Towel is what? Schemes of towels cross

Towel is a product with a deep symbolic meaning. It is created according to the laws of art in order to decorate life, and not only. Rushnik keeps in itself invisible connections that connect people with their kind. The patterns that are embroidered on the canvas are encrypted information about the life of the people, individuals, nature.

From the article you can learn about the use of towels by people, especially in the wedding rite, as well as the meaning of the most common elements that are used in the schemes when creating the canvas.

Range of use

For the intended purpose, such an object was used very rarely. This refers to wiping hands. Towel is a ritual element, which was an important component of human habitation, clothing, rituals. They were decorated with corners in houses, windows and doors.

It was used as a festive belt. In many nations, the belt was an indispensable element of clothing. If a person appeared in public without him, it was believed that he had lost human dignity. There was even the expression "to ungird".

Application of towels:

• To celebrate the mother and her newborn baby. Towel became protection in front of enemy forces, he protected the baby from the evil eye.
• The goddess gave birth to a woman in childbirth. The baptismal version was also embroidered in order to take the child to the temple and wipe it after dipping into the font. After the christening, they sewed a shirt for the child from the canvas, or they kept it until his wedding, and maybe even a funeral.
• The symbol of the path of the deceased into another world. In some regions he was hung outside the window, until forty days after the funeral. So the soul of the deceased could wipe the face from tears. On the fortieth day, the towel was taken to the grave and tied on the cross. For forty days after death, this element was a kind of window between the worlds of the living and the dead.

Also, it was widely used in the conduct of calendar rites, in magical rituals and medicine.

Wedding Towel

At all stages of the wedding, rushnyk was the main ritual in ceremonies (this is not just an element of decor).

Stages of the wedding:

• matchmaking;
• Betrothal;
• Loaf of bread;
• blessing;
• Gift.

Matchmaking in some regions was called "towing" another way. This component was a sign of the consent of the girl to marry. For this, the girl tied a cloth with embroidery to matchmakers or brought them bread on an embroidered fabric.

When engaged, the hands of the young were bound together by a canvas. Conducted this official rite of the elder elder. After that, the bride bandaged matchmakers towels.

At the wedding, young people stood on the canvas, also used to decorate horses, harnesses, clothes of guests.

Functions amulet

Towel is a guard in many nations. For example, people, illuminated in the church during Easter, people hung out on the front doors to protect themselves from thunder. Objects that needed protection were often covered with a cloth with ornament. How did they produce these ceremonial elements?

Manufacturing

In the olden days, towels were made (embroidery depended on purpose) from linen and hemp cloth. Standard was the following size: width - forty centimeters, length - more than three meters.

Embroidery is used as a decoration (smooth, cross), although variants with lace, ribbons or print are possible.

Initially, each embroidered pattern had its sacred significance. Ornaments could be zoomorphic, plant, geometric, cult, anthropomorphic. By the end of the nineteenth century, for many, embroidery had lost its ritual significance.

To design the pattern, different colors were used depending on the region. Most often used red, black, white. Although there are works using blue, green, yellow.

Floral ornament

Since ancient times, plants have been part of human life and culture. The pattern of embroidering towels often contains one or another plant motif.

Meaning of vegetable ornament:

• Oak - youth, reliability, sacred tree;
• Lily - maidenliness and innocence;
• The rose is an endless solar movement, an eternal rebirth;
• Viburnum - beauty, fidelity;
• Periwinkle - memory;
• Grapes - the creation of a family;
• Poppy - protection from evil, ineradicable memory of the people;
• Hops - development, young violence, love; Refers to the wedding symbolism.

If flowers or leaves grow upwards - this is a symbol of life, and down - a symbol of death.

Meaning of symbols

Schemes of towels cross often contain geometric figures. They also have their meaning:

• The diamonds are the most common ornament of cross-stitch embroidery. A common element for most of the East Slavic peoples. The diamonds with curls denoted the goddess of the earth, were a guard symbol, bringing happiness and fertility. Often used as a decoration of women's clothing, especially in the head, chest, shoulders.
• Stars - the idea of an ordered universe, which is filled with harmony.
• The vase was depicted with large branches of flowers and birds. It was embroidered, as a rule, with red threads, which meant a clearing fire, the sun. It was a symbol of protective magic, purification and treatment.
• Water and the Sun - these two symbols were depicted together, because the water was the mother energy, and the sun - the father's. The sun looked like an octagonal rosette or a flower, and the water looked like a curled up horror.
• The mother symbol is an eight-pointed star, which is decorated with a stylized garland of flowers. The symbol indicates a special role for the mother in the continuation of life. The mother symbol is the main one on the canvas.

Towels, whose schemes differed depending on the primary purpose, played a significant role in the life of the Slavs. They accompanied the person from birth to death.