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An ancient national tradition of Belarusians and Slavs had a ritual importance.  The most important place was occupied by the corners of the house . Before moving into a new house the corners were sprinkled with holy water. At  the wedding the newlyweds strewed some grain into the corners for the well-being of the family. At the funeral the first glass of wine and the spoon with food were thrown into the corner for a dead man.

The corner served as a copy of a small temple. So in the upper part of the corner  there was an icon covered with a homemade towel. That corner was called “ red corner”. A man, who entered the house, had  to make the sign of the cross before  the icon in the red corner and then only could speak with the head of the house.

Why were the corners so important? It might be due to the fact  that a detached wall didn’t form any limited space that could have a sacred meaning. Such a space was formed by the fusion of two walls. That was why different rituals  were held  there.

There was one more rite about  the connection of corners in the people’s notion with the sides of the world. The  mother, whose son was in the soldiers and there was no news from him, took pieces  from the first New Year’s bread and put them in four corners for the night. In the morning if the pieces were undamaged, the son would be safe and healthy. If they disappeared  from the corner, the son would be killed in the direction indicated by the corner.

A very  important place took so called “ woman or stove “corner. It was situated near the stove. It was the place where the mistress of the house cooked and kept all kitchen things.

    Before Christening, a baby- boy was put in the red corner and a baby- girl-- in the stove corner. In that way it was underlined  the man’s and woman’s mission in life.

     The mystery of the stove corner was caused by different magic things. It was the place where a witch put a curse on somebody, a healer  treated  people, and girls made a guess at a future husband.

     The red corner and the stove corner were the places where the family life was. On holidays those corners were cleaned carefully. The other two corners were not of great value, they didn’t have a ritual meaning. The red corner considered to be the most  important :

  • There were icons, small and sacred books.

  • After the harvest time the first and the last sheaf was also put into the red corner.

  • The head of the house or a guest  sat at the table in the red corner at dinner time.

  • On “ Kalyady” a straw spider ( the symbol of the sun) decorated the red corner. They believed it would bring  happiness. The next  ritual was held after  Kalyady’s supper. A plate with “Kuttzya” and spoons were put in the corner, if  the spoons were in the same position, it would be a success for the family  in the New Year, the troubles would  pass by.

  • And even the coffin with a dead man also found its place in house’s corners.

        The importance of corners also took place in wedding ceremonies:

  • The matchmakers went straight to the corner. They put a bottle of vodka and a box of food on the table.

  • The icon from the red corner was used to bless newlyweds.

  • At the wedding  a mug of beer was poured into the corner for  the wealth of the newlyweds.

  • At the wedding table the newlyweds  sat in the corner as a sign of merging  two clans into one family.

      Organizing  life around those corners, our ancestors felt connection with founding  the world and determined their location in the terrestrial system. For a man of the past , who was strongly associated with nature,  it was very important  because he always compared his life and his home with the foundation of the world.

THE CORNERS OF THE HOUSE

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