Folklore. Rituals and ritual folklore

Ritual songs

And today, after tens and even hundreds of years, many customs have still not lost interest for us. For example, the rite of baptism, wedding, farewell to Winter, Maslenitsa and many others. The wedding ceremony has come down from time immemorial; a wedding is still one of the most important events in the life of every person. A people's wedding did not just take place, it was played out; the expression “playing a wedding” is still preserved today. The game was played widely, all relatives and neighbors took part in it. This is a holiday, each day of which has its own significance, its own meaning, each of the participants has their own roles, texts, songs, costumes.

disappeared wedding rituals

The main moments of the wedding ceremony at a Russian wedding were: matchmaking, bridesmaid ceremony, hand-raising, bachelorette party. On the wedding day: ransom, wedding, wedding train and arrival at the groom's house. Then came the wedding feast. Nowadays, at a wedding there is also the traditional wedding train of the groom, the custom of blocking his path, the “ransom” of the bride, the custom of greeting the newlyweds with bread and salt and showering them with grain with wishes of happiness, prosperity and health.

Petrov N.P. "Bride's Show"

About a month before the wedding we went to get married. Unfavorable days for matchmaking were considered fasting days: Wednesday and Friday. The matchmakers said special texts, for example: “You have a flower, and we have a garden. Is it possible for us to transplant this flower into our little garden?” The bride's parents had to refuse the first time, even if they were happy about the wedding. The matchmaker had to persuade them. After the matchmakers left, one of the household tied all the pokers and grips together - for good luck in the business.

M. Shibanov. Marriage contract

At this time, the dowry was being prepared. Her friends came to the bride, who helped her sew gifts for the groom and his family and sang wedding songs. The gatherings lasted two to three weeks, depending on the date of the wedding day. During this period, it was customary to call the bride a girl.

Pimonenko N. Matchmakers.

The dowry was prepared in every family many years before the wedding. And by the time a girl became “marriageable,” she, as a rule, already had a dowry. Basically, the dowry included things made by the bride with her own hands. Before the wedding, the bride's relatives carried the dowry to the groom's house.

V.V. Pukirev. Acceptance of dowry by painting.

The bachelorette party was the last meeting of the bride and friends before the wedding. The bride's braid was unraveled by her friends with special songs. Often the “unbraiding” of the braid is accompanied by a “farewell to beauty” - a ribbon woven into the girl’s braid.

Makovsky K. E. Down the aisle.

On the wedding day, the bride got up before everyone else and woke up her father, mother and friends who spent the night with her with her lamentations. The friends began to gather the bride for the wedding and dressed her in her wedding attire. The bride walked down the aisle in the most festive and folk clothes. In Ancient Rus', a wedding sundress was sewn only from red fabric. Dressing was accompanied by crying and lamentations of the bride. Parents bless the bride. In this case, the bride must kneel on her fur coat, with the fur turned outward

N.V.E. Feklistov "Preparing the Bride for the Crown"

The bride and groom rode together to the wedding. Usually a couple of horses were harnessed for the young ones. Decorated horses, with bells on their arches, were jogging. By the ringing of the bell, everyone knew: “The wedding is coming.” The bride's parents met the newlyweds. Mother - with an icon, father - with bread and salt.

Andrey Ryabushkin “Wedding train in Moscow”

The order of honoring the newlyweds and guests on the first day of the wedding was mandatory. At first, the young people were called at the table. The bride and groom in lyrical songs are symbolized by a swan and a swan. Then they “played” to the main officials: the groom’s father and the groom’s mother. A young married couple, a single guy, a widow. In addition, on the first day of the wedding, in the midst of the fun, round dance songs were played

Buchkuri A.A. "Wedding Train"

The bride at the wedding was called “princess” and the groom was called “prince”. “Boyars” are friends and young relatives of the groom accompanying the wedding train. “Uncle” is an elderly relative of the groom. Matchmakers were the main participants in the wedding. The friend is one of the most important participants in the ceremony. The groomsman must know the ritual very well, for example, at what point the wedding sentences should be pronounced. The imprisoned father and imprisoned mother of the bride and groom (if there were no relatives). As a rule, this is the godfather and godmother.

Before the emergence of literature, along with the formation of human speech,

various forms of oral verbal creativity, i.e. folklore. It has come down to us from ancient times. With the advent of writing and then literature, folklore did not disappear. It existed and developed in parallel with literature.

To understand many of the features of folklore works, you need to know what the old traditional life of the people was like and what role folklore played in it.

Folklore was an integral part of folk life. It accompanied the first plowing and harvesting of the last sheaf in the field, youth celebrations and Christmas or Trinity rites, christenings and weddings.

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.

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. For example, the Christmas New Year holidays lasted from December 24 to January 6. These holidays were associated with the winter solstice - one of the most important days of the agricultural calendar, which separated one annual life cycle from the next. The Christian Church also refers to this day as the birthday of Jesus Christ.

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 with that pin I’ll use that pin
stick, glory!
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.
A. S. Pushkin:
And she took out the ring
To the song of the old days:
The men there are all rich
They are shoveling silver.
To whom we sing, it is good
And glory!

Folk song:
Rich men live across the river, glory!
They are shoveling gold, glory!
To whom we sing a song, goodness, glory to him!
It will come true, it will not fail, glory!

In Maslenitsa songs, Maslenitsa is usually scolded, ridiculed, called upon to return, called by comic human names: Avdotyushka, Izotyevna, Akulina Savvishna...

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 get-togethers, Sunday - farewell. On this same
During the week it was customary to sled down the mountains.

As for the Trinity cycle, it should 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 “A cloud conspired with thunder” and a ritual song

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!

Questions and tasks:

• What folklore is called ritual?
• What songs can be called calendar-ritual?
• When and where were carols sung? How are they different from other songs?
• What calendar and ritual songs can be called the most fun?
• Have you ever heard similar songs? Where and under what circumstances? Tell us more about this.
• Explain the meaning of the words:

oatmeal -

bast shoes - ______________________________________________________________________________

sickle - ______________________________________________________________________________

reap - ______________________________________________________________________________

Such outstanding Russian writers, poets, and composers as A. S. Pushkin, N. A. Nekrasov, A. N. Ostrovsky, S. A. Yesenin, M. I. Glinka, were interested in ritual poetry,

N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov, P.I. Tchaikovsky and others.

• What interested them all in Russian folklore, Russian folk ritual poetry?

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Ritual folklore is works of oral folk art, which, unlike non-ritual folklore, were an organic part of traditional folk rituals and were performed in rituals. Rituals occupied an important place in the life of the people: they developed from century to century, gradually accumulating the diverse experience of many generations. The rituals had ritual and magical significance and contained rules of human behavior in everyday life and work. Russian rituals are genetically related to the rituals of other Slavic peoples and have typological similarities with the rituals of many peoples of the world. Russian ritual folklore was published in the collections of P.V. Kireevsky, E.V. Barsov, P.V. Shein, A.I. Sobolevsky.

Baptism was celebrated eight days after birth. As he will remember, his mother did not visit him because she was in quarantine. In many towns in this area, the father did not witness his son's baptism. While the rite was completed, he could read the Creed before the altar to ask his son to be a good Christian. Let's move on to a description of baptism in its general terms, following, again, the very theme of the story of our interviewees.

During pregnancy, a family member offered to be godmother; Thus, she already had an account to buy what was needed for the child's baptism. The godmother bought the baby's wrapper to get it out of the pile. The child is given a change of clothes, a blanket and a skirt given by the godmother; Sometimes, some scraps of lace and some knitwear.

Rituals are usually divided into industrial and family. Already in ancient times, Slavic farmers celebrated the winter and summer solstice and the associated changes in nature with special holidays. The observations developed into a system of mythological beliefs and practical work skills, which was consolidated by the annual (calendar) cycle of agrarian ritual holidays and the accompanying ritual folklore. A complex symbiosis was formed by annual church folk agricultural holidays, which was partly reflected in ritual folklore. On the night before Christmas and on New Year's Eve, while going around the courtyards, they sang round songs that had different names: carols (in the south), ovsen (in the central regions), grapes (in the northern regions). Throughout the Christmas week, Christ was glorified with special songs, and his birth was depicted in the folk puppet theater - nativity scene. During Christmastide (from Christmas to Epiphany), fortune-telling with songs was common, and funny dramatic scenes were played out. Songs, incantations, lamentations, and sentences were also performed during other calendar rituals. Family rituals developed on a common basis with calendar ones and are genetically connected with them, but at the center of family rituals there was a specific real person.

The sponsor invited his closest friends and relatives. Everyone went to church from home; the mother did not go because she was in quarantine; the godmother was carrying the child. He took a jar of water from home and blessed it to baptize the child. After Sunday Mass, the bells rang and the baptism began. There was a small chapel where there was a baptismal font.

When the name was given to those baptized, the children of the city finished repeating the name in the baptism house. After this was noted, the boys in a row collected a gift: candy, sweets or, if the sponsors were generous, a coin. In the end, the godmother threw candy and bitches at the repagina.

Rituals accompanied many events in his life, among which the most important were birth, marriage and death. Traces of ancient birth songs and wishes are preserved in lullabies. The main genre of funeral and memorial rites were lamentations. Lamentations were included in the recruiting ritual and in the wedding of the Northern Russian type, where they were especially developed. Wedding poetry was rich and varied. At the wedding, sentences were also performed and dramatic scenes were performed. In ancient times, the main function of wedding folklore was utilitarian-magical: according to the ideas of the people, oral works contributed to a happy fate and well-being; but gradually they began to play a different role - ceremonial and aesthetic. The genre composition of ritual folklore is diverse: verbal and musical, dramatic, playful, choreographic works. Ritual songs are especially important - the most ancient layer of musical and poetic folklore. The songs were sung by the choir. Ritual songs reflected the ritual itself and contributed to its formation and implementation. Spell songs were a magical appeal to the forces of nature in order to achieve well-being in the household and family. In songs of greatness, participants in the ritual were poetically idealized and glorified: real people (bride and groom) or mythological images (Kolyada, Maslenitsa). Opposite to the majestic songs are reproaches, which ridiculed the participants in the ritual, often in a grotesque form; their content was humorous or satirical. Game and round dance songs were performed during various youth games, they described and accompanied by imitation of field work, and family scenes were acted out (for example, matchmaking). Lyrical songs are the latest phenomenon in the ritual. Their main purpose is to express thoughts, feelings and moods. Thanks to lyrical songs, a certain emotional flavor was created and traditional ethics were established. Ritual folklore includes also conspiracies, spells, some tales, beliefs, omens, proverbs, sayings, riddles, in the 20th century. Ritual ditties appeared. Works of non-ritual folklore could be spontaneously included in the ritual complex.

The mother, who is currently in the house, goes to serve candy to everyone who visited her at birth. This gift was called the giving plate. The treatment that later took place was used to invite immediate family and friends, and the food was almost always a lamb, which was killed for the occasion, a chicken; The pudding was prepared and the guests brought sweets. Everyone asked that the child was enjoying good health.

After this description of the practices that are performed in baptism, it seems obvious to define this ritual as the first act of unification of a person into society. We refer not only to the religious act, where the symbolism of purification and integration is very clear, but to the totality of facts that we have studied, which are tasked with incorporating the new person into the community with minimal problems and beginning their lasting culture.

Folk rites and ritual folklore received a deep and multifaceted reflection in Russian literature (“Eugene Onegin”, 1823-31, A.S. Pushkin, “Evenings on a farm near Dikanka”, 1831-32, N.V. Gogol, “To whom on It’s good to live in Rus'”, 1863-77, N.A. Nekrasova, “The Snow Maiden”, 1873, A.N. Ostrovsky, “War and Peace”, 1863-69, L.N. Tolstoy, lyrics by S.A. Yesenin and etc.).

To conclude this section, and in relation to what has been discussed in the previous ones, it would be interesting to note that a high positive correlation has been noted between the decline in rituals after childbirth and the infant mortality rate. This can be interpreted as a result of a number of external variables; but this is what reinforces the idea that all the rituals we dealt with were symbolic protections of the mother and, above all, the newborn.

The ceremonies and beliefs which proceed from the moment when conception is sought to birth constitute a whole in which a series of periods of division, margin and aggregation can be observed. These periods will coincide with conception, pregnancy and childbirth, respectively. The moment a Huebra woman seeks a concept through certain practices, she departs from the normal behavior of any woman in society who is not in that situation. Once pregnant, following a series of prohibitions, their separation becomes real, and it costs nine months in the period of difference, which will only end with delivery.

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.

But let us be precise: the family return of birth coincides with the physical fact of the same; however, the social return of fertility does not take effect until after quarantine. Despite this, the birth of a child and baptism break the first barriers of the marginal period. All these divisions and classifications are not as easy to indicate as they might seem. Pregnancy and childbirth rituals that are not related to the phase and previous rituals of marriage cannot be understood in any way. Between the two moments there is only autonomy, not independence.

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.

Thus, it can be argued that wedding ceremonies end the moment their purpose is completed: the birth of a child. Thus the rites of which we have spoken may be regarded throughout the world as the great act of consummation of marriage, and we will have to refer to the latter necessarily in order to understand them in all their extension.

Logic for connecting symbols. In a similar, albeit complementary way, they can be consulted in addition to the authors we will look at later. L.: “Rites of passage” in: Cultural anthropology: mental factors of culture. M.: “Rites of fertility and pregnancy in the Caceres tradition.”

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.

Custom has expanded to other cities in Salamanca, as well as in the provinces of Badajoz, Valladolid, Ciudad Real and Murcia. In some areas the forecast is the opposite of that given in the text, which explains the inconsistency of these forecasts and the difficulty of interpreting them.

The moon, as an important factor in practices related to fertility, is emphasized several times by J. There is a significant belief among farmers in some villages of Salamanca that in a declining quarter you need to remove the potatoes so that they do not leave the stems.

The left, by the way, used to identify itself with a lower status and with evil. The woman was associated with the same characteristics. Submission to a taboo indicates that the person involved does not occupy a normal position in social life.

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.

This seems to establish a link between fertility and the characteristics of these birds. This reminds Mr. Abelardo Gonzalez from Santo Domingo del Campo. What seems to underlie this belief is the belief that the pledge will transmit male potency and male strength to the parents.

The goal is to make a connection between the waiter's clothing and his umbilical cord, which represents the mother and therefore the house and people. The belief that a placenta or umbilical cord is necessary to perform certain magical rites occurs in many parts of the world. Numerous examples in J.

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 folklore ritual 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.

Rohaim sees this type of ritual as a symbolic representation of the anguish of separation and as an attempt to overcome this fear. Such customs and taboos play an important role in “social marginalization.” The sponsor is that he is the godmother's husband. This information was collected from statements made by Ms. The remaining informants do not seem to agree very much with the reliability of this data, which may be due to oblivion, as we have seen in many neighboring cities, the persistence of this custom. The Father also occupies an "abnormal" position during this period.

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.

This fact symbolizes the connection between the first socializing agent, the family, the second and the strongest: the parish that embraces the first. The symbolism seems clear and very functional: children proclaiming the name of the baptized represent it to the community and its subgroup.

Symbolism of festivities: the example of Pradoluengo

This expression means throwing candy or coins out of the door so that children can fight for it and take it away. In the old baptism by immersion, the symbolic resurrection of death was patent. There are many aspects that can be analyzed within the celebrations, but this article will focus on the symbolic nature. For this reason, they are going to try to answer questions like: what is the origin of patronal celebrations? What is the meaning of their rituals?, Do they continue the same rituals as part of the holiday from their origin to the present?

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 on holidays, at Maslenitsa, carols and other celebrations. Corruption chants were of a mocking nature.

To try to answer these questions, we will first look at the general issue with this subject, the patron saint feasts, unraveling the myth on which they are based, as well as the rituals that support them. Later we will focus on a practical case, the festivities of Pradoluengo's patrons, to illustrate the issues raised.

The celebration of patron saints, like any other festival, exhibits a wide amalgam of elements in a specific space and time. Just like any other side. It is an occasion for the expression of rhythm, color, plasticity, sociability, emotion, commensalism and even debauchery. At the party, people dance, sing, act, play music, wear dresses, decorate spaces and encourage human groups to paroxysm. “Involve the participation of so many different people and deploy the use of many different plastic, sound, literary, economic and social elements.” This involves opposing binaries such as leisure versus work, exclusivity versus everyday life, emotion versus reason, tradition versus modernity. But eating, drinking, dancing and wearing new clothes are not the proper or identifying activities of the festivals.

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.

We must not forget that we are talking about parties with a strong religious component, where festive and playful behavior is mixed and merged with beliefs and religious acts. As Rodríguez Bezerra points out, festivity and religion are difficult to separate in our cultural tradition, which is so closely associated with the Catholic religion. Thus, the sacred-profane binomial gains more power when analyzing these holidays.

The holidays ushered in what we might call the practice of local religiosity, as opposed to general religiosity. That is, along with the thinking and practice of the Catholic religion, as in any other religion, there occurs a degree of religiosity "with freer and more spontaneous content and expression, with objects of worship and autonomous and almost personal liturgical forms" that are usually associated with a particular community. These forms of religiosity maintain common common bonds, which, as we will see later, does not imply that there are no conflicts between them.

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 the Russians

There are many dimensions that can be analyzed from the celebrations: economic, social, political and others. Here we will be interested in the festival for its symbolic meaning, since it is not accidental or innocent, and consists of a set of rituals known by both actors and spectators, which does not mean that one or the other knows its meaning.

From this work we will focus on a precise element with a strong symbolic component within the festivals: ritual, which, although it may seem simple at first glance, is very difficult to analyze, since the festivals consist of a large set of rituals that develop well over a short period of time or in over a longer period.

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 on a pole which appeared in heaven 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.

RITES AND RITUALS FOLKLORE

1. CALENDAR RITES AND THEIR POETRY

1.1. Winter rites

1.2. Spring rites

Ritual songs are a type of folklore that accompanied calendar and family holidays, as well as the work of the farmer during the economic year.

Calendar ritual songs are a type of ritual songs that are associated with holidays, natural phenomena and the work of peasants at different times of the year. All calendar rituals are also associated with the solar cycle - solstices and equinoxes.

Folklore is oral folk art; a set of beliefs, customs, rituals, songs, fairy tales and other phenomena of the life of peoples. The most important feature of folklore is its focus on the oral method of transmitting information. The carriers were usually rural residents

A rite is a ceremony, a series of actions strictly defined by custom that accompany and formalize the performance of acts of a primarily cultic nature.

We can distinguish 4 cycles of calendar-ritual poetry: winter, spring, summer, autumn.

Carols

Among the winter calendar and ritual songs, carols occupied a large place. Caroling was the name given to festive rounds of huts with the singing of songs - carols. The mummers went from house to house and wished for a rich harvest, offspring of livestock, happiness in seed life and health. In conclusion, they asked for a reward for their work.

Kolyada, Kolyada!
And sometimes there is a carol
On Christmas Eve
Kolyada has arrived
Christmas brought.

You will give us -
We will praise
And you won’t give -
We will reproach!
Kolyada, Kolyada!
Serve the pie!

Maslenitsa calendar - ritual songs

Maslenitsa symbolizes the onset of spring and the passing of winter. This is a fun holiday with pancakes, treats and round dances. Celebrated for seven days. It ends with the burning of an effigy of Maslenitsa. The ritual burning of the doll had a deep meaning: destroying the symbol of winter is necessary to resurrect its power in the spring.

Maslenitsa brings winter to a close,
Spring invites Krasna!

Oh, Zimushka-Winter!
Go to sleep, rest!
Spring is Red!
Come to us again!

Stand in a circle, all the people!
Harmonist, start the round dance!

They came to you with good news,
They brought fun and joy!
Winter is ending
Maslenitsa begins!

Have fun, people:
Maslenka is coming to visit
With pies and pancakes, -
Spring is at your fingertips!

We will sing, walk, -
Welcome Mother Spring!
Ride on a sleigh
indulge in pancakes!

Spring calendar - ritual songs

The performance of Vesnyanka ritual songs was intended to bring the arrival of spring closer. They were called, climbing onto roofs or hillocks, calling for spring. The arrival of birds meant the arrival of spring, so an integral part of spring rituals were appeals to birds and larks:

Larks, larks!
Come and visit us
Bring us a warm summer,
Take the cold winter away from us.
We're tired of the cold winter,
My hands and feet were frozen.

Spring! Spring is red!
Warm sunshine!
Come quickly
Keep the children warm!
Come and join us with joy!
With great mercy!
With tall flax!
With deep roots!
With rich bread!

One of the biggest spring holidays of the Slavs - Yegoriy Veshny(St. George's Day), they performed the ritual of the first herding of livestock to pasture. The cattle were decorated with ribbons and flowers, and they sang about the coming of summer. Since ancient times, St. George's Day has been perceived by the people as one of the boundaries between winter and summer, an important date in the agricultural calendar, and therefore many works were dedicated to it, accompanied by various rituals.

We walked around the field
They called out to Yegor,
Makarya was called:
“Yegory, you are our brave one,
Reverend Macarius!
You save our cattle
In the field and beyond the field,
In the forest and beyond the forest,
Under the bright moon
Under the red sun
From a predatory wolf,
From the fierce bear,
From the evil beast!

Yuri, good evening!
Yuri, give me the keys,
Yuri, open up the earth,
Yuri, let the grass go!
- Yuri, what is the grass for?
- Grass for horses!
- Yuri, why is there dew?
- Dew for the Volks!

Summer ritual songs

The most famous summer rituals are associated with the holidays of Trinity and Ivan Kupala. On Trinity Sunday, houses were decorated with birch trees. It marked the end of spring and the beginning of summer. The customs of ancient times are based on the renewal of life - this is the time when the first leaves appear on the trees and flowers bloom.

There is still a ritual of curling a birch tree. During the process, the girls wished good health to their mother and other relatives. Or, while curling the birch tree, they thought about the young man they loved - thus tying his thoughts and thoughts to themselves.

Early dew was collected on Trinity Sunday - it was considered a strong medicine against illnesses and illnesses. Such rituals existed among our ancestors. Some of them can still be found today.

Birch, birch,
Curl, curly!
The girls have come to you
The Reds have come to you,
The pie was brought
With eggs!

The ritual song conjured thick shoots, rain, growth and a rich harvest of rye.

Where the girls went
The rye here is thick!
Where did the women go?
I got wet there!
Where did the men go?
She grew up there!
Where did the guys go?
She lay down there!
Where did godfather go?
The oats have sprouted there,
Where did godfather go?
The rye has sprung up there!

Ivan Kupala (Midsummer Day, Kupala Night) is a folk holiday of the Eastern Slavs, dedicated to the summer solstice and the highest flowering of nature.

The song announced the onset of the Ivan Kupala holiday.

Today, girls, I bathed,
Today, girls, I bathed!
And who did what is lost,
And who did what is lost!

The song conjured a rich harvest.

Marya Ivana,
Marya Ivana
She called me to life,
In life she called:
- Let's go, Ivan,
Let's go, Ivan,
Lively to look at
Lively to look at!
Whose life
Whose life
Best of all
Best of all?
Our life
Our life
Best of all
The best of all!
Spiky,
Spiky,
Vigorously,
Vigorously,
Cannonball in a bucket
Cannonball in a bucket.
Ear of grain into log
Ear to log!

While mowing they say:

Mow the braid,
While there is dew,
Down with the dew -
Spit home.
The braid loves the spatula,
Shovel - sand,
Kosets - a pie,
Another pot of porridge,
Give him a sack of oatmeal,
More trousers in Filippovka,
More radish tail
For Lent!

Autumn ritual songs

These are calendar-ritual songs associated with the harvest. Ritual harvest songs accompanied the beginning of the harvest, were performed during work, and expressed the joy of finishing the autumn work in the field.

We stung, we stung,
They stung and reaped:
Reap the young ones,
Golden sickles...
Oh and whose field is this?
Turned yellow while standing?
Ivanovo field
Turned yellow, standing:
Young reapers
Golden sickles!

The song talks about performing the ritual of “curling a beard” - especially for ears of corn that were not harvested for this purpose.

We're already growing a beard
At Vasily's field,
Curling the beard
At our Ivanovich's,
On the great field,
On a wide strip!

When the rye is harvested in the field, the children say:

The sun is red,
Sit down quickly
Have pity on us orphans!

After the rye harvest, they roll around in the reaping and say:

Stubble, stubble,
Give me strength
More for the spring harvest!