Volkhovnik
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''Volkhovnik'' (from orv, волхвъ, 'sorcerer, shaman, magus') was an Old Russian book of divinatory nature which included collections of signs and their interpretations.


Structure

Modern researchers characterize ''Volkhovnik'' as a collection of signs and divination.
Alexander Afanasyev Alexander Nikolayevich Afanasyev (Afanasief, Afanasiev or Afanas'ev, russian: link=no, Александр Николаевич Афанасьев) ( — ) was a Russian Slavist and ethnographer who published nearly 600 Russian fairy and folk ta ...

Processes about sorcerers and witches
/ / Tree of Life: Selected articles / Preparation of the text and commentary. Yuri Medvedev, intro. article by B. P. Kirdan. - M.: Sovremennik, 1982. - 464 p.- (Publisher "Lovers of Russian literature"). — 75,000 copies.
Mikhail Speransky
Abnegated Books
// Orthodox Theological Encyclopedia / Ed. Nikolai Glubokovsky. - St. Petersburg: Appendix to the spiritual journal "The Wanderer", 1910. - Vol. XI. - Stb. 405-433
It is known that this book was divided into chapters, each of which was dedicated to a separate sign and had a corresponding title, for example: * "Voronograi" (from ''voron'' 'raven'; omens and divination by the cry of
ravens Ravens may refer to: * Raven, a species of the genus ''Corvus'' Sports * Anderson Ravens, the intercollegiate athletic program of Anderson University in Indiana * Baltimore Ravens, a professional American football franchise * Benedictine Ravens, ...
, which since ancient times in Russia was considered an evil sign); * "Kuroklik" ("Kuroglashennik"; divination by the crowing of
roosters The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult m ...
); * "Ptichnik" ("Potochnik", "Bird charove"; by the cry and flight of
birds Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...
in general); * "Trepetnik" (signs associated with twitching of various parts of the body and other physiological phenomena); * "Snosudets" ("Snovidets", "Sо́nnik", a
dream dictionary A dream dictionary (also known as oneirocritic literature) is a tool made for interpreting images in a dream. Dream dictionaries tend to include specific images which are attached to specific interpretations. However, dream dictionaries are generall ...
); * ''"''Putnik" (signs associated with meetings); * "Zeleinik", which was divided into: ** "Travnik" (words, prayers, spells, or prophetic signs); ** "Tsvetnik" (divination by flowers); ** " Lechebnik" (a medical manual, most often with healing ''zagovors'', spells, and descriptions of medicinal herbs and minerals). Individual chapters of the Volkhovnik were distributed among the people as independent works, and the texts of some of them have survived to this day. Thus, although the full text of the book is unknown, researchers can form an idea of its individual parts.


Content

An excerpt from the early ''Volkhovnik'' is given in his work by the historian
Nikolai Kostomarov Mykola Ivanovych Kostomarov or Nikolai Ivanovich Kostomarov (russian: Никола́й Ива́нович Костома́ров, ; uk, Микола Іванович Костомаров, ; May 16, 1817, vil. Yurasovka, Voronezh Governorate, ...
, giving in some cases notes of incomprehensible expressions: «...храм трещит реск в стене ухозвон, кости под колпиками свербят – путь будет; длани свербят – пенязи имат . е. деньги иметь. очи свербят – плакать будут; воронограй, куроклик ение курицы– худо будет; утица крякнет, гусь гогочет, окомиг рожь в ресницах огнь бучит реск дров пес воет, мышеписк иск мышей мышь порты латьегрызет, кошка в окне мышьца держит, сон страшен, слепца встретить – изгорит нечто; огонь пищит, искра из огня, кошка мяукает – падет человек; свеща угаснет, конь ржет, вол ревет, трава шумит, древо скрипит, сорока поцекочет, дятел желна олбит дерево стенощелк ервячки в стенах жаба воркует...»
Nikolai Kostomarov Mykola Ivanovych Kostomarov or Nikolai Ivanovich Kostomarov (russian: Никола́й Ива́нович Костома́ров, ; uk, Микола Іванович Костомаров, ; May 16, 1817, vil. Yurasovka, Voronezh Governorate, ...
. An outline of the domestic life and customs of the Great Russian people in the XVI and XVII centuries
Chapter XXI. Beliefs
. - M., 1992 – - 271-302
Translation: "...the temple is cracking rackling in the wall the ear is ringing, the bones under the caps are itching – the way will be; the hands are itching – the penyazi imat .e., to have money the eyes are itching – they will cry; the voronograi, the kuroklik inging of the hen– it will be bad; the duck quacks, the goose cackles, the okomig rembling in the eyelashes the fire is beating rackling of firewood the dog howls, the mouse squeaks queaking of mice the mouse ports ressnibbles, the cat in the window holds a mouse, the dream is terrible, to meet a blind man – something will burn out; the fire squeaks, a spark flies out of the fire, the cat meows – a person will fall; the candle goes out, the horse neighs, the ox roars, the grass makes a noise, the tree creaks, the magpie tickles, the woodpecker is yellow ammering the tree the wallworm orms in the walls the toad coos..." Also, at the moment, the texts of several ''travniks'' and about 400 lists of ''lechebniks'' that were distributed as independent works are known in full. ''Lechebniks'' were constantly supplemented and improved up to the 16th century, because of which researchers believe that earlier ''lechebniks'' have not reached us, and fragments of those that are known are poorly read.


Other fortune-telling books

From other fortune-telling books, ''Gromnik'' and ''Lunnik'' are known, which are not directly related to ''Volkhovnik''. ''Gromnik'' (from ''grom'' 'thunder') interprets what exactly should be expected from thunderclaps at a particular time, sets out the omens of wars, diseases and weather. ''Lunnik'' (from ''luna'' '
moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...
') describes divination by the days of the
lunar calendar A lunar calendar is a calendar based on the monthly cycles of the Moon's phases (synodic months, lunations), in contrast to solar calendars, whose annual cycles are based only directly on the solar year. The most commonly used calendar, the Gre ...
. The set of prophecies concerning economic matters is given in an indefinite order, but with a stable list of significant events: the birth and upbringing of children, the treatment of livestock, arable land and garden, diseases and bloodletting, dreams, monetary transactions, trade; there are no military or state affairs. Both books were also widely known in Russia, and probably were translations of South Slavic works (there are many Serbisms in the text, including lexical ones).


Links

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See also

*
Volkhv A volkhv or volhv (Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Волхв; Polish: Wołchw, translatable as wiseman, wizard, sorcerer, magus, i.e. shaman, gothi or magi, mage) is a priest in Slavic paganism, ancient Slavic religions and contemporary Slavic Native ...
*
Fortune-telling Fortune telling is the practice of predicting information about a person's life. Melton, J. Gordon. (2008). ''The Encyclopedia of Religious Phenomena''. Visible Ink Press. pp. 115-116. The scope of fortune telling is in principle identical w ...
*
Witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...


References


Notes

{{reflist, group=note, 1 East Slavic literature Divination Superstitions