Ancient folk customs and traditions of the Kuban. The peoples of the Krasnodar Territory: Russians, Armenians, Ukrainians, Tatars

Traditions Kuban Cossacks

Kuban is a unique region in which elements of cultures of different peoples, including southern Russian and eastern Ukrainian, have interpenetrated, interacted and formed for two hundred years.

House building. An event that is very important for every Cossack family, and a matter in which many residents of the "kutka", "krai", village took an active part. When laying the house, special rituals were performed: feathers and shreds of pet hair were thrown right at the construction site (“so that everything would be done”), and the beams on which the ceiling was laid were raised on chains or towels (“so that it was not empty in the house”).

During the construction of housing, there were also traditions and rituals. For example, a cross made of wood was built into the wall, in the front corner, in order to invoke a blessing on the inhabitants.

The interior of the house. Often in the Cossack's house there are two rooms: a vylyka (great) and a small hut. The central place was considered the "deity" ("red corner"). It was decorated in accordance with traditions and rituals in the form of an icon case with icons, which were decorated with towels. The latter were trimmed with lace at both ends. Patterns were embroidered on the cloth with satin stitch or cross stitch.

Cossack costume. The form was established by the middle of the 19th century. These were dark trousers, a black cloth Circassian coat, a hood, a beshmet, a hat, a winter cloak, and boots. At the beginning of the 20th century, the beshmet and Circassian coat were replaced with a tunic, a hat with a cap, and a cloak with an overcoat.

The women's costume consisted of a chintz blouse (cotton) and a skirt. The blouse was definitely long-sleeved. She was trimmed with braid, elegant buttons, lace.

Cossack food. Families ate wheat bread, as well as fish and livestock products, gardening and vegetable growing. The Cossacks loved borscht, dumplings, dumplings. The inhabitants of Kuban skillfully salted, boiled and dried fish. They consumed honey, made wine from grapes, cooked uzvars and jam, salted and dried fruit for the winter.

Family life. Traditionally, families were large. This is due to the widespread distribution of subsistence farming, and the constant lack of workers, and even the difficult situation of harsh wartime. The woman took care of the elderly, raised the kids, ran the household. Cossack families often had five to seven children.

Rites and holidays. The Cossacks celebrated Christmas, Easter, New Year, Trinity, Maslenitsa. There were different traditions: maternity, wedding, christening, seeing off the Cossack to the service and so on.

Wedding ceremonies required the observance of many strict rules. It was categorically impossible to arrange a celebration in Lent, but it was possible in autumn and winter. It was considered normal to get married at the age of 18-20. Young people did not have the right to choose: everything was decided by the parents. Matchmakers could even come without the groom, only with a hat belonging to him. In such cases, the girl first saw her future husband right at the wedding.

Oral Speaking. It is very interesting because it is a mixture of Russian and Ukrainian. In addition, it contains words borrowed from the languages ​​of the highlanders. This colorful alloy fully corresponds to the spirit and temperament of the Cossacks. Their speech was generously decorated with proverbs, sayings, phraseological units.

Crafts and folk crafts. The Kuban land was known for its sons - gifted people, true masters. They, making any thing, first of all thought about how practical it would be. At the same time, the beauty of the object was not released from attention. The inhabitants of the Kuban sometimes created from the most simple materials(metal, clay, wood, stone) unique works of art.

Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation Municipal educational institution secondary school No. 0 of Krasnodar ABSTRACT Customs and holidays of the peoples of the Kuban Completed by: student 2 "A" class Petrov Petr Krasnodar 2012 People who moved to the Kuban brought with them their rituals, customs, dialect Immigrants from Ukraine and representatives of other nationalities also settled here. The culture and customs of these peoples intertwined and mutually complemented each other. These were not Ukrainian or Russian rituals, customs and language, but a completely special Kuban dialect and way of life, completely special cultural traditions, were formed. To save folk wisdom we must know and love the rituals, traditions and history of our native land. There are rich oral folk traditions in the Kuban. Many interesting rituals have been preserved in the villages of our region. Most often, these rites are associated with the seasons, peasant labor and the cult of the harvest. They are passed down from elder to younger, from parents to children, from grandfathers to grandchildren. They reflected the way of life and traditions of our people, their soul, kindness, generosity, love for work, for the Mother Earth. It has long been customary that the main smell of the Kuban is fragrant Kuban bread. Kuban people greet guests with bread and salt. Bread - salt - symbols of hospitality and cordiality. The main winter holidays are Christmas, New Year's Eve and Christmas time. On New Year's Eve, according to the old style, they go around the yards with carols. They glorify Christmas, wish their owners happiness, health, and a good harvest. Winter was ending - it was necessary to spend it with a wide walk so that the evil frosts would not return and invite, invite the timid beauty of spring. For a long time, our people have loved the cheerful noisy Maslenitsa - seeing off winter and welcoming spring. During Maslenitsa, games, dances, sleigh rides are arranged, and a straw doll is burned at the stake. According to ancient belief, this should bring a good harvest. The most important treat is ruddy, mouth-watering pancakes, lush loaves of bread and favorite Kuban dumplings. Summer and autumn are harvest time and weddings. Many ceremonies are associated with Orthodox holidays. Nativity. Christmas - the holiday of the birth of the infant Christ the Savior was widely celebrated and revered in the Kuban. People prepared for Christmas in advance, because it was one of the most beloved holidays. So, the housewives put things in order in the house, scraped, cleaned the corners, washed the windows, hung clean curtains and curtains. On the eve of Christmas - January 6 - kutya was cooked from grains of wheat, barley and millet. Porridge was placed in a bowl or a deep plate, a cross was made from cherry or other jam in the middle, decorated with small sweets, dried fruits and raisins on the edge, then the plate was tied with a handkerchief and the children carried the “supper” to their godfather and mother. Nowadays, kutya is cooked from rice. Easter One of the biggest Orthodox holidays. Everyone was waiting for this holiday, preparing for it. The Cossacks put things in order in the yards and stables, cleaned the horses. The Cossack women swept the cobwebs from the corners with a new broom, washed the curtains, whitewashed the stove and the hut, took out clothes from chests, hung them out and ironed them. On one of the days before Easter, the head of the family went to the mill and brought home a bag of nulevka - a special finely ground flour for baking Easter. Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos “Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos” - October 14 - is also one of the most significant Orthodox holidays. By this day, the harvest has already been harvested, the summer work on the fields. The Cossacks began to prepare firewood for the winter, straightened the huts, and were engaged in crafts. Women sewed, spun, wove. Weddings began with Veil of the Day.

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Family customs and rituals of the inhabitants of the Kuban

Section 1. The system of traditional family folklore

Section 2. Modern family rituals and holidays

Section 3. Historical and genetic connection calendar, family and non-ritual folklore

Bibliography

Section 1.The system of traditional family folklore

The Zaporozhye Sich were a brotherhood free from family ties. The familyless "orphan" was in the lower layer of the community, and in the top command. There were many of them among the settlers who rushed to the Kuban. Military prowess, democracy, commitment to the freemen were considered the priority values ​​of "chivalry".

In the first decades of colonization of the region, the number of men in the mass of immigrants prevailed. To ensure population growth, the military administration was forced to take drastic measures: it was forbidden to give brides and widows "to the side." There were also economic incentives. Thus, the size of land allotments directly depended on the number of men in the family.

Relations in Cossack families were determined by the specifics of the border region and class traditions. In addition to military service, the main occupations of the male population were agriculture and cattle breeding. Only a few farms worked part-time by seasonal fishing. A characteristic manifestation of the isolation of the Cossack life is marriages, concluded mainly in their own environment. It was considered shameful to enter into kinship with non-residents. Mixed marriages with representatives of other social and ethnic groups became widespread only in the Soviet years.

patriarchal families, for the most part, consisted of 3-4 generations. Such a picture was observed, first of all, in the linear villages. The impetus for the formation of a large family was the unwillingness to split up possessions and property. The undivided family, which consisted of parents, married sons and their children, retained the specific features of the age-old way of life: a common economy, collective property, a common fund, collective labor and consumption. The older man supervised the household work, represented the interests of the family at the meeting, managed the family budget. The survival of the family depended entirely on him. The younger members of the family meekly obeyed the elders.

According to the provision on military service, men from 20 to 45 years old were required to serve “in a hundred” for one year, and to be on benefits for the other. The establishment had its pros and cons. The Cossacks who left for the service, who did not have a father and brothers, left the household in the care of their wife. Without a man, the economy fell into decay. The current situation was beneficial for those who lived in a large family. The two brothers were never enlisted at the same time. While one was in the service, the other worked for the benefit of all.

In the 70s of the XIX century, this order was abolished. Now the Cossack, who had reached the age of twenty, was obliged to serve five years in the border service, in order to then go on benefits. In this situation, there was no holding power in preserving the family. After the service, and sometimes even before it, the brothers began to divide the property. The power of the father was also shaken. If earlier he could punish his son without highlighting anything from general economy, then now the sons, relying on the force of the law, shared with their father on equal terms. After the partition, he remained in his father's house younger son. Older brothers chose new estates for themselves or divided their father's yard. All this gradually led to a violation of the way of life.

Events of family significance - weddings, homelands, christenings, funeral and memorial rites, "entrances" (housewarming), seeing off for service, took place in accordance with established customs, brought revival to the monotonous rhythm of working life. In the wedding ceremonies of Russian and Ukrainian groups living in the surveyed area, as well as in many other elements folk culture, there is much in common. This is explained by the fact that in Kuban tradition many features characteristic of all Eastern Slavs have been preserved.

Marriage ties tied the spouses throughout their lives, divorces were practically not known. For girls, the age of marriage began at sixteen and ended at twenty-two or twenty-three. The guys got married from the age of seventeen - eighteen. During this period, young people were called brides and grooms. The decisive factor in choosing a couple was the financial situation, physical health, and only then appearance. The unwillingness to create a family was perceived by the community as an attack on the foundations of life and was condemned by public opinion.

For the traditional wedding ritual, the unrecognizability of liminal beings is obligatory - the transition of the newlyweds from one social group to another. The idea of ​​the newlyweds as chthonic beings and their "impurity" at the turning points of life was expressed in dressing up in new clothes, and for the bride also in isolation from others. By the beginning of the 20th century, the moment of isolation acted in the form of hiding the face, which can be considered as protection from hostile forces and, at the same time, as a temporary stay in the other world.

There are episodes in the Kuban wedding ceremony that require a special talent for improvisation. One of them is matchmaking, the results of which were not always known in advance. Going to the bride's house, the matchmakers were not sure that they would receive the consent of the girl and her parents. To achieve a favorable outcome of the case, it was necessary to be able to manage an impromptu performance, set the pace for the action, correct the mistakes of the performers, introduce collective game in the direction of tradition. The art of wishful thinking gave rise, in all likelihood, to the saying - "breshet like a matchmaker." The dialogue was descriptive. Retreated only after the third refusal. The return of the brought bread served as a sign (in the Black Sea villages there is also a pumpkin). Mutual consent was sealed with a handshake.

In the Black Sea villages, the initial episode was called zaruchiny (zarucheny), arranged in the bride's house. Treating the hosts with a drink was accompanied by an offering of scarves, towels, and money. The pre-wedding acquaintance then took place in the groom’s house and was called “rozglyany” among the Black Sea people, “look at the zagnetka” (a shelf at the mouth of the oven, where they put dishes with cooked food) among the Cossacks of the line. Thus, the mother and father of the girl wanted to make sure that their daughter would not feel the need for someone else's house. The meeting discussed the material costs of each of the parties.

Then the matchmaking moved into a new stage - the future father-in-law asked for a reprimand (drink, snacks, gifts for the bride). The next episode of the traditional wedding - singing - took place in the bride's house, where relatives and youth were invited. The peculiarity of this component of the wedding complex was the glorification of all those present, starting with the parents of the bride. The verbal texts of the game songs, which young couples called, are maximally coordinated with the actions of the performers. Songs in isolation from the game lost all meaning. A typical example of the game song "Soon I'm going to Raskitay-gorod for a walk." A guy representing the “husband” came out of the circle, bowed to the “wife” to the singing of the choir and presented a gift. The young couple kissed and left the circle, the next one took its place. Wedding games served to prepare young people for the transition to fulfill new social roles. For married couples, glorification was an act of social recognition.

Magnificent songs were sung first to the bride and groom, "uncle", then to single guys and married men. The unmarried were called together with the girls, the married with their wives. The peculiarity of such songs is in exaggeration, idealization of the appearance and actions of the objects of magnificence. When describing the groom and single guys, their beauty was emphasized. In the assessment of a married man, the richness of the attire was indicated. At the same time, specific symbolism was used: the groom appeared in the form of a “warrior”, “clear falcon”, the bride - “doves”, “tappies”.

In wedding glorifications, psychological parallelism is often used when comparing or contrasting images of nature and the main characters. The motif of magnifying the master's house as a tower is widespread. Such ideals are reflected in the praise songs common people as physical and moral beauty, prosperity, strong family. Most of the songs are positive in nature.

An unfriendly tone sounds in the words addressed to the father-in-law and father, who "drank away" his own daughter

The theme of malevolence in the relationship between a young daughter-in-law and mother-in-law is reflected in the song “Daesh mene, mi batenko, young”, built in the form of a dialogue between a father and daughter. Among the traditional laudatory songs, there are texts built in a question-answer form with a detailed characterization of the character. There are contaminations of several compositional forms. An example of the mosaic way of arranging verse fragments is the variants of the praising song “What a barrel rolls along a hillock”, performed in one case by a married couple, in another by a guy and a girl. Contamination of motives is carried out on the basis of plot, emotional and lexical relationship.

By the beginning of the 20th century, such a specific component as “vaults” began to disappear from the wedding complex. Describing the wedding in the village of Kavkazskaya, A.D. Lamonov noticed that vaults were arranged only in the families of old-timers. The ritual took place in the form of a joke game, during which the groom had to recognize his bride among the girlfriends, hidden by headscarves. The concealment of faces and the sameness indicate a connection with other world. The game ended with "bargaining"; at the end, his "merchant" kissed the bride three times to the singing of the girls. On the vaults, the bride and groom publicly called the new parents father and mother.

The next episode of a traditional Kuban wedding is a "bachelorette party", at which craftswomen gathered to help collect a dowry. During the work they sang long songs. Farewell songs almost did not differ from non-ceremonial song lyrics. The wedding song is particularly dramatic, in which the deceased parent gives the last instructions to his daughter on the eve of the wedding:

Oh, bow down, my child, stranger stranger

Let's give a little bit of cheese

Close to it with its emotional and psychological mood is another ritual lyric song“Subbotonka, nedelinka, like one day,” setting the bride on a friendly relationship with her husband’s mother:

Oh, I'll call "svekrushenka", that and ne gozhe,

Oh, I'll call it "mother," soapy good.

In old wedding songs, there is a motif of the return of a dead mother from the underworld in order to send her daughter to the crown.

At the bachelorette party, as in other episodes of the wedding complex, protective measures were taken: the bride's girlfriend ("light") throughout the evening sat in the red corner, holding a candle in her hands, set in a bunch of cornflowers. The peculiarity of the Kuban party was that the groom came to it with the "boyars" and presented the bride and relatives with gifts. The youth sang and danced to the music.

In the Black Sea villages, there was a custom to carry a dowry, usually even before the wedding. Ritual songs were sung along the way and at the entrance to the courtyard. The groom's father greeted the guests with vodka and snacks and redeemed every item. The guests called the bride and her new relatives. Having no magical significance, such songs contributed to the implementation of the rite.

Ritual songs and rituals accompanied the baking of cones and loaves. When kneading the dough, women hid three silver nickels (a sign of wealth) in it. Dough birds and three cherry twigs that adorned the loaf had a symbolic meaning. They were supposed to bring love and fertility. In order for the pastry to become “curly” (lush), women waved a broom three times from the bottom up, kissed, standing criss-cross and sang incantatory songs. A curly-haired man or boy was trusted to plant a loaf in the oven. (261, pp. 53-54) Dual faith, as a synthesis of pagan and Christian motives, is fixed in the custom of thinking about the fate of the young. With the help of three wax candles(in the name of the Holy Trinity), lit on a baked loaf, they determined which of the newlyweds would live longer.

In the process of historical development, ritual singing was strongly influenced by folk lyrics, which affected the poetic content, composition and art style works. An example is song folklore, which accompanied the ceremonies of "inviting" the wedding train with clusters of red viburnum and blessing the bride. (261, p. 69)

An obligatory element of a traditional wedding is the bride's hair. According to folklorists, Russian wedding lamentation took shape in the 14th-15th centuries. The area of ​​their existence included both Black Sea and linear villages. According to custom, the bride would vote early in the morning on the day of the wedding. Lamentations kept in touch with spoken language the area where the settlers came from and, most often, were rhythmically organized prose. If the bride was an orphan, she was taken to the cemetery to mourn her parents. The wedding could take place on the day of the wedding or a few days before it. Those who got married were not considered spouses until they got married.

An important role in the Kuban wedding was played by the ritual with hair. The girl's hairstyle consisted of one braid (sometimes two for the Black Sea Cossacks) and personified girlhood, free living in the parental home. To the singing of the matchmaker, the godmother and native mother loosened the bride's hair and braided the braid. The guests called the bride and girlfriends.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the bride's attire was influenced by urban fashion. The wreath began to be decorated with a light veil white color and wax flowers. For changing traditional costume, consisting of a homespun shirt, skirt, apron and belt, white dresses made of satin and silk came. The dressed bride was seated at the table (“on the posad” - a pillow), the friends who were nearby sang sad songs. The father and mother blessed their daughter on a sheepskin coat turned inside out with fur. The bride voted.

On the day of the wedding, the ritual singing of women announced the gathering of the groom. (186, p. 257) In another ritual song, the women ask the mother of the groom to make “sim hundred tickets, sch chotyre” and decorate the boyars with them. A symbol of well-being and prosperity was the "dezha" - a tub for dough, around which the mother circled her son before sending her for the bride. The guests praised the groom.

The dialogue between the friend and the "guard" guarding the approaches to the bride's house was an actor's improvisation. The scene of “bargaining” for the right to enter the house and take a seat next to the bride only came alive when the improvisers found non-standard ways to solve the problem. The guards received money, "varenukha" (alcohol) and "bumps". The son-in-law brought “chobots” (shoes) to his mother-in-law, “harrow” (cookies) to his father-in-law. Each scene was accompanied by acting and singing.

On the route of the wedding train, all necessary protection measures were observed. They avoided passing along the road on which the whirlwind had risen. In order to protect themselves from damage and the evil eye, at every crossroads the bride and groom were baptized and read the prayer "May God rise again." After the wedding, the wedding train circled around the church three times so that the sorcerers would not turn everyone into “vovkulak” (wolves). A cleansing ritual was necessarily observed: at the gate, the newlyweds jumped over the fire, holding the ends of the scarf. magical meaning had a ceremony of shedding grain, hops, coins and the magnificence of the mother-in-law.

The wedding complex of the first day included the ceremony of "midwife" of the bride, performed by the married relatives of the groom. The newlyweds let their hair down, braided two braids or twisted it into a bundle like a woman, then covered it with a scarf or put on a “shlychka” (hat). According to custom, the bride had to throw off her headdress, but eventually resign herself. During the performance of the rite, a veil was held over her head. The custom was also observed of the young wife taking off her husband's shoes on the wedding night. Her husband lightly hit her on the back with a bootleg or a whip so that she would remember who was the boss in the house. The scene of a public demonstration of the virginity of the bride was accompanied by gunfire, ritual singing, the offering of a newlywed bottle of vodka and a cone with a bunch of red viburnum (a symbol of the transition to a new quality). Parents who did not watch their daughter were subjected to public disgrace: wearing a collar, they were led through the streets and brought a glass of vodka with a hole drilled on its side.

The most original genre of wedding folklore is reproachful songs or teasers. Ritual laughter is associated with the cult of fertility, with the rituals of awakening vitality. In the context of a wedding ritual, laughter performs a communicative function and can be seen as a message sent from one subject to another. As a signal, it is expressed in speech, gestures, behavior and acts as a code behind which a certain meaning is hidden.

As part of the wedding ceremony, they can laugh at an individual and a group. In the Kuban wedding, it is customary to mock matchmakers, the groom, bridesmaids, boyars for their inability to behave in "society", and more often for stinginess. If in magnifications the participants of the wedding act as goodies, then in reproachful songs they appear as gluttons, drunkards, beggars. Main principle in creating song images - grotesque, exaggeration.

Wedding songs of a comic nature probably appeared as a result of the transformation of the ancient buffoons, who preserved traces of the sexual freedom of the pagans. There is no doubt that they were also affected by the influence of "pryspiv" (chorus). Teasers were performed in the episode of the arrival of the wedding train, during the feast and the collective dances of the guests.

The third day of the wedding - Monday - was a carnival spectacle of mummers. The social significance of the wedding carnival lies in the inversion of social roles and the removal of prohibitions. Laughter, symbolizing health and well-being, not only sets the mood, but also mobilizes the creative efforts of carnival participants. Children laugh at the action, adults - at its semantic content and subtext. A traditional technique in a wedding carnival is "anti-behavior" in the form of travesty and ritual foul language.

According to tradition, guests disguised as gypsies and armed with clubs walked around the yards, stole chickens and carried them to the house where the wedding was played. A ritual was necessarily performed with the bathing of the young mother. The gifting of the newlyweds and the scene of the entry into the rights of the young mistress were accompanied by singing, sentences and the handing by the mother-in-law of the attributes of female "power" - a wooden shovel, a stag and a poker. Ritual dish - noodles made from foreign chickens and sweet pie, sprinkled with honey. On the last day, a stake was hammered at the threshold of the house. In the village of Bekeshevskaya, the wedding ended with “extinguishing the fire”: he set fire to a bunch of hemp together, threw it on the ground, and the guests trampled on it. As in the southern Russian provinces of Russia, this custom was little known in the Kuban.

At the beginning of the 20th century, regimental bands began to be invited to weddings, which, when meeting the newlyweds and congratulating the guests, played marching melodies and carcasses. In the midst of celebrations, rockets were fired.

Summing up, we note that the traditional Kuban wedding in the 19th and early 20th centuries was a mass folk theater with ritual singing, incantations, dancing, playing musical instruments, disguise, ritual drunkenness and laughter. This side of the wedding was directly related to pagan customs. On the other hand, folk tradition absorbed the spiritual values ​​of Orthodoxy. The marriage union was sealed with a wedding in the church. An organic combination of folk and Christian culture - features traditional wedding ceremonies that existed among the Cossack population of the Kuban. Complex strata were also due to the peculiarity of the formation ethnic composition population, direct interaction of cultures in areas of mixed settlement of peoples.

As a result of long historical contacts, under the influence of similar living conditions of the Black Sea and the Lineians, common features were formed in the wedding ceremonies of the East Slavic population of the Kuban. These include the customs of matchmaking, conspiracy, acquaintance of relatives, pre-wedding evenings, the participation of wedding officials in the ransom, the bride's intercourse, the preparation of ritual food, the marriage bed, etc. The cheerful and cheerful nature of ritual games contributed to the convergence of South Russian and Ukrainian traditions and, at the same time, , distinguished from the North Russian wedding.

Under the influence of socio-economic and cultural transformations in the first half of the 20th century, there was a gradual simplification, reduction and merging of ritual actions. The ancient religious and magical motives of the rite were rethought. Weddings became more and more entertaining.

Ideas about the transformation of beings into a qualitatively new state and the need to comply with measures to ensure this transition are directly related to childbirth rites. According to traditional views, a newborn and his mother are fraught with great danger to others, so childbirth was most often taken separately from the household or in non-residential outbuildings. Parturient women were also separated because they were afraid of damage and the evil eye. Assistance in childbirth was provided by midwives (in the Black Sea villages of the “baby puporizna”), they also performed the main ritual actions. Unweaving hair for women in labor, untying the belt, unlocking the locks had apotropaic significance. In special cases, they asked the priest to open the royal doors and serve a prayer service, and the husband to step over the legs of the woman in labor three times. The midwife lit the lamp and read prayers. If the newborn did not show signs of life, the grandmother loudly pronounced the name of the father. As soon as the child screamed, they said: "Grandma responded." The midwife called "place" by whistling and smacking her lips. As an amulet, it was worn around the neck against a fever. From the thickenings on the umbilical cord that connected the mother and child, the midwife wondered if the woman would have more children. Immediately after the birth, the grandmother performed ritual actions with the placenta: washed in three waters, rolled up and buried in a secret place. If the parents wanted to continue to have children, then the end of the umbilical cord was placed on top, if there were enough of them, the umbilical cord was at the bottom.

The protection of the life of the mother and child was ensured by preventive rites, which reflected the deep-seated views on the unstable state of the woman in labor and the baby, who are on the verge of the real and the transcendent.

The "unclean" must be cleansed with holy water. If the condition of the woman in labor was satisfactory, on the third day the "washing of the hands" was performed. The performance of the ceremony began with the offering of bread and salt. The stove damper and “nekhvoroshcha” (raw materials for brooms) served as ritual attributes, the woman in labor put her foot on them. The grandmother put hops into a cup of holy water and, holding the spoon with her left hand, poured it three times into the arms of the woman in labor, reciting a prayer. The woman drank from a handful (so that the milk would come), and then washed her face and washed her hands. For participation in childbirth, which, according to popular notions, was considered a sinful deed, it was supposed to be cleansed by the grandmother.

An obligatory component of the ritual is three bows to the images and to each other. The midwife received gifts and money for her work. The ceremony ended with kisses and words of gratitude.

The rite of washing hands had other variations. In Chamlykskaya, the stanitsa midwife asked the woman to put her right foot on the ax, poured holy water from a cup, raising her hands above the face of the woman in labor. Water first fell into the mouth, then on the hands and further to the elbow. With an ax, the grandmother made four notches in the form of a cross around the woman in labor. Everything was repeated three times and accompanied by a cross or "chop" from a water barrel, accidentally found in the Kuban, there was a custom to twist a child in the form of a spiral from the neck to the feet, "the shchob grew more evenly." The twine was a ribbon made of canvas or cloth. The grandmother was the first to weave, hence the “midwife”, “midwife”.

The right to give a name to a child was assigned to a priest. Godparents (grandparents) were chosen, as a rule, from among financially secure and pious relatives. If a baby died at an early age, then in order to avoid the death of subsequent children, they asked the first comers to become godfather and godfather. Husband and wife were not invited to be godparents, since according to church regulations, marital relations are not compatible with the concept of spiritual kinship. The folk tradition also extended to the prohibition to be the parents of their child. Sexual relations between godfathers were considered as incest. The godparents were considered the second parents, guardians and patrons of newborns. The recipients were responsible for the spiritual development of the godchildren.

Before going to church for baptism, they wondered about the future of the child: the grandmother laid a casing on the floor, hid a scythe, pen, ink, a book, etc. under it. The godfather had to randomly pull out one of the objects. Taking the child in my arms God-parents, left the midwife money on a fur coat. To find out the fate of the baby, they used the hair cut by the priest during the church ceremony. The receiver rolled them in wax and lowered them into the font. There was a belief: if the wax sinks, the baby will die soon, if it remains on the surface, the newly baptized will live for a long time, if it spins like a top, life will be restless. At the end of the sacrament of Baptism, the recipients kissed three times.

By custom Godfather bought a pectoral cross for a baby and paid for the performance of a church ceremony. Kuma and the midwife were supposed to give a dress. The godmother bought three arshins of linen for the riska, in which she wrapped the baby after the font, and brought the towel to the priest.

At the baptismal dinner, the midwife played a leading role: she cooked and fed all those present with ritual porridge. The rite of "kuvada", based on the transferability of actions and states from one person to another, was preserved in the Kuban at the beginning of the 20th century. The relationship between father and child was presented as a scene in which the father had to outwardly resemble the role of a puerperal and experience some of the suffering she endured by eating an unpleasant taste of salted and peppered porridge.

The rite of tonsure, performed on the anniversary of the child, should strengthen his mind and health. By cutting his hair in the form of a cross, the godfather, as it were, drove away the devil and protected the godson from sins. The cutting and dressing in new clothes were supposed to make him unrecognizable and inaccessible to dark forces. Sacredness manifested itself at a time when the former status was replaced by a new one.

A child was considered an infant until the age of seven. According to the concepts of the people, until that time, his sins lie on the conscience of the mother. Upon reaching a conscious age, the recipients had to explain to the godson the basics Orthodox faith, lead to confession and communion.

In the theoretical understanding of the origin of funeral rites, the basis is most often taken religious side- belief in the afterlife, in the existence of the soul of a person after his death. The concept of "cult of ancestors" is put on a par with the concept of "primitive religion".

Archaeologists associate funerary monuments with the peculiarities of the life and culture of the ethnic groups that once lived in a particular territory.

Attempts are being made to study funeral rites in connection with the human need for integration or reintegration.

As you know, any ethnic community is formed by three age strata: the elderly, the middle stratum (adults) and the younger ones (children, adolescents). The community also includes the dead, existing in the memory of living people, in the products of their labor, creativity, and unborn children. After the death of one of the members of the community, the social balance in it is disturbed. The higher the status of the deceased, the more unstable the system of relations within the group. As a result, a spontaneous or conscious desire arises for reintegration, for the replacement of the deceased with a certain symbol. It is assumed that rituals with the body, things, weapons, and the dwelling of the deceased arose from these representations. The primary meaning of burial customs was a semi-instinctive sense of social connection. Rituals are based on relationships between generations. The dynamics of these relations is expressed by the transition (replacement) of one generation by another, the preservation of cultural ties. With this understanding, religious beliefs are secondary. The motivation for the burial ritual is respect for the elder in the family, while the burial of children expresses parental love and care.

The theme of death is reflected in numerous signs, divination and signs. Among the common people there were numerous interpretations prophetic dreams. To see a bloodied tooth in a dream meant that one of the relatives would die soon. Death was foreshadowed by a dreaming dead man, calling to follow him. Birds were considered harbingers of death - a raven, a cuckoo and a capercaillie, from domestic animals - a dog and a cat. If the deceased's eyes are open, it means that he is looking for a companion. Death without a body is invisible and appears before death in the form of a woman or a rider on a white horse. In the common people there were concepts of "difficult" and "easy" death. They wanted to die easily, surrounded by relatives and friends.

Death was considered good on Easter and Ascension.

The fear of the hostile power of the dead was supported by the idea of ​​the "impurity" of his body and everything connected with it. With the onset of death, the deceased was washed so that he would appear before God in purity. Wudu was performed by women. Water was poured out where no one went, clothes were burned. Having dressed the deceased in a "deadly" shirt, they laid him face up on a table or on a bench. They tried to destroy its deadly effect by sprinkling it with holy water.

According to traditional folk beliefs, the human soul is immortal. Leaving the mortal remains and remaining invisible to others, she hears the cries and groans of her relatives. He stays on earth for two days and, accompanied by a guardian angel, walks around familiar places. Only on the third day the Lord calls her to heaven. Therefore, the funeral was arranged no earlier than three days later. Like the living, she needs food, hence the custom of putting a glass on the table. clean water and honey so that the soul of the deceased bathes and eats sweets for forty days. Afterlife food helped the deceased to join the host of the dead. Meals of relatives during night vigils can be seen as a way to facilitate the transition of the deceased to a new state, as a symbol of the inevitable transition to another world.

The Kuban folklore of the East Slavic population illustrates beliefs in magical power words and singing in preventing the harmful power of the dead. Traditionally women lamented. The content of laments is not uniform, but, as a rule, the texts begin with a detailed appeal: “Whom did you, my dear, hope for? And who did you rely on? This is what the wife said to her late husband, worried about his intention to leave his home and leave her without protection. When the body was taken out of the house, the relatives cried loudly, which was regarded by those around them as a tribute of respect and love for the deceased.

According to the ethical norms of the common people, participation in the funeral was mandatory for the entire adult population, then the deceased would meet in the next world everyone who accompanied him on his last journey.

According to Christian ideas about the afterlife, after burial, the soul, accompanied by a guardian angel, given by God to every person at birth, flies to heaven and travels for forty days. After long ordeals, she appears before God, who decides where to send her - to heaven or hell. Paradise seemed to be a beautiful garden in heaven, hell was associated with the "lower world". Protective measures were bans on burials on the first day of Easter and on Christmas until supper.

Target memorial meal among the East Slavic pagans, it consisted in protecting the living from the influence of evil forces and as a posthumous sacrifice to the dead. In ethnographic materials of the second half of XIX century it was indicated that its order was strictly regulated. The meal began with a ritual kutya and included alcohol. The stability of the ritual "feeding" of the dead was preserved during the wake on the day of the funeral and on other memorial days.

Family customs and rituals include those that accompanied the choice of a place for the construction of housing, its construction and habitation. Thanks to ethnographic descriptions, it is known that when laying a house, by analogy with a construction sacrifice, copper coins worth 3 kopecks were buried under the corners, and black wool was laid on the upper corners. For laying floors, the owner called relatives and neighbors and brought a cup to each. Matitsa was laid under singing. When moving to a new house, they took the brownie with them. Leaving him in the old house was considered unforgivable ingratitude.

The farewell to the service took place according to the same scheme as the pre-wedding fees. sacred meaning had rituals with Cossack equipment and a feast. The parental blessing was expressed by the father, touching the icon of his son's head. Mother put on a consecrated cross and an amulet. The young wife, according to custom, saddled her husband's horse with her own hands and wailed, bowing at her feet. The Cossack bowed in all directions, mounted his horse and galloped to the village administration. After the prayer service, the priest sprinkled the recruits with holy water, and the column set off.

The study of regional material shows that traditional family folklore had a rather complex genre composition. Conventionally, it can be divided into two groups - verbal and musical. Verbal genres include incantations and spells. They facilitated childbirth and protected the mother and child from diseases. Conspiracies and sentences (wedding parables) were used by wedding boyfriends, matchmakers, young people and their parents. Prayers were performed over the deceased, women in labor and in the wedding ceremony.

Musical genres included ritual, laudatory, playful and reproachful songs, spell songs, wedding lamentations, lyrical songs with a wedding theme. Each genre has its own characteristics. Ritual songs accompanied the ceremonies. Magnifications praised the participants of the wedding. Game songs brought the bride and groom together. The teasers were amused by their unpredictability. Spell songs ensured success in business. The lyrical ritual folklore reflected the feelings and moods of the main participants in the wedding - the groom, the bride and their relatives. Wedding lamentations ensured a happy family life. The whole complex of family rituals was a complex dramatic action where everyone performed their own role prescribed by customs and traditions.

Family ritual complexes were formed over a long period of time and served as a form of embodiment of the people's worldview. In the process of historical development, some elements of the rituals were rethought, while others were consigned to oblivion.

family household folklore rite

Chapter2. Modern family rituals and holidays

The formation of the Soviet state ritual took place in the 20s of the XX century and coincided with the beginning of the cultural revolution. The decrees “On civil marriage and the maintenance of books of acts of civil status”, “On the dissolution of marriage” proclaimed the principle of the independence of family relations from religion and their transfer to the disposal of state bodies. Since that time, the religious rites of baptism, weddings and burials have lost their legal force.

The historical analysis of the family and everyday folklore of the East Slavic population of the Kuban indicates that the content and genre composition of it over the years Soviet power have undergone changes. Separate leaving subsystems were preserved, others were transformed, new customs and rituals appeared.

As before, matchmaking takes place with the participation of wedding ceremonies. The groom's mother bakes round bread. The relatives of the groom or the matchmaker are wooing - an elderly, experienced married woman: an aunt, an older daughter-in-law, a godmother. They marry the whole family.

The symbolic meaning of a sheepskin coat during the blessing of the son and tying the matchmakers with towels have been preserved. The protective meaning is contained in the prohibition to go anywhere on the way to the bride's house and tell strangers about their intentions. Ritual bread, in the rite of matchmaking, is used to guess the fate of the young: if the bride cuts the loaf evenly and smoothly, family life will be fine.

As before, the symbolic meaning of happiness and fertility is attached to poultry. The character of the daughter-in-law is judged by the behavior of the chicken, which is presented to the future mother-in-law during the matchmaking. If a chicken behaves calmly in a strange house, then the daughter-in-law will be complaisant and, conversely, a restless chicken portends trouble in the relationship between the mother-in-law and the young daughter-in-law.

In a modern wedding, there are no such episodes as conspiracy, singing, bachelorette party. Ritual songs that were called the young, parents, girlfriends and friends of the bride and groom disappeared from living existence. Forgotten are the ritual songs that accompanied the transfer of the dowry. They invite to the wedding with postcards, and close relatives and the elderly - with cones.

Two days before the wedding, a loaf is baked in the groom's house. "Giltse" (branch) is decorated with ribbons, clusters of viburnum and sweets. According to informants, ribbons are tied so that the life of the young is beautiful and rich, viburnum is a symbol of longevity and procreation, sweets promise a sweet life. The bride's relatives bake for the newlyweds a round kalach with patterns - "melon". On the wedding table, this symbol of fertility stands in front of the young. The sign of unity is two wooden spoons and "bugai" (bottles of vodka), tied with red ribbons.

It is customary to arrange a "bachelor party", at which the groom says goodbye to his bachelor life. Bachelorette parties in the form they used to be, as well as the bride's nakedness, have gone out of use everywhere.

According to modern informants, the bride should be dressed by a boyfriend, because if married women touch her, the troubles and failures of their family life will pass on to the young.

The custom is observed that the newlyweds must hold on through a scarf. If earlier a scarf and a towel were considered as a means of transition to a new quality, now, according to the informant, the bride, as it were, "binds" the chosen one to herself. Hiding the face with a veil is regarded by us as traces of the belief in the need for temporary isolation of the bride from the outside world in order to protect her from the evil eye (evil spirits).

In the Black Sea villages, the preparations for the wedding train have not changed much. In the ritual, towels, a casing, scarves, and ritual treats for travelers are used.

The approaches to the bride's house, as before, are met by "guards". You can step on the threshold only after the redemption. In an effort to make the meeting of the young more spectacular, the girlfriends test the groom, for example, they offer grains of wheat to lay out the name of their chosen one, put gifts in the basket, answer a number of questions, etc. If among the guests there are older people or participants in amateur performances, magnificence is sung to the owners. The bride's relatives also enter into a dialogue. In the village of Novonikolaevskaya, the bride is taken out of the yard by her father. The symbol of fertility and wealth, as before, are hops, grain and small coins.

It has become a tradition after the official ceremony to lay flowers at memorials and cemeteries. The custom of jumping over a fire lit at the entrance to the house has been preserved. It is a tradition to place a plate on the path of a young couple. Whoever breaks it first will rule. By the number of fragments, they judge how many children the young will have.

The stewards of wedding celebrations practice giving young people a loaf with seven candles, meaning a family hearth. On the wedding table, the central place is occupied by the giltse. The cult of the plant power of the earth, embodied in the tree, has the meaning of a creative principle.

IN modern rite the search for a bride can be interpreted as an obsolete belief in the need to isolate her from others. Girlfriends and friends of the young people participate in the joke game. The action ends with the ransom and return of the bride to the groom.

Until now, imitative games of farcical "marriage" with elements of travesty, the performance of comic songs of an erotic nature, accompanied by mischief, whistling and laughter, continue to be preserved. The climax of the impromptu carnival is the bathing of parents and erotic games. Symbolic marriages and orgies, planting a "garden-garden" can be regarded as a means of enhancing the productive power of nature and man.

In a modern wedding complex, the rite of "midwife" of a young wife is absent. Dressing young people in new clothes on the second day of the wedding reminds of its relic roots. Apotropaic meaning, in our opinion, is the driving of a stake at the entrance to the house where the last wedding is being played.

At present, the roles of wedding ranks have changed, and some have lost their significance altogether. In a modern wedding, matchmakers are often replaced by a toastmaster (steward). Toastmaster - a professional who directs the ceremonial according to a typical or specially written script. Typical Scenarios distributed by departments of culture and methodological offices of the RDK. In the civil ceremony of marriage, the bride's girlfriend is called the witness, and the groom's boyfriend is called the witness. The main participants in the ceremony learn the roles in advance. There is a lot of officialdom in a modern wedding. It is increasingly taking on the character of an organized event.

Attempts to save wedding ceremonies rural folklore groups take on the stage. The genre composition of the songs performed by the participants of amateur performances is quite diverse. The largest array is lyrical songs. The rite serves as a background against which the images of the main characters are revealed. The circle of the most characteristic plots is made up of the experiences of the bride and her mother on the eve of the wedding. Another group consists of lyric works about mutual love. The groom appears in the image of a brave Cossack, the bride - a flying bird.

When comparing wedding and extra-ceremonial lyrics, common plots with similar vocabulary are found. Sharply contrasting, for example, dance and wedding songs, which have verbal texts close in meaning, but different musical sound. The moving tempo and the syncopated musical tune of the dance create a feeling of unrestrained fun. In a wedding song, the melodic pattern is successively alternating smooth ups and downs. Minor sound causes a feeling of anxiety and hopelessness.

Ritual songs performed during the dressing of the bride on the first day of the wedding, as a rule, are in a minor sound. The pine tree serves as a symbol of the humility of the bride. Ritual songs, organically woven into the course of the wedding action, precede and accompany it, creating an atmosphere of either sadness or fun. The content of the verses corresponds to the nature of the musical tune. Thus, the ritual of parents riding in a wheelbarrow is a fun game, and therefore the singing is imbued with a major mood.

The glorifications of the bride and groom have disappeared from living existence, and today they can only be heard in a stage performance. Such is the fate of the reproachful songs. At the same time, this genre is dynamically developing on the stage within the framework of folklore tradition. An important role here was played by the fact that teasers are aimed at public performance and are designed for an immediate reaction of the listeners. Their execution is addressed to a specific addressee. Most often, couplets have four lines, which makes them look like ditties. Scorching songs are completely devoid of symbolic conventions and reflect life in real images.

Transferring wedding folklore to concert stage leads to a change in the conditions of its natural existence. What's in folk life lives a full-blooded life, on stage must meet the requirements of stage performance. Only individual episodes of the wedding are selected, the number of rites is reduced. Verbal texts and musical tunes are processed, as a result of which the performance loses its improvisation. From the entire volume of folklore material, those works are selected that meet the tastes and expectations of the audience. The leading role in the concert group belongs to the leader. Having received special training in higher and secondary educational institutions, they bring professional vocal culture into folk art, modernize the style. Starting from the 70s of the XX century, in the propaganda of ritual folklore, a pop direction has been outlined. Despite the imitation of the folk style of singing, such groups remain purely stage.

The main contingent of folklore amateur performances are older people born in the first third of the 20th century. An indispensable condition for the existence of veteran teams is the presence of performers from one village, farm or village. The defining feature of the repertoire is the works that exist in a particular area. In groups where there is no professional leader, the participants gravitate towards authentic folklore.

The children's and youth ensembles that exist in many, to a certain extent, imitate adult performers. The main form of work is the development of vocal and choral technique. The selection of repertoire is carried out taking into account the degree of complexity musical works and performance culture of the participants. Folklore amateur performances are characterized by a general trend: the rejuvenation of the composition of performers, the departure of older people, as a result of which skill is lost, the continuity of traditions is disrupted.

Rudiments of archaic ideas about a newborn are still expressed in superstitious signs and stereotypes of behavior, the main meaning of which is determined by concern for his health. Mothers, for example, are not recommended to cut their hair and be photographed before giving birth, otherwise the child will be born stillborn. You can’t step over root crops, comb your hair on Fridays, and sew, knit, cut at Christmas time and Easter week, otherwise the child will be born with a birthmark in the form of a patch, or the path to this world will be “sewn up” for him. Before birth, the baby is not sewn or bought anything, up to six weeks they are not shown to strangers (they can jinx it). It is dangerous to leave a baby carriage under the eaves of the house, as evil spirits can descend along the ramp. The belief in the protective power of sharp objects has been preserved.

In order for the child to grow strong, at the baptismal dinner, one glass is poured into the ceiling. Until he learns to speak, you can not kiss on the lips and feed the fish (may become dumb as a fish). You should not take the baby from the breast on the days of the memory of the holy martyrs. As soon as he takes the first independent steps, the mother should draw a knife between the legs (cut the fetters).

With the development of the system of obstetrics in the USSR, the rites of midwives disappeared. Pregnancy and childbirth are under the control of medical professionals. In Soviet times, the custom of naming according to Orthodox saints lost its meaning. The choice of a name depends on the desires and tastes of the parents, and often fashion. Celebrating birthdays has become a practice.

Registration of the birth of a child is provided by the civil registry offices (registries). IN settlements where they are absent, civil ceremonies are carried out by local administration bodies. The basis of the Soviet rite was the glorification of the newborn as a citizen of the USSR and congratulations to the family. The ceremony was led by a steward and his assistants. During the Soviet era, many parents were wary of having their children baptized in church, fearing persecution by ideological authorities. The rites of baptism were performed, for the most part, secretly. With the revival of the Orthodox faith, all more people seeks to baptize newborns, thereby introducing them to religion, to the church.

In the family and household complex, funeral and memorial rites are not more conservative and therefore have been preserved quite well. As before, the theme of death is found in folk predictions, signs, fatal signs. The hour of death is known by the appearance dark spots, by the smell of the body of a dying person ("smells of earth"). The interpretation of dreams is also widespread. So, if one of the deceased in a dream calls to himself, they say that this is to an imminent death. A bird flying through the window is a sign of someone's death. Foreshadows misfortune chicken, suddenly singing a rooster.

The unrecognizability of the dead is achieved by changing clothes: the old in dark clothes, the young in light clothes. The traditions of night vigil and ritual feeding are preserved. Currently, it is believed that the deceased should "spend the night" in home at least one night.

To bury ahead of time means to be condemned by public opinion for disrespect for the memory of the deceased. In tradition, the custom is a ritual sacrifice in the form of money, which is used to buy candles and order a memorial service. Unction and burial of deceased relatives in church or at home has again come into practice.

They don't bury until noon. Precautions include the custom of carrying the body forward feet, trying not to touch the threshold or doorway to prevent the return of the dead home. Relatives cry loudly, openly expressing their grief. Before the funeral procession, it is customary to throw fresh flowers and evergreen branches of boxwood and arborvitae. Behind the coffin, first, relatives go, then the rest of the mourners. Attributes funeral rite are scarves and towels - pagan symbols easy road to the underworld.

The modern civil ritual includes mourning music performed by a brass band, carrying a portrait of the deceased, pillows with orders and medals, as well as farewell speeches. There is still the custom of saying goodbye to the deceased relatives and throwing three handfuls of earth into the grave with the words: "Let the earth rest in peace." Often, an Orthodox cross and a portrait are installed on the grave at the same time.

“Feeding” the deceased during the wake and “breakfast” on the second day after the funeral are the remnants of ancient beliefs in the harmful power of those who have gone to another world. The traditional "food" of the deceased is bread, kutya, vodka. If clergy are present at the wake, then lunch begins with a prayer. The grave is “sealed” shortly after the funeral, but no later than the eighth day. They commemorate, as before, on the ninth, fortieth days, six months and a year later.

Until now, observance of mourning has not lost its significance, however, its terms have been reduced. Up to a year or more mourning clothes are worn by mothers who lost their children untimely. Widows observe annual mourning. Men wear dark clothes most often only on the day of the funeral.

In a modern civil funeral ritual, a religious component is optional. In the process of secularization of everyday life, religious traditions recede into the background.

Funerals, like other family rituals, have the function of uniting relatives and friends, and in rural areas, the entire community. Rites create a sense of the integrity of the family, clan, work collective. Participation in them is one of the traditional forms of communication and, at the same time, a means of transmitting traditions.

In the 20th century, there was a trend towards individualization family life. Modern Russian family consists mainly of parents and their minor children. Separation of adult children has become commonplace. The initiative comes from both sides. The incentive to strengthen the process of family separation is the active migration of rural youth to the city. Neither the economic nor the housing problems that young people face when starting an independent life are not deterred.

Preserving a certain economic and cultural autonomy, parents and children join their efforts in achieving common material and economic goals. The parental family acts as a link between members of the clan. The unity of relatives is manifested at crucial moments - the birth of children, death or marriage.

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Without the Cossacks today it is impossible to maintain public order in the Kuban, protect natural resources, military-patriotic education of the younger generation and prepare young people for military service. The role of the troops in the socio-political life of the region is also significant. Therefore, the decade of the revival of the Kuban Cossacks was an event for all Kuban.

By the way, a new term has recently appeared - "neo-Cossacks". Some figures are trying to tear the Cossacks away from the ancient roots, which the current carriers of the Cossack idea - our old people - absorbed with their mother's milk. Say, there was no revival of the Cossacks, it died long ago. But most of the inhabitants of the Kuban are sure that there was no break in the historical traditions and culture of the Cossacks, the Cossack spirit has always been present in our farms and villages, and therefore it is blasphemous to talk about neo-Cossacks. The Cossacks are doomed to flourish, because the idea of ​​revival went deeper and wider, attracted new bearers of the Cossack idea to them - our youth. We carefully preserve the traditions of our ancestors, we sing grandfather's songs, we dance folk dances, we know our history well, we are proud of our Cossack roots. This means that we are confidently stepping into the third millennium!

About traditional folk culture, it is advisable to start with the history of the settlement of the Kuban, because. in this historical event the origins of the culture of the Kuban Cossacks were laid.

Kuban, due to the peculiarities of historical development, is a unique region where for two centuries interacted, interpenetrated and formed into one whole elements of the cultures of South Russian, East Ukrainian and other peoples.

House building is an important element of traditional folk culture. This big event in the life of every Cossack family, a collective matter. It was usually attended by, if not all, then most of the inhabitants of the "krai", "kutka", village.

Here is how the turluch houses were built: “Along the perimeter of the house, the Cossacks dug large and small pillars into the ground -“ plows ”and“ plows ”, which were intertwined with a vine. When the frame was ready, relatives and neighbors were called for the first smear "under the fists" - clay mixed with straw was hammered into the wattle fence with fists. A week later, they made a second smear “under the fingers”, when the clay mixed with sexual clay was pressed in and smoothed out with fingers. For the third “smooth” stroke, chaff and dung (dung thoroughly mixed with straw cutting) were added to the clay.”

Public buildings: Ataman rule, schools were built of brick with iron roofs. They still decorate the Kuban villages.

Special rituals when laying a house. “Stubbles of domestic animal hair, feathers were thrown at the construction site, “so that everything would be done.” The womb-svolok (wooden beams on which the ceiling was laid) was raised on towels or chains, "so that the house was not empty."

Ritual in the construction of housing. “A wooden cross was built into the front corner, into the wall, thus invoking God's blessing on the inhabitants of the house.

After the completion of construction work, the owners arranged refreshments instead of payment (it was not supposed to be taken for help). Most of the participants were also invited to the housewarming party.

Interior decoration of the Cossack hut. The interior of the Kuban dwelling was basically the same for all regions of the Kuban. The house usually had two rooms: a large (vylyka) and a small hut. In a small hut there was a stove, long wooden benches, a table (cheese). In the great hut there was custom-made furniture: a cupboard for dishes: (“slide” or “square”), chest of drawers for linen, chests, etc. The central place in the house was the "Red Corner" - "deity". "God" was made in the form of a large kiot, consisting of one or more icons, decorated with towels, and a table - a square. Often icons and towels were decorated with paper flowers. In the "deity" they kept objects that had a sacred or ritual significance: wedding candles, "paskas", as we call them in the Kuban, Easter eggs, prosvirki, records of prayers, memorial books.

Towels are a traditional decoration element of the Kuban dwelling. They were made from home-made fabrics, sheathed with lace at both ends and embroidered with a cross or satin stitch. Embroidery most often took place along the edge of the towel with a predominance of floral ornaments, a flowerpot with flowers, geometric shapes, and a paired image of birds.

One very common interior detail of a Cossack hut is a photograph on the wall, traditional family heirlooms. Small photo studios appeared in the Kuban villages already in the 70s of the XIX century. Photographed by special occasions: farewell to the army, wedding, funeral.

Photographs were especially often taken during the First World War, in every Cossack family they tried to take a picture as a keepsake or get a photo from the front.

Cossack costume. The men's costume consisted of military uniforms and casual wear. The uniform suit has gone through a difficult path of development, and it was most affected by the influence of the culture of the Caucasian peoples. Slavs and highlanders lived next door. They were not always at enmity, more often they sought mutual understanding, trade and exchange, including cultural and household. The Cossack form was established by the middle of the 19th century: black cloth Circassian, dark trousers, beshmet, hood, winter cloak, hat, boots or hats.

Uniform, horse, weapons were integral part Cossack "right", i.e. equipment at your own expense. The Cossack was "celebrated" long before he went to serve. This was connected not only with the material costs of ammunition and weapons, but also with the entry of the Cossack into a new world of objects that surrounded the male warrior. Usually his father said to him: “Well, son, I married you and made you. Now live with your mind - I am no longer responsible for you before God.

The bloody wars of the early 20th century showed the inconvenience and impracticality of the traditional Cossack uniform on the battlefield, but they put up with them while the Cossack was on guard duty. Already in 1915, during the First World War, which sharply revealed this problem, the Cossacks were allowed to replace the Circassian and beshmet with an infantry tunic, a cloak with an overcoat, and replace the hat with a cap. The traditional Cossack uniform was left as a dress uniform.

Traditional woman suit developed in the middle of the 19th century. It consisted of a skirt and a blouse (kokhtochka) made of chintz. She could be fitted or with a peplum, but always with long sleeves, she got off with elegant buttons, braid, home-made lace. Skirts were sewn from chintz or wool, gathered at the waist for splendor.

“..Skirts were sewn from purchased material wide, in five or six panels (shelves) on an upturned cord - uchkur. Canvas skirts in the Kuban were worn, as a rule, as underskirts, and they were called in Russian - hem, in Ukrainian, a back. Petticoats were worn under calico, satin and other skirts, sometimes even two or three, one on top of the other. The bottom one was necessarily white.

The value of clothes in the system of material values ​​of the Cossack family was very great, beautiful clothes raised prestige, emphasized prosperity, and distinguished them from non-residents. Clothing, even festive, in the past cost the family relatively cheaply: every woman knew how to spin, and weave, and cut, and sew, embroider and weave lace.

Cossack food. The basis of the diet of the Kuban family was wheat bread, animal products, fish farming, vegetable growing and gardening ... The most popular was borscht, which was boiled with sauerkraut, beans, meat, lard, on fasting days - with vegetable oil. Each hostess had her own unique taste of borscht. This was due not only to the diligence with which the hostesses prepared food, but also to various culinary secrets, among which was the ability to make frying. Cossacks loved dumplings, dumplings. They knew a lot about fish: they salted it, dried it, boiled it. They salted and dried fruits for the winter, cooked compotes (uzvars), jam, prepared watermelon honey, made fruit marshmallows; honey was widely used, wine was made from grapes.

In the Kuban they ate more meat and meat dishes (especially poultry, pork and lamb) than in other parts of Russia. However, lard and fat were also highly valued here, since often meat products were used as a seasoning for dishes.

In large undivided families, all products were run by the mother-in-law, who gave them to the “duty” daughter-in-law ... Food was cooked, as a rule, in the oven (in the winter in the house, in the kitchen, in the summer - also in the kitchen or in the summer oven in the yard): Each family had the necessary simple utensils: cast iron, bowls, bowls, frying pans, stag tongs, cups, pokers.

Family and public life. Families in the Kuban were large, which was explained by the spread of farm subsistence farming, with a constant need for workers and, to some extent, with the difficult situation of wartime. The main duty of the Cossack was military service. Each Cossack who reached the age of 18 took a military oath and was obliged to attend drill classes in the village (one month each in autumn and winter), to be trained in military camps. Upon reaching the age of 21, he entered the 4-year military service, after which he was assigned to the regiment, and until the age of 38 he had to participate in three-week camp training, have a horse and a full set of uniforms, and appear at regular drill military training. All this required a lot of time, so in Cossack families big role played by a woman who kept house, took care of the elderly, brought up the younger generation. The birth of 5-7 children in a Cossack family was common. Some women gave birth 15-17 times. The Cossacks loved children and were happy to have both a boy and a girl. But the boy was more happy: in addition to the traditional interest in the birth of a son, the successor of the family, purely practical interests were mixed in here - for the future Cossack, the warrior, the community gave out allotments of land. Children were early involved in labor, from the age of 5-7 they performed feasible work. Father and grandfather taught their sons and grandsons labor skills, survival in dangerous conditions, stamina and endurance. Mothers and grandmothers taught their daughters and granddaughters the ability to love and take care of the family, prudent housekeeping.

Peasant-Cossack pedagogy has always followed worldly precepts, which have been based for centuries on the ideals of strict kindness and obedience, exacting trust, conscientious justice, moral dignity and diligence in work. In a Cossack family, father and mother, grandfather and grandmother, taught the main thing - the ability to live wisely.

The elderly were especially respected in the family. They acted as guardians of customs, played a big role in public opinion and Cossack self-government.

Cossack families worked tirelessly. Field work was especially difficult in the time of trouble - harvesting. They worked from dawn to dusk, the whole family moved to the field to live, the mother-in-law or the eldest daughter-in-law was engaged in household chores.

In winter, from early morning until late at night, women spun, weaved, sewed. Men in the winter were engaged in all kinds of repairs and repairs to buildings, tools, vehicles, their duty was to care for horses and cattle.

The Cossacks knew how not only to work, but also to have a good rest. It was considered a sin to work on Sundays and public holidays. In the morning the whole family went to church, peculiar place spiritual communication.

The traditional form of communication was "conversations", "streets", "gatherings". Married and elderly people whiled away the time at the "conversations". Here they discussed current affairs, shared memories, and sang songs.

Young people preferred the "street" in summer or "gatherings" in winter. On the "street" acquaintances were made, songs were learned and performed, songs and dances were combined with games. "Gatherings" were arranged with the onset of cold weather in the homes of girls or young spouses. The same "street" companies gathered here. At the "gatherings" the girls crumpled and combed hemp, spun, knitted, embroidered. The work was accompanied by songs. With the arrival of the guys, dancing and games began.

Rites and holidays. There were various ceremonies in the Kuban: wedding, maternity, naming, christening, seeing off for service, and funerals.

A wedding is a complex and lengthy ceremony, with its own strict rules. In the old days, a wedding was never a display of the material wealth of the parents of the bride and groom. First of all, it was a state, spiritual and moral act, an important event in the life of the village. The ban on weddings during fasting was strictly observed. The most preferred time of the year for weddings was considered autumn and winter, when there was no field work and, moreover, this is the time of economic prosperity after harvesting. The age of 18-20 years was considered favorable for marriage. The community and the military administration could intervene in the procedure for concluding marriages. So, for example, it was not allowed to extradite girls to other villages if there were many bachelors and widowers in their own. But even within the village, young people were deprived of the right to choose. The decisive word in the choice of the bride and groom remained with the parents. Matchmakers could appear without the groom, only with his hat, so the girl did not see her betrothed until the wedding.

“There are several periods in the development of a wedding: pre-wedding, which included matchmaking, handshaking, arches, parties in the house of the bride and groom; wedding and post-wedding ritual. At the end of the wedding, the main role was assigned to the groom's parents: they were rolled around the village in a trough, locked in a mountain, from where they had to pay off with the help of a "quarter". The guests also got it: they "stole" chickens from them, at night they covered the windows with lime. “But in all this, there was nothing offensive, senseless, not aimed at the future good of man and society. Ancient rituals outlined and consolidated new ties, imposed social obligations on people. Not only actions were filled with deep meaning, but also words, objects, clothes, tunes of songs.

As throughout Russia, calendar holidays were honored and widely celebrated in the Kuban: Christmas, New Year, Maslenitsa, Easter, Trinity.

Easter was considered a special event and celebration among the people. This is also evidenced by the names of the holiday - “Vylyk day”, Bright Sunday.

It is necessary to start about this holiday with Great Lent. After all, it is he who is preparing for Easter, a period of spiritual and physical purification.

Great Lent lasted seven weeks, and each week had its own name. The last two were especially important: Palm and Passion. After them followed Easter - a bright and solemn holiday of renewal. On this day, they tried to put on everything new. Even the sun, they noticed, rejoices, changes, plays with new colors. The table was also updated, ritual food was prepared in advance. they dyed eggs, baked paska, roasted a pig. The eggs were dyed different colors: red - blood, fire, sun; blue - sky, water; green - grass, vegetation. In some villages, a geometric pattern was applied to the eggs - "pisanki". Ritual paska bread was a real work of art. They tried to make it tall, the “head” was decorated with cones, flowers, figurines of birds, crosses, smeared with egg white, sprinkled with colored millet.

Easter "still life" - lovely illustration To mythological notions of our ancestors: the paska is the tree of life, the piglet is a symbol of fertility, the egg is the beginning of life, vital energy.

Returning from the church, after consecrating the ceremonial food, they washed themselves with water, in which there was a red "dye" in order to be beautiful and healthy. They broke the fast with eggs and Easter. They were also presented to the poor, exchanged with relatives and neighbors.

The playful, entertaining side of the holiday was very rich: driving round dances, playing with eggs, swings and carousels were arranged in each village. By the way, swinging had a ritual meaning - it was supposed to stimulate the growth of all living things. Easter ended with Krasnaya Gorka, or Seeing Off, a week after Easter Sunday. This is "parents' day", commemoration of the dead.

Attitude towards ancestors is an indicator of the moral state of society, the conscience of people. In the Kuban, ancestors have always been treated with deep respect. On this day, the whole village went to the cemetery, knitted scarves and towels on crosses, arranged a funeral feast, distributed food and sweets “for a memorial”.

Oral colloquial Kuban speech is a valuable and interesting element of folk traditional culture.

It is interesting in that it is a mixture of the languages ​​of two kindred peoples - Russian and Ukrainian, plus borrowed words from the languages ​​​​of the highlanders, a juicy, colorful alloy that corresponds to the temperament and spirit of the people.

The entire population of the Kuban villages, who spoke two closely related Slavic languages- Russian and Ukrainian, easy to learn language features both languages, and without difficulty, many Kubans switched from one language to another in conversation, taking into account the situation. Chernomorians in conversation with Russians, especially with urban people, began to use the Russian language. In communication with the villagers, with neighbors, acquaintances, relatives, they “balakali”, i.e. spoke the local Kuban dialect. At the same time, the language of the Lineians was full of Ukrainian words and expressions. When asked what language the Kuban Cossacks speak, Russian or Ukrainian, many answered: “In our Cossack! in Cuban.

The speech of the Kuban Cossacks was sprinkled with sayings, proverbs, phraseological units.

The Dictionary of Phraseological Dialects of the Kuban was published by the Armavir Pedagogical Institute. It contains more than a thousand phraseological units of the type: bai duzhe (doesn't care), sleeps and kurei bachit (sleeps lightly), bisova nivira (believing nothing), beat baidyki (loose), etc. They reflect the national specificity of the language, its originality. Phraseology - a stable phrase, captures the rich historical experience of the people, reflects ideas related to work, life and culture of people. The correct, appropriate use of phraseological units gives speech a unique originality, special expressiveness and accuracy.

Folk crafts and crafts are an important part of traditional folk culture. The Kuban land was famous for its craftsmen, gifted people. When making any item folk master thought about its practical purpose, but did not forget about beauty. From simple materials - wood, metal, stone, clay - true works of art were created.

Pottery is a typical small-scale peasant craft. Every Kuban family had the necessary pottery: makitras, rags, bowls, bowls, etc. In the work of the potter, a special place was occupied by the manufacture of a jug. The creation of this beautiful form was not available to everyone; skill and skill were required to make it. If the vessel breathes, keeping the water cool even in extreme heat, then the master has put a piece of his soul into simple dishes.

Blacksmithing has been practiced in the Kuban since ancient times. Every sixth Cossack was a professional blacksmith. The ability to forge one's horses, carts, weapons, and, above all, all household utensils, was considered as natural as cultivating the land. By the end of the 19th century, blacksmithing centers were formed. In the village of Staroshcherbinovskaya, for example, blacksmiths made plows, winnowers and harrows. They were in great demand in Stavropol and in the Don region. In the village of Imeretinskaya, agricultural tools were also made, and in small village forges they forged what they could: axes, horseshoes, pitchforks, shovels. The mastery of artistic forging also deserves mention. In the Kuban, it was called that - "forging". This fine and highly artistic processing of metal was used in the forging of gratings, visors, fences, gates; flowers, leaves, animal figurines were forged for decoration. Masterpieces of the blacksmith craft of that time are found on the buildings of the 19th - early 20th centuries in the villages and cities of the Kuban.

Eyewitnesses and chroniclers singled out weaving from all folk crafts. Weaving provided material for clothing and home decoration. From the age of 7-9, in a Cossack family, girls were accustomed to weaving and spinning. Before reaching adulthood, they had time to prepare for themselves a dowry of several tens of meters of linen: towels, tablecloths, shirts. The raw materials for weaving were mainly hemp and sheep's wool. The inability to weave was considered a great disadvantage in women.

The indispensable items of the Kuban dwelling were mills “looms, spinning wheels, combs for making threads, beeches - barrels for bleaching canvas. In a number of villages, canvas was woven not only for their families, but also specifically for sale.

Our ancestors knew how to make household utensils of openwork weaving in the Slavic style. Weaved cradles, tables and chairs, baskets, baskets, yard fences - wattle from reeds, willows, reeds. In the village of Maryanskaya, this craft has been preserved to this day. In the markets of Krasnodar, you can see products for every taste of bread bins, whatnots, furniture sets, decorative wall panels.

In the course of transformations, Russian society faced complex moral, political, and economic problems that cannot be solved without the help of humanities. People are worried about the future, but at the same time they will never run out of interest in the past, in their history. Deepening into history returns to people once lost values. Without historical knowledge there can be no truly spiritual growth.

Mankind has accumulated innumerable riches of spiritual values ​​in its history, among which culture is one of the priorities. Cultural values possess a truly wonderful gift - they are aimed at the ideological and spiritual elevation of man.

The development of culture was determined by the traditions of the literary and spiritual life of peoples. This was manifested in the development of the education system, cultural and educational institutions, publishing activities, the emergence of Kuban literature, science, and art. A certain impact on it was exerted by the policy of the government of the military administration and the church. First of all, this concerned the Cossack population of the Kuban.