Old Russian wedding. Wedding rituals in Rus' are interesting to know! Wedding rituals and traditions: history

Modern wedding traditions differ significantly from the ceremonies of the past. In ancient times in Rus', the bride had to match her husband in status and financial condition. Parents themselves chose a couple for their children, and quite often the first meeting of the young people took place only on. The wedding took place only in autumn or winter.

The wedding ceremony in Rus' can be divided into three stages:

1. Pre-wedding. Consisted of matchmaking, sewing a dowry and a bachelorette party.
2. Wedding. Wedding ceremony and wedding.
3. Post-wedding. "Disclosure" of the young man in her husband's house, festive table, morning awakening of the young.

Previously, marriage was concluded like this: when parents decided that the time had come, they asked relatives for advice, then sent matchmakers who were already involved in the marriage.

Ancient wedding rituals in Rus'

The main attribute of the celebration was the dowry; sometimes it took a large number of time, everything depended on the financial condition of the bride’s family. It consisted of a bed, a dress, household utensils, jewelry, serfs or property if the bride was of noble origin. The most dramatic moment was the “Baen” ceremony, when the girl’s braid was unraveled.

The ceremony took place in the evening, for which they wore the most best dress and all the decorations that were available. In the front door they prepared a table at which they awaited the arrival of the groom. Then the mother-in-law combed her hair and braided two braids, which symbolized a woman in marriage. After the blessings, the newlyweds went to the wedding; according to the rules, the groom had to arrive first. Only after the wedding could the couple kiss. When leaving, the newlyweds were showered with hops and flax seeds, with wishes of happiness. Afterwards, everyone headed to the husband’s house, where the celebration itself took place.

Wedding ceremonies of Ancient Rus'

Such a celebration in Rus' had certain rules that had to be observed. All ancient weddings in Rus' had a certain scenario:

Very little is known about the weddings of pagan Rus'. According to the Russian historian N.M. Karamzin, the ancient Slavs usually bought wives for themselves and did not know the wedding ceremony as such. All that was required from the bride was proof of her virginal purity...

The status of a wife was equal to that of a slave: she was entrusted with all the housekeeping and raising children. At the same time, the woman could neither complain about her husband nor contradict him, expressing complete submission and obedience. After the death of her husband, the Slavic woman usually burned herself at the stake along with his corpse. The living widow dishonored the entire family.

The chronicler Nestor left evidence that the morals and customs of the ancient Slavs varied from tribe to tribe. Thus, the Polyans were distinguished by a meek and quiet disposition, they respected the sacred bonds of marriage, which they considered a sacred duty between spouses.

Peace and chastity reigned in the Polian families. On the contrary, the Radimichi, Vyatichi, Northerners and especially the Drevlyans had a wild disposition, cruelty and unbridled passions. They did not know marriages based on the mutual consent of parents and spouses. The Drevlyans simply took away or kidnapped the girls they liked.

Among the Radimichi, Vyatichi and Northerners, instead of weddings, there were “games between villages” (“games between fields”), during which men chose brides for themselves and began to live with them without any rituals. Among other things, polygamy was widespread among the ancient Slavs.

With time ritual life The culture of the pagan Slavs became more complex, acquired numerous beliefs and rituals around which their everyday life was built.

The pantheon of Slavic gods was constantly expanding, including more and more original and borrowed deities.
The god of fun, love, harmony and all prosperity - Lado (Lada) - enjoyed special respect among young people.

During games and dances by the water dedicated to this deity, bride kidnapping was common, which, as a rule, occurred by prior agreement. The newlyweds brought sacrificial gifts to the god of love.

In addition to the voluntary kidnapping of brides, the Slavs during the period of the disintegration of the primitive communal system developed such marriage rituals as splashing water, driving around an oak tree, buying wives, etc.

Until the very beginning of our century, two sharply different parts were clearly visible in the Russian wedding rite: the church rite of “wedding” and the wedding itself, “fun” - a family rite rooted in the distant past.

Hierarchs Orthodox Church in his messages both in the 16th century and in the first half of the 17th century. continued to condemn all elements of the folk wedding ceremony as “witchcraft” that had nothing in common with the Christian religion, but, apparently, they not only did not prohibit, but even ordered the priests to take close part in the extra-church part of the ceremony.

The highest church hierarchs themselves occupied important places on the wedding train and at the banquet table. Even in the church, along with the rituals prescribed by the rules of Orthodox worship, actions were performed in the presence of clergy that were not provided for by these rules. For example, a newlywed drank wine from a glass glass, which he then broke and trampled on the fragments.

In the church, after the Orthodox ceremony, when the hands of the newlyweds were already joined above the altor, the bride fell at the feet of the groom, touching her head to his shoes, and he covered her with the hem of his caftan. The bride and groom left the church separately - each to their parents. Here they were showered with life, and the celebration seemed to begin all over again: the bride feasted with her relatives, and the groom with his.

In the evening, the bride was brought to the house of the groom's father, but even there she did not take off her veil and did not speak to the groom during the entire wedding feast, which lasted three days. Only after three days did the young spouses leave for their own house, where a general final feast was given.

The rituals of Russian weddings intricately intertwined actions associated with pagan beliefs and the Christian religion. These include, for example, many actions that protect wedding participants from hostile forces.

These actions should contribute to the well-being of the couple, childbirth, increasing wealth in the household, and the offspring of livestock. Wanting to protect the bride from the evil eye, they wrapped her in a fishing net and stuck eyeless needles into her clothes so that devilry got entangled in a net and ran into needles.

In order to deceive the dark forces during matchmaking, they changed the route, took roundabout roads, replaced the bride, etc. They were protected from damage and evil spirits by abstaining from uttering words and from eating. There were rituals that provided young people with many children and wealth.

These included showering the young with grain or hops, and placing them on a fur coat with the fur blowing upward. To strengthen the connection between the newlyweds, they mixed wine from the glasses of the newlyweds, shared food and drink, stretched threads from the bride’s house to the groom’s house, and tied the hands of the bride and groom with a scarf.

The wedding ceremony developed as an extensive dramatized action, including songs, laments, sentences and sayings, spells, games and dances. In the form of lamentations, the bride said goodbye to her home, her girlish headdress and girlish braid. As in any dramatic work, the wedding ceremony had its own permanent cast characters- “ranks” who performed roles defined by tradition.

The central figures were the bride and groom. The bride was supposed to express gratitude to her parents for “giving her water and feeding her.” And from the moment of matchmaking until leaving for church, the bride bitterly mourned her maiden life.

Active participants in the wedding were the parents of the bride and groom, immediate relatives, God-parents, as well as matchmakers, thousand, brother of the bride, boyfriend, bridesmaids, etc.

Druzhka (druzhko) - the representative of the groom - the main manager at the wedding, made sure that the custom was observed as the community understood it. He had to be able to joke and amuse the wedding participants.

A friend was elected to help a friend, and a senior boyar was elected to help a thousand. In the South Russian rite, karavainitsi were appointed to prepare the ritual loaf.

Each wedding character was distinguished by his clothing or some additional ritual element of it. Usually these were towels, ribbons, scarves, wreaths.

The bride, in the days preceding the wedding and on the days of the wedding itself, changed her clothes and headdress several times, which meant changes in her condition: an arrangement, i.e. betrothed, young princess - before the crown, young woman after the crown and wedding night.

The groom was also called the young prince, and then simply the young. He did not change his clothes, but had his own symbols - a flower or bouquet on his headdress or on his chest, a scarf and a towel on his shoulders. On the wedding day, the bride and groom dressed smartly and, if possible, in everything new.

The topic of marriage was constantly present in the lives of the younger generation. For example, a girl’s entire premarital life was preparation for marriage. Therefore, she was accustomed to the cares of a future mother and housewife. Literally from birth, her mother began to prepare a dowry for her.

By the age of 16-17, the girl became a bride. An important point pre-nuptial rituals included public “viewings” (“bride viewings”) of brides. They helped find a suitable bride, find out the economic situation of her family, and learn about her behavior and character. Parents tried to find “equals”.

Brides were held during spring-summer festivities and Christmastide, usually coinciding with patronal feasts, as well as Epiphany.

Usually, two weeks or a month after the shows, the groom’s mother, taking with her her sister or married daughter, went to woo the girl she had fallen in love with at the public shows.

An important place in the premarital life of young people was occupied by girls' fortune-telling about marriage, the apogee of which fell on Christmastide. Having decided to marry their son, the parents began to look for a bride for him and found out who had a “girl of marriageable age.”

The son’s wishes were taken into account, but were not always decisive, because the girl had to meet the requirements of her parents. Girls who stayed too long (usually at the age of 23-25) were considered “overdone”, “age-old” and suitors avoided them, thinking that they had a vice. The same distrust and suspicion were caused by young people who had been single for too long (old men, over-aged).

The first marriages were usually concluded in compliance with all the customs and rites of the wedding ritual. Weddings of widowed men with girls who had not previously been married were also celebrated. Marriages of widows and single men with widows were not accompanied by wedding ceremonies.

The time of weddings was determined by the agricultural calendar - usually weddings took place during the period free from agricultural work. The church calendar was of significant importance, because We didn’t “play” at wedding posts.

Most marriages took place in the fall, from Intercession (October 1) to Fililipov's ritual (November 14), as well as in the winter from Epiphany to Maslenitsa. In some places, the ancient tradition of holding weddings in the spring, on Krasnaya Gorka, after Easter, was still preserved.

The traditional Russian wedding cycle was divided into three main periods: pre-wedding, the wedding itself and post-wedding.
The first period began unofficially family council— “at once” at the groom’s house. The parents and relatives of the groom took part in it. The groom himself did not take part in the gathering. At the gathering they discussed the bride's property status, her behavior and health, and pedigree.

The initial period of the wedding consisted of matchmaking, collusion, inspection of the groom's household, bride's viewing, pilgrimage, hand-waving and drinking. There were several ways of matchmaking, for example, the groom's parents went to the bride's house and began negotiations.

In other cases, a matchmaker or matchmaker was sent to the bride's house and they asked permission to come with the groom and his parents. Usually the matchmakers were the spiritual parents of the groom - Godfather or mother, or one of the relatives.

Sometimes they resorted to the help of professional matchmakers. Light days were chosen for matchmaking, avoiding fast days: Monday, Wednesday and Friday. In many places, matchmakers took with them a stick, poker or frying pan in order to “scavenge the girl.”

The visit to the matchmakers was repeated 2-3 times, or even more. The first visit was considered as "reconnaissance". The bride's parents set the table: they put bread, salt, and lit lamps and candles.

After consenting to the daughter’s marriage, the clutch size was determined, i.e. the amount of money given by the groom's relatives for the purchase of dresses for the bride and for wedding expenses, as well as the size of the dowry (the bride's personal property consisting of clothes and shoes - it was also called a chest or ship).

Two or three days later, after the mutual consent to become related, but even before the final decision, the bride’s parents and relatives inspected the groom’s household. The continuation or termination of the “business” depended on how much one liked it.

If the inspection of the groom’s household ended successfully, then a few days later the “groom’s side” was invited to the bride’s viewing, where she showed up in all her dresses and demonstrated the presence of all her labor skills - spinning, sewing, etc. The bride at this stage had the right to refuse the groom. Most often, the viewing ended with a feast. After the feast, the bridesmaids accompanied the groom home. He invited them to his place and generously treated them.

The final stage of the first negotiations was the conspiracy, which took place in the bride’s house two to three days after the bride’s wedding. After the conspiracy, the bride was called a “conspiracy.”

Successful negotiations on an agreement usually ended with a handshake. The father of the groom and the father of the bride, as during trade transactions, shook hands wrapped in scarves or caftan skirts. After the handshaking and the feast, which often lasted all night, the gates were opened in the morning so that everyone could come in and look at the bride and groom.

Bogomolya attached special meaning - “Pray to God, then the matter of matchmaking is over.” After the blessing, the bride and groom kissed three times and exchanged rings - they became engaged. The agreement reached by the parties usually ended in a joint feast - a binge.

After the agreement, the period of preparation for the wedding began. It could last from one to three weeks to a month or more. The conspirator's lifestyle changed and appearance. She almost did not leave the house (unlike the groom) and wailed. It was believed that the more the bride cries, the easier it will be for her to live in her husband’s family.

The last day before the wedding was called a bachelorette party, where the bride broke with her maiden life, freedom and her family.

As a rule, a bachelorette party consisted of a whole complex of ritual actions: making beauty (emphasis on O), unbraiding the braid, washing in the bathhouse, saying goodbye to beauty (will) and handing it over to friends, and treating the ritual participants to the groom.

In some localities, on the last day, a youth party was held in the groom’s house, at which the groom said goodbye to his comrades and to his single life. That same evening, the groom's relatives were sent to the bride's house with gifts. If the groom traveled on his own, his preparations were accompanied by special rituals and instructions. His guests left after the groom.

The bride was also dressed up, having dressed up, the bride washed herself with vodka (wine) and sat down with her friends to wait for the groom. Soon (at about 9-10 pm) the matchmakers arrived. For the bachelorette party, the groom brought a basket with toiletries, and sometimes a wedding dress, and gave ribbons to his girlfriends. At the end of the table, before the groom left, the bride was hidden. The groom looked for her among his friends, they slipped old women to him until he gave his friends a ransom.

For the wedding, they baked a special ritual bread - loaf. In a Russian wedding, bread represented life, prosperity, prosperity and a happy life. Preparation wedding bread and its distribution occupied an important place in the wedding ceremony.

The wedding day was the culmination of the entire wedding event. On this day, rituals were performed in the homes of the bride and groom to prepare them for marriage and express the consent and blessing of the family for this marriage. After the wedding, already in the house of the newlyweds, rituals were performed that introduced the newlywed to the new household and position married woman.

The morning passed in troubles and preparations for the crown. The bride was dressed, perhaps more elegantly. When the groom arrived, they demanded a ransom from him for the right to travel and enter the bride’s house. Then the parents blessed the daughter and sent her to church, after which the dowry was usually brought to the groom's house.

There were several options for traveling to the crown. According to some, the bride and groom went to church together, according to others, separately. Having blessed their children, the parents placed them at the disposal of groomsmen and matchmakers (the parents themselves did not go to church).

Having gone out into the yard together with the groom (if the groom was traveling from his home) and the poezzhans (other wedding participants), he walked around the yard with the icon, and the matchmaker, standing on the cart, scattered the hops. Having walked around three times with the icon, he asked everyone present for the groom’s blessing for the marriage. After that we went to church.

In parting they wished: “God grant that we may stand under a golden crown, get a house, and have children.” The groom rode solemnly, hanging bells from the arc; the groom's horses were covered with white towels. The bride came to church without much noise, with only one driver (“crybaby”).

Before the wedding, they met in someone's hut and here the groom took the bride by the hand, walked her around three times, slightly tugged her braid, as if showing that the bride was losing her will and must submit to the will of her husband. Usually the wedding train left in odd numbers, i.e. an odd number of horses.

In the Central Russian provinces, on the contrary, friends violently dispersed those they met. Leaving the yard, the residents congratulated each other on a “well done ride.”

The weather on the wedding day was of particular importance. It was believed that if “snow and rain on the wedding train - live richly”, “rain on the newlyweds - happiness”, “a whirlwind with dust on meeting the train - not good”, “red wedding day - live red but poor”, “blizzard on the wedding train - the wealth will be blown away."

The wedding ceremony consisted of betrothal and laying of marriage crowns - the wedding itself was performed by a priest. During the engagement, the priest asked the bride and groom about their mutual and voluntary agreement to marry and put on the rings.

A church wedding gave legal force. However, marriage with a wedding, but without a wedding, was not encouraged.

The wedding was accompanied by many magical rituals: it was customary to sweep the road through the church with a broom in front of the bride and groom; a scarf or linen was spread under the feet of the newlyweds and money was thrown in to avoid “bare life.”

The bride and groom tried to step on each other's feet, and the one who managed to do this first had the upper hand. family life. They strictly ensured that no one passed between the bride and groom (so that none of them violated marital fidelity).

Standing in front of the crown, the bride was baptized “covered,” i.e. not with your bare hand (to live richly). Many beliefs were associated with wedding paraphernalia: rings, candles, crowns. It was believed that dropping a wedding ring during a wedding was “not a good sign.” And the one who held the candle higher under the crown, “has the majority” (headship in the family).

They tried to blow out wedding candles at once so that they could live together and die together. The wedding candle was taken care of and lit during the first birth.

After the wedding in the church gatehouse or a nearby house, the bride had two braids braided and placed around her head - “the young woman was twisted like a woman.” The bride's groom's matchmakers, who braided the braids, braided them for the race - whose matchmaker is the first to braid the braid, the first-born will be of that gender. After this, the young man put on a woman’s headdress - a warrior. This ritual marked the transition of the bride to the group of married women.

The newlyweds were expected at the house. Women from the village went out to meet the wedding train at the outskirts, and when they saw it, they began to sing songs. Those meeting at the house, relatives and guests fired guns upward, the young people were sprinkled with hops and grain, a fire was laid out at the gate and they were led through it. The parents blessed the newlyweds - the father with an icon, the mother with bread and salt.

In some areas, bread was broken over the heads of the young and each and every one of them had to keep it for the rest of their lives. After the blessing, the young people bowed at their feet, trying to do it at the same time in order to live together. They were seated at the table, on benches covered with fur coats, saying: “The fur coat is warm and shaggy - you will live warmly and richly.”

Usually the mother-in-law or one of the groom’s relatives used a grip or a frying pan to unveil the young bride, i.e. They took off her bedspread (later her veil). Then they greeted her and brought her gifts.

The first table was usually called the “wedding table”. The young people, although they sat behind him, did not eat anything. Congratulations and wishes were said in honor of the newlyweds. Soon they were taken to another room and fed dinner. Then the young people returned to the travelers again. By this time, the second table, called the “mountain” table, was set. Relatives of the newlywed came to this table. They were met at the porch, each served a glass of vodka.

Those who arrived were seated at the table according to seniority - men on one side, women on the other. At the mountain table, the young woman gave gifts to her husband's relatives, bowed to them, hugged them and kissed them. Then she had to call her father-in-law father, and mother-in-law mother. During the feast, the girls sang songs. At the end of the table, the newlyweds came out and fell at the feet of their parents so that they would bless them into the marriage bed.

It was arranged in some unheated room: in a barn or stable, in a bathhouse, in a separate hut. The wedding bed was made with special care. Sometimes some tools of peasant or craft labor were placed next to the wedding bed so that the newlyweds would have sons and be good workers.

The newlyweds were usually accompanied by a friend and a matchmaker. The farewell was accompanied by music and noise; probably, this design had the meaning of a talisman. The matchmaker and boyfriend inspected the bed and room to make sure there were no objects that could cause “damage” to the young people, and, giving the last advice and instructions, wished them happiness and prosperity. The young people were treated to wine.

After an hour or two, and in some places even overnight, they came to wake up and raise the young people.

Usually this ritual was performed by the same people who escorted them to the wedding bed and led the newlyweds to the hut, where the feast continued. The young people accepted congratulations.

In many localities, it was customary to display the newlywed's bloody shirt. If the young woman turned out to be immaculate, she and her relatives were given great honor, but if not, then they were subjected to all kinds of reproach.

In many localities, rituals associated with the “awakening” were accompanied by a bathhouse. Her friends, matchmakers, boyfriends, and godparents drowned her. The farewell to the bathhouse was accompanied by noise, songs and music. They swept the road in front of the young people with brooms. A friend walked ahead of the procession and carried a decorated broom covered with a scarf.

Over time, the ritual of the second day gradually began to be replaced by dousing with water, rolling the newlyweds in the snow, even just visiting an unheated bathhouse. After the bath, the young people rode around the village, visiting the houses of relatives and inviting them to the next feast.

The feast of the second day was called “cheese table”. During the cheese table, cheeses were cut. The senior friend first called the relatives of the young one, then the young one, and asked them to accept a treat from the young ones - vodka and a snack, and put something “on top of the cheeses.”

The most common ritual of the second and third days was the newlywed’s first visit to a spring or well, during which the young woman usually threw money, a ring, a piece of bread cut from a wedding loaf, or a belt into the water.

Another, no less widespread ritual was bright belts. The young woman's relatives came to her husband's house and reported the girl missing. The search began. The newlywed was brought out to them. They recognized it as theirs, but after inspection they found many changes and renounced their rights.

They tried to diversify the ongoing wedding festivities with all kinds of games and fun. A common custom on the second day was mumming. The mummers dressed in turned-out skins. They dressed up as different animals, gypsies, soldiers. Sometimes men dressed in women's clothing, and women into men's.

The third day was usually the final one. Often on this day they would test the young one. They forced her to light the stove, cook, sweep the floor, but at the same time they interfered in every possible way - they spilled water, knocked over the dough, testing her patience. Only her husband could save the young woman from all the trials by treating everyone to vodka.

One of the responsible and fairly common rituals was the son-in-law visiting his mother-in-law (“bread”). The young mother-in-law treated him to pancakes and scrambled eggs. Often during this visit, the son-in-law demonstrated his attitude towards her, which depended on whether she managed to raise her daughter and maintain her chastity or not.

After the treat, the son-in-law smashed the dishes on the floor. In many villages, a visit to the mother-in-law ended with the serving of a passing pie, which signified the horses of the wedding festivities.

Usually wedding celebrations lasted three days, the rich lasted longer. No special rituals were performed on these days; as a rule, various entertainments were repeated, feasts with refreshments were held, either in the newlywed’s house or in the husband’s house.

The peasant wedding ceremony served as the basis for the urban one.

In the conditions of the city, it has changed significantly, both in general and in detail. By the middle of the 19th century. in the rituals of the townspeople, common and specific features were observed that distinguished them from the peasant tradition: weakening of the magic of the elements, strengthening the role of professional matchmakers, greater distribution marriage contracts, changes in ritual food and the order of feasts, replacement of dances with dances, and the folklore repertoire with city songs. This allows us to talk about already established urban forms of wedding rituals.

From about the 80s of the 19th century. under the influence of the growing democratization of the social and cultural life of Russia, changes occurred in the social and everyday relations of the townspeople, which also affected the wedding ceremony.

The October Revolution of 1917 and the subsequent declaration of war on religion subjected the traditional wedding ceremony to attack, ridicule and bans. Throughout the Soviet period, there were, as it were, two main forms of wedding ceremonies: official (state) and traditional.

The history of the Russian people is very interesting and completely forgotten in vain. We invite you to learn the wedding rituals and traditions that were carried out in ancient Rus' and were part of the wedding ritual, but today they have been successfully forgotten or remade in a new way.

Matchmaking

Matchmaking is not only the unexpected arrival of the groom, accompanied by relatives, to the bride’s house in order to woo in an allegorical form (show himself and look at the goods). Matchmaking was the starting point from which the rebirth of the main participants in the wedding ceremony, the bride and groom, literally began. From the moment of the betrothal, the bride (the bride) was subject to restrictions on movement, her living space was sharply narrowed to the confines of her parents' home. If a girl went out, it was only accompanied by her friends and, in fact, only to invite guests to the wedding. The bride was also removed from all household chores and became incapacitated. This is how the gradual “dehumanization” took place, necessary for the birth of a new person, already a family one.

Bride

Two or three days after the matchmaking, the groom and his close relatives again come to the bride’s house, now for the bride’s viewing, during which the girl must show herself in all her glory and demonstrate all her skills and abilities, just like the groom, who shows off in front of by all those gathered. After this, the groom's mother closely examines and evaluates the bride's dowry. Everything that happens is necessarily accompanied by songs and lamentations, most often performed by the bride’s friends. However, the girl could refuse marriage without going to the groom.

Handshake

Shortly before the planned wedding day, there was a handshake or a drinking session, an event that finally sealed the agreement on the wedding. After the handshake, refusing the wedding was impossible. The bride and groom were seated side by side at the table and celebrated in songs performed by the bride's friends.

But what do the bride and groom themselves do? The bride does not speak, but laments, and in some houses they even call the woman who “howls,” that is, performs laments, and the bride groans and cries. And, despite the visible activity of the groom, his constant movements (he comes to the bride’s house almost every day after the hand-waving for “visits”, “kisses”, “visits”), he still remains passive: the matchmakers speak and do everything for him, relatives, friends.

hen-party

Has this ritual also disappeared? The fact is that a bachelorette party in Rus' is not only the farewell gatherings of the bride with her friends on the eve of the wedding, but also the making of “beauty” (“will”), unbraiding the braid, washing the bride in the bathhouse, destroying or transferring the “beauty” to a friend or groom. Girlish “beauty” is the last thing that connects the bride with her girlhood. It could be a tow, a tree decorated with ribbons and rags, a wreath, or a scarf. After making the “beauty,” it was burned or the bride distributed it to her close friends. Whatever the object symbolizing “beauty,” it is invariably associated with the head, more precisely hair, and hair is a kind of personification of girlish beauty and will. With the destruction or distribution of “beauty,” the girl was allegorically deprived of her girlhood.

Also, the bride could cut off her braid and pass it on to the groom. And the ritual ablution in the bathhouse finally completed the process: the bride became: “neither alive nor dead,” and in this state she was handed over to the groom, bargaining was arranged, and the bride and her friends resisted with all their might.

Young woman's hairstyle

Immediately after the wedding, the bride was given a young woman’s hairstyle: they braided two braids and covered her head with a scarf, or immediately “twisted them like a woman”: the hair braided in two braids was twisted at the back of the head into a bun, and a married woman’s headdress was put on top (povoinik, ochtok, nametka) . From that moment on, only the husband could see the bride’s hair: appearing bareheaded to a stranger was tantamount to treason, and tearing off a woman’s headdress was an insult. A change in hairstyle means the girl’s transition to the power of her husband, and also represents the formation of a new appearance of a person, his rebirth in a new status. The girl begins to “come to life”: she regains the ability to move independently, as well as the ability to do everything with her own hands: the bride, entering the house, begins to actively explore its space, throws rye, puts down a cow, throws a belt, etc.

"The Bride Revealed"

A special ceremony was dedicated to the “unveiling” of the bride, when the newlyweds came from under the aisle to the groom’s house. This ritual was endowed with a double meaning: for the bride it meant the return of vision; the bride, continuing to come to life, now looked at everything with different eyes, and for the groom this was a kind of recognition of his beloved, since she was now different. In some details of the ritual, an erotic meaning is read when the bride is “opened”: the father-in-law or groomsman lifts the hem with a whip, grip, pie or stick. Or they placed a pie without filling on the bride’s head, symbolizing a child, and wrapped it in a scarf, putting it in a closet, where the newlyweds first ate separately from everyone else, and then spent their wedding night. In some areas, it was the custom to arrange a bed for newlyweds in a cage or stable, which is associated with the idea of ​​fertility and childbirth.

"Outlines"

“Otvodiny” (joint visit of the bride’s parents to the young) marks the end of the wedding as a special state for all its participants. This element of the wedding ceremony is especially important for the bride, who comes for a short time and as a guest, which emphasizes the irreversibility of all the transformations that happened to her during the wedding. However, there are other data about the bride’s connection with her home. For example, in the Voronezh province, during the first year of marriage, a young woman lived with her mother and was engaged in spinning for her future needs.

At the heart of the majority wedding traditions ancient wedding rituals have been laid down, which have come down to us from pagan times that existed many centuries ago, then they had a certain meaning. Of course, weddings today and then in Rus' are very different from each other. Rituals and traditions have passed from past centuries to the present day in a modern and simplified form, having partially lost their original meaning.

On certain dates it was forbidden to hold a wedding, for example, during Lent, during Christmastide, and on Easter.

Often the choice of the bride and groom was made by the parents of the newlyweds. But it happened that parents approved of their children’s own choices.

The bride's parents prepared for their daughter, that is, the property that the bride will take with her after the wedding in new house. This could be furniture, clothing and jewelry, and even livestock.

Great attention was paid to the wedding night of the newlyweds; after the first day they were escorted to their bed and not disturbed. In the morning, relatives could check if there were stains on the sheets or the bride’s shirt, which indicated the girl’s honesty.

Previously, the sequence of wedding and preceding actions and rituals was as follows: the groom’s relatives to the bride, engagement, and such an unusual stage as “howling”.

They organized it for the bride and her bridesmaids, and for the groom and his friends. Special attention They also paid for the bride's ransom from her relatives, and then the newlyweds were married. Then the newlyweds and guests walked and went to the celebration.

Even after the adoption of Christianity, the Slavs remained quite superstitious, and this was reflected in their rituals. The main thing was to protect the young from the evil eye and damage.

Matchmaking and betrothal ceremony

IN modern form The matchmaking process is skipped in most cases and is considered optional and symbolic.

And before, not a single wedding was complete without it; the ceremony was called “handshake”. The groom and his friends and relatives came to the bride’s house, they praised the groom and asked for the girl’s hand in marriage.

On this day, they agreed on when the wedding would take place, discussed the details and calculated the finances.

For the first time, the newlyweds were called bride and groom in front of everyone, and the guy gave the girl a ring and other gifts.

Parents blessed the newlyweds and gave parting words for a happy and long life together. A small feast was arranged, where, in addition to relatives, witnesses to the matchmaking ceremony were present.

"Vytie" and bachelorette party

After the newlyweds were engaged, the wedding began. At this time, the bride was supposed not to leave the house, but to lament and cry about her life in her parents’ house, since after the wedding she moved into the groom’s family in a new status.

The bride's friends and relatives came to the bachelorette party. They also cried and unbraided the bride’s braid, which meant that she was moving to another status, becoming a wife to her husband, a woman.

Groom's bachelor party

In the old days, a bachelor party was called a “youth party.” As a rule, it took place at the groom's house in the form of a feast, during which farewell to his single life and friends took place. Having had fun, the groom and his relatives went to visit the bride with gifts and a good mood.

Bride ransom

Previously, at the ransom, before the groom came to pick up the bride, they swept the road to the house very well, so that the young people would not come across a stone or an object with a curse along the way.

First, the groom and his friends and relatives bought the way to the house, then the door to the house and the bride’s room, then the future wife herself. This ritual of ransom was used to appease both the spirits and relatives of the bride for a happy future life.

In order for the family to have prosperity and well-being, after the ransom and before entering the church, the young people were sprinkled with millet or hops.

Wedding

The wedding ceremony is an ancient Christian rite in the process of a Russian wedding. There was a custom that the bride and groom were taken to church by different roads to ward off the evil eye, or, for example, a superstition that parents were not present at the wedding ceremony.

They laid, and are now laying, a scarf under the feet of the young husband and wife and sprinkled them with small change so that their life would be prosperous.

At the end of the ceremony, the bride and groom simultaneously extinguished the wedding candles, which were then preserved until the birth.

Previously, in church, at weddings, they would also break dishes in order to live happily; part of this sign has been preserved to this day. But now they don’t break dishes in church anymore.

After the wedding ceremony, the bridesmaids braided the young wife’s two braids, put them in her hair around her head and put on a warrior, this is the headdress worn by married women.

In modern weddings, this ritual has evolved into a process where the bride's veil is removed from her head, which also signifies the transition to married life.

Walking

This ancient tradition has been preserved to this day. Before the celebration in the restaurant, the newlyweds ride around the city through parks, memorable and beautiful places.

In the old days, it was a tradition after the wedding of the bride and groom to take them along a winding road to the house of their new husband.

And it was not customary for the bride to cross the threshold herself; her husband carried her in his arms in order to deceive the evil forces and avoid the bride’s tripping; this was considered a very bad omen.

Just like today, the young parents greeted the newlyweds with bread and salt, and the bride and groom each took a bite of a piece of loaf, which they then broke over their heads.

In the future, the family had to keep this bread all their lives, as a symbol of family wealth.

In addition to wealth, the young people wanted more children, and for this purpose they put the young people on animal skins.

Wedding feast traditions

We walked and celebrated the wedding for several days. The first day was at the groom's house, the second at the bride's house, the third day we walked again at the groom's house.

According to tradition, on the first day of the festivities, the young couple did not eat anything. And after the first day, the ritual of “laying down” the young took place, which meant healthy offspring.

On the second and third days, the young wife was given checks, for example, she had to light the stove, cook something, sweep.

Since ancient times in culture different nations wedding traditions around the world have been and remain one of the most vibrant and original. They reveal ethnic and religious characteristics and traditions of a particular people. After all, a wedding day is the beginning of a new life for the newlyweds, the creation of a new family for a community of people.

Unfortunately, today many wedding rites and traditions in Rus' have been forgotten, although interest in them is widespread Lately is reborn.

Ancient chronicles indicate that initially there were no generally accepted wedding traditions; different tribes had different customs. The Polyans, for example, greatly respected the sanctity of marriage; spouses were charged with maintaining peace in the family and mutual respect. But from the Drevlyans and northerners, you could simply kidnap the girl you liked from your own or another tribe and live with her without any rituals, and in a polygamous marriage.

The gradual unification of tribes into a single state brought their traditions, including weddings, closer together. Until the baptism of Rus', all spheres of life of the ancient Slavs were saturated with paganism, and wedding ceremonies were no exception: pagan deities were begged for favor new family, danced around the fires, doused themselves with water.

With the baptism of Rus', new customs began to emerge, which significantly affected the order of the wedding, but for many centuries, right up to the present day, echoes of paganism can still be heard in Russian rituals and traditions. There was a merger of two beliefs, which created a unique culture, characteristic only of Rus'.

The main change in the marriage ceremony was the need to consecrate the marriage by the church. The rest of the wedding was as usual: mass celebrations, entertainment, “feast on the mountain,” often lasting 3-4 days. TO XVI century In Rus', there was a procedure for conducting a wedding ceremony, which clearly regulated the role of each participant, wedding clothing, stages of the wedding, and even the dishes served on the table.

Russian wedding rituals were religious and magical actions designed to give the new family health, prosperity, harmony in relationships, and children. In addition, one of the main goals of such a ritual was to protect the young couple from the evil eye and damage, since it was believed that it was on this day that she was most vulnerable. Both people and wedding attributes were called upon to protect the newlyweds. So, the bride's veil was supposed to hide her from evil spirits. The groom's friend and bridesmaid must be with them at all times to "confuse" the spirits. Wedding ceremonies for widowed people were already taking place in a more simplified manner.

Traditionally, autumn and winter were considered the most suitable time for a wedding in Rus'. This was a time free from agricultural work. In the spring and summer, only marriages took place due to circumstances, for example, the bride’s pregnancy, and in May, marriages almost did not take place at all.
In addition, there were not many days suitable for a wedding: weddings were prohibited during Lent, on Maslenitsa, Easter Week, Christmastide, on the eve of the Twelfth Orthodox holidays, and even on the eve of Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, on the day preceding the patronal feasts of that church, on where it was planned to perform the Sacrament of Wedding.

Wedding preparations

They prepared for marriage from the first years of life: girls learned how to manage a household and prepared a dowry. The wedding ceremony in Rus' obligated the bride to present each relative of the groom with a gift of a towel on the wedding day, the groom with an embroidered shirt and long johns, and his mother with three shirts, a cut for a sundress, and a scarf on her head.

Brides were chosen at bride shows, which were held during spring-summer festivities or patronal feasts. The groom's parents chose the bride, coordinating the choice with all the relatives; they usually did not ask the guy's opinion. Without the blessing of parents, marriages were extremely rare, were considered unhappy and were condemned by the public.

Since girls usually did not have the right to choose, they often resorted to fortune telling, trying to predict what their betrothed would be like when the wedding took place. Fortune telling was most often done on Christmastide or on Intercession Day - from dreams, mirrors, reflections in water, and candles.

Returning to the Russian wedding ceremony, let's say that after the groom's relatives agreed on the bride's candidacy, they chose an intermediary - a matchmaker or matchmaker, quick-tongued fellow villagers who knew how to settle such matters.

Matchmaking

The day, time and route of the matchmakers were kept secret. The matchmaking ritual was accompanied by many magical actions. Negotiations were conducted either with the bride's father, or with her older brother or mother. For the second, “official” matchmaking, the bride’s parents were already waiting for the matchmakers and preparing the table, lighting candles and lamps. If the bride's parents agreed to their daughter's marriage, a marriage contract- a “line-by-line entry” that specifies the entire range of issues related to the marriage being concluded.

The bride gave the groom a pledge - a scarf that had great legal force. A few days after this, the bride's father or her older brother came to the groom's house to inspect his household.

If the bride's parents were satisfied with the inspection of the groom's household, they invited his parents to a viewing in the bride's house. For the girl, this was the first wedding test. She was dressed up and a veil was thrown over her face. The matchmaker started a conversation with her, often the girl was forced to demonstrate her skills, they were forced to walk, checking if she was limping; the groom’s father could look at her face. If he kissed a girl on both cheeks, it was a sign that he liked the girl.

In this case, the show ended with a “drunken feast.” Soon a conspiracy was arranged, during which the compilation of the row record was completed, and the dates for the wedding were set. The agreement had legal force, it ended with the ceremony of shaking hands: the young fathers beat hand in hand, then shook hands with each other, wrapped in scarves, and then exchanged a business handshake. Then they exchanged pies, hugged each other with wishes: “May you be my matchmaker and new relatives.”

Engagement

The handshake was followed by a betrothal ceremony (or pilgrimage), at which time the young couple kissed three times, then exchanged rings. The betrothal was reinforced by drinking or drinking - a joint feast. At this time, the bride distributed prepared gifts (towels, shirts, towels) to future relatives, treated the guests to wine, bowing to them to the ground. After the conspiracy, the bride was called a “conspirator.”

From that moment on, she did not leave the house, mourning her girlhood. The groom, on the contrary, did not sit at home; every day he visited the bride’s house with gifts. The evening before the wedding was called a “bachelorette party”; the bride said goodbye to her family, girlhood, and freedom. Her lamentations and the sad songs of her friends sounded. At the same time, the ritual of unbraiding the girl’s braid was performed. The girl gave the ribbon previously woven into her braid to her friends. With lamentations, her girlfriends escorted her to the bathhouse, where they hovered with brooms sent by the groom.

Wedding

In the old days, the wedding ceremony, which was usually held in the evening, was called the Judgment of God. In the morning, the bridesmaids equipped the hero of the occasion: they washed, dressed, and hung up decorations. Silver was placed in the water for washing. After this, the bride was seated under the icons, and wedding songs were sung to her. Then, when everything was ready for the groom’s arrival, the symbol of girlhood – a crown – was placed on the bride’s head and solemnly led out by two matchmakers.

Women-dancers walked ahead, followed by loaf-makers, then candle-makers with a massive wedding candle. Next they carried wedding rings. The guests sat down at the table, and the matchmaker asked the parents for their blessing to twist and comb the bride, then she took off her veil and crown, combed the bride with a comb in honey, twisted her hair and put on a kika, after which she covered the bride with the veil again. During this ceremony, the candle makers held a piece of cloth between the bride and groom. The feast continued.

After the third course, the matchmaker asked the parents for their blessing, and the newlyweds were taken to church. The guests stood up, the bride's parents held the icons in their hands. The newlyweds bowed to the priest, the bride's parents handed her over to the groom. The father hit the bride with a whip. ordering to obey the husband, and handed over this whip to the newlywed.

After the wedding, the bride's veil was removed. The entire wedding ceremony was accompanied by a mass of signs that have developed among the people over centuries: who holds the candle higher, who is the first to step towards the lectern, etc.
When leaving the church, the newlyweds were showered with hemp and flax seeds.

The groom's parents met them at the outskirts or gates of the house, the father-in-law with an icon, and the mother-in-law with bread and salt. The bread was broken into two halves over the newlyweds. The young people bowed at the feet of their parents, and they blessed them. The couple walked around the wedding table three times, then the wedding feast began.

wedding feast

Young for wedding table They didn’t eat or drink anything, but only accepted congratulations. When the third dish was brought to the table, the newlyweds were taken to the hay barn, to the marriage bed.

With the departure of the newlyweds, the feast flared up - the “mountain” table was set, to which guests from the bride’s side usually arrived. During the night, the young couple were unceremoniously lifted out of bed several times and taken out to the guests, who did not stop having fun.

Early in the morning the young people were woken up again. They were dressed and escorted to the table, where the fun continued. True, it was already, as we now usually say, a “sweet table.” A little later, since the drunken guests had no time for the young ones, those who had not slept and were tired could quietly leave the feast and go to rest.

On the same day, a ritual bath was prepared for the young people. They were accompanied to wash with songs, sweeping the road with brooms. In the bathhouse, the matchmaker checked the newlywed's shirt to detect traces of virginity. Often the fact of the young woman’s innocence was demonstrated to fellow villagers.

On the third day of the wedding, the young woman was tested - she had to show her skills as a worker and housewife. The young wife lit the stove, swept the floors, prepared dinner, and the guests had to disturb her in every possible way.

Traditionally, a Russian wedding lasted three days.

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