Why are the Slavs called Mother Earth Raw? Is there any sense in this, except for the life-giving, moist, fruiting beginning of the earth? Many peoples of the world have an image of Mother Earth in mythology. But no one, except for the Slavs, this image is not associated with the concept of dampness, humidity. Can Cheese Earth have geographic coordinates?

Yes, this is the name of a specific territory - the ancestral home of the Slavs, idolizing their abandoned homeland, the Cheese Land (Siberia, Serica, Zyriania, Syrasrene).

Wikipedia article: Mother Earth Cheese is the personified land in Slavic mythology. She was considered the mother of all living things and plants, the center of fertility. It was opposed to the personified Sky (or the Thunder God) and was considered his wife. The sky or the Thunderer fertilized the Earth with rain, after which it gave (gave birth) a crop. The central part of the three-part Universe (heaven - earth - underworld), inhabited by people and animals; a symbol of the female fruiting principle, motherhood.

The image of Mother Earth goes back to ancient times - at least to the Proto-Indo-European era. This is evidenced by the numerous parallels to this character in the mythologies of Indo-European peoples: Demeter (linguistically a direct analogue of Old Russian. Zem-mother) in Greek, Ardvisura Anahita in Iranian, Zhemina (direct linguistic analogue of Russian. Land) in Lithuanian, etc.

From the Earth (clay, dust), according to the Apocrypha and folk legends, the human body was created: after death his soul enters the upper world, and his body goes to the Earth (compare Bel. Belief that the soul finally leaves the body when it falls on the coffin first handful of the Earth).

The earth, according to the common Slavic tradition, is a symbol of motherhood and femininity. Taking in the seeds, the earth becomes pregnant and gives a new crop; she is the universal Mother and nurse: she feeds the living, and accepts the dead. In Russian riddles, the earth is associated with the image of a "common mother for all." Known in Russian folklore texts and phraseology, the expression "Mother - Cheese Earth" means, first of all, the earth fertilized with heavenly moisture. Accordingly, the dry, barren Earth is compared in Russian spiritual verses with a widow. Before sowing, the peasants turned to the saints with a request to "give Mother - Cheese Earth to the ground with icy dew, so that she would bring grain, stir it up, and return it with a large ear" (eagles).

The East Slavic tradition is characterized by beliefs that the Earth closes in the days of "Indian summer" and celebrates its "name days", and opens on the Annunciation. "The birthday girl" was also called the earth on Simon Zealot (everywhere), on the Day of Spirits and on Assumption (Dozhinki). “On the Day of Spirits, the Earth is the birthday girl because on this day she was created” (vyat.). On such days, in relation to the earth, numerous prohibitions were observed: it was impossible to dig, plow, harrow, hammer in stakes, hit the earth.

As Christianity spread, a parallelism of the image of Mother Earth with the image of the Mother of God arose in the popular consciousness. In East Slavic mythology, it was probably associated with Mokosh (from wet = raw). "

Many peoples of the world have an image of Mother Earth in mythology. But no one, except for the Slavs, this image is not associated with the concept of dampness, humidity. Can Cheese Earth have geographic coordinates?

According to research within the framework of the theory of Siberian Slavic studies, an unambiguous answer follows: Cheese Earth is the ancestral home of the Slavic peoples, having a "residence permit" in the territory of modern Siberia. Moreover, the name of Siberia is derived from Raw (syr, ser, saras, sara, Surabhir, sabir).

The deification of their ancestral home by the Slavs is a sign of great love and longing for the abandoned native land. The deification of the ancestral home is inherent in many peoples. So the Germans called their ancestral home Midgard, the Greeks - Ecumene, the Indians - Aryavarta. Among the Slavs, the name of the ancestral home also has a great semantic load. Raw - water, river, it is a Slavic synonym for Indo-Aryan "india" in the meaning of a country of rivers.

The exodus of the Slavs from Siberia was catastrophic, forced, due to both demographic and environmental reasons. The growth of the population in Siberia, with the development of productive agriculture and with the receipt of sufficient funds for nutrition, development and settlement of new generations, took place on the territory of Western Siberia within the boundaries of the forest, forest-steppe, steppe and foothills. The boundaries of the taiga for a long time after the descent of the glacier and the waters of the Mansi Sea passed, somewhere at the latitude of Surgut. The deterioration of the climate and flooding (excessive moisture) of the territory of Western Siberia occurred gradually, but by the end of the 1st millennium it became impossible to engage in agriculture and continue the way of life habitual for agricultural producers. The exodus began.

In history, the exodus of peoples from Siberia is known under the invasion of the Cimmerians, Scythians, Sarmatians, Huns, Sakas, Mongols. Cimmerians, Scythians, Amazons, Sarmatians are the Pre-Slavs, Wends, Antes, Savirs, Serbs and Croats (Sarmatians), Dulebs. After the so-called Hunnic invasion, almost all of Europe was inhabited by the Slavs.

The Saki and their constant pressure on Iran and India are known from the history of the formation of the Indo-Scythian principalities in India and in the Central Asian countries. On the territory of ancient India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran, the existence of states and satrapies is known, the names of which follow from the name of the ancestral home of the Saka peoples of the Raw Earth. Let's designate these toponyms:

Cheese Country - Syrastrene, today's Saurashtra in India. Confirmation here is a text from Pseudo-Arrian (1st century AD), "Periplus of the Eritrean Sea":

"Beyond the gulf of Baraca is that of Barygaza and the coast of the country of Ariaca, which is the beginning of the Kingdom of Nambanus and of all India. That part of it lying inland and adjoining Scythia is called Abiria, but the coast is called Syrastrene. It is a fertile country, yielding wheat and rice and sesame oil and clarified butter, cotton and the Indian cloths made therefrom, of the coarser sorts. Very many cattle are pastured there, and the men are of great stature and black in color. The metropolis of this country is Minnagara, from which much cotton cloth is brought down to Barygaza. " Periplus, Chap. 41.

Approximate translation (Google service):

“On the other side of the Baraca Bay are Barygaza and the coast of the country of Ariaca, which is the beginning of the kingdom of Nambanus and all of India. The part of it that lies in the interior and adjacent to Scythia (?) Regions is called Abiria, and the coast is called Syrastrene. It is a fertile land of wheat and rice, and sesame oil and ghee, and cotton and Indian cloth made from it, and coarser varieties. There are a lot of cattle, and the men are tall and black. The capital of this country is Minnagara, from which a lot of cotton fabric is exported to Barygaza. "

Another notable place name is Sauvira.

The tribes of the Seriks (Saraiki, Seraiki), as we will call them, lived in Savira. Probably, this is the name of the seriks-serov, that is, the "silk people" of antiquity. The name of the Sers is derived from Sauvira. Today, Seriks (Saryaki, Multani) are southern Punjabis living in Multan and in the territories of 18 states of Pakistan, as well as in the Indian states of Punjab, Gujarat and Maharashtra. The total number is 16 million people. Related to the Sindham. Pakistan accounts for 10.3% percent of the population. They profess Islam, Hinduism "(quote from Wikipedia). Savirs (sauvira) and sivas (sivi, sibi) were descendants (s) of Abir (the same Surabhira), but often fought among themselves. In general, the history of Indian savirs (Sers) is very interesting. However, this is a topic for detailed research. Let's just say that, according to the "Mahabharata" (ancient Indian epic), the Savirs were culturally close to the Sindi, Aratts and other ancient Aryan peoples. The Savirs included tribes, for example, the Vagri and Umrani, which, in turn, united the Poliani, Hotani, Belyani and a number of other tribes.

Onomastics of ancient India surprisingly confirms the theory of the Siberian origin of many Aryan and Slavic peoples. And the name of the Raw country on the territory of India is confirmed by the main toponym of the Siberian Slavs - Cheese Country, Cheese Land.

The Slavs also left their toponyms during the expansion to the East. Based on the book "Excerpts from the history of the Serbs" by the famous Serbian researcher M.S. Milojevic. Belgrade. 1872. Translated from Serbian by VG Barsukov. (see materials at http://www.zrd.spb.ru/pot/2013/pot_03_56_2013.htm) it follows that the Slavs (Serbs) founded and gave rise to the Chinese civilization. Toponymy testifies to this most eloquently. Here is a quote from the work of Miloevich, published by O.M. Gusev:

“… So let's start straight from Tibet with the names of the Tibetan rivers, taking away from them the Chinese ending“ -he ”, which means“ river ”. Then it turns out, for example, that the river Nana-he is purely our Nana, i.e. "mother". Further rivers: Chen, Bojan, Milovan, Ban, Chuyan, Ludin, Chedo, Danashi, Brama, Luyan, Dosela, Maken, Sila, Yarak, Milan.

Here are the cities: Polyacha, Kerun, Shiban, Atsa, Laertan, Sareb (Saleb-Alogonta), Mili, Dragor, Yadigol, Konchak, Polyacha.
Mount Luca.
Rivers Banmu, Malin, Zoban, Kuna, Banchana.
Bunch Hills, Sarbilin, Bachun, Bojan ...

... All these place names are purely Serbian and must be preserved in history. It must be borne in mind that China and its huge empire have not yet been studied enough by us. All these place names were recorded by travelers. It is possible that some other tribes have survived on the territory of China that speak Slavic, albeit spoiled. Until now, this has not been paid attention to by Rus. Historians had no respect for the obvious toponymic evidence in China in favor of the Slavs. "
With regard to the study of the antiquity of the Slavic tribes, it is the Serbian scientists who do a lot of work: Miodrag Milanovic (http://www.vandalija.co.rs), Jovan Deretic, researcher of the old Serbian school - Olga Lukovic-Pyanovic, and the cited above, M. Milojevic.

Thus, we can with good reason talk about a single ancestral home of the Slavs - the Raw Earth, Siberia.

Previously, this country was called the Upper India (India Superior), later, retaining the meaning of "river", it acquired the name of the Raw country (land). The inhabitants of this country even during the times of the Old Russian state (and later, during the Ermakov campaign) were called raw materials (zyryans, zauriani), although they were no longer Slavs.

Mother of cheese earth according to Slavic folk ideas, one of the main component parts universe (together with water, by air and by fire).
The earth was considered the embodiment of the reproductive force of nature, therefore it was likened to a woman. Fertilized by rain, the land yielded crops, fed people, and helped to continue the race. Therefore, in conspiracies, the formula was often used: "Earth is mother, heaven is father", for example: "Goy thou, damp earth, mother!" You are dear mother to us, you have given birth to all of us. "

Grasses, flowers, trees and shrubs are her lush hair. The stone rocks are her bones. Tenacious tree roots replace veins. And her blood is living water oozing from her bowels. And How living woman, she gives birth to earthly creatures, groans in pain in a storm. And when he gets angry, he inflicts earthquakes. Smiling under the warm sunbeams and gives all living things unprecedented beauty. Falls asleep in cold winter and wakes up in spring. Drought burns her, but she is reborn from life-giving moisture.

Mother of Cheese Earth is always next to a person. She is his nurse and drinker, and a person always resorts to her help, as to the help of a mother, in difficult moments of life.
It is enough to recall fairy tales and epics, in which even heroes fall to the damp earth in order to gain new strength. They will hit the ground with a spear, and it will absorb the black, poisonous blood of the serpent and return life to the ruined people.
Fairy-tale heroes hit the ground in order to reincarnate into someone else and get his power.

“The more you fall ill, the more you treat yourself” - they said in ancient times and advised to take those who hurt themselves to that very place and pray to the earth for forgiveness.
The earth itself was considered the most powerful medicine. The witch doctor moistened the earth with saliva and applied it to wounds or a sore head, whispering at the same time a conspiracy: "As the earth is healthy, so your head would be healthy."

They swore by Mother Damp Earth, and this oath was considered the strongest, it was sacred and inviolable. The earth will not wear an oath-breaker. “So that I fall through the earth! "- such an oath is still preserved.

They kissed the earth, asked for forgiveness when they did a bad deed. And such a traditional in ancient times bow to the earth is also from the great reverence for Mother Earth.

The gods in the sky changed, others appeared in place of some, and only the Mother of Cheese Earth remained an eternal nurse for people, giving life to everything that lived on it.

The ancient Roman historian Tacitus wrote about the Slavs who lived on the island of Rügen: “They give general worship to the goddess of the earth and believe that she interferes in human affairs, visits peoples. There is an untouched forest on the island of the ocean, and it contains a sacred chariot covered with a veil: only the priest is allowed to touch it. He learns that the goddess is present in the sanctuary, and, being carried in a chariot by cows, accompanies with great reverence. "

The image of Mother Earth goes back to very ancient times. Already later, they created harmonious artificial systems, where God the Father certainly stands at the head of the divine pantheon, and the gods are predominantly male, but all this happened during the time of the long-established patriarchy. However, even through such artificial patriarchal schemes, the features of stable ancient ideas about a cosmic female deity, about the Great Mother of the World are visible: be it Gaia, who gave birth to Uranus, or Cybele, the personification of Mother Nature, revered in Asia Minor.

In every mythology, there is sure to be such a female deity - the personification of all nature. However, it was among the Slavs that the veneration of the Mother of the Raw Earth was the strongest, which survived until the beginning of the 20th century.

Many beliefs are associated with their native land. If a person went somewhere to a foreign land, then he certainly took a handful of his native land with him. He poured it out on a foreign land and, stepping on it, said: "I walk on my own land." It was believed that there, in a foreign land, in which case, the native land would help, give strength.

The earth was kept in amulet during travels as a talisman against evil forces.

The mothers had no greater grief than the news that their sons, who died in a foreign land, did not stock up on their native land and were buried without it.

The concept of "homeland, native land" was special for the Slavs. How many poetic works are dedicated to the homeland!

There is a special day, May 23 - the birthday of Mother Raw Earth. The peasants, wishing to honor the birthday girl with dignity, do not undertake any earthwork on this day: they do not plow, do not harrow, do not dig, and are especially careful to drive stakes into the ground so as not to disturb the peace of the earth.
On this day, it is advisable to walk barefoot on the ground: this way you can draw from it the strength that your body needs. It was also believed that on this day you can dig up healing roots for medicinal potions, because they were gaining the greatest strength.

Hello dear students!
Today we will talk about the only Slavic goddess who was not persecuted by Christianity. At least I haven't heard anything about it. This was the most beloved character of Slavic mythology by the people - the Mother of Cheese Earth.

Grasses, flowers, trees and shrubs are her lush hair. The stone rocks are her bones. Tenacious tree roots replace veins. And her blood is living water oozing from her bowels. And, like a living woman, she gives birth to earthly beings, groans in pain in a storm. And when he gets angry, he inflicts earthquakes. Smiles under the warm sun rays and gives unprecedented beauty to all living things. Falls asleep in cold winter and wakes up in spring. Drought burns her, but she is reborn from life-giving moisture.

Mother of Cheese Earth is always next to a person. She is his nurse and drinker, and a person always resorts to her help, as to the help of a mother, in difficult moments of life.
It is enough to recall fairy tales and epics, in which even heroes fall to the damp earth in order to gain new strength. They will hit the ground with a spear, and it will absorb the black, poisonous blood of the serpent and return life to the ruined people.
Fairy-tale heroes hit the ground in order to reincarnate into someone else and get his power.

“The more you fall ill, the more you treat yourself” - they said in ancient times and advised to take those who hurt themselves to that very place and pray to the earth for forgiveness.
The earth itself was considered the most powerful medicine. The witch doctor moistened the earth with saliva and applied it to wounds or a sore head, whispering at the same time a conspiracy: "As the earth is healthy, so your head would be healthy."

They swore by Mother Damp Earth, and this oath was considered the strongest, it was sacred and inviolable. The earth will not wear an oath-breaker. “So that I fall through the earth! "- such an oath is still preserved.

They kissed the earth, asked for forgiveness when they did a bad deed. And such a traditional in ancient times bow to the earth is also from the great reverence for Mother Earth.

The gods in the sky changed, others appeared in place of some, and only the Mother of Cheese Earth remained an eternal nurse for people, giving life to everything that lived on it.

In ancient times, sorcerers knew how to guess by the handful of earth taken from under the left foot of the one who wanted to know his fate. To "remove the trace" from a person is now considered a bad intention. If you whisper skillfully over him, then you can bind the will of a person hand and foot. And then, in order to get rid of such a misfortune, they ask the Earth: “Mother is a nurse, darling earth, darling, hide me from the fierce ghost, from any accidental daring. Protect me from an unkind eye, from an evil tongue, from a demonic slander. My word is as strong as iron. With seven seals it is to you, nurse Mother - Cheese Earth, sealed - for many days, for many years, for eternal life. "

The ancient Roman historian Tacitus wrote about the Slavs who lived on the island of Rügen: “They give general worship to the goddess of the earth and believe that she interferes in human affairs, visits peoples. There is an untouched forest on the island of the ocean, and it contains a sacred chariot covered with a veil: only the priest is allowed to touch it. He learns that the goddess is present in the sanctuary, and, being carried in a chariot by cows, accompanies with great reverence. "

The image of Mother Earth goes back to very ancient times. Already later, they created harmonious artificial systems, where God the Father certainly stands at the head of the divine pantheon, and the gods are predominantly male, but all this happened during the time of the long-established patriarchy. However, even through such artificial patriarchal schemes, the features of stable ancient ideas about a cosmic female deity, about the Great Mother of the World are visible: be it Gaia, who gave birth to Uranus, or Cybele, the personification of Mother Nature, revered in Asia Minor.

In every mythology, there is sure to be such a female deity - the personification of all nature. However, it was among the Slavs that the veneration of the Mother of the Raw Earth was the strongest, which survived until the beginning of the 20th century.

Many beliefs are associated with their native land. If a person went somewhere to a foreign land, then he certainly took a handful of his native land with him. He poured it out on a foreign land and, stepping on it, said: "I walk on my own land." It was believed that there, in a foreign land, in which case, the native land would help, give strength.

The earth was kept in amulet during travels as a talisman against evil forces.

The mothers had no greater grief than the news that their sons, who died in a foreign land, did not stock up on their native land and were buried without it.

The concept of "homeland, native land" was special for the Slavs. How many poetic works are dedicated to the homeland!

There is a special day, May 23 - the birthday of Mother Raw Earth. The peasants, wishing to honor the birthday girl with dignity, do not undertake any earthwork on this day: they do not plow, do not harrow, do not dig, and are especially careful to drive stakes into the ground so as not to disturb the peace of the earth.
On this day, it is advisable to walk barefoot on the ground: this way you can draw from it the strength that your body needs. It was also believed that on this day you can dig up healing roots for medicinal potions, because they were gaining the greatest strength.

Throughout her life, the eternal Mother of Cheese Earth grows daily bread for the people living on it. Of course, these are not only ears of grain, but also other plants edible for humans, various medicinal herbs. Just as grass cannot grow without a handful of land, so the Russian people cannot live without land as a breadwinner.

The sun's rays warm the earth, rain showers feed it, and the earth, warmed and humidified, grows herbs, flowers, trees, and provides food for animals and humans. And this natural phenomenon for man served as the source of the myth about the marriage union of Heaven and Earth. Since the Earth is naturally feminine, mother, the Heaven was assigned to the masculine - it was the father-father. The summer sky embraces the Earth in its warm embrace, like a bride or a spouse, scattering its warm rays and pours out life-giving waters, and then the Earth can "give birth." In winter, the earth turns to stone from the cold and becomes barren.

Therefore, it is no coincidence that a worldview has developed in the minds of the Slavs that the wealth of the country and the people directly depends on the vastness of the Slavic land. It is these open spaces that are the main wealth, both material and spiritual.
The epic hero Mikula Selyaninovich became the exponent of this worldview. Strength was bestowed on him by the earth itself, and he relies entirely on the earthly power of Russia.
Mikula is the beloved son of the Mother of the Raw Earth, the first Russian oratai. In his honor, collective feasts-Mikulshchina celebrated, songs were sung in honor of the upcoming birthday of the Mother of the Raw Earth:

Mikula-light, with mercy
Come to us with joy
With great goodness ...
Mother of Cheese Earth is kind,
Give us some bread
Sheep horses
Weed cows!

There is an interesting epic about Svyatogor and Mikula. Svyatogor is trying to catch up with a passer-by on the wide road-road and cannot in any way. And then the hero spoke these words:

- Oh, you, a passer-by, stop not that much, I can't catch up with you on a good field.
A passer-by stopped, took off his purse from his shoulders and put the purse on the damp earth. Svyatogor the hero says:
- What's in your purse?
- But get up off the ground, so you will see.
Svyatogor got off his horse, grabbed the purse with his hand, - he could not even move; began to smash with both hands, only the spirit could let under the purse, and he himself was knee-deep in the ground. The hero says these are the words:
- What is it you have in your purse? I don't have the strength to become, and I can't even lose my purse.
- I have earthly cravings in my purse.
- But who are you and what is your name, exalted as from the fatherland?
- I am Mikulushka Selyaninovich.

Mikula is the bearer of the earth's thrust in the literal sense: he carries the power of the Mother of the Raw Earth in a bag behind his shoulders, easily overtaking the most powerful hero. The earth's thrust, in contact with the source, is fed by the immense force of the Earth, then returns to Mikula's shoulders and is transferred to him in full.

With the adoption of Christianity in Russia, the image of the Mother of the Raw Earth began to draw closer to the image of the Mother of God herself. Gradually, the idea spread that a person has three mothers: the first is the Most Holy Theotokos, who gave birth to the savior of the world, the second is the Earth, from which everyone was created and to which everyone will return after death, and the third is the one that bore and gave birth in the womb.
And Christianity translated the holiday in honor of the orator Mikula into the veneration of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. That is why the spring Nicholas is so revered in Russia.

I think this can be the end of our lesson about mother earth. In the next lesson we will talk about the possible spouse of the Mother of the Raw Earth, and now homework (you must select questions that will give at least 10 points in total):

1. Why is the Mother of Cheese Earth, and not just Mother Earth? And why did the heroes fall exactly to the damp earth? (0-1 point)

2. How do you understand the oath "So that I fall through the earth!"? And what was originally put into it? (0-2 points)

3. Why was the sower always a man? (0-1 point)

4. Find fairy tales, epics (at least two), in which the hero resorts to the help of the Raw Earth Mother. Tell us about them. (0-3 points)

5. Find riddles, proverbs, sayings, and just catch phrases associated with Mother Damp Earth (at least three). Explain how you understand them. (0-3 points)

6. Write a short essay (poetical or prosaic) dedicated to this deity or in general to your native land. (0-4 points)

7. If you know how to draw, you can depict the Mother Earth to Cheese. (0-5 points)

8. You went to practice in Argemon (practice can be in any subject). Tell us how Mother Earth of Cheese could help you. (0-5 points)

9. Find a poetic or prose work dedicated to the Motherland, native land that you like. Tell us about it and the thoughts that come up after reading it. (0-3 points)

10. Why did the Slavs develop such reverence for the Mother of the Raw Earth? (0-2 points)

11. In ancient Greek mythology, there is a character similar to Mikula. Find it and tell about it. What similarities and differences have you found? (0-3 points)

- 1516 In cosmogonic myths, the earthly firmament arose as a result of the first act of the creation of the world: from a handful of Earth extracted from the bottom of the sea. God first created a small piece of land, and then (with the assistance of his antagonist) pushed it apart, creating the earthly space. According to popular Slavic beliefs, the Earth is a flat firmament surrounded by water and covered with a celestial dome on top. The concept of zoomorphic creatures (a giant fish or several mythical fish, a snake, a turtle, etc.) holding the Earth on itself is characteristic of the mythology of the Eastern and especially the southern Slavs; less common in West Slavic beliefs. In Bulgarian and Serbian cosmogonic beliefs, the earth is held on its horns by a bull or a buffalo; it rests on the body of a snake lying on the back of an ox, which in turn stands on a giant fish, and this whole pyramid rests on a huge turtle. More rare are the motives according to which the Earth is located on the branches of trees or on a pillar. Signs of the personification of the Earth can be noted in such folk beliefs, according to which she behaves like a living being: she sleeps, gets sick, becomes pregnant, gives birth, groans, cries, gets angry with people for their sins. The female symbolism of the Earth, universal for all Slavic traditions, is revealed through the metaphor of motherhood and fertility (the ability to bring a harvest). The Belarusians believed that by taking seeds into itself, the Earth “becomes pregnant” and gives a new crop, that it is the universal Mother and nurse: it feeds the living, and accepts the dead. The expression Mother-cheese earth, known in Russian folklore texts and phraseology, denotes a fertile earth fertilized with heavenly moisture. Accordingly, the dry and barren Earth appears in spiritual verses in the form of a “widow”. Archaic ideas about the sky and the Earth as married couple preserved in such incantatory formulas as: "You are the Sky - the father, you are the Earth - the mother!" or in riddles about the earth and the sky like: "Mother - low, father - high" (pol.). According to Bulgarian beliefs, a month was born from the marriage of heaven and earth. The motive of motherhood in beliefs about the Earth is related not only to the cosmic image of the universal fruiting principle, but also to the real mother. a specific person ... This is manifested in the prohibitions against hitting the Earth, motivated by the fear of offending their deceased mother. Veneration of the Earth as a "mother" contributed to the convergence of this circle of ideas with the image of the Mother of God (the Serbs called the Earth "Earth-Mother of God"). It was believed that swearing insults "all three mothers" of a person: his own mother, the damp Earth and the Mother of God. In Slavic beliefs, the Earth is endowed with signs of holiness and ritual purity; in prayers and conspiracies, they turned to her with the same requests as to the divine powers: "Have mercy, save and save, holy land and Mother of God!" (woodland). It was said about a sinful man that he was not worthy to be "borne by the holy earth." According to widely known concepts, the Earth does not accept the bodies of "unclean" dead; burying them in the Earth upsets the weather balance and the general world order; the bodies of such dead people remain incorrupt in the Earth, or the Earth itself "throws" them to the surface. As the highest moral authority and a symbol of righteousness, the Earth was often used in folk legal customs, oaths and oaths. A Polish proverb says: "Truth grows out of the ground." Among the Russians, during boundary disputes, people who prove their case put a clod of earth or a piece of turf on their heads; cases of oaths with the Earth on the head are mentioned in the glories, historical evidence of the XI century. In the Cherepovets district, during land conflicts, the peasants, taking an oath, took a pinch of the Earth in their mouths or put it on their heads, on their backs, in their bosoms; Challenging their right to mow, people put the turf cut from the Earth on their heads and said that if they testify falsely, then let “the Mother of the cheese earth itself cover them forever” (Russian Ryazan). Similar customs are also known among the Serbs, Bulgarians and Macedonians: everyone who publicly gave testimony in controversial cases was forced by the Bulgarians to hold the Earth in their hands as proof of the truth of what was said. The custom of confessing to the land was noted among the Novgorod heretics-strigolniks, which was recorded in the sources of the XIV century. , and remained among the Old Believers until the 19th century. In the Serbian tradition, fellow villagers forced a woman caught in the practice of witchcraft to repent of the sins of the earth. The custom of kissing the Earth in various ritual situations was very popular among the Slavs: for example, during the first plowing of the Earth or during the first sowing; in the customs of reconciliation or asking for forgiveness; when pronouncing an oath, oath or prayer. In the Oryol province. at the first thunder, the women crossed themselves and kissed the Earth. At the end of the harvest, it was customary to thank the Earth for the harvest and kiss it: cf. Bulgarian proverb: "Kissing a handful of earth means kissing bread."
The concept of the Earth as a place of human habitation is closely related to the concept of a kind and homeland. The settlers, before leaving for a foreign land, took a handful of their native land with them in order to settle down in a new place; pilgrims and pilgrims did the same, leaving their native lands for a long time, in order to pour "native land" into the eyes of the deceased or on his grave in case of death. The sanctity of the native land was determined by the fact that it was "one of our own" and the fact that ancestors and parents were buried in it. "Parental" Land, taken from one's own yard or from the graves of relatives, was considered sacred and capable of protecting from harm. Accordingly, in conspiracies all diseases, evils and misfortunes were sent "to a foreign land" (that is, to an "empty", "distant", "black", "ninth", "German" land). The motives of the holiness of the Earth coexist in folk culture with the idea that if the sky belongs to the sphere of the divine, then the Earth belongs to the sphere of the devil. Folk phraseology is connected with the earth as the border between the human and chthonic worlds, denoting the approach of death: “it already smells of the earth,” they said about a hopelessly sick person, or "earthly child" - about a child who will not live long (V-Slav.). Bulgarians also talked about the terminally ill, that he "smelled like earth." In Polish interpretations, plowed arable land or dried, cracked earth was a portent of death.
(Vinogradova L.N)
... We believe that the cult of the earth has survived in its most ancient form: it is worship without temples, rituals, and even without a definitely expressed idea; at the heart of this cult is the consciousness of closeness and dependence on the earth, hence the reverent reverence for the earth, its universal mother. This consciousness is inherent in all people. Under the influence of a pure Christian understanding of the world, this consciousness has its own, so to speak, legal dimensions. But where there is no pure Christianity, ancient cult the land is expanding, as we see among the strigolniks and our schismatics - bezpopovtsy. This veneration is not alien to the modern peasant, as we see from the following fact, which we personally know. One peasant in the Dorogobuzh district, Smolensk province, had no livestock, was dying. One good friend of the peasant, in great secrecy, advised the loser, secretly from everyone, to go out into the courtyard at sunrise and bow to the ground three times without a cross and a hat. The peasant fulfilled this, and from that time on, his cattle began to be kept. But then he realized that he was bowing not to God, but to the earth, and, considering his act a sin, he repented of it. - This incident clearly shows us that the ancient cult of the earth secretly still continues to live; this is precisely the remnant of paganism: it was necessary to bow without a cross and secretly
(Galkovsky N.M. The struggle of Christianity with the remnants of paganism in Ancient Russia.)

Mother Earth

mother earth, mother earth

As a unit or separately? Spelling dictionary reference. - M .: Russian language. B.Z.Bukchina, L.P. Kakalutskaya. 1998 .

See what "mother earth" is in other dictionaries:

mother Earth- mother earth /, mother / teri earth / ... Together. Apart. Hyphened.

Along with fire, air and water, one of the main elements of the universe. A significant part of the plots with the participation of the deified Z. is contained in cosmogonic myths telling about the original divine pair of heaven and Z., whose union served ... ... Encyclopedia of mythology

Earth ... Wikipedia

Earth Photo of the Earth from the Apollo 17 spacecraft Orbital characteristics Aphelios 152 097 701 km 1.0167103335 a. e ... Wikipedia

Genus. and dates. mother, wine. mother, tv. mother, prel. about the mother; pl. mother, her; f. 1. A woman in relation to the children born to her. Mother's love. Lose your mother. Name someone l. his mother. Live with your mother. Good, bad m. Reception m. Large ... encyclopedic Dictionary

Mother: Mother is a woman in relation to her children (see Relationship). Mother Goddess, Mother Earth, Mother of the World in mythology different nations the progenitor of all things. The Mother of God the Mother of the Book in Islam, the eternal and uncreated ... ... Wikipedia

Noun., F., Uptr. naib. often Morphology: (no) who? mother, to whom? mothers, (see) whom? mother, by whom? mother, about whom? about the mother; pl. who? mother, (no) who? mothers to whom? mothers, (see) whom? mothers by whom? mothers about whom? about mothers 1. Your mother ... ... Dmitriev's Explanatory Dictionary

Elguja Amashukeli Mother Georgia ... Wikipedia

Ukr., Bld. land, other Russian, art. glory. landѩ γῆ, ἔδαφος, ἄρουρα (Klotz., Supr.) Zemya, Serbo-Horv. earth, slovenian. zemlja, Czech. země, slvc. zem, Polish. ziemia, in. puddles, n. puddles. zemja. Related lit. žẽmė land, lts. zeme, other Prussian ... ... Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language by Max Vasmer

MOTHER- a symbol of life, holiness, eternity, warmth and all-conquering love. The cult of reverence for the mother, as the head of the clan and the guardian, persists in many cultures to this day. The image of a mother in world culture has at least four symbolic ... ... Symbols, signs, emblems. Encyclopedia

Books

• , Usanin AE .. The material world is a spiritual school. Those souls who are focused only on themselves are in the bodies of minerals, crystals and precious stones... As her range of interests expanded ...
• Mother Earth. Vedic doctrine of life, Usanin Alexander Evgenievich. The material world is a spiritual school. Those souls who are focused only on themselves are in the bodies of minerals, crystals and precious stones. As her range of interests expanded ...