Who are real Russians and what does a truly Russian person look like? 

Russians

Russians are an East Slavic ethnic group, the most numerous and state-forming people of Russia (according to the 2010 All-Russian Census, they account for more than 80% of the population), the most numerous European people. There are large diasporas in Ukraine, Kazakhstan, the USA, Belarus and other countries. There are about 135 million Russians in the world. The national language is Russian.

Russian is a partially substantivized adjective. It arose from the early two-part combination Russian people, Russian person, in which the second part began to be used relatively rarely (ellipsis). Old Russian adjective of Old Russian. Russian, other Russian Russian is formed from the root of Old Russian. rѹs- using the suffix -other-rus. ьск-, which forms derivatives from local names, compare nazaretskj “from Nazareth”. Rus' was both the name of the state of the Eastern Slavs and their early ethnonym. The ethnonym Rѹs (singular m.r. rѹsin', zh.r. rѹska) was used as a self-name until the 18th century. From the 17th-18th centuries it was gradually replaced by the book Russians, and later from the 18th-19th centuries, with the establishment of the concept of the trinity of the Russian people, the ethnonym Great Russians began to dominate in the literary language. In the 19th century, under the pressure of the spoken language, the already well-known ethnonym Russians was established in the literary language, which at that time designated all three branches of the Eastern Slavs, and only after 1917 (the general census took place only in 1926) - only the Great Russians (Great Russians)

The total number of Russians in the world currently amounts to about 135 million people[10] (according to various estimates - from 127 million people[17][18] and 129 million people[19] to 150 million people[20] and 167 million people[21]), of which 111 million (2010) or about 77.8% of the country’s population live in Russia (in 2002 - 116 million or about 79.8%)[1][22]. Of all Russians in the world, 86% live in Russia, 11.5% in the countries of the former USSR and 2.5% in other countries[19].

According to V.P. Maksakovsky, according to the 1989 census, 25.3 million Russians lived outside Russia in the USSR: 11.3 million or 44.9% in Ukraine, 6.2 million or 24.6% in Kazakhstan, 1.7 million or 6.5% in Uzbekistan and 1.3 million or 5.3% in Belarus. Additionally, another 11.2 million Russified people of other nationalities lived outside of Russia, which gave a total of 36-37 million Russians and Russian-speaking people at the beginning of the 1990s in the countries of the new abroad, or more than 1/4 of the total population of these countries. The largest diaspora was located in Ukraine (20 million people), Kazakhstan (7.8 million people), Belarus (3.2 million) and Uzbekistan (2.2 million.

From 1991 to 2006, due to emigration, depopulation and a change in national identification, the number of Russians in the countries of the former USSR decreased from 25-30 million people to 17 million people[24]. In 2006, the largest number of Russians outside the Russian Federation lived in Ukraine (more than 8 million people), Kazakhstan (more than 6 million people), Belarus (slightly more than a million people), and less in the rest of the CIS countries (taking into account the lack of data for Uzbekistan) . In 2021, the number of Russians in Central Asia was estimated at approximately 4.7–4.8 million people, of whom more than 3/4 live in Kazakhstan.

They make up the majority of the population of the Russian Federation, as well as a significant part of the population in the countries of the former USSR: Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Latvia, Kyrgyzstan, Estonia, Lithuania, Moldova, Turkmenistan. Large diasporas are present in the USA, Canada, Brazil, and Germany.

Russians are a people belonging to the East Slavic ethnic group. It is the state-forming ethnic group of the Russian Federation. This is the largest European nation. This term also denotes the endoethnonym of the Russian people.

Language

The Russian language belongs to the eastern group of the Slavic branch of the languages ​​of the Indo-European family. The basis of writing is the Cyrillic alphabet. Russian is one of the 6 official languages ​​of the UN. In terms of distribution in the world, it ranks 5th. In the countries of the former USSR, the overwhelming majority of residents speak Russian and use it as their main language. There are 2 dialect groups: northern and southern, which are divided into various dialects inherent in a particular region.

The emergence of Russian statehood

Another part of the Russians occupied lands along the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, here they pushed the Germans and Balts to the west, and they themselves gradually moved to the north-west, this group of Eastern Slavs already had princes and a squad.

And she was practically one step away from creating a state. Although there is a version about the Northern European origin of the term “Rus” and it is connected with the Norman theory, according to which the Varangians brought statehood to the Slavs, this term denoted the inhabitants of Scandinavia, but there is no evidence for this.

The Baltic Slavs moved to the area of ​​Lake Ilmen, and from there to the east. Therefore, by the ninth century, two Slavic centers bear the name Rus, they are destined to become rivals in the struggle for dominance, this is what gives the new people their origin. Russian man is a concept that originally denoted all the Eastern Slavs who occupied the territories of modern Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.

Story

It is assumed that the Proto-Slavs BC inhabited the region of Central Europe. Their tribes were in contact with ancient peoples, among whom were the Thracians, Celts, Iranians, and Balts. All of them influenced the ethnogenesis and formation of the Slavic language. From the 6th century, early Slavic tribes began to move to the east of Europe. They settled in the Volga region, in the valleys of the Dnieper and Don. Around the 12th century, a single Old Russian nation was formed based on the mixing of various Proto-Slavic tribes. These include such ethnic groups as:

• Krivichi;
• Ilmen Slovenes;
• Vyatichi;
• northerners.

Also influencing the formation of the Russian people were the Finno-Ugric peoples, including: Chud, Merya, Meshchera. In the 13th century, the Tatar-Mongol invasions of Rus' began, which continued until the 15th century. After the fall of the Tatar khanates, the Russian Empire was formed - a centralized state of the Russians. The next century was characterized by a difficult time, called the “Troubles”. This is a period of numerous wars with the Lithuanians, Swedes, and Poles. Under Peter I, the penetration of foreign officials into Russia began. They were appointed to all important government posts. The intelligentsia was deeply Europeanized. Traditional Russian culture was preserved only at the very bottom. After the revolution of 1917, the Orthodox Church was persecuted by the Bolsheviks, and the people themselves were subjected to numerous repressions. As a result, a significant part of Russian culture was lost. Nowadays, many people are atheists, that is, they do not adhere to any religious beliefs.

Russian folk art and crafts

Russian folk art is based on the artistic tradition that was formed in Ancient Rus'. The structure of the Russian artistic tradition arose as a result of complex mutual influences of ancient Russian art over the centuries and the art of Byzantium, the West and the East, and then developed in mutual influence with the artistic cultures of many peoples of Europe and Asia. In pre-Petrine Russia, the ancient artistic tradition was common to all social strata; from the beginning of the 18th century it became the property of mainly peasant art.

Artistic weaving, embroidery, including gold and face embroidery, lace weaving, and, to a much lesser extent, carpet weaving were widespread. The art of artistic metal processing was expressed in the casting of bells, cannons, decorated with ornaments, engraving of bladed weapons and firearms, forging grilles, doors, crosses, etc. Jewelry production was also developed, including the use of blackening silver (Veliky Ustyug), enamel ( Rostov-Yaroslavsky), work on silver (Krasnoye Selo, Kostroma province), etc. Since the times of Kievan Rus, the production of artistic ceramic products (Gzhel, Skopin) has been known - both utensils, dishes, and all kinds of toys, whistles. Carved bone products in Western Europe were called “Russian carvings”. This art was especially developed until the beginning of the 19th century in the Russian North (Kholmogory bone carvers). Since the 18th century, stone carving has developed, used to decorate interiors and cladding buildings.

In Russia, rich in forests, it was common to make carved and painted dishes, toys, furniture by turning, as well as decorating homes, tools and means of transportation. Since the 17th century, centers of tableware craft and the manufacture of household items arose in Khokhloma, Gorodets, Sergshiev Posad... In the Vologda and Arkhangelsk provinces, in the Urals, carving and painting on birch bark, weaving from it into tues, boxes, stands, etc. Nowadays these are window frames, end boards, balustrades and other elements of a rural dwelling. The art of woodworking is especially clearly manifested in wooden church architecture.

Source: Peoples of Russia: Atlas of Cultures and Religions / ed. V.A. Tishkov, A.V. Zhuravsky, O.E. Kazmina. — M.: IPC “Design. Information. Cartography", 2008.

Appearance

Anthropological Russians have great similarities with Western European peoples (such as Norwegians, Swedes, Germans, Lithuanians). At the same time, Russians are distinguished by a greater prevalence of the dark-haired type compared to the fair-haired type. A typical Slavic appearance is considered to be a combination of blond hair with blue eyes and white skin. This type is common in Russia along with fair-haired people with gray, gray-blue, green, green-brown eyes. Russians are also characterized by tall stature and good physique. Men are distinguished by a wide shoulder girdle, girls have slender, graceful figures.

The Tatar trace is a myth

Geneticists, along with anthropologists studying the issue of the origin of races, have come to the conclusion that among all the Eurasian peoples, the Russian is perhaps the most purebred. Thus, American geneticists who conducted a large-scale experiment came to the unequivocal conclusion that the population of the northwestern, central and southern parts of Russia is practically devoid of any traces of the blood of the Turkic peoples, the admixtures of which, according to a widespread but erroneous opinion, should have remained since the time of the mythical Tatar-Mongol invasion. Experts from the United States have established that approximately 4,500 years ago, on the territory of the Central Russian Plain, a boy was born who had a gallogroup different from his father, classified today as R1a1. The incredible viability of this mutation determined its dominance over a large area of ​​Eastern Europe in the following millennia. Today, representatives of the R1a1 halogroup are 70% of men in the European part of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, 57% in Poland, 40% in the Czech Republic, Latvia, Slovakia and Lithuania, 18% in Sweden, Germany and Norway. Interestingly, even in India, 16% of men belong to this group, with the figure reaching 47% among the upper castes.

Life

In Rus', the main occupations were farming and cattle breeding. People settled along rivers where there was fertile land. Shifting agriculture developed in the southern regions. With this method of cultivating the land, one plot was plowed, then exploited for 3-4 years, after which it was allowed to rest and the next one was plowed. In forest areas, shifting agriculture was used. Trees were cut down, after which the area was burned. The ash fertilized the land, which increased productivity. The ancient Slavs grew rye, wheat, buckwheat, and barley. Hemp and flax were also cultivated. Vegetable growing was widespread. Cabbage, turnips, Jerusalem artichoke, beets, and carrots were grown everywhere. Archaeological finds indicate that in the Middle Ages the Slavs raised cows, horses, pigs, and kept geese, chickens, and ducks.

The territory of Ancient Rus' was occupied by numerous rivers, lakes, and forests. In those days, flora and fauna were in abundance. This made it possible to engage in hunting and fishing. In the northern regions they hunted fur-bearing animals: sables, martens, foxes, arctic foxes. The fur trade became widespread. The city nobility dressed in sable fur coats. In winter, villagers wore fur coats made of bear, wolf, and fox skins. Blankets were made from fur, and garments were trimmed with it. In the Middle Ages, fair trade was well developed in Rus'. Places for selling goods were created in cities and large villages. This contributed to the growth of the economy and the development of crafts. Barter and money trade were widespread. Russian merchants transported their goods to Constantinople, and from there supplied silk, weapons, spices, precious stones, and glassware.

Among the crafts that were developed were:

1. Pottery.
2. Blacksmith craft.
3. Beekeeping.
4. Jewelry making.
5. Wood processing.
6. Weaving, embroidery.

Russians have been mining iron ore since the first centuries of our era. They knew how to melt metal, forge weapons and iron parts of tools. Blacksmithing was considered a craft that required special skills. It was passed down through generations. Blacksmiths are presented as heroes possessing remarkable strength. They were credited with possessing magic and the ability to heal people. There were goldsmiths who processed precious metals. During excavations, a huge amount of jewelry belonging to different eras is found. The jewelry is distinguished by its variety of shapes and careful processing. They were made from gold, silver, copper, and various alloys. Precious metals were imported from abroad, since they were not mined in Rus'.

Another popular craft was pottery. This was facilitated by the presence of clay soils and the simple process of preparing and making dishes. Clay is mixed with various impurities (sand, talc, shell rock). A blank is formed from the material, which is given a certain shape using a potter's wheel. The product is then fired in a kiln. Along with pottery, cooperage was developed. This is the production of wood products, mainly barrels, dishes, and utensils. Coopers were highly valued in Rus'; there was always a demand for their products. They made carved frames that were used to decorate huts, buckets, and bath accessories. Coopers were also called hoops or kadashi from the word “kadushka”.

An interesting trade is beekeeping, which was widespread everywhere. This is forest beekeeping, extracting honey from wild bees from tree hollows. The term comes from the word “bort” - hollow. Beekeeping was one of the auxiliary occupations of rural residents. Peasants found trees with bees based on special characteristics. The first person to find the hollow made a mark on the trunk. This hollow was considered his property. Honey was widely used as food by peasants, it was stored for the winter, and mead was made - an intoxicating drink.

On the peculiarities of the national character of the Russian people

Russian character and success

A large number of domestic researchers - ethnographers, writers, philosophers - have always paid great attention to the problem of the national character of the Russian people, trying to find that special and unique quality that distinguishes them from other peoples.
Among those who tried to understand the mysteries of the Russian soul, we see the names of Pushkin and Khomyakov, Danilevsky and Solovyov, Berdyaev and Ilyin, Sorokin and Bulgakov, Fedotov and Lossky, many researchers of the Soviet and post-Soviet period. This interest is quite understandable and natural, because understanding the characteristics of the national character allows us to extrapolate the development of any society. It is no coincidence that in the military intelligence departments of Western countries, the study of problems of a national character is one of the most important areas of strategic importance for forecasting military operations. Regarding the topic of our conversation, the famous French sociologist G. Lebon wrote at the end of the 19th century in his book “Psychology of Peoples and Masses”: “Without prior knowledge of the mental make-up of a people, its history seems like some kind of chaos of events controlled by one chance. On the contrary, when the soul of a people is known to us, then its life seems to be a correct and fatal consequence of its mental traits. In all manifestations of the life of a nation we always find that the unchanging soul of the race bends its own destiny. It is in political institutions that the supreme power of the racial soul manifests itself most powerfully. Whatever the parties the fighting forces belong to, whatever the name of the power in the country - royal, presidential, imperial, communist, each of them has the same ideal, and this ideal is an expression of the feeling of the racial soul. The people's character creates the destiny of the nation... The soul of the people, the soul of the race is unchangeable, and the state system and political institutions are only a derivative of the character of the people. Whatever events take place in a particular country, no matter how the people try to change the existing forms of government and political institutions, they are not able to get rid of what follows, which is a consequence of the soul of the people... The reign of some monarch in one or another An African country will be much better off for the people of that country than having the principles of the most sophisticated European constitution applied to it. Due to this, that each people has its own soul, its own spirit, the same political system cannot exist in countries.” Although some scientists called and call G. Lebon's concept anti-scientific and anti-historical, nevertheless, this researcher was able to identify the problem of the connection between the characteristics of the mental makeup of a given people and the social structure of their life. Having identified the most significant features of our national character, it will be possible to answer the question of what success in life most corresponds to its natural archetype. This is especially important in an era of rapid social change, when only such an appeal to spiritual sources becomes real salvation. The natural temperament of Russian people, on which all subsequent external social influences are superimposed, is classified by research psychologists as the so-called epithymic type. One of the most characteristic features of the epithymic personality is a strong desire for power and the constant expansion of one’s influence on the world around him. Bosses of this type are often sweetly obsequious in relation to higher authorities and despotic and oppressive in relation to subordinates. They are also characterized by mood swings from deep apathy and laziness, stubbornness and inertia to the manifestation of extraordinary power of energy and frenzied passion, before which nothing can resist. These fluctuations are often associated not so much with external circumstances, but with internal physiological processes occurring in the body. Other qualities of epithymics are viscosity and thoroughness of thinking, the desire for careful finishing of details, thoroughness and the desire to subordinate all their actions to instructions or a special plan. Therefore, they can be considered natural-born bureaucrats. Being in a calm phase, epithymics are benevolent and generous, conscientious and gentle. Being irritated and angry, they become cruel and unbridled. Education and mastery of culture leave their mark on these natural traits, the manifestation of feelings and thoughts, but, nevertheless, an experienced psychologist can always identify an epithymic person by a special manner of behavior and properties of thinking. Among the representatives of the epithymic personality in Russian culture one can name the names of Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and our contemporary poet and singer Vladimir Vysotsky. Polarity
If we leave aside the seventy-year influence of communist ideology, it should be noted that the Russian Orthodox Church has had the greatest influence on the spiritual consciousness and self-awareness of Russian people for many centuries. The deep religiosity of Russians, constantly noted both by themselves and by observers from other countries, softens manifestations of an epithymic nature and has formed in us such traits as the desire for higher spiritual values, extraordinary patience in difficult life circumstances, conscientiousness, kindness and compassion for our neighbors. But these high spiritual qualities can exist at the same time along with sacrilege, cruelty and all sorts of other vices, especially if a person is far from Christian culture and proper education. The famous Russian emigrant philosopher Nikolai Lossky, who devoted his entire life to the study of the psychology of Russian character, especially draws attention to its polarity. In it, along with the ability for higher forms of experience, N. Lossky notes such contradictory features of the Russian people as passionate willpower and laziness, “Oblomovism”; the search for the highest values ​​of life and a tendency towards anarchy and nihilism, natural kindness and senseless cruelty, messianism and lack of self-discipline. N. Lossky cites an interesting statement by the English researcher M. Baring, who compared the character traits of an Englishman and a Russian: if every Englishman has a combination of the character of Henry VIII, John Milton and Mr. Pickwick, then a Russian person combines the properties of Peter the Great, Prince Myshkin and Khlestakov. N. Berdyaev speaks about this inconsistency and versatility of the Russian person in his book “The Russian Idea”: “Two opposite principles formed the basis for the formation of the Russian soul: the natural, pagan Dionysian element and ascetic monastic Orthodoxy. It is possible to discover opposite properties in the Russian people: despotism, hypertrophy of the state and anarchism, freedom; cruelty, a tendency to violence and kindness, humanity, gentleness; ritual belief and the search for truth; individualism, heightened consciousness of personality and impersonal collectivism; nationalism, self-praise and universalism, pan-humanity; eschatologically messianic religiosity and external piety; the search for God and militant atheism; humility and arrogance; slavery and rebellion." Because of all this, N. Berdyaev points out, “one can always expect the unexpected from the Russian people, therefore they are “eminently capable of inspiring strong love and strong hatred.” The generalized character of any people is associated with its collective unconscious, which, as K. Jung pointed out, can be revealed in the content of typical dreams, fairy tales, myths, legends, and religious beliefs. If we analyze the content of Russian folk tales, we can find in them senseless cruelty, praise of cunning and deception, and the desire to profit at the expense of others. In the fairy tale about the fox, a hungry fox pretends to be dead and is picked up by a man carrying a cart of fish. Having picked up the fox, the man rejoices that he can make his wife a new hat from its skin. Finding herself in a cart of fish, the fox threw it onto the road and then calmly ate it. Along the way, she deceived an innocent wolf, who, as a result of an encounter with a fox, was beaten and lost his tail. In many fairy tales about the mediocre Ivanushka the Fool, happiness comes to him in the form of a beautiful horse or Vasilisa the Beautiful in mysterious ways, not as a reward for serious work, but either for “just like that” or for a small service, like releasing a caught pike. The pinnacle of the desire to achieve success and become happy, without particularly straining at the same time, can serve as an illustration of the famous Russian fairy tales about Emelya, who, lying on the stove, had everything he wanted, saying “By the command of the pike, according to my desire...” According to this According to the magic spell, the firewood is split, the buckets of water are supplied, and the beautiful Vasilisa the Wise falls in love with the hero of the fairy tale. The wonderful Russian writer Nikolai Leskov at one time paid a lot of attention to this trait of our national character - the desire, without particularly straining, to somehow get rich right away, grabbing the magical firebird by the tail. Noting that happiness is a matter of chance and arbitrariness, N. Leskov writes: “Doesn’t almost every one of us count more on his own happiness than on his own work and on more or less favorable circumstances than on awareness of one’s responsibilities, to fully and honestly fulfill them?... But lasting social well-being, like the lasting well-being of individuals, is acquired and achieved not by happiness, not by gift, but by labor, effort and merit... Happiness, as people usually understand it, cannot be lasting simply because its foundation is either chance or arbitrariness, and not the law, not the moral principle. Meanwhile, this is the happiness that people dream about, that people desire for themselves.” Proof of this observation by Leskov about our genetic predisposition to gratuitousness is the growing number of people today who want to quickly and easily get rich by playing roulette or pressing the buttons of a slot machine. This scourge, which is spreading across the country at an alarming rate, is becoming as much a social evil as drug addiction. Comparing Russian fairy tales with Western ones, which contain the norms of Protestant ethics, in particular, with the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm and Andersen’s fairy tales, one cannot help but notice that the latter more often and more strongly emphasize achieving success not by chance, but through hard work and professional skill.

Historical roots

The invasion of the Tatar-Mongols had especially grave consequences for the Russian national character. Then, writes N. Karamzin, “Forgetting the pride of the people, we learned the base tricks of slavery, replacing strength in the weak: deceiving the Tatars, we deceived each other more; buying off the violence of the barbarians with money, they became much more selfish and much more insensitive to insults, to shame, subject to the insolence of foreign tyrants;... the feeling of oppression, fear, hatred, dominating in souls, usually produces gloomy severity in morals. The properties of a people are always explained by circumstances, but the effect is often longer lasting than the cause: grandchildren have some of the virtues and vices of their grandfathers, although they live in their own circumstances. Perhaps, the historian concludes, “the very present character of the Russians still shows the stains placed on it by the barbarity of the Mughals.” If we take into account that the principles of authoritarian governance of the Tatar-Mongols were later used by the Russian tsars after their expulsion in their own rule, such a way of social life naturally turned out to be extended among a certain part of the population for many centuries with all the ensuing consequences. N. Lossky cites the testimony of M. Baring, already quoted by us, some of whose thoughts, unfortunately, continue to remain relevant for our society to this day. This English journalist, who loved our Russia very much and wrote several books about it, characterizes it at the beginning of the twentieth century as a country “where the costs of living are high and not proportional to the quality of the products delivered; - where work is expensive, bad and slow; - where the hygienic living conditions of the population are very poor; - where there are many different diseases, including the plague; — where medical care and equipment for it are insufficient; - where the poor people are backward and ignorant, and the middle class is careless and sloppy; - where progress is deliberately delayed and subject to all sorts of obstacles; — a country governed by chance, where all forms of administration are arbitrary, unreliable, and slow; - where all forms of business life are cumbersome and burdened with clerical red tape; - where a bribe is a necessary technique in business and administrative life; - a country burdened with many officials who are generally lazy, corrupt and incompetent; - a country where there is no political freedom and basic civil rights, where even concert programs and all foreign newspapers and books are censored; — where freedom of the press is hampered by petty quibbles, and publishers are constantly fined and sometimes arrested; — where freedom of conscience is constrained; a country where dynamite is the only political document available to a private individual, and political murder is the only form of civic courage; - a country of poor governance; - a country where there is every connivance and no law; - where everyone acts without taking into account his neighbor; — where you can do whatever you want. And you cannot criticize anything; - and where the only way to show that you have the courage to hold your convictions is to spend a number of years in prison; - a country of extremes, moral laxity and extravagant self-indulgence; - people without self-control and self-discipline; - a people who condemn everything, criticize everything and never act; - a people jealous of everything and everyone who breaks ranks and rises above the average level; looking with suspicion at all individual originality and difference; - a people enslaved to a frozen level of mediocrity and stereotypical bureaucratic forms; - a people having all the shortcomings of the East and not having any of its harsh virtues, its dignity and internal discipline; - a nation of good-for-nothing rebels led by sycophantic officials; - a country where those in power live in constant fear and where influence can come from anywhere - where nothing is so absurd that it can happen; a country of unlimited possibilities, as was said in the State Duma.” Having said these unpleasant words about Russia, M. Baring, however, says: “I love this country, I treat this people with surprise and respect,” because “Russia’s shortcomings are the other side of its positive qualities, so valuable that they outweigh the disadvantages."

The eternal question is what to do?

The Russian revolutionary emigrant N.K. Sudzilovsky, who visited America in the middle of the last century, believed that staying in the USA tempered Russian revolutionaries, contributed to their better understanding of the realities of life, and helped them adapt to the harsh conditions of life in this country. “One should and should go to America not only to learn to solve political and social problems, but also to heal from some important damage to the Russian soul. From a lack of self-confidence, lack of will, stupidity, carelessness and theoreticalism... With these shortcomings of Russian psychology, there is no point in thinking not only about saving others, but also about ourselves...” Further, the same author astutely states: “All the evil, all the imperfection of Russian life is hidden in the shortcomings Russian mass character, in the soul of a man are the keys to both the salvation and revival of Russia...” This same work contains an excerpt from a letter from a certain V. Frey, about whom L. Tolstoy, who corresponded with him, spoke of him as one of our most remarkable people time. V. Frey’s letter to the famous Russian revolutionary Lavrov dated October 2, 1874 says: “In general, the Russians have not yet sufficiently developed their creative ability. Eloquent in words, they are much worse when they have to put their theories into practice. And their lack of energy and perseverance in achieving makes them even more ridiculous reformers.” Today, almost a hundred years later, largely thanks to the beginnings of perestroika processes in Soviet society, which began ten years ago, some of the thoughts expressed by M. Baring have already become obsolete, but some of the provisions expressed by N.K. Suzulovsky - not yet. However, we have every reason to believe that, as the experience of history shows, Russian educated people, having realized certain character flaws in themselves, begin to successfully overcome them and achieve amazing success in this field. F.M. Dostoevsky correctly notes in his novel “The Teenager” that when a Russian is carried away by the positive principles developed by Western Europe, he becomes more European than the Europeans themselves - the French, the English, the Germans - because he is free from their national limitations. N. Lossky's book provides quite strong evidence on this matter. Thus, understanding the danger of sloppiness when treating diseases, Russian doctors achieved such cleanliness and antisepticism in pre-revolutionary times that Moscow clinics stood higher in this regard than Berlin ones. Overcoming Oblomov’s laziness and inertia, characteristic of Russians, zemstvo leaders at the end of the last century brought urban self-government in the provinces to such a level of efficiency that it turned out to be higher than Western European ones. Under pressure from zemstvo leaders, in October 1905 the government was forced to issue a manifesto giving the Russian people It is known that before the reforms of Alexander II and the abolition of serfdom, Russian courts and administrative bodies were famous for their bribery and arbitrariness. N. Gogol showed this well in his comedy “The Inspector General”. Knowing this, Russian society fought against these shortcomings so decisively and energetically that after some time the judicial authorities of Russia, according to eyewitnesses who knew both Western European and Russian culture, stood at a higher level than similar authorities in Western Europe. Thanks to this, there was less bribery in them than in many other Western European countries. In the second half of the 19th century, Russian merchants and industrialists began to send their children to study the achievements of European industry. Thanks to this training and borrowing valuable experience, the Russian textile industry by the 20th century began to produce cloth of such quality that it began to squeeze out the British in the markets. And if before, when ordering a frock coat, the Russians demanded that it be made from English cloth, now they ordered from domestic chintz, linen and cloth. Behind all these examples one can see the successes of not only individual industrialists and merchants, such as Mamontov, Shanyavsky, Serebryakov, Shchukin, the Tretyakov brothers and Morozovs, but also the entire Russian society as a whole, which at the beginning of this century was worthily included in the family of European states. The personal success of the mentioned Russian and many other entrepreneurs turned out to be inseparable from the success of Russia as a whole. The only path to this righteous success in all respects is training, education and self-education. “In general, all the shortcomings and vices of our society arise from ignorance and lack of enlightenment,” wrote V.G. Belinsky in his article “Russia before Peter the Great,” “and therefore the light of knowledge and education disperses them like the sunrise and night fogs.” In another of his works, V. Belinsky also noted the ability of the Russians, while maintaining their originality, to take as their own everything that constitutes the exclusive side of each European people. Without in any way detracting from the outstanding discoveries of Russian scientists in the field of science and technology, such as the creation of the periodic table of Mendeleev, the discovery of radio waves by Popov and the launch of the first spacecraft, we nevertheless note that thanks to our good learning ability and sense of receptivity to useful experience, we Russians At different times they borrowed and applied from themselves: - from the Tatar-Mongols - the system of government, taxation and methods of communication, as well as the sublimation of alcohol, that is, the production of vodka; - We learned military strategy and tactics from the Swedes and Germans; - among the French - gallant manners, as well as the ability to make fine wines and cheeses; - among the Chinese - grow and drink tea, make porcelain, gunpowder and paper; — From the British we learned how to make cloth and process flax on carding machines and weaving machines, and also learned what life is like in Greenwich time. But Russians turn out to be especially receptive and successful in the sphere of spiritual development, leaving their teachers far behind. So, we borrowed: - from the Byzantine Greeks - the Christian religion and the artistic style of painting our prayer icons; - among the French - the genre of literary novel, classical ballet and comic musical operetta; - among the Italians - serious opera with its famous bel canto and academic painting; - among the Germans - German philosophy and the musical form of the classical symphony; — the British have parliament and a love of football coupled with rock music. In all these spheres of spiritual life, our Russian masters - writers, musicians, artists - created masterpieces that, for the most part, forever entered the treasury of world art and the achievements of the human spirit. It is enough to name the names of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich, Berdyaev and Sorokin, Repin and Serov.

2. About the spiritual predisposition of Russians

How can we explain the indisputable fact that Russian people are much stronger in the field of spiritual construction than in the rational arrangement of their everyday earthly life? Traditionally, this can be explained by laziness and lack of proper perseverance in bringing good initiatives to their final implementation, lack of commitment and faith in the luck of blind chance - “maybe everything will work out just like that.” But there may be another explanation. It is connected with the primordial orientation of the Russian mind to the other world, to the realm of the spiritual, to the kingdom of God, to the kingdom of the ideal, and not the earthly, for they followed the covenant of Christ, who said: “My kingdom is not of this world.” This was fundamentally different from Catholicism and Protestantism, which asserted the importance of earthly deeds in this world for salvation, i.e. in the earthly world. One of the holy fathers of the Russian Orthodox Church, St. Theophan the Recluse, taught his flock: “Work is not the most important thing in a person’s life. The main thing is the mood of the heart, turned towards God.” Another holy father, John Climacus, said: “Whoever truly loves God, who truly desires and seeks the future Kingdom,... will no longer love anything temporary, will no longer fuss and care about possessions and acquisitions, nor about the glory and honor of this world, and nothing earthly." These, as well as many other similar instructions of the holy fathers of the Orthodox Church, came from Christ’s commandment that peace of mind is more important than business, for “what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, but loses his soul?” The principle of non-action is characteristic of Indian and especially Buddhist philosophy. And it fully manifested itself in Orthodoxy. Focus on warm and cordial relationships, and not on pragmatic calculation and material gain, is a distinctive feature of the Christian soul of the Russian person. Therefore, probably nowhere in the world is there that special warmth and sincerity that exists in Russian families when close relatives and friends gather in them. Words cannot express the feeling of spiritual comfort, inner joy and peace that reigns at a common table among friends, and which turns out to be unusual for foreigners who find themselves at this table. Having gone abroad for a more prosperous life, many Russian people yearn precisely for this secret charm of Russian spiritual communication, in which there is no place for calculation, profit and mercantilism. All Russian thinkers, formed in the traditions of Orthodox Christianity, noted the inclination of Russian people to seek higher spiritual values, embodied in the idea of ​​the Kingdom of God, based on the ideas of goodness, love, morality and justice. According to the philosopher L. Karsavin, a Russian person cannot exist without an absolute ideal, for the sake of which he is ready to sacrifice everything he has. If the absence of the absolute or the impracticability, even just the remoteness, of his ideal is proven to him, “he will immediately lose all desire to live and act; ... doubting the ideal or its near feasibility, reveals an example of unheard-of bestiality or mythical indifference to everything.” During the years of Soviet power, many people supported it, believed in the communist ideal and considered the construction of socialism as a real possibility of realizing the Kingdom of God on earth. But the Russian revolutionaries were atheists, they abandoned universal moral values ​​and saw the basis for achieving their goals in the material side of life. Oblivion and disregard for absolute moral values ​​ultimately led to the collapse of a huge empire called the Soviet state. Examples of Russian culture borrowing the achievements of other cultures should be considered not as a lack of the Russian people’s ability for their own original thinking, but as an ability for universal and universal responsiveness, which Dostoevsky found in Pushkin and called the most important ability of our nationality. From this situation grows the Russian idea in the form as Dostoevsky understood it: “To become a real Russian, to become completely Russian, perhaps, means only... to become a brother of all people, an all-man... because our destiny is universality, and not by the sword acquired, but by the power of brotherhood and our fraternal desire for the reunification of people.” Today, the spiritual conquests of Russian culture are opposed by the model of Western consumer society, the ideas of quick profit and wealth as the only goal of human life. What can we say about the fact that such goals of existence in the Russian spiritual tradition were never placed at the forefront, not to say more, that they were despised. Only successful service to the high ideals of humanism and social prosperity, goodness and justice was considered a genuine endeavor and brought real spiritual satisfaction. Many Russian merchants and industrialists, among whom there were many Old Believers, were ashamed of their wealth, lived very modestly in everyday life and donated huge sums of money to socially useful causes - for the construction of churches and homes for the elderly, art galleries, opera and drama theaters, hospitals, schools and libraries. The outstanding Russian philosopher I.A. Ilyin, developing the concept of the Russian idea, wrote that it, this idea, lies in freely and objectively contemplating love and thereby determining life and culture. From here follows the task of the Russian people - not to chase Western Catholic culture, based on a different mental and volitional culture, not to be seduced by other people's ways of life, but to guard their spiritual nature and grow from free heartfelt contemplation their own, special, new Russian culture of will, thought and organizations. Behind Russia, wrote I. Ilyin, “there is a certain divine historical plan, which we all do not dare to renounce and which we would not be able to renounce even if we even wanted to... are we good at this moment in our history or bad, we are called and obliged to follow their own path - to purify their hearts, strengthen their contemplation, exercise their freedom and educate themselves towards objectivity. No matter how great our historical misfortunes and downfalls may be, we are called to be ourselves, and not to crawl in front of others; create, not borrow; turn to God, and not imitate your neighbors; to look for Russian vision, Russian content and Russian form, and not to go in pieces, collecting for imaginary poverty. We are neither students nor teachers of the West. We are students of God and teachers of ourselves. The task before us is to create a unique Russian spiritual culture - from the Russian heart, with Russian contemplation, in Russian freedom, revealing Russian objectivity. And this is the meaning of the Russian idea.” As we see, the Russian spiritual tradition in its main postulates always turns to God. But how should an atheist behave in this case? Where should he look for support for determining his success in life if money and other material goods are not the main meaning in life for which it is worth living? The answer to this question is given by the same humanistic ethics, which puts at the forefront the idea of ​​self-discovery of a person’s potential for the benefit of the whole society. There are no contradictions in the unity of the Russian spiritual tradition, based on Orthodoxy and universal human values, with modern humanistic ethics. These two traditions connect the life success of each person not with the kingdom of material freedom, but with the world of free development of the individual, who opens his heart to love, justice and respect for each person and the nature around him. The construction of a democratic society in Russia, its moral revival both from the fainting communist obsession and from thoughtless Western consumerism and materialism, its worthy place in the family of nations is associated with the personal growth of each of its citizens and the achievement of that critical mass of moral perfection, after which all other problems , including economic and political ones, will resolve themselves. “Democracy as a value,” N. Berdyaev wrote in his book “The Fate of Russia,” “is an already formed national character, a developed personality capable of revealing itself in national life... Only those who rule over themselves can rule. The loss of personal and national self-control, the unfettering of chaos not only does not prepare for democracy, but makes it impossible; this is always the path to despotism. The task of creating democracy is the task of creating a national character. The education of national character presupposes the education of personal character. Social consciousness and public will must be aimed at developing the character of the individual. We don’t have this focus. Democracy is too often understood inverted—it is not made dependent on the internal capacity for self-government, on the character of the people and the individual. And this is a real danger for our future.”

Let's summarize.

Today, most people still associate success in life with achieving material independence, a decent position indicating high social status, and fame in wide public circles.
There are no words - money, fame and honor have always been and remain for many people goals for which it is worth straining their efforts. They also talk about the character necessary to achieve these goals - courage and determination, perseverance and determination, perseverance and hard work. However, psychiatrists can give many examples of when a person who has all these benefits to a greater or lesser extent, nevertheless, does not feel the desired satisfaction from life. This happens when external success does not coincide with internal motivations, when a person’s activities do not meet his natural needs for self-actualization and he has to go against his own nature. Depending on their way of interacting with the world around them, people can judge differently what success and the happiness that goes with it are. Freud, and after him Fromm, developed a slightly different approach to the problem of character, different from the traditional view, linking it with the stages of child development. Only a productive, and not a consumer and accumulative character, capable of developing himself and creatively transforming the life around him, with broad social connections, can be truly successful and happy. The Russian spiritual tradition, based on Orthodox Christianity, associates the concept of success in life not only with the earthly joys of abundant material consumption, but with the possibility of living life in the fullest possible accordance with high moral principles based on love of philosophy, honesty and decency, mercy and compassion for one’s neighbor . In most cases, the character of a Russian person contains a natural epithymic radical, which is characterized by polar and often dramatic fluctuations in the emotional sphere and which can explain many features of his behavior. But as a result of education, mastering the cultural heritage of one’s people and serving high social ideals, the negative aspects of natural temperament can be softened, and the Russian character appears in the world in all its greatness and splendor. In a Russian person, as in the character of a representative of any other people who have not received sufficient education and moral enlightenment, and therefore are far from the purifying sources of their native cultural heritage, one can easily see many shortcomings. Figuratively speaking, such a person, as the writer Vasily Belov once put it in one of his works, such a person “does not grow above the navel.” During the civil and two world wars, as well as the unprecedented genocide of the intelligentsia, which was carried out by the communist regime during the years of Soviet power, many of the best representatives of the Russian people, who represented the elite of Russian society, died in our country. As a result, the national character of our people has become worse than it could have been. Today, this makes itself felt in numerous vices in the sphere of government and in the way domestic entrepreneurs conduct their affairs, about which our democratic press tirelessly writes. The current situation, at another historical turn, repeats what already happened in Russia in the second half of the last century, when Alexander II carried out his famous reforms. No matter how difficult it is for our Russian society today, we have every reason to believe that by realizing its negative sides, our country will be able to make a powerful breakthrough in social development. But let’s understand that success in the economic sphere cannot come before the personal and moral growth of every Russian is realized, and first of all those who hold high public positions. The historical experience of our country shows that this is possible. Petrushin Valentin Ivanovich, professor of psychology

Traditions

Holidays among the Slavs were an important part of social life. Most pagan holidays were celebrated by the entire village with folk festivities, dances, songs, and rituals. Each such date was a sacred day that had magical meaning. On this day, a person mentally contacted the spirits, worshiped the deities, asked them for prosperity and a good harvest. On holidays it was forbidden to do any work; one had to have fun and participate in rituals. All Slavic holidays are tied either to the change of seasons of the year, the beginning or end of field work, or the onset of a special magical period. There were more holidays in winter, as this was the time free from agricultural work. Later, after the advent of Christianity, pagan holidays mixed with Orthodox ones. In winter, Russians celebrate the following important dates:

1. New Year.
2. Christmas is January 7th.
3. Holiday week.
4. Epiphany - January 19.
5. Maslenitsa.

Christmas is an Orthodox holiday, one of the most significant for Christians around the world. It marks the birth of Jesus Christ. Gifts are given at Christmas, which represents the offering of the three wise men to the baby. The festive table is being set. In ancient times, livestock was slaughtered, meat dishes were prepared, as well as pies, pancakes, and fish dishes. At Christmas, young people play carols. Young people and children go from house to house and sing ritual songs. For this they are given sweets and treats. On the same night, Christmastide begins - the main winter holiday in Rus'. This is a time of fun and relaxation when no one is working. Christmastide consists of 12 days: “from star to water” and ends with Epiphany. The phrase “from star to water” means the period from the appearance of the first star (Christmas Eve) to the blessing of water at Epiphany. According to ancient beliefs, during Christmas time the souls of dead people, as well as evil spirits, descend to earth. Miracles can happen at this time. At Christmas time it is customary to guess about one’s fate and marriage.

Baptism is also called theophany, since on this day the Lord appeared as the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This happened during the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River, which was performed by John the Baptist. According to tradition, on the night of January 19, Orthodox people swim in an ice hole. This means a symbolic washing away of sins, cleansing the soul and body. It is believed that water on this night has healing properties. At the end of winter, Maslenitsa is celebrated. It is considered a pagan holiday that preserved Slavic mythology. It is dedicated to the god Yarila, who symbolizes the sun. Maslenitsa is celebrated for a whole week, pancakes are baked, people go to visit, people have festivities. It is celebrated 7 weeks before Easter. The holiday falls at the end of February or beginning of March. On the last day of Maslenitsa, an effigy of winter is burned to speed up its departure. Russians also traditionally celebrate the following holidays:

1. Palm Sunday.
2. Easter.
3. Ivan Kupala Day.
4. Elijah's day.
5. Apple saved.
6. Cover.

Ivan Kupala Day is very interesting. It is celebrated in almost all European countries. The roots of the holiday originate in pagan purification rites. Before Christianization, it was celebrated on the summer solstice. It was dedicated to the god Yarila and the maximum flowering of nature. From the days following this day, night time increases, and day time decreases. Some historians believe that the name Kupala is a transformed name of John the Baptist. The night of Kupala is filled with various rituals. This is a magical time when purification rituals, herbal gathering, and fortune telling are performed. A mandatory action was mass swimming in a river or lake. The evil spirits left the water, and it acquired miraculous properties.

The girls told fortunes with wreaths. If a wreath placed in water does not drown, this predicts long life and happiness. There was also a ritual with fire. A high fire was lit on the shore, round dances were performed around it, they sang and danced. Then they jumped over it, sometimes together - a guy and a girl. A successful jump meant that they would get married in the future. If a woman did not come to the fire, she could be accused of being a witch. The girls collected herbs that were endowed with magical powers. Healing potions were made from them.

The first mentions of Russians

From the fifth to the eighth centuries there was a continuous struggle between the Eastern Slavs and nomadic tribes, however, despite the enmity, these peoples in the future will be forced to coexist.

By this period, the Slavs had formed 15 large inter-tribal unions, the most developed of which were the Polyans and Slavs who lived in the area of ​​Lake Ilmen. The strengthening of the Slavs led to the fact that they appeared in the possessions of Byzantium, and it was from there that the first information about the Russians and Dews came.

That is why the Russians were called Russians, this is a derivative of the ethnonym that the Byzantines and other peoples surrounding them gave them. There were other names that were similar in transcription - Rusyns, Rus.

During this chronological period, there was an active process of formation of statehood, moreover, there were two centers of this process - one in Kyiv, the other in Novgorod. But both bore the same name - Rus'.

Cloth

Russian national costume is very beautiful and original. Two types of clothing were used: cape and swing. The first was worn over the head, the second was fastened with buttons. The main details of a men's suit are a shirt, trousers, a belt, and bast shoes. The classic type of Russian shirt is the kosovorotka. This name means that the cut for the collar was made not in the middle, but at the edge. They also wore shirts with a slit in the middle. A kosovorotka is characterized by the absence of a collar. The cut is decorated with embroidery on both sides. A classic is a white shirt with red embroidery. They also wore red and blue shirts. They were made from linen and cotton fabrics, while elegant ones were made from silk. The pants were made from hemp or linen fabric. The shirt was worn untucked and tied with a thin belt. In cold weather, a knee-length or floor-length caftan was worn over the top (also - opashen, okhaben). To protect from the rain, they wore an epancha - a sleeveless raincoat. In winter, all levels of society wore floor-length fur coats.

A characteristic feature of women's clothing is layering. Underwear was considered to be a long shirt-tunic. Over it they put on a letnik - a dress with a clasp with long sleeves. Rural women wore sundresses and ponevs. The sundress was a sleeveless dress with a pronounced bodice. It was worn over a shirt. Poneva is a long gathered skirt, sewn from several pieces of fabric. Most often, red and white tones were present in clothing. Women also wore outfits in bright colors: blue, green, crimson, pink. Festive clothing was richly decorated with embroidery, beads, colored braid, and garus. In winter, they wore various fur outfits of different lengths: fur coats, soul warmers, opashny, muffs. The symbolic Russian headdress is the kokoshnik. They also wore scarves, hair bands, headbands, and high-crowned hats on their heads. Peasant women's shoes were bast shoes, onuchi, pistons, and in winter - felt boots. City dwellers wore leather boots and high-heeled shoes.

How to wash in a Russian oven

G. Uspensky describes this process, unusual for modern man, very vividly. In one of his essays, he recalls how, having entered a Russian hut, he heard from the “shrouded” one, i.e. stove, first trembling and rustling - as he would later understand, it was a broom - then a man’s scream. The woman opened the mouth, and the owner, who had steamed himself to the point of exhaustion, emerged from it. As a rule, the person who washed himself immediately ran into the hallway or into the street, where he doused himself with water prepared in advance.

In principle, this scene fully explains how people used to wash themselves in a Russian oven.

One should only add to the photo that the water was used very sparingly, otherwise it would have flooded the entire hut. And so the water was gradually absorbed into the straw, and in extreme cases it ended up on the floor in front of the stove.

It was necessary to get out of the mouth carefully so as not to get dirty with soot. But even if this happened, the problem could be solved: they placed a large tub or trough in front of the stove and doused themselves with water right in the hut.

Women, as a rule, washed with children, men alone or together.

After washing, the wet straw was raked out of the stove, the remaining water was removed and the mouth was dried. The next day, history could repeat itself.

Food

Russian cuisine has always been distinguished by its diversity. It contained a large number of ingredients even before the introduction of potatoes, tomatoes, and corn. In Rus', the basis of nutrition was meat, fish, dairy products, cereals, and all kinds of forest products (mushrooms, berries, nuts, honey). Over the past few centuries it has undergone changes, borrowing many recipes from other countries. But even before that it was not meager. Even poor people had many tasty and satisfying dishes on their table. According to historians, villagers ate food 4-5 times a day. Everyday food included soups, cereals, game, and various pickles. A characteristic feature of Russian cuisine is the presence of fermented, salted, pickled, pickled dishes. In the fall, they prepared a large amount of food for the winter, so as not to starve during this long period. Another characteristic point is the absence of fried foods. Food was boiled, stewed or baked in the oven. Frying as a cooking method appeared much later. Bread, which was baked from rye flour, was of great importance. Wheat products were prepared only for holidays. Original Russian dishes include:

1. Cabbage soup Chowder with sauerkraut and garden herbs. May include meat, vegetables depending on the recipe.
2. Ear. Rich fish soup.
3. Rassolnik. Thick soup based on pickled cucumbers. Cereals, vegetables, meat, and seasonings are added to them.
4. Dumplings. A traditional Russian dish that is familiar to people from many countries. Minced meat is wrapped in dough and boiled in boiling water.
5. Kulebyaka. Closed pie with complex filling. Minced meat, cereals, vegetables, fish are placed in it.
6. Buzhenina. A large piece of game or domestic animal meat was baked whole in the oven.
7. Porridge in pumpkin. The shell of the pumpkin is used as a pot. Its pulp is mixed with cereal and baked whole.

Originally Russian drinks are: kvass, fruit drinks, jelly. Tea and coffee came much later, with the spread of civilization. Common low-alcohol drinks were: beer, mash, mead.

Religion and spiritual culture of Russians

The basis of the traditional spiritual culture of Russians is Orthodoxy. Since the time of Kievan Rus, the adoption of Christianity, Russian self-awareness has taken on a predominantly confessional character, which was expressed in the ideal of Holy Rus'. The Orthodox cult of saints gradually replaced the worship of pagan deities. Outstanding figures of Russian history—political and church figures, zealots of piety—also became objects of popular veneration.

In traditional popular consciousness, a special place was allocated to royal service. In accordance with Byzantine canons, it was given a theocratic meaning. The king was perceived as God's chosen one. At the same time, the attitude towards the tsar as the highest state official - a guardian of the people's interests - is connected with the hopes for a fair structure of society that are constantly reproduced by the peasant consciousness.

Public and private life was also connected with Orthodox ideas about the world order. it fit into the system of the church calendar; it had a great place for religious holidays, church sacraments, rites and customs related to faith.

Currently, the majority of Russian believers are Orthodox. Protestantism, Catholicism, neo-Hindu religious movements, Buddhism, neo-paganism, etc. are less common.

Character

Historians believe that the formation of Russian character was largely influenced by the harsh climate of Russia. This instilled in people such traits as perseverance, perseverance, and determination. The long winter, during which people rested, was replaced by a period of agricultural work, when it was necessary to make every effort from morning to evening. Thanks to this, the so-called emergency operating principle has developed. This means that a person is inactive for a long time, and then quickly does all the work in a short period. This method is reflected in the saying: Russians take a long time to harness, but drive quickly. Russian people are not characterized by such traits as arrogance and arrogance. They are distinguished by their directness in communication and immediately say what they think. Russians are also distinguished by patience, the ability to listen, and compassion. Characteristic features include generosity, hospitality, and generous nature.

Place of the stove in a Russian hut

Sometimes occupying up to a third of the entire space of the upper room, it was always considered almost a holy place.

• The stove provided warmth and food.
• Fire, according to legend, had a miraculous effect and could take away all adversity and illness.
• The patient was laid on the bed to warm the bones. And newborns, especially premature ones, were often brought to the mouth and doused with the “stove spirit” to endow them with health.
• They dried clothes on it.

Old people and children spent most of their lives on the stove: it was always warm and cozy here. And how sweetly the wind howled in the chimney, inducing drowsiness and creating a mysterious atmosphere around.

The only question left to ask is: did you wash in a Russian oven? And the answer to it, strange as it may sound to a modern person, turns out to be affirmative.

Who preferred to wash in the oven

Most often, this method was used for bathing children, sick and infirm old people. The mother undressed and climbed into the oven; a tub of cold water, a washcloth and then the baby were handed to her through the mouth. In this case, they could use a shovel - this is where, perhaps, fairy tales about Baba Yaga sending an unexpected guest into the oven came from. Children who washed in the oven were usually placed in a trough and doused with warm water to wash away soot if it got on their skin. Then they were wrapped in a towel and sent to the bed.

For those who could not fit into the oven on their own, a board was prepared. A sick person or an old man was placed on it and “carried” into the oven, where an assistant was already waiting for him, who would then carry out the washing.

This is how they used to wash in a Russian oven.

Why is this the best swimming place for a girl?

Very often unmarried girls or widows washed themselves in this way. There were also explanations for this.

In a number of Russian regions, for a long time it was believed that it was either completely sinful for a lonely girl to go to the bathhouse, or it was only possible in the company of her mother or a married woman. Therefore, often there was nothing left to do but climb into the oven.

In addition, there was an opinion that the bannik (i.e., the brownie) likes to joke with the bathers: for example, throw a hot stone, pour boiling water on them, prop the door, etc. He allegedly played much more serious pranks with the girls. Similar tricks were also attributed to the kikimora, who allegedly lived in the bathhouse under the floor. Therefore, the girls preferred to wash in the hut, next to the images that protected them from evil spirits - they always hung in the red corner.