What is a custom? These are rules of conduct that have been entrenched in the minds of the people thanks to repeated repetitions. What customs are, where they come from and where they disappear, read about all this below.
What is custom
As mentioned above, the rules of conduct that have become norms for people through repeated repetition. This includes customs that are performed on holidays, as well as those that turn into a daily routine. Basically, people follow them out of habit, not really thinking about the meaning of actions. Every society has its own customs. Some of them are regulated by the state, while others are observed within the same family. How long does it take for a habit to become a habit? At least a few years, at least 3-4.
How is tradition different from custom?
Concepts are best learned by comparison. We already know what a custom is, but now let's talk about tradition. What it is? Traditions are a complex of various actions that are passed down from generation to generation in order to preserve and develop culture. And here scale plays a role. The tradition can be considered as a local phenomenon, but still more often it is created and maintained on a national scale. No one forces people to observe established traditions, this is a voluntary matter.
Now let's look at the differences. Tradition is much broader than customs, since it most often has a larger territorial scope. People perform various rituals, sets of actions, often without thinking about hidden meaning that their ancestors laid down in them. But such traditions are supported by the state, as it considers them an integral part of culture. And here folk customs often change under the influence of time, government, way of human thinking. But most people don't see big difference in these terms.
How do habits arise?
Man is a complex being. And to better understand what customs are, you need to know how people create them. Initially, such rituals, or repetitive actions, were performed by man in order to survive. It was a kind of reaction to discomfort. People started the custom of killing a mammoth once a week so as not to go hungry. The girls sewed clothes from the skins of animals once a month, so as not to die from the cold. There were many such small local customs in any society, and they still exist today. True, our contemporaries do not have to survive, so the rituals are not aimed at the biological needs of a person, but at creating spiritual comfort. If you think about it, many of the unconscious rituals that are instituted in our society have no logical basis under them. These customs are common among superstitious people. Why do students eat lucky tickets from the bus before the test?
Why do people, returning home, if they forget something, always look in the mirror? There were once explanations for these customs, but today they cannot be found. Life is too changeable. Every person has the ability to create own customs. How? Before an important event, he may develop the habit of walking for an hour on the street in order to clear his head, or introduce summing up the results of the day into his evening ritual.
How habits disappear
Time goes by, everything changes. Human life very fickle. Today one job, tomorrow another, today one love, and tomorrow you can meet a new one. That is why habits have to be changed. An example of such changes is the disappearance of witnesses at weddings.
These people used to play the same important role like a bride and groom. But over time, the custom of inviting witnesses lost its relevance. Today, newlyweds do fine without them, which means there is no need to appoint friends to this role.
Another example is baptismal divination. Used to be girls did this every year. Today, this custom has fallen out of favor. Young ladies do not want to spend time in a dark bath in the company of candles and mirrors. They have more fun things to do. It turns out that customs know how to die due to a change in public interests.
- vital;
- lifestyle;
- imposed from outside;
- rituals and ceremonies.
Why do we need customs
Today there is an American globalization of all countries. Most of goods and services that we are accustomed to consume every day - this is not a product of our culture. Customs and customs must be known and observed in order not to lose one's roots and nationality. After all, Russia is a country with its own original culture, speech and art. Of course, it is necessary to modernize the country by updating customs and traditions, but this does not mean that it is necessary to borrow them from other countries. Why is it so bad to borrow a foreign culture, because before it was the norm of life and when one country was captured by another, culture was imposed against the will of citizens. But today it seems terrible, because, forgetting their history, people restructure their thinking. And as a result, such an option may turn out when one person will rule the society, imposing the only possible way of life on everyone. It is worth reading at least one dystopia to understand how bad it will be to live in this situation.
Examples of customs
Today there are many rituals that people perform automatically, without even thinking about their essence. The sources of custom are folk traditions transmitted in writing or by word of mouth. There are many examples.
When meeting on the street, men take off their gloves for a handshake. It seems to be a sign of courtesy and attention, but this custom has long roots. Previously, men took off their gloves to show that they did not hide weapons there, and as a result, their intentions are pure.
Another example of a custom is Maslenitsa. More precisely, the rituals associated with this holiday. For example, burning a scarecrow. This custom also has long roots going back to ancient times. Burning scarecrows, people see off winter and welcome spring.
Jumping over a fire counts as another Russian custom. True, in Lately few people do it. But before this fun was popular. The guy and the girl jumped over the fire, holding hands. If they did not disengage their hands and successfully overcame an obstacle, it was believed that their living together will be long and happy. But if young people moved away from each other during the jump, this meant that they were not destined to be together.
unusual customs
It doesn’t seem strange to us Russians to burn an effigy for Maslenitsa or decorate a Christmas tree for New Year. But for Thais, it’s completely normal to lower boats down the river, in which people put flowers, light candles and light incense. It all happens at the beginning of November on the day dedicated to the spirits of water.
The norms of customs are determined by the society in which we live. And in other countries things are the same. In Turkey, for example, there is a custom: before a man takes a second wife, he must give his first darling jewelry worth 10 thousand dollars. This is to prove to the woman that her husband - wealthy man and will be able to feed both her and the second woman.
In Kenya, there is a custom according to which the young spouse must do all the work of the wife for a month. It is believed that after this acquired experience, he will not reproach a woman all her life for doing nothing while doing housework.
The custom of wearing scary masks and scaring each other exists among many peoples. Slavs do it on Christmas time, Europeans and Americans do it on Halloween. Where did such strange traditions, and do they have common roots?
The origins of Christmas time in the pagan past Slavic peoples. Initially, they were dedicated to meeting a new solar year, the revival of nature, the beginning of the cycle of agricultural work. And, of course, the commemoration and veneration of the ancestors, which, if appeased, the other world will contribute to a good harvest. At the same time, people said goodbye to cold winter and the powers of darkness.
Halloween comes from the Celtic holiday of Simon, which also marks the end of the year. However, the Celts, who celebrated it at the end of October, believed that daylight was leaving and dark was coming. However, they also commemorated the dead that day, believing that for one night the boundaries between the worlds are erased, and the souls of satisfied relatives will protect them from the invasion of evil spirits.
Today, few people know that the word "carol" comes from the name of the solar god Kolyada, who sows peace and friendship around him. The peoples who revere him have always lived in harmony and good neighborliness. But he also had personal enemy- Chernobog, who spread anger, aggression and encouraged to constantly quarrel.
Sweet or nasty
In Rus', in the first days after Christmas, children dressed as angels or warriors went from house to house, begging for sweets, pies and small coins.
Those who did not treat the children risked incurring all sorts of troubles in the coming year.
In America and Europe, Halloween also has a custom called Trick-or-treat (sweet or nasty). Owners who did not give the children sweets, cakes or money may well find a door handle or a porch smeared with soot, or even worse. However, if in our country children have always depicted only bright heroes, then in the West so far, along with the costumes of angels and good fairies, clothes of vampires, witches, werewolves and other unkind characters are common.
Go away, Buka!
After the adoption of Christianity in our fatherland, a belief appeared that God, rejoicing at the birth of a son, releases all evil spirits from the underworld and gives her the opportunity to roam freely around the world for several days. The first to appear are the holy women - ugly, covered from head to toe with hair, they cannot speak, they only sing and dance. Encounters with them are extremely dangerous: with long, sharp nails, they can "stab" a person to death. However, the holy women are female creatures, coquetry is not alien to them, therefore the night traveler who fell into their clutches has real chance pay off with beads, bright ribbons, earrings and other jewelry.
The ugly Buka is no less formidable, he torments you with riddles, if you don’t answer them, you will remain in his networks forever, if you solve it - Buka will immediately disappear.
In Germany, Austria and northern Italy, Krampus walk the streets before Christmas. Their appearance is terrible, but it turns out that they are the first helpers of Santa Claus. With their terrible robes and masks, these creatures drive away the ghosts of winter. Krampus punish naughty children with rods, instead of gifts they give coal, and they also strive to smear the mischievous person's face with it so that everyone around them can see how naughty he is. In Russia, at Christmas time, it was also customary to smear faces with charcoal, this was done so that no one would recognize the carolers, neither neighbors nor evil spirits.
Cross and rosehip
At Christmas time, any action must begin with a blessing, even looking out the window is better after crossing yourself. What if there is an evil force on guard there? Then, meeting her gaze, you can go crazy. However, on the windows, on the doors, in the attics and in the basements, our ancestors ahead of time, already on Christmas Eve, painted crosses to prevent the appearance of any evil spirits.
European Christians also protect themselves from evil forces with the cross. Thanks to the cross, the drunkard blacksmith Jack also escaped hell, after whom the famous pumpkin lamp is now named, showing the way to lost souls on Halloween.
Udmurts, protecting their house from unpleasant cohabitants, stuck branches of mountain ash, fir or juniper into window and door openings. It was believed that evil spirits got stuck in them and could not get out. Periodically, these amulets were burned and fresh hung up.
Veps and Nenets drove away the otherworldly force with the fangs and claws of a bear. Pomors defended themselves with belts with a special ornament. Like the Ukrainians, they believed that no evil spirits could get through the outlined circle. Armenians planted peonies, believing that evil spirits are removed from the places where these beautiful flowers grow. The Mari drove away evil spirits with wild roses and thistles.
Kabardians, Balkars, Circassians and Karelians against demonological creatures used metal objects with a sharp tip - knives or needles. They put two needles crosswise under the rug at the entrance to the house, they drove nails from the outside into the door in the form of a triangle, the top facing the sky. At windows and ventilation openings, a knife or awl was installed with the tip up. It was believed that when evil spirits try to get inside the room, they will prick themselves and will certainly run away.
Amulet - horseshoe
An iron horseshoe brings not only well-being, but also protects from otherworldly inhabitants. And if you find it on the road, just for the money!
There is an almost international legend: the devil appeared to the blacksmith in the form of a horse and began to seduce the master into black deeds. But he did not succumb and, moreover, he shod the "horned one", and so that the unclean one would remember science, he did not dare to appear in the smithy again, he hung a horseshoe on the gate. Since then, people began to nail them on the doors of their houses, scaring away the undead. Only defending themselves, they hang the horseshoe with its horns down, and luring good luck and prosperity - up.
Fur coat inside out
From the house at Svyatki, especially with the onset of darkness, the ancestors of the Slavs went out to scary masks and clothes turned inside out, so that evil spirits, when they meet, take a passerby for their own and do not touch it. Especially popular were the images of a goat, a bear, a kikimora, a dead man, an old man or an old woman, a gypsy. They were made quickly, from improvised materials available in any household: birch bark, cardboard, straw, shreds. These masks were never kept, they were burned or thrown away immediately after Baptism, and on next year made new ones.
The guises were considered unclean, keeping them in a hut would certainly lead to serious misfortunes, however, by covering the face, one could allow oneself to do things that were incredible in an ordinary suit. "Oh, these Christmas time, bribes are smooth from them!" But on Epiphany night, the former mummer had to swim in the hole or, in extreme cases, sprinkle himself with holy water in order to wash away all Christmas sins.
In fairness, it should be noted that it was customary to wear masks not only at Christmas time. They ran in them for the Shrove Tuesday train, and they also wore them on the Mermaid week before Peter's Lent.
The most daring Europeans still go to Halloween in their clothes inside out at a crossroads, hoping to meet a witch there and try her about their future, and turn trousers, jackets, skirts so that the unclean spirit does not guess who exactly is standing in front of him.
Prepared by Tatyana Makoveeva.
Long ago, when man did not yet separate himself from nature, in the myths, legends and tales of the peoples of America, Australia, Africa, the islands of Oceania, the Hindus, the Scandinavians, the Sumerians, there was one and the same mysterious character who spun the thread of life, attached to it all people and wove them into the web of patterns of the world. He also caught dreams... Don't be scared, because it's a spider.
Why did people fear the spider and revere it at the same time? Maybe because it is one of the greatest hunter-strategists. It is he (and practically only he) who uses specially woven nets for hunting. This skill was later adopted from the spider by an observant person. What, you ask, is the connection of all of the above with the theme of dreams? The most that neither is direct. After all, you can hunt not only for the visible, but also for the invisible. Moreover, a person used to be sure of the reality of the images that appeared to him in a dream. What if you had a terrible dream?
And thanks to the spider and its web, a magical talisman arose, which is still used today. The idea to create a trap for invisible or ghostly creatures originated with the Ojibwe Indians in North America. Then other tribes began to make traps. That's only if the shape of the dream catcher was used alone - a circle inside which a magical web was woven, then the meaning and purpose of the talisman-trap different peoples North America and Siberia were and remain different.
The Ojibwe believed that only pleasant and good dreams and thoughts pass through a small hole in the center, while evil and terrible ones get entangled in a web and scatter with the first rays of the sun. Here is how the Ojibway legend tells. A long time ago, the Ojibwe lived on Turtle Island (as some Indian peoples call America). The spider grandmother Asabikashi took care of her children (people of the tribe), but when they settled in the four corners of North America, it became difficult for Asabikashi to travel to each cradle, and then she taught the women to weave a magical web.
Dreamcatchers were originally intended for babies and slightly older children and were not designed for long-term use, and this made sense. They were made from willow twigs and tendons or threads bent into a hoop. Over time, the willow dried up and the tension of the tendons broke the hoop. It symbolized the transience of youth. The hoop for adults was made from several rods woven together or from one, but strong. The round shape of the dream catcher symbolizes the daily journey of the sun across the sky. And there are eight places where the cobweb connects to the hoop - exactly as many as the legs of the Spider Grandmother. A feather was tied to the center of the dream catcher - a symbol of breath, air.
The Lakota Indians, unlike the Ojibwe, believe that the dream catcher catches good thoughts and dreams, and all negative ones go into the hole in the center of the web. And he appeared like this .. When the world was still young, the old shaman was high in the mountains, and there the spider Iktomi, the great teacher of wisdom, appeared before him, and spoke to him in a secret language. During the conversation, Iktomi picked up the willow hoop of the old man, to which feathers, ponytail, beads were tied, and began to weave a web.
He told the old shaman about the cycles of life: we start life as children, then we grow up, after which we grow old, and we again have to be looked after like children, completing the cycle.
And at every moment of life, - said Iktomi, weaving his web, - we are faced with many forces. Some harm us, some, on the contrary, can help. If you will listen to good forces open up to them, they will gladly help you. But if your choice turns out to be wrong, you can fall into a trap and suffer. When Iktomi finished his speech, he gave the shaman a hoop with cobwebs and said:
Use this to help your people reach their goal by drawing from the source of visions and dreams. If you trust the Great Spirit, the web will catch good ideas, and evil ones will leave through the hole.
Since then, the Indians have been hanging dream catchers over their beds to weed out the good from the bad. Good dreams and visions remain in the web of life and are kept by people, while evil ones slip through a hole in the middle of the web and cease to be a part of their lives.
Dream Catcher. History of creation
But the dream catcher of the peoples of Siberia - kytgem - is an exclusively shamanistic thing. Its purpose is to catch as many dream images (sometimes frightening content) as possible. Working with such a trap, the shaman learns to fight and win. Although everything should be approached wisely. The Mansi legend "Sleepy Man" speaks of the inept use of a dream trap. The hero of the story, wanting to get rid of drowsiness, hangs a snare at the head of the head and goes to bed. At night, a motley grouse, his soul, gets into his snare. The hero throws her into the fire, thinking that she is to blame for his illness. A friend of this man finds out about what happened and says that the grouse had to be eaten so that the soul would not leave. In extreme cases, it was necessary to drink a grouse egg so that the soul was reborn again. The hero does not find the egg and soon dies. So he pays for his ignorance.
What does kytgyem look like? This is a round wooden frame with stretched two-color threads, some of which break the circle into 36 unequal parts, and the other part forms a left-handed spiral. The center shifted upwards is indicated by a fur circle, from which a long leather cord with fur tassels at the end extends. Three more of the same laces are attached to the bottom of the frame. Various figurines of animals and spirits are placed without any order throughout the field of weaving. The round frame symbolizes the integrity and harmony of the Universe, its stronghold and at the same time infinity. The Earth and the Middle World are generally symbolized by 36 guiding threads of dark blue (black) color, and the left-hand spiral of the red thread reflects the nature of the Midnight Sun - the luminary of the land of dreams. The fur center is the bait for the spirits, the leather laces are the roads of the spirits. It is believed that during the day the spirits rise along the three lower laces, pass through the spiral and linger in the villi of the center. With the onset of night, the spirits thus caught descend down the central cord and become images of dreams. The dreamed images are subsequently imprinted on the trap in the form of small figures, which the shaman hangs in different places weaving fields. Thus, the trap also serves as a kind of notebook by which you can remember old dreams. It is extremely difficult to buy the right kytgyem in Siberia, but you can turn directly to the shamans. And remember a real cam, not when he will not take money from you for his services. It is best to offer him things or products.
Hundreds of thousands of years ago, when a person spoke only with gestures or individual sounds, people came up with various kinds of actions that could affect the outcome of events. This went on for thousands of years, people changed, there were more rituals, each community gave any custom certain meaning passing them by inheritance. Ceremonies imperceptibly entered our lives and became an integral part of modern society.
worship of idols
IN ancient world great importance attached to the ritual of idol worship. Idols were deified, prayed to, they were sacrificed, different peoples had their own deities, idols, gods in the form of clay figures, but they all carried the same meaning. Idolatry originates from global flood, where the first deity became tower of babel. As the years passed, customs acquired new form and traditions, signs, superstitions, talismans, amulets appeared.
The most common superstitions and customs
Common superstitions
Which of you at least once in your life has not spat over your left shoulder or knocked three times on wood? We all believe in certain signs, wear gizmos that protect against the evil eye, and are afraid of superstitions, however, few people know where it all came from.
- Why is it considered that spilling salt on the table is a quarrel? In ancient times, salt was one of the most expensive spices, and it was almost impossible to get it. People reclaimed salt deposits and used salt as currency.
- Another superstition that has come down to our days: you can’t say hello or pass something to each other through the threshold. It serves as the boundary between the outer and inner world dwellings and can attract evil spirits.
- IN new apartment or the house, according to custom, must be the first to enter old man or a cat. It was believed that the house could lie in wait devilry, and the old man or the animal will serve as a certain payment. IN modern world they try not to sacrifice the elderly, but make do with pets.
- The fate of cats in many cultures was to be the offspring of all troubles, the embodiment of the power of evil. By tradition, we try to avoid the place where the black cat crossed the road.
- The usual sign of decency for us, to cover your mouth with your palm while yawning, used to have a different meaning. It was believed that while yawning, a person exposes his soul and a demon can live in it, flying through his mouth.
- The sign that “you can’t eat from a knife - you will become evil” is known in every family. By
- versions of the ancient Slavs, the knife was considered a magical and dangerous weapon.
- You can’t whistle in the house - there will be no money. This sign originates in antiquity, when it was believed that the whistle calls for the wind, which came from nowhere, which means it is an evil spirit.
Do you know what was the standard of beauty among the ancient Maya?
Traditionally little child a bead or ball of rubber was attached to the hair on a string, which hung between the eyes to develop strabismus, which was considered the main sign of charm.
customs of ancient civilization
ancient civilizations
The life of ancient people was not as diverse as it is now. Basically, customs and rituals were aimed at the brightest events: the birth of a child, death, making clothes, getting food. The attire of the ancient peoples consisted of skins and fur, various kinds of beads carved by hand from mammoth tusks served as decoration. When a person died, his feet and hands were tied, and they were placed in the grave in the form of an embryo so that he could not return. It was also customary to bury household items with the deceased, it was believed that after death he would be able to use all this.
