This is the owner and patron of the house, the home spirit. Its main function in the house is to be responsible for the well-being of human housing. A creature of a demonic nature, but its features are closest to those of humans. This is a kind of double of the owner or very similar to him in clothes and habits. He is short, with gray hair, an angry expression on his face, his entire body except his hands, on which long claws grow, is covered with white fur. He, as a rule, lives behind the stove, under the threshold, in the attic or in the underground. He keeps order in the house and takes care of the pets. In unfriendly families, he knocks at night, coughs, grumbles, or may even leave the house - which will be a real misfortune, because no house can stand without a brownie. It is connected not only with the house, but also with the residents themselves, so when moving to a new house, first of all, you need to invite the brownie with you.

They pour earth from under the stove onto the bast shoes and say: “Brownie, brownie, don’t stay here, but come with us” or “Grandfather, neighbor, come to us.” It was believed that if the brownie was not taken with him, he would scare people at night with his crying and stagger around in the ruins.

When buying large livestock, they ask him to take care of the cattle: “Master, king of the yard, accept my belly into your simple gates.” It was believed that if you did not ask him for mercy, he could kill the cattle. There are special rituals to appease the brownie. In Rus', it was believed that when they arrange a festive table before the start of Lent (zagovina), then for the brownie, part of the food is taken to the barnyard and left there in a special place for this, while the following words are said: “Hostess-father, bread and salt Take it, take the cattle."

Human weaknesses were attributed to him. There were such beliefs - he also has his own family: his wife is a housewife, a kikimora in our opinion, she comes out from under the floor at night and spins. It’s as if he also has children who eat bread that the “unwashed people paw at.” He warms himself on the stove and goes to visit other brownies. He can also make friends and fight with other spirits - the bannik, the barn-keeper, the forester. It may, as if by chance, appear to a person at night, but as a rule it happens near cattle, on Maundy Thursday with a candle from the church, or on Easter from Matins - behind a chimney in the attic.

You can only look at the brownie one at a time, and never all at once, otherwise you might make him angry. And whoever he likes will receive profit for the house and prosperity for the family. If you did not invite him with you, then the owner risked his home - he could lose it in a fire. He also acts as a prophet, predicting good and bad. The crying and moaning of a brownie is a sign of trouble; if he leans on the chest of a sleeping person, then he must die in the near future. If a brownie plays on a comb or dances, then this is for a wedding.

The brownie is called unclean, but he is still a good spirit with whom one can live in peace.

They say that the brownie still lives in every village hut, but not everyone knows about it. They call him grandfather, master, neighbor, housekeeper, demon-housekeeper, but this is all he - the keeper of the hearth, the invisible assistant of the owners.

Brownies, artist Viktor Korolkov

Of course, he can tickle in his sleep, rattle dishes at night, or tap behind the stove, but he does this more out of mischief. His main job is to inspect the farm. The brownie sees every little thing, tirelessly cares and worries so that everything is in order and ready.

The brownie will always help the hard worker and correct his mistake; he enjoys the offspring of domestic animals and birds; he does not tolerate unnecessary expenses and gets angry at them - in a word, he is inclined to work, thrifty and prudent. If the brownie likes the home, then he serves this family, as if he went into bondage to her. For this loyalty, in other places they call him that: he has killed him. But he willingly helps the lazy and careless to run their households, torments people to the point that he crushes them almost to death at night or throws them out of their beds. However, it is not difficult to make peace with an angry brownie: you just have to put snuff under the stove, which he is a big fan of, or give him any gift: a multi-colored rag, a crust of bread...

If the owners love their neighbor, if they live in harmony with him, then they will never want to part with him, even when moving to a new house: they will scratch under the threshold, collect the garbage in a dustpan - and sprinkle it in the new hut, without noticing how they deal with this garbage The “owner” moves to a new place of residence. Just remember to bring him a pot of porridge for his housewarming and say with all possible respect: “Grandfather Brownie, come home. Come live with us!” Whom the brownie really doesn't like are drunkards and simple-haired women: according to his ancient views, every married woman should definitely wear a headscarf. And whichever zealous housewife he likes, he worries about her day and night: in her dreams he will weave countless little braids on her head. It’s a hassle for her, go and comb it later, but he’s happy – he’s beautified his favorite. That's why he is also called licker.

Rarely can a person boast that he has seen a brownie. To do this, you need to put on a horse collar on Easter night, cover yourself with a harrow, the teeth on yourself, and sit between the horses the whole night. If you're lucky, you'll see an old man - small, like a stump, all covered with gray hair (even his palms are hairy), gray with age and dust. Sometimes, in order to divert prying eyes from himself, he will take on the appearance of the owner of the house - well, he’s the spitting image! In general, the brownie loves to wear the owner’s clothes, but always manages to put them back in place as soon as the person needs things.

Sometimes the brownie is so impatient with being spied on that, at his direction, the horses begin to hit the harrow with their backs and can beat the immodest and curious to death. It is much easier not to see a brownie, but to hear it: its crying and dull restrained moans, its soft and affectionate, and sometimes dull voice. Sometimes at night, in the form of a gray, smoky cat, he will fall on his chest and press: it’s him. To the one who, upon waking up, hastens to ask him: “For good or for bad?” – he will answer in a human voice, but quietly, as if the wind was rustling the leaves. He often strokes the sleepy ones with his soft paw, and then no questions are required - and it is so clear that this is for good. If you hear the cry of a brownie, even in the hut itself, you will be dead. When one of the household members dies, he howls at night, thereby expressing his unfeigned sadness. The house-elf predicts the death of the owner by covering his head with his hat when he sits down to work.

Before the plague, fire and war, the brownies leave the village and howl in the pastures. If there is a big unexpected misfortune, the grandfather notifies about its approach, ordering the dogs to dig holes in the middle of the yard and howl at the whole village... If the chimney on the roof begins to play on the damper, there will be a trial because of some business and offense. If he wets someone with a brownie at night, that person will get sick. If he pulls a woman's hair - beware of the wife, don't get into an argument with her husband, or he'll beat you. If the brownie rattles the dishes in the supply - be careful with the fire, don’t drop a spark. To the joy of the neighbor, she jumps, purrs songs, laughs; sometimes, playing on a comb, he warns of an imminent wedding. For some reason, chickens enjoy a special favor with every brownie. Therefore, on November 14, a chicken name day is held in his honor - pies with chicken are baked, and the crusts are thrown into the hearth, donating it to its keeper - the brownie.

Alexey Remizov. Cry of the brownies

One day little Chuiko woke up from the sound of someone's thin cry. He raised his head - no, it was quiet in the hut, even his little sister was fast asleep. And the parents are sleeping. And grandfather and grandmother. Who's crying?
Chuiko put his head under the pillow - no, he still couldn’t sleep: crying was disturbing him. It is already pouring out into many voices, and with a verdict, with a lament! Or maybe someone is crying in the yard? Is Kalika the passerby asking for mercy?
Chuiko could not stand it, crawled off the stove and carefully, stealthily, climbed out onto the porch. The yard is empty, the moon is shining in the sky. And the crying comes from beyond the outskirts. Chuiko stepped barefoot into the dewy grass and, shivering and jumping, rushed out of the yard. I reached the outskirts and just died.

The moon rose high, it became light, almost like daytime, and in this light Chuiko saw some short men standing along the outskirts and crying bitterly in different voices. Some of them looked like strong little men, others seemed older than Chuikov’s great-grandfather. But they were all dressed like peasants, in shirts and bast shoes. Wiping away tears with their fists, they looked at the sky, and when Chuiko raised his eyes, he froze, because he saw a huge rider on a white horse, half the height of the sky. The rider's face was distorted with martyrdom, because he was pierced by an arrow. He urged the tired horse, trying to get away from the chase, but it was getting closer every moment, and now Chuiko saw the fur hats of the steppe people, saw their short, shaggy-legged and frisky horses, saw long spears in the hands of the Horde. He also recognized the dying horseman. It was Volya, his father!
Chuiko screamed and fell to the ground without memory. Early in the morning his mother found him, who got up to milk the cow and missed her son. Somehow they brought the boy to consciousness. At first he just cried, couldn’t say a word, but he drank some fresh milk, calmed down, and told about his night vision.

By that time, half the village had gathered around, and the adults, having listened to him, silently looked at each other. They immediately realized that Chuiko had seen the brownies and heard their lamentations. It is known that if a brownie cries at night, it always portends trouble, and perhaps the death of the owner. What does the cry of all the village housewives mean? And what made them, homebodies at home, leave their huts and go out to the outskirts, sobbing there, as if in ashes? Isn't the whole village in danger of trouble?
- The boy saw the steppe inhabitants - shouldn’t they be feared? - said Volya, Chuikov’s father.
“This is a dream and stupid nonsense,” yawned the shepherd Mushka. – Drive the cows into the herd, there’s a lot of time to waste.
“He is a fool who does not honor old signs and does not heed reasonable advice,” Volya answered sternly. – If the spirits of our dwellings have already begun to weep, trouble cannot be avoided. Let us prepare for defense, fellow villagers, so as not to meet the enemy with his mouth agape.
Many willingly obeyed him, many grumbled and were obstinate, but in the end everyone began to clean their weapons and prepare ammunition. At night, guards stood along the entire outskirts... so what? The steppe inhabitants attacked the village!

They were just waiting to find sleepy, unarmed people, but they came across arrows, spears, and spears. A heavy battle ensued and lasted the whole day. The steppe inhabitants left with great damage, but the village was defended. Volya was wounded by an arrow in the shoulder, but not to death.
Enduring the pain, Volya smiled at his frightened son:
- It's all empty. There is no warrior in the world who has not been wounded at least once. But whenever you heard the cry of the brownies, everything could have been much worse!

(Kutny god) is the home spirit of the Slavs, the mythological owner and patron of the house. He promotes the well-being of the family, children and household members in everyday life, monitors the household, the condition of the house, and animals. He may even interfere in people’s relationships with each other, fall in love or hate someone living at home. Each brownie has his own character, his own quirks and characteristics. Our ancestors tried to establish contact with Domov - they invited him to a new house when they moved, and honored him on special days.

What does a real Brownie look like?

The Slavs believed that Domovoy was the founder of the family. The very appearance of Domovoy, as people imagined him, and sometimes saw him, if you believe the stories, reflected this.

My sister’s daughter is coming down from the street and sees an old woman coming down in red boots and a red fur coat. The beard is narrow and long.

In general, the Brownie was also considered the main owner of the home, which is why they said that he could take the form of the head of the family or its oldest member. Brownies often have wives, who are called Domovs. They also believed that Domakhs were Domovoi in female manifestation, the spirit mistresses of houses where only women lived.

How does a Brownie appear in a house or apartment?

Our ancestors believed that the Brownie lived in every house. There are brownies in apartments too. The brownie is most often invisible in the house, and appears only before some important event, usually in the evening or at night. Then people will find out what a real brownie looks like.

I’m sitting, pressing my back to the stove. A little man came in, a little off the floor, and said: “In three days the war will end.” The war ended three days later.

But more often than not, this household spirit is not seen, but its presence is felt: it can stroke a person’s hand or head, sometimes lean on and crush during sleep. It was rumored that such attacks by Domovoy foreshadowed the future.

It sometimes happens that if he is naked, naked like a person, it presses for bad, but if he is furry, like a cat, it presses for good.

Sometimes it was advised to ask Domovoy directly: whether his appearance was for good or for bad. The spirit can be quite aggressive - it will pinch until it bruises, and if such bruises are very painful, then this is also unfortunate. If the Brownie especially loves one of the family members or pets, he braids his hair or wool into peculiar “braids” - tangles that cannot be combed out. He cares for and cherishes the animals that he likes, but those that do not belong to the court begin to wither and get sick. In apartments and houses, the Brownie is also manifested by the fact that it makes various sounds and noises. The one who heard them can also judge future events in the family by their character.

You won’t find photos that show what Domovoi or Domovys look like, but we can quite imagine them from the stories. Sometimes this is a double of the owner or mistress, one of his friends and relatives. Sometimes they see a little old man, bearded and covered with fur. Moreover, they believed that the richer the household, the more shaggy the Brownie. They often transform into small wild or domestic animals: weasels, dogs, cats, snakes. But in any form, Domovoy’s fur matches the color of the hair of the owner of the house.

Where does Domovoy live?

The brownie lives in the red corner, on the stove, at the threshold, in the attic, underground - in a word, where he wants and where he will not be disturbed. It is often seen in outbuildings: a barn, a barn, sometimes even in a bathhouse. They didn’t put anything in the places where they believed the Domovoi lived, they didn’t go there themselves, otherwise you might feel a strong oppression at night or get sick.

When is Domovoi honored?

Domovoy has a special holiday: Winter Wonders, which mark 28 January. Then this household spirit is treated to porridge in order to appease it, otherwise it might commit mischief.

The brownie is one of the many spirits of Slavic myths and beliefs. Now, when interest in the traditions and customs of antiquity is growing, past stories and stories are once again coming to life in our minds. Our ancestors believed that everything in nature, around us, has its own soul, its own character. And knowing this fills life with special meaning.

Why is it “impossible” to shake hands or pass something across the threshold? The fact is that the threshold - the natural “border” of the hut - was for ancient people a serious boundary between the worlds: “one’s own” and “alien”, “well-lived” and “less lived-in.” Crossing it was fraught with serious dangers in itself; in those days, all boundaries - both in space and in time - were taken extremely seriously. There were separate Gods who were in charge of the boundaries. Romulus, the legendary founder of Rome, killed his twin brother because he... jumped over the ditch that marked the border of the future city - this was sufficient reason for execution. The neighbors and contemporaries of the ancient Slavs, the Scandinavian Vikings, buried criminals in the high tide zone - in places that belonged neither to the sea nor to the land... We will talk about boundaries in time later, but probably everyone has heard about the special properties of midnight, about the fact that Monday - it’s a hard day, and one more thing: what you do on the first day of the year is what you’ll do all year.
And besides, such treatment of the border of the home world would hardly have pleased Domovoy.
Who is Brownie and how does he start in the house?
The brownie is the soul of the hut, the patron of the building and the people living in it.
The construction of a house was filled with the deepest religious meaning for the ancient Slavs, because in this case a person was likened to the Gods who created the Universe. He also built his own world, created from disparate parts and from scratch something new that did not exist in nature. Accordingly, great importance was attached to the choice of time to begin work, the choice of location for a new hut and, of course, the choice of building materials. So, according to some ideas, the Brownie arose from the soul of the sacrificial animal. According to other legends, the Brownie was born from the souls of trees cut down and used for construction. According to popular beliefs, Brownies had both wives and children: therefore, a Brownie could have been born “naturally” for a new home.

Wooden figurines of household Deities and the tops of wooden staffs.
XI–XIII centuries

However, in some cases - for example, if they were rebuilt after a fire - they took the former Brownie with them to the new place. Don't leave him in the ruins so he can cry there at night, scaring passers-by. The brownie was carried with treats and persuasion in a worn-out bast shoe or on a shovel, which was used to put bread into the oven.
The brownie settled down to live in the underground under the stove (in later times, when ceilings appeared, he also chose the attic). The brownie was usually imagined as a little old man, with a face similar to the head of the family, only covered in hair up to his eyes and with claws on his furry paws. By nature, Domovoy is an ideal housewife, an eternal busybody, often grumpy, but deep down, caring and kind. People tried to maintain good relations with Domovoy, did not forget to address the “grandfather-grandfather” with an affectionate word, and leave some tasty food. And then the Brownie paid kindness for kindness: he looked after the cattle, helped keep the house in order, warned about impending misfortune - for example, he could wake you up at night: “Get up, master, there’s a fire!..” - and, sure enough, scattered coals are smoldering, just about will blaze...
And before entering an abandoned house or a forest hut-winter built specifically for passing guests, you must at least mentally ask permission from her Brownie: “Master, master, let me spend the night!”
And then the Brownie, delighted by the attention, will protect the guest from any evil spirits that hunt in the night. If you don’t respect, or somehow offend the soul of the hut, the grumpy little “owner” will play all sorts of dirty tricks until you obey and make peace with him. However, he himself sometimes, when he gets naughty, goes beyond the boundaries of what is permitted. Let's say he begins to torture some animal. In this case, he can be reprimanded - “sentenced”: “Why are you, grandpa and neighbor, throwing a cat on the ground! What is a household without a cat?”
They say it helps. By the way, the modern “drummer”, or, in German, “noisy spirit” - “poltergeist” sometimes reacts to exhortations in exactly the same way. What if this is a lost Domovoi, offended by someone?..

Domovoy is a home spirit among the Slavic peoples, the mythological owner and patron of the house, ensuring the normal life of the family, the health of people and animals, and fertility.

He differs from demons in that he does not do much evil, but only jokes sometimes, even provides services if he loves the owner or mistress.

Before the death of one of the family, he howls, sometimes even shows himself to someone, knocks, slams doors, etc.

Boris Kustodiev. Merchant's wife and brownie

According to general belief, in the winter he lives near the stove or on the stove, and if the owner has horses and a stable, he is placed near the horses. If he likes the horse, then the brownie grooms it, braids its mane and tail, gives it food, which makes the horse become kinder, and on the contrary, when he doesn’t like the animal, he tortures it and often beats it to death, puts it under a manger, etc. From This is the opinion that many owners buy horses of the color that suits the court, that is, loved by the brownie.

If the brownie has fallen in love with his family, then he warns of misfortune, guards the house and yard, otherwise he beats and smashes dishes, shouts, stomps, etc. He curls the hair and beards of the one he loves, and curls the hair and beards of the one he doesn’t love. At night it stings to the point of bruising. These bruises indicate some kind of trouble, especially if the bruise hurts a lot. It also falls on the sleeping person during the night and crushes him, so that at this time one cannot move or say a word. Usually this misfortune falls on the one who sleeps on his back, at this time they ask whether it is for better or worse, and the brownie answers in a gloomy voice - “yes” or “no”.

Such tales have been recorded in the Russian North. “Well, I saw a brownie, not what I saw... It was before my aunt’s death. Auntie died here, that’s how the news was given to me. And he even leaned to the side, the owner, so shaggy. He came straight to my bed. I didn’t see it with my eyes, but I felt it with my hand. I heard a rustling sound on the bed, and then he even grabbed me by the side like that and lay behind me. And I was alone in the house. And then I started saying prayers, and he disappeared. And then my aunt died.

There is a house owner in every house. Yes, it will not appear in every house. And it happens that it will appear - if the news is given. For example, if something happens to children or grandchildren, relatives, the brownie will definitely show up in the evening. There will be a knock on the window or on the door. He gives the news, which means he knows what should happen. And this happens in many homes. My husband was dying. This is what happened a few hours before his death. I’m lying on the bed, and my husband got up from the sofa and is looking through the doorway. Asks me:

– Are you sleeping, Klasha?

“Didn’t you see anyone in the hut?” But you, Klashenka, didn’t see it. A man like me came. He just walked around the table. And then he went out and slammed the door. I waited and waited, but no one came out into the street.

The husband died the next morning. It was the brownie owner who appeared to him.”

“One of our peasants built a winter hut. Pasture the cattle there. Moved the cattle. And before that, he asked the brownie: “Master, master, let me in and give me my cattle!” He cooked a full pot of porridge for the night, didn’t touch it himself, but put it on the brownie’s pole.

He drove the cattle into the yards, began to live and graze. And one day it rained. He got wet all over, drove into the courtyards in the evening, went, warmed up and fell asleep. He was sleeping, suddenly someone shook him by the shoulder: “Master, master!” But the bulls broke your fence and went up the ravine!“

He ran out: it’s true, the courtyards are empty. He gets on his horse and up the ravine. Already at the top I caught up with them and turned them around.

Then he somehow fell asleep again and heard: “Master, your winter hut is on fire!” He woke up: what a disaster, everything was on fire! He says: “Grandfather the brownie, he would help me put out the fire.” And immediately things went better, I put it out soon, nothing somehow burned.”

It is believed that the brownie does not like mirrors, also goats, as well as those who sleep near or under the threshold. Sometimes they hear how he, sitting in the master's place, is engaged in the master's work, while none of this is visible.

The common people respect the brownie, are afraid to offend him in any way, and are even careful not to say his name without purpose. In conversations they do not call him a brownie, but “grandfather, master, big man, or himself.”

When moving from one house to another, it is considered an indispensable duty on the last night, before leaving the old house, to ask the brownie for a new place with bread and salt. The economy is under the influence of the brownie. Without a special invitation, the brownie cannot leave the old house and takes revenge on the new owner by harassing his livestock and causing other losses on the farm. The brownie remaining in the old house cries and howls at night, and the family that did not invite him in the new house faces misfortune, illness, loss of livestock and destruction of the farm. In one of the Oryol villages they said that when several houses burned down in the village, the brownies, left homeless after the fire, moaned and cried so much that they built temporary huts for each of them, placed a slice of salted bread next to them and asked: “Master “Dvorovoy, go to peace, don’t fight off your yard.”

They say that the brownie does not like lazy people. If the brownie does not love the owner, then he begins to play pranks, in this case, in front of the threshold of the house, they bury a skull or the head of a goat in the ground, and if his pranks are expressed in the spontaneous combustion of objects, bad inscriptions on the walls, and other things like that, then the brownie should be shown , Who is the head in this house. You need to take a whip with an iron tip or a belt in your hand and, going around the house and whipping furniture, walls, floors and things, say in an authoritative and strong voice:

“Know your place, know your place.

You, brownie, must guard the house, take care of the household,

Yes, please the mistress, and not fight,

Know your place, know your place.”

Any words can be said, the main thing is that they are spoken by the owner of the house.

You can save yourself from an angry brownie if he starts strangling you by swearing and making the sign of the cross, but he is not afraid of prayer. If he tortures livestock, then the spines of the animals and the corners of the barn must be smeared with tar, and it also helps if a bear or goat is brought into the barn, or a killed magpie or a mirror is hung up. As a talisman against someone else's brownie, wreaths woven for Trinity were hung in the barn.

Nicholas Roerich. The city is being built

Nicholas Roerich. Build boats

An angry brownie can be intimidated. To do this, the owner must go out into the yard with a long linden stick and wave it properly or stick a knife over the door. If the brownie did not calm down and continued to torment the cattle, they whipped him with a whip. “It happened to us once that my grandfather would come in the morning, and the horse would be covered in soap. Once, twice, on the third I decided to lie in wait. He went to the stable, hid with a whip, and after midnight the brownie jumped on his horse and began to ride. And the grandfather jumps out and says: “One!” - and whips him with a whip and keeps saying: “One!” One!” And the brownie said to him: “Say two!” Say two!” When you beat evil spirits, you can only say “one”; if you say “two,” their former strength returns and they can defeat a person. And the grandfather only knows: “One!” One!” So ​​he whipped the brownie.”

It is believed that a brownie is born as an old grandfather and dies as a baby. Spirits related to the brownie are the kikimora (maybe even the wife), the bannik, the gooseberry (also known as the “barnyard”), and the field spirit.

Belief in the brownie was closely intertwined with the belief that dead relatives help the living. In people's minds, this is confirmed by the connection between the brownie and the stove. In ancient times, many believed that it was through the chimney that the soul of a newborn came into the family and that the spirit of the deceased left through the chimney.

Images of brownies were carved from wood; they looked like a bearded man in a hat. Such figures were called churs and at the same time symbolized deceased ancestors. The expression “Forget me!” meant a request: “Ancestor, protect me!” In Rus' they believed that the brownie's face was similar to the owner of the house, only his hands were covered with fur.

“According to Russian legend,” wrote A. N. Afanasyev, “the brownie goes crazy on March 30, from early morning until midnight, until the roosters crow. At this time, he does not recognize anyone from his household, why they are afraid to go to the windows at night, and why livestock and poultry are locked up at sunset. Suddenly the brownie gets excited, the peasants say, and gets so angry that he seems ready to destroy the whole house: he kills the horses under the manger, eats the dogs, kills the cows from food, scatters all the utensils, rolls under the owner’s feet, such a change happens to him or because “that in the spring the brownie’s old skin falls off, or he gets rabid (plague), or he wants to marry a witch.”

Konstantin Makovsky. At the outskirts

Someone else's brownie was considered dashing. It was necessary to defend against him with special conspiracies. A bear's head or the bear itself, which was taken around all corners and whose fur was used to fumigate the house, was considered a talisman against someone else's brownie. This ritual can be put in the same context with the assumptions of scientists about the connection between the bear and Volos, who probably patronized small serpentine spirits, including brownies.

Victor Vasnetsov. Brownie

In the northern regions, the spirit of the hearth was called Zhikharko. He is short, disheveled, with a large beard, very good-natured, harmless and a great joker.

Most often, the brownie gives information to the oldest person in the family. These could be dreams, prophecies, signs, hints, knocks, or any images seen with peripheral vision. Pets and small children can see the brownie: for example, he sometimes even plays with the child and answers his questions.

The brownie also has enemies. These are the souls of suicides, not inveterate according to Christian customs, whom neither heaven nor earth accepts. They are trying to push the brownie out of the house.

Brownies, according to popular belief, are the only representatives of evil spirits who are not afraid of icons. Therefore, they can safely live in the houses of believers.

Brownies protect the house from thieves, fires, and other evil spirits. There are many known ways to call a brownie. For example, going out into the street at midnight, on a full moon, with your left shoe tied to a string and pulling it behind you. Under no circumstances should you look back. As soon as you feel the “heaviness,” it means that the brownie has agreed to live with you. Or another way - you need to take a live rooster, preferably black, and, after cutting off its head in the house, sprinkle the floor with blood. It is believed that if a lonely brownie wanders around the area, he will immediately accept this “sign”.

Ivan Bilibin. Brownie

It was quite difficult to get to know and make friends with a brownie. This is what the description made in the mid-19th century says. in the Vyatka province: “You must get weeping grass, which is collected on the night of Kupala, but not with a black root, which it usually has, but with a white one, and hang it on your silk belt, then take winter grass, taken from three fields, tie it in a knot and tie the knot to the snake's head, which should hang on the gaitan (cord for the pectoral cross) - instead of a cross, you should put a piece of goat's hair (which the brownie especially respects) in one ear, and the last one in the order of homemade yarn in the other a piece of summer wool, which the peasant woman throws away when she finishes spinning the tow, and which she must pick up secretly from all the household, then she must change her shirt for the night, that is, on the left side, take a rag with which to take a hot pot, and go to the barn at night, where, having blindfolded your eyes with this rag folded in four, and shutting the door behind you, you must say: “Housewife, homebody, a slave is coming to you, carrying his head low, don’t torment him in vain, but make friends with him, show yourself to him in your appearance, make friends with him and do him an easy service.”

You should repeat these words until the roosters crow, or until you hear a slight rustling in the barn. In the first case, the calling should be postponed until another night, in the second, grab the root of the weeping tree with one hand, and the snake’s head with the other and hold on to them tightly, no matter what the brownie does: then the latter will appear, if the caller does not have time to grab the gaitan or root or lets them out of his hands, then the brownie, grabbing the gaitan, tears it and with the snake’s head lashes the caller half to death.”