The amulet is an original Slavic word. V. Dahl in his dictionary interpreted its meaning as a conspiracy, a rite of corruption, a talisman, “a pendant from the evil eye”, fire or water, etc. In this case, any object, and not only, can become a talisman. It can be a word, or a gesture, even a song. The meaning of the amulet is protection from danger.
History of occurrence
Many centuries ago, our ancestors noticed that the enemy’s tooth brings them luck when hunting, and they achieve a love victory with the help of a bizarre plant root. So the story of amulets began, because primitive people were surrounded by so many real dangers that their main task was survival.
From time immemorial, man has been trying to protect himself from misfortunes and troubles. At first, amulets were absolutely everything - cones or roots, the skull of a defeated enemy or the tusk of a dead mammoth. Then they began to serve only such objects that were "talked" by shamans, gaining "magical power."
Over time, people began to assign even more functions to amulets: special images or special inscriptions began to appear on them, intended to avert one particular danger.
Pagan roots
The ancient Slavs did not perceive the world around them quite the way we do today. For them, he was alive and mysterious, filled with magic. Belief in the charms of the ancient Slavs, the meaning of various amulets is a pagan tradition. But it remained in Russia even after the adoption of the Christian religion.
The pagans always in the first place had a fear of powerful and incomprehensible forces. Our distant ancestors, too, as you know, worshiped the elements of nature.
It was they who were called into the defenders, turning into amulets. The ancient Slavs, who interpreted their meaning in their own way, were guarded by the depicted symbols of natural elements. The sown field in the form of a rhombus, divided into four parts, was considered a sign of land and fertility, for example. The symbol of water was wavy lines, fire - an oblique cross, thunder - a six-pointed star.
Pagan charms of the ancient Slavs - this is a whole science. Such protective symbols are found everywhere in our ancestors - on everyday objects, and on clothes, and on accessories. They protected them from injustice and misfortune, from evil spirits and many diseases. In addition, pagan charms of the ancient Slavs could bring love and prosperity to their masters. After all, according to our ancestors, they possessed truly divine power.
Women's amulets
Symbols of the ancient Slavs can be seen on many items inherited by the representatives of the beautiful half from grandmothers and even great-grandmothers. Towel towels, pillowcases or pillowcases, handkerchiefs and pouches embroidered with fanciful designs are found in almost every other house. But not everyone knows that they are the amulets of the ancient Slavs. Our ancestors made them with our own hands. And the patterns that are on them are not just “pictures” for beauty. These are the most powerful and powerful amulets of the ancient Slavs. Cross-stitch always had a sacred meaning - it protected a person from all sorts of misfortunes. True, over the centuries, this occupation has become a regular pastime.
For embroidery of charms, preference was given to the red color of threads. However, in some cases, other shades were used, such as brick, scarlet, poppy, currant, and cherry.
Ancient embroideries were performed with a counting seam: that is, they counted the threads of fabrics before making each stitch. The drawing-amulet was not translated into the material of the craftswoman, but only outlined its size and determined the location.
One of the attributes of women's protective magic was the so-called charms-pendants. They were attached on chains to plates, often made in the form of one or two sun horses, which were considered a symbol of happiness and goodness. Women wore such protective pendants on a belt or on a neck, and also on a shoulder or a headdress.
Until now, archaeologists in separate burials find whole sets of amulets suspended on a common basis on chains. For example, one of them contains a bird, two spoons, a key and a jaw of a predator. They symbolize satiety and well-being, wealth and safety of property. And in combination with the jaws or teeth of predatory animals, they protected from evil, contributed to a successful hunt.
Since ancient times, the Slavs were convinced that the best characteristics of the animal killed by them pass to those wearing animal amulets. Pendants in the form of animals and birds were associated with the properties of these representatives of the fauna. The charm "duck", for example, was a symbol of procreation and a happy family.
Men's amulets
And although a strong half of the Slavic population was less likely to wear amulets or talismans, nevertheless they existed. True, male charms of the ancient Slavs were much simpler. Usually they were various brooches: clasps on cloaks, richly decorated with symbols. Mostly solar signs were placed on them. Some of them were decorated with symbols of earth or rain. The body wards of the ancient Slavs - tattoos - were made in the form of an eight-pointed or ordinary cross, a swastika or an image of animals, birds or fish.
Men also often wore protective pendants with the symbol of the god Perun - a horse, which guarded them away from home, as well as with swords and daggers, representing victory in battle. Amulets and charms of ancient Slavs, such as fangs or claws of wild animals, protected from dangers.
clothing
Amulets of the ancient Slavs are real works of art. Our ancestors were true masters. The various ornaments made by them, found by archaeologists, amaze the imagination not only with their beauty, but also with thoughtfulness. And the sacred signs that adorn some luxury goods are not at all bizarre patterns invented by skillful seamstresses. These are real amulets. The ancient Slavs of the masculine gender were not distinguished by a great desire to wear amulets. This is explained by the fact that, in their opinion, it was women, as continuers of the clan, who needed such protection.
All the old women's clothing is a kind of amulets of the ancient Slavs. It is necessarily covered with a magical pattern. He decorated everything - and the hem, and sleeves, and gates. Even our ancestors made the fabric itself “impenetrable” for evil forces. After all, it was made using a spinning wheel, spindle or loom, necessarily decorated with a protective ornament.
Home protection
Not only on clothes, but also on housing, you could find amulets of the ancient Slavs. Numerous symbols were necessarily placed on the most “vulnerable” places for danger - on houses and outbuildings. They depicted the sun, “thunder signs”, figures of goddesses on the roof of buildings, horseshoes, etc.
This tradition has been preserved to this day. Carved decorations on log huts or window frames are not only works of skilled craftsmen. Their true purpose was to protect the home from evil spirits and the evil eye. These were the real amulets of the ancient Slavs for the house.
Exquisite ornaments, our ancestors covered all the holes and openings through which impure force could penetrate into the hearth. By the way, household items were also adorned with magical security signs.
Molvinets
It is considered one of the oldest signs of the sacred culture of the Slavic people. Being an energetically powerful sign of a wide spectrum - like so many talismans of the ancient Slavs - the molvinets was originally used to protect against the evil eye and other negatives generated by the word.
The name of the symbol, as you might guess, comes from the word "say" - to speak. It is precisely on this that the power of the charm of the molvinets is concentrated - to block the flows of any incoming energy that appears as a result of negative emotions or manifests itself in words.
In other words, if someone wanted evil to the Slav or was jealous of his success, slandering behind his back, then evil would return to the enemy. And today, many psychics and esotericists use Molvinets, which protects a person from the negativity born of the word. If the ill-wisher is an energetically weak personality, then Molvinets can not only “reflect” his negativity, but even return it multiplied. This is one of the strongest protective charms of the ancient Slavs. It can be found not only on the patterns of ancient towels, but also in the form of a tattoo on the bodies of the valiant magi.
Over grass
This sacred amulet of the ancient Slavs belongs to the solar emblem. Our ancestors used it mainly in order to drive away from themselves those diseases caused by, in their opinion, evil forces. The same grass is a kind of allegory of the Sun, a kind of one god who gives his life-giving light to everyone on Earth. Grass cleansed all three human membranes - spirit, body and soul. It was used by the Slavs not only as a body amulet. It was fixed on clothes, put on dishes, on weapons or armor. The same grass, being a double fiery sign, protected the Slav from the machinations of evil spirits, did not allow the poison to get into the stomach of the food that was guarded, and kept it from an enemy arrow or spear.
Wedding
Wedding - Slavic amulet, which symbolized the unification of the two genera. Contrary to popular belief, the significance of this Vedic amulet went far beyond the traditional ritual system. In fact, a wedding is a protective pattern that must be woven into the embroidery on the clothes of the bride and groom. In this context, it denoted the merger of the physical and spiritual principles of the couple.
Mokoshi Signs
The female headdress, or circle-amulet, among the Slavs kept good and bright thoughts. He was called Kika. Her true mission was to empower a woman. The ancient Slavs certainly richly decorated such a headdress - trimmed with beads, decorated with a string of pearls - lacquered, equipped with temporal rings - colts resembling a scallop of a rooster or the rising sun.
Silver charms
The ancient Slavs were distinguished by a huge variety of all kinds of jewelry. But even among them very often there are those that have protective properties. For example, necklaces consisting of individual pendants and lunar loops are exclusively female amulets from nightly spirits. Their Slavs were made, as a rule, of silver or some silver metal, symbolizing the satellite of the Earth. Components of such a necklace-amulet could be glass beads, as well as bones or stones. Sometimes, instead of pendants, silver coins were used. On the neck of women, sometimes it was possible to see several necklaces collected from moons, plaques or beads. The number of jewelry testified to the status of a woman. And, of course, about the power of a protective amulet.
The ancient Slavs decided to wear bracelets. They could be seen on both men and women. The sleeves of clothes were fastened with bracelets. But they not only made suits and dresses comfortable to wear, they also protected the owners from the penetration of evil spirits. Bracelets were made of silver, glass, bone, from twisted wire and even from strips of metal. They depicted the symbols of the Sun and the Earth.
Solar circles
The oldest pagan charm among the Slavs was considered a knot. Various methods of tying it helped to give jewelry a variety of properties. The simplest knot is the solar circle, which was hung as a decoration in the solar plexus zone.
When building a new house, the craftsmen put wool, wax, grains into the ground under the house - charms of the ancient Slavs, “blessing” the home with their own hands and “giving installation” for protection.
Amulets dolls
They were not only a children's toy or a decorative element. Pagan dolls are powerful amulets of the ancient Slavs, made by women with their own hands, and without the use of cutting or piercing objects. They could protect the child from almost any misfortune. Dolls accompanied Slavic children from their very birth. And the first such amulet, even before the birth of the baby, warmed his cradle, so that after the baby was born, he would take on everything negative. We created dolls-charms for any holiday, whether it was a baby’s birthday and christening, wedding, Kupala, Shrovetide. These amulets have always been faithful companions of triumph.
Charms in Amulets
It is known that various objects can become an amulet. When a person does something with his amulet, he puts a piece of his own energy into it.
It is believed that the ancient Slavs in the manufacture of amulets whispered various conspiracies. They can still be found in many ancient books today. If an amulet was protected from diseases, then more attention was paid to requests to protect from illnesses, if an amulet was created from the evil eye - protection from the evil eye. The conspiracy among the ancients was considered an oral form of charging a talisman with good energy.