Светлана Жарникова – The Distaff and the phallic cult (страница 8)

The spinning wheels of the eastern part of the Gryazovets district are distinguished by a different end of the ridge: its upper cut is decorated with two narrow through cuts resembling the eyes of a cat or the cut of the eyes of an oriental person. In the words of O. V. Kruglova, "on the top of the blade ... as if a bow is tied with two symmetrical through loops." In earlier oriental spinning wheels, a sun rosette (solar sign) was carved in the center of the blade; in later ones a relief two-headed eagle was depicted. Another feature of the oriental spinning wheel was a cut-out decorative pattern in the center of the leg, resembling a samovar in silhouette. And in this case, the slitting technique coexisted with floral painting and bright coloring.

In their shape, the Gryazovets spinning wheels are very close to the Buisk and Yaroslavl teremkov ones. The main difference between them is the end of the ridge: for the Gryazovets, it had a horizontal cut with small towns, for the Buiskys, three characteristic "horns", for the Yaroslavl ones, a high pointed "kokoshnik". O. V. Kruglova suggests that it was the shape of the Gryazovets “hoop” that was the initial one for the Vologda type of spinning wheels in general, but this version seems to me very, very controversial (which we will discuss below).

The painting on the Gryazovets spinning wheels has a later origin: the earliest of these spinning wheels dates back to 1856. However, the artistic traditions of Gryazovets paintings can be dated back to the 18th century, as evidenced by two painted tyables from the former Pavlo-Obnorsky monastery, now in the Moscow Kolomenskoye Museum, the color range and stylistic features of which are very close to the paintings of Gryazovets spinning wheels.

Most often, the Gryazovets spinning wheels were painted green or bluish-green, which was interrupted by flower paintings with a predominance of yellow, red and blue colors of various shades. In some cases, gold paint was used, which gave the spinning wheels a special color. “The image of a blooming, sun-gilded meadow with its many grasses, so characteristic of the nature of the Vologda land,” writes T. M. Oleinik, “clearly inspired the master, moved his hand, which, as it were, casually thrown motifs into a general rhythmically organized, but generally free composition ".

There is no doubt about the deep archaism of the Gryazovets root spinning wheels, although slotted patterns and paintings appeared much later. The earliest spinning wheels were covered with triangular grooved carvings - one of the most ancient types of wood carving, the motives of which go back to deep pagan times.

Describing the decorative patterns of the Gryazovets spinning wheels, many researchers made vague assumptions about their pagan content, however, only V. M. Vasilenko ventured to compare them directly with Russian mythology and try to decipher the ancient symbolism of these patterns. It was he who first compared the shape of the Gryazovets spinning wheel with the mysterious image of the goddess Makosha: “These spinning wheels are strikingly similar to a schematized female figure and recall the figures of goddesses on northern towels of the first half of the 19th century. ... It can be assumed that we have before us the image (albeit already quite encrypted) of the mysterious Slavic goddess Mokosha, the goddess who guarded women's labor, and after the adoption of Christianity, transferred her rights and responsibilities to Paraskeva Friday. "

The scientist also draws attention to the traditional pattern of the Gryazovets spinning wheels in the form of a crescent (lunar), but, unfortunately, he cannot decipher it correctly: “in the small drawings of the lunar and in their playing pattern, echoes of the 17th century pattern are heard ... that the lunar stars sparkle like the countless faces of the moon - the sight is very impressive in the light. "

The researcher was two steps away from the solution, but it probably did not occur to him to compare mythological plots with archeological data. Images of lunettes on Gryazovets spinning wheels exactly repeat the shape of ancient Russian lunar amulets of the 11-12 centuries, found in many layers in this period. Academician B. A. Rybakov believes that they were "an imitation of the imported oriental models of the 9-10th century decorated with the finest grain" and "depicted... the firmament with its two heavens hanging over the earth", but completely exclude lunar symbolism after all is not solved.

Meanwhile, traces of the lunar cult are found not only in ancient Russian bracelets and pendants-amulets, but also in Russian traditional clothes, in particular, in the famous kokoshnik - a festive headdress of married women. And although in folk ideas the moon and the month were usually associated with the afterlife, in many folklore texts the sun and the moon are often connected by related knots (brother and sister, husband and wife), and in the female hypostasis, the sun usually appears here, and in the male - moon (month). Considering this factor, V. P. Darkevich admits that the Old Russian lunar pendants could well have been a "symbol of marriage."

According to popular belief, on the day of Ivan Kupala (June 24), the Sun "leaves its palace to meet the spouse of the Month", and this day itself was considered the day of the marriage between two divine luminaries. According to many Slavic legends, stars were born from this marriage.

Many ancient Russian rituals and agricultural rituals were directly associated with the phases of the moon: the "young" month favored the beginning of sowing fruits growing above the ground, and the "old" - those that grow underground, the full moon contributed to agricultural work, for the old month they harvested grain and meat for In the winter, they cut down the forest and mowed the grass, they tried to collect medicinal herbs in the first half of the month, while they preferred to practice healing magic in the second, believing that the decrease in the month would lead to the decrease of the disease.

It was much more convenient to count the time by the phases of the moon than by the sun: the word "month" in its current "calendar" meaning speaks volumes about the fact that the moon was once held in high esteem and was "a golden arrow on the dark dial of the sky."

Lunar symbolism was associated with the cult of the Cosmic Cow (Bull), dating back to the most ancient times. "The horns of the month have already attracted the thought of a horned animal," writes A. N. Afanasyev, "and Russian folk riddles [...] depict him now as a bull, now as a cow." The month is often mentioned in Russian conspiracies: “You are red month! Stars you are clear! Sun, you are free, get off and get rid of the servant of God (from the binge) "," Month, you are Month, silver horns, your golden legs! Come down, Month, take off my tooth grief, take the pain under the clouds "," Father is bright month, gold horns for you, and my health "," You are red month, descend into my cage ", etc.

The ancient Russian lunar amulets were hardly a simple "imitation of the imported oriental samples of the 9-10th century," as B. A. Rybakov asserts. The cult of the heavenly bodies is the oldest cult in the history of mankind.

It should be noted that the moonworms on the Gryazovets spinning wheels were always located on a stand (blades) and never on a ridge, in the center of the composition of which a solar sign was usually placed, and in later spinning wheels - a two-headed eagle. Solar symbolism, as we see, dominated here as well, while the lunars played a secondary role. I take the liberty of assuming that in the original decor of the Gryazovets spinning wheels, the lunar cycle was captured, which consisted of 13 months and, therefore, in the earliest copies of these spinning wheels, the number of depicted moon months was also thirteen (or, in the modern transformed form, twelve) ... Over time, the original meaning of this symbolism was forgotten, and the traditional lunar months turned into a simple decorative element, as is often the case with many ancient symbols.

N. A. Shabunin "Travel to North". 1906

Totem spinning wheels

A distinctive feature of Totem root spinning wheels is a shortened square blade crowning a thin carved leg. The front side of these spinning wheels is decorated with triangular-notched carvings. In the center of the composition there is a solar rosette framed by a dense geometric pattern of triangles and squares. Under the towns there is usually a lattice or round through holes in several rows. The lower part of the blade is decorated with two large earrings facing the riser.

Spinning wheels of this type were used in the Totma area, in Mezhdurechye, on the territory of the Biryakovsky and Chuchkovsky village councils of the Sokolsky district, as well as the Pogorelovsky, Velikodvorsky and Verkhne-Tolshmensky village councils of the Totemsky district. Pogorelovsky spinning wheels are smaller than totem spinning wheels, the earrings on the lower part of their blades, as a rule, do not have a round end, there is no slotted grate under the townships, but in general they repeat the shape of Totem spinning wheels.