Old Rus' Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

The Old Russian concept of sacred water, that is water possessing magical properties, is analysed in this chapter. The most important manifestation of the cult of sacred water in Old Russia was its ritual use in conjunction with a variety of plant substances (“potion”), whereby the water acquired some new, special properties. Magical water, according to medieval notions, condensed on leaves as morning dew. Collected from plants at a certain time, it was used to enhance one’s growth, strength, health, and beauty. A magical herb potion was also brewed using morning dew. Tumbling and rolling in the dew early in the morning before “Ivan Kupala” (St John the Baptist’s day), and some other holidays, as well as collection and subsequent use of the dew, was considered to be a universal magical method that cured almost all diseases. Tumbling in the dew had its counterpart in the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation. According to East Slavic sources, participants in the morning dew ceremony could reach a transpersonal state of consciousness similar to a deep mystical experience. The earliest written evidence of Old Russian ritual use of water dates from the eleventh and twelfth centuries, but refers back to even earlier, pre-Christian times (e.g. references to steam baths in the opening part of “The Tale of Bygone Years”, as well as in the chronicle entries for the years 907 and 945). In the Russian medieval tradition, the steam bath was considered a sort of domestic sanctuary. The opposition of the steam bath and the church corresponds to the opposition between the pagan and the Christian. Steam bath rites in Old Russia were opposed to their respective religious rites and sacraments, such as Baptism, Confirmation, Wedding, Priesthood, Anointing of the Sick, Funeral, and Remembrance. Duplications of Christian and pagan rituals are clearly observed in “rites of passage”. Such contradictory beliefs as Christian baptism and the magical “first bathing” of a newborn; church wedding and the washing of the bride and groom in the bathhouse together with the sorcerer; the remembrance of the dead with Synodicon and the “bath for the dead”, successfully coexisted in the minds of medieval Russian people. Various substances of vegetable origin, different potions, and special brooms with flowers and herbs were used for the ritual steam bath. In Old Russia this pagan rite was called “mov’”, and it was widespread in the Russian North. “Mov’” led to the attainment of transpersonal experiences, the ecstatic “state of the dead and spirits”. The Old Russian pagan “mov’” is a typical ceremony characterized by evaporation of water thrown onto hot stones and inhalation of steam and smoke of burning plants. This ritual is known from a variety of archaic traditions; Old Russia was no exception.
It is important to note that both the tumbling in the morning dew and the rituals in the steam bath are closely linked to the borderline of liquid and gaseous aggregate states of water, namely the non-equilibrium processes of condensation and evaporation. For participants of the ceremonies, this symbolized the border between the world of the living and the world of the dead, between real and metaphysical space.