Norway spruce is the most widespread coniferous tree in the western sector of the forest zone of Eurasia. Simply put, this is our usual Christmas tree, well known to everyone. But even in the familiar, the familiar, the everyday one can find the new and the unknown.

Norway spruce, or European

Ordinary spruce is also called European spruce. Although in Western and Central Europe, the tree grows only in the mountains. This spruce is most common in Northern Europe, Belarus, in the north of Ukraine. And, of course, in the north of European Russia, where it forms significant forests.

In the east, closer to the Urals, and in the very north of the forest zone, ordinary spruce is replaced by a closely related species - Siberian spruce. The species is close, but still different - with shorter and prickly needles, smaller cones, less height. And the ability to survive in harsher climates.

The view is different, but still close. Ate common and Siberian interbreed, forming viable hybrids. They even talk about a special transitional form - Finnish ate.

If you carefully examine the cones of common and Siberian spruce, you can notice the differences that are considered species characteristics. The edge of the scales in the Siberian spruce is rounded and smooth, and in the common one - with small denticles, notches.

Spruce belongs to the pine family. Indeed, despite the obvious differences, these trees have a lot in common. In addition to green needles, which persist for several years, common spruce combines dioeciousness with pine - both male and female cones ripen on the same tree. The structure and origin of cones, the structure of pollen and seeds, the processes occurring during pollination and fertilization are also similar.

There are many differences. Unlike pine, spruce trees are capable of growing tall and slender trees, regardless of whether they grow in a dense forest or in an open place. The fact is that common spruce grows mainly with its apical bud. It is she who gives the longest shoots - from 30 to 50 cm annually.

Moreover, the spruce grows with its top all its life. However, on condition - if the apical kidney is not damaged. Or the shoot bearing this bud has not been removed for some reason. In this case, the apical function is taken over by one of the lateral kidneys. But the tree will never grow tall and slender.

The top of the spruce is always crowned with a "crown" of buds: one apical and several lateral. In the spring they sprout. And a whorl is formed. Just like Scots pine. And the age of a young spruce is also easy to determine by counting the number of these whorls and adding 5-7 years. During the first years of life, whorls are not formed on the tree.

Lateral branches also grow annually, but much less than the top. Moreover, on the lateral branch of the spruce, lateral shoots grow every year - already relative to this branch itself. These are also whorls, only not complete - the branches do not go off in all directions, but close to one plane. A spruce branch is formed, which we usually call a spruce paw.


Spruce shoots, unlike pine, are of only one type - elongated. Let me remind you that, in addition to the annually growing elongated shoots, there are also shortened ones, only a couple of millimeters long. A pair of pine needles grows on them. Together with the needles, these shoots fall off after 2 - 3 years, or a little more.

Spruce needles grow directly on an elongated shoot. Needles, much shorter than pine needles, dot the entire shoot, arranged in a spiral. A needle sits on a leaf cushion. When it falls, a leaf trail remains on the bark.

Spruce needles are flattened-tetrahedral, with a prickly top. The length of the needles is 1 - 2 cm. It stays on the tree longer. Under natural conditions, the lifespan of the needles is up to 10 - 12 years. True, in trees growing in conditions of increased air pollution, the needles change much earlier.

Norway spruce, like other representatives of this genus, tolerates shading well. Therefore, even in a dense spruce forest, the crown of the tree remains highly developed. Only the lowest branches dry up from a lack of light. The crown of a spruce growing in an open place is usually pyramidal. Branches grow on the trunk almost to the ground.

The developed crown provides the tree with nutrients well. After all, the more leaves (needles) on the tree, the more sugars are produced during photosynthesis. But such a crown can cause serious problems for the tree.

In winter we have a lot of snow. Even birch trees without leaves often bend or even break under its weight. Ate ordinary heavy snowfalls do not cause much trouble. Thin, but strong and flexible branches also bend under the weight of the snow. And dump it!

But strong winds with a large windage of the crown often turn out the tree entirely. This is also facilitated by the characteristics of the spruce root system. Only until the age of fifteen does a taproot grow on the tree. And then the lateral roots grow actively, lying in the upper layer of the soil. Such roots cannot keep a tall tree in a strong wind. And the forest giants are crumbling.

European spruce lives up to 250 - 300 years. It's just that you will hardly be able to find such trees in the forest. Is it somewhere in a nature reserve. Most of the spruce is cut down before the centenary.

Never chopped spruce forest leaves unforgettable impressions! I had to visit such a forest many years ago. This is in the north-west of the Vologda Oblast, almost on the border with Karelia, in the upper reaches of the Andoma River. The associations are ... fabulous. It seems that Baba Yaga is about to look out from behind a nearby tree. Or Goblin.

Powerful columns of fir trees go up tens of meters. Their diameter at the butt is more than a meter. The branches are hung with the beards of a lichen dormant. Quiet in such a forest and gloomy. The soil, dead wood, including whole trunks of huge spruces that have fallen from old age or the wind, are all covered with a thick layer. Only blueberries grow from shrubs, and even then not everywhere.

Where it is lighter - near a forest stream, for example - some herbs appear. The white stars of the European septenary are sparkling. And in places of close occurrence of groundwater, green mosses are replaced by marsh ones.

On fresh stumps in a clearing under the timber road, which had already reached these places, one can count the annual rings, which the botanists of our expedition did not hesitate to do. There were 250 - 300 rings.

As a result of the expedition, in which I worked at that time, the Verkhneandomsky state reserve was created. The array of indigenous spruce forests was taken under protection. What is there now - I can't say ...

Norway spruce is much more demanding than pine for soil conditions. It will not grow on dry sands or on a raised bog. She also does not tolerate droughts. Therefore, already in the south of the forest zone it is less common.

Trees spend winter in a kind of "hibernation" when life processes slow down. Coniferous trees are no exception. The stomata on the needles are tightly closed - you need to save water. The roots cannot provide enough of it for the tree, the roots practically do not absorb water in the cold soil.

However, at temperatures above -5 degrees, photosynthesis still begins in the needles. But such temperatures are not typical for our winters.

But then spring comes and everything begins to change rapidly. Even at the turn of the seasons, at the time, poetically named by MM Prishvin "", on dry sunny days, spruce cones open, pouring out the seeds carried by the wind. In May, with the arrival of heat, the buds first swell, and then the buds open, giving rise to new vegetative shoots.

Consider the spruce paws at this time. At the ends of the branches, large buds swelled, covered with pale yellow caps of soil scales. In some places, these scales have already moved apart, or even fallen off. From under them, a brush of light green needles is born. This is a young escape.

Young needles differ from old ones not only in color. They are soft and not prickly at all. If the "brush" is ripped off and chewed, a sour taste is felt. And no resinous aftertaste and aroma.

Young shoots grow rapidly. In May - early June, they still differ from the old ones in the color of their needles. But with the arrival of real summer, the growth of shoots stops, the needles harden and acquire their usual properties.

Generative buds also bloom almost simultaneously with vegetative buds. Modified shoots of the common spruce appear from them - its female and male cones. The spruce "blooms". This happens almost simultaneously with the flowering of bird cherry.

Of course, biologists correct - conifers do not bloom, they do not have a flower. But nevertheless, the similarity is great, especially when you consider that the cones at this time look very spectacular.

There is a separate article about "blooming" of spruce in more detail.

It is usually quite difficult to consider young spruce cones, since they are located in the upper part of the crown. Unless you are lucky ... Small yellowish or reddish male cones (or male spikelets) appeared on the tops of last year's shoots. In sacs under the scales, a huge amount of pollen matures.

Pollen grains of Norway spruce, like pine ones, have air sacs, due to which their specific gravity is low. The pollen is carried away by the wind, covers the leaves of trees, grass. If it rains, yellow pollen is clearly visible in the puddles.

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Since ancient times, people have used the wonderful property of plants - to provide food and warmth. But in addition to these properties, people noticed that plants can influence the fate of a person, as well as heal him from diseases, both physical and spiritual. For a long time, people have revered trees and sacred groves. People came to them for treatment, pray, ask for protection or love. From time immemorial, trees have been attributed to magical powers. It was believed that human guardian spirits live in them. Many signs, beliefs and rituals are associated with trees.

Wood in the folk culture of the Slavs is an object of worship. In ancient monuments of the 11-17 centuries. it is reported about the worship of the pagans to "groves" and "trees", about the prayers under them ("growth ... zhpyahy"). Sitting on all, these were, as a rule, fenced areas of the forest. The groves were considered reserved, they did not destroy trees, did not collect brushwood. Among the Slavs, many groves and custom-made forests have "sacred" names: "god-god", "god-god", "goddess", "sacred forest", "sanctuary".

The category of revered and sacred trees also included individual trees, especially the old ones, growing alone in the field or near healing springs. People came to these trees to get rid of diseases, the evil eye, infertility and other misfortunes. They brought gifts and sacrifices (hung towels, clothes, rags on trees), prayed, touched the trees. Through the hollows and crevices of such trees, the sick crawled, as if leaving behind this opening their illnesses. With the advent of Christianity in Russia, in order to attract people to churches, churches were built right in the groves of light. This is evidenced by numerous traditions, legends and apocryphal legends about the construction of churches near revered trees .. Various rituals were performed near the sacred trees.

The South Slavs practiced the custom of "marrying" young people around a tree (or preceding the wedding ceremony with this action). Among the Serbs, Bulgarians and Macedonians, many rituals and celebrations were performed on the "record" - the sacred tree (usually the oak tree or fruit tree). Here they set up holiday meals, slaughtered the sacrificial animals, burned fires at the Shrovetide; near the "zapische" they swore oaths, settled the courts, etc. An old hazel tree - in the absence of a priest - could confess: kneeling and clasping him with his arms, a person repented of sins and asked for the arrival of Christianity, trees were a link between God and people (the world of people and the world of gods) Oaks, elms and other large trees belonged to the reserves. It was forbidden to punish them and do any harm at all. Violation of these bans led to the death of a person, a sea of ​​cattle, I hate. Such trees were considered patrons of the surroundings - villages, houses, wells, lakes, protected from hail, fires, natural disasters.

Wood as a metaphor for a road, as a path by which one can reach the world beyond the grave - a common motive of Slavic beliefs and customs associated with death.

Characteristic are the ideas about the death of a person's soul into a tree. For example, the white-eyed thought that in every scrappy tree the soul of the dead languishes, who asks passers-by to pray for her; if after such a prayer a person falls asleep under a tree, he will see a soul who will tell how long and for what she was imprisoned in this tree. The Serbs believed that the soul of a person finds rest in the tree growing on his grave; Therefore, you must not pluck fruits from cemetery trees and break branches. Slavic ballads about people sworn in trees are associated with the circle of these beliefs. Such folklore plots usually refer to people who died a pre-immortal death, before the time allotted to them; their interrupted life, as it were, strives to continue in other forms. A tree, like a plant, generally correlates with a person in terms of external signs: the trunk is the trunk, the roots are the legs, the branches are the pyki, the juices are the blood, etc. There are "male" and "female" trees (birch - birch, dybitsa - dyb), differing also in shape: y birch branches spread out to the sides, y birch - upward. When a child is born, a tree is planted for him, believing that the child will grow in the same way as this tree develops. At the same time, in some beliefs, the growth of such a tree causes exhaustion of a person and leads him to death. Therefore, we tried not to plant large trees near the house.

Depevo is closely related to the field of demonology. This is the habitat of various mythological creatures. Rysalka live on birches, witches flocked to giant oak trees on the night of the Kupala, the devil sits in the roots of a buzzard, in a dense verba, pitchforks and samodivs on sprawling large trees, whose branches play, often demons live in thorns.

S. Yesenin said: "For Russians, everything is from the Tree - this is the religion of our people's thought." And he explained why and why the tree is usually embroidered only on towels. This is a deep meaning. “The tree is life,” the poet writes. - Every morning, getting up from sleep, we wash our face with water. Water is a symbol of purification ... Wiping their face on a canvas depicting a tree, our people say that they have not forgotten the secret of the ancient fathers to dry themselves with the foliage, that they remember themselves with the seed of a transcendental tree, and, running under its cover, dipping their face in a towel, they as if he wants to imprint at least a small branch of it on his cheeks, so that like a tree he can showered from himself the cones of words and thoughts and a shadow-virtue flow from the branches-arms.

Tree of life.

The tree in general occupied a special place in the life of the pagan Slavs. A legend has been preserved that a long time ago, when there was still neither sky nor earth, but only the blue sea splashed everywhere, two oak trees stood in the middle of it, on the branches of which two doves were sitting. Once the pigeons flew up, then dived to the bottom of the sea and brought sand and pebbles from there. From this material, the sky with the earth and all the heavenly bodies were built.

Since then, the myth has come to the tree of life. The Slavs believed that it served as the axis, the center of the whole world and, as it were, embodied the entire universe. The roots of this amazing tree, which was called the world tree, embraced the whole earth, reached the depths of the underworld. His crown rested against the firmament. For the ancient man, it embodied the idea of ​​space and time. It is no coincidence that a riddle arose: “There is an oak tree, 12 branches on an oak tree, each knot has four nests, each nest has seven chicks”. This was the mythical image of the year: twelve months, each of them contains four weeks, and in a week there are seven days. (Then the count was carried out by lunar months).

In the folklore of the Slavic peoples - fairy tales, riddles, conspiracies - an image of the tree of life often arises. Most often it is a mighty oak tree that has lived on earth for several centuries. In one of the famous fairy tales, an old man climbed such an oak and reached the very sky. There he saw wonderful millstones - the emblem of a spring thunderstorm that gives people rain and fertility. And conspiracies from diseases most often begin with a joke that on the sea-okyan, on the Buyan island, where the alatyr stone lies, there is a “damask oak”.

The images of the external and internal world of ancient man were strung on the tree-axis. It systematized this world, gave it harmony, where every object or phenomenon, every living being had its place.

At the top of the crown sat a deity - formidable, inaccessible. Birds found refuge in the branches. Bees swarmed at the trunk, moose, deer, horses, cows, and sometimes people crowded. The roots gathered around them snakes, frogs and even fish. There were also a demon and other unclean forces chained in a chain. A fragrance emanates from this tree, and twelve springs “flow like milk and honey” from its root. Sometimes the upper deity entered into battle with the "lower tier", suppressing the encroachments of snakes and dragons on the "warm-blooded" ones located at the trunk. According to legend, the tree is the path along which in the fall the snakes go to the mythical land of the vip.

The tree connecting the earthly and underground worlds also appears in West Slavic mythological stories about children replaced by demons. In order to return her son, the woman takes the changeling under some kind of tree, and later takes away her child. Things that had to be gotten rid of - sent to the next world (objects that were in contact with the deceased, old wedding supplies, etc.) were thrown into the tree (or attributed to it). water these items.

Iconic trees, symbolizing the world tree, have accompanied many important events in human life for centuries.

An indispensable participant in the traditional Slavic wedding was the world tree, its image. Bridesmaids sing about him, promising the young people happiness and wealth. And when a new house was being built, it was customary to place a ceremonial tree in the center of the building. Well, on folk holidays, such as on Trinity, you cannot do without a birch tree, all courtyards, houses and temples are decorated with green branches.

“A Christmas tree was born in the forest” ... Everyone from young to old knows this song. While dancing around the discharged forest beauty, the children do not even suspect that they are performing ritual acts, part of the myth-making of our distant ancestors. Also, many centuries ago people gathered at the tree, brought sacrifices to its roots, sang, performed ritual dances, in which every movement had a symbolic meaning.

Until now, in some places the following custom has been preserved. If a guy brings a tree dug in the forest and plants it under the girl's window, this is clearly perceived as a declaration of love, an offer of a hand and heart.

The tree of life was usually depicted with eight branches, four on each side. When depicting it, four colors were most often used: black, red, blue and white. The branches, trunk and roots of the world tree connect, respectively, the upper, middle and lower worlds, and the branches - the cardinal points.

Oak

since ancient times, the Slavs have been a sacred tree - the king of the forests. Oak is rightfully ranked first in the Slavic arboretum. The Russians called it Tsar Oak, and, according to legends, the eagle, the king of birds, lived on it. God the Father appeared under the name or in the form of an oak tree. In folk representations, the oak acts as a symbol of masculinity, supremacy, strength, power, firmness. It is no coincidence that in conspiracies his constant epithets are "iron" or "damask", and in a proverb it says about him: "You cannot knock down an oak at one time." They say about strong strong men: strong as an oak (oak).

The Slavs especially distinguished and revered the oak among other trees. Perhaps, at first, in general, they called all the trees the word "oak". It is no coincidence that the words "club", "club", derived from him, refer not only to the oak club.

The oak was revered as a deity. Sacrifices were made at its foot. Idols were carved from oak wood. And the fire on the temple could be “fed” only with oak wood. The people considered the oak to be tied by invisible threads with the supreme deity Perun. After all, this tree seemed to attract lightning. And today, in a thunderstorm, you should not hide under an oak tree - it is dangerous. These are echoes of the main myth of the Eastern Slavs about Perun's duel with an enemy hiding under an oak tree. The Slavs had a ban on growing oak near the house, since, according to legends, thunder first of all hits the oak.

Mainly, our ancestors and the legend about the world tree belonged to the oak. This is exactly what an oak tree looks like in the Russian conspiracy: "... There is the holy Akiyan Sea, on that sea there is an island, on that island there is an oak tree, from earth to heaven, from east to west, from a young month to a dilapidated ..."

Faith and worship of the oak continued for so long that after the adoption of Christianity by Russia, under pain of a church court, it was forbidden to "pray before the oak for Petya's prayer." After all, as the gods decided the fate of the whole world and people in particular, sitting under the world tree, so they performed judgment under the mighty oak trees, believing that the sentences pronounced here were sanctified by the deity. There were whole reserved sacred oak groves. It was considered blasphemy to enter such a walk, and even more so to pick a branch from a tree. For this, the magi-priests could condemn the "blasphemer" even to death.

It was forbidden to cut sacred oaks everywhere. It was believed that any attempt to harm them (to cut down, break a branch, peel off the bark and even use its dry forest for firewood) would result in misfortune for a person or for everyone living nearby. The Belarusians believed that if you start chopping down an old oak tree, blood will appear from under the ax - the tree will cry with bloody tears.

The archeological findings also indicate the cult role of the oak: in 1975, an ancient oak was raised from the bottom of the Dnieper, into which 9 boar jaws were inserted. In 1910, a similar oak was recovered from the bottom of the Desna. Apparently, these trees were used in committing sacrifices.

The oak groves were open-air sanctuaries.

In Christianity, the veneration of the oak, like many other pagan beliefs, entered as a symbol of the veneration of Christ and the Virgin Mary. Oak, along with aspen, was one of several types of trees from which it was believed that the cross of the Lord could be made. Due to its hardness and endurance, the oak has become a symbol of the strength of faith and virtue, as well as the resistance of Christians to adversity.

The Russian Apocrypha spoke of how Judas wanted to hang himself on an oak, but "by God's command the oak bowed down and was saved."

A Bulgarian legend tells how an oak grove hid a God who was fleeing from the Plague; in gratitude for this, God made it so that the leaves from the oak tree fell only in late autumn.

In beliefs, practical magic and folklore, the oak consistently acts as a male symbol. In the signs and prohibitions, the oak is compared with the owner of the house, the head of the family. So, for example, the Nizhny Novgorod expression "With an oak - bark!" - meaning the order of the husband that the wife undress him, take off her boots. Water after bathing a newborn boy is poured under an oak tree; when the bride is led into her husband's house, she is the first to enter there and say to herself: “There are oak trees near the yard, and there are little sons in the house,” if she wants her boys to be born. In the Vitebsk region, the midwife cut the boy's umbilical cord on an oak block so that he would grow strong.

In the Tver province, until the beginning of the 20th century, there was such a custom: as soon as a boy was born, his father went into the forest and chopped down several oak trees, the logs of which were then taken to the river and immersed in water. There they remained until the son grew up. When he intended to marry, oak logs, already turned into a stained tree, so strong that it was impossible to chop it with an ax, were taken out of the water and used as the foundation of a house for a new family.

The inhabitants of Polesie considered it unacceptable for an oak to grow near the dwelling: here they believed that if there was this tree next to the house, then there would be no owner in the hut. The Poleshchuk were convinced that if this happens, then as soon as the oak reaches the size that makes it possible to make a tombstone out of it, the owner of the house will die immediately. According to local beliefs, an oak located near a dwelling generally "survives" men from it.

Oak (like a tree in general) simulated the birth and growth of a child (the custom of planting a tree at the birth of a baby) Sometimes the child himself planted an oak tree, then the child's health was judged by its growth and development: the oak of the lad - the lad will be healthy, the oak does not grow - the lad will fall ill ”.

Among the Eastern Slavs, there is a ban on growing oaks from acorns: it was believed that a person who planted an acorn would die as soon as the tree was equal to its growth. The role of oak in wedding ceremonies is also known. An ancient custom was respected in the Voronezh province; leaving the church after the wedding, the young people headed to the oak tree and drove around three times.

The strength of the oak led to its widespread use in funeral rituals: for a long time, coffins were made from it, in former times, they were a hollowed-out log, and grave crosses. This can be traced in the words and stable combinations of words that exist in the modern language, denoting the transition to another world: "to look into an oak" - to die, "to give an oak", "oak" - to die. In Russian riddles, death is most often thought of through the image of an oak:

At the turn of the Tatar

There is a veretya oak,

Nobody will go around, will not go round:

Neither the king, nor the queen, nor the red maiden.

The properties of oak were taken into account in folk medical practice. In conspiracies from the most terrible diseases, the image of an oak is one of the most common. He was not only turned to in conspiracies, but oak trees were also used in the treatment itself.

If a person has a backache, it is good to lean against an oak trunk at the first spring thunder. There is an East Slavic custom of plugging an oak branch into the belt on the back so that the back does not hurt during the harvest, etc. Poles hung oak wreaths on the horns of cows so that the cows were strong and so that the horns would not break when butting.

In the folk medicine of the South Slavs, a popular way of treating childhood illnesses, as well as a way to stop child mortality in the family, was the custom to put the cut hair and nails of a sick child or a thread that had been used to measure the child in the oak trunk, and then hammer this hole with a peg: when the child outgrows it hole, the disease will leave him.

The oak served as an object to which diseases were symbolically transferred. Belarusians poured water under a young oak, in which they washed a consumptive patient; Poles with abscesses in their mouths spat into a hole dug under an oak tree; Ukrainians, Poles, Czechs, Moravians left the patient's clothes on the oak; Bulgarians, Serbs and Macedonians visited the revered oaks and tied ribbons and threads of clothing to their branches. The Ukrainians hung towels and skeins of thread on oak trees as a vow.

To relieve a toothache, you need to bite an oak chip with a sore tooth.

Better yet, find an old oak tree in the forest, next to which springs break out of the ground, rip off the bark from a branch and soak it in spring water. If you wear such a talisman in an amulet, your teeth will never disturb you at all.

A sick child can be cured by splitting the trunk of a young oak tree in the forest and dragging the baby three times between the splits. And then tie the trunk with a rope or sash.

You can walk three more times nine times with the baby around the tree, and then hang a rag from the baby's clothes on its branches. As the left tissue decays, so the disease will leave. From this rite, the tradition subsequently arose to decorate trees with rags and ribbons, which began to be perceived as sacrifices to forest spirits.

Oaks were considered the habitat of mythological characters. For example, according to the beliefs of the Eastern Slavs, witches flocked to giant oaks on the night of the Kupala. Among the southern Slavs, large oaks, elms and beeches were called "samovil" or "samodiv" (samodivs, pitchforks, devils gathered on them).

Lukomorye has a green oak

Golden chain on tom oak

And day and night the cat is a scientist

Everybody walks in a chain round and round

Goes to the right - the song starts.

To the left - he says a fairy tale.

There are miracles, there the devil wanders,

The mermaid is sitting on the branches.

A.S. Pushkin.

The presence of fruit in an oak brings its magical properties closer to the magical properties of fruit trees. So, rituals against infertility are usually performed under fruit trees, but sometimes under an oak tree.

Oak branches were used as a talisman, sticking them into the windows and doors of houses before the Kupala night.

The Slavs made amulet from oak bark.

Ancient sages predicted fate by listening to the rustle of oak branches.

In love magic, in order to bring a guy and a girl together, they used a decoction infused with chips of oak and birch, chipped off in the place where these trees grew together.

Also used a love spell on oak. An oak and a birch were tied together. Having tied the string, they said: “As I tied you together, so I am tied forever with the servant of God (name). Amen". Then they left without looking back, and did not come to this place again.

Birch.

Since ancient times, a slender white-bore birch has become a symbol of Russia. And although birches grow all over the world, nowhere are they loved and honored as in our homeland.

This has been the case for all ages. After all, birch in Slavic mythology was also considered a sacred tree. Sometimes not only oak, but birch was revered by our ancestors as a world tree. This idea remained in the ancient conspiracy: "On the sea-okey, on the Buyan island, there is a white birch tree with branches down, roots up."

Linguists associate the Russian name for birch with the verb to protect. This is due to the fact that the Slavs considered birch to be a gift of the gods, protecting man.

A Slavic rune is associated with a birch - Bereginya - Birch, Fate, Mother, Earth.

Bereginya in the Slavic tradition is a female image associated with protection and maternal protective principle. In archaic antiquity, Makosh, the Mother Goddess, who was in charge of earthly fertility and the fate of all living things, acted under the name Beregini. This rune is the rune of fate.

Legends and beliefs, often associated with biblical characters, tell about the origin and natural properties of birch. In folk legends, birch appears as a blessed tree, since it sheltered the line of St. Friday, and she also sheltered the Theotokos and Jesus from bad weather: therefore, she enjoys the protection of all three. Or, on the contrary, the birch was considered a tree cursed by God, the twigs of which whipped Christ. In eastern Polissya, there is a legend about the human origin of this tree: birches are the daughters of the first man - Adam - who grew into the earth with their braids, and birch sap is their tears. The white color of the tree trunk is explained in beliefs by the fact that when Judas wanted to hang himself on it, the birch turned white with fright, but did not accept the giver.

In Slavic ballads, legends, fairy tales, it is told that the ruined girl turns into a birch. The Belarusian song is about a birch that grew on the grave of the bride, who was poisoned by the groom's mother.

In traditional culture, birch symbolizes the feminine principle. In many beliefs, rituals, and ritual songs, in folklore texts, it is opposed to the oak as a male symbol.

Delicate birch was revered as a female symbol, was considered the patroness of young girls. Brides came to her both in days of joy and in hours of despair. Clung to the thin white trunk, they dried their tears, as if absorbing faith, hope, love.

Any spring holiday in Russia in honor of the awakening nature was not complete without birch. On Trinity Day, churches and houses were decorated with young birch branches. It was believed that a tree would not be "offended" if it was cut down with love in the name of such a great holiday.

In many Russian provinces, they went to the forest on Semnik, chose a young birch, decorated it, curled wreaths on its branches, arranged a joint meal under it, led choruses, and wondered. Then, with a cut birch (which was sometimes called "seven"), they walked through the village and, at the end of the ceremony, threw the birch into the water, into the fire, into the ravine (that is, "they drove the birch", "buried" it). The girls "swam" with a birch, asked for her share, washed themselves with birch juice for beauty and health. This rite survived until the beginning of the 20th century. and maybe somewhere it is being reborn in our days.

Trinity morning, morning canon,

In the grove, along the birch trees, a white chime.

Written by Sergei Yesenin.

There was such a sign: the girl who was the first to sit on Trinity in the shade of the cherished birch tree would be the first among her friends to get married. They also believed: if you sit in the shadow of the Trinity birch tree and make a wish, it will certainly come true.

In the mythological representations of the Slavs, the period of Trinity and Semik refers to those calendar intervals when the ancestors temporarily left the "other world" and appeared in the world of the living. The place of their stay on the earth was the fresh greenery of birches. Therefore, for the souls of “parents”, birches were brought from the forest and installed near houses. These days they went to the cemetery, brought here birch branches, wreaths, brooms. The main ritual action was “plowing” the graves. They were swept with birch branches, after which the branches were stuck into the burial ground.

Trinity week was also called "Rusalnaya": according to legends, only this week mermaids appeared on earth. Birch was considered a favorite habitat for mermaids. In mermaid songs, they appear to be sitting on a green or crooked birch. So, in the Smolensk region they sang:

At varot byarez

Zilina chilled

Vetikym waved;

On the one on the burez

The mermaid sat down ...

They imagined that mermaids live on weeping birches, swing on their branches or sit under a tree. Branches were woven on birches especially to swing the mermaids.

Thus, the use of birch in the Trinity rites was conditioned by the idea of ​​the image of this tree as the embodiment of fertility, as an object connecting the world of the living and the world of the dead and mythological creatures.

On Trinity week, the girls performed fortune-telling, most of which were associated with a birch tree. So, for example, at night they braided birch branches with grass in a braid, and the next morning they looked: if the braid is unraveled, then to be married this year, if not, to stay in girls. They also threw woven wreaths on a birch: depending on whether the wreath caught on a tree or fell to the ground, it was judged whether the girl would get married in the next wedding season or not. Wreaths of birch branches, which they wore on their heads all week, were thrown into the river: the wreath drowns - to death, it will be washed ashore - the girlhood will continue, it will float to a foreign shore - be sure to be married.

Birch in folk ideas was endowed with protective properties. Birch branches, especially used in the Trinity and other calendar rites y of the Slavs, were considered a reliable guarantee. Locked under the roof of the house, they reliably protected from lightning, thunder and hail; stuck in the middle of crops in the field protect from grasses and birds; abandoned on mountain beds - protect the cabbage from caterpillars. With the help of birch branches, they tried to protect themselves from evil spirits, especially the "walking dead". On Ivan Kypaly's back, birch branches stuck into the walls of the barn did not allow the witches to milk milk from other cows, and harm them in general. On the eve of Ivan Kupala, wreaths made of birch branches were put on the horns of cows so that the cattle were healthy and bring healthy offspring.

Among the Western Slavs, a birch broom leaned to the bed of a woman in labor or the cradle of a newborn was considered a reliable protection.

At the same time, birch is often mentioned as an attribute of evil spirits in demonological beliefs and epics. The witch could milk milk from birch branches, she could also fly not only on a broomstick or a bread shovel, but also on a birch stick. White horses, donated by a man with a devil, turned into birch birches, and bread served with a devil in a birch bark; The woman who was "possessed" by the demon at the time of the initiation "threw" on the birch .. Recently, during excavations near Novgorod, archaeologists found letters written on birch bark by our ancestors almost ten centuries ago. But birch bark is birch bark. The ancient Slavs wrote similar messages, "petitions" to the wood goblin, on birch bark and pinned to a tree. They prayed not to deprive the hunter of the game, to return the lost cattle, to guard them in the forest or on the river.

The contradictory attitude towards birch is reflected in popular beliefs.

In some places, it was believed that a birch, planted next to the house, scares away evil and protects from lightning, and it was specially planted with the birth of a child.

In others, on the contrary, they were afraid to plant a birch next to the house, arguing that the birch “cries” a lot and that lightning strikes it again. In Polissya, it was believed that a birch planted close to the house causes female diseases in its inhabitants; that the growths are formed on the birch from "female curses".

In the Russian North, the place where birch trees once grew was considered unlucky; a new house was not built on it. At the same time, sometimes in many places the birch was specially planted near the house for the welfare of the family. The birch branch installed with the front corner during the construction of the house was a symbol of the health of the owner and family. Birch branches were stuck into the field to get a good harvest of flax and cereals. A birch log was buried under the threshold of a new stable, "so that the horses were led." In ancient times, cradles were woven from branches to protect a child from ailments. If you tie a red ribbon on the trunk of a birch tree, it will save you from the evil eye.

Still, birch was more often used as a talisman against evil forces ..

They turned to birch trees for help and in case of illness. Stomp a sick person with a birch twig - a healer will help better. And if you pour water under the tree after bathing a sick child and say the necessary conspiracy, the disease will go to the birch. You just need to remember to say a conspiracy against a disease, like this, from angina pectoris: "I throw the toad under the Birch bush, so that it doesn't hurt, so that it doesn't hurt."

They turned to the birch tree with a request for healing, they also twisted the branches of a tree over the patient, threatening not to let go until the disease receded from the person.

In Mazovia, a person suffering from malaria had to shake his birch with the phrase "Shake me like I do you, and then move."

Birch branches were used to impart fertility not only to land and livestock, but also to newlyweds. The Slavs carried the children through the split birch trunk to save the child from the disease (the birch takes it over).

Birch is a “happy” tree that protects from evil. They said about her: "There is a tree: the cry calms down, the light instructs, heals the sick."

A birch tree growing near the house drives away nightmares.

Buds, branches, leaves, bark, birch sap, growths on the trunk were considered especially healing. Those consecrated in the church on calendar holidays whipped the sick with branches to inform him of the power of the plant. Decoctions for various diseases were made from buds, leaves and growths. Birch sap has long been considered a rejuvenating and cleanser. In the spring, especially on holidays, girls and women drank juice and washed themselves with it for beauty and health.

Birch was used in folk magic as a love potion. They cut off a birch twig growing to the east, cut off leaves from it; the twig was placed on the threshold, through which the person of whom they are thinking must step over, and the leaves, dried and crushed into powder, were placed close to the heart. When the person they were thinking about came, the powder was mixed into some drink and given to drink. They did it in an inconspicuous way.

In Polesie, in order to bewitch a guy, a girl took a branch of a birch that had grown together with an oak, quietly walked around the guy with her, or gave him a decoction of this birch bark.

Birch also played a significant role in the rituals of the life cycle. In marriage rituals, it was used as a wedding attribute - a decorated tree, which was a symbol of both each specific bride and the maiden circle in general. In the Russian North, birch was an indispensable attribute in the preparation of the bride's bath: tree branches were stuck into the ceiling and walls of the bath, the road to it was "tormented" with twigs, a decorated birch broom was reinforced at the top of the bath. For the pre-wedding ablution of the bride, they tried to choose birch firewood.

Its branches were stuck into a wedding loaf so that everyone in the house was healthy.

In the East Slavic funeral tradition, birch was used directly in the preparation of a “place” for the deceased: the coffin was most often covered with birch leaves or brooms, and they also filled a pillow that was placed under the head of the deceased. A birch was also planted at the grave.

The intermediary role of birch in the mythological picture of the world space explains the contradictory ideas about it in popular beliefs. In any case, numerous descriptions of rituals and actions with a birch indicate the deep veneration of this tree.

Rowan.

In ancient Russia, the mountain ash was considered the personification of the feminine principle. She was also a symbol of modesty and elegance. Many ritual songs and ceremonies were dedicated to this tree.

Rowan is a newlywed tree. In the old days, they turned to the beautiful mountain ash to protect the newlyweds: they covered and hid its leaves in their shoes and pockets. It was believed that they would interfere with the evil deeds of sorcerers and witches. And in general, for the well-being in the house, they tried to plant rowan near him. The ancient Slavs believed: a person with ill intentions would not enter a house under the windows of which a mountain ash was planted.

In the Russian folk calendar there is a day "Peter-Pavel the field plant". It falls at the end of September - the ripening time of rowan berries. On this day, rowan branches were torn off in bunches, hung under the roofs of houses, sheds, and various outbuildings. Also, branches were stuck at the edge of each field. This custom is associated with the idea of ​​mountain ash as a tree that can protect against all troubles.

Rowan was considered a talisman in magic and folk healing. The Slavs said: "Wait under the mountain ash - you will scare away the disease."

With various diseases, a person crawled through a mountain ash bush three times. The Life of Adrian Poshekhonsky tells that after the saint's martyrdom (1550) his body was buried in the wasteland, where the mountain ash grew. On this place once a year, on Ilyinsky Friday, people came from different cities and organized a fair; here also came the sick - adults and children, who crawled through the branches of mountain ash, seeking healing. According to Russian and Belarusian beliefs, those who harm the mountain ash will have toothache. With a toothache, secretly in the morning dawn, they would kneel down in front of a mountain ash, hug and kiss her and utter a conspiracy: “Mountain ash, mountain ash, take my illness, from now on, I will not eat you”, and then returned home without looking back and trying not with whom not to meet.

If you take the core out of a mountain ash growing on an anthill and say: “Do you, mountain ash, root or body hurt? So the servant of God (name) would never hurt the teeth. "

In the collection of conspiracies of the second quarter of the 17th century. from the Olonets region, several texts have been preserved that refer to mountain ash. "Conspiracy from portage, misleading, commotion" was pronounced in the spring near a rowan tree standing on an anthill; it was also possible to make a staff from mountain ash, gnaw on it and leave a chip in the mouth behind the cheek, so as not to be afraid of any "kudes" (witchcraft) on the way. The conspiracy from fever was pronounced at the root of the mountain ash, and then, tearing it out of the ground, they laid it on the bed next to the sick person. At the beginning of the conspiracy "from a hernia to a baby", "two mountain ash, two curly" are described, they grow on a white stone in the middle of the sea-ocean, and between them hangs a golden cradle with a baby.

Among all the Slavs, there was a ban on chopping and breaking mountain ash, using it for firewood, picking flowers and even berries. Our ancestors considered mountain ash a vengeful tree and believed: whoever breaks it or chops it down will soon die himself or someone from his house will die. The rowan was not supposed to be chopped, and because the healers carried the disease from person to rowan. And if you chopped this tree down on you and passed on to you ... This is such a respectful attitude.

In magic, mountain ash was used to protect the house from magical attacks and evil spirits. For this, rowan was planted near the porch or at the gate. And a branch of mountain ash with fruits has long been attached above the front door, where it protected both the house and its household from evil spirits. Rowan is a talisman "from dashing people and bad news. If you look closely at the underside of a rowan berry, you will notice that in shape it is an equilateral five-pointed star, and this is one of the most ancient and most important pagan symbols - a symbol of protection.

In the Novgorod province, returning from the cemetery, they hung rowan rods over the door so that the deceased would not return home. In the Voronezh province, a matchmaker poured mountain ash roots to the groom's boot so that he would not be spoiled at the wedding.

There are signs associated with mountain ash: "A large harvest of mountain ash - for a long and frosty winter." "Rowan in the forest is fruitful - by a rainy autumn, if not - by a dry one."

Pussy willow was considered by the Slavs as a sacred tree, a symbol of the continuity and constancy of life. It is the willow that symbolizes the ancient Slavic pagan god Yarilu. To this day, the custom has survived once a year on the night of Ivan Kupala in honor of the sun god to decorate a willow with flowers, to burn bonfires near it. At the end of the holiday, willow branches were planted in the courtyards.

In popular belief, she belongs to the trees cursed by God. According to legend, the tormentors of Christ made pins for fastening the cross out of it. According to another legend, the nails with which Jesus was crucified were not iron, but made of willow. For this, the willow, according to popular beliefs, is defeated by the turning of worms, and devils are sitting in the dry willow. According to Belarusians, a devil sits on a willow, especially an old one - dry and hollow, From Epiphany to Palm Sunday. In the spring, the devils are warmed up on the willow, and after they are consecrated on the holiday, they fall into the water, and therefore, from Palm Sunday to Easter, you cannot drink the water gleaned under the willow.

The willow in Russia played the same role as the palm tree, the palm branches with which the people greeted Christ entering Jerusalem. The willow was consecrated and is consecrated in the temple with holy water.

The verb was credited with magical power to influence the irrigation of fields and meadows (the willow grows in damp places, near the water), which means that, the ancestors believed, it contributed to fertility and the future harvest. There is a clear connection here with pre-Christian rituals and beliefs, with the cult of the spirits of vegetation and fertility.

It was also believed that the willow has the ability to endow livestock and people with health and sexual energy, protect from diseases and cleanse from evil spirits. In ancient times, there was a custom: parents returning from church whipped their children with a consecrated willow and said: “A willow is a whip! Beats to tears. The pussy-willow is red, it does not strike in vain ”. This was done in order to endow children with health.

They also flogged young women and girls, as well as newlyweds, with a consecrated willow, wishing thereby to make them child-born.

In Russia, it was customary to keep the consecrated willow at home in the front corner behind the icons all year round. And on the very holiday, they whip the cattle with willow twigs and say: "As the willow grows, so do you grow" - in addition to wishing health to the pets, this was supposed to protect them from evil spirits. The branches of the consecrated willow were strengthened in barns, barns. Before the first pasture of cattle in the field, these twigs were fed to animals.

Verb was also credited with the power to protect houses from fires, fields from hail, to stop a storm, to recognize sorcerers and witches, to discover treasures, etc.

Following the belief that the willow has a universal healing power, our ancestors ate nine cones (earrings) from the consecrated willow, believing that this would protect them from fever. During a thunderstorm, the consecrated willow was taken out from behind the goddess and placed on the windowsill - they believed that this would save from a lightning strike.

Cooking willow branches in cities was a special rite. On the eve of Palm Sunday in the old days, Russians, regardless of class and rank (from tsar to commoner), went to break willow on the banks of nearby rivers. In Moscow, for example, to Kitay-gorod and the banks of the Neglinka, overgrown with willows and willows. Foreigners who visited Moscow in the 16th - 17th centuries left interesting memories of how on Saturday, on the eve of Palm Sunday, before Mass, from the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin, with a large crowd of people, they carried a large tree (willow) decorated with various artificial fruits, installed it in a huge sleigh and drove, as in the procession.

The Slavs believed that willow amulets, suspended from the neck, protected from hellish visions. Willow branches were hung over the doors of residential buildings, for they promised goodness and happiness. Women injected willow twigs into their hair, which protected from evil spirits, gave sharp eyesight and protected from blindness.

All Eastern Slavs had a widespread belief that a consecrated branch is capable of protecting from thunderstorms, storms, other natural disasters, from evil spirits and diseases. In the Tambov province, it was believed that a pussy willow thrown against the wind could drive away a storm, and thrown into a fire - pacify it.

In Russia, weeping species of white willow were a symbol of longing and sadness. In the old days, the willow was called the sadness-tree, which not only sympathizes with the pain, ailment of a person, but also takes it all away from the patient. There is a belief that willow has magical properties: it protects people from evil spirits, troubles and accidents. If you carry the branches of this tree with you, you can get rid of the fear of death.

In the folk medicine of the Slavic countries, willow was used as an anti-inflammatory and anti-febrile remedy for malaria. In the Kuban willow was used in the treatment of childhood diseases. To do this, early in the morning, before sunrise, they went to the river and there they cut the willow three times, nine branches each. At the same time, they counted three times from nine to one. Arriving home, they dipped one bunch of nine branches into hot water and bathed the child near the window from which the sunrise was visible. At noon, they put a second bundle of willow in hot water and bathed the child near the window, opposite which the sun stood at that moment. In the evening, when the sun went down, the same actions were performed with the last bunch of branches in front of the window, looking at the sunset. At the end, all the branches of the willow with water belonged to the river and poured out with prayer to float on the water. It was believed that the disease would recede.

They fumigated sick cattle with camel, ground it into powder and covered their wounds, made a decoction of it and drank from various diseases, and also used it as a lotion for swelling and bruises. The consecrated willow was fed to cows and sheep, while they said: “I do not give, but the talnik. As the talnik does not dry, so do you, my God-given animals, do not dry. "

Aspen- this plant, full of dignity and beauty, is considered in folk ideas as a cursed tree; however, it is widely used as a talisman.

There is a popular belief that demons live in the foliage of an aspen. In Christianity, it is believed that Aspen is guilty of allowing the torturers of Jesus Christ to make a cross out of their wood, on which he was crucified, knitting nails with which he was nailed to the cross. The Mother of God or Christ himself cursed the aspen and punished it with eternal fear, from which it shakes to this day. According to another legend, the aspen did not show respect: at the moment of the birth of Christ and at his death, it did not calm down and did not bow, but continued to rustle the leaves and tremble. Therefore, it trembles for no reason, does not bear fruit and cannot cover a person with its shadow. According to other stories, the aspen was punished for betraying the Mother of God by shaking its branches, hiding under her with Christ, while fleeing to Egypt. Finally, they say that Judas, tormented by fear and repentance, for a long time could not find a tree that would agree to "accept" him, and only Aspen took pity and allowed him to hang himself on it, for which he was immediately cursed by God.

It was forbidden to plant aspen near houses in order to avoid misfortune, including diseases; they did not use it in construction, they did not heat the stove with it, they avoided sitting in the shade of a tree, they did not bring aspen branches into the house, etc.

In some places among the Eastern Slavs, aspen was also considered a "devil" tree, cf. the characteristic Hutsul name for the trait is "Osinavets". In places where aspen grows, according to legends, devils "wind". The prohibition to hide under an aspen during a thunderstorm testifies to the presence of a devil on an aspen, because "the thunder is looking for an aspen." Thunder "hits" the devil in Slavic beliefs.

According to Belarusian beliefs, witches prepared a harmful potion from aspen branches on fire; to turn into a wolf or become invisible, the sorcerer had to roll over five aspen pegs driven into the ground, or over an aspen stump; throwing a branch of an aspen in front of the traveler, the sorcerer knocked him off the road. Wanting to make friends with the devil, the man called him, standing in the forest on fallen aspen trees.

Aspen was used for magical purposes and for fortune telling. To find the thief, the Poles put a thing in the split aspen that the thief touched; it was believed that from this he would begin to shake with a fever, and the villain would hasten to return the stolen goods. Aspen was used to recognize a witch: it could be seen if, on the night before Ivan Kupala, one hid in a barn under a harrow specially made of aspen. To find out which of the women in the village was a witch, the Belarusians drove an aspen stake into the ground, shaved off chips, set them on fire and boiled a strainer (a cloth through which milk was filtered) on the fire: it was believed that the witch would certainly come to ask not to burn it with fire.

In folklore, beliefs and rituals, aspen acts as an effective means in the fight against evil spirits, witches, sorcerers and chthonic creatures. On the fire of aspen wood, they burned sorcerers after the death so that they would not harm people. In the Russian fairy tale, the heroes defeat Baba Yaga, crushing her with the roots of an aspen; Dobrynya Nikitich hangs the Serpent Gorynych, defeated by him, on a "gagged aspen" (epic "Dobrynya and the Serpent"). According to Russian and Belarusian beliefs, a killed snake must be hung on an aspen, otherwise it will come to life and bite a person. Snakebite plots are usually read over aspen bark, and then rubbed with it on the bitten place. A fire made of aspen wood is considered the most effective means of fighting evil spirits, hence the proverb: so that it burns on an aspen tree!

Among the Eastern Slavs, as well as in Poland, an aspen stake was stuck into the grave of a "walking" deceased or a vampire. Often this was done even during the funeral so that the deceased would not turn into a "walking" deceased. A sharpened aspen stake received in the eyes of the people the meaning of Perunova's club. To protect cows and calves from the attack of witches, they put aspens on the gates and in the corners of the barnyard, felled or uprooted; during the cattle plague, chasing the Cow Death away, they beat it (that is, wave through the air) with aspen logs.

In the rituals of the Eastern Slavs, aspen was used as a talisman. On the Yuryev and Kupala nights, with the help of aspen branches stuck into the walls of the barn, into the gates, sheds, they protected cattle from witches who took milk from cows. For the same purpose, a piece of aspen was reinforced on the horn when the cows were raised; the first colostrum was filtered through an aspen pipe and given to the cow. If the cow had sour milk, she was driven through the aspen branches laid along the threshold; through an aspen log placed at the gate of the courtyard, they were forced to step over the horse they had just bought, etc.

Protecting the fields from witches, aspen branches were stuck into the crops; in the same way they guarded the gardens from moles, caterpillars, etc. The witch doctor, destroying the field with a hall, pulled it out of the ground with aspen sticks and burned it on an aspen fire.

During the construction of the house, aspen pegs were stuck in the corner of the foundation, protecting the house from any misfortune. Defending himself from the goblin, a man caught in the forest at night went to sleep in a circle outlined on the ground with an aspen stick.

As a saving weapon against demonic glamor, aspen can also serve as a healing agent for expelling evil spirits and diseases. They read a conspiracy over aspen rods, which are then placed on the patient. When their teeth hurt, they take an aspen twig and read a plot over it three times: “On the sea on Okiyan, on an island on Buyan there are three tall trees, under those trees lies a hare; you have moved, toothache, to that hare! " After that, the aspen knot is applied to the aching teeth.

In folk medicine, various diseases were "transferred" to aspen: in case of fever, the cut hair and nails of the patient were put into a hole drilled in an aspen tree, and the hole was hammered with an aspen peg, believing that this would prevent the fever from coming out. Sometimes the patient's belongings were buried in a hole under the aspen or the patient was planted on a fresh aspen stump, believing that the disease would leave the person in him. "Passing on" the disease to the tree, they asked: "Aspen, aspen, take my quagmire, give me lightness!"

In some cases, in exchange for health, a person gave a promise not to harm the aspen - not to break its branches, not chop, do not burn .. will outgrow this place, he will recover. With children's insomnia, a baptismal font for the child was made from aspen or the aspen was placed in his cradle. Toothache, hernia, childish fright and other diseases were also treated with the help of aspen. When a cholera epidemic was approaching, felled aspen trees were stuck into the ground at the four ends of the village, thereby protecting the village from the disease.

With a broken paralysis, healers advised lying down to rest their feet on a log of aspen. The patient recovers if he read the conspiracy over the aspen rods and put it on his chest.

Everyone knows that the best way to fight werewolves and vampires is with an aspen stake. Aspen absorbs, diverts aside the negative energy of the other world. It was this property of her that was considered magical in former times. In the aspen grove, psychics and magicians lose their abilities. Here you can find refuge from magical persecution, protect yourself from the energy vampire, and partially neutralize the effects of induced damage or evil eye.

Hawthorn. Among the Slavs, hawthorn is a noblewoman, hawthorn and a symbol of chastity.

The ritual functions of the hawthorn are due to its thorniness, which brings this shrub closer to blackberries, rose hips, and blackthorns. In some nationalities, hawthorn is called blackthorn. The hawthorn was one of several plants designed to weave a wreath for Christ.

The association between his spring bloom and virginity has led to the popular belief that he defends chastity. Hawthorn flowers were used for wedding wreaths. However, the scent of hawthorn flowers could portend death.

With the help of hawthorn, you can prevent the deceased from becoming a vampire. For this, the belly or heel of the deceased was pierced with a hawthorn thorn, and for fidelity, a hawthorn bush was also planted on the grave, and for fidelity, a hawthorn bush was also planted on the grave. The branches of the plant were placed in the chimney if it was suspected that the vampire through it enters the house. It is believed that a stick from this thorny plant can drive away the devil, and kill with a knife, the handle of which is made of hawthorn. The hawthorn was placed on the threshold of the cow corral in order to prevent the witches from entering.

There is a belief that demons live in thorny shrubs, and a hawk is a pitchfork tree.

Among the southern Slavs, the earthquake is also explained by a shaking or damage to the tree on the branches of which the Earth is located, or the pillar on which it rests. In eastern Serbia, they say that the whole earth is located on the branches of a huge hawthorn, to which a large black dog is tied. This dog constantly gnaws at the hawthorn, and when there is very little left, he begins to torn with all his might to break it. From this, the Earth shakes, but does not collapse, since as soon as the trunk is cracked, like St. Peter baptizes the tree with a rod and the hawthorn becomes whole again.

From the evil eye and damage, its branches were placed under the pillow, at the same time being protected from diseases.

Elder.

In popular beliefs, elderberry refers to the so-called cursed, dangerous plants, since the devil lives in it. In Ukraine, for example, they believe that the devil "planted" the elderberry and now constantly sits under it. In the apocryphal traditions of Christianity, the elder challenged the aspen with the dubious honor of being the very tree on which Judas Iscariot hanged himself.

According to another legend, the devil hanged himself on an elderberry, which is why its leaves and berries emit a cadaverous smell. The Polish tradition says that. that the first demon settled in a huge pit and planted an elderberry on top to guard him. The Serbs considered the elderberry bush to be the habitat of the pitchfork.

Perhaps that is why elderberry was not used in family and calendar rituals, but it was widely used in magic, amulets, healing.

At the same time, it was believed that the buzina is the abode of household spirits, who bring goodness to the owners, guardians of the economy, and others. In Polish and Ukrainian conspiracies, Buzina is identified with Adam; they turn to her with the words "Byzynovy Adam", "Man of God, holy Adam", explaining this to him that both Byzina and Adam have existed since the time of the foundation of the world.

It was forbidden to burn elderberry in order to avoid toothache. They have never made children's toys out of it, so that children do not have a headache. Poles, Hutsuls, and Lusatian Serbs were forbidden to sleep under an elderberry, urinate under it, climb on an elderberry. Elderberry was not used as fuel, so as not to bring bugs and fleas into the houses.

There was a ban on uprooting the elderberry (in case of need to uproot it, cripples or mentally ill people were specially hired for this work).

Violation of this prohibition, according to legends, could lead to misfortune, illness, for example, rheumatism ("if you chop an elderberry, you will twist your legs and arms"). It was believed that where the elderberry bush was dug, nothing would ever grow.

These taboos were abolished if the elderberry was chopped or broken for any specific purpose: as medicine, for decorating a church or making hedges, for fuel. It was possible to break an elderberry on a certain day (on Holy Thursday, before noon).

Elderberry was used to magically cure diseases. Water was poured under the elderberry, in which they bathed a sick child, in the hope that the disease would take away the spirit living under the bush. They tied an elderberry with threads from the clothes of a patient with a fever. The conspiracies that were read under the plant in the treatment of toothache were addressed to the elder: "Holy elder, I keep you from being burned by fire, and you save me from a toothache." To save a child from a headache, the Slovenes buried his cropped hair under an elderberry, and the Slovaks bathed small children in a decoction of elderberry flowers to ensure their health.

And the patients with radiculitis knelt down in front of the elderberry and asked her to take over their illness: “Elderberry! Dazhbog sent me to you so that you would take over my illness! "

Among the southern Slavs, elderberry was widely used for bites of snakes, scorpions and wasps, and was also used in folk veterinary medicine.

Among the Czechs and Slovenes, the girls turned to the elder during the fortune-telling about marriage. On Christmas time, the girl went to the elderberry bush, shook it and said: "Shake, shake the elderberry, answer, dog, from the side where my dear lives", and listened to where the dogs would bark. It was believed that during fortune-telling, one can see the bride-to-be in an elderberry bush.

In Ukraine, conspiracies turned to the buzine are widely known: "from misfortune", "so that the court does not fall asleep", "to gain strength and courage", "to get rid of any trouble."

Elderberry branches were used as a universal amulet. They were used to decorate houses, outbuildings, fences to protect against witches on Yuryevskaya and Kupala's nights, they simply carried them with them. In the Balkans, elderberry branches (along with other plants) were used in rain-making ceremonies. They were used to decorate a dodola, peperuda, a doll of Herman from head to toe, and at the end of the ceremony, the branches were thrown into the water.

In Russia, there was a belief that if you set off with an elder staff, then neither evil people nor wild animals would be afraid. The method of making a cane-amulet can be found in ancient Russian herbalists. At the sight of such a cane, evil spirits run away with all their might.

Spruce. According to legend, the spruce covered the Mother of God during her flight with Christ to Egypt. According to another legend, she sheltered Christ, who was hiding from the plague, for which she received a blessing and was rewarded by remaining forever green.

The thorniness of spruce, as well as a strong resinous smell, determine its use as a talisman. In Ukraine, spruce branches (along with rose hips and nettles) were stuck on the eve of the Kupala night in front of the gates, barn, roof eaves and other places in order to protect livestock from witches, pigs from diseases. At the first milk yield, the Poles strained the milk through spruce twigs laid crosswise so that it would not spoil. Spruce branches were widely used to protect buildings and cultural spaces from the elements. In Moravia, crosses were decorated with them, which on Easter were stuck into crops from hail. However, fir branches consecrated at Christmas, Epiphany, Meeting, Easter or on the day of the Nativity of John the Baptist were considered a more effective means. In Belarus, blessed spruce branches, together with incense, were placed at four corners when laying the House in order to protect it from thunder. The branches that were stuck into the ice on the sides of the ice hole for Epiphany were brought home, put behind the icons and stuck into the roof - from the wind and thunder; tied to apple trees in the garden to protect trees from the storm; stuck into the wall, put it under the house, in the underground - "so that the storm would not touch."

Spruce is a female tree. Probably, it is precisely with the “female” symbolism of spruce that the ban on planting and generally having a spruce near the house is connected, which supposedly “survives” from the house of men. According to the beliefs of the Serbs, if the spruce grows near the house, boys will not be born in it. In the Russian North, they did not plant a fir tree near their homes, fearing that otherwise "the peasants will not live, they will die, only widows will be."

The ban on planting spruce near the house can be explained by the fact that spruce belongs to the barren trees (according to the Bulgarian legend, the spruce is “sterile” because the Mother of God cursed it). In Belarus, the spruce was not planted for fear that "nothing will be done in the house", "nothing will be born either in the barn or at home." They especially avoided keeping the spruce near the houses of the newlyweds, so that they would not remain childless, "so that the family would not be eradicated."

In the beliefs of the Eastern Slavs, spruce is also related to the field of folk demonology. According to the Vladimir bylichka, the brownie lives in a large pine or spruce branch suspended somewhere in the yard. Children of forest spirits lie in cradles hanging from spruce and pine trees, and children of mermaids - under a spruce. The devils lead the cursed and dragged children into the forest over the spruce trees, under the spruce the goblin puts the lost children to sleep

According to legend, on behalf of the sorcerers, the cursed children abandoned to them, as well as devils who require work from the sorcerers, are engaged in counting needles. There is a conspiracy from childhood insomnia: “Come, dawn, into the forest, sit on the tree, count your needles. There you care, there you work. Know not to hurt my child of the heart. "

According to Slavic beliefs, the devil hides under a spruce during a thunderstorm, drawing on himself thunder and lightning. This explains the prohibition to stay under the spruce during a thunderstorm.

Spruce has found wide application in funeral and memorial rituals. The Old Believer consent of the runners decided to dig in the roots of a large spruce right in the forest, turn it out of the ground a little and put the body of the deceased in the resulting hole without a coffin, and then plant the spruce in its original place, "as if nothing had happened here for a century." This is consistent with the Olonets evidence of the funeral of the gallows between two spruces, as well as the motif of the burial under the spruce in Serbian epic songs.

A coffin was often made of spruce (as well as pine and birch), hoping that it would not allow the deceased to "walk" after death. This was reflected even in the Russian carol curses addressed to the owner, who badly bestowed the carols: “But if you don’t give you a spruce coffin for you, an aspen lid”.

Everywhere there was a custom to throw spruce branches on the road to the cemetery, both before and after the funeral procession. Thus, they "paved" or "scattered" the road to the deceased, so that they "did not come, do not disturb."

Among the Western Slavs, spruce branches are like an evergreen plant, garlands of it and fir wreaths are one of the most common grave decorations. A felled spruce (as well as cypress, juniper pine), often decorated with flowers or ribbons, could be installed or, less often, planted on the grave of a boy or girl who died before marriage.

The spruce also served as a ceremonial tree, mainly in the Christmas and New Year, Maslenitsa, Trinity and Kupala celebrations, as well as at a wedding.

Spruce was considered a symbol of eternal life, immortality. This is the origin of the custom for Christmas (later - for New Year) to decorate the house with this tree.

There is a sign: "You cannot chop an age-old spruce - to trouble." - The people believe that the old, century-old spruce is the home of the goblin. If you cut it down, then the goblin will begin to take revenge in all available ways, up to arson. And he will certainly knock him off the road in the forest, where he is the master.

Viburnum among the Slavic peoples since ancient times it has been a symbol of youth, girlhood, fun and revelry. In folk legends, this is a woman, her fate, her lot. It blooms in a delicate white color, shining with the purity of innocence. But then marriage comes. Joy comes along with grief. A flower quickly fades - feelings quickly fade. A berry is born - either bitter or sweet. The fragile branches of the viburnum break in the rain and wind.

Kalinovye gai have long been called sacred. Near them it was forbidden to graze cows, cut out bushes. According to legend, if you swing a child in a viburnum cradle, it will grow melodious. The red color of the viburnum has a tremendous power of amulet, therefore the bride's outfit has always been red before.

In the old days, viburnum was always present in the wedding ceremony. It is the main decoration of the bride's wreath, wedding tree, wedding loaf and other wedding attributes. The bride's wreaths were woven from viburnum, periwinkle and other fragrant herbs - this ensured the love of the young for many years.

Kalina is also a symbol of procreation, there is even an expression: "Kalina gave birth to a family."

In Ukraine, when a girl was born in a family, berries and leaves of viburnum were placed in the first font so that she would be beautiful, ruddy, happy and healthy. Kalina was hung next to the woman in labor so that she and her child were healthy and happy.

At the same time, the viburnum is wood and funeral, memorable - “plant you, my sisters, a viburnum in my head”.

In songs, murdered, sworn people, beloved ones, who died of love, turn into viburnum.

Viburnum with drooping branches symbolizes the girl's sadness. Breaking viburnum branches - Symbolized to marry a girl. Collect viburnum, walk on viburnum - seek love or love. In Ukraine, viburnum is attributed to a special power: the viburnum color, plucked and applied freshly to a loving heart, comforts languor.

Of the entire chain of images associated with viburnum, only the "viburnum bridge" was associated with bravery and youth. Walking along the Kalinovy ​​bridge meant indulging in selfless fun, revelry. In one song, a yearning girl asks the fellows "to build her a viburnum bridge", that is, to cheer her up, and a woman, striving to return her youth, catches up with them on the viburnum bridge with the words: "Oh, she caught up with my summer on the viburnum bridge; oh, come back, come back for at least an hour to visit! "

Kalina is planted on the grave of a son, brother, a young Cossack, and generally unmarried.

Maple .

In the legends of the Western and Eastern Slavs, maple is a tree into which a person is turned ("sworn"). It was for this reason that maple wood could not be used for firewood ("maple went from man"). It was impossible to make a coffin out of its trunk (“it is sinful to rot a living person in the earth”). It was impossible to put maple leaves under the bread in the oven (a palm with five fingers was seen in a maple leaf).

The transformation of a person into a maple is one of the popular motives of Slavic legends: the mother "cursed" the disobedient son (daughter), and the musicians who walked through the grove where this tree grew, made a violin out of it, which, in the voice of a son (daughter), tells about the mother's guilt.

In songs about a poisoner mother or wife, sycamore (white maple) grows on the grave of a murdered son (husband).

And in the South Slavic tradition, where such songs are unknown, maple, nevertheless, is also thought to be involved in human destiny. According to Serbian beliefs, if a dry maple embraces an unjustly condemned person, the maple will turn green, but if an unhappy or offended person touches a green maple in spring, the tree will dry out.

According to an old tradition, when the house was being built, a couple of maples were planted on the southern side of it. Since the house was usually built when a new family was created, these trees were named "Bridegroom" and "Bride". But, probably, in earlier times, these two maples, under whose protection the house was all year round, were called the trees of the god and the goddess.

Maple symbolized the ability to magical protection, love and material well-being.

Maple was used in the construction of bridges over running water. Running water is an obstacle to the dark forces, and the maple did not allow these forces to use the bridge.

Maple branches covering the barn, or stuck into the walls, protect livestock from the evil eye and damage.

Maple was called a good tree, believing that it is the seat of deities or demons.

It was believed that maple brings happiness, protects from lightning, so it was planted near the house.

In Russia, in order to prevent the witch from entering the courtyard and into the house, maple branches were plugged in the doors. To scare away evil forces, maple fruits were buried under the threshold of the house, a green branch was hung over the bed.

Maple leaves are often depicted on Easter eggs.

Maple Arrow is believed to kill undead.

In agricultural magic, maple branches were used to grow flax. They were stuck into arable land, saying: "Lord, give us flax, like a maple tree."

There is a belief that there is a very strong connection between a person and a maple that grows near his house. And as long as a person is alive and well, then the maple grows and turns green.

Maple is a melodious tree. "Pull a resounding string on the dry branch of a wedge-tree, sing me your daring song ..." is a frequent tune of ancient legends. It was from maple that Sadko's psaltery was made.

Maple branches were used in the rites of the Trinity, Green Christmastide, and Midsummer's Day. In Polesie, Saturday before Trinity was called "maple", "maple Saturday". On a holiday, one or three trees were placed at the doors and windows, and the house was decorated with branches. It was believed that at this time the souls of deceased relatives come to the house and hide in the maple branches.

After the holidays, trees and branches were not thrown away, they were burned or chopped for firewood.

There are signs associated with maple: "If maple leaves curl up and expose their lower surface to the wind, it will be rain." "Maple juice has gone - the spring frost is over."

For women, it symbolizes a young man, slender and strong, kind and beloved.

In Ukraine, maple and linden were presented as a married couple, and the falling of maple leaves promised separation from the family.

Linden The name of this tree in all Slavic languages ​​comes from the word "stick" (thanks to the viscous juice). Linden was attributed to softness, which made it a symbol of femininity, tenderness, the opposite of the "male" tree - oak. Among the Slavs, linden was read not just as a symbol of a woman, but as a "mother of trees", a giver of life (this attitude is associated with the role of linden in a person's material well-being). As the oak was dedicated to Perun, so the linden was the tree of the goddess Lada.

In Russian folk art, the beautiful linden is associated with love with both oak and maple.

Lipa was closely associated with the Orthodox cult and Christian legends. It was she who was considered the tree of the Virgin; they said that the Mother of God was resting on it, descending from heaven to earth. Images and icons were hung on the linden tree; on the linden, according to legend, miraculous icons appeared (“appeared”) more often than other trees. According to legends, the linden tree covered the Mother of God with the little Christ with its branches during their flight to Egypt. Linden is a tree revered as sacred in all Slavic traditions. Among the southern Slavs, old large lindens traditionally grew near churches and temples, especially ancient ones; under these linden trees, courts were held, holidays and meetings of residents were held. Processions of the cross stopped under linden trees during religious processions in the fields, meals were held here, etc.

Linden was also considered a lucky tree, which was not afraid to keep near houses and plant on graves. They also said that it was good to fall asleep under a linden tree. The sacred nature of the tree led to the use of linden wood for carving "living" fire, with the help of which the fire in the hearths was renewed annually.

In this regard, it was natural to forbid touching the revered linden trees, causing damage to them, chopping them, breaking branches, celebrating natural needs under them, etc. It was known that a horse who plucked a linden branch would certainly fall, but if a person returned the branch to its place, the horse would recover. The Poles were also wary of cutting down linden trees, believing that otherwise either the man who cut down the tree himself or someone from his family would die.

The Ukrainians say about linden that God gave her special power - to save husbands from the curses that their wives "reward" them with. Linden takes over everything, that's why her trunk is covered with growths. And one more thing: you cannot beat cattle with a linden - it will die.

Linden use as a universal amulet. It was widely believed that lightning did not strike a linden tree, so they planted it near houses and were not afraid to hide under it during a thunderstorm. Russians hung crosses made of linden on the neck of a person tormented by obsessions. They stuck a linden branch in the middle of the pasture while grazing livestock so that the cows would not scatter far and they could not be touched by animals in the forest. Everywhere in Russia it was believed that a witch could be discouraged from werewolf if she was swung with a bare linden stick. Just as brave people drove away from themselves the devil attached to them. The inhabitants of Herzegovina during the wedding held a linden branch over the heads of the newlyweds as a talisman. She was used to decorate houses and cattle pens on St. George's Day and on Trinity.

Like many other trees, linden played an important role in folk medicine: everywhere various diseases were transferred to it, hammering pieces of the patient's clothes, nails and hair into the tree trunk; fumigated with smoke from burnt linden wood sick people and cattle, etc.

Alder- a tree, mentioned in the legends of the Western and Eastern Slavs. They tell how the devil, competing with God in the creation of the world, tried to create a wolf, but could not revive him; by the will of God, the wolf came to life and rushed to the devil, hiding from him on an alder. Then the blood from the heel of the devil, nibbled by the wolf, fell on the alder, which made its bark turn red. According to another legend, God created a sheep, in response the devil created a goat and, wanting to boast before God, dragged it to God by the tail. Along the way, the goat escaped from the devil and hid on an alder. Since then, goats have no tail, and the alder bark from the goat's blood has become red.

It is also mentioned in the legends about the crucifixion of Christ: alder branches broke during the scourging of Christ, for which Christ blessed this tree.

Among the southern Slavs, alder is used in folk medicine, "living fire" is carved out of it.

In the Russian North, it was customary to leave a sacrifice to the field or forest spirits on alder, usually in the form of bread and salt.

Because of its red color, alder has become a magical talisman. Like everything bright, red bark attracts the eye and, accordingly, protects from the evil eye.

Even if the bark is hidden in a pocket, a person is reliably protected. Hence, the popular tradition is to put pieces of alder in the pockets of the newlyweds in order to protect the newlyweds from damage. Its branches are stuck along the edges of the field for protection from hail and bad weather; bathe in the water washing alder roots to protect themselves from diseases.

In case of fever, one must go to the forest and sit on a freshly cut Alder stump, and then the fever will go into a tree. The Poles believed that the water that washes the roots of the Alder turns black; if you bathe in such water, the body will turn black, but at the same time the person will be saved from all diseases.

In Poland, on Trinity, houses were decorated with Alder branches to ward off thunderstorms and hail. Poles stuck Alder branches into barley crops so that the moles would not break the soil, and also put Alder branches under sheaves to protect them from mice. The Belarusians believed that Alder could protect households from visiting the "walking dead", since it had "the red blood of Satan" on it. For the same reasons, in Polesie, people planted Alder near houses so that the "devil would not become attached" to a person. Slovaks put a piece of alder leaf in the shoes of newlyweds going to the crown.

Hazel the western and southern Slavs have a sacred tree. Hazel was one of the "blessed" trees, which "does not thunder": in the thunderstorm they hid under her branches. They used to decorate houses made of hazel, stuck them into fields and outbuildings, especially on St. George's Day, on Ivan Kypaly; it was believed that the storm would bypass the places protected by hazel. At the same time, it was believed that thunder and thunder, having no power over the tree itself, had a destructive effect on its fruits. Nuts rotate, blackening, as if burning from the inside. Thanks to its status, hazel was widely used as a ward against evil spirits. Demons. Bulgarians expelled those who sent insomnia to children, bypassing the cradle of a child with a lighted hazel branch. Branches of hazel were protected from pyramids. The hazelnut was an effective protection against snakes and mice. The Bulgarians believed that snakes are not only afraid of hazel, but also die from it. Czechs and Slovaks put hazel branches in barns, beat them on the walls of houses and storerooms, expelling mice in this way.

The South Slavs did not plant the hazel, believing that when its trunk is equal to the neck of the person who planted it, it will die.

During Christmas fortune-telling, the Slovenes, calling on the crossroads of evil forces, circled around themselves a magic circle with the help of a branch of hazel .. In Bulgaria, Macedonia and eastern Serbia, the hazelnut and its branches were considered to be the habitat of the souls of those who visited the earth. Therefore, on the day of the Trinity, people avoided picking hazel branches, fearing to disturb the souls of the dead. On Ascension or on Spiritual Day, they decorated houses with hazel-tree branches, laid them on the floor in the house and in the church, sank on their knees, prayed and, sitting yho to the hazel branches, listening to them. It was believed that in this way one could hear the dead and even talk to them. At the end of the day, these walnut branches were taken to the cemetery, they swept the graves with them, so that in the “next world” the soul of the dead could hide in their shadow.

Christmas fortune-telling speaks about the connection of the hazelnut with the cult of ancestors. It was believed that a blank nut foreshadows death and a hungry, lean year, and a full one - prosperity and health.

Rosehip protected newlyweds from harmful forces. In Croatia, three rosehip thorns were stuck into the groom's hat, which protected him from the evil eye; after the wedding, the bride's veil was thrown onto a rosehip, to which she bowed nine times.

In Serbia, to protect a child from a witch, a rosehip was sewn into his clothes, placed next to him; In Bulgaria, it was forbidden to dry the diapers of a newborn on a rose hip so that the samodivs living under him would not harm him.

In Croatia, wild rose was kept in the house to prevent the plague from entering it. To prevent the witch from taking away the milk from the cows, on St. George's day, the doors of the house were decorated with rosehip branches, they were stuck in front of the entrance to the house and into the barn. Rosehip protected both people and cattle from snake bites, for example, the Poles fumigated cattle and shepherds with rosehip smoke before pasture.

It was believed that the fruits of the rose hips give fruitful strength, therefore, the rose hips in rituals were often paired with fruit trees. In Poland and Slovakia, as many wild rose berries were baked into Christmas bread as the number of heads of cattle the owner had: it was believed that the animals would not get sick, and the cows would give more milk. In the Czech Republic, cattle were fed rose hips for Easter.

The Kuban Cossacks have a legend that a rosehip grew out of the blood of a girl who, not wanting to marry an unloved one, stabbed herself with a dagger. In the fall, this bush was dressed in an outfit of red berries, but only a kind person could pick them. If an evil person approached him, the bush bristled with thorns and did not allow picking a single berry.

In folk medicine: diseases were exiled to him, water after treatment was poured under a rosehip bush. At the same time, the rosehip could give health, for which there was an exchange between the patient and the rosehip bush: the patient took the red thread that hung on the rosehip during the night, and with a yellow thread that hung around his neck for a day, entangled the bush and said: “I will give you a yellow thread , and you give me a red thread. " The disease passed on to the dog rose, and the life-giving power of the dog rose to the patient. In Bulgaria, a patient with epilepsy was measured with a rosehip twig, which was buried in the place where the seizure occurred. In gratitude, the sorceress hung a red thread with coins strung on it on a rosehip and left a cake, wine, oats and three horseshoes under the bush. In Serbia, in order to get rid of the disease, a patient climbed through a split rosehip twig, which was then tied with a red thread.

Rejuvenating apples, according to Russian legends, possessed great power: they could not only give health and youth, but also restore life to the deceased. They grew up in a distant land, and were guarded by evil giants or dragons. In Slavic mythology, griffins and basilisks guard all approaches to the Iriy garden, Alatyr mountain and an apple tree with golden apples. Whoever tastes these golden apples will receive eternal youth and power over the Universe. And the apple tree itself with golden apples is guarded by griffins and the dragon Ladon himself.

It has been known since ancient times that the apple tree is a tree of female power. The fruits of the apple tree have long been used as a love spell.

Apples and apple tree branches play an important role in the wedding ceremonies of the Slavs. The apple acted as a love sign: a guy and a girl, having exchanged fruits, expressed mutual sympathy, publicly declared their love. An apple taken by a girl during a matchmaking is a sign of consent to marriage. The southern Slavs are invited to a wedding, delivering apples to their homes

The apple branch is used in the manufacture of a wedding banner, a tree; apples are strengthened in the bride's wreath. Poles and Ukrainians, Belarusians, stick apple tree branches into a loaf, and Russians stick them into a baked wedding chicken. Among the southern Slavs, going to the wedding, the bride took an apple with her; in the church after the wedding, she threw an apple behind the altar in order to have children.

Apples were given to newlyweds so that they would have many children; on their wedding night, one apple was placed under the feather bed, and the second was broken in half, and each of the newlyweds ate half. An apple is a symbol of the bride's chastity: it was placed on a wedding shirt or in a sieve instead of it. Under an apple tree among the southern Slavs, the ritual shaving of the groom was performed before the wedding; when the bride's headdress was changed to a married woman's headdress, the veil was removed from her head with an apple branch and thrown onto the apple tree.

Among the southern Slavs, at Christmas and New Years, the youngest member of the family brought a branch of an apple tree into the house, it was stuck into the Christmas roll; they hit all households and cattle with an apple twig, and then threw them onto the apple tree.

The apple is the embodiment of fertility: it was placed in the seed grain so that the wheat grows as large as apples, and to protect the crops from picking.

The last Apple was not picked from the tree: it was left on a branch so that next year there would be a harvest.

In Slovakia, a young housewife, upon arriving at a new house, turned over a basket full of apples so that the household had an abundance.

The apple, which emerged after the second flowering of the apple tree, or the first on a young tree, and also hung on the apple tree for a long time, helped from infertility.

The apple is associated with the world of the dead and plays a significant role in funeral rites: it was placed in a coffin, in a grave, so that the deceased would take it to the “next world” to his ancestors. In Bulgarian beliefs, Archangel Michael took his soul to heaven only with an apple. The apple on the table on Christmas Eve was meant for the dead, so in Poland, fearing revenge from ancestors, it was forbidden to take apples from a Christmas tree.

The apple tree acts as a mediator between the two worlds, as a connecting link in the initiation of the soul into the world of ancestors. In Serbia and Bulgaria, a small apple tree was carried in front of the coffin, planted on the grave (instead of a cross), so that the dead could communicate with the living through it. It was believed that the tree was with the deceased on the way until his transition to the "next world". When the apple tree dried up, it meant that the soul had reached paradise.

It was believed that before the Apple Savior, i.e. before the blessing of apples, mermaids live on the apple tree, damn. Apples were consecrated in the church for the Transfiguration (Apple Savior) and only after that they were allowed to be eaten.

In addition, apples are used to remove warts by magical rather than medical methods. A five-pointed star is visible in an apple cut horizontally in half, and the wood and flowers of the apple tree are used in love witchcraft.

At the same time, the pear was treated as a dwelling place for evil spirits: in Macedonia, a wild pear is included in a row of trees called "Samovil", it was forbidden to sleep under it, sit, tie a cradle to it, etc. In Polesie, they were afraid to stand under a pear tree during a thunderstorm. According to Serbian beliefs, on the Pear (growing in the field, with a dense crown, crooked) inhabited oysters and challahs, witches gathered at night, strigs danced; during the ritual expulsion from the village of Plague, a sacrifice was left for her on an old pear. Under the pear lived a snake that sucked milk from a cow every evening. The treasure was buried under a pear, or a pear was planted in the place of the buried treasure. In many Slavic zones, a dry pear, like a willow, was considered the habitat of the devil, so old trees were not cut down for fear of incurring a loss on the farm.

In the Ukrainian conspiracy tradition, the pear is associated with the world tree (oak) and is the tree of the anti-world, the tree of evil and sterility, and is opposed to the apple tree.

Branches, fruits, wood, ash from a pear served as a talisman and were used in producing magic. The staff of the wedding banner was made by the Bulgarians from a pear bitch, the Ukrainians stuck a pear branch into the wedding loaf. When the bride rode to the crown, dried pears were scattered at all intersections; in Polesie, the mother showered the groom with pears to make him rich; in Plovdiv, it was believed that the barren young woman had to eat the pear that hung on the tree the longest. To keep the newborn healthy, pear branches were placed in the first font, water was poured out after swimming under the pear. The first fruits were consecrated and distributed to neighbors for the commemoration of the soul.

In calendar rituals, branches and a pear tree were more often used. In southwestern Bulgaria, in Macedonia, a pear tree was cut down for the badnak, sometimes a wild one because of its abundant fruiting, so that the house was fertile and rich. With a pear twig, the climber stirred the fire in the hearth, uttering good wishes; the hostess took her to the chicken coop so that the chickens would fly well.

In Serbia, they treated warts, abscesses, rubbing them with pear fruit, and then threw them on the road with the words: "Whoever takes me, who bites me off, for that illness, for my health." The disease was "hammered" into the pear into a hole drilled in the trunk; in northern Bulgaria, under a pear tree, the shadow of which does not fall on other trees, they treated childless. To ensure their health for a whole year, on Midsummer's Day we crawled through a wreath twisted on a pear branch.

The Slavs treated fruit trees with special trepidation, since in the folk tradition they were the focus of fruitful power.

The fruit tree often acts as a mythological counterpart of man. In ancient Slavic traditions, the custom is known to plant a fruit tree at the birth of a child, so that it grows and develops like a tree, and the tree, in turn, will bring a rich harvest of fruits. In the event of a child's illness, this tree was used to guess about his fate: if the tree began to dry, the child could die and vice versa.

An apple tree upturned by the roots in the garden foreshadowed the death of the owner or mistress. In Polesie, after the death of the owner, it was customary to cut down a pear or an apple tree.

Almost everywhere the fruit tree was associated with the feminine principle. This is evidenced even by the fact that in the Slavic languages ​​all fruit trees are female in the grammatical genus of their names.

According to legend, a woman, in order to get rid of infertility, had to eat the first buds, flowers or fruits from a fruit tree, as well as crawl under the branches bent to the ground, saying at the same time: “Just as you are not barren in any way, so I will not sterile in her "

A pregnant woman was forbidden to climb trees, pick fruits, or even touch a fruit tree, otherwise the tree, according to legend, could dry out.

Water was poured under the fruit tree, in which the woman in labor was washed; it was she who tried to treat the first fruits of the new harvest.

All Slavs know a ban on cutting fruit trees. Cutting them down was considered a sin. Violation of this rule could cause death, injury, drought.

Fruit trees were practically not used in healing magic, in particular, they did not "transfer" diseases and "lessons" to them.

The wood of fruit trees was widely used for the manufacture of amulets.

In general, we can say that all fruit trees have a positive effect on humans.

Information about the magical properties of trees was preserved in the minds of the Slavs only by echoes. They can be found in fairy tales, epics, warnings. Sometimes you can hear: "Do not hide under a tree in a thunderstorm!", "Do not dry laundry on the branches of a tree!", "Do not break a tree!" The warnings are still alive in our memory, but why it is impossible to do this or that, no one or almost no one knows. Under the influence of Christianity, some ideas about the magical properties of plants and the reasons for these properties have changed, some have been lost. Therefore, in this chapter, I pursued the goal of collecting information about the magical properties of trees in the life of the ancient Slavs, and to trace the role they played in the life of our ancestors

Geographic cultures - experimental crops of tree species created by planting seedlings (seedlings) or sowing seeds of different geographical origin (provinces) in homogeneous environmental conditions or of the same origin in different geographical areas. Geographic cultures are created to study the geographical variability of woody plant species that have an extensive natural range. Under the influence of environmental conditions (climate, soil, duration of the growing season, day and night, and other factors), hereditary intraspecific categories were formed in tree species with an extensive growing area in the process of evolution. – geographic races or climatic ecotypes (climatypes). A number of traits and properties of climatypes persist when cultivated in other forest growing conditions. At the same time, the new geographical environment of the growing area affects the growth and development of plants, changing the time of the beginning of the growing season and its duration, growth energy, the intensity of fruiting, etc. [Forest encyclopedia: In 2 volumes / Ch.red. Vorobiev G.I .; Editorial board: Anuchin N.A., Atrokhin V.G., Vinogradov V.N. and others - M .: Sov. encyclopedia, 1985.-563 p., ill.].

The interaction of hereditary properties of climatypes and environmental conditions determines the sustainability and productivity of forest crops. Differences in productivity reach the II-III bonitet class. The properties of climatypes are preserved in the 2nd and even 3rd generations. Plantations grown from local seeds tend to be more resistant and productive. However, sometimes foreign-district climatypes have an advantage over local ones in a number of economically valuable traits. The growth and condition of crops depend not only on the geographical origin of seeds, but also on the ecological, phenological and individual variability within the same climatic region, which is also taken into account when studying climatypes.

The geographic variability of tree species was first studied in the first half of the 20th century. In 1823-1832. in France, A. de Vilmorin laid the first experience of comparative testing of cultures. In Russia, the first experiments with such cultures were laid by M.K.Tursky (1877-1878). In 1910-1916. on the initiative of V. D. Ogievsky, a network of geographical cultures of pine, oak and larch was created. In 1973-1976. a unique network of geographical cultures of pine, spruce, larch and oak has been created under the state program and a unified methodology under the leadership of regional research institutes. In 1982, based on the generalization of the results of studies of geographic variability and previously established experimental crops, the "Forest-seed zoning of the main forest-forming species in the USSR" was developed and put into effect. Zoning has been developed for Scots pine, Siberian cedar and Korean pine; common spruce, Siberian, Shrenk and Tien Shan; larch of Sukachev, Siberian, Chekanovsky, Gmelin, Kayander, Okhotsk, Amur, Kuril, Primorskaya, Olginsky, Komarov, Lyubarsky, European, Japanese, Polish; Siberian, white and Caucasian fir; pedunculate oak; beeches of European, Eastern and Crimean, as well as preliminary recommendations for zoning black saxaul. In connection with the achievement of the 30-year age of the created network of geographical cultures, studies are being carried out to clarify the current forest seed zoning [Forest seed zoning of the main forest-forming species in the USSR. - M., 1982; Shutyaev, A. M. Biodiversity of pedunculate oak and its use in breeding and afforestation. - Voronezh, 2000; A.I., Iroshnikov. Larch trees of Russia. Biodiversity and breeding. - M., 2004.].

Recently, in the practice of forestry, such an industry has been developing as plantation afforestation. Plantations are created on large areas and require increased financial costs, therefore, the requirements for sowing and planting material are increasing. Planting and seed material must be tested, highly productive, resistant to pathogens and provide the necessary products. One of the main ways to establish the genetic value of a breeding material is to test seed progeny in geographic and test crops. The study of the growth and stability of Scots pine in geographical crops allows us to identify promising climatypes, recommend them in population varieties, develop proposals for the use of the best climatypes in plantation forest growing and adjust the forest seed zoning of the species in the region [Study of existing and creation of new geographical crops // Program and methodology works. M .: VNIILM, 1972. - 52 p.].

Forest seed zoning is one of the main reserves for increasing the productivity and sustainability of artificial plantations. The task of forest seed zoning is the rational use of the geographical variability of tree species for the cultivation of highly productive and sustainable forest plantations. The correct choice of geographical origin for cultivation in specific forest conditions can increase the productivity of crops by 20-30%.

In Russia, forest-seed zoning of the main forest-forming species was developed on the instructions of the USSR State Committee on Forestry and put into effect by order on July 1, 1982 (Forest-seed zoning ..., 1982). The introduction of forest seed zoning was the most important component of the overall program for the genetic improvement of the country's forests. The project of consolidated forest-seed zoning of pine in the European part of the USSR was prepared by E.P. Prokazin, and B.N. Kurakin (VNIILM), for pine in the Asian part of the country - A.I. Iroshnikov (Institute of Forest and Timber). Forest seed zoning is mandatory for both state-owned enterprises and other forestry enterprises. The main unit of forest seed zoning is a forest seed area with relatively homogeneous natural conditions and the genotypic composition of populations with pronounced forestry features. In some cases, the forest seed area is subdivided into subareas. Within the area of ​​Scots pine, forest seed areas are unequal in area, representation of individual forest formations, forestry fund and prospects for the development of the seed base [Forest seed zoning of the main forest-forming species in the USSR. - M., 1982. - 368 p.].

Studies of geographical crops in different parts of the Scots pine range confirm that the growth of pine seedlings and their phenological development depend on the geographical origin of the seeds. Long-term experiments have shown that pine progeny from the seeds of northern climatypes grow more slowly and accumulate smaller stocks of stem and total mass, but are more resistant to unfavorable climatic factors. Plantations from seeds of southern climatypes of pine grow and thin out faster, but are less resistant to pathogens, have a poorer trunk shape (crookedness) than plantations from local seeds. Among the general patterns, exceptions are noted for the characteristics of growth and stability of some climatic ecotypes. Therefore, the researchers note that one should rely more on evidence than on patterns established earlier.

Geographic crops created in the 70s in 36 localities of the former Soviet Union under the VNIILM program contain large genetic collections of Scots pine populations. The results of the study of these tests significantly expand the information on the geographic variability of the species, its patterns, allow to identify varieties-populations and clarify the forest seed zoning [Pravdin, L.F. The growth of Scots pine (Pinus silvestris L.) of different geographical origin in the subzone of coniferous-deciduous forests / L.F. Pravdin, A.D. Vakurov // In the book: Complex pine forests of coniferous-broad-leaved forests and ways of forestry in forest-park conditions of the Moscow region. - M .: Nauka, 1968. - S. 160-195; Selection of forest breeds / P.I. Molotkov and others - M .:; Timber industry, 1982. - 224 p .; Timofeev, V.P. The oldest experience of geographical cultures of ordinary pine / V.P. Timofeev // Forestry. - 1974. - No. 8. - S. 31-38. ; Cherepnin, V.L. Geographic cultures of Scots pine in Transbaikalia / V.L. Cherepnin // Botanical studies of Siberia. - Krasnoyarsk: East Siberian Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, Krasnoyarsk Branch of the Russian Botanical Society of the Russian Academy of Sciences. - 1999. - Issue. 7. - S. 180-193. ; Cherepnin, V.L. Variability of Scots pine seeds / V.L. Cherepnin - Novosibirsk: Nauka, 1980. –181 p. ; Chernodubov, A.I. Geographic cultures of Scots pine in the south of the Russian Plain / A.I. Chernodubov, T.E. Galdina, O.A. Smogunova. - Voronezh. - 2005 .-- 115 p .; Shutyaev, A.M. Productivity of the geographical populations of ordinary pine / A.M. Shutyaev, M.M. Veresin // Forestry. - 1990. - No. 11. - S.36-38 .; Shcherbakova, M.A. The success of the growth and development of various pine provinces in Karelia / M.A. Shcherbakova // In the book. Selection and genetic research of woody plants in Karelia. - Petrozavodsk, Karelian branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 1987. - S. 50-66 .; Pikhelgas, E.I. Geographic experimental crops of Scots pine in the Estonian SSR / E.I. Pihelgas // Geographic experiments in forest breeding in the Baltic. - 1981. –Riga: ZINATNE. –S.73-81 .; Pihelgas, E.I. On the influence of the geographical origin of seeds on the growth of pine crops in the conditions of the Estonian SSR / E.I. Pihelgas // Materials of the meeting. about the work of educational and experimental forestry enterprises. –Tartu, 1975. –S. 29-49 .; Podzharova, Z.S. Study of the factors influencing the growth of pine seedlings of various geographical origin / Z.S. Podzharova, E.G. Orlenko // Botany. - 1981. - No. 23. - S. 159-163; Giertych, M. Provenance variation in growth and phenology / M. Giertych // In: Genetics of Scots pine. - Budapest: Akademiai Kiado, 1991. - P. 87-101 .; Giertych, M. Summary results on Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) volume production in Ogievskij's prerevolutionary Russian provenance experiments / M. Giertych, J. Oleksyn // Silvae Genetica. - 1981. - V. 30. - P. 56-74 .; Patlai, I.N. The growth and stability of pine in the second generation geographical cultures in the Trostyanets forestry of the Sumy region / I.N. Patlai // Forest Journal. - 1976. - No. 5; Nakvasina, E.N. Breeding assessment of Scots pine climatypes in geographical cultures of the Arkhangelsk region / E.N. Nakvasina, T.V. Bedritskaya, O.A. Gvozdukhina // Forest Journal. - 2001. - No. 3. –S. 28-34 .; Mosin and V.I. Influence of seed origin on pine growth in geographical cultures of Northern Kazakhstan / V.I. Mosin, N.S. Sidorova // Protective afforestation and selection issues in Northern Kazakhstan. Scientific works. - 1980. - T.2. - S. 88-98 .; Iroshnikov, A.I. Geographic cultures of conifers in southern Siberia / A.I. Iroshnikov // Geographic cultures and coniferous plantations in Siberia. –Novosibirsk: Science. Sib. department, 1977. - S. 4-110 .; Kuzmina, N.A. Differentiation of Scots pine by growth and survival in geographical cultures of the Angara region / N.А. Kuzmina, S.R. Kuzmin, L.I. Milyutin // Conifers of the boreal zone. - 2004. - Issue 2. - P. 48 - 56 .; Kuzmina, N.A. Peculiarities of growth of geographic cultures of Scots pine in Priangarye / N.А. Kuzmina // Forest Science. - 1999. - No. 4. - P.23-29 .; Study of existing and creation of new geographical cultures // Program and methods of work. M .: VNIILM. - 1972 .-- 52 p. ].

GROWTH

Young trees that have appeared naturally in the forest are called undergrowth. They grew from seeds that hit the surface of the soil. However, not every tree is referred to undergrowth, but only a relatively large one - from one to several meters in height. Smaller trees are called seedlings or self-sowing.

Undergrowth, as we know, does not form a separate layer in the forest. However, it is located mostly at the level of the undergrowth, although sometimes higher. Individual specimens of undergrowth can vary greatly in height - from undersized to relatively large.

There is almost always some undergrowth in the forest. Sometimes it is a lot, sometimes it is not enough. And it is often located in small clusters, clumps. This happens especially often in an old spruce forest. When you meet such a clump in the forest, you notice that it develops in a small clearing, where there are no trees. The abundance of undergrowth is explained by the fact that there is a lot of light in the clearing. And this favors the emergence and development of young trees. Outside the clearing (where there is little light), young trees are much less common.

Small accumulations are also formed by oak undergrowth. But this is noticeable in the case when adult oaks are found in the forest one by one among the total mass of other trees, for example, birches, spruces. The arrangement of young oak trees in groups is due to the fact that acorns do not spread to the sides, but fall directly under the mother tree. Sometimes young oak trees can be found in the forest very far from the mother trees. But they do not grow in groups, but one at a time, as they grew from acorns brought by a jay. The bird makes supplies of acorns, hiding them in moss or bedding, but then many of them are not found. These acorns give rise to young trees that are very far from mature fruit-bearing oaks.

In order for the undergrowth of a particular tree species to appear in the forest, a number of conditions are necessary. It is important, first of all, that the seeds get to the soil and, moreover, are benign, capable of germinating. There must, of course, be favorable conditions for their germination. And then certain conditions are required for the survival of seedlings and their subsequent normal growth. If some link is missing in this chain of conditions, then undergrowth does not appear either. This happens, for example, when the conditions for seed germination are unfavorable. Imagine some small seeds hitting a thick layer of litter. They will first start to sprout, but then they will die. Weak seedling roots will not be able to break through the litter and penetrate into the mineral layers of the soil, from where the plants take water and nutrients. Or another example. In some part of the forest, there is too little light for the normal development of the undergrowth. Seedlings appear, but then die from shading. They do not live up to the undergrowth stage.

In the forest, only a very small proportion of seeds fallen to the ground gives rise to seedlings. The vast majority of seeds die. The reasons for this are different (destruction by animals, decay, etc.). But even if seedlings appeared, then not all of them subsequently turn into undergrowth. There are many things that can hinder this. It is not surprising that our trees produce a huge amount of seeds (for example, there are many millions of birch per hectare). Indeed, only with such a strange, at first glance, extravagance is it possible to leave offspring.

In the forest, it often happens that one species dominates in the tree layer, and a completely different species dominates in the undergrowth. Pay attention to many of our pine forests of a fairly old age. There is absolutely no pine undergrowth here, but spruce undergrowth is very abundant. Often, young Christmas trees form dense thickets over a large area in a pine forest. Young pine trees are absent here for the reason that they are very photophilous and cannot withstand the shading that occurs in the forest. In nature, pine undergrowth usually appears in mass only in open places, for example, in fires, abandoned arable lands, etc.

The same discrepancy between mature trees and undergrowth can be observed in many birch forests located in the taiga zone. Birch grows in the upper layer of the forest, and under it there is a dense, abundant spruce undergrowth.

Under favorable conditions, the undergrowth eventually turns into mature trees. And these trees of natural origin are biologically more valuable than those grown artificially (by sowing seeds or planting seedlings). Trees grown from undergrowth are best adapted to local natural conditions, the most resistant to a variety of adverse environmental influences. In addition, they are the strongest specimens to survive the harsh competition that always occurs between trees in the forest, especially at a younger age.

So, undergrowth is one of the important components of the forest plant community. Young trees under favorable conditions can replace old, dead trees. This is exactly what happened in nature for many centuries and millennia, when the forest was little exposed to human influence. But even now, in some cases, it is possible to use undergrowth for the natural restoration of a felled forest or individual large trees. Of course, only when young trees are numerous enough and at the same time well developed.

Our story about forest plant communities has come to an end. You could be convinced that all the tiers of the forest, all groups of plants and, finally, individual plants in the forest are closely related to each other, in one way or another, affect each other. Each plant occupies a certain place in the forest and plays a particular role in the life of the forest.

There are many remarkable features in the structure and life of forest plants. It is about them that will be discussed further. But to make the story more consistent and clear, we have divided the material into separate chapters. In each chapter, plants are examined from one point of view. One chapter talks about interesting features of the structure, the other - reproduction, the third - development, etc. So, let's get acquainted with some of the little secrets of plants that live in the forest.

But first, a few more words. The book consists of separate short stories, a kind of biological sketches. These stories will focus on the most diverse inhabitants of the forest - trees and shrubs, grasses and shrubs, mosses and lichens. Some mushrooms will also be discussed. According to the latest concepts, mushrooms are not classified as a plant kingdom, but are isolated in a special kingdom of nature. But the greatest attention will, of course, be paid to trees - the most important, dominant plants in the forest.

It should also be noted that our story will concern not only plants as a whole, but also their individual organs - both aboveground and underground. We will get acquainted with the interesting biological secrets of flowers and fruits, leaves and seeds, stems and rhizomes, bark and wood. In this case, attention will be paid mainly to large external signs that are clearly visible with the simple eye. Only here and there you will have to touch a little on the internal, anatomical structure of plants. But here, too, we will try to show how different microscopic features are reflected in external signs - on what is noticeable to the simple eye.

And the last thing. The subdivision adopted in the book into separate chapters devoted to certain features of forest plants (structure, development, reproduction) is, of course, conditional. This is done only for the convenience of presentation, for some ordering of the material presented. There is no sharp distinction between these chapters. It is difficult to draw, for example, a clear line between structural features and reproduction. One and the same material can be placed with almost the same right either in one or another chapter. For example, the story about the special structure of pine and spruce seeds, which allows them to rotate very quickly in the air when falling from a tree, concerns both structure and reproduction. In the book, this material is placed in the chapter on the structure of plants. But this is just an arbitrary decision of the author, which, I hope, the reader will forgive him, as well as some other similar decisions.