The Folklore of Byelorussian Cult Stones Cover Image

Фольклор культовых валунов Беларуси
The Folklore of Byelorussian Cult Stones

Author(s): Ludmila Duchic, Valeriy Vinokurov, Aleksandr Karavanov
Subject(s): Archaeology, Cultural history, Customs / Folklore, Ethnohistory, Cultural Anthropology / Ethnology
Published by: Latvijas Kultūras akadēmija
Keywords: Belarus; folklore; cult stones; magic stones; healing stones; animistic stones; stone tailors; avistic stones;

Summary/Abstract: Approximately 500 cult stones have been registered in the territory of Byelorussia. 1.Magic stones (fetishes). Legends about healing. Marks on stones have been attributed to the God, the Virgin, saints, the devil, and animals. Treasure (gold, silver, weapons, a carriage) has been hidden under the stone. 2. Animistic stones (people or animals turned into stone). Plowmen and their bullocks (bulls) were turned into stone because they had worked during Easter. There are various legends about stones-animals. People, mainly women, have turned into stone because they have broken ban and have looked back. There are also wedding guests, villages churches turned into stone as well as the stones 'tailors' and 'shoemakers'', who have been turned into stone as a result of a curse. 3, Avistic stones. These legends are connected with ancestors' cult. 4 Deistic stones. Legends about pagan deities (Perun killed the devil on the stone; the hollows were made by Perun, devils; the stone was illopped by the devil when he heard the rooster crow).

  • Issue Year: 3/2006
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 17-31
  • Page Count: 15
  • Language: Russian