The rite of baptism among the ancient Slavs. Basic home rituals of the ancient Slavs and Russians. What is baptism?
The Russian state in the 10th century was young, there were fewer cities than in Byzantium or in the German lands. The Slavs of the 10th century lived in close contact with nature, so it is not surprising that they deified natural phenomena and tried to control them with the help of rituals.
How do scientists learn about Slavic beliefs?
Nicholas Roerich. Idols. Pagan Rus' (fragment). 1910
There is little accurate information about the deities and rituals of the Slavs: writing appeared in Rus' only in the 9th century and did not spread immediately. So far, not a single ancient Russian document of that time has been found that would describe the beliefs of the ancient Slavs. Most of the ancient birch bark letters are dedicated to trade: these are private letters, bills; Church texts and folklore works are much less common. Almost all the conclusions of historians are based on the testimony of the Byzantines, Germans and other “guests” of Rus', as well as on a number of chronicle sources, which sometimes mention rituals. During archaeological excavations, idols and ritual objects are often found, but how to decipher them without textual descriptions? Scientists can only make cautious assumptions.
The generally accepted point of view about the religion of the Slavs
Ivan Sokolov. The night before Ivan Kupala (fragment). 1856
The pantheon of Slavic deities was numerous and complex. In addition to a huge number of supernatural creatures of a lower order (werewolves, ghouls, spirits), the Slavs believed in higher gods who ruled the universe. The supreme deity was Perun - the god of thunder, patron of warriors. The god of cattle breeding and the afterlife Veles, the god of heaven Stribog, the female deity Mokosh and others were also revered. The pagan Slavs most likely did not have temples (although wooden buildings may not have survived), and rituals were carried out in the open air, in the forest, at so-called temples. It is difficult to reconstruct these rituals, but pagan customs that have survived to this day help with this.
Slavic customs in modern culture
Zbruch idol. 10th century
Over the centuries-long history of coexistence, Slavic pagan rituals were closely intertwined with Christian rites, although the state fought against the pagans. Some customs have survived to this day: celebrating Maslenitsa, Christmas fortune-telling, offering food to the graves of the dead. On the days of the equinoxes and solstices, the souls of the dead could visit the homes of their descendants. The dead could walk on the earth on another famous holiday - the night of Ivan Kupala, which was celebrated until the beginning of the twentieth century.
The illustration shows the Zbruch Idol, one of the most mysterious monuments of Slavic culture. The three tiers of the idol probably depict the three worlds: underground, human and divine. Krakow Archaeological Museum.
The Baptism of Rus' is one of the most important cultural events in the history of Ancient Rus'. It marked the end of the pagan and the beginning of the Christian history of Russia. The baptism of Rus' took place at the end of the 9th century, through the efforts made by Prince Vladimir during the establishment of Christianity as the state religion. The baptism of Rus' did not take place painlessly for the Russian people and was associated with significant resistance to the new Orthodox culture.
Despite the fact that, in fact, the large-scale Baptism of Rus' began only in the 9th century, the prerequisites for this event appeared a long time ago. The lands and peoples united by the name Ancient Rus' learned Christianity long before 988, when Prince Vladimir officially accepted it. There is an assumption according to which the Rus, who were under the rule of the Khazars, were first baptized by the Slavic enlighteners Cyril and Methodius during their journey to the Khazar Kaganate in 858.
Initially, the path to Christianity to the very heart of the Kyiv reign of Rus' was paved by Princess Olga, the widow of Prince Igor, killed by the Drevlyans. Around 955, she became imbued with Christianity and was baptized in Constantinople. From there she brought Greek priests to Rus'. However, Christianity was not widespread at that time. Princess Olga's son Svyatoslav did not see the need for Christianity and continued to honor the old gods. The merit of establishing Orthodoxy in Rus' belongs to one of his sons, Prince Vladimir.
The adoption of Christianity by Prince Vladimir was not free from political calculations. The Byzantine Emperor Basil II (976-1025), who was looking for an ally against the pretender to the throne, military leader Bardas Phocas, turned to Vladimir of Kyiv for help, agreeing to marry his sister Anna to him. Without being baptized, Vladimir could not marry the princess, and such a union highly raised the political status of the Kyiv princes. An alliance with Byzantium was necessary to strengthen the growing authority of the ancient Russian state. For the Slavs, Byzantium was the same symbol of power, wealth and sovereign splendor as for other neighboring states that were just beginning to build and strengthen their statehood. The alliance with Byzantium opened up the necessary prospects for both further military and economic growth.
The most common version of the circumstances of the Baptism of Rus' is as follows. Vladimir sent a squad of about 6 thousand people to help Vasily II, but the Greeks were in no hurry to fulfill their promises. The prince “hurried” them by taking the city of Korsun (Chersonese), which, not without some irony, was offered to them as a bride price. The only thing left for the Empire to do was to please its pride by the fact that it was formally acquiring a new subject. The Kiev prince received a third-rate court title, which nevertheless automatically introduced him into the hierarchical system of the empire. The “diplomatic” marriage of a Russian prince and a Byzantine princess could also secure the northern borders of Byzantium for a long time, and the predominance at first of Greek clergy in Rus' provided Constantinople (Constantinople) with the opportunity to influence the unpredictable Rus with the authority of the Orthodox Church.
At the end of the summer of 988, Vladimir gathered all the people of Kiev on the banks of the Dnieper and Byzantine priests baptized them in its waters. This event went down in history as the baptism of Rus', becoming the beginning of a long process of establishing Christianity in Russian lands.
Russian chronicles contain legendary information about the choice of faith by Prince Vladimir. The legends in their own way reflected the real picture of the diplomatic activity of the Kyiv grand-ducal court. In addition to Byzantium, he maintained contacts with the Khazar Khaganate, Rome, Western European countries, Muslim peoples, and the southern Slavs. These relations were connected both with the search for a path of state development and with the determination of the political, cultural and spiritual orientation of Kyiv.
Among the reasons that determined the choice of Byzantium as a model of state building, an important role was played by the splendor of the Orthodox priesthood. The chronicle gives impressions of the Russian embassy about the service: in the Constantinople Church, the ambassadors, according to them, did not know whether they were in heaven or on earth. The Byzantine Church amazed them with the unearthly beauty of the temples and the splendor of the service. Shortly before this, says the Tale of Bygone Years in 986, Prince Vladimir talked with ambassadors from Volga Bulgaria about Islam, with missionaries from Rome, with Khazar preachers of Judaism and with a “Greek philosopher” - an Orthodox missionary. The prince especially liked the philosopher’s speech, and he began to lean towards Orthodoxy.
After baptism, which, according to legend, Vladimir received in Korsun, the stern ruler and warrior, who paved the way to the heights of power in a brutal internecine struggle, who had six wives (not counting about eight hundred concubines), who had not previously interfered with human sacrifices, sincerely accepted the teachings of the Church about sin, Christ's words about love and mercy. Baptism transformed Vladimir. He even seriously intended to introduce an innovation hitherto unheard of in human history - to abolish the death penalty for robbers, fearing sin.
Vladimir's reign was marked by the emergence of Christian charity in Rus', emanating from state power. The prince contributed to the establishment of hospitals and almshouses (shelters for the elderly and disabled), and took care of the food of the poor people of Kiev. The construction and decoration of churches received state support, the first school was created, and full-scale training of the Russian clergy began.
Of course, forced Christianization and destruction of ancient pagan sanctuaries sometimes met fierce resistance from the people and priesthood. However, due to the fact that the first Russian Christian priests showed loyalty to the assimilation of pagan traditions to the Orthodox. All this led to the creation of a distinctive Orthodox tradition. And as a result, Christianity contributed to the general development of culture, the creation of monuments of writing, art and architectural architecture of Ancient Rus'.
Russian Orthodox ChurchIn the X-XI centuries. The first bishoprics-dioceses that were formed by the Russian Orthodox Church, in addition to Kyiv, were located in Novgorod, Rostov the Great, Belgorod (now the village of Belgorodka not far from Kyiv), Yuryev (now the city of Belaya Tserkov), Chernigov, Vladimir-Volynsky. Initially, the Russian Orthodox Church was subordinate to the Kyiv Metropolis. The Metropolitan himself appointed bishops and could convene local councils.
The church charter of Prince Vladimir granted greater rights to the Kyiv Metropolis. Thus, the scope of the church court was much wider than in Byzantium: in particular, many cases related to family relations were subject to it. This was supposed to contribute to the transformation of the moral foundations of society on Christian principles. The authority of the Church in an environment where pre-Christian beliefs and traditions were strong was initially supported by extensive land holdings. This equalized the rights of the Church with representatives of higher social strata. Thus, measures were taken to ensure that church hierarchs did not become dependent on the arbitrariness of local princes and boyars.
Orthodox cultureByzantine Orthodox culture quickly took root in Rus' and gave powerful shoots. This was greatly facilitated by the existence of already developed Slavic Byzantinism - the “Slavicized” Byzantine Orthodox culture. The center of Slavic culture at that time was Bulgaria, with which Kievan Rus had stable ties. A distinctive Russian written tradition quickly developed.
Already half a century after the baptism of Rus', the first Metropolitan of Kiev Hilarion created a work of outstanding literary merit. His “Sermon on Law and Grace” expresses the awareness that the unity of Rus' is inseparable from the “grace and truth” received in Christ. The “Word” of Saint Hilarion expresses warm “praise to our Kagan [prince] Vladimir,” through whom God called the “Russian language”—the people of Rus'. The sermons of Cyril, Bishop of Turov, a talented church writer of the 12th century, are distinguished by genuine literary grace no less than by spiritual power.
Under Yaroslav the Wise (1019-1054), the son of Vladimir, Kyiv became one of the European centers of culture. The organization of schools and translation acquired significant proportions. The children and grandchildren of Yaroslav himself knew Byzantine literature well; This is evidenced, in particular, by the writings of Vladimir Monomakh, the grandson of Yaroslav the Wise.
However, despite the fact that Rus' was baptized, ordinary people continued to honor Russian pagan traditions, gradually adapting them to Christian ones. Thus, Russian Orthodoxy arose - a bizarre combination of Slavic paganism and Christianity. Despite this, the Baptism of Rus' continues to be one of the most significant events in the history of Russian culture.
The ancient Slavs were pagans who deified the forces of nature. The main god was, apparently, Rod, the god of heaven and earth. He performed surrounded by female fertility deities - Rozhanits. An important role was also played by deities associated with those forces of nature that are especially important for agriculture: Yarilo - the god of the sun (among some Slavic tribes he was called Yarilo, Khoros) and Perun - the god of thunder and lightning. Perun was also the god of war and weapons, and therefore his cult was subsequently especially significant among the warriors. In Russia, before the introduction of the Christian faith, the first degree between idols was occupied by Perun, the god of lightning, whom the Slavs worshiped back in the 6th century, adoring him as the Supreme Ruler of the World. His idol stood in Kyiv on a hill, outside Vladimirov’s courtyard, and in Novgorod above the Volkhov River it was wooden, with a silver head and a golden mustache. Also known are the “cattle god” Volos, or Belee, Dazhdbog, Stribog, Samargla, Svarog (god of fire), Mokosha (goddess of earth and fertility), and others. Sacrifices were made to the gods, sometimes even human ones. The pagan cult took place in specially constructed temples where an idol was placed. The princes acted as high priests, but there were also special priests - sorcerers and magicians. Paganism persisted during the first period of the existence of the Old Russian state, and its vestiges were felt for several more centuries.
In Oleg’s agreement with the Greeks, Volos is also mentioned, in whose name and Perunov the Russians swore allegiance, having special respect for him, since he was considered the patron of livestock, their main wealth. - Siya. The god of fun, love, harmony and all prosperity was called Lado in Russia; those entering into a marriage donated to him. The Slavs willingly multiplied the number of their idols and accepted foreign ones. Russian pagans traveled to Courland and Samogitia to worship idols; consequently, they shared the same gods with the Latvians. Kupala, the god of earthly fruits, was sacrificed before collecting bread, on June 23, St. Agrippina, who is popularly nicknamed the Bathing Lady for this reason. Young people decorated themselves with wreaths, lit a fire in the evening, danced around it and sang Kupala. The memory of this idolatry is preserved in some countries of Russia, where nightly games of villagers and dances around the fire with innocent intentions are performed in honor of the pagan idol.
On December 24, Russian pagans praised Kolyada, the god of celebrations and peace. On the eve of the Nativity of Christ, the children of farmers gathered to carol under the windows of rich peasants, called the owner in songs, repeated the name of Kolyada and asked for money. Holy games and fortune telling seem to be a remnant of this pagan Festival.
Wanting to express the power and formidability of the gods, the Slavs imagined them as giants, with terrible faces, with many heads. The Greeks wanted to love their idols (depicting in them examples of human harmony), but the Slavs only wanted to be afraid; the first adored beauty and pleasantness, and the second only strength and, not yet satisfied with their own disgusting appearance of the idols, surrounded them with vile images of poisonous animals: snakes, toads, lizards, etc.
The priests made sacrifices in the name of the people and predicted the future. In ancient times, the Slavs sacrificed some oxen and other animals in honor of the invisible God; but afterwards, darkened by the superstition of idolatry, they stained their treasures with the blood of Christians, chosen by lot from captives or bought from sea robbers. The priests thought that the idol was enjoying Christian blood, and to complete the horror, they drank it, imagining that it conveyed the spirit of prophecy. People were also sacrificed in Russia, at least during Vladimirov's time. The Baltic Slavs gave idols the heads of killed most dangerous enemies.
The Slavs had an annual cycle of agricultural holidays in honor of the sun and the change of seasons. Pagan rituals were supposed to ensure high harvests and the health of people and livestock.
Special rituals accompanied the most important events in a person’s life - birth, wedding, death. Burial of the dead was also a sacred act among the pagan Slavs. The elders of the villages announced to the residents the death of one of them using a black rod carried from courtyard to courtyard. They all saw off the corpse with a terrible howl, and some women, dressed in white clothes, poured tears into small vessels called lamentations. They made a fire in the cemetery and burned the dead man with his wife, horse, and weapons; They collected the ashes in urns, clay, copper or glass, and buried them along with the mournful vessels.
Sometimes they built monuments: they lined the graves with wild stones or fenced them off with pillars. The sad rituals consisted of a cheerful celebration, which was called strava and was the cause of a great disaster for the Slavs back in the 6th century: for the Greeks took advantage of the time of this feast in honor of the dead and completely defeated their army.
The Russian Slavs - Krivichi, Northerners, Vyatichi, Radimichi - performed funeral feasts over the dead: they showed their strength in various military games, burned the corpse on a large bonfire and, having enclosed the ashes in an urn, placed it on a pillar in the vicinity of the roads.
As you know, the ancient Slavs had a large variety of different rituals. One of them was the baptism of an infant (newborn).
It was possible to baptize a child both in church and at home. At the same time, parents were not allowed to attend the ceremony. Instead of them - a godfather and a godmother. They always brought gifts with them: a shirt of the cross and a cross.
It is interesting that the child was not baptized immediately after birth. They did this on the third day or on the fortieth. The Slavic rite of baptism consisted of the priest (magician) immersing the child in holy water, while pronouncing the necessary words. Also, during baptism, the child was given a name that the child was not given in ordinary life. In general, this name was a kind of secret. The Slavs believed that in this case the child would be healthy and protected from harm.
Lunch of the Cross
After the ceremony itself, a religious dinner was held. All relatives and close friends were called. 
The godfather, or godmother, was in charge of dinner. During this event, they wished the baby all the best. There was a special ritual at the end of lunch. Grandma brought a pot of porridge. The cereal for the dish was either buckwheat or millet. It was important to cook the porridge very, very thick. You could sweeten it with a spoonful of honey. Then a piece of bread was placed on the table, into which everyone present literally “stuck” their spoons. Then the grandmother offered the guests to ransom them. The ransom was gifts for the newborn and his parents.
The baby's father received the first spoonful of porridge. But it was not ordinary, but over-salted. Then the rest received the treat, but first of all the children. A good sign was to bring some porridge home for the children to try.
A series of ritual actions associated with naming a newborn and the desire to ensure his well-being.
The birth of a child was accompanied by a number of magical actions that were supposed to provide him with a long life and good health. Immediately after birth, the midwife took the baby in her arms and walked around the bathhouse where the birth usually took place. At the same time, she uttered a spell: .
Grandma Solomonida
She stood on the throne
midwives Christ,
And she ordered us slaves
Help the mother in labor,
Midwife the baby.
So that my grandson
He grew up great and healthy,
I went to the church of God.
I read God's scripture
I respected my father and mother,
And all the elders
And me, grandma.
So that the prince-boyars would love him.
They took me to a high tower,
They sat behind the oak tree standing,
We drank tea and coffee,
They gave a gold ring.
Red maiden.
If a child was born wearing a membrane (membrane), this was considered a good omen. The shirt was carefully stored (buried or treasured in a chest), believing that it was a guarantee of many years of the baby’s future life. In some regions of Russia, it was a common custom to bake rye bread with an imprint of the newborn’s foot and hand and send it to relatives living in other villages.
Christians borrowed the ritual of baptism from more ancient religious systems. Similar rituals have been known among many peoples since ancient times, including paganism. Their meaning was that when a child was given a name, he became a member of the community and received community protection from any possible enemies and evil forces (previously the child was only his father and mother, from that moment he became at the same time a child of the community, which took upon himself responsibility for his life and well-being). That is why parents do not participate in Christian rites.
The main rite that marked the beginning of a child’s life was his baptism. It took place in church or at home. The baby was baptized not on his birthday, but on the third or fortieth day of life. Parents were not present at the ceremony. They were replaced by a godmother and godfather. The godmother usually gave the godson the first shirt, and the godfather a pectoral cross.
The ritual consisted of the priest immersing the baby in a vessel with water and taking it out with the words:
The servant of God is baptized in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit (the given name follows).
It was believed that after baptism the child is cleansed of original sin and enters the fold of the Orthodox Church.
The very ritual of choosing and naming was taken very seriously. Many peoples, including the pagan Slavs, had a custom of keeping the name assigned to a baby secret. After all, it was a kind of key to human health and well-being and served as a protective talisman.
It was assumed that enemies, having found out the name, could cause irreparable harm to a person. To prevent this from happening, substitutes for the real name were used (especially in childhood). Often such a substitute was offensive in sound - dashing, grieving, ill. The Slavs believed that upon hearing such a name, evil forces would not lay claim to the unenviable child. If a child was sick or growing poorly, they could ritually change his name, hoping that with the old name the troubles plaguing the child would go away. They changed their name throughout their lives: when an initiation rite (initiation into adulthood) was carried out, when a girl got married, when a warrior was on the verge of life and death, etc.
Traces of these beliefs can also be found in Christian rituals: in the use of a calendar of recommended names (the choice of a non-Christian name or a name far removed from the birthday in the calendar was not welcomed), in the change of surnames by women upon marriage, in the ritual of changing a name upon entering monasticism or adoption schema.
After the baptismal ceremony, a christening dinner or porridge was held. Usually all relatives and acquaintances were invited to it. The main person at the dinner was the godmother (godmother). The main songs were dedicated to her. They contained well wishes for the child:
Who has grapes in their yard?
(name) has grapes in his yard.
Collected in front of - not people - himself,
I planted kumusya on the kut:
Drink, go for a walk, kumusya, with me.
So that my child grows,
May it be happy
So that God would give him.
The christening dinner ended with a special ritual. The midwife brought a pot of porridge to the table. Porridge, buckwheat or millet, was boiled steeply, so that a spoon could stand in it. Sometimes they put honey in it. A piece of bread was laid out on the table and spoons collected from everyone sitting at the table were stuck into it. The grandmother turned to the guests with a request to buy spoons. Kum, Kuma and the rest of the guests handed her pre-prepared offerings and sorted out the spoons.
They started eating porridge with the sentence:
Give Beg porridge onto spoons,
and on the baby's legs.
A separate, heavily salted spoon of porridge was given to the baby's father. That's what it was called - oversalting. Next, the porridge was shared with everyone present, the children in the house, and the rest was divided into parts and distributed to each guest. It was believed that porridge brought prosperity to the eater. Therefore, the guests, in turn, tried to bring home a little porridge from the christening dinner in order to feed it to their own children and convey to them some of the divine favor.
The fun ended with the sentence:
Harness it up. twelve oxen
Harness twelve oxen,
Drag your godfather away,
But the godfather doesn’t come, he resists.
She's buried back
Got drunk and kumusenka
Green wine,
And don’t get there, little darling,
To your yard.
And in general about names not only for children.
When getting to know each other, we very rarely say directly: “I am so-and-so.” My name is so-and-so.” This inexplicably sounds somehow awkward, and more often we introduce ourselves as if allegorically: “My name is”...
Ancient people considered the name an important part of the human personality and preferred to keep it secret so that an evil sorcerer would not be able to “take” the name and use it to cause damage (just as they used cut hair, scraps of clothing, dug up pieces of earth with traces on it) and even rubbish swept out of the hut). Therefore, in ancient times, a person’s real name was usually known only to his parents and a few closest people. Everyone else called him by his family name or by a nickname, which usually had a protective nature: Nekras, Nezhdan, Nezhelan. Such names and nicknames were supposed to “disappoint” illness and death, forcing them to look for “more worthy” living in other places. Not only the Slavs did this. For example, the beautiful Turkish name Yilmaz means that. something even a dog doesn’t need
The pagan, under no circumstances, should have said “I am such and such,” because he could not be completely sure that his new acquaintance deserved the knowledge of complete trust, that he was a person in general, and not my spirit. At first, 6n answered evasively:
“They call me...” And even better, even if it was not he himself who said it, but someone else. Everyone knows that according to the rules of good manners, it is still considered preferable for two strangers to be introduced to each other by someone else. This is how long ago this custom came from. And those who love science fiction may have come across Ursula Le Guin’s book “A Wizard of Earthsea.” There, in a world saturated with magic, something similar also exists: to tell someone your name means to show maximum trust, to literally put your soul and life into his hands. And this is not the fruit of the author’s rich imagination!
For those who find such an example unconvincing, we will give another one, this time from a Scandinavian saga that tells about real historical events. The Vikings are captured by the Norwegian ruler Eirik. They are going to be executed, there is no expectation of mercy. However, Eirik's attention is attracted by one of the captives - a very handsome guy, who also showed incredible courage. The ruler asks the captive who he is, and the Viking replies: “They call me Sigurd. And they told me that I am Bui’s son...”
Like this: not “I am Sigurd, son of Bui,” but “they call me” and “they told me.” A person does not want to talk about himself directly. But this is happening in quite historical times - in the 11th century!