What is nature? Life and customs of Ancient Rus

Many heard the expression: "What a violent disposition!" Or: "I like this girl". So what is nature?

To put it very briefly, these are the norms of behavior and morals adopted in society. No wonder they say "a highly moral person." However, in books one can find a more general meaning. What is nature? According to writers (representatives of realism), character - character (courage or shyness, will, charity), as well as feelings (passion, love, compassion, hatred) and all the habits, traditions and beliefs that have developed in this or that people in Process of historical development. These are patterns of behavior accepted (or rejected) in a particular social stratum.

On the examples of classical works one can see what the Russian customs are. The dedication of Andrei Bolkonsky, the purity of Natasha Rostova, the desire of Greynsky Gray to create by his own hands a miracle for Assol. But at the same time, the hypocrisy of the "high society" in relation to the unfaithful wife Anna Karenina, or the craving for excitement (the notorious Russian hope for "maybe": what if you're lucky?) From the heroes of Dostoevsky or from Pushkin's Hermann. The actions of people are conditioned by their temper (both congenital and acquired in the process of education), and the animals act only by obeying instincts.

The mores of Russia were laid in the deep antiquity. They are based on spirituality and breadth of soul. It is widely believed that people in the West live happier, because they know how to work, and Russians say they are idlers: Emelya is sitting on the stove waiting for the manna of heaven. But our hero of fairy tales is always ready to share the latter, he is kind and compassionate.

Epoch and morality

What is nature? This word comes from the word "morality". Morality is a conditional internal evaluation by the person himself of the norms of his own behavior, his actions in terms of the value of good. The term is closely related to another notion - morality, because it is, in our understanding, responsible for the differences between good and evil. The moral of today's society is largely based on ten biblical commandments. Our ancestors lived an entire era before the acceptance of Christianity by Vladimir the Saints and the spread of Orthodoxy in Russia. It turns out that they did not have morals in our modern understanding of this word, but does this mean that they were immoral? Or the answer to the question "What is the nature?" Is different for each epoch?

Celebration of Ivan Kupala

If you recall some of the traditions and customs of the ancient Slavs, then this is exactly so. One of the main gods of the pagan pantheon of the ancient Slavs was Perun. It was he who, long before the pagan reform of 980, worshiped most of the Slavic tribes. A holiday dedicated to this god was celebrated on Ivan Kupala. This day coincided with the day of the summer solstice and was identified with the divine essence of fire; From the mountain rolled a burning hoop, jumped through the bonfires, collected herbs - on this day they had a special power. At night, according to the legend of the Slavs, a fern bloomed - a grass that does not blossom at all. The lucky one who saw the fern flower could expect the fulfillment of his dream. The cherished wishes of many young men and women came true this night, when games and fun became frank. Together they bathed in the river or lake and indulged after that to love pleasures. It was possible to find a spouse that night, and then play the wedding in the fall, after the harvest was over.

Why can not swear obscenities?

On the other hand, modern youth would not be jealous of tough morals about profanity. These words, according to the Slavs, had a strong energy, which could raise even the dead. Women were forbidden, under pain of death, to pronounce the names of male genital organs in the presence of men, because negative female energy violated male power, which influenced the tribe's fertility. It was customary to use these words solely to scare away the evil spirits. To do this, it was necessary to leave at noon in a field sown with rye or buckwheat, stop and shout out all those words that are now considered to be foul language. The ritual was performed in isolation so that no one fell ill.

Thus, the notion of "morals" we can interpret as established in the community forms of human behavior. Answering the question posed above, it is necessary to get acquainted with one more aspect of the life of the ancient Slavs - material, that is, to cover the theme of "everyday life and customs of Ancient Rus".

Men's amulets

The meaning of the word "life" in the dictionary of Ozhegov is a way of life, everyday life and all the objects that are associated with it. To exist, that is, to live. Life and customs of Ancient Rus say not only about the originality of Russian customs, but also about the wisdom of the ancients. Some words and expressions came in modern Russian from the dictionary of traditions and customs of the ancient Slavs. For example, protective (protective) function in a person's wardrobe was performed by belts. If the commoners confined themselves to a thin band around their shirt and lace (in the ports), the richer and wealthier wrapped around their waist a wide sash of silk several times. Rusich believed that the belt is a circle that does not let anything terrible out of the outside world that could seriously harm a person. At the same time, the ends of the belt were necessarily and very carefully hidden in forged plates. And the accompanying word "ungird" at that time meant dishonor and disgrace. In general, it is indecent to "ungird" today, people should be able to control themselves.

Women's amulets

The woman - keeper of the family hearth, extended the family, was perceived exclusively as a sacred creature, was the bearer of wisdom. Women's clothing included much more amulets than men's. The clothes of the women were modest, long and carefully concealed, but embroideries on women's shirts were much larger, and more often than not, as a universal protection, the sun sign "swastika" was embroidered. In this case, the symbol could be both male and female, be at different angles of inclination and rotation of the "tail", which denoted both profit and health, and disaster, and omnipotence at once. Often embroidery was also in the form of ducks, for some tribes this sign meant the foundation of the world. Forged from silver, bronze or copper amulets-pendants in the form of a horse were the most favorite ornament, because it is a symbol of good and happiness associated with the great cult of the sun. Apparently, the current "horseshoe for luck" - the remainder of the ancient beliefs of the Slavs. It is easy to see that modern fashion often refers to ancient customs and traditions. So, for example, very popular today, massive earrings in the form of large circles, decorated with stones and carvings for metal, are nothing but colts - pendants to headdresses. They were made massive not by chance: their swaying was supposed to distract evil spirits. Ancient ancestors adorned the head and whiskey, but did not pierce their ears. Instead, they wore decorations in the form of temporal rings and colts: the ears were hidden under a headscarf or other headdress.

Features of life and customs of Ancient Rus

The expression "we start from the stove" emphasizes the role of this structure. The Russian stove served as an ordinary stove (in the modern reading of the word) for cooking, as well as a sleeping couch, a drying rack for utensils, a steam bath for infirm old people and small children. The place near the stove was called the "baby corner" (bake). The term "bake" also meant in that distant era an unbearable job or bondage, which was a heavy female share. Today this word is used, basically, in a combination "to put in prison", which also means little good. Such were the customs of Ancient Rus.

A pair of steamers and strokes, and gets along!

And in the continuation of this theme - a bath! Banya was considered from ancient times to be a guard against all kinds of misfortunes and ailments. Incidentally, foreigners - fanciful Englishmen and loving Frenchmen - Russians washed themselves in a bath and soared with pleasure. They said: "The bath hovers, the bath rules." And brooms traditionally harvested in early June, so that the birch leaf does not become stiff. Since each broom was soared only once, in a year, up to 70 brooms went to one person. The cleanest nation in the world in all senses of this expression! And in the sense of morality too.