Ancient images in folk art - our heritage

In the school curriculum, ancient images in folk art occupy an important place in the study of national culture. Fine art is beginning to be taught from the primary classes, and one of the first topics is devoted to the symbols that our distant ancestors embroidered on clothes, cut out on wooden utensils, depicted on ornaments and clay pots. These images served not only as decoration - they carried a sacred meaning.

Image spiritualization

Encoded in architectural compositions, objects of everyday life, art works and folklore texts, ancient images in folk art reflect the representations of our ancestors about the surrounding world. Prominent scientist Nikolai Kostomarov considered the ancient symbols to be a figurative manifestation of moral ideas with the help of objects of physical nature endowed with spiritual properties.

Academician Vernadsky noted that in the works of folk art the life of the given epoch and the people is manifested, and thanks to this it is possible to study and understand the soul of the people. He recognized the deep symbolism of artistic creativity that the Cosmos gives us, passing through the consciousness of a living being.

Basic Images

Examples of sacred symbols and their meaning are accurately in an accessible form in the school theme "Ancient Images in Folk Art" (Grade 5, Fine Arts). This is a geometric ornament, images of the sun, eggs, Tree of Life, sky, water, mother earth, images of animals and others.

• The sun personified the bosom of the universe.
• The Tree of Life is the center of the universe, the hierarchical structure of being.
• The egg is the symbol of life, the celestial sphere from which stars and planets arise.
• The image of the Earth was associated with the image of the mother-wet nurse.
• The ornaments depicted the sky, earth, water, animals and plants, fire, manifestations of nature (wind, rain, snow, etc.).

The sun

This is the most ancient image in folk art. The sun was considered the center of the world and the source of life, symbolized heavenly spirituality, often acquiring the image of separate gods. The cult of the sun was universal. In the Ipatiev Chronicle of 1114 it is stated that "The sun is the king, son of Svarog, who is Dazhbog." According to other sources, Svarog was considered the sun god .

The sun is the "Eye of God", which is endowed with the epithets "holy," "righteous," "clear," "red," "beautiful." Later, the Sun occupies a special place in the celestial hierarchy next to the Most High: a clear month, a bright sun and a heavenly God. Let us recall the teachings of Vladimir Monomakh, who pointed to the need to give "the morning Praise to God, and then the rising sun."

In the school textbook about ancient images in folk art (Grade 5) it is said that the Sun was designated by our ancestors in allegorical way in the form of rhombuses, round rosettes and even horses (symbolize the arrival of spring). They were decorated with women's hats, belts, beads, bakery, wedding loaf, egg-eggs, ceramics, etc.

The Tree of Life

It is no less an ancient image in folk art than the Sun. The Tree of Life symbolizes the triune unity of the world, the world tree, the mythical bird, the creator of Jehovah. It unites the sky (branches), the earth (trunk) and the underground world (roots). Also, the Tree means the genus - hence the name "family tree", "the roots of the genus," "native roots."

The Image of the Tree of Life has, perhaps, the most complex ornamental structure. This is a bizarre pattern depicting a sprawling tree, with leaves, large fruits and flowers. Often the tops of the ornamental tree are crowned with images of magical guardian birds (hence the expression "blue bird", "bird of happiness"). Canonically, the Tree is depicted growing from a cup (vessel), indicating the roots of the sacred womb (the container of the world, the universe). The famous folklorist Xenophon Sosenko noted that the idea of the World Tree "is considered a people as the first peacekeeping factor".

Mother Earth

The earth has always been associated with the female image of the mother, because the Earth is the nurse. The goddess of fertility is found in many world cultures. Ancient images in the folk art of Mother Earth were personified with a big chested woman. She can give birth to children, and harvest "give birth." Until now, archeologists have found figures of wooden images of the female, set in the fields.

On ornamental images, Mother Earth almost always stands with hands up to the sky, and instead of a head a diamond can be depicted - one of the symbols of the Sun. This emphasizes the dependence of the crop on solar heat and sky (rain).

Sky

According to ancient beliefs, Heaven seemed to be the core of the universe, a symbol of the cosmos, that is, of order and harmony, the source of life. The semantics of the word "heaven" in many peoples means "number", "harmony", "middle", "order", "navel", "life" (in particular in Latin, English, Latvian, Hittite, Irish, Welsh ). Ancient images in folk art gave Heaven special power: often the interpretation of the word "heaven" is consonant with the concept of "God."

Our distant ancestors believed that the sky is a river through which the bright sun travels. Sometimes a cow was identified with the Sky, which was considered a celestial being and was called the "heavenly cow". People Sky was represented by a hemisphere, dome, lid, vessel, which protected them. Images of the sky were designated on painted eggs, shirts, towels, carpets, etc.

Ornament

Since ancient times pottery, woven, embroidered, painted, wicker, carved wooden and stone objects of everyday life were decorated with various ornaments. The patterns had worldview semantics and consisted of simple elements: points, zigzags, curls, straight and spiral lines, circles, crosses, and others. Among the main groups and types of ornaments (geometric, plant, zoomorphic and anthropomorphic), researchers identify a group of symbols of celestial bodies (sun, moon, stars, etc.).

It is in the form of ornaments most often depicted ancient images in folk art. The central place in such compositions was usually occupied by astral signs of heavenly fire, stars, sun and month. Later, these deified elements were transformed into floral ornament.

Conclusion

The Sun, the Tree of Life, Mother Earth, Sky, Month - these are the main ancient images in folk art. Discussion of their meanings and in the school lesson, and among scientists develops into an exciting polemic. It is enough to imagine yourself in the place of a long-time ancestor to understand what an indelible impression the majestic sunrise and the bottomless depth of the heavenly vault overhead, the violence of the elements and the calming fire of the hearth produce. All of this beauty, grandeur, unbridledness our ancestors captured by the means available to them for future generations.