Bereginya Slavic goddess. Slavyanskaya Bereginya - who is she? Bereginya and her people represented

Our ancestors believed that the entire space around them was inhabited by spirits and mythical creatures. Among these entities there were both evil and good. Bereginya belongs to the first category. This is a rather abstract, but extremely positive image.

Goddess or mermaid?

Legends about Beregin have been formed by our ancestors since time immemorial. According to most experts, this name originally denoted a deity whose main function was to protect all living things. Bereginya is the personification of all the good and positive forces of nature. It is believed that this goddess protected travelers from the machinations of evil entities in the thickets of forests and swamps, and also sent rain on the sown fields in time.

Bereginya is a good deity for everyone who honors the traditions of their ancestors and respects nature. But even she can be angered if natural resources are used irrationally, water bodies are polluted and forests are destroyed. In some legends and tales, Beregini are spirits of nature that live in bodies of water. Occasionally they come ashore, usually at night. There they swing on tree branches and comb their long hair.

Images of Bereginya mermaids in folk tales

Bereginya as the goddess of fertility is the embodiment of natural forces and feminine wisdom. Our ancestors believed that this deity always evaluates a person according to his spiritual qualities, purity of heart and thoughts. Good people should not have been afraid of meeting Bereginya. But those who do not respect nature or have forgotten the traditions of their ancestors could be severely punished by the goddess.

The image of Beregini is described somewhat differently in some individual legends. In a number of folk tales this name is used to refer to water spirits. Beregini in these legends appear before the observer in the images of young, ideally built women. They go out to the banks of reservoirs at night and have fun. Beregini cannot move far from water, as they will die if their hair dries out. The beauties play with each other, sing songs in magical voices, weave flower wreaths and track down lonely travelers.

Young men should beware of Beregin. Despite the fact that Bereginya is always a kind and harmless spirit, having played out, she can lure the young man she likes into the pool of the lake and destroy him - tickle him. It is believed that water spirits are afraid of wormwood grass; it is enough just to throw it in their direction to break the spell.

Sometimes Beregin was accused of minor harm to humanity. Our ancestors believed that water maidens could steal handicrafts from women, break fishing nets, and damage dams or millstones. Of course, all these pranks were performed for fun, and not out of malicious intent.

Origin of Beregin

There are several versions about how Beregini appeared. According to the most romantic of them, pure girls who died before marriage became good spirits. Beregins are often depicted with beautiful but sad faces. Such images lead to the belief that these creatures are the reincarnated souls of girls who committed suicide or were abused.

According to another version, Bereginya is a wise woman with a kind heart, the strongest sorceress of her kind.

What does Bereginya look like?

Our ancestors believed that Bereginya had very long hair of a light or greenish tint. This deity appeared before people in the form of a beautiful green-eyed woman with ideal facial features and body proportions. Beregini-mermaids often appeared naked before travelers, but sometimes they could be dressed in undershirts. Their hair is often decorated with flowers. Bereginya (as the personification of natural forces) can be depicted in rich folk clothes. Sometimes the goddess's hair is braided in thick and long braids, the color of ripe ears of wheat.

Deity symbols

It is worth noting that Bereginya belongs to the lowest. Our ancestors perceived her, rather, as a mythical helper and protector. At the same time, the image of this creature remains quite abstract, without clearly defined individual characteristics.

There is also a Slavic symbol. Bereginya is a rune that symbolizes fate and rock itself. This sign is often considered a reminder that higher powers can either give life to a person or take it away.

Each Bereginya has a magic comb. She combs her long hair with it. With this item, a spirit can flood any place. Beregin's favorite tree is the birch - a symbol of the Russian land. Folklore often describes water maidens swinging on the branches of weeping willows growing near the water.

Bereginya - folk doll

In some regions of our country Bereginya is also known. We are talking about a powerful amulet, and not about a children's toy. Our ancestors revered their women as homemakers, caring mothers and wise wives. The collective image of the doll included all the best qualities of female nature.

Most often, such a talisman was placed opposite the front door. Its main function was to protect the home from evil spirits and people with bad intentions. And the Bereginya doll was supposed to welcome and attract good and long-awaited guests into the house. In some regions, this amulet, on the contrary, was considered personal. Such dolls were hidden from prying eyes and only occasionally taken out, when alone, to thank or ask for something.

Like all other Slavic amulets, the Bereginya doll had to be made by an experienced craftswoman in compliance with many rules and rituals. Today only a few have this knowledge. And yet we are ready to tell you the general rules for creating your own protector.

Master class on making a talisman

You should start working on any amulet alone, with a calm mood and pure thoughts. Prepare all necessary materials in advance. The main rule is that the Bereginya doll must be made without a single stitch with a needle. To work, you will need scraps of natural fabric in white and red, matching threads, you can use lace and ribbons in suitable shades. If possible, take some birch bark for the base of the body of the future doll.

Start by making the frame. For it you need to roll birch bark or fabric into a tube. If your doll is entirely textile, fold the twisted flap in half and use a thread to separate the head from the body. When using a birch bark tube as a base, textile bundles such as arms and a head are separately tied to it with a thread.

Bereginya is a talisman that has no face. But to make the head, it is fundamentally important to use white fabric.

Before you start making the doll's outfit, it is important to shape its figure. In Slavic traditions, Bereginya necessarily had lush breasts. This part of the body is also made of a fabric roll tied with threads.

The next step is the doll's clothing. You will have to make a skirt, shirt and apron from scraps of fabric. Remember that you cannot use a needle; all elements must be attached only with threads. Don't forget to make a headdress. To attract wealth and well-being to your home, you can additionally attach a bag of grain and a coin to Bereginya’s body.

Is there a place for Beregins in the modern world?

Most modern people consider the traditions of our distant ancestors to be hopelessly outdated and irrelevant in the modern world. Many do not even know the meaning of the word Bereginya, and in vain. After all, a real woman should be exactly like this deity. We are talking about a good housewife, mother and wife. During her life, each representative of the fair sex plays many roles: from daughter to grandmother. At every age, you should strive to cultivate and demonstrate only the best qualities of character. The Bereginya woman will always be happy and will be able to build a strong and friendly family.

Andrey Klimenko

Victor Korolkov

Some concepts of Slavic mythology go back to such ancient times that it is difficult and even sometimes impossible to determine how and why they came to be called that way and what role they played in the life of our ancestors. These are some faceless forces: bereginii, ghouls, navyi. Perhaps there was not even a clear distinction between them as beneficent and harmful; they were revered with equal zeal.

Gradually, clearer images of gods and goddesses formed, acquiring a specific appearance. The worship of the beregins began to be combined with the worship of Rod and Mokosha - the patrons of fertility.

Boris Olshansky

The ancient Slavs believed that Bereginya was the great goddess who gave birth to all things. She is accompanied everywhere by luminous horsemen, personifying the sun. She was especially often addressed during the period of ripening of bread - this indicates that the goddess belonged to the supreme patrons of the human race.

Some scientists believe that the name “bereginya” is similar to the name of the thunderer Perun and the Old Slavonic word “pregynya” - “hill covered with forest.” In turn, this word is related to the word “breg”, “berer”. But the rituals of invoking and conjuring beregins were usually performed on the elevated, hilly banks of rivers. Perhaps no less significant here is the word “amulet”. After all, the great goddess had to protect the people she created!

Gradually, our ancestors came to believe that there were many beregins in the world, they lived in forests. The cult of the great Beregini was represented by the birch tree - the embodiment of heavenly radiance, light, therefore, over time, the birch tree began to be especially revered at the “mermaids”: ancient pagan festivals in honor of the beregini - forest mermaids.

According to popular beliefs, betrothed brides who died before the wedding turned to beregins. For example, those girls who committed suicide because of the betrayal of a treacherous groom. In this they differed from the water mermaids, who always live in the water and are born there. On Rusalnaya, or Trinity, week, at the time of flowering of rye, beregins appeared from the other world: they came out of the ground, descended from heaven along birch branches, and emerged from rivers and lakes. They combed their long green braids, sitting on the bank and looking into the dark waters, swung on birch trees, wove wreaths, tumbled in the green rye, danced in circles and lured young handsome men to them. Each guy was a lost groom for the beregina, and they drove many crazy with their beauty and cruelty.
But then the week of dancing and round dances ended - and the beregins left the earth to return to the next world again. On the day of Ivan Kupala, people gave them a farewell: they had fun, put on animal masks, played the harp, and jumped over bonfires.

Bereginya is a goddess who protects and protects all living things. Goddesses protected people from evil spirits and predicted what would happen in the future. Beregini saved people from the machinations of devils, watermen and kikimoras, helping them get to the shore. They saved small children who had fallen into the water; they personified the good forces of nature. They took care of the crops and the timely rain for them. Take care of the deities of fertility and moisture, they watered the fields with dew from magic horns. But over time, people stopped caring and avoiding nature, polluting the water, which offended the Beregins, and then the Beregins began to protect nature against them. Bereginya is a mid-level deity, one of the first to whom the Slavs began to make sacrifices.

The ancient Slavs believed that Bereginya was the great goddess who gave birth to all things. She is accompanied everywhere by luminous horsemen, personifying the sun. She was especially often addressed during the period of ripening of bread - this indicates that the goddess belonged to the supreme patrons of the human race.

Some scientists believe that the name “bereginya” is similar to the name of the thunderer Perun and the Old Slavonic word “pregynya” - “hill covered with forest.” In turn, this word is related to the word “breg”, “berer”. But the rituals of invoking and conjuring beregins were usually performed on the elevated, hilly banks of rivers.

Perhaps no less significant here is the word “amulet”. After all, the great goddess had to protect the people she created!
Gradually, our ancestors came to believe that there were many beregins in the world, they lived in forests. The cult of the great Beregini was represented by the birch tree - the embodiment of heavenly radiance, light, therefore, over time, it was the birch that began to be especially revered at the “mermaids”: ancient pagan festivals in honor of the beregini - forest mermaids.
According to popular beliefs, betrothed brides who died before the wedding turned to beregins. For example, those girls who committed suicide because of the betrayal of a treacherous groom. In this they differed from the water mermaids, who always live in the water and are born there. On Rusalnaya, or Trinity, week, at the time of flowering of rye, beregins appeared from the other world: they came out of the ground, descended from heaven along birch branches, and emerged from rivers and lakes. They combed their long green braids, sitting on the bank and looking into the dark waters, swung on birch trees, wove wreaths, tumbled in the green rye, danced in circles and lured young handsome men to them. Each guy was a lost groom for the beregin, and they drove many crazy with their beauty and cruelty.
But then the week of dancing and round dances ended - and the beregins left the earth to return to the next world again. On the day of Ivan Kupala, people gave them a farewell: they had fun, put on animal masks, played the harp, and jumped over bonfires.

BEREGINYA: A LEGEND

Bereginya lives in the water, preferring empty and remote places, rarely going out to where she swings on the trees that grow near the shore. The busty beauty prefers weeping birch or willow. If you take this temptress by surprise, you can see her footprints that remain on the wet sand, and usually Bereginya hides them by digging up the sand.
Bereginya comes ashore, both alone and with her friends. This is where the fun starts for them. Beauties bathe, sing cheerful songs with their alluring and seductive voices, call each other, weave wreaths from flowers with which they decorate their beautiful hair. Round dances are performed with games, songs and dances.
Beregini love to tangle fishermen's nets while splashing in the water. They damage millers' dams and millstones. During the game, yarn and threads are often stolen from women. When they see a passerby, Beregini like to tickle him after they attract his attention. In such cases, wormwood helps if you throw it in their face, it will scare them away and calm them down. When they get bored, they wrap their wings behind the geese’s back, one after the other.

BEREGINYA: MAGICAL OBJECT - COMB
Beregini has a magical object - this is a comb. With its help, it can flood even a dry place. Bereginya combs her gorgeous long hair with a comb, this way she moisturizes herself, and while combing, water flows through her. If her hair dries, Bereginya dies, which is why she never goes far from the shore and lives in the water.
Beregini loves to turn the heads of young guys. And young handsome men cannot resist the alluring gaze and charms of these busty beauties.

Bereginya

Bereginya(usually in plural - beregini, berygini, veregini, peregini) - in East Slavic mythology, a female character mentioned in the original inserts in ancient Russian texts of the 14th-15th centuries - church teachings against paganism. The character's image and functions remain unclear and debatable.

Church Slavonic teachings against paganism list the beregins among the minor characters. For example, in “The Word of a Certain Lover of Christ”: And friends fire and stone and rivers and springs and banks. The author of “The Lay of Idols” mentions the beregins along with ghouls. Scribes mention that there were thirty beregins or “nine sisters far away,” which connects them with the fever sisters from the apocrypha of Byzantine origin.

Due to the obvious insufficiency of the source base for reconstructing the image of bereginya, clarification of the etymology of the word bereginya can shed some light on this problem. "Etymological Dictionary of Slavic Languages" reconstructs the form * Bergyni“shore fairy, mermaid”, and takes her to the “shore”. V. Dal also considered beregins to be mermaids in his “Explanatory Dictionary”. However, S. L. Nikolaev and A. B. Strakhov consider the connection of mermaids with bereginyas, and bereginyas with the shore, to be far-fetched, just as the connection of mermaids with the shore in popular ideas is not very clear. The word is obviously a folk reinterpretation in connection with protect, amulet and others, meaning “oak” or “forest deity”. Possible relics of the cult of beregins, recorded in ethnographic records, are also associated with the cult of trees and vegetation.

Ukrainians have noted pereghena- a costumed girl, frightening, for fun, her friends: in her outstretched arms she took a ball representing a head, and covered her arms and shoulders with clothes. In the Kanevsky district of the Kyiv province, peragene was the name given to the ritual that accompanies the weeding of beets, and the main character of this ritual. The main character of the ritual was the girl who was the most agile in her work. Peregenya was wrapped in red belts taken from all participants in the weeding, leaving only her eyes and mouth open. The arms raised above the head, in which the girl was holding a flower, were also wrapped. Often the pereghenya was carried on the shoulders. On a par with this rite is the Ukrainian rite of “Poplar” on Trinity, akin to the Russian Semitic rites with the birch tree and the Balkan rites of making rain - Dodola (Paparuda).

The Beregini Plain on Venus is named in her honor.

Examples of the use of the word bereginya in literature.

Mermaids and bereginii They will still have time to have some fun during Rusal Week, but now their time has not yet come.

But as bereginya, - said Lyubov Nikolaevna, - I am obliged to act independently, without waiting for your requests.

Again, this applies to her, but for us she is a slave and bereginya, this is her function in the universe, she asks us to take this circumstance into account.

Consequently, the people in whose presence she is renewed as a slave and bereginya, named, Burlakin has not yet been explained, but at the request and will of Shubnikov, as the owner of one of the main shares, Burlakin is recognized as Shubnikov’s accompanying person, his page, squire, counting device, confidante, childhood friend, and therefore he is given guest and advisory opportunities.

And so, let Lyubov Nikolaevna be a prisoner, and let her be a slave and bereginya, if she likes to be both this and that, and let her, enriched by our receipts, remain in her positions, functions in the universe, we will go to apartments, to shops and forget about her again.

However, Lyubov Nikolaevna made it clear to Shubnikov that she did not pretend to any superiority, that she was still a slave and bereginya, and only then a friend, associate and companion.

Curvy petite bereginya smiled at her: “Billy the Scarecrow is waiting for you in the lobby.”

At her call, ghouls and navys will swim out, the evil dead will rise from their graves, and bereginii in fear they will climb the highest trees, waiting out the dangerous night.

Well bereginii- they understand: give them the wealthy, the well-to-do, so that they have a two-spinning house, and a brick stove, and Greek money under the floorboards.

But in our settlement they lied, as if they were from Teplyn bereginii they walk under some Koshchei.

I knew about bereginya, probably more than other shareholders of the Kashin bottle, I read the works of Academician Boris Aleksandrovich Rybakov and other smart books, but I didn’t talk about it now.

However, having heard about wolves and sheep, he instantly remembered the stubby bereginya, and such anger came that it was simply impossible to stay at home.

This is Kashtanov, at times a dreamer and romantic, and even a windy man on flying days, who could imagine something, plunge into dreams or music, convince himself that he is captivated by the Kashin lightwing bereginya, but Mikhail Nikiforovich, a peasant son, was able, I believed, to distinguish a grain of wheat from fluff.

It’s as if Lyubov Nikolaevna never declared herself a slave and bereginya and especially did not come out of any bottles.

And I understood that Lyubov Nikolaevna herself, although she volunteered to be bereginya or was even ordered to become one, her nature did not at all coincide with the flow of the Kashinka River and the quiet gold of the trees near it.

Bereginya repeatedly mentioned in Slavic fairy tales. This is a Goddess who is capable of incarnating in other Slavic Goddesses, as well as in earthly women. This confirms her omnipresent nature and power. The Slavs recognized the power of the Goddess Beregini in protective dolls without faces. There is a special holiday dedicated to the Beregins and the Goddess Beregin herself.

Some researchers of Slavic mythology believe that Bereginya among the Slavs is, rather, a collective and abstract image of some ancient feminine force aimed at helping people who live by honor and truth. The deification of such a force and its personification occurred ambiguously and not among all Slavs. There are peoples who still reverence Bereginya as a patron spirit.

Bereginya turns into a Goddess every time she is given names - Zhiva, Lada, Lelya, Dana and others. This is how our Slavic ancestors imagined that the feminine primordial Origin has many forms, incarnations, and aspects. Therefore, Bereginya could well be some kind of Goddess, endowing an individual with her qualities, at the same time she could be an elemental natural spirit.

The word “bereginya” itself, according to experts, could come from both “pregynya” - a forest hill, and from “bereg” - to protect, protect. In the first case, it served to protect nature, and in the second, to protect people from evil. From time immemorial, people believed that Bereginya protects the human race, especially protects small children and helps preserve fields so that they achieve a rich harvest. Let us also highlight three main versions of occurrence Take care:

1. Beregini are female maternal powers, initially found only with the Progenitor Family, helping Him to create in every possible way. Subsequently, this power, dividing into itself, was manifested on Earth to help people, keep the fire of the hearth in the house, protect people from evil spells, witchcraft powers, and give fertility.
2. Kind mermaids emerging from the water in long white robes with flowing hair. Slavic beliefs endowed them with a fatal fate, believing that they were young, innocent girls who died prematurely. The mermaids at the same time acted as Beregins, protecting the harvest.
3. Powerful witches and sorceresses, who after death expressed a desire to protect part of nature, or part of the human race, or some kind of family. In this sense, any Bereginya was classified as a new Goddess (from the world of Navi).

The Rusal-Oberezhnaya theme has been entrenched among the Slavs to this day. But for the sake of fairness, it should be noted that the spirits of trees, rivers, lakes, meadows, fields, hills, forests, and air were also considered beregins. At the same time with all these “regalia”, the beregins endowed their power with women who got married and became mistresses of their homes. Now and today, good wives who live according to the covenant and law of the Slavic clans are called beregins of the clan, or beregins of their husband, family, and their children.

Goddess Bereginya - what do the Slavs know?

Portrayed Bereginya(or beregins) as follows:

1. A very young girl in white clothes, with blond hair and blue eyes.
2. A fabulously beautiful girl with green hair.
3. A beautiful green-eyed woman who gives fertility and protection to the Slavs.
4. In embroidery they depicted a woman with her arms raised as a sign of protection, her legs in the form of roots, symbolizing stability and strength from the Family.
5. The symbol is a rhombus with dots, other rhombuses, as well as protective dolls.

In literary descriptions and fine Slavic art, Bereginya was “painted” with peace and tranquility on her face. In her hands there will certainly always be either a flower (or a wreath of herbs and flowers), or a spikelet, or a noble bird. Some legends mention that ghouls, who bring pestilence and death to people, were fiercely afraid of her. Therefore, demands were brought to her to protect the family, home and the entire village. After all, only she can stop the approaching evil force.

In other cases, Bereginya was revered as the Goddess-Giver of all sorts of blessings.

She could bestow wealth, protect the harvest, the first shoots, and was known as the guardian of the family and hearth. Sending their husbands to war, women themselves played the role of guardians - they made various amulets, clothes, etc. with their own hands and spells.

For example, it was customary among the Western Slavs and southern border Cossacks to put on a shirt before a battle, with a wife’s hair (or several hairs) sewn into the collar. It was believed that with the strength of his wife, the husband would not be lost in the war. Identifying the Goddess with a mermaid sitting on the branches of a tree, the girls went to look for her in the forest along the banks of rivers. They hoped to ask for a good betrothed, joy in their future family life, or health and strength to conceive and bear children.

Other Slavs believed that Beregini were natural spirits who could be asked for anything. If you live according to the laws of the Rule (you live according to the truth and do not violate universal laws), then any bereginya you call will help you.

Beregina was contacted:

• for the safety of the treasure dug into the ground, they cast a spell with the spirit of the guardian;
• they made dolls on which they cast a spell with the names of the beregins;
• They accompanied their relatives on a long journey, calling upon the family’s protectors.

Today, the revival of the Slavic primordial way of life is not happening so quickly that people everywhere can clearly perceive the Goddess Bereginya. With the advent of man-made civilization and its consequences, all the guardian spirits were offended. Rivers were polluted, forests were cut down (especially protected ones - fruit trees, relict forests and forests of sacred significance) and so on. After such neglect, many guardian spirits left, leaving their places on Mother Raw Earth, which they had protected for centuries and millennia.

Beregini's Special Day

Beregini's Day revered by the Slavs July 15(in the Christian tradition - Petrova Utka, or Mother Raw Mother of God). The birch tree was especially revered on this day. On this day, all work was postponed, especially mowing. In the morning or afternoon, embroidered towels and treats were carried to the field, to the forest, to the river. All this is laid out and offered as a requirement to the Goddess Beregin of the clan, or to the Beregin spirits. Young girls and women loved to wash their faces and dry themselves with these towels. It was believed that this would give them more strength, health and beauty.

The wealth of Slavic culture lies precisely in being able to imagine the diversity of this world, other worlds and the entire Universe. Nothing in the world is static - everything moves and develops. Nothing in the world is monotonous - everything is diverse. Slavic mythology recognizes that Bereginya is a collective image, but has her own powerful personification, expressed in some Slavic deities - goddesses. Thus, Bereginya also appears in various creatures, spirits, people, and even spiritualized certain ritual and cult objects.