were afraid of black cats and birds that flew into the house,
Bird that flew into the house
A bird that has flown into a house is one of the most terrible signs. According to the beliefs of our ancestors, such a bird is a herald of the imminent death of one of the inhabitants of the house. A bird that has flown in must be released as soon as possible, and not spend the night in the house the next night.
The meaning of this sign is hidden in beliefs about the afterlife: in many Indo-European cultures, it was believed that birds were the spirits of the dead. Drawings of a bird, as if flying out of the body of the deceased, can be found already in rock art. The ancient Greeks believed that birds could move freely between worlds, plying from the land of humans to the underworld of Hades.
Another option for signs is a butterfly that has flown into the house. A butterfly is also a messenger of death, typologically similar to a bird, able to fly, and therefore, following the logic of ancestors, freely move between worlds. In this respect, the most interesting is the etymology of the word. In ancient Greek, the words "butterfly" and "soul" were almost identical. In Russian, we observe a similar situation: a butterfly is a diminutive form of the word "grandmother", that is, the spirit of the progenitor. Again, there is a correspondence with the image of the bird-soul. In Germanic languages, the etymology is slightly different. Butterfly - butterfly or Schmetterling - is translated as oil thief, that is, witch. In the Middle Ages, it was believed that witches were capable of supernaturally transforming into various living creatures - including black cats and butterflies in order to steal oil. Obviously,
Come back before the road
Everyone is familiar with this sign: after returning home, forgetting something, you must either show your tongue to your reflection, or sit on the path. Otherwise, we will fail. Why?
The crossing of any spatial border has long been considered a sacred act. Crossing the border and finding himself in a “foreign”, non-home space, a person felt unprotected. Not only the walls and the roof served as protection in the house, but also the host of ancestors: since ancient times, all burials were made not in remote cemeteries, but right on the home site. Hence the tradition of aristocratic family crypts, usually located in close proximity to the house. Under the threshold of each house, the stillborn were often buried - a ritual marking the border of home and foreign space. Here you can also recall pseudoscientific theories that suddenly become relevant - try to pronounce the word "threshold" in reverse to make sure that the border is connected with the other world. And the rapids in many villages still look like coffins.
Accordingly, salvation from the "penalty" crossing the border, returning home - this is an introduction to the power of home space, then the very grandmother's "sit on the path." The reflection, which, according to many omens, takes on all illnesses and adversities, acts in this omen as a symbolic double of the returning one, to whom he conveys all the failures.
Happy birthday in advance
It was obvious to our ancestors that accepting congratulations earlier than the indicated deadline could be a bad omen. After all, it was possible not to live up to the birthday. But why did simple words mean so much to people?
Words in the representation of archaic cultures had a sacred meaning. The word itself was magical (hence all conspiracies and spells) - just like writing. The Old Russian word "pesati" meant "to represent something." This is where the expressions "paint an icon" and "paint a picture" come from. In this etymology, we see that writing is identified with a real deed - an image, albeit in writing, a device for drawing and writing, reality. The German verb lesen - to read - also refers us to magical practice: the second meaning of the verb is "to collect", and linguists tend to believe that the ancient Germans collected runic words from special sticks for magical purposes.
Woman with empty buckets
Meeting a woman with empty buckets is a disaster. Of course, there is a way to avoid it: you need to cross yourself, spit three times over your left shoulder, or cross a fig in your pocket. In this sign, the logic of participation works, correlating the part with the whole: in other words, if the bucket you see is empty, then your pockets, on the table, in the pot at your home will also be empty. Methods of dealing with misfortune are also transparent: since devilish forces are responsible for adversity, then you need to fight them either with the sign of the cross, or by spitting (it was believed that demons walk behind the left shoulder - spitting was aimed straight at their faces).
Another way, no less archaic, is to demonstrate sexual power, or rather, to reduce it to crossing two fingers in a pocket. The fig, symbolizing the male genitals, drives away the demon, showing him the vitality of a person. It is no coincidence that many of the ancient Greek border pillars - herms - were shaped like men with a phallus. They symbolized, most likely, not fertility, but the potential use of the phallus in relation to offenders who illegally cross the border, or simply demonstrated the power of the owners.
Thus, we can see that a large number of everyday rituals, signs and superstitions are associated with archaic ideas about crossing the border. The correct initiation rite, competent crossing of real boundaries and a conversation with otherworldly beings have always been important for our ancestors, and therefore, in the form of laws, they have survived to this day.
