The spirits of ancestors in Ancient Rome were called mans - pure, good spirits. There was more flattery in this name than real faith in the kindness of the souls of the dead, which at all times and among all peoples caused fear. Each family honored the souls of their own ancestors, and on May 9, 11 and 13, Lemuria, the feast of the dead, was held everywhere. Then it was believed that these days souls leave the graves and wander around the world like vampires, who were called lemurs or larvas. In every house, the father of the family got up at midnight and walked barefoot around all the rooms, driving away the spirits. After that, he washed his hands in spring water, put black beans in his mouth, which he then threw across the house, without looking back. At the same time, he repeated the incantation nine times: "I give it to you and with these beans I redeem myself and my loved ones." Invisible spirits followed him and collected the beans scattered on the ground. After that, the head of the family washed himself with water again, took a copper basin and beat it with all his might, asking that the spirits leave the house.
February 21 was another holiday called Feralii, on this day a meal was prepared for the dead.
Spirits do not demand too much, the tender memory of those living is more pleasant to them than abundant sacrifices. As a gift, they can bring a tile with a withered wreath, bread soaked in wine, some violets, a few grains of millet, a pinch of salt. The most important thing is to pray to them with all your heart. And you should remember about them. Once during the war, they forgot to hold Feralia. A pestilence began in the city, and at night the souls in whole crowds left the graves and loudly cried the streets. As soon as sacrifices were brought to them, they returned to the land and the pestilence stopped. The land of the dead was Orc, like Hades among the Greeks - deep underground caves in inaccessible mountains. The lord of this kingdom of shadows was also called. We do not know his image, since he never had one, as he had no temples and no cult. However, on the slope of the Capitol was found the temple of another god of death, Veyovis, whose name seemed to mean the denial of the beneficial power of Jupiter (Jovis).
In a close relationship with the spirits of the ancestors are geniuses, representing the life force of men, and Juno - something like the guardian angels of women. Each person, depending on gender, has his own genius or his own juno. At the moment a person is born, a genius enters him, and at the hour of death he leaves, after which he becomes one of the manas. A genius observes a person, helps him in life, as he can and knows how, and in difficult times it is useful to turn to him as to the closest protector.
Some, however, believed that, being born, a person receives two geniuses: one inclines him to good, the other directs him to evil, and depending on which of them he follows, a blessed fate or punishment awaits a person after death. However, this was already more a theological teaching than a universal faith.
On birthdays, everyone made a sacrifice to their genius. Genius was portrayed as a snake or a Roman citizen in a toga, with a cornucopia.
Laras belong to the same family of patron spirits, who take care of the field and the peasant's house. In Rome, there was no cult more popular than the cult of the Lares. Everyone in his home prayed to them and venerated these good gods, as he attributed to them all the success, health and happiness of the family. Leaving, the Roman said goodbye to them; returning, he greeted them first of all. From childhood, they looked at it from their chapel (in fact, it was a special cabinet in which images of lares were kept. They called it - lararium), installed near the hearth, were present at every dinner, shared their joys and sorrows with all the household. As soon as the family sat down at the table, the hostess of the house first of all separated a portion of the laras; on special days dedicated to the laras, a wreath of fresh flowers was sacrificed to them. At first purely family, the cult of Lars then spread to the city, its areas and the entire state. At street crossroads, there were chapels of local Lars, and local residents treated them with great respect. Every year, in the first days of January, a holiday of local lars was celebrated. It was a great joy for the common people, as comedians and musicians, athletes and singers took part in the celebration. The holiday was fun, and more than one jug of wine drank to the health of the Lars.
In the same chapel near the hearth, beneficent deities, the Penates, also lived with the Lars. They took care of the pantry.
In order to understand the primary cult of the Lares and Penates, it is necessary to imagine the most ancient Roman house, a farmer's hut with one main room - the atrium. There was a hearth in the atrium, food was cooked on it, and at the same time it warmed the household members, who gathered mainly in this room. There was a table in front of the hearth, around which everyone sat down to eat.
At breakfast, lunch and dinner for the penates, a bowl of food was placed on the hearth in gratitude for the household wealth, of which they were the guardians. Thanks to this sacrifice, all dishes also became, as it were, sacred, and if, for example, even a crumb of bread fell to the ground, it should be carefully lifted and thrown into the fire. Since the state was considered a large family, there were also penates and states, honored in the same church with Vesta.
Akin to the very name of the Greek Hestia, Vesta was the personification of the family hearth. She was revered in every home and in every city, but most of all in Rome itself, where her temple was, as it were, the center of the capital, and therefore of the entire state. The cult of Vesta was the oldest and one of the most important. The temple, together with the grove, was located on the slope of the Palatine Hill near the Forum, at the very Via Sacra - the sacred road along which the triumphal processions of the victorious leaders passed. Forum - a square, a market, in general a place where a lot of people gathered; center of economic and political life. In Rome, the Roman Forum (Forum Romanum) became such a center. Nearby was the so-called atrium of Vesta, or, as we would say now, the monastery of the Vestals. Nearby was the dwelling of the high priest - Regia, or "royal palace". It was called the "royal palace" because the king (Rex) once lived there, and as a high priest, he was at the same time the direct head of the Vestals.
The temple itself, small, rounded, resembled in its appearance the primitive clay shacks of the most ancient, still rural inhabitants of Rome. It was divided into two parts. In one, the eternal flame of Vesta blazed, this part was accessible to everyone during the day, but at night it was impossible for men to enter. Another part, as it were, the "holy of holies", was hidden from human eyes, and no one really knew what was there. Some mysterious shrines were kept there, on which the happiness of Rome depended. In the temple itself there was no statue of Vesta, it was on the threshold, made in the image of the Greek Hestia.
Six vestals served in the temple. They were chosen by the high priest (pontifex maximus) from the best aristocratic families. The girl entered the monastery between 6 and 10 years of age and remained in it for thirty years, maintaining her innocence and renouncing the world.
For the first ten years she was taught all kinds of rituals, for the next ten years she served in the temple, for the last ten years she taught new ones. Thirty years later, the vestal could leave the monastery, return to life, get married and start her own family.
However, this happened extremely rarely - according to everyone's conviction, a vestal who left the temple would not find happiness in life. Therefore, most of them preferred to remain in the monastery until the end of their days, enjoying the respect of their friends and society.
The main task of the Vestals was to keep the eternal flame on the altar of the goddess. They watched him day and night, constantly adding new chips so that he would never fade away. If the fire was extinguished, it was not only a crime of a negligent vestal, but foreshadowed an inevitable misfortune for the state.
Re-lighting the fire was a very ceremonial procedure. Fire was produced by rubbing two sticks against each other, that is, in the most primitive way, dating back to the Stone Age and now found only among peoples lost in the far corners of the earth, where civilization has not yet reached. The cult of Vesta strictly preserved the forms of life of ancient Italy, therefore all the tools in the temple - a knife, an ax - had to be struck with bronze, not iron. Vestals did not have the right to leave the city, they had to be always close to the sacred fire. The priestess, through whose fault the fire was extinguished, was flogged to death.
An equally severe punishment befell the vestal who violated the vow of chastity. She was seated in a tightly closed palanquin (covered stretcher) so that no one could see or hear her, and carried through the Forum. When the palanquin approached, passers-by stopped silently and, bowing their heads, followed the procession to the place of execution. It was near one of the gates of the city, where a recess was already dug, wide enough to accommodate a bed and a table. (Vestals who broke their vows of virginity were walled up alive in an earthen rampart near the Collin Gate in the eastern part of the city.) A lamp was lit on the table and some bread, water, milk and olive oil were left. The lictor opened the palanquin, while the high priest prayed, raising his hands to the sky. (Lictors are ministers, as well as an honorary guard of senior officials; they were armed with fasciae (a bundle of rods) with axes stuck in them.) Having finished the prayer, he took out the condemned woman, covered with a cloak so that her faces could not be seen by those present, and ordered her to go down stairs to the prepared recess. The staircase was pulled out, the niche was walled up. Usually the vestal died after a few days. Sometimes the family managed to free her on the sly, but, of course, such a freed vestal was forever removed from public life.
The Vestals were held in great respect. If one of them went out into the street, the lictors marched ahead of her, as in front of high officials. Vestals were given places of honor in theaters and circuses, and in court their testimony had the force of an oath. A criminal led to death, meeting one of these girls dressed in white, could fall at her feet, and if the vestal proclaimed pardon, he was released. The prayers of the Vestal virgins were emphasized. They prayed daily for the success and integrity of the Roman state. On the ninth day of June, on the solemn holiday of Vestalius, the Roman matrons made a pilgrimage to the temple of Vesta, carrying modest sacrifices in earthenware. On this day, the mills were decorated with flowers and wreaths, and the bakers were noisy.
Our ancestors believed that the house is a fortress, the main defensive line, first of all ... from evil spirits, evil spirits and undead. And it, according to the idea of our ancestors, was simply teeming with nature.
It was believed that the vampires sucking blood could deal with the victim only outside the house. Therefore, when building a dwelling, they always performed cleansing rituals and resorted to protective magic. For example, on the cornices, windows, under the roof, they cut out security signs and tried to cover every hole in the house with some kind of mark against evil spirits. Inside the house, the family and the owner were guarded and supported by the brownie himself. Who is he?
The history of the appearance of a guardian spirit in the house is very old. Maybe she is 5 thousand years old, maybe more. Even in the Stone Age, the hearth was considered the most sacred place in the house. In the Bronze Age in the IV-III millennia BC, the cult of male patrons of the hearth began to spread widely. Perhaps then the image of the guardian spirit of the family and home was born. In the Caucasus, it was represented as a phallic symbol. In the ancient Romans, each member of the family had its own patron - Lara. Laras looked like dolls. They were put in a special box. Wasn't it called the casket?
Our Slavic brownie was closely associated with the power of fire. In the hut, he lived by the stove, could turn into a flickering light or coal.
The brownies were different: those who lived in the house were called houseboys, and those outside were called courtyard spirits. The brownie-housekeeper is the main owner of the estate and the hut. He is a good spirit, although undead. He was honored, fed, pampered with offerings and never swore by the name of a brownie. They called them affectionately: the owner, grandfather, but they often called them allegorically: He, Dobrozhil, Dobrokhot, Sused.
Brownie-home
You cannot usually see the brownie, you can only feel his presence. Either he rattles pots out of boredom in the night, shuffles his feet, groans, sobs in the dark, then speaks in a soft, gentle voice or in a deaf, abrupt voice. Provides concise answers to the hosts' questions. The brownie loves warmth, he was also called - "wen" the prankster is not averse to licking tasty things, so they called him also "lizun". God forbid to spy on the brownie if he does not want this: a person will get sick or a horse will hit him with a hoof.
At night, the brownie sometimes gives a sign. Will fall on the sleeping man's chest and let's press. In the morning a person will wake up in anxiety. For better or worse, was that sign?
Few happened to see the owner. They say that he is furry, overgrown with wool. And his paw is warm, furry, affectionate. Kohl strokes a person with it in a dream, no need to guess - a good sign. Some claim that the brownie looks like a little shaggy old man. Able to transform into different animals, black cats, for example. Here I heard some kind of fuss in the entryway, like cats grappling, hissing, screaming, brawling. You know, it was your master who started a fight with someone else's lizun.
- Do not go to my possessions, - Says the adversary, there is nothing to do with someone else's undead.
The brownie is firmly tied to his hut. Even if it is dilapidated, thrown into the howling of blizzards and cold autumn rains, the brownie will live in a cold old oven all alone. Cries, groans on the ruins. But a family cannot live without a brownie-keeper. Who will protect her at night from all evil spirits? Therefore, a custom has been preserved since ancient times: when you change your home, they take a pot of coals from the old house and move it to a new hut. They put the pot in the oven, say: "House-brownie, come with me, lead the housewife mistress - as I can, I will reward!"
A brownie can have a family. His wife's name is "Domanya" or simply "Neighbor". The brownie's family is not very picky - they agree to settle not only at the stove, but also in the closet, on the threshold. According to various beliefs, there could be several brownies. One for each family member, with personal responsibility for the ward.
The brownie is a faithful assistant in the household. He especially loves a cheerful, friendly family. Then he tries his best to help her. And he will gladly help the negligent owners to start business even more, will “spoil the cattle. However, it is not difficult to change his attitude towards home. It is necessary to make a sacrifice to the housekeeper and get down to business properly. The brownie can also help the owner in business. Brownie's advice has always been appreciated when buying horses and cows. And the new bought cattle at the court does not take root, you know, it is not to the liking of the housekeeper.
The brownie often tries to warn the family about the misfortune. Crying behind the stove - to the deceased. Pulls a woman by the hair at night - do not squabble with her husband, the owner did not drink him, do not argue until he becomes hoarse, or the husband will inflame in anger, and beat him with a log. If it rattles the house dishes - be careful with the fire, if you scammed it - a fire will flare up with an unextinguished firebrand.
Fear, unfaithful wife, the brownie! Twisted the hem at night, the brownie will fall on her legs with a terrible weight, grab her by the throat. And he can beat a lustful peasant in the dark and can bruise him. Protects family foundations. Well, if the brownie laughed in the night, the songs purr to know, joy will soon be in the house, or even a wedding.
Baked naughty woman
And there was also a ghost in the Russian house - a kikimora. The information about her is not very specific. It was believed that it is both useful and harmful creature. The name of the kikimora has two parts. The first part of the word - kika - can be interpreted as a Slavic headdress with horns, or simply the horniness of the creature - an obvious sign of undead. The second part of the word - mora, means that this evil spirits are related to all sorts of Moroks, Maras, who fool a person or even promise him death.
According to legends, kikimors were found in houses, in a stable, a barn, in forests and thickets. Folk fantasy painted; a kikimoru in the guise of a small woman in a sarafan, now with a headdress-shishiga, now a simple-haired, tousled, with small horns. The kikimora's eyes are bulging, shining. Kikimora lives in the house behind the stove, loves mold, dampness, her favorite place is the corner of the hut where garbage is swept away. She is invisible, spirit.
The home kikimora was considered the friend of the brownie, the forest one was the goblin. Kikimora was ambivalent about people. She sympathized with hardworking, hardworking women. At night, she could wash all the dishes with them, when she looked at the dough, so that it rose well, so that the pies turned out to be lush and tasty. She lulled children, but the kikimora simply could not stand careless girls and women, she harmed them little by little. Could sloths generally survive from the hut.
Kikimora is a great mischievous woman. She usually liked to dabble with yarn, for example, ruined the needlework started by a woman on a spinning wheel. Kikimora herself loved to spin, but no one had seen her wares. Often she took up needlework already begun and abandoned by the woman. The spins believed that if the kikimora had worked on the shirt, then it would not be finished in a week. A saying has survived: "Sleep, girl, the kikimora will spin for you, and the mother will weave." It was a formidable warning to the lazy spinners. If the kikimora has already begun to harm the hostess, then there is one sure way. We must go into the forest, find the bitter fern root, insist on water. Then wash all the dishes with this infusion. Kikimora is very fond of ferns and is ready to forgive everything for such delight. The kikimora leprosy was attributed to chicken ailments that happened in dysfunctional farms. If the chickens pluck out their own feathers, it is her fault.
A witch will happen - a chicken disease, from which the birds spin on a pole, then fall down dead - also the kikimora put her hand. In such cases, an amulet was hung in the hen house - a stone with a hole, called a chicken god. She harmed the kikimora sheep and horses. It will pluck the wool of the sheep, then the horses will mix up the manes, at night they chase them so that in the morning they can hardly breathe. A funny creature of a kikimora, but a formidable one. If someone sees her in the house, it means that trouble is on the doorstep, a loved one may fall ill or die. No wonder this spirit is akin to Mara - Morena - the ancient goddess of death. The surest remedy for kikimora is the holy cross and prayer.
The spirits of the courtyard and the sacrament of the bath
The house-mate is all like his older "brother" from the hut, only the wool grows thicker on him. The courtyard is more vicious. Passion loves to torment the cattle. All - disagreements with pets, horses, cows, sheep and chickens were explained by the leprosy of the courtyard. He was only friends with goats and dogs.
To protect the animals from his leprosy, they hung the killed magpie in the barn. The courtyard does not like these birds. For the sake of the courtyard, they tried not to keep white cats, white dogs, white horses. Newborn calves and lambs were carried out of the barn into the house, because the bailiff could strangle them, since the youngsters are calmer in the house. Just stay awake, master, take care of the cattle. The villagers tried to appease the courtyard. He is eager for gifts. He loved multi-colored scraps, shiny tinsel, bread and bread. All these offerings were carried to the barn and the spell was recited: "The owner of the brownie, neighborly good-natured fellow, I give you, thank you: take the cattle, give it to drink, feed it." They hung a "witch's broom" in the stable - a pine or spruce branch with dense needles.
The brownie also had other assistants - colovers. They were like cats. Kolovershi - at night they dragged money and all sorts of supplies for their master from other houses.
In the courtyard of the barn, where the straw was dried, it was guarded by a special spirit - the barn. He was often portrayed as a black cat. It was he who was the main fire major in the household. He made sure that the over-dried straw in the barn did not flare up. However, the fire in the barn was often attributed to the pranks of someone else’s barn, who deliberately set fire to the master’s building. If they saw that two cats were fighting near the barn, they believed that it was their barn who was beating the villain. According to legend, the barnmen fought even with firebrands.
However, the most mysterious building in the courtyard was the bathhouse. Baths in Russia were heated in black. The bathhouse had a reputation for notoriety. The villagers, going to the bathhouse, took off their pectoral crosses. They were afraid of the spirits that lived in the bathhouse, they believed that it was better to be friends with them and not irritate them with Christian symbols. The main spirit of the bath was the bannik. The bannik could not stand wet steam, angrily left his property when they were steaming there. But on cooled stones or in a sauna stove, he could live for a long time. His worst leprosy is “container gas. According to ancient beliefs, the souls of deceased ancestors - navi - lived in the bathhouse. Navi treated the villager differently, they could help him, or they could kill him. A black chicken was always sacrificed to the bannik. Even lonely wanderers who came in were afraid to spend the night in the baths. Bannik could suffocate. After the steam room, they left a broom in it, a piece of soap and water in a tub. At night we heard how some kind of fuss, splashing, cackling began in the bathhouse. It was believed that these were banniks whipping with brooms, frolicking. The most serious fortune-telling was associated with the bathhouse. Some tried to stick their bare back into the bathhouse, others, lifting their dress up, buttocks. Bunnik signaled by slapping his body with a cold or warm shaggy paw. A cold hand was unfortunate, and a warm hand was good luck.
Sergey KorenevskyHow to see the brownie or is it better not to do it? and got the best answer
Answer from Olga [guru]
Here is a great article on the brownie, compiled from various sources. How to see and what to do - it is also said here)
Many different spirits live in old houses. Some are the souls of the previous owners, others are just stray spirits, usually harmless. The brownie is a kind spirit, he is a zealous owner who helps a friendly family. Sometimes he is mischievous, plays pranks, if he doesn't like something. Plaits manes to favorite horses, and harasses unloved ones. All house spirits serve him, and if you don't get along with the brownie, then there will be no life. The ancestral spirits were also worshiped under a different name "churila" or "schur". In case of any trouble in the old days they said: "Chur, protect me"
And especially the trouble, if the house starts up navies - the spirits of the hostile dead, or even ghouls crawling from the cemetery. But sleep, the enemies leave alone the houses where "dziady" live, brownies, good spirits of ancestors who patronize their descendants. Therefore, the housekeeper is left with porridge in a secluded corner, on the bend, in the hen house they hang a "uroshny" stone with a hole (for the chicken god) and say: "Master, father, take our porridge! And eat the pies, take care of our house! "The brownie is also called" Dobrozhil "," Dobrokhot "and even (in the Vologda region)" Breadwinner ". In the Russian North, they call him "Sousedkom", "Batanushkom". If he does not get along with the owner, then he is called "non-cat".
The construction of a house for the ancient Slavs was full of the deepest meaning, because at the same time, man was likened to the Gods who created the Universe. Here's how, for example, the trees were selected. The creaky ones were not suitable, because the soul of a tortured person cries in them, the dried-up ones were not suitable - they have no vitality, which means that people in the house will start to get sick. Cutting down trees, the pagan Slav blamed before the tree souls, expelled from the trunks, and he himself fasted for a long time and performed cleansing rites. But the ancient Slav was still not completely sure that the felled trees would not begin to take revenge on him, and in order to protect himself he made the so-called "construction sacrifices". The skull of a horse or bull was buried under the red (eastern) corner of the house, in which were placed carved statues of the gods, and later - icons. And from the soul of the slain animal, the Brownie actually arose.
The brownie settled down to live underground, under the stove. He introduced himself as a little old man with a face like the head of a family. To his liking, he is an eternal bustle, grumpy, but caring and kind. People tried to maintain good relations with the Brownie, take care of him as an honored guest, and then he helped to keep the house in order and warned of impending misfortune. Moving from house to house, Domovoi was always invited to move with his family with the help of a conspiracy: they are transported in a slipper.
The brownie cries when the house is in trouble and laughs when happiness is expected. Sometimes he can say something, but his voice is quiet, indistinct, rustling. Most often, brownies speak at night when they want to predict something to the owner. And the main thing in such cases is not to be afraid.
Answer from Hexfire[guru]
Brownie is just a symbolic definition of the energetic essence, which (as it is believed) exists wherever people are.
Answer from Valkyrie[guru]
The brownie is a good spirit, he still lives in every hut under the stove, but not everyone knows about it. The brownie is the keeper of the hearth, the invisible helper of the owners. Of course, he can tickle in a dream, and rattle dishes at night, or knock behind the stove, but he does it more out of mischief.
But his main business is the inspection of the household. The brownie sees the little thing, tirelessly cares and worries so that everything is in order and ready: he will help the hard worker, correct his mistake - in a word, the brownie is inclined to work, thrifty and prudent. If he likes housing, then he serves this family, as if he went into bondage to her. For this loyalty, in other places they call him: Homelived.
On the other hand, he willingly helps the lazy and careless to run the farm, tortures people to the point that he crushes almost to death at night or even throws them out of bed. But making peace with an angry Brownie is not difficult: you just have to put snuff or a multi-colored rag, or a crust of bread under the stove.
Here he is, a Slavic Brownie! Undoubtedly, this is a kind god, caring, keeper of the hearth, an invisible helper of the owners and a mischievous person.
There are many house spirits: Brownie, Kutny god, Grandfather, Speh (a spirit that helps in business), Sandman (home god of sleep), Bayunok (storyteller), Laziness, Sinister, Demons and Shishigi.
21.12.2010 19:37
Brownie is a kind Spirit, the keeper of the hearth. One of the ancestors, founders of this Clan or House.
Scientists call the Brownie the Energy Substance of a house or apartment.
There is a brownie wherever people live. He looks after the household and order in the house.
They portrayed the Brownie in the form of an Elder, wise by Experience. The figurines were made of wood, clay, and most often with a bowl in hand for Treba. The maximum size is an arshin in height. And the minimum is two inches.
They called the brownie in different ways: Dedushko, Boss or Khozyayushko, Neighbor (because he lives next door to people), Shishok (which means short). Yegor Kuzmich or simply Kuzmich - this is if the Domovoy pampers, loves to play, play pranks, "podkuzmit". Nafanik, from the word Nav. The brownie living in the house from generation to generation was called by name. Which we already knew, tk. communicated with him for several centuries.
He really did not like the Brownie when they called him the Devil, i.e. those who are beyond the line of perception.
Christian Priests (Ashes of the Betrayed Fathers) do not like Brownies very much. They go to houses and apartments and chase the Brownies with holy water, intimidating people, explaining to them that these are Demons.
Our ancestors were friends with the Brownies, took care of each other. There was mutual assistance and mutual support.
Such relations with the Brownie were normal even before the middle of the 20th century.
The Master's corner was the corner of the Brownie and the Master of the House, a bowl was put there for treating the Brownie.
A broom in the house was placed at the doorstep and so that it was convenient for the Domovoy to take hold of it (after all, he is small in stature) in order to sweep the evil spirits out of the house.
The brownie does not eat the food that is put in the bowl, like a person does. He takes from the products the Energy that he needs, because when caring for a house, it wastes energy.
The highest energy foods were milk, cream, sour cream. Butter. This is what the Brownie was treated to. For pancakes and pancakes, another bowl was placed. However, you can treat the Brownie to everything that you eat yourself. 
The aromas of the food stewed in it attract him. Previously, curtains were hung on this place so as not to disturb the Brownie.
In apartments, Domovoy also likes to live in the kitchen, in a wardrobe or under the bed of a “pet”.
Previously, the bedspread was made up to the floor or a valance was hung up, so as not to disturb the Brownie.
We made sure that the Brownie did not flirt. Since he loves children, he can choose one and at night he confuses his hair (tries to braid his pigtails).
If the brownie falls in love with the girl, he will not let her get married. What did they do then? They sewed or knitted a hat, sweater, socks for the house. They made furniture. And in response to the care and guardianship, the satisfied Brownie made the wedding joyful. As the saying goes: "Debt payment is red."
The brownie loves to sit on the doorstep, so it's better not to stand in the doorway.
If the Brownie is brought to a "white heat", then he turns, as they say now, into a Barabashka or a Poltergeist. Because in response to concern, he taught disrespect. The Brownie can also behave when there are scandals, fights, booze in the house. Since this is all unnatural, and the Brownie is a natural creature and is used to living in natural conditions. You cannot treat the Brownie to alcohol !!!
"The life of a Man is considered to be Years, and the life of a Brownie is considered to be Ages."
If you do not see something around you, this does not mean at all that it does not exist.
Our attitude to the Brownie is our attitude to the World around us.
"Wish others what you wish for yourself."
"Love your neighbor if he is worthy."
A source:
Based on the materials of the Lessons of the Asgardian Theological School of the Old Russian Inglistic Church of the Orthodox Old Believers of the Inglings. Lecturer Pater Diy.
In the Slavic lower mythology, the spirit living in the house. In ancient times, among the Eastern Slavs, the brownie acted as the keeper of the hearth, family and was associated with the cult of ancestors. Legends and beliefs about the brownie have survived to this day in Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian villages. Western and southern Slavs also have an idea of this creature. It is believed that a brownie lives in every house - the patron saint of the house, the invisible helper of the family, therefore he is respectfully called the owner, grandfather, neighbor. He likes to settle in secluded places - under the threshold or under the stove, in the attic or in the closet, in the chimney or in the corner behind the chest.
He helps hardworking owners, takes care of them tirelessly and takes care of them. The brownie notices every little thing, likes everything to be in order and ready; he is pleased with the offspring of domestic animals and birds; he does not tolerate unnecessary expenses and is angry because of them - in a word, the brownie is inclined to order, thrifty and prudent. If he likes housing, then he serves this family faithfully. On the other hand, he harms and interferes with the lazy and careless, doing them various dirty tricks: he scatters things, tears clothes or gets dirty, or even completely interferes with sleep at night, strangles people in their sleep and torments them. However, it is not difficult to make peace with an angry brownie: you just have to put things in order in the house and talk to him kindly - he is very much a great lover of kind words.
If the owners love their "neighbor", if they live in harmony with him, then they will never want to part with him. Earlier, when moving to a new home, people performed a certain ritual with the aim that the brownie would move with them and continue to help in a new place. The brownie was “carried” in a pot of coals, in a sack, lured with a pot of porridge, etc. For example, they would scrape under the threshold, collect garbage in a scoop - and sprinkle it in a new hut, not forgetting to say with all possible respect: “Grandpa brownie, come out home. Come live with us! " A rare person can boast that he has seen a brownie. It is much easier to hear the brownie: at night he knocks, rustles, creaks and commits various leprosy. The brownie can predict various events, both pleasant and unpleasant, give appropriate signs: his crying and muffled restrained moans seem to warn of danger, and his gentle and gentle voice, like a breeze quietly rustling with leaves, promises peace and joy. Sometimes at night he strokes the sleeping people with his soft paw, and then it is clear that this is for good.
This is what a Slavic brownie is - undoubtedly a kind spirit, a caring keeper of the hearth, an invisible helper and a cheerful mischievous person.
divine origin and its invisible guardian spirits.The emblem of the domestic gods was the sacred fire, which was constantly maintained on the altar in the home of every Greek or Roman; their priest was the head of the family; to join a family - for example, to a woman through marriage - meant to join the cult of a domestic deity. Household deities were deified ancestors, ancestors, and parents. Fustel de Coulanges explained the entire structure of ancient society by the cult of ancestors, which served as the basis for both sacred and civil and public law; hence the isolation of the clan union, whose members were united by a cult and sharply opposed all those who were not involved in it.
Ancient Greeks
The souls of the ancestors, elevated by death to a deity, were called by the Greeks demons or heroes / geniuses. The place of their cult - a hearth, a fire-place - was hidden from uninitiated eyes in the most intimate parts of the house. Hence, another name for domestic deities - innermost (θεοί μυκίοι, ερκιοι κτήσιοι) or internal (dii Penates).
Not only each family, but the state as a whole, had its lari publici, as opposed to lari privati) and its penates (penati majores, publici, as opposed to penati minores, privati).
Ancient Romans
In China
Ancestor cult was widespread in China, where it served as the starting point for all other religious systems. Until the 20th century, the Chinese made sacrifices to the souls of their ancestors and were convinced that the well-being of deceased ancestors and living descendants was determined by their mutual good disposition and mutual services.
The Slavs
The cult of ancestors clearly appeared in Slavic mythology, and it is reflected in modern folk ideas. SM Soloviev, finding that the religion of the Eastern Slavs consisted in the worship of elemental deities and in the worship of the souls of the dead, argued that from the latter, all Slavic demonology mainly developed. The worship of the souls of the dead was conditioned, according to S.M. Solovyov, by family life and was performed by the elders in clans and families, which explained the absence of a special class of priests among the Eastern Slavs and the underdevelopment of public worship.
The deity guarding the family and home was, first of all, Rod [ ] .
On the one hand, fire was a manifestation on earth of the heavenly sun god, the messenger of the heavenly gods; on the other hand, he contributed to the purification of the soul of the deceased and thus himself became a symbol of the soul of the ancestor, which, under the name of Rod, Chur, the grandfather of the brownie, became a household deity, the guardian of the family and clan. On the hearth, both of these meanings of fire merged into one inseparable whole; on it, the elemental heavenly god and the ancestral deity of the family community were equally honored.
This dual meaning of fire was most vividly confirmed in the belief of the Western Slavs about a domestic creature (its Czech name Křet "Krzhet", Slovenian Skrat "Skrat"), which, under the guise of a fiery serpent, flew through a pipe and brought the owner of all bread and other earthly fruits, and sometimes different treasures. Czech brownies were called skrits and brushes; Czech brownie Krzhet was depicted in the form of small bronze figurines, the size of a finger, which is why it was called Paleček "Stick" (
