What does a brownie look like? How to appease a brownie? Is there a brownie
In the old days, it was believed that in every dwelling there is a real "owner", whose name is brownie. He keeps the owner's family out of trouble, looks after the household, and helps in difficult times. But this creature can do harm. This happens if he is offended. Nobody knows exactly what a brownie looks like. But many traditions and legends have come down to our time, from which we can learn a lot of interesting things about the appearance of this creature, its character and inclinations.
Who is a brownie?
The ancient Slavs believed in various mythical creatures that guarded forests, fields, swamps, ponds and villages. Legends have survived to this day about the existence in every house, whether in a village or in a city, of brownies who took care of their owners and were patrons of their homes. Such a creature was called differently: brownie, hatnik, golbeshnik, baker, grandfather-brother, ruler, master, and so on. It all depends on where this mythical hero lives. The baker, of course, is found behind the stove, the barn - in the barn, the bannik - in the bath, and so on. Today we are thinking: “Is there a brownie at all?” And in the days of our great-grandmothers, absolutely everyone believed in it. It was believed that there is one in every family.
If the owners of the house move somewhere, they must certainly take their brownie with them. Otherwise, the troubles of the family cannot be avoided. There were people who claimed to have seen this creature. He appears before eyewitnesses in the form of a small hairy old man. And what the brownie looks like in reality, perhaps, no one knows. After all, sometimes he can take the form of one of the pets. So, for example, our cat can spin around for a long time when we cook in the kitchen. Entering the room, you can find that Murka is sleeping peacefully on the sofa. "Who was it?" - we are surprised. The appearance of the patron of the house can tell a lot about its owner. If the family of the spirit is good, prosperous, owns a strong economy, then this creature also has a pleasant, well-groomed appearance. And if the owner is poor, drinks bitter, has no wealth, then his brownie looks like a sickly creature in old rags. Rarely did anyone see him. The spirit appeared only on special occasions. For example, when he was called by a special spell or when he himself expressed a desire to show himself to someone. It is believed that seeing him is a bad sign. So the "owner" of the house warns his wards about the impending danger. In general, many legends and folk signs are associated with this creature. They will be discussed below.
Legends about the origin of the creature
The ancient Slavs believed that the brownie is none other than the firstborn of the family, its long-dead member, to whom the Lord gave the opportunity to atone for his earthly sins by serving living relatives. There are other legends about how this fabulous creature appeared. Here is one of them: “The first people, Adam and Eve, had many children. One day the Lord called the whole family to visit. But Adam did not want to lead all the children to God, and took only two sons - Cain and Abel. But is it possible to hide something from the Lord? He became angry with Adam and turned the children left in the house into spirits. They became good creatures, not related to evil spirits. And they also told about the origin of the brownies as follows: “God got angry at the evil demons who rebelled against him and threw them to the ground. Some of these representatives of evil spirits also got into people's houses. Having settled next to a person, these spirits settled down and went limp, became good helpers to him. Unlike their other relatives: kikimor, goblin, water and others. Our ancestors tried to imagine what a brownie looks like. He was drawn as a small wrinkled old man with cheerful lively eyes and a large beard.
It was believed that he lives an average of 500-600 years. Born an old man, but dies - a baby. The younger he is, the older he is.
Golbeshnik from Northern Russian legends
In each locality of our vast homeland, the mythical owner of the house was represented in its own way. The inhabitants of the northern region of Russia believed that in every family there lives a creature that no one sees. They call him the goblin. Where does this strange name come from? It was believed that the spirit lives under the stove behind the partition (golbets) from the side of the underground. This creature is kind, takes care of the household, often grumbles. But at the same time, it does no harm to anyone. It was believed that if such a brownie is in the house, then its owners are protected from troubles and intrigues of bad people. But if another spirit, called gnetko, settled in the family, then misfortune could happen. This creature leaned on a person during sleep in the form of a pet and choked. It could end badly: in the morning, relatives found the sleeping dead. Therefore, they tried hard to "bring" out of the house. Stories about brownies from life are like fairy tales. However, eyewitnesses claim that many phenomena in our apartments, those that cannot be explained from the point of view of common sense, are due to the fault of the spirits that live here. There were other varieties of brownies in the legends of the western and northern villages: lizun (licked wool from livestock and hair from small children), shepherd (appeared in the form of a ghost on the walls of the house) and so on. Such a variety of appearances of the home guardian is typical for the beliefs of this region of Russia.
On the nature and "type of activity" of the spirit
As we have already found out, brownies are more often kind than evil. It all depends on whether the owner is good or bad in the house, and on how he treats the spirits that live in his home. If the owners care about cleanliness in the rooms, about the health of the cattle in the yard, about their material well-being, then this creature helps its wards in everything. What does the brownie do? He protects the house from thieves, warns of imminent danger, makes friends with the master's dog and horses. With the latter, he often likes to indulge, for example, braiding their manes into pigtails. But if he dislikes any cattle, then he tortures her to death. Therefore, a far-sighted owner, acquiring new pets, tries to please the spirit. He buys individuals of those breeds and colors that his grandfather-brother likes.
The patron does not favor only goats. It is believed that he is afraid of them. This spirit loves to play pranks very much. A real brownie is a big joker. At night he is busy in the kitchen, rattling plates and cups. Sometimes it can break something, trample. The household members who got up are unlikely to catch the mischievous person in his occupation. They will see only fragments of broken dishes, dirt in the kitchen, bad writing on the wall, and so on. Or it may be that the hostess, who left the dough or milk on the stove to come up, turned away just for a minute, and the food was already on the floor. They say: "The brownie is pampering." In the apartment, he likes cleanliness and order. But lazy, greedy and unfair owners are often punished. And some pranks are not enough here. To the greedy owner will let thieves into the house. The unjust will set a fire in such a way that the owner will lose everything, and so on. But most of all he does not like the brownie when they forget about him. If the owner does not honor the guardian spirits of his family, then these creatures begin to misbehave and play pranks. To appease them, it is enough to leave a treat in a corner of the house or yard. They are not picky about food. Therefore, everything edible can be a treat: sweets, bread, milk, grain, and so on.
"Relatives" of the brownie
Kikimora. It is the closest relative of the patron spirit of the house. She looks like a dwarf woman with a thimble head and a body as thin as a straw. It can live both in the house behind the stove (home), and in the field, in the forest, in the swamp (marsh or forest). Refers to evil spirits. If this is a domestic creature, then it often makes noise at night, prevents the owners from sleeping, harms their livestock (more often chickens), and breaks the dishes.
Getting rid of it is quite difficult. But you can protect your home so that a kikimora and a brownie cannot play pranks in it. In the apartment, you need to do the following: tie a salt shaker on the table with a juniper belt. If a kikimora harasses the owner's chickens, then a charm must be hung over the perch - the neck of a broken jug with a piece of red cloth. Our ancestors believed that dead unbaptized babies turn into these ugly females. Kikimora swamp or forest appeared before people in the form of a small dry old woman in rags, slovenly and a little eccentric. There were legends about her as a kidnapper of small children, instead of whom she threw an enchanted field to her parents.
Bannik. Like the kikimora, it is the closest relative of the guardian spirit. He even looks very much like a brownie. Often he is depicted as a small, dark old man with a long, moldy beard. He lives in a bath. Loves to play pranks. Either he will scald someone with boiling water, or he will frighten him with a knock on the wall. How to appease the brownie-attendant? Leave him a crust of rye bread, savoryly sprinkled with salt. This is his favorite treat. And in the newly built bathhouse, a special cruel ritual is carried out: they take a black chicken and, without plucking it, strangle it and bury it right there in the ground at the threshold. It is believed that in this way one can protect oneself from the intrigues of the spirit.
Goblin. This is the forest spirit. In each locality, he was called differently: leshak, and forest man, and the owner of the forest, and the forest grandfather, and so on. He takes care of the forest, the animals and birds that inhabit it. Many people think that he is kind. However, this spirit treats everyone differently. A good person will be helped to get out of the forest if he gets lost. But he will deliberately confuse the bad: he will start to frighten, auk, make him wander aimlessly in circles. What the goblin looks like, no one knows. It is believed that this is an invisible spirit. In ancient legends, he is represented as a lonely big old man, resembling a decrepit tree. Mushroom pickers and berry pickers can sometimes pass by him and not notice. This is not surprising: only by looking closely, you can see the hair, similar to twigs, arms and legs, reminiscent of tree roots, a beard covered with lichens. Although often the spirit of the forest can take on the appearance of some plant or animal. Some people told about meeting them in the forest thicket. They met an inconspicuous person whose faces they could not remember. The stranger talked to them, helped to get out. And when they got home, people couldn't even describe it. Nobody could remember what he looked like. It was believed that the goblin lives in a wooden hut in a dark dense spruce forest far from human eyes. All animals and birds, feeling the approach of death, come to the house of the spirit to find their last refuge here. He takes care of his charges. So, in times of famine, he drives flocks of animals to feed in other forests. It was with this phenomenon that the mass migrations of animals were associated. Since ancient times, people have tried to appease the goblin, since in the villages they lived on the gifts of the forest. Being angry, the spirit could bring a lot of trouble to a person. One of them is the theft of livestock. For the rural economy, this was a great loss. And the goblin could steal the baby from the cradle. Instead of a child, parents found a sheaf of straw, a block of wood or a log in the morning. It was believed that the abducted children were brought up by the spirits of the forest, passing on secret witchcraft knowledge to them. Such a person subsequently became a healer or an evil magician.
Goose. This is a spirit that lives in a threshing floor (a wooden extension near the house for drying hay). If you do not get along with the bean goose, he can start a fire in his possession, and the owner will be left without hay. He will have nothing to feed his pets. It is believed that this is the most evil spirit of all of the above. It is extremely difficult to appease him. The only way to do this is to sacrifice a black rooster to him. This ritual is bloody. They act as follows: they bring pies and a rooster to the threshing floor. On the threshold, the bird's head is cut off and all the corners of the building are sprinkled with blood. The pies are left right there. They leave without looking back. The custom was most common in the Kostroma province.
Folk omens
Since ancient times, people have believed that if you live according to the laws of nature, respecting its patrons, then you can not be afraid of something bad. It was believed that when moving to another house, it is necessary to call the guardian spirit with you.
They did it in the following way: they took an old boot or a hat and, holding a thing in their left hand, went around the whole house counterclockwise. At the same time, it was necessary to utter such a spell: “Grandfather-neighbor, here is our sleigh for you, go live with us. There's a house, brownie, let's go live with me. Lead your mistress, as best I can, I will reward. You need to go around the apartment when all the furniture is taken out. You should be the last to leave, closing the door with a lock. And this is how our ancestors did when they wanted a good brownie to move with them to a new place: for a housewarming party they put one coin in the underground, and sometimes four (according to the number of corners in the house). The first loaf that was baked in the oven of the new hut was taken out, cut off a crust from it, salted and thrown behind the stove to treat their patron. There are many other folk signs associated with this creature:
If the brownie often strangles his master at night, you need to invite a priest to the house to bless him three times.
If the spirit of the home often plays pranks, bothers its wards, you need to put a handful of thyme in the pillow.
If the brownie does not like the owner, you need to bury the goat's head or skull in front of the threshold of the house.
If in the morning the tenants find bruises on their bodies, it means that the spirit does not like them, you need to appease him.
If the creature strokes the owner with a warm and smooth hand, this is to well-being, and if it is cold and rough, it is unfortunate.
If one of the acquaintances stays overnight in an apartment for the first time, you need to ask permission from the "owner" of the house. Otherwise, he will become angry and will not allow the person to rest at night, pushing and oppressing him. And this despite the fact that no one has ever seen him and does not know what the brownie looks like. His photo does not exist. However, many claim that they felt unreasonable anxiety and excitement in a similar situation.
Hear the groans or howls of the patron of the house - to the death of his owner.
How to call a brownie?
It is believed that you can see the guardian spirit at home only if he himself wishes it. Since ancient times, people have wondered what a brownie looks like. And there were those who claimed that at a certain moment they noticed how a small human-like creature overgrown with thick hair was watching them. The villagers believed that this was an unkind sign. So the spirit warns of danger. And how to make a brownie appear to us? Many peasants who lived in the countryside knew how to call him. The method is quite simple. It is necessary to throw an unused comb into a bucket of clean water and leave it for three days. After a while, a human hair was found there. It was taken out and dried. At a certain moment, the spirit of the house might appear for a few seconds.
But he did not always appear in human form. There were cases when people told that at the entrance to a barn or barnyard they saw a huge black cat, which, when they appeared, rushed into a corner and disappeared. They talked about it like this: "The brownie showed up."
How to appease the "owner" of the house?
In the old days, people were afraid of brownies and tried in every possible way to "appease" them. Spirits love it when people remember them, leave treats and congratulate them on the holiday. There are several ways to appease a brownie. The easiest of them is to leave a small gift in the corner of the room. The "owner" of the house also loves to be affectionately called. He does not like the word "brownie". He prefers the nicknames "grandfather", "hostess", "kind", "himself" and so on. This spirit is very sensitive to a trick on the part of a person. Therefore, when speaking with him, you need to put your soul into the words, pronounce them from the heart. This creature also has its own holiday - on the night of February 9-10. It is necessary to treat your brownie with something tasty on this day. The ancient Slavs even had such a tradition: to cook sweet porridge especially for him and put it behind the stove in the evening. It was believed that if you forget about this day, the brownie will get angry and begin to mischief with his masters.
Friends of children and cats
If there is a baby in the family, then he probably knows what a brownie looks like. The real patron of the home only in exceptional cases may appear to the head of the family or the hostess. But children see him often, especially small ones. He loves them, protects them from dangers, stops their pampering with sharp objects and matches. Kids, seeing a strange creature in the house, are not afraid of him. Perhaps they perceive it as part of the interior. It is often possible to observe how a child plays with someone invisible, laughs and screams. Pets probably also see the little man. By their reaction, you can always guess whether the brownie is in the house or not. If a cat looks intently into a corner, hisses for no reason, a dog barks anxiously at this place, you can be sure that you have a guardian spirit in front of you. If the animal runs after the invisible, plays with it, then the brownie liked it.
But if cats, dogs and other living creatures do not take root in the apartment, die or disappear, it means that the spirit disliked them.
Impact on culture
In Russia, the image of the guardian spirit, as before, was very much loved, and so they adore it now. It doesn't matter to us whether there really are brownies. We are ready to listen to stories about them endlessly. Suffice it to recall here the popular cartoon from our childhood about brownie Kuzya or Nick Perumov's book "Russian Sword". In 1976, a fairy tale feature film called "Duck Village" was released on television. Domovoy Shishka was played by the legendary actor Rolan Bykov. Not only in Russian culture, but also abroad, these strange mythical little men are popular. So, in the heptology of Joan Kathleen Rowling "Harry Potter" there is a mention of such creatures - house elves. According to the history of the series of books, they live in families of wealthy wizards and serve their masters. They can get freedom only if the owner gives them clothes. The theme of guardian spirits is also reflected in the visual arts. The remarkable artist Boris Kustodiev has a painting "The Merchant and the Brownie". In it, the master depicted a very piquant scene: a white-bodied, dazzlingly beautiful young merchant’s wife is basking on the bed half asleep, and the pot-bellied, overgrown with thick hair, an eerie-looking “owner” of this hot Russian hut is watching her. Looking at this work, you can vividly imagine what a brownie looks like.
Many stories today can be heard about poltergeists in apartments. What it is: whether the spirits of the house, or some other entities - we do not know. And is there a brownie at all? Probably, for those who believe in him, he is real. And for those who are convinced that there is no "evil spirit", it does not exist.