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Leeloo4_u
Frequent Guest
Joined: 13 May 2005
Posts: 42
Location: South Africa
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 Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2005 10:25 pm Post subject: Superstitious? |
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| Might be a silly question but, I was wondering if modern Russians are still superstitious and believe in good and bad “spirits” around the house? |
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cyndy22
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Joined: 15 Oct 2004
Posts: 1076
Location: massachusetts
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| Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2005 11:12 pm Post subject: |
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Don't we all?  |
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mediashark
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Joined: 04 Nov 2004
Posts: 1599
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| Posted: Wed Sep 07, 2005 11:49 pm Post subject: |
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| Well, not really... just like most of us who think that these are merely for housewives and babushkas... though some just follow what their parents always did. Different superstitions often have different origins. They can stem from politeness, practicality, safety, traditions or religion. |
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cyndy22
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Joined: 15 Oct 2004
Posts: 1076
Location: massachusetts
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| Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2005 3:48 am Post subject: |
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For anyone who believes in after life, s/he usually contemplates the existance of spirits in this realm. The soul or spirit transcends all boundaries. I am not very superstitious but I do believe in the spiritual life of all including human beings and animals. There is a reason for superstitions, even if many superstitions seem idiotic.
The universe is composed of energy and psychic energy certainly is a major form. |
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vitalsigns
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Joined: 25 Dec 2004
Posts: 2784
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| Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2005 2:10 pm Post subject: |
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Yes, deleted.
Last edited by vitalsigns on Wed Nov 09, 2005 4:16 am; edited 1 time in total |
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mediashark
Moderator
Joined: 04 Nov 2004
Posts: 1599
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| Posted: Thu Sep 08, 2005 3:40 pm Post subject: |
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| Amen to that! |
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Leeloo4_u
Frequent Guest
Joined: 13 May 2005
Posts: 42
Location: South Africa
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| Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2005 8:19 pm Post subject: can anyone relate |
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interesting, ok so I don't always believe what I read and and thus I put this one open for discussion, the reason why I asked this was coz of the following I read on a website while searching for "russian traditions" can anyone relate to the following where would it have orgitionated from?:
Russian spirits
Domestic Spirits
They are protectors of the house and the farmstead. The most malevolent spirits are the ones that live farthest away.
domovoi
A well-wishing spirit of the house who helped with domestic chores. Domovoi played tricks on people only when the owners were lazy or negligent, and lived in harmony with things from the church. Appearance: An old peasant with a long gray beard; also appeared as a cat or a dog. Tricks: Stole neighbor's oats; if unhappy, was known to mess up the yard, tangle needlework, spread manure on the door, or, in extreme cases of anger, suffocate the victim.
domikha, domovikha, domovichka
The wife of the domovoi
kikimora, shishimora
A female spirit that, in some regions, was believed to be the wife of the domovoi.
dvorovoi
A spirit that lived in the yard, had the same appearance as domovoi, but was more evil-natured.
bannik
A dangerous spirit known both to protect peasants and to kill them by suffocating them or peeling their skin.
bannaia, bannikha
The wife of the bannik.
ovinnik
The most evil and dangerous of the domestic spirit, lived in the threshing barn. Also called gumennik and ryzhnyi khoziain.
The Nature Spirits
Manifestations of the unclean force, harmful to peasants.
leshii
The master of the forest and wild animals. Outside of the forest, leshii was interchangeable with the devil. Appearance: A peasant without a belt, who could vary his size and who frequently had features of the devil. The leshii could be transformed into a familiar person, a beast, a domestic animal, or a mushroom. Tricks: Could lead a peasant astray, make him sick, or tickle him to death. Was known to hide woodcutters' axes. Carried off young girls and women.
lesovikha
The leshii's wife.
vodianoi, vodianoi chërt
An evil and dangerous water spirit who drowned people. Appearance: A naked old man, or half-fish, half-human, covered with mire, slime, or scales, sometimes with a long beard and green hair. Features of the devil. Could be transformed into a fish.
vodianikha
The wife of the vodianoi.
rusalka
A drowned maiden or the soul of an unbaptized child, who was connected with the unclean force. Was known to steal children and entice, tickle to death, or drown passersby. Could be the vodianoi's wife or consort. Appearance: Often appeared as a woman with long hair, but the external representation was inconsistent.
bereginia
The river bank female spirit.
polevoi
The spirit of the field, who had qualities of both domovoi and leshii.
poludnitsa
A female spirit of the fields.
lugovik
The spirit of the meadows.
bolotnyi
The spirit of the swamps. |
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mediashark
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Joined: 04 Nov 2004
Posts: 1599
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| Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2005 8:48 pm Post subject: |
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| I believe this originated from the Russian peasantry with thier pagan beliefs. These spirits are part of Russian paganism, as you can see there are a lot of references to the elements of nature. |
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Leeloo4_u
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Joined: 13 May 2005
Posts: 42
Location: South Africa
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| Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2005 8:57 pm Post subject: interesting |
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I find people very interesting and this is just another reason why 
Tales of these spirits must realy be old then coz with new technology these things prove fable, coz here in the old days a lot of people believed in ghost and things (living on fars far away form the city having now electricity ect), my grandfather always told us this story about his old neighbour on their farm who soley believed there was a ghost that would hang around in their vegetable garden in late at night well... lets just say my grandfathers white hores had a craving for cabbages |
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mediashark
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Joined: 04 Nov 2004
Posts: 1599
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| Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2005 9:10 pm Post subject: |
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Check out this article on Slavic mythology and paganism. There're pics too!
http://www.sras.org/news2.phtml?m=387 It also tells how peasants adapted Othrodox Christianity into their pagan beliefs. Interesting. |
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Leeloo4_u
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Joined: 13 May 2005
Posts: 42
Location: South Africa
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| Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2005 9:27 pm Post subject: |
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I like this excuse, I hate it when people whistle
spirits were everywhere: there were Vodyanye (Водяные, водяные духи) or water spirits,
Domovoi
Lecnye (Лесные, лесные духи, sometimes known as "old men of the forest") or forest spirits, Polevye (Полевые, духи в хлебнах полях) field spirits, even Dvorovye (Дворовые, дворовые духи), spirits of the yard, etc. and all of them carried a list of rules and a generally hostile attitude. For example, one was not to whistle anywhere (the noise disturbed the spirits) and to this day whistling is taboo in Russia, particularly in houses. |
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Leeloo4_u
Frequent Guest
Joined: 13 May 2005
Posts: 42
Location: South Africa
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| Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2005 9:37 pm Post subject: interesting |
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| thanx mediashark that was a pretty intensly interesting article, so there's a rebirth of interest in Russian folklore, which I think is very nice coz ultamitly theres are all history in Russia, are all these stories of spirits commin knolage or are these the tales told by grandmothers to their grandchildren? |
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Leeloo4_u
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Joined: 13 May 2005
Posts: 42
Location: South Africa
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| Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2005 9:48 pm Post subject: |
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I want to know what type of stories, your grandparents told you when you were small,
eg. When we were small my grandmother told us never to eat while lying down because we would grow horns?
(for obvious reasons people shouldn't eat lying down you'll choke) but children will be children - so we always tried to see who would grow horns first
and if a lady sits on a table she would never find a husband (well this one proved to be a realy tall tale
I think a lot of stories were people trying to learn their children maners and ruled them by fear - like the lady who's hair got braided by the angry house spirit, when she comed out her braids she was over come by fear and had a hearattac?? |
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MrSpice
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Joined: 14 Jul 2003
Posts: 3431
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| Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2005 10:13 pm Post subject: |
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| I was told a lot of ridiculous stories when I was small - so many that I don't even remeber most of them. There are wide-spread russian superstitions like the one that if a black cat crosses the road in front of you and you walk over his path, it's bad luck. The same is true if the mirror gets broken. There is a superstition that you should knock on wood to make sure everything is OK. It's basically like in any other culture. Horoscopes, palm readers, psychics and other things exist in russia (unfortunately). I think superstitions are very similar to religions. They help people to go through the day and help them attain hope that they can somehow affect the future or destiny. Even though scientifically all of this does not make any sense, the majority of people will continue beliving in this kind of stuff forever. |
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Leeloo4_u
Frequent Guest
Joined: 13 May 2005
Posts: 42
Location: South Africa
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| Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2005 7:58 am Post subject: interesting |
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| Yeah, they are pretty standard throughout the whole world when it comes to the black cat and the walking under the ladder and mirror thing, I have the type of personality that I would deliberately do these things to see what would happen, and believe me nothing ever happened to me ever I own a black cat, I have to walk under a ladder every morning in the garage to get to my car I am just not fazed by these things but as you say I also believe it’s custom, your mom told you these stories, her mother told her and you will be telling it to your kids |
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