Until now, on the playgrounds of the Soviet era, we can meet carved wooden figures. Now they are perceived as a simple decoration of Russian-style parks, but in fact, the tradition of carving such figures has existed for a very long time and is rooted in the pagan antiquity of Russia. Then these figures were churami of the Slavic gods. Read the article about what it is.
History of the Slavs
Slavic people are relatively young. In written sources, mention of him can be found from the 6th century. n. e., and the birthplace of the appearance of this people, apparently, was the territory north of the Carpathians. The problem of the emergence and settlement of the Slavs is still controversial in the scientific community, but in general the picture is as follows: in the middle of the first millennium of our era, a circle of East Slavic tribes formed in Eastern Europe - Slovenes, Vyatichi, Krivichi, Dregovichi and many others.
It cannot be said that they had a clear established circlebeliefs. There is currently no information about a single mythology of the ancient Slavs, and it is unlikely that it will ever appear. The paganism of the Slavs did not reach the same high point as, for example, Greek or Indian, and did not develop their own myths and legends. However, fragmentary information about the lower representatives (goblin, brownies and kikimors) and Slavic gods has been preserved. In the study of the beliefs of our ancestors - the ancient Slavs - scientists rely both on the data of ethnography and folklore, and on archeology. The latter often provides us with material evidence of those times when paganism was still alive and widespread - in particular, these are wooden statues of Slavic gods.
What is chur
But in fact, most likely, these statues were not called churami. There are different interpretations of the term "chur". In the 19th century, for example, it was believed that the deity of the hearth, which also guarded the borders of the lands, was called chur. It is this form of the word, according to their version, that was preserved in a different name of the ancestor - "ancestor". Thus, chur guarded the border signs, and also contributed to the acquisition and accumulation of we alth. Chock is a synonym for this word, since earlier chocks were also used as boundary markers.
According to the interpretation of the ethnographers Zelenin and Strakhov, the word "chur" goes back to the Greek "master", and originally meant an exclamation similar to "Lord!".
Later there was a theory about the connection of the chur with the phallic cult, which is still developing.
Chury Slavic gods
Now few people delve into ethnographic subtleties, and churami in a broad sense means the image of Slavic gods, traditionally made using the technique of woodcarving.
Not much is known about how the ancient temples were arranged, but they were obviously made of wood, and there were chura of Slavic gods on them. Large chura were located in the open air and were the main element of the sanctuary. In addition, there were small chura, the place of which was in the house. Candles were lit for them, they were placed near the hearth.
Modern Pagans
On the modern temples of the followers of Slavic paganism - the so-called Rodnovers or neo-pagans - you can also find similar large chura of Slavic gods for the temple. Traditionally, they set the personifications of male deities - Svarog, Dazhdbog, Rod, Veles and Perun, but sometimes Lada and Makosh can also be seen on the temples, depending on who is more revered by the particular community that owns the open-air sanctuary. Rituals are held on them, glorification of native gods and ancestors. Rodnovers say that in this way they revive the faith of the ancient Slavs, recreating the chura of the Slavic gods, the photos of which you can see in the article.
How to DIY
It is not necessary to purchase statues of gods from masters, they can and even need to be made by hand. Do-it-yourself chura of Slavic gods are made of wood. Ideally, they need to be created independently, but in urban life it is far from always possibleto do so - problems with the availability of material and experience make themselves felt.
Progress of work
First, of course, you need to decide on the image you want to make and draw it on paper in the form of a sketch. Some try to choose a god close to them in their horoscope - this, of course, is absurd. To choose someone suitable for yourself, you just have to think about which of the gods is closer to you in spirit, or who could become your patron. You can make a pendant with the image of a deity and wear it on your chest as a charm.
Next, you will need various types of chisels and a sharp knife for woodcarving.
In advance, you need to make a workpiece of a suitable size - a piece of linden will be an ideal material for work. There may be subtleties here: for example, some masters assure that for each deity it is necessary to choose its own tree. It is believed that dark types of wood are needed for dark gods, such as Mara or Chernobog, respectively, light ones are for light forces. But it’s still better to focus on how accessible the wood that you have chosen for work is, and, of course, how carving it is in general.
And then, moving from coarser and more general details to smaller ones, you can start cutting out the chur, in accordance with the sketch. Of course, the first time you won’t get an ideal figure, in such a painstaking task skill is needed. The main thing is to observe safety precautions: it is easy to get hurt with sharp tools.
When the figure is ready, you need to give it color. For this it is worthuse a water-based stain that can be further diluted with water to get the desired shade. After you cover the chur with stain and let it dry completely, you need to go through coarse and then fine-grained sandpaper over the figure to highlight the protruding details. This is done in order to make the product look more decorative and last longer, however, modern followers of Slavic paganism say that you should not cover the churs of the Slavic gods with varnishes and stains. The tree needs to breathe, and all sorts of coatings will prevent this.
Finally, the product must be waxed and polished with a soft cloth.
You can buy inexpensive churov Slavic gods both in specialized online stores and at Slavic fairs.
