Matryoshka is the meaning of a toy. Matryoshka - a symbol of Rus' and sacred Vedic meaning

Here is a typical conversation that usually takes place on the street when a representative of one direction or another approaches you:

"Hello, excuse me, please, can I ask you a question? Do you believe in God?" – And there are several possible answers:

"Yes I believe you..."

“Then come to a church service there on Sunday. Tell me, at what address can I bring you free literature?” - Or:

"No I do not believe..."

“Why? Maybe you should come to us? Here’s a free magazine for you, come there.” – But you can ask a counter question:

“What do you mean by the concept of “God”?” – Usually in this case the representative either becomes embittered or, having lost interest in the conversation, begins to explain something:

"He created us all... He loves us."

“Then why does he allow all the injustices that are happening now on Earth and have always been happening?” – The answer is obvious:

“This is the will of God and no one can know this.”

What did such a concept as “God” actually mean before? What did such concepts as “Soul” mean? "Spirit"; "Fate" or "Rock"? After all, it is stupid, after all, to atheistically deny or, conversely, blindly believe in something about which we have not the slightest idea! And yet, most people do just that - they either deny or believe not in God himself, but in other people’s ideas about God. Modern ministers religious directions- Which of them can you trust now? This question, in my opinion, sooner or later any thinking person asks himself if he comes to this.

Next, I will try to define some of those concepts that are in quotation marks, using modern terms. And in order to create a visual representation of all this, let’s remember such a familiar and well-known symbol from childhood, now encountered at every step, as the seven Russian nesting dolls. What did these figures, inserted one into another and differently decorated, mean? – This symbol, modified, came to us from the East and means the seven principles or components of the human body.

Previously, all ancient sources and teachings made no difference between anatomy, physiology, psychology, philosophy and religion - all these sciences studied man in his entirety, teaching that both the human body and his “Soul” and even “Spirit” are material. These teachings and sources claimed that the matter from which both man and everything in the world consists is sevenfold in composition. For example, the “Soul” of a person in the modern definition is nothing more than his thoughts and feelings, which are material. But the matter of which these thoughts and feelings are composed differs in its quality and properties from the matter of which the human body is composed. Just as water differs in its properties from fire.

Now, I would like to describe these seven components or principles of the human body as briefly as possible, without using Sanskrit terms.

1st Principle(the first matryoshka) is physical body person. Bones, muscles, in a word, everything that anatomy studies. This is the physical human body.

IInd Principle(second nesting doll) are the lower animal instincts and human needs. This is the instinct of fear, anger, the need for food, drink, and so on. For example, Freud notes several basic animal instincts: the oldest is the instinct of self-preservation, we find the beginnings of it even in plants and protozoa - this is the instinct to preserve one’s form or organism. Following it comes the instinct of procreation - the sexual instinct. The third basic animal instinct is the instinct of destruction. Moreover, destruction without any logical justification or reason. This instinct is primary, and the logical justification will come later, but more on that later.

III Principle(third nesting doll) are the highest needs and instincts of a person. This is the instinct of self-expression, which manifests itself in the desire to sing, draw, dance. This desire to somehow decorate your home, to dress beautifully is also a subconscious instinct - something that is inherent in us even before birth and manifests itself in children already in the very beginning. early age. Another thing is how it will be used in more mature years, but more on that a little later. Also among the highest human instincts is the instinct of curiosity. From early childhood, a child constantly, first with gestures and facial expressions, and then with questions, demands an explanation of this or that phenomenon of life - this is the instinct of curiosity.

So, the three lower principles in us are the physical body, the lower and higher instincts - all this forms the subconscious triad of man. This is a primitive savage man, the way we see him at the dawn of human evolution. He is entirely driven by his lower instincts in obtaining food, in waging war and in procreation. Also, the driver in drawing animals on the walls of the cave in which he lives, in collecting shells in order to make a necklace, are his higher instincts. Of course, then the responsibility is for your own wild image He, this primitive man, could not yet bear life, because at that time there were not yet those mechanisms that would control and restrain his unbridled natural instincts. Next begins the conscious evolution of man - the awareness of instincts.

I Vth Principle (fourth matryoshka) is the Lower Mind of man - the consciousness of the lower animal instincts. This principle controls and puts into action the lower animal instincts in us. For example, the unbridled unconscious anger of ancient people is replaced by deceit, a calculating thirst for revenge, and a cold desire to destroy. The instinct of destruction takes on this form. Just as the blind terror that makes a savage run without looking back and hide is replaced by pent-up fear in a more civilized person - he strives to understand the reason for what worries him and find a way to avoid danger without panicking. This is how a person subjugates the ancient instinct of self-preservation to his will. Relations between the sexes are also changing and becoming more complex.

In the process of evolution, prisons appear in which those who cannot control their animal instincts and harm others are punished - this is how the Lower Mind develops. Brothels also appear, as people begin to understand that this instinct can be used for selfish purposes. Over time, a stone ax takes on the appearance of a guillotine, a bow and arrows are replaced by firearms and later by medium-range missiles. All this is the creativity of the Lower Mind of man. The basis for such creativity is the lower animal instinct of destruction.

Vth Principle(fifth matryoshka) is the Higher Mind of man. This is the consciousness of the highest human instincts. The higher mind in us controls and puts into practice the highest human instincts and aspirations, which are characteristic of all of us, just like the lower, animals. The Higher Mind of man develops in the process of evolution simultaneously with the Lower Mind. For example, simple, unsophisticated rock painting primitive people in the process of evolution it turns into masterpieces of Leonardo da Vinci and Titian. Wild prehistoric song and exactly the same music performed on primitive musical instruments, modified, become the great operas of Richard Wagner, symphonies and sonatas of Ludwig van Beethoven. The miserable shacks take on the appearance majestic temples and palaces - masterpieces of architecture, and simple statues of ancient gods over time become perfect examples of sculpture - all this is the creativity of the Higher Mind of man, which developed from the subconscious instinct of self-expression, which I wrote about above. And people also want to know. They build observatories where scientists observe starry sky and planets. People create spaceships in order to explore and study not only the most remote corners of the Earth, as it was before, but also Space. And in research institutes, people study the most diverse phenomena of life - all these studies and aspirations, all this is the transformed instinct of curiosity, which has become a conscious aspiration of the Higher Mind of man.

Thus we now have the five principles of man. Previously, in order to somehow symbolize these five principles, people expressed it in the form of a pentagram or, in modern expression, in the form of a five-pointed star. Initially, the five-pointed star or pentagram meant exactly this - the five principles of the microcosm or the human body. These five components are present in one form or another in any normal modern civilized person, although they are not equally developed. If a savage, who only has a Lower and a Higher mind in its infancy, is not yet able to make a conscious choice - mechanisms such as intellectual analysis have not yet been developed, then a modern civilized person already has the right and opportunity to analyze and choose what to strive for. He, this civilized man, won this right to choose in the process of evolution, developing his thinking.

VIth Principle(sixth matryoshka) is Spiritual intuition. The sixth principle in man is what was formerly called Spirit. This Principle is the sum or consequence of the activity of the Lower and the Higher Mind, and it is the most perfect human faculty of understanding surrounding reality. This is what we call the “sixth sense”, it is the “supraconscious”, as opposed to the “subconscious” in us.

Let's take examples from history: Peter I, Napoleon or other great reformers and rulers human destinies. Who are they? Were they good or evil? Hard to tell. But one thing is certain - they were extraordinary, outstanding people. Such people differ from others already in very early childhood, showing extraordinary abilities. This includes all the great scientists, composers and public figures who go through in early childhood what ordinary people you have to study it all your life. Why is this so? To this question modern science I am not yet able to give an answer. They try to explain a person’s talent by heredity, but in this case, how can one explain Lomonosov’s genius? Eastern philosophy, for example, explains this phenomenon of human genius simply by the fact that he accumulates or earns his abilities in a series of many reincarnations or lives. Through trial and error, making mistakes, rejoicing and suffering - this is how a person accumulates knowledge and experience. Of course, this can neither be proven nor disproved (at least objectively), but this is what Eastern philosophy says.

How does a simply capable person differ from a Genius? - Good talented musicians There are many, but there are only a few great composers. There are also plenty of capable artisans, but brilliant artists, sculptors or public figures can be counted on one hand. Genius requires spiritual intuition. This is what the capable and talented people, possessing only well-developed Lower and Higher intelligence, differ from Geniuses, who are even higher. Geniuses have not only developed their Higher and Lower minds, bringing them to perfection, but also have Spiritual intuition.

So, now we already have six principles in man. How can this be symbolized? From the depths of centuries a mysterious symbol has come down to us - a six-pointed star. What does it mean? Many educated people struggled to solve this Mystery, trying to penetrate the hidden meaning of this symbol. It had many names. In the East, in India, it is known as the "Seal of Vishnu"; Jewish Kabbalists later called it the "Seal of Solomon." Now this symbol is partly a symbol of the state of Israel (Israel literally means “the chosen one”).

If you look closely at this symbol, you can see two intertwined triangles - one black, pointing down, and the other white, pointing up. These two intertwined triangles are surrounded by a circle with a dot in the middle.

The black triangle is the three first principles of man (I; II; III).

The white triangle is the three other principles of man (IV; V; VI).

It is interesting to note that the 1st Principle (physical body) is the opposite of the 6th Principle (Spirit).

The soul (II-IV and III-V) is between these two opposites.

The six-pointed star symbol can be called the symbol of the Genius, while the pentagram symbol is simply an ordinary person. To what extent can this or that symbol correspond to this or that person in fact? Who can know this and say about it absolutely definitely? One thing is certain - there are no people (with the exception of the terminally ill, the insane) who lack the Spirit or Spiritual intuition. It’s just that for most people this ability is still very undeveloped and is still in a “supraconscious” state. Spiritual intuition, the “sixth sense” or Spirit is recognized as something concrete and formed by a very small number of people. Few people know their abilities and talents thoroughly. Few people can know what awaits them, understanding the signs of the past and present, and as a result, foresee the future. And yet, potentially this Knowledge, this spiritual insight is inherent in each of us. This potentiality will develop in the process of evolution into real ability just as the fins of lobe-finned fish became limbs in the process of evolution. Thus, the symbols of the pentagram and the six-pointed star are simply symbols of the various stages of human evolution. There are other symbols, both well-known and familiar, and more hidden...

VIIth Principle(seventh matryoshka) is the Absolute or Absolute Knowledge. This is God. This is the entire sum of knowledge that has ever existed before, exists now and will exist in the future. This is what people - everyone who has ever lived, is living now or who will live in the future - knew, knows or will learn in the future. The Seventh Principle is the endless possibilities for knowledge that connect a person with the Cosmos. This is limitless, eternal cosmic SPACE or the limitless division of the smallest atom into its component parts. The Seventh Principle is the eternally comprehended Absolute and the one who achieves an understanding of this in his development becomes immortal. This is what Eastern philosophy says. In ancient times, mentioning the Seventh Principle outside the sanctuary was punishable by death. The ancients knew how to protect the most secret things.

On the symbol of the six-pointed star, the VIIth Principle is depicted as a dot in a circle. The dot means a person’s first awareness of his own “I” - and this is the beginning of the countdown in life. The first thing a person realizes is his “I”. The circle is the amount of knowledge that a person can cover. The radius drawn from the center point to any point on the circle shows the size of this knowledge. The possibilities for expanding this knowledge (increasing the area of ​​the circle) are endless - there is no limit to them.

In the end, I would also like to note that what was said here, of course, is far from new. There is an ocean of literature on this topic, most of which was first published in Europe. In our country this is only now beginning to become widespread. Only relatively recently did the works of H. P. Blavatsky begin to be published. Only now are we beginning to truly recognize such authors as A.P. Sinnett; Bulwer-Lytton; T.Subba-Raw and others. In a word, all those who stood at the origins of the beginning of the spread of the Knowledge of the East in the West.

Matryoshka dolls have long been a fashionable Slavic souvenir. But the nesting doll is not only a decoration or a souvenir; first of all, it is a unique toy for children - very beautiful and useful. Just as there are many nesting dolls in the middle, there are many secrets contained in it. What do these decorated dolls inserted into one another mean?

The developmental and educational value of the nesting doll can be envied by any modern manual. This wonderful toy is an excellent gift for young children. With the help of a nesting doll, you can teach children to identify different qualities, sizes, and compare objects by height, width, color and volume. It promotes hand-eye coordination and develops perception and thinking in young children. Develops the ability to disassemble and correctly assemble a nesting doll logical thinking, teaches counting in a playful way. But this toy also has many symbolic meanings.

It is known that any traditional toy is an educational object associated with mythology. Many researchers are struggling with the mystery of the nesting doll, and the symbolism of folk art is often lost in the mists of time. Experts believe that the Russian master who sharpened the nesting doll remembered and knew Russian fairy tales well and enclosed in the matryoshka the idea of ​​​​searching for truth and the possibility of finding it only by “getting to the bottom” - the last figure. Let us remember the fairy tale “Koshchei the Immortal”, where Ivan Tsarevich is looking for an egg that contains a needle - the death of Koschey the Immortal. This egg was in the duck, the duck was in the hare, the hare was in the box, the box was under the oak tree. Also, the multi-layered nature of the nesting doll teaches us to look for many meanings - to see internal reasons behind the external, to perceive the world more deeply, not to judge superficially, to get to the bottom of the essence.

Matryoshka is a symbol of the Family. Let's think about the name. The word "matryoshka" comes from the word "mother". Thus, this toy personifies the mother of a large family, being a symbol of motherhood and fertility. A matryoshka doll with a large matryoshka family conveys the image of the Family, several generations of ancestors and descendants.

Matryoshka is a symbol of the unity and diversity of the world. It seems to be one, but at the same time it consists of many of its manifestations, which are its small reflections. Therefore, the nesting doll also carries the idea of ​​​​reflecting the small in the great, the macrocosm in the microcosm.

The matryoshka doll with all its components is a symbol of the multidimensionality and multi-layered nature of the Universe and man - his energy bodies. Our ancestors knew about this, so there were age-specific initiations that helped strengthen the corresponding energy bodies.

So, the smallest nesting doll is the physical body of a person; it fully matures by the 1st year of life in order to strengthen it and help the child establish himself in the world of reality. Then the age-specific initiation of Post-Strizhina is carried out. This nesting doll is red because the physical body is connected with the spell of red color - Source.

The next matryoshka is the Zharier (etheric) body of a person, which is fully formed by the age of 3. To strengthen it, an age-specific initiation is carried out: Put on a horse - for boys, Zorya the Prophet - for girls. This nesting doll is orange in color, since the etheric body is associated with the spell of orange color - Zarod.

An even larger nesting doll - Navier (astral) human body - yellow color, is associated with the Belly charm. Formed by the age of 7, initiation is carried out: Belting - for boys, Braiding - for girls.

The next matryoshka - the Club (mental) body - is green, formed by the age of 12-14, marked by the dedications Yarenie and Lelnik.

Blue matryoshka (throat charm Ustya) - Causal body, formed by the age of 21, a person is ready to create his own space, which means to undergo initiation into a Husband or Wife - a wedding ceremony.

Blue matryoshka (chara Oko) - Koloby body (the body of intuition and spiritual mind), a person undergoes initiation into the Father or Mother.

The largest one is a purple nesting doll (chara Spring), symbolizing Divya’s body (human soul, cateral, atmic body). A person is best aware of it when he is initiated into Grandfather or Grandmother. The next matryoshka bodies - the Right Body and the Jiva - have very high vibrations, therefore they have no color - this is already light.

Thus, the nesting doll personifies human integrity; its positive, cheerful image brings harmony and comfort to the house.

The matryoshka doll with all its components is a symbol of the multidimensionality and multi-layered nature of the Universe and man.

The purpose of this toy was intended to visually describe to children the multiple structures of human subtle bodies.

1. The first matryoshka - Real body is the visible physical body of a person. Carnal (Flesh) body, flesh. The health of our actual body largely depends on nutrition. To maintain the real body in order, a person needs food from a self-assembled tablecloth. In the image of a self-assembled tablecloth in fairy tales, Nature herself appears with the most useful food for humans, which itself grew in paradise gardens, prophetic forests and flowering meadows. These are forest and garden berries, fruits, nuts and herbs.

2. The second matryoshka - Zharye body - a shell (ethereal body) surrounding creatures. It “fries”, that is, it blazes, shines and is painted with all colors in accordance with the aspirations, desires and intentions of Zhiva. It has the shape of a ball, surrounding the human body with a multi-layered and complex cocoon; it can have a size from several meters to several kilometers (from here: Firebird, The Scarlet Flower etc.).
In fairy tales, the Firebird loves to eat rejuvenating apples, and indeed, eating apples maximizes a person’s energy, making him juicy, plump and beautiful. No wonder the young blooming girls In Rus', from time immemorial, people have been compared to plump apples, and women with many children to fruit-bearing apple trees. Of course, we are talking about natural apples.
The body is nourished and strengthened through physical activity, exercise, and bath procedures.

3. Third matryoshka - Navier body - astral body. In this body they enter the worlds of Navi. The Navier body feeds on information, knowledge, and wisdom. At night, these are our dreams, when we receive tips and training from above. It is very important to be conscious in your sleep and, when you wake up, to remember and write down your dreams. It is also important what kind of water we drink, it is better if it is clean, living water.

4. The fourth matryoshka - Club body - the body of mind, reason, intuition, insight, divine inspiration. It has the shape of a silver ball (“club”) located inside the human skull. Every person who wants to be happy must find his own Guiding Ball and become a Guiding Man (follow his own Path). Klubiye Telo is strengthened by eating pine nuts and apples, eating food from your area (50 km from the location), regular baths and dousing with cold water (khlad), fresh clean air. But the main task in revealing the guiding tangle is to reduce, or better yet, stop the artificial flows of information (TV, computer, books, gurus) that confuse a person’s tangle. Next - regular listening to birds, the noise of the forest, the sea, inhaling the aroma of flowering trees and herbs. The club body is nourished by silence, peace and tranquility, in which it is vitally important to periodically be alone.

5. Fifth matryoshka - Koloby body - the body of intelligence. It has the shape of a golden light ball (“koloba”) and is located around the person’s head. All Russians have a coloby body in a sleeping or awakened state. All people saw it in churches on icons as a halo around the heads of the Saints. In Russians fairy tales Kolobi's Body symbolizes Kolobok. Our bun feeds on sunlight.

6. The sixth matryoshka - Divya's body - The soul of a person, his Guardian. It has the shape of a human body, its size ranges from the size of a human body to several hundred meters in height (hence: Virgo, Divo-marvelous, Virgo, etc.). Enhances Divya's body Light Guiding Star(Star Homeland), from which Man flew, and always has a Luminous Connection. This is the body of the Magician and Wizard on Earth. It is very useful to be under the starry sky...

7. Seventh matryoshka - The body of light is the Absolute or Absolute Knowledge. This is God. This is the Body of God, Divine Fire, Spirit, the original light of Ra. This is the Energy of Love and Kindness, Divine Grace and Gratitude. The Light Body is the thinnest and lightest clothing of the ZhivAtma (Eternal Self). The practice of Gratitude develops and strengthens this body!

The toy was invented to understand the world, but why not give children real objects in their hands to understand it? Why not give them hammers, pots, saws, cell phones, stethoscopes? The reason is not obvious. The toy was created not just for learning about the world, but for learning about the world in its perfection, in its ideal. About something beautiful and good, we say admiringly - “not a thing, but just a toy!” This means that “toy” is touchingly beautiful, childishly joyful. The same cannot be said about the 17th century silver altar cross set in stones and gems. The toy is a secular icon of God's creation. It expands the boundaries of possible perception of space. You can’t play with a real whale or rhinoceros, but you can play with toy animals as much as you like. You can get lost in a real forest, but among plastic Christmas trees it’s always cozy and safe. In a real battle, dying is a piece of cake, but when we play “toy soldiers,” we remain, even when defeated, living winners, because we have learned some other necessary tactics or strategy in the game, and have overcome another cognitive step.

No matter how much you virtualize a child, everything will be to no avail. He has a body, albeit small for now, but full. It's like theater. They predicted his death, first from the cinema, then from the TV, and now they are scaring him on the Internet. Humanity will invent and implement other forms of information transmission, even more believable than 3D. A child needs a toy for his mental and heartfelt comprehension of the world. This is as clear as a book. However, it is the toy, as a cognitive tool, that imprints the matrix of consciousness. The world, mastered through a toy, becomes not just identified, “named by name,” but specifically named. It becomes meaningful, seen in the worldview paradigm in which the toy was created. Based on this, the child, playing with certain toys, builds a model of the world in accordance with the game forms given to him. For example, if a parent has atheistic beliefs, he will never give his child a toy “angel”. And on the contrary, father and mother who believe in God will protect their child from the poisonous influence of monster toys, even of the type like the seemingly harmless “Teletubbies.” The folk toy has been tested by centuries of pedagogical experience. It's too early to write her off. We, like savages, attacked glass beads and surrounded our children with modern high-tech toys. Tamagotchis, cyber dogs, cyber lizards, smart toys, nano rattles, toy computer models, cell phones, digital cameras etc. and so on. Does a child need them for proper psychophysical and spiritual growth? Controversial issue. If we want to raise a harmoniously developed person, if we want to teach a child courage, creativity, patience and love, then we cannot do without folk toys. Nothing has changed in educational tasks since Gospel times.

Top

A top should not be understood as a semi-mechanical modern top, which is driven by a screw handle. A top is a round, somewhat spherical, colored disk that rotates under the influence of human power. In 2010, doctors from St. Petersburg conducted a seminar on the health of children in preschool educational institutions. They showed everyone a familiar exercise from childhood to activate blood circulation in the brain. It's called "ladushki". A number of experiments were conducted on children's folk games for the little ones. It turned out that everything folk games deeply and beneficially affect the psychophysical structures of the child. In particular, the “okay” exercise, when children stand opposite each other and quickly hit their partner’s palms with different variations, it improves blood supply to the brain.

We observe a similar effect when a child practices with a top. Applying physical dexterity to unwind it, the child’s palm folds into a boat, and then sharply unclenches with a rotational force. This hand movement will be difficult for an adult too. By performing it, the child actualizes the mental powers of the soul. But this is only the peripheral significance of the toy in question. Let us once again recall the fractional perception of the world in elementary and middle ages. school age. The world attracts the child's attention with its bright colorful objects. His soul is like an axis around which the world’s life revolves. Through a toy, as through a protective screen, he tries his hand at comprehending it, tries on the world's functions. It is difficult for a child to stop and look at himself, to feel himself from the inside. The spinning top gives him this opportunity. A child can inwardly freeze and contemplate his heart. What is the importance here? Young soul included in the world, and does not feel its presence in it without people and things. But when multi-colored rings run quietly, without whistling, in front of him, then merging, then again diverging into their circles, the child stops his gaze and begins, perhaps for the first time, to feel his small, but already incomprehensible “I”.

This is a moment of self-awareness. Without it, a person’s personality will not comprehend the originality, otherness of other people and will not be able to fully carry out social communication as a unity in love. The act of self-comprehension is a unique time point in the formation of the human personality. The sooner it is realized, the more significantly a person will be able, before coming to eternity, to reveal the potentialities of his nature and to accommodate the uncreated energies of the Holy Spirit. A child without this self-knowledge will not only not be able to say “you” to another; he will remain unsuitable for human communication within the confines of earthly life forever. Remember the fate of children found in the forests and raised by animals. Until the end of their days, they did not accommodate the minimum of emotional relationships with other people.

High self-awareness is a condition for depth human communication. Animals communicate with each other at the level of their bodies. People are called to use all the qualities of human nature in communication. The people of God are drawn “from above” to the interpenetration of personalities with the unity of the anthropological essence in the image of God of the Holy Trinity. In the lives of saints there are examples of such deep dialogue between two or more people, as a rule, with the central position of the saint. Numerous cases of such spiritual interpenetration in the life of St. Ambrose of Optina.

There is another indirect meaning in the top. In its external form it resembles the configuration solar system. Man - “king and priest” - is the engine of the cosmic world. And we know from the discovery of the anthropic principle of the universe that man really served as the prototype for the creation of the universe. This is how the Lord embodied his will in this world. Therefore all visible space together with the earth they are the second body of humanity, the anthroposphere. A child spinning a small symbolic copy of the solar system, who he will become: Guardian or Terminator?

Beanbag

We will not describe the design of the rattle. Her image is familiar to everyone. Let us only note that the stick by which the child holds the sounding ball should be made to the length of two or three arms around the child’s hand, so that it is easier for him to make sounds different strengths. Each noise burst that a child makes with its help means his presence in the spatial environment. And, if the top helps in the act of self-awareness, then the rattle paves the way to this personal event. It is intended for the little ones.

A child who takes it in his hands lives his interaction with existence approximately this way: “I am! I change the world around me! I make a sound, and the world takes it into itself without a trace; draws in, like water salt, my sounds, my life! I stay in it. Yes, the room is quiet now. But I know that all things heard my sounds, agreed to my existence and accepted me as comrades.

The silence of space is only an appearance. It is filled to the limit with the discordant voices of existence itself. By the way, adults, when they find themselves in critical situations and reality quickly eludes them, use the same “rattle effect”: they begin to speak out loud their thoughts and feelings. This also applies religious life. In ascetic literature there is wise advice: for demonic insurance, read prayer rule in a loud voice.

Ball

The ball helps to understand through sensory experience the structure of the material world and its objects. It bounces off the floor well. Why? The floor is strong. Sand on the river bank is bad. The grains of sand are not connected to each other, and therefore the sand is “crumbly”. The water is collected together, but it is soft and accepts the ball. The child uses the ball to influence environment and learns to comprehend its boundaries and properties.

On holy icons, angels are often depicted holding transparent “balls” - spheres. They are a symbol of their perfect obedience to the will of God and the permeation of their nature with the light of Tabor. Angels are “second lights.” The sphere has always been a symbol of perfection. The ancient Greeks imagined the sky to be spherical.

A boy plays with a ball. How he likes to throw it into the transparent skies, catch it, pressing it to his heart! In the hands of a child, an object of perfect shape. He learns to master it; he tries to master perfect, as yet physical, objects of the world. He kicks it, and the perfect physical phenomenon rolls “absolutely” far away; the square ball is incapable of continuous movement. It's memorable.

The “hour of the soul” will come (M. Tsvetaeva), and he will see that not only a perfect ball, but perfect forms in general are subject to man. He himself can create the ideal, because he himself is the “image of God,” the “perfect sphere.” Man is given the ability to reproduce perfect forms at all levels of world existence: from the “ball” to the Liturgy. The content of the Eucharist was given by the Lord. Man embodied it, with the assistance of the Power of God, in brilliantly spiritual forms. The boy is holding a ball in his hands. Doesn't he look like an angel? "Be like children."

Let's move on to physics. This toy has excellent qualities to develop dexterity, speed of reaction, the ability to put all the force into one push, i.e. teaches psychophysical composure. From 6-8 years old, the ball serves to expand social connections. Several children, for example, can play dodgeball.

Matryoshka

The principle of the nesting doll came to Russian culture from the Japanese religious tradition in the form of a decorated egg. In the East, the egg has always been a symbol of the birth of new life. The egg in the egg is the principle of the existence of life. Perfect in Perfect, Similar in Similar, One in All and All in One - complete subordination and uniformity. This is the beauty, meaning and salvation of man.

The “dogmatic” formulas of pantheistic impersonal religion are fully consistent appearance egg-shaped toy. However, we, Russian people, profess Orthodoxy - the worship of the Three-Personal God. The Orthodox heart does not seek deification (consequence), but a Meeting with the Personal God. “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). God is a Person who freely embodies his existence. And man, as the “image of God,” is the bearer of the personal principle. Therefore, in some amazing way, this principle (one within the other) was transformed on Russian soil from an impersonal egg into a brave nesting doll with dozens of different faces. A baby, a girl, a girl, a pullet, and a grandmother suddenly emerged from the egg. In one of the Moscow museums you can see a human-sized matryoshka doll. The smallest painted figurine in this series is the size of a fingernail. But the size of a matryoshka doll as tall as a person is not the limit for this toy. A wooden doll with a match head is not minimal. The matryoshka should be thought of with an “adding” sign in one direction and with a “minus” sign in the other. The limit of magnification for the first external matryoshka will be the parameters of the universe, more precisely, of all Being; for the smallest - the inner pupa - not an atom or quarks, but a certain particle, the initial monad for the creation of the world, inaccessible to detection by the tools of modern physics.

In Eastern religious systems, an unnamed egg- the central archetype on which the consciousness of the pantheist relies when forming his final spiritual appearance(in Orthodoxy, such a prototype is the icon of Jesus Christ). A simple idea emerges. If you want to “be saved” - to dissolve in the Absolute - you must generate total consciousness in yourself and become like an “egg”; then you will be included in the structure of Absolute Being; you will be protected, new layers of human consciousness will be born around you; you will calm down under the endless covers of the impersonal shells of the One. And indeed: as a result of such work of the soul, a person begins to feel (falsely) enclosed in the world’s Cocoon of Grace, believing that he is “saving” himself from the deadly influence of time and tragedies in the afterlife. And the Russian nesting doll is created with a face, sometimes very original and unique. What is this insight about? About the purpose of man and the ultimate destinies of the universe. Matryoshka is what the Church of Christ calls Russian people to.

This is the people's task: to attract all of Being to oneself, humanize (hypostasis) and enlighten with the Holy Spirit. There is no such small (the very last inner nesting doll) piece in the world that is inaccessible to man and the transforming action of God. Therefore, not only individual units universal life must be enlightened, imbued with grace, but its entirety. The largest element of existence (matryoshka dolls) embraces the tiniest. The smallest element does not dissolve in the future, but retains all its unique originality.

The task of man is to comprehend in every thing of the world its perfect meaning and to reveal the potentialities of the existence of all things before eternity. The church decoration, one might even say, a certain iconography of the nesting doll, is a spiritual similarity to the icon of the Transfiguration of Christ on Mount Tabor. The image of a matryoshka is a man recreated by the Spirit of God, wonderful person in Christ. Only such a person is capable of “cultivating” paradise and transforming the world. By the way, this is precisely one of the meanings of the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord.

“What is a merciful heart?- and said: “A person’s heart is kindled for all creation, for people, for birds, for animals, for demons and every creature. When remembering them, and when looking at them, a person’s eyes shed tears, from the great and strong pity that envelops the heart. And because of his great patience, his heart is diminished, and it cannot bear, or hear, or see any harm or small sorrow endured by the creature. And therefore, for the dumb, and for the enemies of the truth, and for those who harm him, every hour he offers prayer with tears, so that they may be preserved and purified...” (Venerable Isaac the Syrian. Sermon 48, p. 206).

Separated from the world, from its fate, in a fit of individualistic house-building, it is not possible for a person to save his soul. But also vice versa. In order for man to fulfill his destiny, the Lord created a multi-stage hierarchy of earthly elements, starting with quantum energies and ending with the highest angelic ranks. Before the flood, when people “perverted their way,” the Lord said: “I will destroy from the face of the earth man whom I have created, from man to beast, and I will destroy the creeping thing and the bird of the air; for I repented that I created them.” (Gen. 6:7). This was not the cruelty of divine Truth, it’s just that the whole universe becomes unnecessary if there is no person in it.

Pseudo-matryoshka

In Orthodox theology, the dogma of the Holy Trinity is explained using analogies from the physical world, for example, the sun. The possibility of such created similarities is justified by the symbolic structure of the world created by God the Trinity. It seems that an interesting analogy that reveals the dogma of the Church is the Russian nesting doll. Its structure ideally corresponds to the Church’s understanding of itself as the “unfused, inseparable, unchangeable, inseparable” Being of all its parts in the Holy Spirit.

According to the teachings of St. Fathers, just as each particle of Communion in an incomprehensible way contains the whole of Christ, so each unit of the Church possesses the entire Fullness of the Life of Ecumenical Orthodoxy, be it a village church on the edge of the earth, the Patriarchal Cathedral in Moscow, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem or the See of Constantinople.

Where the Eucharist is, there is the Church, where the Church is, there is Christ, where Christ is, there is the Fullness of the Trinity Being. A parish that has “been separated from its bishop” loses its ontological involvement in the Universal Fullness. From this Completeness, not only an individual temple, but also an entire metropolis can fall into schism. The point is not in the number and significance of church elements, but in their involvement in the Liturgy. Only “all together,” in the unity given from above on the day of Pentecost, can the existence of the earthly, territorially and geographically dispersed Church be realized and reveal to the world the Eucharist as the Fullness of Divine Glory.

Pseudo-matryoshka

We find a similar principle in the structure of the nesting doll. One, even the largest nesting doll, loses its meaning when separated from the rest, or at least the smaller one; it becomes “incomplete”; but at the same time, any nesting doll in itself represents the completeness of a single image. It is a pity that the learned dogmatic fathers pass by this wonderful toy likeness. Matryoshka is also Aristotle’s categories, given in sensual and artistic images. The highest categories of life (large nesting dolls) include the lower ones (small nesting dolls), but do not abolish them. The brick does not rob the clay of its essence; a brick house retains the naturalness of all the bricks put into it. Order is born only from order.

“The idea that order is only from order means that we cannot say that from the lower comes the highest, from the imperfect in time comes the perfect, from the low - the high; all these premises and theses are directly opposed to evolutionary theory. Here it is obviously excluded that a man can turn out from a monkey ( This means that the nesting doll is one of the cultural and artistic images of “proof of the existence of God”) Hence the entire hierarchy (according to degrees of perfection) of the built world in Aristotle (M. Mamardashvili. Lectures on ancient philosophy. Page 176). And the nesting doll can be of service to worldly philosophers.

This article was based on a report given at the Christmas celebrations. educational readings Moscow in 2005. Some Orthodox listeners considered the reflections on the matryoshka doll to be pantheistic. Therefore, in the printed version of the report, we decided to supplement it with a number of quotes from textbooks on dogmatics Orthodox Church, to dispel all reader doubts about the high spiritual meaning nesting dolls.

Pseudo-matryoshka

“The task of man was to lead the world to even greater harmony, coherence and unity. According to St. Maxim, man was called upon to consistently overcome the division of the world within himself. He had to direct his mind and feelings towards God, and thus, achieving deification, communicate streams of grace to the creature below him, and thus lead the world to greater perfection. “...Having crossed the boundaries of the sensual (man), he then had to, through knowledge equal to the knowledge of angelic spirits, penetrate into the supersensible world in order to unite in himself the supersensible and sensual worlds. Finally, having nothing outside himself (that is, having transformed every created unit), a person would have no choice but to give himself completely to Him in an outburst of love and hand over to Him the entire entire universe UNITED IN HIS HUMAN BEING (that is, humanized). Then God Himself, for His part, would give Himself to man, who by this gift, that is, by grace, would have everything that God has by nature. Thus, the deification of man and the entire created world would be accomplished. Since Adam did not fulfill this mission given to man, we can understand it in the work of Christ - the New Adam. On the path of his union with God, man does not eliminate created things from himself, but gathers in his love the entire fragmented cosmos, so that in the end he will be transformed by grace.” (Archimandrite Alipius, Archimandrite Isaiah. Dogmatic theology, pp. 223-225).

“The Church is the center of the universe, the environment in which its destinies are decided. Everyone is called to enter the Church, for if man is a microcosm, then the Church, according to St. Maximus the Confessor, “macroanthropos.” ( V. Lossky. Essay on the mystical theology of the Eastern Church, p. 212).

“The connection between man and the universe turns out to be overturned in comparison with ancient concepts; instead of being “deindividuated”, “cosmized” and thus dissolved in some impersonal divinity, absolutely personal character a person’s relationship to a personal God should give him the opportunity to “personalize” (humanize) the world. It is no longer man who is saved by the universe, but the universe by man, because man is a hypostasis of the entire cosmos, which is involved in his nature. And the earth acquires its personal, hypostatic meaning in man... Only through us can the cosmos, as a continuation of our body, receive grace.” (V. Lossky. Dogmatic theology, p. 297).

Matryoshka on the spiritual plane is “an image of the future century”. What a pity that today her wonderful face is acquiring the features of a unified modern world. Every artist is capable of creating only images of his heart. A craftswoman who does not transform her soul with the light of Tabor, who lives according to the media and technical elements (variety, serials, shows, etc.) of “this century,” cannot give the world the Easter memorable appearance of this folk toy.

And how interesting it would be to relive the images of your favorite Russian fairy tales with your children (especially since such an experience already happened before the revolution in Sergiev Posad) in a nesting doll, such as “Terem-Teremok”, “Turnip”, “Rock-Rock Hen”, “The Wolf and the Seven Little Goats”, “Kolobok”, etc.; create family, artisan (for example, the father is a blacksmith, the mother is carrying a bundle of food, the daughter is a jug of water, the son is with a tiny hammer, etc.) nesting dolls. You can hold a creative seminar on thematic renewal (the principle of the standardization of matryoshka faces is an incompletely obsolete prototype of the pantheistic egg of the East). The nesting doll is necessary for our children, and we are obliged to preserve it for them, finding new unexpected colors and images in Orthodoxy.

Last tip

Parents will read our article, “scratch their heads” and say: “Well, what should we do now, the little ones, it’s clear: pyramids, nesting dolls, dolls, but what about the older ones? Shouldn't they play with cubes? What do you advise?" The situation around children's toys is not a dead end. Thank God, in addition to Chinese enterprises that have inundated us with their “folk” products, there are domestic manufacturers of traditional toys. They still, since Soviet times, produce high-quality iron dump trucks, tractors, balls, jump ropes, pipes, strollers, construction sets, sleds, etc. All these toys can be given to children without embarrassment.

A soft toy (elephants, bunnies, bears, etc.), as a rule, has a cheerful, good-natured image, and there is no reason to deprive children of the joy of owning it. These are tamed “paradise” animals. What is a teddy bear? The soft, humanized soul of the forest king of animals, embodied in the form of a toy. The girl puts the “bear” at the table and feeds him porridge. She will grow up and see, hopefully in the zoo, a real bear and maybe think: “It’s okay that he looks so dense! In fact, he has a good heart, like my teddy bear.” And he will be right, for animal malice is a reflection of human cruelty in creatures.

You can try to make toys yourself. This, of course, is not advice similar to Gandhi’s advice, for everyone to walk with spinning wheels. But still, why not try, at least a couple of times, to create several game units with your children? If the father does not have the ability for carpentry, and the mother for needlework, then you can find the appropriate craftsman (craftswoman) and order them the necessary toy: a car, a stroller, a crane, doll furniture, clothes, etc. We are sure that the cost will be cheaper factory.

We should also not forget that at school age the toy fades into the background. Primary school students already have mental strength to work at the level of consciousness with the symbolism of transferring the properties of one object to another. It is only necessary not to extinguish this ability by “world cultural achievements” and in time to direct the movement of the child’s soul along the path of creativity and imagination. At the age of 7-10 years, children become capable of complex social games. Therefore, it is quite possible for parents to help them organize these games. Is it so difficult to remember yourself as a boy and teach children wonderful outdoor games, such as “lapta”, “twelve sticks”, “siskin” and “Cossack robbers”? Perhaps one of the solutions would be to create a specialized store of high-quality, mentally strengthening children's and folk toys. Such an experiment had already been carried out once in Russia, in Sergiev Posad, shortly before the revolution. Ivan Shmelev in one of his works describes this wonderful product, which quickly won the love of children and parents in many parts of the Russian land. What is remarkable is that the creation of this complex (workshops and chain of stores) was brought to life not by the desire to get rich, but by the desire to give Russian boys and girls (after serious work done) scientific work) educational, moral and health-improving toy.

The Vyatka Zemstvo, shortly before 17, organized its own small enterprise, similar to workshops near Moscow. But soon, in the “fire of the world revolution,” it disappeared. Isn't it time to revive the tradition? Moreover, some forces for this already exist. For example, in the Novovyatsky district, in the village of Lugovaya, there is an enterprise “Souvenir”, which continues the tradition of making wooden toy. There is no need to be discouraged and “God bless the initiative.”

Every toy - whether the dreaming engineer who invents it wants it or not, the master who makes it, the seller who sells it, the father and mother who buy it - has its own spiritual archetypes and, therefore, is religious with a positive or negative sign and leads the child’s soul to the Gospel or to Universal Human Values, whose name "legion".