Notes in the household. Chicken and folk superstitions

The traditional means of expressing the ideas of the peoples of the world about Nature are the mythological images of animals. Moreover, according to these images from fairy tales, we can judge the human relationships of ancestors, and from song folklore - about family ties.

The chicken, unlike other animals, does not carry a clearly defined meaning.. But still, she often symbolizes motherhood - chicken love and her care for her offspring have no boundaries. It should be noted that the image of a hen evokes two opposite feelings in the minds of Europeans at once: on the one hand, comparing a person with a chicken, they talk about his diligence and perseverance in learning, and on the other hand, they judge him as a person with chicken brains or " stupid chicken." This denotes the spiritual poverty of narrow-minded people, whose thoughts jump incoherently from one to another, which is comparable to chickens, often falling into a stupid panic.

In the legends of most peoples of the world, the mother hen personifies underground riches and treasures, she lays golden eggs, and her head is often turned off. Silly, but, nevertheless, it happens in mythological plots. Why? This is explained by pagan rituals with sacrifices in the era of myth-making.

What are the superstitions associated with the chicken? They can be roughly divided into the following groups:

1. Superstitions associated with increasing chicken productivity (egg production, etc.):

“So that chickens do not lose their eggs, they rub their anus with salt. When a young chicken lays the first egg, then the hostess should take this egg and stroke her husband’s head with it, saying: “Let Chernushka (the name of the chicken) have as many testicles as ... (husband's name) on the head of the hairs "(Polesie).

"For breeding chickens, especially of a good breed, a peasant will never give a neighbor eggs for hatching chickens. Otherwise, all the chickens will disappear" (Central Russia).

"Peasant hens often lay eggs in other people's yards. Such hens, so that they rush at home, cut off a few feathers in the tail and put the feathers in their nests" (Central Russia).

If the chicken stops laying or gets sick, then the yard or kikimora is considered the culprit. “Very often, kikimora plucks feathers from chickens. So that kikimoras do not harm chickens, they hang shreds of kumach, the neck from a broken clay washbasin, or, finally, the “chicken god” under the chicken infestation. The “chicken god” is a stone that often comes across in the fields with one or more through holes" (Polesie).

A killed magpie serves as a talisman for poultry. In Polissya, it is hung in the yard to protect chickens from magpies and others. birds of prey. In the Grodno province, the feathers of a magpie killed on the first day of March are placed under a chicken sitting on eggs to protect it from the evil eye. There is a belief among Bulgarians that the magpie is able to scare away a disease that attacks chickens. Therefore, it is hung near the chicken coop or magpie feathers and stomach are used as a talisman.

2. Superstitions associated with signs that help a person and improve his life:

In Macedonia, to protect livestock from wolves, peasants on the eve of the feast of St. Martin cut off the head of a black chicken on the threshold of the house, sprinkle her blood on the threshold or draw a cross with her head over the doors. The headless chicken is left here all night, plucked and eaten in the morning, and the head is threaded through the hearth chain knot three times and hung to it on a thread, putting one hair from each animal in the household into the beak. Then the crushed head is given to livestock to eat.

"If someone brings a chicken into the honeymoon house and makes it crow like a rooster, it will be good sign for a young family" (Yorkshire, UK).

According to ancient sorcerers' beliefs, chicken blood restrains overwhelming sexual instincts.

In the Chernigov province, young guys from among the relatives and friends of the bride are called "nightingales" at the wedding. The morning after wedding night they bring treats to the bride and share a baked chicken: "scorch the young chicken, and then go to the young to share: the young mother - ass."

The British spouses Raddford in 1947 published interesting message: "In the church of St. Tecla (the village of Llandegla, Wales), they tried to treat epilepsy (epilepsy) with a chicken or a rooster. In fact, the disease had to go to the bird. The patient first had to wash his hands and feet in a sacred spring located next to the church , throw a four pence coin into the source and read "Our Father" three times. After that, the bird - a rooster or a chicken, depending on the sex of the patient - was placed in a basket and walked with it first around the source, and then around the church. Then the patient entered church and, just after dawn, prostrated to his full height under the table for Communion. Then he donated sixpence and left the church. The hen (or rooster) was left in the church. If she died, it was believed that the epilepsy had passed to her from the patient, who was thus freed from his illness."

3. With signs that threaten human life:

"A woman who whistles and a hen who crows are the two biggest misfortunes in the world" (UK: Cornwall, Normandy).

If a chicken crowed like a rooster, then in Russian villages this is considered an extremely unfavorable sign - someone in the family will die. But such a chicken is not always chopped. They catch the chicken and begin to measure the hut with it from the wall to the opposite threshold, turning the bird over its head. If she was on the threshold with her head, they cut off her head, if with her tail, then they cut off her tail and let her go.

"Whoever steps on the place where a wolf slaughtered a goat, or where a dog scraped its paws, or where a rooster was slaughtered, his body will itch" (Mogilev district).

4. With signs related to climate:

"Chickens bathe in the dust - to rain" (everywhere).

"A chicken met in the spring on an empty stomach promises melancholy throughout the year" (Transcarpathia).

5. Jewish symbolism inherent in the chicken:

A.V. Gura, a well-known Russian ethnographer, gives an explanation of the inhabitants of Polissya about the reasons for giving the chicken Jewish symbols: "In the Volyn Polissya, the partridge, like the hoopoe, has Jewish symbols. In the Kovel district of the Volyn region, it is called the Jewish chicken. A folk legend explains this name this way. : "Yak Moses brought the Jews out of Egypt", they had nothing to eat. The hungry Jews shouted: "We need meat!" Jewish chicken". Therefore, Jews willingly buy these birds at the market and eat them. According to legend, "if a Jew said: ek ne bude Karapatvov, then y kid ne bude."

The path of knowledge never ends absolute truth never reachable. But it is very important to keep in the memory of posterity the stages of the formation of a person's views on the world around him through the prism of animal images.

Signs about chickens
So that the chickens rush well, do not get sick and be calm, last fly, which in the fall, before frost, will fly into your house, catch it and put it in a jar. When the husband falls asleep, throw it in the bird feed.

When plucking geese or chickens, you can’t talk, otherwise a “pinch” may attack, that is, the body will often be bruised. In addition, the authorities will eat up, find fault - they will “pinch”.

If the chickens began to fly from the perch at night - be in trouble. In this case, you need to urgently give one chicken to someone.

If you notice that straw is dragging behind a chicken tail, be in the house of the dead. You can get rid of the problem in the following way. Tear out a bunch of grass with roots and immediately plant it in the ground: grass down, roots up. Chop up the chicken, to the tail of which the straw is attached, and give the meat to the dog. The dog will die, but none of the relatives will die.

It is impossible for a mother hen to have even number eggs. As soon as the chicks hatch, peace will leave your home.

On the day when the first chick hatches, eggs should not be fried. Otherwise, all chickens will die.

After sunset, do not take eggs from the nest - the hens will stop laying. For the same reason, egg shells should not be burned in the oven.

Until the rooster sings, do not leave the house on the road.
If a chicken and a rooster enter the house and fight there, then the owners will no longer live in peace and tranquility.

Hatched chickens are not shown to strangers for three weeks, otherwise the chickens will not lay well.

Men's hands should not take freshly laid eggs from the nest, otherwise the hens will run away from the yard and carry eggs anywhere.

The old people say that a five-year-old rooster can lay an egg, and that the one who puts this egg under his arm and stays with him the whole church service will be lucky, rich and long-lived. And whoever wants to destroy the enemy to death, he puts this egg in the bosom of the deceased with the name of his enemy.

If someone’s hens do not lay well or lay eggs in someone else’s yard, they need to be driven out into the street during a hail and thrown to them to peck wheat. Pecking wheat, they involuntarily swallow the hail and then begin to lay many eggs.

Having bought a rooster, instruct a man to carry it into the house. If a woman brings a rooster to the house, then he will be cowardly, and the neighboring roosters will peck him.

If the mother hen hatches only hens and does not have a single cockerel, then in this case the owner of the house will fall ill. To avoid this, you need to buy a cockerel.

If your chickens are not laying well, you need to collect it at the time when the hail comes and give it to the chickens to peck. There will be a lot of eggs for the feast for the eyes.

If the owners have a loss of livestock, you need to get a black rooster. Animal pestilence will stop immediately.

If you pour ashes into the chicken coop on Thursday, then the chickens will rush better.

Everyone knows that you can’t point your finger at something or someone, but for sailors this is not an empty phrase, as it is believed that you can anger the gods, cause a storm or become a victim of a shipwreck.

What awaits you in the near future:

Find out what's in store for you in the near future.

Signs about chickens

In the city, among concrete high-rise buildings, live chicken today it is not easy to meet, but in dachas, in villages and even in private houses located in the city, this unpretentious bird is found in sufficient numbers. And once it was impossible to imagine without chickens and roosters not a single farmstead. At that time, the majority appeared folk signs about chickens.

• The most unusual sign among them is that the hen crowed like a rooster.

Popular beliefs say that this actually happens. And then expect something very unusual, more often - bad. Recommended to catch unusual chicken and touch her feet. If they are very hot, then expect trouble from fire or boiling water. If cold - from severe frosts. If a chicken sings in the house of the newlyweds - this omen is very good, it indicates that the newlyweds are waiting for a long and happy life in spite of everything bad.

Chicken and eggs

Since chickens were kept on the farm most often for fresh eggs, it is not surprising that a number of signs are inextricably linked with them.

To ride well

• Signs that chickens rush well include a ban on males approaching the nests. It is believed that if a man removes eggs from the nests, laying hens will drastically reduce clutches. In order for hens that roam freely around the site to return to laying in the nest, several feathers cut from their tails are placed in it. You also need to make sure that there is always fresh straw in the nest. And you can’t borrow a kvochka - then your chickens will get sick and rush badly.

When to plant eggs?

• When to plant chicken on eggs? Signs say that it is best to do this on a growing moon, then the offspring will hatch healthy. Eggs should be laid for the mother hen at dusk (late evening or early morning). An odd number of eggs are left in the hen's nest.

small egg

• The chicken laid a small egg - a sign promises vain troubles for the owners.

Other signs

When a bird freely walks around the yard and garden, it can fly into the window or enter the house.

• Seeing a chicken through the window is a sign that promises a quarrel with a special female.
• The sign of a chicken knocking on the window indicates that it is worth getting ready to receive news.
• The omen came chicken is very positive. It promises unexpected wealth. If the bird also lays an egg, then there is no doubt in the special mercy of fate in the near future.

black hen

The signs of a black chicken stand apart. A bird with this color is considered an excellent amulet for the owners of the farmstead from the evil eye and envy of neighbors. If you also get a black rooster, then you can not be afraid of thieves and evil people.

Since time immemorial, chickens and roosters have lived alongside people. Among many peoples, chickens were the most popular among a variety of domestic animals, since even the poorest person could afford this unpretentious bird.

In the distant past, without chickens and roosters, it was impossible to imagine a single farm or farmstead.

And for the long centuries of neighborhood with man hens and roosters became frequent heroes of a huge number folk signs, beliefs and superstitions.

The most unusual sign among them is when a hen crowed like a rooster. Knowledgeable people they say it actually happens. And it's not surprising that folk beliefs in this case, it is advised to wait for something very unusual, more often - bad.

However, the cock song of a chicken does not always portend trouble. If the chicken sang in the house of the newlyweds , is a very good omen. She promises the newlyweds a long and happy life.

Weather signs about chickens

• If chickens twirl their tails in winter, to a blizzard.
• Rummaging in the ground, chickens shower themselves with dust, as if bathing - a sign of rain.
• The chicken stands on one leg - to the cold.
• The continuous clucking of the pied-breeds portends bad weather.
• Before any deterioration in the weather, the hen gathers the chickens and covers them securely with her plumage.
• Chickens gathered to sleep early - by the rain.

Household beliefs about chickens

• If the chickens flew off the perch at night, it is a sign of trouble.
• When one chicken fell from a perch, there will be a surprise.
• Chickens fight - to the guests.
• If in the evening all the hens cackle continuously at the same time, then a quarrel will certainly occur in the house. And if this happened at night, then you need to wait for misfortune.
• If to chicken foot a straw is clinging and dragging - a sign of the dead.
• The chicken went into the hut - to the news, flies around the house - to the frost.
• Seeing a chicken through the window is a sign that promises a quarrel with a special female.
• A sign, if a chicken knocks on a window, indicates that you need to prepare to receive news.
• Very good omen- if someone else's chicken came into the yard. This promises not just stable prosperity, but real wealth. If the bird also lays an egg, then there is no doubt in the special mercy of fate in the near future.
• Anyone who knocks down a chicken in a car will lose family well-being.
• Separately, it should be said about the sign about the black chicken. A bird with such a color among the people was considered a good amulet for its owners from the evil eye, damage and envy of neighbors. In Russia, they believed that if you also got a black rooster, then you could not be afraid of either thieves or evil people.

Signs and beliefs about chickens and eggs

Chickens on a farm all year round provided the family not only with meat and feathers, but also fresh eggs. Therefore, it is not surprising that a number of folk signs and beliefs are inextricably linked with chicken eggs.

• In order for the chickens to rush well, you need to hang a stone with a hole in the chicken coop.
• Folk beliefs do not recommend that men collect chicken eggs in the poultry house, because then the chickens may stop laying. The same thing can happen if you burn eggshells.
• In order for hens freely walking around the site to return to the nest for laying, several feathers cut from their tails are placed in it.
• They put a stork in the nest egg so that the chickens carry the same large eggs like the stork.
• To make the chickens lay better, it is customary to put Christmas straw in the nest.
• The hen must be planted on an odd number of eggs. And it is best to do it on, then the offspring will be healthy.
• A large egg with two yolks predicts a wedding for a young girl, married woman- an addition to the family, a pregnant woman - the birth of twins, and a man - good luck in love and business.
• A small egg, according to signs, means small chores that can concern both domestic problems, and workers.
• If a small egg was dreamed of in a dream, this means that a person is inclined to make “an elephant out of a fly”, to attach unnecessarily great importance to insignificant words and deeds.

The chicken stands on one leg - to the cold.

A hen who crows with a rooster and a woman who whistles are not good for God or man. (In Normandy, they say this: "Une poule qui chante le coq et une fille qui siffle, portent malheur dans le maison" ("A hen that crows and a daughter who whistles bring trouble into the house").
And in Cornwall: "A whistling woman and a hen that crows are the two biggest misfortunes in the world." Whistling women caused particular fear among the inhabitants of the Yorkshire coast. When a group of our acquaintances boarded the ship at Scarborough, the captain surprised everyone by refusing to take one woman on board. "Not this lady," he said. "She whistles." By a strange coincidence, this ship nevertheless disappeared during the voyage. In Devonshire and Cornwall, no miner ever whistles underground. In the border counties, a crowing chicken is considered a messenger of death. In the district of East Kilbride, a remarkable event was recorded, which greatly contributed to the strengthening of this superstition. One old woman once heard her hen crowing loudly on an earthen embankment near the house. She told her neighbor about this and added that now something bad was bound to happen / A few weeks later her husband died. A month later, the hen again crowed like a rooster, and a few days later the old woman's son was killed. When the hen screamed for the third time, the old woman's daughter died. Then she finally twisted the chicken's neck. And after that, no one died in her family for quite a long time. In the church of St. Tecla (the village of Llandegla, Wales), they tried to treat epilepsy with a chicken or a rooster. In fact, the disease should have passed to the bird. The patient first had to wash his hands and feet in the sacred spring, located next to the church, throw a four pence coin into the spring and read the Lord's Prayer three times. After that, a bird - a rooster or a chicken, depending on the sex of the patient - was placed in a basket and walked around with it first around the source, and then around the church. The patient then entered the church and, immediately after dawn, prostrated himself to his full height under the Communion table. He then donated sixpence and left the church. The chicken (or rooster) was left in the church. If she died, it was believed that the epilepsy passed to her from the patient, who was thus freed from his illness. If you doubt the effectiveness of this treatment, then here are the words of the parish clerk: no later than in 1855 he saw a bird in the church , who was convulsing from epilepsy transmitted to her. But, on the other hand, a chicken left in a cramped basket and deprived of food was undoubtedly doomed to a quick death. There was a superstition in Wales that if on New Year chickens are not fed with all sorts of fruits that are in the house, then they will begin to think: should they stop laying eggs? Fruit should be finely chopped and mixed. If the chicken stops laying or gets sick, then the yard or kikimora is considered the culprit. “Very often, a kikimora plucks feathers from chickens. To prevent kikimora from harming chickens, they hang shreds of kumac, the neck of a broken clay washbasin, or, finally, the “chicken god” under the chicken infestation. The “chicken god” is a stone that often comes across in the fields with one or more through holes "(see NIGHTMARE). "If a chicken sings like a rooster, then this is not good: there is a dead person in the house." "So that chickens do not lose their eggs, they rub their anus with salt. When a young chicken lays egg, then the hostess should take this egg and stroke her husband’s head with it, saying: “Let Chernushka (hen’s name) have as many testicles as NN (husband’s name) has hairs on the head.” “In the family where the abduction happened, always many are suspected, especially in the villages. There, the right and the wrong are gathered in the evening into one hut, the fire is put out and the chicken covered with soot is let in. The chicken, bypassing the right, touches them; but approaching the thief, as if screaming, runs away and does not let him near him. In this case, all right, but necessary, are stained with soot; only the kidnapper does not receive this honor. Then they bring in the fire and look: who is stained with soot and who is not. If there is a person who is free from this, then he is found guilty. "For raising chickens, especially of a good breed, a peasant will never give eggs to a neighbor to hatch chickens. Otherwise, as they say, all the chickens will die. "" Among peasants, chickens often lay eggs in other people's yards. To such chickens, so that they rush at home, they cut off several feathers in their tails and put the feathers in their nests. "If the chicken sang like a rooster, then in Russian villages this is considered an extremely unfavorable sign - someone will die in the family. (See the corresponding superstition in English folklore). But such a chicken is not always chopped. They catch it and begin to measure the hut with it from the wall to the opposite threshold, turning the bird over its head. If it is on the threshold with its head, they chop off its head, if with its tail, then cut off its tail and let go For the unfavorable meaning of whistling, see the article of the same name.
Chickens bathe in the dust - to rain. If someone brings a chicken into the newlyweds' house and makes it crow like a rooster, this will be a good sign for a young family. (Yorkshire).