The Eastern Slavs of pre-Christian Russia worshiped many pagan deities. The imprint of these beliefs has remained in modern life. A large number of ceremonies and rituals associated with ancestral spirits and natural forces were practiced.
Ancient Russian traditions have pagan roots. Slavic deities as a whole personified the power of nature. Most often, the most important events were correlated with specific dates. A kind of calendar has been compiled by many generations.
Subsequently, it began to correspond to the economic cycles in which the population lived. Since 988, after baptism, ancient Russian rituals began to be forgotten. However, with the new faith, some of them were able to get along and be transformed. The Slavs attached great importance to all traditions. Tradition surrounded everyone.
Naming and baptism
As soon as they saw the light, the babies went through the rite of naming. The choice of a nickname seemed very important. The name also determined the whole future fate. Therefore, the parents needed to choose the final version long before the baby appeared.
The maternity ritual had a different meaning. The name determined the connection with the family, the origin and place of settlement of the Slav. The background of the ritual has always been religious. Therefore, the naming was not carried out without the Magi. These sorcerers, communicating with the spirits, consolidated the parental choice, coordinating it with the Slavic pantheon.
The naming dedicated the newborn to the Old Slavic faith. There was also a reverse pagan rite, providing a return to the origins, to the family and faith. Historically, it received the name of baptism.
Not accustomed to the new teaching, the Slavs foresaw the possibility of returning to the religion of their ancestors. For cleansing from foreign faith, they went to temples, parts of pagan temples intended for rituals. These places were covered by the most dense forests, steppe strips or groves.
Far from the settlements, the connection of the sorcerer with the pantheon of the Slavs increased. A person who wanted to part with a foreign faith brought three witnesses with him. The applicant knelt down, the sorcerer read a spell over him, cleansing the lost from mistakes. At the end of the Old Russian rite, it was necessary to swim in order to complete it according to all the rules.
Spirits, sacred places, and the pagan faith itself were of great importance for the Slav in the pre-Christian religion. For this reason, baptisms were so frequent in the tenth and eleventh centuries.
Wedding and housewarming
The ceremony meant in Russia the entry of young people into adulthood. Unmarried or childless relatives were treated with suspicion and even condemnation. Some aspects of the ceremony were different in different regions. Songs played an important role everywhere. They performed them under the windows of the newlyweds' house.
The festive table was laden with treats. The main dish was considered to be a loaf, a symbol of the wealth of the future family. They sang it with a special ritual. The long old Russian wedding ceremony began with matchmaking. In the end, his father of the bride always received a ransom from the groom. Young people started life in their own hut.
According to wedding traditions, the choice of housing was considered an important ritual. Many evil creatures knew how to damage houses. Therefore, they chose a place for the house with special care. Without a housewarming ritual, it is impossible to imagine a new life in a barely born family. Some moments remained in demand until the nineteenth century.
There were several options for determining the compliance of the site with all the requirements. Research was carried out using a spider or a cow. A vessel with a spider was left overnight in the selected area. If the arthropod began to weave a web in a vessel, then the place was chosen correctly.
Compliance was checked in another way. A cow was allowed into the spacious area. The place where she lay was considered the most optimal for starting construction.
Caroling
Roundabout rituals were separated into a separate group. The most famous calendar ritual is caroling. It was held every year with the beginning of the annual cycle. Caroling was able to adapt even to the Christianization of Russia. Traits of paganism have been preserved in the custom.
The modern ritual is already timed to coincide with the Orthodox Christmas Eve. The ancient Slavs once at this time bypassed the settlement in groups, collecting gifts. Only young people took part in such rounds. The amusement festival was held in buffoonish costumes. They also wore animal skins and masks. Young people bypassed all neighbors, announcing the birth of the Sun. This meant the end of the old cycle.
Kalinov bridge
The burial rite in the Slavic culture was the main one. The end of earthly life was accompanied by the farewell of relatives to the deceased. The essence of the event was modified by region. Most often they were buried in a coffin. In addition to the body, personal belongings were placed in the domina so that they would serve the owner in the afterlife as well. Vyatichi and Krivichi burned the dead at the stake. Such a funeral was held on the Kalinov or Star Bridge.
So the Slavs called the path to the world of the dead. Deceivers and villains could not cross the bridge. The procession went a long way, symbolizing the journey of the soul to the afterlife. The body was then placed on a funeral pyre, and the entire space was filled with straw and branches. The deceased, dressed in white, was surrounded by gifts, which included funeral meals. They laid the body with their feet to the west. A clan elder or a priest lit a fire.
Trizna
The second part of the burial was called funeral. The cult consisted of a funeral feast with competitions. Sacrifices and mass appeals to the spirits of ancestors were common.
They were asked to help all living beings find consolation. Particularly solemn was the funeral ceremony for the soldiers who died defending their native lands. During the funeral, their deeds were glorified.
Fortune telling
Many types of fortune-telling have remained since antiquity. However, many have been forgotten. Traditional beliefs were based on reverence for nature. Another version of the ritual was an appeal to the spirits of ancestors in order to find out the future. The Slavic calendar was formed, based on natural cycles. It was used to determine the best time for fortune telling.
According to magic rituals, the health of relatives, the offspring of livestock, and the level of wealth were determined. The most popular were fortune-telling about the upcoming betrothed. The most remote places were chosen for the ritual. It was in the abandoned huts, forest temples that spirits lived.
Kupala night
A considerable part of Old Church Slavonic beliefs, due to poor knowledge, has become an object for speculation by unscrupulous businessmen. But the holiday of Ivan Kupala escaped this fate. The popular celebration has a well-defined date, June 24th. This night corresponds to the summer solstice.
The ritual is described in ancient chronicles, for example, Gustynskaya. We started with the preparation of memorial meals. They were sacrificed in memory of their departed ancestors. The next important part was the mass bathing. Young people were especially eager to participate in them. It was widely believed that water gains magical and medicinal powers.
The main activity was lighting a fire. All the young people went to collect brushwood in the evening. They danced around the fire and jumped over it. According to beliefs, such a flame cleansed of evil spirits. Everyone was supposed to be near the fire.
It is impossible to imagine a ritual ceremony without festivities. All the usual prohibitions on the ritual night were removed. Such permissiveness symbolized the festive revelry of evil spirits. With the end of the holiday, the entire community returned to their usual measured life.
