Meteor Beliefs Project: Belarussian meteor folk-beliefs - first part

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Meteor Beliefs Project: Belarussian meteor folk-beliefs

Folk-beliefs from Belarus are given and discussed, concerning the supposed divinatory properties of meteors, often relating to birth and death, and the powers thought resident in meteorites.


WGN, Journal of the International Meteor Organization, vol. 34, no. 4, p. 119-123 2006

1 Introduction

Some Belarussian meteor and meteorite folk-beliefs are presented, drawn from an analysis of different folklore and ethnographic sources from the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as the author’s own field researches more recently (2005 summer). The latter findings are shown by the citations to specific people in precise locations below. One peculiarity of Belarussian culture is the presence of Baltic and Slavonic traits, resulting from the shared borders with the Baltic states of Latvia and Lithuania, and the Slavonic countries of Poland, Russia and Ukraine, over a long period. Unless stated, all translations into English here were by the author.

2 Belarussian meteor folk-beliefs

The meteor phenomenon is colloquially called a ‘falling star’ (Avilin, in press), a ‘fiery zmej’ (Pietkiewicz, 1938, p. 11), a ‘fiery vuzh’ or a ‘scorching vuzh’ (‘vuzh’ means ‘grass-snake’: Nenadavets et al., 2003, p. 240; Lyaukou, 1992, p. 33). Such terms can be regionally-based in Belarus, e.g. a zmej is the typical name for meteor in the Palesse region, though the Belarussians, like many others of the east European peoples, frequently referred to very bright meteors or fireballs generally as zmeys1. Some people held that if the star fell fast, it was just an ordinary shooting star, but if it fell fitfully, by leaps [perhaps meaning if it flared or fragmented], then it was a zmej (Ushakov, 1896, pp. 404-405).

Sometimes a meteor was called a znichka, or people would say ‘so a tale has gone’, and a number of beliefs include the idea that stars are either the souls of the dead watching the living, or the souls of the living themselves. For instance:

• they are the souls of unbaptised children shining from the sky for their parents;
• they are candles lit by the angels every evening;
• they are candles lit by the angels when a child is born;
• they are angels, which are considered to be sinless children;
• they are the houses of angels (when the stars shine at night, it is sometimes said that the angels have opened their windows);
• they are fires that have been lit by the Lord.

Possibly, some of these beliefs are connected because of a mental analogy between fire and a newborn baby, which recurs in some Slavic myths, and hence also with a meteor (Karski, 2001, p. 312). Stars are associated with fire too, which would naturally translate to the concept of a fiery meteor as well: ‘A star falls down - the Lord lit the fire and then put it out’ (M. T. Pribylskaya in Staraselle village, Shklov district, Magilev region, Belarus, collected by N. Andreenko).

A ‘falling star’ thus may show both the birth and death of a man: ‘his star is falling, and his soul is flying to the next world (or to the Lord)’ (Anonymous, 2003, pp. 191 & 194); ‘if a star is falling down in the sky, then a man is dying, and if one is flying upwards, then a man is born’ (Shtejner & Novak, 2002, p. 251); ‘if a star is falling, then a new man is appearing (or is born)’ (Anonymous, 2003, p. 191); ‘when a man dies, his star falls from the sky, because the angels put it out’ (Serzhputouski, 1930, p. 6).

A Belarussian song runs:

‘A uchora z vyachora nyadouga gulyala,

Nyadouga gulyala - mne vestachka upala,

Mne vestachka upala - svekarka umirae’

(Ragovich, 1988, p. 149)

‘Went for a walk yesterday, not long,

Not long walked - tidings fell for me,

Tidings fell for me - father-in-law died’

There are other beliefs that the meteor falling represents ‘the soul of an unbaptised child’ (Romanov, 912, p. 290), or that ‘an unbaptised child is falling to earth’ (Sbornik, 1903, p. 147), therefore it is necessary to cross oneself (Moszynski, 1928, p. 156), to pray (Sbornik, loc. cit.), or to give the soul a name (Romanov, loc. cit.), saying: ‘If a boy then Adam, if a girl then Eve’ (Moszynski, loc. cit.); or ‘If a panna then Ganna, if a pan then Ivan’ (Kryviczki et al., 1987, p. 165).

There is a similar belief that a falling star is the unbaptised soul of the deceased flying to hell. In order to save the soul one should make the sign of the cross towards it and say swiftly: ‘In the name of the Lord and his Son give you name: if pan then Yan, if panna then Ganna’ (Anonymous, 2004, p. 196). This recurs in the Grubeshowskij uezd of Ukraine, where it is considered that these unbaptised children cry at the time of their falling, and that a name should be given to the ‘falling child’ in accordance with the sex of the observer (Chubinskij, 1872, p. 16). This kind of ‘baptismal naming’ seems to be a type of widely-used formula intended to calm the unbaptised soul.

Another belief is that a falling star is an angel: ‘The old people say that these are god’s angels flying to the people, but we that are sinners can’t see them’ (Kasa, 1907, p. 3). The Russians too believe that a falling star is an angel, flying to collect a dead soul, and that during its flight it refuses no request, so one may make a wish before the star goes out (Dal’, 1880, p. 87). This is one possible explanation for the tradition of wishing on a falling star: ‘Star is falling- make your wish’ (L. V. Chusheva Oreshkovichi village, Berezino district, Minsk region, Belarus, collected by N. Andreenko); ‘The quicker the star flies, the quicker the wish will be granted’ (collected by M. Zhukava in Azyaryshcha village, Vitebsk district, Vitebsk region).

A meteor’s appearance sometimes showed that the dead man, to whom the star was believed to belong,had not reached paradise, and instead had come back to the Earth to correct his own wrong acts (Anonymous, 2003, p. 192): ‘An unbaptised soul is not let into paradise. It flies from Chyscza (purgatory)’ (V. V. Kosachin Kalenkishki village, Braslav district, Vitebsk region, Belarus); ‘A sinner enters hell’ (Ja. K. Varnel in Yodlavichy village, Braslav district, Vitebsk region, Belarus); ‘The Lord threw a sinful soul from the sky’ (A.M. Petrashkevich in Krasnaselcy village, Braslav district, Vitebsk region, Belarus); ‘An unbaptised soul goes roaming, waiting to be united with the Lord’ (S. Byalusin Opsa village, Braslav district, Vitebsk region, Belarus), ‘The falling star is the sinful soul who goes from the gates of paradise to hell’ (collected by A.Kisyalevich from Verkhnedvinsk city, Vitebsk region). Again the protective of crossing one’s self might be invoked:‘A star is falling - you should cross’ (A. E. Lesun in Smorki village, Barysau district, Minsk region, Belarus, collected by N. Andreenko). There are comparable Russian folk-beliefs.

In a mythological context, the meteor as a human soul is thought to be one of the stages of the soul’s journey after death. Accordingly in some Belarussian, and also Lithuanian, beliefs, a human soul after death turned into a bird and flew along the Ptushynaya Daroga (literally ‘The Bird’s Road’; the Milky Way) to purgatory (most likely Sito, literally ‘The Sieve’, the place where righteous and sinful souls would be sifted from one another; astronomically the Pleiades in Taurus). Then after this separation, the sinful souls would take the form of meteors, and fall back to Earth. At Yule, some say the souls of unbaptised children are al lowed to leave Hell for a while to have fun (Zelenin,1916, p. 483).

A midwife was thought able to determine the fate of a newborn infant and the passing of childbirth from the character of a meteor’s fall (its speed, direction, etc.): ‘A midwife delivered and ran out to look: which star rolled down, which its track, how it fell - such she determined the fate’ (Anonymous, 2003, p. 182). Meteors were also used to determine the mental quality and righteousness of someone just deceased.

Divinations about meteors and death:

• If the meteor flew fast and straight - the death was imminent, most likely this man was killed (Anonymous, 2003, p. 192);
• If it flew not too fast - the death was hard, this man was ill for a long time (ibid);
• If it flew slantwards-this man died a natural death (ibid).

Divinations about meteors and the passing of childbirth:

• If you see the star long, childbirth will be hard, and the girl will be wracked with pain (ibid);
• If the star flew fast, the girl will give birth easily, without any troubles (ibid);
• If the star fell at the time of childbirth, the child may die (N. V. Nalivaika in Pamoshcha village, Myadel’ district, Minsk region, Belarus).

Divinations about meteors and the righteousness of the deceased:

• If the star fell straight, the man was kind, honest, fair; his life was the same, without slyness (Anonymous, 2003, pp. 211-212);
• If the star fell crookedly, the man had lived a bad or poor life (ibid);
• If the star fell in the sky for a long time, and didn’t dim right away, the kind man is dead, it is his soul that flies and shines (op. cit., p. 221);
• If the star fell fast, the sinful, wicked man is dead (ibid).

Divinations about meteors and the coming harvest:

• If the star flares - that is for a good harvest, but if the star falls and a stone falls to the earth - that is for a bad harvest (V. M. Shestak in Jarutichy village, Slonim district, Grodno region, Belarus).

Moreover, the coming weather could also be determined by the appearance of meteors. For example, ‘If a star flies - tomorrow will be thundery,’ or ‘the Lord will give rain’ (N. V. Nalivaika in Pamoshcha village, Myadel’ district, Minsk region, Belarus); ‘The first star falls - Maladzik is beginning’ (Anonymous, 2003, p. 250). Maladzik is the crescentMoon before first quarter, which is said to forecast weather changes, especially for rain. Many Slavs believe that a falling star fore shadows wind. Such divinations were given only at the appropriate time, of course.

About fireballs, it was said that: ‘A falling star is the Devil, the zmej, who carries gold or silver for some rich man (or a witch (Romanov, 1912, p. 290)), or flies to a wizard. The star falls over his house’ (Romanov, 1911, p. 64). People looked for wizards and witches where the zmej fell to pieces (Romanov, 1912, p. 290). In some regions of Belarus the zmej, and hence the fireball, was called khut or kut (Grynblat & Gurski, 2005, p. 170), which combined the mythological forms of a house-spirit (Figure 3) and the fiery zmej. There is an interesting description of the khut and its habits in this source too (ibid):

‘The khut is very willing to help with the housekeeping for people who shelter it. It carries riches home, the sheaves from other [farmers’] fields to the barn, or gold from mysterious treasures. Sometimes one might see it in the sky in the evening; if it flew fiery and red, carrying gold; if dark and black [i.e. there was no fireball seen in the sky], carrying corn and sheaves. But one must respect it [i.e. the khut], and give it tasty food. Its favourite food is fried eggs. The mistress of the house would carry fried eggs to a hill, and call:

‘Khut, khut, come here! I will give you fried eggs!’

Then it would come and eat. And it would carry everything [i.e. the food dishes] home. The khut lives on the hill, and it flies there from nobody knows where. It may turn into anything, e.g. a log, an old wheel, an old stump.’

A fireball was said at times to forebode some ill fortune, including the death of a man (Romanov, 1912, p. 290): ‘If a fiery zmej flies and scatters sparks from its tail, there will be some misfortune’ (Pietkiewicz, 1938, p. 282); ‘The star falls, if on the sea for good, if on people for bad’ (A. A. Krumplevskaya in Opsa village, Braslav district, Vitebsk region, Belarus). There was a popular belief that one should not look for falling stars on the 5th of February because that would foreshadow a death soon after (Katovich & Kruk, 2004, p. 75). A similar prohibition applies in Russia, but on March 5 (February 20 Old Style). A bad sign lies on the soul of a man who has seen a falling star; it forebodes him, or someone from his family, an unavoidable death (Sakharov, 1849, p. 43). In the Tula district of Russia, there was a belief that on the Christening evening, January 18, (January 5 Old Style) wherever the zmej appeared he would find death (op. cit., p. 31). A large meteor shower was considered a bad sign. It showed that war was being waged somewhere, or that the year would be rich in one kind of grain only, but that not all would survive to see it because it would be preceded by a terrible high mortality (Anonymous, 2004, pp. 195-196).

A fire was said likely to happen in the village or town the zmej flew over (Afanas’ev, 2002, p. 511). The peasants would put milk out in the yard to appease it, or else it would burn down the house. A fire the zmej started could be extinguished only with milk, not water, which would only make the fire burn stronger (Maksimov, 1903, p. 292). The Belarussians believe that one should respect a falling star and not laugh at it, otherwise it will burn his house (Lyaukou, 1992, p. 33). It is likely this belief can be explained as the Belarussians greatly honour fire, and the zmej-meteor is closely linked with fire. For example, if someone defiles a fire by spitting in it, it is said to blight that person with the vognik disease, a rash on the mouth and neck (Karski, 2001, p. 152).

The Belarussian tsmok might fly into a house at night through a chimney, there turning into a handsome young man. Any young woman who fell in love with him would soon become ill and die (Anonymous, 2004, pp. 188-189). Such a creature might even suck milk from the breasts of their victim. The chosen woman would grow weaker day by day, and finally die (Afanas’ev, 2002, p. 530). Sometimes the affected girl was thought to be evil, or a witch (Dal’, 1880, p. 27). The birth of an ugly, abnormal, weak or dead baby could be explained as a result of an event like this too (Maksimov, 1903, p. 307). Girls beloved of the zmej could not escape their fate.