Читать книгу Secrets of the ancient Aries. Digest of articles - - Страница 8

The symbolism of the underwear shirt in the Russian folk tradition is deep and interesting.

In everyday life, the shirt was the main form of clothing; both men’s and women’s shirts were sewn from linen, decorating them with woven ornaments and embroidery. Old Russian rubs were of a straight cut, tunic-like in shape and cut from a canvas bent in half. Sleeves were made narrow and long; in women’s shirts they were gathered in folds at the wrist and fastened with bracelets (handles). During ritual dances, in ritual actions, the sleeves were unraveled and served as an instrument of witchcraft. This, by the way, is the story of the Russian folk tale about the Frog Princess. The description of a foreigner (late 17th century) says: «They wear shirts woven with gold on all sides, their sleeves, folded into folds with amazing art, often exceed 8 or 10 cubits, sleeves, continuing with interlocking folds to the end of the arm, are decorated exquisite and expensive wrists.» Shirts decorated with embroidery and weaving are also mentioned in «The Lay of Igor’s Campaign» – a remarkable monument of medieval Russian culture. In her tears, Yaroslavna would like to fly like a cuckoo on the Danube, moisten the «be bryan sleeve» (that is, decorated with a typesetting ornament) in the Kajala River and wipe the bloody wounds of her husband, Prince Igor, with it. The magical power, concentrated in the sleeves of a shirt, in scarlet ornaments, should heal, heal wounds, fill the body with strength, bring health and good luck.

A long-sleeved shirt is depicted on silver ritual bracelets with nielloed patterns, intended for dancing on mermaids, found in different parts of Russia (Kiev, Staraya Ryazan, Tver).

Relating to the 12—13 centuries, these bracelets depict those ritual acts about which the church said: «Sin is dancing in mermaids», «this is the essence of evil and bad deeds – dancing, gusli… playing unlikable mermaid»,» the dancing god is the lover of the devil… the bride of sotonin. «B. A. Rybakov notes that:" in the temple, and not for a simple everyday dress, but for the celebration of another, but, obviously, secret participation in great-grandfather’s rituals.»

The ritual significance of the ornamented long sleeves is emphasized on the bracelet from Old Ryazan by the fact that the woman depicted here, while drinking a ritual cup at a pagan Rusal festival, takes it through the long sleeve deflated, while the man holds the cup with an open palm. Until the end of the 19th century in the Vologda, Arkhangelsk, Olonets and Moscow provinces, the tradition of using long-sleeved shirts with sleeves up to two meters with slots-«windows» for hands as festive and wedding clothes was preserved. Returning again to the fairy tale about the Frog Princess, it is worth remembering that it is at the real wedding of her and Ivan Tsarevich, where the Frog Princess first appears before her husband and his relatives in her real appearance as Vasilisa the Beautiful, that she performs a ritual witchcraft dance. After a wave of the loose right sleeve, a lake appears, after swing of the left – bird’s swans. Thus, the heroine of the fairy tale performs the act of creating the world. She, like the woman on the bracelet of the 12th-12th centuries, dances the dance of water and life. And this is quite natural, since since Vedic times a wedding has been perceived as a cosmic action – the union of the sun and the month. Interestingly, in the Vedic wedding ceremony, the groom, bringing the bride’s undershirt, said: «Live long, wear clothes, be the protector of the human tribe from the curse.

Live a hundred years, full of strength, dress for wealth and children, blessed with the life invested in these clothes». Such a text is logical, because, as noted earlier, the ornament of the fabric was perceived in this tradition as a sacred speech, a song of praise, as a way to comprehend the universal law. NR Guseva notes that in «Atharvaveda» there is an appeal to the gods «with a request to dress the donor in a kind of symbolic garment in which the gods dress each other and which bestows longevity, power, wealth and prosperity.» The fact that this is a shirt is evidenced by the lines of the Rig Veda that say «about beautiful, well-made outfits», as well as about a woman ripping a seam, about a wedding shirt and a wedding dress. NR Guseva believes that «the mentions of a seam and a shirt are, of course, especially valuable here,» because, unlike the substratum population of Hindustan – the Dravids, who wore unstitched clothes, the Aryans wore sewn clothes. She also emphasizes that: «In the Rig Veda there is also such a name for clothes as» atka "-" shirt», formed from the verbal root» at "-«to constantly move, stretch, walk.» From the same root comes the word «atasi» – «flax» and «atasa» – «linen clothes». This is a valuable indication that the Aryans knew flax. This is also indicated by the injunction of the Laws of Manu, which commands the chaste disciples of brahmanas to wear clothes made of linen, hemp and sheep’s wool. The profession of a tailor is also mentioned here, which speaks of the existence of tailored clothes. «Based on the published Rig Vedas, we can assume that it was in the ornament that the shirt could» bestow longevity, power, wealth and prosperity.»

The fact that in Ancient India there was ornamentation of fabrics is evidenced by the presence of masters in embroidery, printed fabric, patterned weaving and appliqué work in ancient lists of the middle and end of the 1st millennium BC («Arthashastra»). And also the fact that Indian embroidery using the chikan technique, where many different stitches are used: double-sided darning, flat and convex satin stitch, stalked and overcast seams, made on white fabric with white threads, is absolutely identical to the North Russian embroidery «chased», so characteristic of the Olonets province.

«In northern India, chikan embroidery covers men’s white shirts of local cut – long without a collar, with a straight fastener, with long straight sleeves and with pockets sewn into the side seams. Chikan embroidery is used to decorate women’s pajamas and shirts, as well as tablecloths, napkins, pillowcases, sheets, thin window curtains, corners of handkerchiefs, etc.», writes N. R. Guseva.

In the Russian North, embroidery was used to decorate the valances of wedding sheets, the ends of towels, so-called. «groom’s fees», etc. The technique of flat surface from Gujarat is surprisingly similar to the North Russian flat surface, widespread in the Olonets province. These examples can be continued for a long time, since there is a huge number of compositional schemes of embroidered and woven ornament, absolutely identical in India and in the Russian North: these are goddesses with their hands raised up, these are all kinds of ducks and peaves, and sung by the Rig Veda:

«With a single two

on poultry horses

two wanderers

travel together»

these are constantly repeating compositions of four swastikas, which correspond to the concept of «asceticism of five fires», that is, the standing of the priest between four bonfires in the form of swastikas under the rays of the sun (the fifth fire).