April 10, 2023

Celestial bodies in the old days

In ancient times, people's ideas about celestial bodies were very clear and had a special meaning for life and everyday life. Planets and constellations were a way of determining time and navigation, as well as messengers of certain events: a good harvest or famine, peace or war.
According to beliefs, the Earth was not considered a planet, being a plane covered by the sky. The mythology of many Slavic peoples says that only one of the levels of the sky opens to the human eye, and behind it is the "mountain" – the heavenly abode of God. In the minds of people of that time, the "mountain" level exudes a bright radiance that a person can see at the moment of a thunderstorm when the heavens open. The visible part of the sky is the abode of ancestral souls. Some legends said that at the moment of a person's birth, a new star lights up in the sky, which goes out at the moment of his death.
In people's everyday life, celestial bodies were landmarks: people found their way by the location of the stars, the Sun indicated the time during the day, and at night – the Orion Belt or the Big Dipper. The sun was perceived as the dominant element of the system, endowed with human qualities in folk art. Some prescriptions depended on the phase of the moon: in order for the business to be successful, it must be started at the new moon.
The solar eclipse in the old days was perceived by the people as the most terrible sign that caused panic and fear. According to people, an eclipse is the death or abduction of a luminary, which foreshadows only the worst events: diseases, deaths, natural disasters or wars. Chroniclers of the XII century described the eclipse that occurred in 1115 as a prediction of the death of Prince Oleg Svyatoslavovich. Vladimir Dahl, being a collector of folklore, in his work "On beliefs, superstitions and prejudices of the Russian people" wrote: "Eclipses, as is known, foreshadow disasters in the eyes of the people, which the ignorant believed almost at all times and in all lands. These phenomena were very adapted to the events of the present, future or past, and by their extraordinariness always struck the minds of the people and set them up to expect miracles or disasters."
Of particular importance to peasants and farmers was the star cluster in the constellation Taurus – Pleiades, visible to the eye in the period from March to October. Focusing on the Pleiades, it was possible to understand when it was worth starting field work: sowing, mowing, grinding grain.
At that time, about 30 constellations and planets were known to people. The most important objects were considered: the Big Dipper, Venus and the Pleiades, Orion, the Milky Way and the Polar Star. The Milky Way, in the view of the people, was a path for the souls of the dead ascending the heavenly slope. Many names of constellations came from household items or livestock: scythes, ladles and other utensils, or oxen, sheep, chickens and others. The celestial objects did not have uniform names, they changed depending on the region. So the Pleiades had names: Nest, Lapot, Finger, and others. And the Big Dipper was called: The Bear, the Seven Wise Men, the Arba, the Cart or the Moose. Venus was called the Wolf or Chigir-star, Zaryanka and Dennitsa.
Since ancient times, celestial bodies have been of great importance to people, both from the point of view of practical application for orientation in time and space, and in matters related to signs, superstitions and divination. Thanks to the planets and constellations, the people could keep faith in the best and find an explanation for the worst events.

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