How to make rain and thunder. Conspiracies to control the weather. To stop rain and storm



From a letter:

“Farmer Leonid Fomich is writing to you. A few years ago I bought land. I have many children, and I realized that in order to raise them to their feet, feed them, clothe them, put them on and give them a decent education, I need to do something. I took a loan, got into unthinkable debts, but circumstances arose that could ruin all my plans.

It is very difficult in Kazakhstan if there is no rain. Drought is my enemy. From my grandmother, I heard that the villagers went to one healer and she read some prayers. Shortly thereafter, torrential rains followed. Do you know such?

While casting the spell, you cannot talk to anyone. The master who causes rain must refrain from eating meat until the rain is charged. The spell is read like this:

Heavy rains, torrential downpours,

Come here, get together.

Clouds, cover the whole sky with yourself,

Wash the earth with a shower,

So that Ilya the Prophet - and he gets wet.

Come down from the sky, water

Here for the glory of God.

Thunder roar, wind roar.

In the name of God the Father, in the name of the Creator.

My words, every word come true,

Streams of heaven, pour out.

Key, lock, tongue.

Amen. Amen. Amen.

Read also:



Since ancient times, man has depended on rain. Even in our time, when there is no danger that crops will perish without heavenly moisture, we are even afraid to think that summer will pass without rain. So do not be surprised that different peoples have come up with strange and exotic rites for calling rain.

In the old days, when there was a need for rain in the villages near Tartu, usually three men climbed the tall fir trees in the sacred grove. One of them, in imitation of thunder, beat with a hammer on a cauldron or a small barrel; the second, in imitation of lightning, struck sparks from burning brands, and the third - he was called the "rainmaker" - sprayed water from the vessel in all directions with the help of a bunch of branches.

On the island of Java, when rain was needed, two men began to whip each other with flexible rods and continued this until blood began to flow from their backs: flowing blood Symbolized the rain, which now, as it was supposed, was bound to fall on the ground .

The people of the Egghiu tribe, in one of the regions of Abyssinia, each January entered into bloody battles - with each other, village against village - to make rain, which lasted for a whole week. Later Emperor Menelik forbade this custom. This prohibition aroused the indignation of the people when there was a lack of rain. The emperor was forced to give in and allowed the bloody battles to resume, but only for two days a year.

In August 2006, in northern Nepal, where rice is traditionally grown, not a drop fell from the sky during the rainy season. The peasants tried everything: prayers, offerings to the gods, special religious services - but the sky remained deaf to their calls.

“... The tom-tams were beating them all night long. Juju, a professional miracle worker from a mysterious clan of initiates, sat motionless, facing east, whispering something inaudibly under his breath. Opposite him stood a naked young woman, her face covered by a thick veil. It was a "raincaster" from the neighboring Toma tribe, whom Ju-ju had apparently invited to assist him in such an important ceremony. For a while, the magic caster silently swayed to the rhythm of the drum rhythm. Then she began to conduct tam-toms herself, throwing up her hands sharply at an ever-accelerating pace and forcing the drummers to accelerate the beat even more.

I looked at the sky and could not believe my eyes: the whitish haze barely noticeable in the evening turned into a gray veil, which thickened and grew heavier every minute. And the conjurer kept urging and urging the tom-toms, machine-gun bursts whipping through the clouds. And the sky could not stand such a cruel execution: from the low-hanging clouds, the long-awaited rain finally poured down.

This is how the English traveler Hugo Chateris describes the magical ceremony of calling rain, which he observed in Guinea in the 50s of the last century. The same rites from time immemorial exist among many other peoples.

In August last year, in northern Nepal, where rice is traditionally grown, not a drop fell from the sky during the rainy season. There was something to be desperate about. The peasants tried everything: prayers, offerings to the gods, special religious services - but the sky remained deaf to their calls.

And then Nepalese women from the Kapilvastu region said that they know one ancient method that is used only as a last resort.

After that, about fifty peasant women got up at sunrise and performed an extreme ritual of calling rain. They undressed, went out into the rice fields naked and began to utter only their spells. To the surprise of the journalists watching the spectacle, by the end of the day it really rained over the fields of Kapilvastu!

One of the great "rain queens" in the Transvaal was Mujaji, an old woman even Rider Haggard had heard of. Many years after she was described in one of the writer's novels, General Smuts spoke of her as a woman who impressed him "with her strength of character and elusive imperious manner - a woman who really was a queen."

The practice of calling rain in the past existed in two forms. Church, as, for example, in Russia, when the procession and prayer for rain were used. And enchanting, when the rainmakers acted according to ancient pagan rites.
Pagan ways of calling RAIN, especially at the wells, were severely condemned by the church.

Rite of rain - in many cultures, a ritual performed during a drought to bring rain. Often accompanied by ritual dances and songs.

In the magical rites of causing rain among the southern Slavs, ritual actions are performed by priestesses of the goddess (six girls aged 12 to 16 years) - dodolitsy. They decorate them with wreaths, pour water on them, bring them bread. At the same time, dodolits sing, turning to the goddess with a request to send rain. Dodola (character of South Slavic mythology, goddess of rain, wife of a thunderer)

"The Dance of Dodola"

"Rain Call"

The Macedonians have preserved the rite of Dodola to this day, aimed at spelling rain. The Macedonians sing songs that begin with a prayer for rain and then describe its fall.

Paparuda (rum. paparuda) is a rite of calling rain of pagan origin in Romania, performed in spring and during severe drought. The name comes from the name of the Slavic goddess Perperuna (Dodola).

During the ceremony, a girl in a skirt woven from vines and thin branches dances in the village streets, stopping at each house, and the owners pour water on her.
Paparuda

Kaloyan (rum. caloian) is a rite of making rain in Romania, similar to paparuda. It was mainly practiced in Wallachia and among the Greek Aromanians.

Kaloyan was performed during a drought or during heavy rains. Young girls made several clay dolls, the main of which was the “Father of the Sun” doll or the “Rain Mother” doll, depending on the purpose of the ceremony. This doll was decorated with flowers and buried according to traditional burial customs.

In western Bulgaria and eastern Serbia, a special rite is known to be performed during a drought in order to cause RAIN: the girls sculpted a clay doll named Herman (a male figure up to 50 cm in size with an exaggerated phallus) and then, imitating a burial, buried the doll on the river bank or thrown into the water, wailing: “Oh. Herman, Herman, Herman died of drought for the sake of rain. In such mourning rituals, tears were magically likened to RAIN.

In the Zhytomyr region, people also poured water on each other, saying: “As water pours on you, so that rain pours on the ground.” This was done by the river or by the well. Sometimes they poured water over persons who, according to popular beliefs, possessed special magical powers: a pregnant woman, symbolizing the earth, a shepherd, as capable of influencing the heavenly “herds” of clouds, a priest.
Often they went to abandoned springs, cleaned them, pouring water on each other, causing RAIN. Detours were made to the village, fields, prayers at the well or river.
In Polissia, poppy seeds were often poured into the well, money, salt, garlic, consecrated herbs, grains of wheat and rye, prosphora, etc. were thrown into the well, consecrated water was poured, all the water was scooped out of the well, etc. Sometimes clay pots were thrown into the well, and in many villages of Polesye it was believed that the pot should have been stolen from neighbors, foreigners or potters.
In the Gomel region they used to say: “If there is no rain, then we will steal a smooth coat of Jews somewhere and into a well - bang! And they also say it will rain.” This method turned out to be more effective when the ceremony was performed by a widow or when the pot was stolen from the widow. In the Chernihiv region, a pot of borscht was stolen from the oven and thrown into a well. The motif of borscht is typical for widespread children's songs about rain: Meni porridge, toby borscht, shchob ishov thick porridge”; "Go, go, to the plank, to the glazed miner." Sometimes the stolen pots were first smashed and then the potsherds were thrown into the well.

Close to this method of inducing RAIN are the Bulgarian and Serbian methods of protection against “tile magic”: they stole the products of labor or tools for their manufacture from the tilers and brick-makers and threw them all into the water. This action was understood as the removal of damage (“locking the rain”, which was allegedly caused by tilers. They, like potters, were considered the perpetrators of the drought because of their involvement in the elements of fire (burning pots, tiles) and professional interest in dry weather (for the sake of drying their products).

In Polesye and the adjacent regions of Belarus and Russia, in order to cause RAIN, they performed the rite of “plowing the river”: during a drought, they plowed or harrowed a dried-up river bed, or simply dragged a plow along the bottom. Symbolic plowing could also be done right on shallow water: in the Surazh district, “a beautiful girl at the age of 15 was chosen, she was stripped naked, hung with wreaths and forced to harrow the water in this form.” In our time, a similar method of making rain is noted in the Grodno region: “The old women gathered, stole a plow from the collective farm yard, brought it to the river, only women. Some harnessed themselves, while others drove the pug. ” Sometimes, instead of the river, they “plowed” the road or dug holes on the road, symbolically “opening” the water (Polesie).

Another method of invoking RAIN, which was purely magical in nature, was the destruction of an anthill. The anthill was raked with a stick, just as they beat the water in the well; at the same time, the sprawling ants symbolized and magically evoked drops of RAIN. This method is known in Polissya and among the southern Slavs. The Serbs, raking the anthill, uttered a special spell: “How many ants, so many drops!”

In Indian religious texts, an ancient rite of calling rain is given - a black animal had to be sacrificed.

Hindu sadhu saints recite mantras and prayers during the Varuna Yajna ritual to please the rain god at Sankara Mattham in Mumbai, India, August 26, 2009. 10 priests stand in water up to their necks for 4 hours and recite special prayers to bring rain.

Similar agricultural customs among the Indo-Aryans and Slavs http://www.arcticland.veles.lv/zarubin/1969/index.htm

In Russia, the clouds are dispersed by Nikolai Ukolov, who lives in the Tambov village of Mordovo. Many locals are skeptical about his unusual ability to control natural phenomena. However, if it starts to rain during a wedding or funeral, everyone runs to Nikolai for help.

Nikolai calls himself a healer and a soothsayer. Unusual abilities in him were revealed twelve years ago, when he saw the Mother of God in a dream. “She had a baby in her arms and a pillar of red light behind her,” says Nikolai. “I immediately realized that this dream was prophetic.” Since then, nature has become subservient to Ukolov.

Once the head of the district administration asked him to ensure good weather during the harvest, Nikolai kept his promise and received one and a half tons of grain and three bags of sugar for his work.

The fall before last, Ukolov decided to test his strength in a large area. After Russian weather forecasters reported that warming was coming and the winter would be unusually warm, Nikolai decided to overtake the country with frost. “I just didn’t calculate a little,” the old man apologizes, “it was very cold” ...

“During the years of the October Revolution, my grandmother found a glech with letters and a statuette of the god Perun, the patron saint of rain and thunderstorms, in the garden,” Lydia Stepanovna, a rain caster, tells reporters from the Ukrainian newspaper Donbass. - After that, she became a real master of the weather, she could cause snow almost by clapping her hands. Then she passed on her secrets to my aunt and to me.”

Rain spell ritual (shamanic).

To call rain, such a rite is used. The ritual bowl with spring water must be placed under the open sky for the night. During the night, the water will be saturated with energy and acquire special properties.
In the morning, you need to take the bowl in both hands, raise it above your head and say:
I invoke heavenly moisture
Get closer to the moisture of the earth,
For rain to fall on the ground
And watered the green shoots!
If several girls participate in the ceremony, then a small mystery can be performed. Helpers should decorate their bodies with fresh leaves and branches and turn to the shaman:
Mother Goddess!
Give us your juice.
Sprinkle us with your moisture!
Then the shaman should sprinkle on her assistants from a bowl and from pre-prepared buckets. At the end of the ceremony, you need to make sacrifices to the spirits of the elements and light suitable incense. You can also call for rain through an ordinary snail, which is the personification of the Mistress of the Rain. Find a snail in the forest, treat it with great respect. Dig a hole in your area for shade. Place a plate with water and fresh leaves in it and place a snail on the edge of the plate. At noon, approach the snail with a ritual bowl filled with water. Sprinkle water on the snail and say:
How I splash water on you
So are you, Snail - Mistress of the Rain,
Send long-awaited moisture to the ground!
Repeat this action many times. If it does not rain during the day, then the next day, perform the ritual again. Make sure the snail is comfortable in your area. After the rain, take the snail to the place where you took it from. In parting, thank the snail again.

It seems that this year we have a chance to check - and perform with our own hands - all the ancient rituals and practices for invoking the Dodge ..) It is only clear that this no longer depends on any one priest or sorcerer - or even the Patriarch of All Russia. Moreover, not all sorcerers want to be bled for the sake of rain - "Dieri (Central Australia), cause rain as follows. A hole breaks out about 12 feet long and 8-10 feet wide. Above it from logs and branches a cone-shaped hut is set up.Influential elders of the tribe bleed with a sharp flint to two sorcerers, who are believed to have received special inspiration from the mura-mura.The blood dripping from their elbows falls on their fellow tribesmen, huddled in the hut.At the same time, the sorcerers bleed handfuls of fluff are scattered around them, part of which sticks to the blood-splattered bodies of people, and the other is spinning in the air.It is believed that blood symbolizes rain, and fluff - clouds ... On the island of Java, when rain was needed, two men began to whip each other flexible rods and continued this until blood began to flow from their backs: flowing blood symbolized the rain, which now, as it was assumed, was bound to pour down on the ground... The Dieri also imagine that the foreskin, taken from young men at circumcision, has the ability to cause rain to the highest degree. "(J.J. Fraser, "Golden Bough") Young men, take care of the foreskin! ..))) We still need it!...)
But in order to do without bloody sacrifices and without circumcisions, it’s better to work in a less painful way, with the whole world, as they say ..) And the more volunteers join the rain dance, the better!


Golden Woman (Rain Dance) by Oleg Gurenkov
Even if you just jump, jump and pour yourself on your balcony - to the envy of your neighbors))) - the message to the universe will still be tangible. And what if the neighbors join in the fun, and even if everyone goes out into the yard, or even into the street? ..) It should work! Today, after sunset, we will start! ..)

And who wants to prepare more thoroughly theoretically - please, some useful information. The main thing is to be creative with everything!...) You can use a variety of rattles, rattles, whistles - because whistles are ritual objects, pagan magical instruments for "causing" wind or rain among the Slavs.
If someone has their own tam-tam or jew's harp - it will do too! I'm going to use my sagatas - those little copper cymbals from oriental dances that you put on your fingers.
Perhaps we will be able to reach out to Tlaloc himself - (Tlaloc) - "forcing to grow", the god of rain and thunder, agriculture.

"The rite of making rain is in many cultures a rite performed during a drought to bring rain. Often accompanied by ritual dances and songs.

This is how it happens in India - all the photos are from here, there are still there - http://www.nm2000.kz/news/2010-06-28-28408

I like the idea - I won’t find such a big pot for myself, but there’s something to dip a child in! ..)


In the mythological story of the African Ashanti, the sky god Nyama placed the Frog as a watchman at the well, where the water never dries up. So whoever has homemade frogs - ask them to seriously convey the request for rain to the God of Heaven ..)

Caucasus
According to an old pre-Islamic Chechen belief, a snake is a reliable remedy against drought. To make it rain, the Chechens killed and hung up snakes. In folk beliefs, the crow was also considered a messenger of bad weather, therefore, in order to cause rain, it was necessary to destroy the crow's nest.

The Balkars had rituals associated with "making rain", which were accompanied by special songs and dances. Before the start of the action, the Balkars dressed up a wooden shovel in women's clothing. This effigy was called "Kurek biche" ("Shovel Princess"). Then two teenagers took "Kurek biche" by the arms and started the procession. They were followed by other teenagers. Stopping in the courtyard of one or another house, the participants sang a song:

Princess-shovel, we ask for rain!
The rain is pouring non-stop
Plentiful bread grows,
With the help of Allah, the Great Allah,
We all went out very amicably,
To ask Teyri for rain.

Macedonia
The Macedonians have preserved the rite of Dodola to this day, aimed at spelling rain. The Macedonians sing songs that begin with a prayer for rain and then describe its fall.

Polissya
During the drought, the inhabitants of Polissya mourned the mythical drowned Makarka, stirring the water in the well with sticks and crying: “Makarko-son, get out of the water, pour tears over the holy land!”

Paparuda - (rum. paparuda) - a rite of calling rain of pagan origin in Romania, performed in the spring and during a severe drought. The name comes from the name of the Slavic goddess Perperuna (Dodola).

During the ceremony, a girl in a skirt woven from vines and thin branches dances in the village streets, stopping at each house, and the owners pour water on her.
Text - if anyone can pronounce it correctly, I think - the result is guaranteed ...)
Paparudă, rudă,
Vino de ne udă;
Paparudă, rudă,
Vino de ne udă;
Ca să-nceapă ploaie,
Să curgă şiroaie
Cu galeata, leata
Peste toată zloata:
Unde dă cu maiul,
Să crească mălaiul,
Unde da cu sapa
Să curgă cu apa.
Hai, Catrino să sărim,
paparudele,
Căştii iarna ce păţim,
paparudele,
Ca pasrea prin copaci,
paparudele,
Ploaie multă să faci,
Paparudele.

Adus de la ""

(Kvilinkova E. "Pipiruda" - the Gagauz rite of making rain // Proceedings of the Comrat University. - Comrat: 1999)

Kaloyan (rum. caloian) is a rite of making rain in Romania, similar to paparuda. It was mainly practiced in Wallachia and among the Greek Aromanians.

Kaloyan was performed during a drought or during heavy rains. Young girls made several clay dolls, the main of which was the “Father of the Sun” doll or the “Rain Mother” doll, depending on the purpose of the ceremony. This doll was decorated with flowers and buried according to traditional burial customs.

Tatars
During the ritual of making rain among the Tara Tatars, the mullah cut the throat of a ram and prayed for rain with several of the oldest and most revered old men in the village. Sheep meat was cooked in a cauldron with water over a fire and eaten to the last piece. After the meal, the mutton bones were buried in a clean place. At the end of the ceremony, all the inhabitants went to the river and poured water on each other, thus showing the spirits that rain was needed.

Ukraine
In the north of the Zhytomyr region, the drought was explained by the fact that some woman in the village on the Annunciation, contrary to a strict ban, baked bread. Then, in order to atone for this sin and cause rain, three women gathered, each took two buckets of water, went to the house to the “culprit”, poured out all the water in the middle of the house and poured water on the outside corners of the house, and in some places they poured water on the woman herself.

In the Zhytomyr region, people also poured water on each other, saying: “As water pours on you, so that rain pours on the ground.” This was done by the river or by the well. Sometimes they poured water over persons who, according to popular beliefs, possessed special magical powers: a pregnant woman, symbolizing the earth, a shepherd, as capable of influencing the heavenly “herds” of clouds, a priest, as the same symbol of a shepherd-shepherd.

Pouring girls with water in Hungary - however, this ceremony takes place in the spring.

Among the Old Believers - according to the article by Mironov-Shapovalov N. "The ritual of making rain among the Old Believers of Transbaikalia" (based on materials from the 90s of the 20th century):

"Crosses at the Semey, as well as cemeteries, are located on hills (prayers / sacred rites on mountains or hills are a tradition dating back to the time of veneration of pagan gods, in particular, Perun, who "disposes" heavenly moisture). On Ivan Travnik, the rite of making rain is performed as complex, and age regulation is observed in the methods: the older generation visits the cemetery, where they water the graves and / or pray (this process does not have a strict temporal fixation: “And they poured water on Kupala even before that, if there is a drought, pour it on. Then the grandmothers went to the cemetery watered" (zap. from Leonova M.P., born in 1934, the village of Nikolskoye, Mukhorshibirsky district, 2000)); The water element manifests itself in a variety of rituals in which water is involved.. Its protective properties are used when, before the time of the domination of evil spirits, the yard and outbuildings are sprinkled with consecrated water. the rite of bathing/dousing is sometimes used not only in the context of imitative magic, but also as one of the forms of cleansing "after rampant witchcraft." Ritual evocation of heavenly moisture and bathing takes place before Ilyin's day.

Source -
And many more interesting ways with my beloved Fraser - -
Specifically dragged from here, thanks Dancing_Witch
Let's experiment!..) Together with regular witches and instead of them...

Humanity has depended on rain for its entire existence. There is precipitation, then a good harvest will be born, and if there is a drought, then there will be a hungry time. That is why every nation has one or more ways to call rain.

Moreover, this does not have to be somehow connected with shamanism, pagan rituals and black magic - to combat drought, you do not need to sacrifice an animal to a deity or jump with a tambourine, performing shamanic dances.

Is it possible to make it rain for an ordinary person?

Yes, there are several ways to make it rain that each of us can do.

Rite 1 - outdoors

Go outside with a hammer, sheet of metal, and a water bottle. Find an even stump, put a sheet on it and start hitting with a hammer, thereby simulating thunder. Then start throwing water from the bottle in different directions from you, which, in fact, will symbolize the falling rain. As a rule, after this ceremony, precipitation appears no later than 24 hours later.

Rite 2 - rain using a natural reservoir

To bring rain after a long drought, go after sunset to any body of natural water (i.e., a pool in the yard or a bath in the house will not work for you). Strip to the naked and go into the water up to your neck. Say three times:

“Water-water, you are missing. Life without you is not nice to me. Save quickly, don't let me die."

Then wash your face and head with water. Type in a vessel (a bottle of water), go ashore, get dressed and return to your home. Leave the bottle on the doorstep of the house, uncorking the cork. Early in the morning (at sunrise) take a bottle of water and spray it on your garden plot (on beds with dry earth that need rain so much). If it's in the city, then climb onto the roof of your house (if there is a balcony, then it will come down) and pour the water out of the bottle. This will help bring rain after 48 hours.

Rite 3 - shamanic dances

To make it rain with the help of a dance, purchase an item in any esoteric store called “rain noise” - it is a closed wooden tube, inside of which grains (usually buckwheat) are poured. When the tube is turned over, the grains are sprinkled, making a sound very similar to the sound of rain.

If possible, connect a hose with which you usually water the garden to the water tap and pull it out into the street. Pour well the path leading from your house to the gate, so that puddles form. Dress in all white and take off your shoes. Start dancing barefoot through the puddles, holding the “rain noise” in your hands and turning it over and over.

Rite 4 - per plant

Tear in your garden some plants, flowers that have become victims of drought, that is, completely and irrevocably withered. Weave them into a wreath. Go to the river, throw a wreath into the water and say:

“My seven-flower flower died, died without water, dried up without rain. You swim, wreath, to a distant land, to a land rich in water, but ask for water to visit us.

In the summer calendar of the Old Believers of Transbaikalia, an important ritual link is the ritual of making rain. Consisting of several structure-forming stages, the rite can be performed at different time intervals, depending on adverse weather conditions. Ritual acts of asking for heavenly moisture are carried out both in a complex way and can be reproduced in parts throughout the entire hot period.

Materials of expeditionary studies of the 1990s allow us to agree with the statement of G.V. Lyubimova "about the desire to give occasional rites of making rain a regular preventive-calendar character by assigning them to certain dates of the folk calendar" (3, p. 58). Partially, the ritual is performed on the Remelting, when the older generation goes to pray to the cross with icons (which happens not only on a Christian holiday, but also spontaneously during a severe drought): "Today we had the Remelting, we went to pray to the cross" (zap. from Ivaylovskoy S.S., born in 1941, village of Desyatnikovo, Tarbagatai district, 2000).

Semey crosses, as well as cemeteries, are located on hills (prayers / sacraments on mountains or hills are a tradition dating back to the time of veneration of pagan gods, in particular, Perun, who "disposes" of heavenly moisture). On Ivan Travnik, the rite of making rain is performed as a complex, and age regulation is observed in the methods: the older generation visits the cemetery, where they water the graves and / or pray (this process does not have a strict temporal fixation: "And they poured water on Kupala even before that, drought if go, douse yourself. Then the grandmothers went to the cemetery to water" (zap. from Leonova MP, born in 1934, the village of Nikolskoye, Mukhorshibirsky district, 2000)); youth - doused, bathed; children - splash / pour over and perform invocations. On Midsummer Day, the multifunctionality of the water element is manifested in the variety of rituals in which water is involved. Its protective properties are used when, before the time of the domination of unclean forces, the yard and outbuildings are sprinkled with consecrated water. And the rite of bathing/dousing is sometimes used not only in the context of imitative magic, but also as one of the forms of cleansing "after rampant witchcraft."

Ritual evocation of heavenly moisture and bathing takes place before Ilyin's day. The fact that open water bodies in the period from Ivan Kupala to Ilyin are the most suitable for swimming (as before, you can only swim during this time period: "Before Ivan, they didn’t swim and it was strictly - from Ivan to Ilya - a bath" (zap from Varfolomeeva A.M., born in 1928, Nikolskoye village, Mukhorshibirsky district, 2000)) is associated with mythopoetic ideas about the water element and the temporal segment. The reason why you can’t swim after Elijah is in one of the options recorded in p. Nikolsky, Mukhorshibirsky district, sounds like this: "I know that my grandmother always said:" Ilya came and you can’t swim, the deer already wet his antlers. "" (record from Leonova MP, born in 1934). The prohibition includes the image of a deer, which is found among Semey people in a ritual game noted by F.F. Bolnevym in the winter calendar. The parallels in the most important solar cycles are not accidental, since the deer is a creature correlated with the sun. The solar symbolism of this animal, according to A. Golan, is associated with a myth dating back to times more ancient than the Bronze Age that “the sun moves across the sky on the horns of a wonderful deer, followed by a creature of the underworld, overtaking a deer by the end of the day, why sunset occurs and night comes" (1, p. 39). Deer antlers lowered into the water symbolize the cessation of summer solar activity, therefore, bathing is also limited (apparently, the origins of some prohibitions come from the time of worshiping the sun as a totem).

The sacredness of the temporal segment (calendar holidays are usually timed to coincide with important agricultural periods, which in turn is based on solar or lunar rhythms), promotes communication with ancestors, on which the sending of rain may depend. At the highest level of communication, from which a "direct" appeal to otherworldly forces is possible, there are the closest "mediators" between the world of the dead and the earthly - the elderly, who play a special role in the process of communicating with the dead in the Old Believer tradition throughout the entire calendar cycle (for example, elderly people It is customary to serve baked and / or money on parental days). During the period of drought, the actional side of the rite is watering the graves, walking up the mountain, etc.; the verbal component - prayers for rain, an appeal to the ancestors and to the Christian saints for help (lamentations, proverbs) are made by people of the older generation. Pagan worldview (the request of the ancestors to send down blessings) is a reality of today's life of the Old Believers of Transbaikalia.

In the dry summer of 2000, the families of Tarbagatai, Mukhorshibir and other regions of Buryatia asked for life-giving moisture for their fields and gardens. In some cases, a request was also made to the newly deceased (not necessarily a calendar date): "She died - she was walking, and when they were buried - she was not there:" Fenya, well, you take care, send us rain, not for us, for the sake of babies "" (zap. from Kravtsova A.M., born in 1929, the village of Nikolskoye, Mukhorshibirsky district, 2000). The deceased, who has passed into the category of ancestors immediately after death, is able to influence earthly life and the processes taking place in it. In the structure of small genres, in particular in proverbs, the image (in particular, the image of the deceased), to which the addresser refers, is the basis of the narrative system, in the further construction formulas of ritual folklore are used. The most commonly used in the ritual of making rain are small folklore forms, where every word that has conspiracy potency is significant. The folklore word is a special category that "ensures the storage and actualization of cultural memory" (5, p. 64), included in the ritual field, it "acquires a kind of reality, as it were materialized - the narrator runs the risk of causing the character and events described in the work (or consciously does it)" (5, p. 66).

The word is endowed with the properties of fideistic communication, the opposite of interhuman communication (a kind of conversation with the other world). Invoking heavenly moisture, the intermediary uses a verbal text capable of activating heavenly and earthly forces, therefore affecting the deep layers of human consciousness that store archaic symbolism. Sign systems that have Christian and pagan semantic levels are combined in small folklore forms. In the petition to the Prophet Ilya, a religious symbol of world order, there is an archaic image of the Mother of the damp earth ("help mother the damp earth" (3, p. 58)). The desire to propitiate her by sending down moisture arises from the idea of ​​the earth as the personified foremother of all living things, giving food to her children. In the modern views of the Old Believers of Transbaikalia, as people directly connected with this element, depending on its fertility, the land is still among the most important values.

The core of the verbal component of the rite is a request-appeal to the highest hierarchical level, on which the Christian saints are located, and since the idea is alive in the religious worldview that the order on earth and in heaven depends precisely on them, in the overwhelming majority of cases, the Old Believers of Transbaikalia appeal to Ilya the Prophet, performing the functions of the pagan Perun. Denoted in proverbs as a father (“Father Ilya, wet our fields” (3, p. 58)), the image of a formidable master of the elements (“Ilya seems to be in charge of the rain there” (zap. from Medvedeva A.I., 1919.r. ., Tarbagatai village, Tarbagatai district, 2000)) acquires the qualities of a generic ancestor. The comprehension of the image of Elijah as an ancestor finds continuation in the lamentations addressed to the saint: “Oh, oh, merciful father Ilya the Prophet, / May you look at us sinners, / May you help us sinners” (zap. from Medvedeva A. I., born in 1919, village of Tarbagatai, 2000). The voice-voicing, usually built "on the story of the deceased, memories of him" (4, p. 131) moves from the area of ​​family-ritual folklore to the calendar-ritual one, the story about the deceased is replaced by a request-spell, while still retaining the melody and partly the structure traditional lamentations. The fixed text correlates with the second link of voices for the deceased - "cry-alert". But a different purpose of the verbal component dictates the choice of images and stylistic devices. In contrast to the actual lamentations, in the voice of calling rain, in addition to the main image, there is a begging side, characterized by the symbolic noun "sinners".

The inner potential of the petitioner allows you to have a conversation with higher powers and thereby draw the attention of the saint to his troubles ("May you look at us sinners, / May you help us sinners" (zap. from Medvedeva A.I., born in 1919, with . Tarbagatai, 2000)). Awareness of oneself as sinners, therefore, drought, as a punishment for human sins, makes one turn to Ilya repeatedly throughout unfavorable weather conditions: “I’ve been crying for a long time and I can’t grow up” (zap. from Medvedeva A.I., born in 1919). The lamentation involves the clichéd formula "not for us, but for babies", which, with a small degree of variability, is cross-cutting in the genres included in the ritual of making rain (with the exception of children's incantations). The symbolism of the cliche, entering into the antithesis sinful - babies (that is, sinless), is designed to activate the impact on the addressee in the form of deceased ancestors or the Christianized god of thunder in order to save pure souls from disaster. In the considered genres, a folklore word capable of "materialization" is one of the ways of fideistic communication (communication with the other world).

It is characteristic that most often these are small folklore forms or lamentations, consisting of one or two main links. Obviously, this is required by the specificity of the ritual situation, which, as Neklyudov S.Yu. text, a system of prohibitions and rules is called upon; if they are followed, the execution ceases to "work". To avoid unpleasant consequences, the text loses its typical beginning and end; only one content is stated, after which it ceases to be equal to itself. The text loses its integrity, and, therefore, , - its isolation and structural completeness" (5, p. 66).

Ritual verbal elements reflect belief in the magical significance of the word, its ability to influence earthly processes through connection with another world. In rain-causing texts, the meditative function of the poetic word becomes paramount. The role of the inquiring moisture in the summer period is identical to the role of the mediator-intermediary between the worlds in Christmas divination (the difference is only in the age status). It is no coincidence that the subsequent actions of the ritual are called divination by Semey people: "They bewitched the rain, ran in. Well, pour themselves" (record from Efimova U.V., born in 1936, village Tarbagatai, 2000). It was customary to pour water from a river or from a well, drawing water in buckets. The whole village can participate in this ritual stage, but with a predominance of young people. There is no verbal component in the youth part of the ritual, the magic of the word is replenished with the magical power of the water element. Signs of imitative magic, based on the law of similarity, are manifested in an attempt by the actions of the collective (community) to realize the desired. Imitating natural phenomena, and in mythopoetic awareness, performing divine functions at the earthly level, a person, as part of the Universe, himself participates in the cosmic process, which attracts the attention of higher powers and contributes to the speedy improvement of the situation.

The rite of calling rain turns into a general entertainment, and the performance of magical functions is transferred to children who perform invocations. The ritual word in the mouths of the younger generation does not lose its incantatory character and is also updated by the fact that the children comprehend the purposefulness of the verbal element - the request-spell of heavenly waters. The figurative series of invocations includes: a) religious and mythological characters (God, Elijah the Prophet, the water king); b) abstracted natural phenomena (rain, clouds). In the semantics of religious and mythological images, an intermediary function is laid, having realized which, the character carries out one of his blessed missions - the supply of heavenly moisture (the process takes place within the framework of communication - an appeal from a person entails a response from higher powers). The main role in these cases is played by the tsar: "King, tsar, orphan, / Open the gate / With a key, lock, / Silk handkerchief" (folklore materials of KFN VSGAKI). An image from children's rain spells (the king), who performs a sacred action, he is also a character of a conspiracy (the water king), from the plot-thematic subgroup with "the semantics of the" main action ":" destruction by water "" (2, p. 28) diseases and ailments. Obviously, calling rain is a request for the healing of Mother Earth from an ailment-drought through life-giving moisture. The conspiracy origins of the incantation are manifested through the universals of the material world. These include the gate, which is thought of as a barrier, only after the elimination of which, it will rain.

This plot theme of incantation texts A10 (2, p. 42) is typical for children's incantations. As in conspiracies, the barrier can be opened with a key. In a ritual context, this sign acquires the semantics of the destruction of boundaries. In some versions of the invocations, along with a pagan character, there are: the Christian ruler of the water element - "Ilya the Prophet, help" (zap. from Medvedeva A.I., born in 1919, Tarbagatai village, 2000) and the personification of heavenly moisture - "Rain, rain, skip." The combination of three figurative levels at the moment of communication activates the word-action in order to obtain an immediate result. The text is extremely simplified, which indicates its later origin. The magical function of the word does not disappear completely, but is gradually leveled off. The communicative situation loses its fideistic character (the connection with the other world is lost).

The content is filled not with incantation formulas, but with the usual requirement to water the surrounding space: "Clouds, clouds, / Get together at the heap, / Water the mushrooms at our forest" (folklore materials of the KFN VSGAKI). The genre composition of the verbal texts of the ritual of making rain is diverse - from small folklore forms and children's incantations, to lamentations that have passed into the sphere of calendar-ritual poetry. But due to ritual specifics (the performance of the rite only depending on the weather conditions), the verbal components did not reflect the trend of “mobility” of texts according to calendar cycles (as happens, for example, with Trinity songs, which can now be performed by family and other holidays), and the archaic semantics of the imagery and symbolism is recognized by the Old Believers themselves.