Folklore. Rituals and ritual folklore A brief report on ritual folklore

What is ritual folklore? First of all, this is folk art, collective or individual, oral, less often written. The folklore style of communication between people usually did not involve emotions. It expressed thoughts and desires associated with certain events and timed to coincide with them. Therefore, rituals mainly consist of songs, lamentations, family stories, lullabies, and wedding praises. Occasional conspiracies, spells and invocations, counting rhymes and slander are considered a separate category.

What is ritual folklore in a broader sense?

These are works of art of small form, associated with traditions, customs, religious and ethnographic genres. It should be noted that in all cases the rituals bear signs of a folk character. At the same time, modernity seems to be blurred. Ancient traditions and customs fit best into the past tense.

The range of folklore rituals is quite wide. This is village choreography, choral singing in nature, during field work, haymaking or grazing. Since traditional customs were constantly present in the lives of ordinary people, the ritual folklore of the Russian people was and remains an integral part of their existence. The emergence of customs is always associated with long-term circumstances. An ongoing drought that threatens the harvest can become a reason for people to turn to God asking for help. Any natural phenomena that are dangerous to a person also force him to look for a way out of the current situation. And most often these are prayers and requests, candles and notes in churches.

Many rituals and ritual folklore in general have ritual and magical significance. They form the basis of behavioral norms in society, and sometimes even acquire features of national character. This fact testifies to the depth of folklore values, which means

Folklore rituals are divided into labor, holiday, family and love rituals. Russians are closely intertwined with the folklore of other Slavic peoples. And besides, they are often typologically connected with the population of some countries located on the other side of the world. The relationship between seemingly different cultures is often determined by a historical analogy.

Ivan Kupala holiday

Ritual folklore in Russia has always been self-sufficient and did not need external support. The originality of Russian traditions and customs not only passed from generation to generation, but also grew with new rituals, often exotic. The most notable folk rite is this rite. This rite has pagan roots. On the night of Ivan Kupala, high bonfires were lit, and each of those present had to jump over the fire. This was not always possible; there was a danger of falling and getting burned.

At night on Ivan Kupala, it was customary to commit ritual outrages, steal livestock from neighbors, destroy beehives, trample vegetable gardens and firmly prop up the doors of huts with sticks so that residents could not leave. The motives for all these actions are still unclear. The next day, the outrageous fellow villagers again became balanced citizens.

Song ritual

Poetry occupies a significant place in Russian ritual folklore, which can be roughly divided into song poetry (spells, corilations, valiant songs) and magical poetry (love spells, sentences, lamentations).

Songs-spells turned to nature, asked for prosperity in the household and family affairs. The Great Ones sang at Maslenitsa, carols and other celebrations. Corruption chants were of a mocking nature.

Rituals and calendar

Along with others, in Rus' there was ritual folklore of the calendar type, which was directly related to agricultural work in the broadest sense. Calendar-ritual songs are the most ancient folk art, historically developed over many years of peasant labor in the field and in haymaking.

The agricultural calendar, the schedule of field work according to the seasons, is a kind of program of the song genre. All folk melodies, born behind the plow, harrow and while weeding. The words are simple, but this song poetry contained the whole gamut of human experiences, hope for success, anxious expectations, uncertainty, giving way to glee. Nothing unites people more than a common goal, be it harvesting or choral singing. Social values ​​inevitably take some form. In this case, this is folklore and with it Russian customs.

Folklore by season

The songs of the spring ritual repertoire sounded cheerful. They look like jokes, reckless and daring. The melodies of the summer months seemed deeper, they were sung with a sense of accomplishment, but as if with a hidden expectation of a miracle - a good harvest. In autumn, during harvest time, ritual songs rang like a stretched string. People didn’t relax for a minute, otherwise you wouldn’t have time to collect everything before the rains.

Reason for fun

And when the bins were full, then the folk fun began, ditties, round dances, dances and weddings. The ritual folklore of the calendar phase of intense work smoothly transitioned into festivities and free life with feasts. Young people looked closely at each other, made new acquaintances. And here traditional customs were not forgotten, the ritual folklore of the Russian people “rose to its full height.” In the huts, fortune telling began on the betrothed, the girls spent hours burning candles and swinging rings on thin threads. Shoes and felt boots were thrown over shoulders, whispers were heard in the upper room.

Christmas carols

What is ritual folklore from a religious point of view? The holiday of the Nativity of Christ is considered one of the most traditional in Rus'. It immediately follows the New Year. It is generally accepted that the way you spend this holiday, the rest of the year will be the same. Some people consider Christmas to be the beginning of a new year. This is the main Russian religious event. On January 6, Christmas Eve, caroling began. These are festive walks around houses and apartments with songs and bags full of grain. Children usually go caroling. Everyone wants to receive a pie or a handful of sweets from the owners of the house in response to congratulations on the holiday.

The eldest in the procession of carolers usually carries the “Star of Bethlehem” on a pole, which appeared in the sky when Jesus Christ was born. The owners to whom they came with carols should not skimp on gifts for children, otherwise they will have to listen to the children’s comic reproaches.

The main night of the year

A few days after Christmas, the New Year began (today we call it the Old New Year), which was also accompanied by folklore rituals. People wished each other happiness, long life and every success in business. Congratulations were presented in the form of short carols. Also a folk ritual were “sub-bowl” songs that accompanied fortune-telling after midnight. This is what ritual folklore is on New Year's Eve!

And when winter is over, it’s time to see it off - and people take to the streets to celebrate Maslenitsa. This is the time of cheerful folklore winter rituals with troika riding, creaking sleigh races, and ice skating games with sticks. The fun continues until dark, and late in the evening the whole family sits by the stove and remembers the past holiday. During such gatherings, they sang songs, sang ditties, and played games. This is also ritual family folklore of the Russian people. It includes family stories, wedding songs, lullabies, lamentations, and much more.

Russians, like other Slavic peoples, were farmers. Already in ancient times, the Slavs celebrated the solstice and the associated changes in nature. These observations developed into a system of mythological beliefs and practical work skills, reinforced by rituals, signs, and proverbs. Gradually, the rituals formed an annual (calendar) cycle. The most important holidays were timed to coincide with the winter and summer solstice.

1.1. Winter rites

The time from the Nativity of Christ (December 25) 1 to Epiphany (January 6) was called Christmastide. Winter Christmastide was divided into holy evenings(from December 25 to January 1) and scary evenings (with January 1 to January 6), they were separated by St. Basil's Day (January 1, according to the church calendar - Basil of Caesarea). IN holy evenings they glorified Christ, sang carols, calling for prosperity to every household. The second half of Christmas time was filled with games, dressing up, and get-togethers.

Christ was glorified throughout the Christmas week. The Christoslav boys carried on a pole made of multi-colored paperBethlehem star, singing religious holidays

songs (stichera). The birth of Christ was depicted in the folk puppet theater - nativity scene. The nativity scene was a box without a front wall, inside which pictures were played out.

The ancient meaning of New Year's celebrations was to honor the reborn sun. In many places, the pagan custom has been preserved on the night before Christmas to light bonfires in the middle of the village street in front of each house - a symbol of the sun. There was also a view O supernatural properties of water, later absorbed into the church rite of blessing of water. At Epiphany, they did “Jordan” on the river: they set up something like an altar at the ice hole, they came here with a procession of the cross, blessed the water, and some even swam in the ice hole.

The revival of the sun meant the onset of a new year, and people had a desire to predict the future and influence fate. For this purpose, various actions were carried out that were designed to ensure a good harvest, successful hunting, offspring of livestock, and increase in the family.

A lot of delicious food was being prepared. Baked from dough kozulki: cows, bulls, sheep, birds, roosters - it was customary to give them as gifts. An essential Christmas treat was Caesarea piglet.

In New Year's magic, bread, grain, and straw played a big role: straw was laid on the floor in the hut, and sheaves were brought into the hut. Grains sowed (sowed, sowed) huts - throwing a handful, they said: "To your health- cow, sheep, human"; or: "Onhalf of the calves, under the bench of lambs, on the bench - a child!

On the night before Christmas and on New Year's Eve, a ritual was performed caroling Teenagers and young people gathered, dressed someone in an inverted sheepskin coat, and gave them a stick and a bag, where food was later stored. The carolers approached each hut and shouted praises to the owners under the windows, and for this they were given refreshments.

The round songs (performed during the ritual round of courtyards) during caroling had different names: carols(on South), autumn(in the central regions), grapes(in the northern regions). The names come from the choruses "Kolyada, Kolyada!""Bai, avsen, byi, avsen!"\>1 "Vinogradye, grapevine, red-greenBut!" Otherwise these songs were close. Compositionally, they consisted of good wishes and demands for alms. Particularly frequent was the wish for abundance, which was depicted in incantatory songs using hyperboles:

And God forbid that

Who's in this house?

Rye is thick for him.

Dinner rye!

He's like an ear of octopus,

From the grain he has a carpet,

Half-grain pie.

In addition to the spell for the harvest, the wish for longevity, happiness, and numerous offspring was expressed. They could sing praises to individual family members. The desired, the ideal was depicted as reality. A rich, fantastically beautiful courtyard and house were described, the owner was compared to the month, the mistress to the sun, and their children to with frequent asterisks:

When the month is young, it is our master,

The red sun is the hostess,

Vineyard, grapevine, red-green.

Often the stars are small.

They sang a song to the stingy owners:

Won't you give me the pie?

We take the cow by the horns.

Not give it gut<колбасу> -

We are a pig by the whisky.

Won't you give me a blink -

We are the host in the kick.

It was customary to tell fortunes on New Year's Eve, as well as from New Year's to Epiphany. Once upon a time, fortune telling had an agricultural character (about the future harvest), but already from the 18th century. Mostly girls wondered about their fate. Were distributed sub-scabies fortune telling with songs. Up to several hundred forms and methods of fortune telling are known.

At Christmastide there was always dressing up. Zoomorphic masks had magical significance in ancient times. (bull, horse, goat), as well as archaic anthropomorphic ones: old man with old woman, dead man. Travestyism had deep roots: dressing women in men's suits, men in women's suits. Later they began to dress up in soldier, gentleman, gypsy and so on. Dressing turned into a masquerade, folk theater was born: buffoons and dramatic scenes were performed. Their cheerful, unbridled, and sometimes obscene character was associated with obligatory laughter. Ritu-

laughter (for example, at deceased) had a productive meaning. V. Ya. Propp wrote: “Laughter is a magical means of creating life.”

At the end of winter - beginning of spring it was celebrated Maslenitsa. At its core, it was a pagan holiday dedicated to the farewell of the passing winter and the arrival of the sun's warmth, the awakening of the magic-giving power of the earth. Christianity influenced only the timing of Maslenitsa, which fluctuated depending on Easter: it was preceded by a seven-week Lent, Maslenitsa was celebrated in the eighth pre-Easter week.

I. P. Sakharov wrote: “All the days of Holy Week have their own special names: meeting - Monday, for a and g r y -sh i - Tuesday, gourmet - Wednesday, revelry, turning point, wide Thursday - Thursday, mother-in-law's party - Friday , sister-in-law's get-togethers - Saturday, farewells, farewells, forgiveness day - Sunday"  . The week itself was called cheese, cheesecake, which speaks of it as a holiday of “white” food: milk, butter, sour cream, cheese. Pancakes as an obligatory treat, which quite late turned into an attribute of Maslenitsa everywhere, were primarily a funeral food (depicting the sun, pancakes symbolized the afterlife, which, according to the ancient ideas of the Slavs, had a solar nature). Maslenitsa was distinguished by particularly widespread hospitality, ritual overeating, drinking strong drinks and even revelry. The abundance of fatty (“oily”) food gave the holiday its name.

Started on Thursday (or Friday) wide Maslenitsa. They rode down the icy mountains, and later on horses. Festive train in honor of Maslenitsa (a string of sleighs with horses harnessed to them) in some places reached several hundred sleighs. In ancient times, skating had a special meaning: it was supposed to help the movement of the sun.

Maslenitsa is a holiday for young married couples. According to them, they were welcome everywhere: they went to visit their father-in-law and mother-in-law, showed themselves to people in their best outfits (for this they stood in rows on both sides of the village street). They were forced to do business in front of everyone. The young people had to communicate their fertility to the earth, to “awaken” its maternal principle. That's why

in many places newlyweds, and sometimes girls of marriageable age, were buried in the snow, in straw, or rolled in the snow with ritual laughter.

Maslenitsa was famous for fist fights. Among the Cossacks, the game “taking a snow fortress” was popular, which was played on the river.

At Maslenitsa, mummers walked the streets bear, goat, men dressed up as “women” and vice versa; Even horses were dressed in ports or skirts. Maslenitsa itself was represented by a straw effigy, usually in women's clothing. At the beginning of the week they “met” him, that is, they put him on a sleigh and drove him around the village with songs. These songs had the appearance of greatness: they sang wide honestMaslenitsa, Maslenitsa dishes and entertainment. True, the grandeur was ironic. Maslenitsa was called dear guests -whoa and was portrayed as a young, elegant woman (AvdotyushkaIzotyevna, Akulina Savvishna).

The holiday everywhere ended with a “seeing off” - the burning of Maslenitsa. The effigy was taken outside the village and burned (sometimes thrown into the river or torn and scattered across the field). At the same time, they sang reproachful songs (and later ditties), in which Maslenitsa was reproached for the fact that Lent was coming. She was given offensive nicknames: wettail, torticollis, polyjuice, pancakefood. They could perform parody funeral laments.

In some places there was no scarecrow, bonfires were burned instead, but they still said that they burn Maslenitsa. The custom of burning Maslenitsa shows that it personified darkness, winter, death, and cold. With the onset of spring, it was necessary to get rid of it so that it would not harm the reviving nature. The arrival of the sun's warmth was supposed to be helped by fires that were laid out in a high place, and in the middle of them a wheel was fixed on a pole - when it lit up, it seemed like an image of the sun.

Day of farewell to Maslenitsa - Forgiveness Sunday. In the evening of this day the fun stopped and that was it. said goodbye that is, they asked forgiveness from relatives and friends for their sins in the past year. The godchildren visited their godfather and mother. People seemed to be cleansed of insults and filth. And on Clean Monday (the first day of Lent) they washed the dishes from the humble food and washed in the baths in order to prepare cleanly for fasting.

Introductory part. The term “folklore”, history of the genre, the concept of ritual folklore.

Main part.

Bibliography.

Introductory part:

Folklore (eng. folklore) - folk art, most often oral; artistic collective creative activity of the people, reflecting their life, views, ideals; poetry created by the people and existing among the masses (legends, songs, ditties, anecdotes, fairy tales, epics), folk music (songs, instrumental tunes and plays), theater (dramas, satirical plays, puppet theater), dance, architecture, fine and arts and crafts. The term “folklore” was first introduced into scientific use in 1846 by the English scientist William Toms, as a set of structures integrated by word and speech, regardless of what non-verbal elements they are associated with. It would probably be more accurate and definite to use the old one from the 20-30s. terminology that has fallen out of use. the phrase “oral literature” or not very specific sociological. limitation “oral folk literature”.

This use of the term is determined by different concepts and interpretations of the connections between the subject of folkloristics and other forms and layers of culture, the unequal structure of culture in different countries of Europe and America in those decades of the last century when ethnography and folkloristics arose, different rates of subsequent development, different composition of the main fund of texts, which science used in each country.

Thus, folklore is oral folk art - epics and songs, proverbs and sayings, fairy tales and conspiracies, ritual and other poetry - reflected the idea of ​​Russian people about their past and the world around them. The epics about Vasily Buslaevich and Sadko glorify Novgorod with its bustling city life and trade caravans sailing to overseas countries. The Russian people created a huge amount of oral literature: wise proverbs and cunning riddles, funny and sad ritual songs, solemn epics, heroic, magical, everyday and funny tales. It is vain to think that this literature was only the fruit of popular leisure. She is the dignity and intelligence of the people. She formed and strengthened his moral character, was his historical memory, the festive clothes of his soul and filled with deep content his entire measured life, flowing according to the customs and rituals associated with his work, nature and the veneration of his fathers and grandfathers.

Folk musical art originated long before the emergence of professional music in the Orthodox church. In the social life of ancient Rus', folklore played a much greater role than in subsequent times. Unlike medieval Europe, Ancient Rus' did not have secular professional art. In its musical culture, only two main areas developed - temple singing and folk art of the oral tradition, including various, including “semi-professional” genres (the art of storytellers, buffoons, etc.).

By the time of Russian Orthodox hymnography, folklore had a centuries-old history, an established system of genres and means of musical expression. Folk music has firmly entered the everyday life of people, reflecting the most diverse facets of social, family, and personal life. Researchers believe that in the pre-state period (that is, before the formation of Kievan Rus), the Eastern Slavs had a fairly developed calendar and family ritual folklore, heroic epic and instrumental music.

Songs, epics, riddles, and proverbs have reached us through many centuries, and it is often difficult to separate the early basis of a folklore work from later layers. Researchers of folk art identify “ritual folklore” as a separate group, associated with the agricultural calendar and rooted in ancient pagan beliefs. These are the songs and dances performed on Maslenitsa, on the day of Ivan Kupala, and Christmas carols. Ritual folklore also includes wedding songs and fortune telling.

In order to perceive the richness of ancient Russian ritual poetry, you need to know what rituals we are talking about, when and why they were performed, and what role the song played in this. The ritual, as a certain process, was a normative, strictly regulated religious act, subordinate to the canon that had developed over the centuries. He was born in the depths of the pagan picture of the world, the deification of natural elements. Calendar-ritual songs are considered the most ancient. Their content is associated with ideas about the cycle of nature and the agricultural calendar. These songs reflect the different stages of life of peasant farmers. They were part of winter, spring, and summer rituals that correspond to turning points in the change of seasons. When performing the ritual, people believed that their spells would be heard by the mighty gods, the forces of the Sun, Water, and Mother Earth and would send them a good harvest, offspring of livestock, and a comfortable life. Ritual songs were considered the same obligatory component of the ritual as the main ritual actions. It was even believed that if all ritual actions were not performed and the songs accompanying them were not performed, then the desired result would not be achieved. They accompanied the first plowing and harvesting of the last sheaf in the field, youth celebrations and Christmas or Trinity holidays, christenings and weddings.

Calendar-ritual songs belong to the oldest type of folk art, and they got their name due to their connection with the folk agricultural calendar - the schedule of work according to the seasons.

Calendar-ritual songs, as a rule, are small in volume and simple in poetic structure. They contain anxiety and jubilation, uncertainty and hope. One of the common features is the personification of the main image associated with the meaning of the ritual. Thus, in Christmas songs, Kolyada is depicted walking around the yards, looking for the owner, giving him all sorts of benefits. We encounter similar images - Maslenitsa, Spring, Trinity - in many calendar songs. The songs beg, call for goodness from these strange creatures, and sometimes reproach them for deceit and frivolity.

In their form, these songs are short poems, which in one stroke, two or three lines, indicate a mood, a lyrical situation.

Russian folk ritual poetry is closely connected with the old traditional way of life and at the same time conceals an amazing wealth of poetry that has stood the test of time for centuries.

Let's consider some types of calendar-ritual songs:

Caroling began on Christmas Eve, December 24th. This was the name of the festive rounds of houses with the singing of carols, in which the owners of the house were glorified and contained wishes for wealth, harvest, etc.

Carols were sung by children or youth who carried a star on a pole. This star symbolized the Star of Bethlehem, which appeared in the sky at the moment of the birth of Christ.

The owners presented the carolers with sweets, cookies, and money. If the owners were stingy, the carolers sang mischievous carols with comic threats, for example:

Won't you give me the pie?
We take the cow by the horns.
You won't give me guts -
We are a pig by the whisky.
Won't you give me a blink -
We are the host in the kick.

The beginning of the year was given special significance. How you spend the New Year will be the same for the whole coming year. Therefore, we tried to keep the table plentiful, people cheerful, wishing each other happiness and good luck.

Cheerful short carols were the song form of such wishes.

One of the types of New Year's songs were sub-bread songs. They accompanied New Year's fortune-telling. V. A. Zhukovsky in the poem “Svetlana” retells one of the most popular sub-bowl songs:

…Blacksmith,
Forge me gold and a new crown,
Forge a gold ring.
I should be crowned with that crown,
Get engaged with that ring
At the holy levy.

You can compare it with the folklore version:

The blacksmith is coming from the forge, glory!
The blacksmith carries three hammers, glory!
Skuy, blacksmith, a golden crown for me, glory!
From the samples I have a gold ring, glory!
From the leftovers, a pin for me, thank you!
To be crowned with this crown, glory!
Get engaged with that ring, glory!
And I’ll use that pin to pin the lining, thank you!
To whom we sing a song, goodness, glory to him!
It will come true, it will not fail, glory!

The famous underwater song is quoted in the 5th chapter of “Eugene Onegin” by A. S. Pushkin.

Characterizing Maslenitsa songs, it can be noted that in them, Maslenitsa is scolded, ridiculed, called upon to return, called by comic human names: Avdotyushka, Izotyevna, Akulina Savvishna, etc.

V.I. Dal wrote that each day of Maslenitsa had its own name: Monday - meeting, Tuesday - flirting, Wednesday - gourmet, Thursday - wide Thursday, Friday - mother-in-law's evening, Saturday - sister-in-law's gatherings, Sunday - farewell. This same week it was customary to go sledding down the mountains.

As for the Trinity cycle, it can be noted that it was the richest in calendar and ritual songs, games, and round dances. It is not without reason that the poetic images and melodies of these songs attracted the attention of many Russian writers, for example A. N. Ostrovsky: Lelya’s famous song “The cloud conspired with thunder” and the ritual song of the Trinity cycle:

The cloud conspired with thunder:
Dolya-lyoly-lyo-lyo!
“Let’s go, cloud, for a walk in the field,
To that field, to Zavodskoe!
You with the rain, and I with the mercy,
You water it, and I’ll grow it!”...

as well as composers (the song “There was a birch tree in the field...” in P. I. Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony, “The Snow Maiden” by N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, etc.).

Spring rituals were performed during the main days of the year, Lent, so they had almost no festive playful character.

The main spring genre is stoneflies. They, in fact, were not sung, but clicked, climbing onto hillocks and roofs. They called for spring and said goodbye to winter.

Some stoneflies are reminiscent of the lines “Cockroaches” or “Cockroaches” or “Cockroaches” (“cockroaches to drums”), familiar from childhood.

Here is one of the stoneflies of this kind:

...Tits, tits,
Bring a knitting needle!
Canaries,
Canaries,
Bring some sewing!
Rosary beads, tap beads,
Bring me a brush!
Then, ducks,
Blow the pipes
Cockroaches -
To the drums!

With the adoption of Christianity, pagan beliefs gradually lose their meaning. The meaning of magical acts that gave rise to this or that type of folk music was gradually forgotten. However, the purely external forms of ancient holidays turned out to be unusually stable, and ritual folklore continued to live as if out of connection with the paganism that gave birth to it.

The Christian Church (not only in Rus', but also in Europe) had a very negative attitude towards traditional folk songs and dances, considering them a manifestation of sinfulness and devilish seduction. This assessment is recorded in many chronicles and in canonical church decrees. For example, the answers of the Kyiv Metropolitan John II to the 11th century writer are known. Yakov Chernorizets, which says about the priests: “Those persons of the priestly rank who go to worldly feasts and drink, the holy fathers command to observe decorum and accept what is offered with a blessing; when they come in with games, dances and music, then you must, as the fathers command, get up (from the table), so as not to defile your feelings with what you can see and hear, or completely abandon those feasts or leave at a time when there will be a great temptation."

The negative reaction of the Orthodox Church was caused by a very specific area of ​​folklore, born in the depths of the so-called “laughing” or “carnival” culture of Ancient Rus'. Noisy folk festivals with elements of theatrical performance and with the indispensable participation of music, the origins of which should be sought in ancient pagan rituals, were fundamentally different from temple holidays. “Laughter” culture has always been a “distorting mirror” of reality, an absurd “stupid” life, where everything was the other way around, everything changed places - good and evil, bottom and top, reality and fantasy. These holidays are characterized by turning clothes inside out and using matting, bast, straw, birch bark, bast and other carnival paraphernalia for dressing up.

I would like to draw special attention to the fact that such outstanding Russian writers, poets, and composers as A. S. Pushkin, N. A. Nekrasov, A. N. Ostrovsky, S. A. Yesenin, M. I. were interested in ritual poetry. Glinka, N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov, P.I. Tchaikovsky and others. Many episodes of “The Snow Maiden” by A.N. Ostrovsky are based on the motifs of stone flies.

Used Books:

Russian folk poetic creativity: Reader / Ed. A. M. Novikova. - M., 1978;

Russian folk poetry: Ritual poetry / Comp. K. Chistov, B. Chistova. - L., 1984;

Kruglov Yu. G. Russian ritual songs. - M., 1982;

Poetry of peasant holidays. - L., 1970; Nursery rhymes, counting rhymes, fables. - M., 1989.

Putilov B.N. Folklore and folk culture // Putilov B.N. Folklore and folk culture; In memoriam. St. Petersburg, 2003. P. 95.

Sedakova O.A. Poetics of ritual. Funeral rituals of the Eastern and Southern Slavs. M., 2004.

Folklore and ethnography of the Russian North. L., 1973. S. 3-4.

Bayburin A.K., Toporkov A.L. At the origins of etiquette. L., 1990. P. 5.

Tolstaya S.M. Ritual voting: semantics, vocabulary, pragmatics // The sounding and silent world. Semiotics of sound and speech in the traditional culture of the Slavs. M., 1999. P. 135.

Nevskaya L.G. Balto-Slavic lamentation. Reconstruction of semantic structure. M., 1993. P. 108.

Eremina V.I. Historical and ethnographic origins of common places of lamentation // Russian folklore: Poetics of folklore. L., 1981. T. 21. P. 84.

Chistov K.V. On the question of the magical function of funeral lamentations // Historical and ethnographic studies on folklore: Collection of articles in memory of Sergei Aleksandrovich Tokarev. M., 1994. P. 273.

ritual actions (knocking out a tooth) are represented... by a mischievous trickster (stuntman) in folklore Northwest Coast Indians...

1. Folklore (5)

   Abstract >> Culture and art

   Studying. Artistic and historical significance folklore was deeply revealed by A.M. ... The beginning of the art of words - in folklore. Collect yours folklore, learn from it, ... This is how the transition from ritual syncretism to isolated verbal...

Calendar rituals in Russian folklore

Test

INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………………. 3

CALENDAR RITES IN RUSSIAN FOLKLORE………….. 4

CONCLUSION………………………………………………………. 13

LIST OF REFERENCES…………………. 14

INTRODUCTION

Calendar rituals and holidays are one of the most important components of Russian folk art. The leading place in folklore is occupied by agricultural rituals, since agriculture was the basis of the entire way of life of people. Ritualism takes its origins from pre-Christian, pagan times. Before the adoption of Christianity, paganism was nothing more than the main universal system that generalized the processes and phenomena of the world, penetrating into all spheres of human life and everyday life. People were clearly convinced of the existence, and, accordingly, the presence and direct participation of supernatural power, both in work and in everyday life. This is where numerous rituals appear, accompanied by songs and spells.

After the adoption of Christianity, paganism did not disappear, but became intertwined with a new religion. To this day, we celebrate a sufficient number of Christian holidays, the basis of which is from the ancient times of paganism. The Orthodox Church transformed the pagan essence by superimposing the church calendar on the folk calendar, in which the days of commemoration of saints or events from the history of the church were located in calendar order. As a result of this overlap, a mixture of pagan and Christian elements arose in the rituals, and the agricultural calendar was closely intertwined with the Christian one.

In folk art, calendar rituals are especially widely represented by songs.

Nowadays, interest in calendar rituals is experiencing a real boom. We celebrate many holidays of the agricultural calendar in a somewhat stylized manner, not always knowing the original purpose of this or that ritual. Therefore, the question of studying the origins of calendar rituals is relevant for us.

CALENDAR RITES IN RUSSIAN FOLKLORE

Calendar rituals that accompany human life throughout the year correlate with the natural cycle and the labor activity of the peasant.

The beginning of the agricultural year was associated either with the arrival of spring and sowing, or with harvesting in the fall. Before 1348, the beginning of the New Year in Rus' was celebrated on March 1, and in the period from 1348 to 1699 – on September 1. And only in the era of Peter’s reforms, the New Year began to be celebrated in January.

In calendar rituals and holidays, which reflect the main cycles of the agricultural calendar, it is customary to distinguish 4 groups. These are winter rituals (Kolyada, Maslenitsa), spring (welcoming spring, the first exit into the field, St. George's Day), summer (Kupala, zazhinki, dozhinki), autumn (Pokrov).

The beginning of the annual cycle of calendar rituals was traditionally considered to be the time of the winter solstice, when daylight began to increase, the sun, waking up from hibernation, began to warm up more strongly. The New Year's Eve was called Christmastide. Christmastide was celebrated for two weeks - from the Nativity of Christ to Epiphany (December 25 - January 6, old style). Christmas was preceded by the holy evening of Christmas Eve. In fact, he started the Christmas holidays. The peasants believed that by the signs of Christmas night they could determine the future harvest, and by performing magical rituals the future harvest could be improved. Before the meal, the owner took a pot of kutia in his hands and walked around the hut with it three times. Upon returning, he threw several spoons of kutya out the door into the yard to appease the spirits. Opening the door, he invited “frost” to the kutya and asked him not to destroy the crops in the spring. This gaming ritual was perceived as the beginning of the holidays. An indispensable part of them were spells and beliefs: women wound tight balls of yarn so that large heads of cabbage would be born in the summer.

On the same evening, caroling and generosity began, when mummers went around the courtyards singing songs. Large groups of people took part in these rituals, from children to the elderly. Carolers sang congratulatory songs to the owners of the house with wishes of happiness, material well-being, health, offspring of livestock, and glorified the kindness, generosity, generosity of the owner and hostess.

To your new summer,
Have a great summer!
Where does the horse's tail go?
It's full of bushes there.
Where does the goat go with its horn?
There's a stack of hay there.
How many aspens,
So many pigs for you;
How many Christmas trees
So many cows;
How many candles
So many sheep.

The caroling ended with songs that contained a request for a treat for the carolers. They were given lard, sausage, pies, and sometimes money. After going around the village, a general feast was held with songs and dances...

The peasants, being inextricably linked with labor on the land, with nature, believed that by combining the efforts of many people in a ritual action, it was possible to help fertility. After all, people and nature are two parts of one whole, and ritual is a means of communication between them. Mandatory Christmas games, fun games, abundant food and intoxicating drinks awakened cheerful energy in people, which, merging with the emerging energy of fertility, doubled it.

The spring equinox, as a rule, coincided with the farewell to winter - Maslenitsa. The festive festivities lasted a week. An indispensable companion of this spring holiday are pancakes, butter pancakes, which in shape symbolize the sun. Having gorged themselves on butter pancakes, Maslenitsa itself rose above the crowd, symbolizing the end of winter and the beginning of the fruiting season. The festivities began with the rituals of calling and welcoming Maslenitsa, which was presented in the form of a scarecrow dressed in women's clothing. At the end of the festivities, the effigy was burned; Maslenitsa was now supposed to calm down until next year. Winter was leaving, giving way to spring, fields and arable lands received new strength.

In March, ritual cookies were baked in the shape of birds - larks, children and youth carried them into the field, climbed to high places, threw the larks up and shouted spring songs, in which they called on spring to come quickly and drive away the cold winter:

Give it, spring,

Good years,

Good, grain-bearing years!

The germ is thick:

The grain is thick, spicuous,

Spiky, edry!

To have something to brew beer with,

Brew beer, get the guys married,

Get the guys married, give away the girls.

Spring, red spring!

Come, spring, with joy,

With joy, with joy,

With great mercy:

With tall flax,

With deep roots,

With abundant bread!

The arrival of spring in the popular consciousness was often associated with the arrival of birds. Therefore, in the stonefly songs they addressed the birds, the larks:

Larks,

Larks!

Come and visit us

Bring it to us

Summer is warm!

Take it away from us

Cold winter!

It's a cold winter for us

I'm bored

Hands-legs

Freeze!

Larks,

Quails,

Swallow birds,

Come and visit us!

Clear spring

Red spring

Bring it to us!

On the perch

On the groove

And with a plow and a harrow,

And with a black mare...

In the songs, the peasants expressed concern about preparing for the upcoming agricultural work: it was necessary to prepare harrows and sharpen bipods.

Another custom is associated with the arrival of spring - on the day of the Annunciation, birds were released from their cages.

For spring rites, towels with images of the goddess of fertility were embroidered. One of the notable traditions of welcoming spring was painting eggs. Painting eggs in the spring is one of the oldest traditions that has survived to this day. A painted egg was an important attribute of rituals, and there was even a custom of using specially made ceramic decorated eggs - pysanky. It was believed that the painted ritual egg had extraordinary properties: it could heal a sick person or even put out a fire caused by a lightning strike.

The spring cycle of holidays was associated with the awakening of nature, with the renewal of life. One of these holidays is St. George's Day. Ritual ceremonies in honor of Yuri had a pastoral and agricultural focus, since according to the ancient tradition of St. Yuri was considered the patron of livestock and farming and the successor of the East Slavic deity Veles. Usually the first cattle drive was timed for this day. The owners walked around their flock three times with a candle, which was specially blessed in the church, as well as with bread, which was given to the animals after the ritual. The shepherds received a rich treat on this day.

Oh, I'll go out into the street, the bulls are raging,
Yuri, Yuri, the bulls are raging.
The bulls are raging - they sense spring,
Yuri, Yuri, they sense spring.
The rivers overflowed, the ice floated,
Yuri, Yuri, the ice has floated.
The earth turned black, it was plowed,
Yuri, Yuri, they plowed her.
The birch tree trembled - the buds burst.
Yuri, Yuri, the kidneys burst.
The oak grove cheered up, the birds began to sing,
Yuri, Yuri, the birds began to sing.
The dolipa tree has turned green, the flowers have bloomed,
Yuri, Yuri, the flowers have bloomed.
Oh, I’ll go out, I’ll go out to pick flowers, Yuri, Yuri, to pick flowers.
Collect flowers, make wreaths,
Yuri, Yuri, make wreaths. Twist wreaths,
Yuri glorify, Yuri, Yuri, Yuri glorify.

The spring rituals were crowned and the summer “green Christmastide” began. They fell at the end of May - June (different localities set their own dates).

For the peasant, this is a time of some waiting - he did everything he could in the fields, the thrown grain sprouted, now everything depended on nature, and therefore on the whim of the creatures that control the natural elements. Therefore, the peasants turned to the surface of the water - to rivers and lakes, sources of fertile morning dew. And the soul goes to mermaids, rulers of reservoirs. And at this time they expected from the mermaids not only pranks and intrigues, but also irrigating the fields with life-giving moisture, which contributed to the earing of grain. Rus' ritual round dances and songs were accompanied by the beats of a tambourine and the sharp sounds of a flute. By spinning and jumping and shrill shouts, the participants brought themselves into a state of extreme excitement. Such a massive riot was supposed to attract the attention of the mermaids and lure them out of the pools.

Mermaids sat on an oak tree
ma...yu, may, may green (y)
The mermaids sat down and asked for shirts
Maiden(s) – young souls dvaiti falling
Even if it’s sometimes - it’s poryon, and even if it’s byalim - it’s bleaching.

A rich harvest depended not only on sufficient moisture, but also on solar heat. Therefore, part of the “green Christmastide” were two “fiery”, sunny holidays - Yarilin’s Day (June 4, old style) and Ivan Kupala (June 24, old style). They began the summer cycle of holidays.

Yarila is the god of the rising (spring) sun, the god of love, the patron of animals and plants, the god of strength and courage.

Kupala is a deity of Slavic mythology, which is associated with the cult of the sun.

The girls went out into the meadow, oh, and stood in a circle.
Oh, early, early, oh, early for Ivan
The guys went out into the meadow, oh, and they all stood in a circle.
Oh, early, early, oh, early for Ivan
They lit the woodpile and played until dawn.

The decoration and symbol of the holiday are Ivan da Marya flowers. According to legend, on the night of Ivan Kupala, a wonderful fern flower bloomed with a fiery color, which brought happiness to the finder. Witchcraft surrounded this flower, but brave souls are still trying to find this magical flower.

In the evening of Ivan Kupala, the magical ritual of producing “living fire” began the main action: sacred bonfires were kindled from the glowing fire, and the daring people began to jump over them. Everyone tried to jump higher, because magically the height of the bread depended on the height of the jump. There were round dances around the fires. The girls wove wreaths and launched them into the water. The holiday ended early in the morning, when everyone went to greet the sunrise and swim in a river or lake.

Summer rituals also included the stubble rituals (zazhinki, dozhinki), which were given great importance, since the harvest, and therefore the life of the peasant, depended on their performance. The main content of autumn rituals is the desire to return the expended strength to those working in the field and preserve the fruitful energy of the earth.

Symbolic meaning was attached to the first and last compressed sheaves, around which a number of ritual actions were carried out, theatrical performances with songs, games, and ritual meals were held. The last sheaf was carried home from the villages and placed in the “red corner” under the icons. Threshing began with it, and its grains were stored until new sowing. Special honors were given to the last sheaf.

Work in the field was accompanied by “stubber” and “pre-harvest” songs - under some they reaped, and under others they gathered the last harvest.

And they told us

That we lazily reaped

What a waste we have been!

We've already reaped

And they put me in the cops,

They've made haystacks!

And in the field with cops,

There are stacks of hay on the threshing floor,

There are stacks of haystacks on the threshing floor!

There are stacks of hay on the threshing floor,

On the current in heaps,

And with current furs!

Harvesting songs captured pictures of the harvest.

The end of the agricultural year was symbolized by the Feast of the Intercession. It was believed that the Veil brings a white blanket of snow to the earth. There are sayings about this: “The Veil covers the ground, sometimes with leaves, sometimes with snow,” “On the Intercession it’s autumn before lunch, and winter after lunch.”

The harvest is harvested, and the peasant becomes relatively free to meet the guests. The time for fun games, celebrations, weddings with their ceremonies and rituals is coming again.

CONCLUSION

Concluding the consideration of calendar rituals in folklore, I would like to note that a significant place here belongs to the theme of the agricultural calendar. Holidays and rituals of this nature arose in ancient times and represented an integral calendar cycle, beginning in December, when the sun “turns to summer,” foreshadowing the imminent awakening of the nurse mother earth from her winter sleep, and ending in the fall, with the completion of the harvest.

Unlike the holidays that appeared later, they were predominantly magical in nature. The purpose of all the rituals was to ensure a good harvest, a rich offspring of domestic animals, which in turn ensured the well-being of the peasants, health and harmony in their families.

Comparing the holidays and rituals of the agricultural year with each other, it is easy to make sure that individual components in them coincide, some actions are repeated, the same ritual foods are used, and there are stable poetic formulas. This use of the same elements in different rituals is explained by the closedness of the annual cycle, subordinated to the task that unites all the actions and thoughts of the farmer to grow and preserve the harvest.

LIST OF REFERENCES USED

2. Gromyko of the Russian village. - M., 1991. P. 269.

4. Kostanyan folk literature. - M., 2008. P. 352.

5. , Lazutin oral folk art. - M., 1977. P.375.

6. Nekrylov year. Russian agricultural calendar. - M., 1989. P. 496.

7. Propp agrarian holidays. - St. Petersburg, 1995. P. 176.

8. Sakharov of the Russian people. M., 1990. P. 328.

9. National holidays in Holy Rus'. - M., 1990. P. 247.

Russian people: Their customs, rituals, legends, superstitions and poetry. - M., 2014. P. 688.

Baklanova artistic culture. - M., 2000. P. 344.

Baklanova artistic culture. - M., 2000. P. 344.

Gromyko of the Russian village. - M., 1991. P. 269.

Russian people: Their customs, rituals, legends, superstitions and poetry. - M., 2014. P. 688.

Nekrylov year. Russian agricultural calendar. - M., 1989. P. 496.

Russian people: Their customs, rituals, legends, superstitions and poetry. - M., 2014. P. 688.

Folklore has always been an important part of people's life. It accompanied the first plowing and harvesting of the last sheaf in the field, youth celebrations and Christmas rituals.

Ritual songs are songs that were performed during a variety of rituals and were a necessary part of them. It was believed that if all ritual actions were not performed and the accompanying songs were not performed, then the desired result would not be achieved.

Calendar-ritual songs belong to the oldest type of folk art, and they got their name because of their connection with the folk agricultural calendar - the schedule of work according to the seasons.

Calendar ritual songs

Carols

The Christmas and New Year holidays began with caroling 1. This was the name of the festive walks around houses with the singing of carols - songs that glorified the owners of the house and contained wishes for a rich harvest, abundance, etc. The beginning of the year was given special significance: as you celebrate the New Year, so will it be. Funny, short carols were the song form of such wishes.

Kolyada, Kolyada!
Serve the pie
Damn and flatbread
Out the back window!

New Year has come
The old one stole
Showed yourself!
Go, people
To meet the sun,
Drive away the frost!

The ritual of caroling - going around the courtyards with holiday wishes to the owners and receiving gifts in return - existed among all Slavic peoples. The songs that were performed were called differently in Rus': “carols” (in the south of the country), “ovsen” (in the central regions), “vineyard” (in the north). Traditionally, such songs began with congratulations on the holiday, followed by wishes for good health and good health to the owners, and at the end - a demand for gifts.

Maslenitsa songs

Maslenitsa was celebrated in the last week before Lent. She was distinguished by her fun, hospitality and abundant feast. The main theme of Maslenitsa songs is the meeting and farewell of Maslenitsa. In the songs, she is a cheerful deceiver: the promised holiday passes too quickly, and Lent with its restrictions and prohibitions lies ahead.

To see off Maslenitsa, they built a terrible effigy, carried it around the village singing songs, and then buried it, singing songs, or burned it.

Like during Shrovetide week
Pancakes were flying from the table,
And cheese and cottage cheese -
Everything was flying under the threshold!
Like during Shrovetide week
Pancakes were flying from the oven.
We had fun
We had fun!
Maslena has passed,
The party is over
Let's go now
On vacation!

The attitude towards Maslenitsa (depicted as a straw effigy in traditional peasant clothes) in songs was different. In songs about Maslenitsa, she was magnified, glorified, and presented as elegant and beautiful. When it came to seeing off Maslenitsa, the attitude towards her changed dramatically - she was a deceiver, clumsy, unkempt, a “podkurguz”; The main fault of Maslenitsa was that with its departure a strict fast would begin, when it would be impossible to have fun, dress up, or have feasts.

Spring songs

Rituals associated with the welcoming of spring were accompanied by the singing of so-called stoneflies. They were not sung, but clicked (called out, shouted out), climbing onto hillocks and roofs. They called for spring and said goodbye to winter.

The clicking was usually accompanied by rituals with birds baked from dough (larks, waders). The birds were thrown from a high place or attached to a pole or roof on a thread so that they would “fly” in the wind. All this was associated with the arrival of spring, the spring revival of the earth.

Spring, red spring,
Come, spring, with joy,
With great mercy,
With tall flax,
With deep roots,
With abundant bread.

Summer songs

The summer holiday known as Trinity was widely celebrated. This holiday was associated with the blossoming, coming into force of nature.

On Trinity Sunday, houses were decorated with birches, and people walked around the village with birches. Wreaths were woven from birch branches with leaves and used to tell fortunes. Fortune telling and round dances were accompanied by various songs.

There was a birch tree in the field,
The curly one stood in the field,
Ah, Lyuli, Lyuli, stood,
Oh, Lyuli, Lyuli, she stood there.

Scarlet flowers bloomed,
Ah, Lyuli, Lyuli, it blossomed.

Autumn songs

The last calendar-ritual cycle was associated with the harvest. These rituals were performed on the day when the grain harvest was completed.

After finishing the harvest, they usually “curled the beard,” that is, they tied the last handful of stems with a wreath so that the strength of the earth would not become scarce. After this, they rode around the harvest to restore the strength lost during the days of suffering. Then, with the last sheaf, singing songs, they solemnly walked home.

We stung, we stung,
They stung and reaped, -
Young people,
Golden sickles,
Niva debt 2,
Stand 3 wide;
They stung for a month,
The sickles were broken,
Haven't been to the region
Didn't see people

Questions and tasks

1. What folklore is called ritual? What calendar and ritual songs do you know? Why are they called that? Prepare to perform one of them.
2. Have you ever heard songs like this before? Where and under what circumstances?
3. What are carols? When and where were they performed? How are they different from other ritual songs?
4. What songs was the birch tree a symbol of? When were they performed?
5. What calendar and ritual songs can be called the most fun? Why?
6. Explain the meaning of the words: “zhito”, “oatmeal”, “lapta”, “sickle”, “reap”.
7. Prepare an expressive reading of one of the songs. Pay attention to its melodiousness, repetitions, appeals, epithets.
8. Prepare a holiday of calendar-ritual songs (from winter Christmas carols to autumn ones associated with the harvest). Think over the design of the stage and hall, select songs, learn them, try to introduce elements of theatrical performance into the performance of songs.

1 This name comes from the Latin word calendae, meaning the first day of the month. There are other explanations, for example from the word kolo - circle.

2 Debt - long.

3 Postat - processed field.