Russian folk pattern. Symbols in the ornament
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Russian culture originated many centuries ago. Even in pagan times, the Russians decorated themselves and the space for life (house, yard, household items) with original patterns. If a drawing repeats and alternates individual details, it is called an ornament.
Folk ornament necessarily uses traditional motives... Each nation has its own. Russian ornaments are no exception. When we hear this phrase, embroidered shirts and towels immediately appear in our imagination. They have horses, ducks, roosters and geometric figures.
Traditional Russian ornament
An excursion into history
The primary unit of society is the family. And it is to families that we owe the first folk patterns. In ancient times, animals and plants had a totemic meaning. Each family believed that it had one or another patron. For generations, family members have used objects with symbols of a kind, considering them to be protection and help.
Gradually family drawing went beyond the family and became the property of relatives. Several genera exchanged their designs. Thus, already the entire tribe used symbols that originally belonged to certain families.
Over time, the patterns became more, the circle of their users expanded. This is how Russian folk ornaments appeared in Russia.
Even in the exterior of the houses, symbolism was traced. You can see that in different areas were used different colors for needlework. There is a simple explanation for this. In the old days, only natural dyes were used. They were produced in an artisanal way. So, the availability of raw materials for paints often determined the entire palette of works.
Different regions had their own favorite "decorations". It is no coincidence that "paisley" is one of the motives for the ornaments of the eastern regions. Homeland of "Indian cucumber" Persia in the east.
Meaning and meaning
A creative fusion of nature and religion. So briefly, you can describe national, including Russian, ornaments. In other words, an ornament is a symbolic description of the world.
Ornamental elements were not only decoration. They carried a semantic and ritual load. They can not only be viewed, but also read. Very often these are conspiracies and amulets.
Each symbol has a specific meaning:
- Alatyr is perhaps the main of the Russian and Slavic signs. It is a symbol of the infinite universe, the duality of the world and its balance. The source of life, composed of masculine and feminine... The eight-pointed Star of Alatyr and the Stone of Alatyr were often used in patterns. They were expected to help in different life situations.
Sacred Alatyr - Another symbol that was very revered and often used in patterns is the World Tree of Life (or the Tree of Reign). It was believed that it grows on the Alatyr Stone and the gods rest under its crown. So people tried to protect themselves and their family under the branches of the Tree of Life and with the help of the celestials.
One of the variants of the image of the Tree of Reign - Various swastikas are also a popular motif in Russian and Slavic handicrafts. Of the swastikas, Kolovrat can be found more often than others. An ancient symbol of the sun, happiness and goodness.
Variants of the image of the symbol of the sun among the Slavs - Orepey or Arepey is a rhombus with combs on the sides. His other names are: Comb rhombus, Oak, Well, Burdock. It was considered a symbol of happiness, wealth, self-confidence. When located on different parts of clothing, it had a different interpretation.
Orepey symbol - Animals and plants that surrounded people and were deified by them are a constant theme of patterns.
Slavic symbolism is very diverse Of particular importance was the number of alternations of elements in the ornament. Each number carried an additional semantic load.
Beauty and protection
The aesthetic meaning of the ornaments was combined with the totem one. Magi and shamans applied symbols to ritual clothing and utensils. Ordinary people also put special meaning in traditional drawings. They tried to protect themselves with amulet embroidery, applying it to certain parts of their clothing (to protect the body). Table linen, household items, furniture, parts of buildings were also decorated with appropriate patterns (to protect the family and home).
The simplicity and beauty of ancient ornaments keep them popular today.
Amulets were decorated with traditional ornament Trades and crafts
Gradually, with the development of civilization, ancient patterns were transformed, some of them became identification marks of certain folk crafts. They have become independent crafts. Usually, crafts have a name corresponding to the area where they are produced.
The most popular are:
- Porcelain and ceramics "Gzhel". Her style is a characteristic drawing with blue paint on white background... Named by name settlement Gzhel, Moscow region, where the production is located.
Gzhel painting - an old craft - "Zhostovo painting" can be recognized by flower bouquets on a black (less often green, blue, red) metal tray covered with varnish. The fishing center is located in Zhostovo (Moscow region). The beginning of this craft was laid in Nizhny Tagil, where the production of Nizhny Tagil trays still exists.
Luxurious Zhostovo painting - Khokhloma is decorative painting on wood. It is characterized by black, red and sometimes green patterns on a golden background. Her homeland and place of registration is the Nizhny Novgorod region.
Khokhloma is popular today - Sloboda Dymkovo is the birthplace of Dymkovo, and the city of Kargopol, respectively, Kargopolskaya, the village of Filimonovo Filimonovskaya, Stary Oskol, Starooskolskaya clay toys. They all have a characteristic pattern and color.
Stary Oskol clay toys - Pavlovo Posad wool shawls business card Pavlovsky Posad. They are characterized by a volumetric printed floral pattern... Red and black are their traditional colors.
Traditional Pavloposad shawl is a truly luxurious accessory Continuation can be very long: Fedoskinskaya and Palekhskaya miniatures, Gorodets painting, Orenburg downy shawl, Vologda, Yelets, Mtsenskoe lace. Etc. It is very difficult to list everything.
We draw in folk style
Today many people wear clothes and things in folklore style. Many craftswomen want to create something unique themselves. They can take the finished product rapport as a basis or create their own sketch.
To successfully complete this idea, you first need to:
- Decide whether it will be a separate pattern or ornament.
- Decompose the drawing into simple details.
- Take graph paper, make markings, marking each fragment and its middle.
- Draw the first elementary detail in the center.
- Gradually, step by step, add the following fragments.
And now a unique pattern is ready.
Anyone can draw a similar pattern. About Russian embroidery
Patterns, techniques, colors of Russian embroidery are very diverse. The art of embroidery has a long history. It is closely related to the way of life, customs and rituals.
Color is an important component of needlework.
People endowed him with sacred properties:
- Red is the color of life, fire and sun. Of course, it was often used when embroidering. After all, it is also beauty. As a talisman, he was called upon to protect life.
- White is the color of pure snow. A symbol of freedom and purity. He was considered a protector from the dark forces.
- Blue color of water and clear sky. Symbolized courage and strength.
- Black in the ornament meant earth. Zigzag and wave, respectively, not plowed and plowed field.
- Green is grass, forest and their help to man.
Traditional Russian embroidery The thread was also endowed with certain qualities:
- Linen is a symbol of masculinity.
- Wool is protection, patronage.
In combination with patterns, special-purpose products were created.
For example:
- Roosters and red horses were supposed to protect the baby.
- For the successful completion of the work, they embroidered with green and blue linen.
- They embroidered with wool for diseases and against bad influences.
- For women, things were often embroidered in black to protect motherhood.
- The men were protected with green and blue patterns.
Of course, a special set of symbols and drawings was developed for each case and person.
This embroidery will look elegant on any fabric. Folk costume
Folk costume embodies and reflects tradition. For centuries, craftswomen have transformed a nondescript fabric into a unique work of art. From an early age, girls learned the secrets of needlework. By the age of fifteen, they had to prepare for themselves casual and party clothes and a set of towels, tablecloths and valances for several years.
The cut of the suit itself is simple, rectangular. Linen or woolen fabric of various qualities. The women pulled the fabric (some of the threads were removed) and received new fabric. Hemstitching and other embroidery were performed on it.
Russian folk costume is diverse Of course, the clothes differed in characteristic patterns depending on the locality. It can be divided into two groups:
- Central Russian. Differs in multicolor. Of the techniques, counting stitch, cross, braids, hemstitching are often found. In the southern regions, lace, ribbons or strips of fabric are also used to decorate clothes. The pattern is often geometric. Orepey was especially loved in different versions.
- North. For her, the characteristic techniques are satin stitch (colored and white), cross, painting, white stitching and cutouts. Artistic motives were used more often than geometric ones. The compositions were performed mainly in one color.
Russian embroidery is unique. It features stylized images of animals and plants, as well as a wide variety of geometric patterns.
Keeping traditions
Exploring national traditions and handicraft techniques for surviving products, modern masters adapt them to modern requirements. On their basis, fashionable original things are created. These are clothes, shoes, underwear.
Valentin Yudashkin is one of the recognized fashion designers who includes folk motives in each of his collections. Foreign couturiers, such as Yves Saint Laurent, are also inspired by the Russian heritage.
Russian collection Yves Saint Laurent In addition, folk crafts continue traditions and improve craftsmanship in accordance with modern requirements... You can add enthusiasts who are not indifferent to traditional creativity. They independently study, collect and create in the folk style.
Russian patterns continue to bring beauty and joy to people, and also preserve historical information.
Already in ancient times, people tried to decorate household items and clothing. The objects obtained from the excavations show that at first the decoration patterns and compositions were very simple. Over time, the pattern became more complex, the composition became more varied, the technical execution more perfect. For the further development of the pattern and composition, you need to get acquainted with old traditions creating a picture and composition.
Russian folk pattern rich and varied. In his composition, there are a number of geometric patterns, as well as plants and animals, both stylized and more or less realistic, are present in it almost everywhere.
The main elements of the pattern.
A geometric pattern always consists of separate small parts. Such parts of the pattern, which are repeated with or without changes in many patterns, are called the main elements of the pattern. In the Russian folk pattern, the most common basic elements are the so-called herringbone, roof, cross, sun, star, floral pattern (Fig. 1).
Figure 1. Basic elements of a geometric pattern.
And this is an example of old Russian embroidery, where it is clearly seen that it consists of small basic elements.
The main elements can be changed - varied. There are still many different options main elements.
Despite some differences, the main elements have some common constant properties, for example:
- 1) the lines of the pattern are bent at an angle of 90 or 45 degrees;
- 2) the lines of the plant pattern are interconnected;
- 3) the basic element is easily included in the simplest geometric shapes (Fig. 2).
Figure 2. The simplest geometric shapes.
The main elements of the pattern can be composed in different ways.
With the rhythmic repetition of one or more elements of the pattern, a simple or variable row of the pattern appears. Since the pattern is incomplete, it gives the impression of a vague, decaying pattern (Fig. 3).
Figure 3. Row of pattern.
AND small example Slavic embroidery, where we can see several types of stripes.
The restriction can be done either with a bar or with narrower bands. Placed next to the main elements of the pattern, as it were, divide the strip. For example, placing one after the other the main elements that are easily included in a triangle, they form a strip with a triangular division (Fig. 4, B). Similarly, you can form a strip of a pattern with a triangular division and a strip of a pattern with a division to the corner of the square or to the side of the square (Fig. 4, C, D).
Figure 4. Stripes of the pattern.
Applying a stripe pattern.
Applying a strip of pattern for decoration, the master, if possible, preserves the division of the strip. The strip always ends with a whole division. Stripes are especially carefully placed, decorating the corner of a rectangular area. At the corners, the placement of the stripes can be different.
Connected corner.
The connected corner is formed if the strip is continued without interruption in the other direction (Fig. 5, A). By changing direction, the master retains the division characteristic of the strip. The connected corner can be applied both for decoration and for rectangular areas.
Semi-connected corner.
Forming a semi-joined corner, the stripes in the corners are not joined (Fig. 5, C), but a square-shaped finish is placed there (Fig. 5, B). The stripes end at a short distance from it. Both parts of the decor are usually connected with an openwork or winding seam. The semi-connected corner is most often used when decorating the Square.
Figure 5. Corners.
Unconnected corner.
An unconnected corner is formed when the stripes in the corner do not join (Fig. 5, C). The master ends the stripes with full division.
An unconnected corner is best for decorating a rectangular piece.
In addition, wider stripes can be placed at the ends of the square, even groups of stripes, and conversely, narrow stripes can be placed along the long edges. The decor of an unconnected corner perfectly combines an openwork or winding seam.
Parallel placement of stripes.
The rectangular area was usually decorated with transverse stripes. You can place one strip or a group of stripes at each end of the rectangle, you can also arrange them evenly over the entire area (Fig. 5, E). In addition, you can repeat the same stripes located at the ends, as well as use other stripes in the middle, or change several stripes one after the other (Fig. 5, e).
When decorating a rectangular product, the stripes are placed in a slightly different way. Each decorated part of the item looks as if it is heavier, therefore, in a vertically arranged item, the decor is distributed along the lower part. For example, using only one strip, it is placed at the bottom. Decorating the product with several stripes of various widths, the widest of them or a group of stripes is placed in the lower part of the product (Fig. 5, E). There are narrower stripes at the top.
Among the Slavic ethnographic finishes, the strip is the most favorite and widespread type. She can be found at national clothes, carving of window frames, etc. Therefore, in folk patterns there are especially many samples of stripes - sometimes narrower, sometimes wider, with a rare or thick pattern. All of them can be successfully used both in any kind of needlework and in artistic woodcarving. In addition, the stripes lend a vintage character to the finish.
Elements of the pattern (Fig. 6, A) or large parts of it are placed over the entire area or in certain areas of it. The pattern in this case is limited to divisions. The master finishes the pattern of solid filling with a complete division, if possible. It spreads easily in all directions, so the same pattern can cover both small and large areas. Since this leaves the impression of an easily spreading spill pattern, the area to be trimmed is limited to a single-color or patterned strip. The solid fill pattern is used to decorate both square and rectangular squares with any technique.
Figure 6. Solid fill pattern.
The central pattern (Fig. 7, A) spreads from the center evenly in all directions. Since it has a vegetative character, in the composition it is limited by stripes (Fig. 7, B). This pattern is used for decoration of various kinds area.
Figure 7. Central pattern.
Floral ornament can be positioned over a winding or straight line. The colors of the plant ornament usually alternate. A floral ornament is also usually placed along the edge of the area to be decorated, since it well connects the decorated, heavy area with the unadorned, empty area (Fig. 8).
Figure 8. Floral ornament.
And the last picture shows examples of ornaments that use motifs from the world of fauna.
Ornament is the language of millennia. The word "ornament" comes from the Latin ornare and literally means "decoration, pattern". Academician BA Rybakov said about the meaningfulness of the ornament: “Looking at intricate patterns, we rarely think about their symbolism, we rarely look for meaning in the ornament. It often seems to us that there is no more thoughtless, light and meaningless field of art than ornament. Meanwhile, in the folk ornament, as in the ancient writings, the thousand-year-old wisdom of the people, the beginnings of their worldview and the first attempts of man to influence the forces of nature, mysterious to him, by means of art, were deposited. " However, it would be wrong, speaking of ornaments, to reduce everything to embellishment (14).
Ornament is special kind artistic creation, which, according to many researchers, does not exist in the form independent work, he only decorates with himself this or that thing. Many researchers note that the ornament is quite complex artistic structure, for the creation of which various expressive means are used. Among them are color, texture and mathematical foundations ornamental composition - rhythm, symmetry; graphic expression of ornamental lines, their elasticity and mobility, flexibility or angularity; plastic - in relief ornaments; and, finally, the expressive qualities of the natural motives used, the beauty of the painted flower, the bend of the stem, the patterning of the leaf. Almost always, simple signs, which are perceived by our enlightened eyes as circles, wavy lines, zigzags or crosses, actually had a completely different meaning for the creators of these compositions. Art, figurative language the ornament is diverse. By completing the task decorative value, it often plays the role of a social, age and gender mark, ethnicity, is a means of expressing the people's worldview (6).
The sinuous line was often a symbol of water - an unusual substance with mysterious properties, one of the primary elements of the world. The circle was a solar (solar) sign. The cross was often a talisman against the forces of evil. An ornament with similar signs gave things a special meaning, as if immersing them in the fabric of complex relationships between man and the world within a certain picture the world (16).
However, humanity is "growing up" and the time of faith in mystical meaning ancient symbols and in their real power passed. We know about ancient myths, but we do not believe in them. With the loss of faith in magic power signs from the ornaments began to evaporate their innermost meaning, and they really began to turn into one of the decorative elements. Nevertheless, there are still places on Earth, including in Russia, where the picture of the world "recorded" by ornaments is still being reproduced, lives in people and objects, which means that the ornaments created within the framework of this picture of the world have not lost their power, inner meaning and value. One of these places is the settlements small peoples North, Siberia and Of the Far East Russia (16).
Russian ornament is rightfully called one of the most interesting phenomena in the world art culture.
It represents a unique world artistic images... Over the centuries, Russian ornament has changed, transformed, but invariably amazed the imagination of contemporaries with its poetics and beauty of lines and colors. The ornament accompanied the person in his Everyday life... Vegetable, geometric, zoomorphic and other motifs adorned a person's dwelling, cult and household items, clothes, and handwritten books. The patterns applied to the object carried the foundations of the universe. The artist conceptualized the world and tried to express his attitude towards him, combining different elements by varying the line or color ratio. The ornament could fill everything with a solid carpet free space or to decorate only some parts of the product, emphasizing their artistic and plastic expressiveness (1).
The ornament is built on the rhythmic alternation of the depicted motives, a derivative of the form and a structure that obeys it. Ornament cannot be calculated mathematically, it covers the surface of an object, repeating its curves, emphasizing them or hiding them. It is impossible to calculate what the curl will be, which is put by the master. The internal structure of the ornament has a pictorial, applied and semantic principle. The pattern always has applied side, it is rigidly connected with the function of the object on which it is applied, with its shape, material. And, finally, any ornament has one or another meaning. It can have the direct meaning of writing, reflect with its rhythms in a complex-mediated form the real rhythms of life, carry symbolic meanings fixed by tradition. All ornaments have their own names, which are very stable, if we take into account the vast territory of their distribution. To decipher the meaning of the ornaments, both the explanations of the craftswomen and the religious and mythological representations, as well as stable folklore and everyday expressions, are used, since they are based on the same system of representing the world. Ideas about the picture of the world are passed from generation to generation, and it is only partially realized (see Appendix 6).
The time of the appearance of the first ornamental compositions in Russian art is unknown, but it can be assumed that interest in decorating objects developed simultaneously with the development of the surrounding world (4, p. 6).
Researchers, both Russian and foreign, made attempts to study the art of constructing ornamental compositions. Archaeologists, ethnographers, historians, and art critics have written about Russian ornament. First and foremost attention the scientific world was drawn to the study of art of the XI-XVII centuries. Among the most famous scientists who dealt with the issue of ornament were F. G. Solntsev, F. I. Buslaev, I. M. Snegirev, V. I. Butovsky, V. V. Stasov, the famous French scientist E. Viollet-le-Duc ... They were engaged in the study of Russian ornament in all its manifestations - not only as a unique phenomenon, but also as an integral part of the form and decor of various objects. Ornaments were used to decorate everything, from large pieces of architecture to small household utensils. And most strikingly, the ornament manifested itself in Russian embroidery (1, p. 9).
According to the motives used in the ornament, it is divided into: geometric, consisting of abstract forms (points, straight, broken, zigzag, mesh intersecting lines; circles, rhombuses, polyhedrons, stars, crosses, spirals; more complex specifically ornamental motifs - meander, etc. . NS.); vegetable, stylizing leaves, flowers, fruits, etc. (lotus, papyrus, palmetta, acanthus, etc.); zoomorphic, or animal, stylizing figures or parts of figures of real or fantastic animals. Human figures, architectural fragments, weapons, various signs and emblems (coats of arms) are also used as motives; anthropomorphic, subdivided into two large groups: a) archaic, reflecting ancient mythological ideas, b) everyday (or genre). A special kind of ornament is represented by stylized inscriptions on architectural structures(for example, in Central Asian medieval mosques) or in books (so-called ligature). Complex combinations of various motifs are not uncommon (geometric and animal forms - so-called teratology, geometric and plant forms - arabesques) (5).
Russian ornament is a poorly studied area, much in it remains unexplored and unclear. Folklore traditions, Christian doctrine, the heritage of Eastern and Western European countries - all this influenced the formation of Russian ornament.
Russian ornaments perceived heterogeneous elements, enriched and transformed into new forms. The richness and variety of forms and types of Russian ornament testifies to creative thinking masters and their high artistic taste (1, p. 7).
Until now, the patterns made on clothes, tablecloths, towels by unknown craftswomen of past centuries are sparkling brightly, shimmer with rainbow colors. These symbolic images were supposed, in the opinion of our great-grandfathers, to bring good luck and prosperity to their owners, to save "from gladness and pestilence", to ward off the impact evil forces, to protect the warrior from wounds on the battlefield, to promote procreation.
Up to mid XIX centuries, the "decorations" have not changed, so as not to violate and not distort the ancient sacred meaning, passed from generation to generation, carefully observing the "canons". Ornaments are akin to ancient writings and, like them, can tell a lot about the outlook of man in those distant eras. For a long time, people remembered the purpose of ornaments. Back in the 20-30s of the XX century, residents of some northern Russian villages demonstrated their knowledge of the meaning of the depicted pattern in front of the oldest craftswoman of the village on special "readings": young girls brought to the gatherings finished work and talked about them in front of "the whole world."
In some places in the outback, you can still hear the ancient names of patterns: "vodnik", "Perun", although the master is often unable to explain their meaning. And yet, ancient patterns live on. They live and delight with their beauty. Sometimes they live contrary to the convictions of society or its individual groups, contrary to the attitudes of one or another state regime... Once working in the archives of the Ryazan Historical and Architectural Museum-Reserve, I laughed a lot, reading the correspondence of the Ryazan mayor and the Skopino bishop (XIX century): church holidays, stubbornly walked around the city in "obscene" embroidered "underwear" - a folk shirt with embroidery along the hem. The custom demanded that embroideries be displayed, and the craftswomen depicted on them either a woman giving birth, or even "patterns of the first night."
But it was not at all funny to recall the stories of old people heard on expeditions about how hundreds of folk "adornments" with the image of a swastika, one of the most beloved Slavic ornaments, were barbarously destroyed during the Great Patriotic War, and sometimes - and quite recently. And the advanced technologies of the 21st century threaten to completely wipe out Russian folk crafts with their low productivity and primitive technologies from the face of the Earth.
And yet, in spite of everything, the ornament lives on. To this day, there are people who know how to decorate and want to wear traditional Russian clothes. Long winter evenings Slavic girls and women embroidered and weaved patterns with a torch - one more intricate than the other, decorating their "series" with them, so that later, at a holiday, they could flaunt before the "worship". Did they only feel beauty? Was it only the desire for creative expression that drove them? Or was and continues to exist today in the ancient symbols of something very important - to us, the present, unknown?
For the first time I had to deal with the unusual properties of folk ornament in my youth, when I worked in the Ryazan Historical and Architectural Museum-Reserve. It was necessary to take a picture in an old folk dress. In the cathedral, where the shooting took place, because of the cold, I had to wear a fur coat, but ... as soon as I put on embroidered linen clothes, it suddenly became warm: the thin fabric was warming! In an incomprehensible way! Later, while awaiting the birth of a child, I realized that the folk patterns performed by Russian women, in addition to beauty, gave the expectant mother also peace and patience. When I drew ornaments for the planned works, my health miraculously improved, the edema subsided. Later, having mastered the craft of hand weaving, I began to notice how my mood changes in the process of making differently ornamented items.
Surprisingly, the folk ornament, the "decoration" is the same all over the world: the graphics are somewhat different, the colors and shades change, but the look, rhythm, and meaning are quite recognizable. There is a known case when a Mexican weaver admitted her national pattern toe of the women's shirt of the Arkhangelsk province. What is it? Accident? Or at the heart of different folk traditions lie the same deep knowledge, sometimes inaccessible to us, because they are presented in an unusual language for us - harmony, beauty and love - and before you understand them, you need to master the language itself?
This book is the result of my desire to raise questions related to the meaning of folk textile ornamentation and the peculiarities of its effect on the "wearer" of the clothes decorated with them or the person looking at the patterns. It uses information from many, sometimes non-traditional sources: history, ethnography, mythology, bioenergy, modern alternative medicine, etc. Maybe this is not entirely correct: is it possible to embrace the immensity? But Russian folk culture has always seemed to me so all-embracing and multifaceted that, in my opinion, it is only necessary to study it comprehensively, having felt the very way of thinking of our ancestors.
I believe that the process of drawing folk textile patterns is best illustrated. At first, I spent a month on the implementation of such a drawing while preserving all the design features (and this in the presence of lined paper, a pencil, corrective funds). And each time the question arose: what about without them? On a loom? And not from the middle, from where the pattern clearly unfolds, but from the edge? And instead of a drawing, at best, a diagram, scratched with a nail on a plank. What kind of spatial imagination, what coordinated interhemispheric connections of the brain must be had in order to do this? You have to see! But after all, this was an ordinary weaver who knew how ...
And further. I really want the ancient art of ornament to be preserved, not to disappear, so that skills, traditions and beauty folk culture continued to live, delight and benefit people. After all, this beauty has an incredible kind energy (one would like to say - a soul), capable of helping people. I would like to believe that the topics touched upon in my story will interest new researchers, and then such an amazing phenomenon as Russian folk textile ornament can really be comprehended from different angles. In the meantime, the ancient images-writing continue to await their full reading. Well, let's try to start?
The study of folk "adornments" began in the 19th century. The first descriptions of textile patterns and attempts to find the meaning hidden in them were made by famous people: members of the Imperial Archaeological Society and numerous scholars of archival commissions. Russian Empire... They managed to record invaluable material, now - alas! - irretrievably lost: primordial popular names individual elements of the ornament, more or less not yet distorted by the disappearance of the patriarchal peasant life... In the 1920s, their work was continued by the regional societies of local historians. Relatively systematic materials were published in regional publications or settled in the archives. Of the available, the most interesting were the works of the Smolensk ethnographer E.N. Klet-novoy, Ryazan ethnographer N.I. Lebedeva, the famous archaeologist V.A. Gorodtsov (I.001) and materials of a unique study of the Sapozhkovsk local historians P. and S. Stakhanovs.
A lot of literature devoted to the description of the patterns of folk embroidery and weaving throughout the USSR was published in the 1950-1970s. A number of art albums and catalogs are published folk costume... Studying the ornaments of the peoples of Siberia, S. Ivanov developed schemes for the formation of ornamental forms, depending on the type of symmetry used. The interest of historians, archaeologists, art critics in the meaning of images is growing: special studies are being undertaken by G.P. Durasov, G.S.
Maslova, B.A. Rybakov (I.002), A. Ambroz.
In the 90s of the last century, materials from the study of local traditions appeared again. New researchers museum funds and hobbyist collectors noticed previously overlooked jewelry details folk clothes, which made it possible to trace the reflection of the Slavic pagan culture and the socio-clan information about the owner in the folk costume. It became possible to study the history of the ancient and common among the Slavs symbol - the swastika. Numerous attempts at practical reconstruction of the application and meaning of folk ornament were undertaken by supporters of the reviving paganism. A. Golan, in his major work, traced a single mythological basis for the symbols of ornament among the peoples of the world, and the works of M.F. Parmona exhaustively highlighted the features of the cut and form of folk clothing.
Studies are being published that raise questions of the perception of symbols by human consciousness, as well as the impact of the sign on our physical condition - from this point of view, V.I. Loshilov. Psychologists and representatives of alternative medicine have accumulated considerable experience in assessing the impact of certain intangible factors on the human body, and our ideas about the properties of consciousness are constantly expanding. But no one has yet tried to consider folk ornament from this point of view.
Few people know that the first country in the world to spread the swastika is ... Russia. This is a key ornament of embroidery and weaving of the Russian North, we even overtake India, where swastikas-amulets still adorn city houses. Agree, given the ideological context of the events of the 20th century, this is perceived, at least, as an irony of fate.
It is on our lands that polysyllabic solar motifs have survived, which, at times, are maternal even in relation to Indian motives (you can read about this in the works of S.V. Zharnikova). This is a dizzying archaic.
“Feather grass” (Tula province.), “Horse”, “horse shank” (Ryazan province.), “Hare” (Pechora), “mushroom” (Nizhny Novgorod province.), “Loach” (Tver province.), “Bow-legged ”(Voronezh province), etc. On the territory of the Vologda lands, the name of the swastika was even more diverse. "Kryuchya", "Kryukovets", "Kryuk" (Syamzhensky, Verkhovazhsky regions), "flint", "fire", "horse" (horse-fire?) (Tarnogsky, Nyuksensky districts), "sver", "cricket" ( Velikoustyugsky district), "leader", "leader", "Zhgun", (Kichm.-Gorodetsky, Nikolsky districts), "bright", "shaggy brightly", "kosmach" (Totemsky district), "guski", "chertogon" (Babushkinsky district), "kosar", "kosovik" (Sokolsky district), "cross", "vratok" (Vologda, Gryazovetsky districts), "rottenets", "rottenka", "rotten" (Sheksninsky, Cherepovetsky districts), " ugly "(Babaevsky district)," miller "(Chagodoshchensky district)," krutyak "(Belozersky, Kirillovsky districts)," dust "(Vytegorsky district). The most archaic of them is undoubtedly the "fire-place". This name reflects the original meaning of the magic symbol of the swastika: "living fire" - "fire" - "flint" - "flint".
"The Russian name for the swastika is" Kolovrat ", that is," solstice "(" Kolo "is the Old Russian name for the sun," gate "- rotation, return). Kolovrat symbolized the victory of light (sun) over darkness, life over death, revelation over nave. The swastika, directed in the opposite direction, was called "salting". According to one of the versions, "Kolovrat" denoted an increase in daylight hours or a rising spring sun, while "salting" - a decrease in daylight and a setting autumn sun. The existing confusion in the names is caused by a misunderstanding of the direction of the rotational movement of the Russian swastika. A "right" or "straight" swastika is often called a cross with ends bent to the right. However, in Russian pagan tradition semantic meaning The swastika is as close as possible to the ancient one (the symbol of "living fire"), and therefore its curved ends should be considered precisely as tongues of flame, which naturally deviate to the left when the cross rotates to the right, and to the right when rotated to the left. The deflection of the flames in both cases occurs under the influence of the oncoming air flow. Therefore, a "Kolovrat" or "left-sided" swastika in Russia is called a cross, the ends of which ("tongues of flame") are bent to the right side, and vice versa, a "salting", or "right-sided" swastika is called a cross with ends bent to the left ( in this case, the swastika rotates clockwise, in the sun, hence its name - "salting"). An ancient pagan ritual is easily guessed in the Old Believer "salting" - a ritual tour of churches in the sun. (M.V.Surov "Everything and everyone will return") "