Slavic wedding rings

The wedding ceremony is the most ancient and is part of the culture of all peoples of the world. One of the most beautiful and serious wedding ceremonies is Slavic. All traditions are observed in it, which permeated both the celebration itself and the attributes. Slavic wedding rings are not only symbolic in nature, but also protect the young family.

B. A. Rybakov identifies several types of family Slavic amulets:

• A bird that humbly sits in a nest personifies family life.
• Images of spoons, as a symbol of satiety, or to be more precise, the symbol of the material state.
• Key. It was believed that he protects the property.
• The predator's jaw is a guard against evil and dark forces. It is considered the most ancient talisman of the Slavs.

But the popular in our day wedding in the study of Rybakov of two volumes is missing. Does this symbol only a myth and a beautiful story invented in modern society?

As you know, the appointment of the wedding master to protect the family and love. But it is also known that in antiquity marriages were for the most part based on the calculation and there was never any talk of love.

It is also believed that in addition to the newlyweds, it was decided to give wedding rings to people raising children alone. On the one hand, the ancients believed that such a gift in the form of a ring was supposed to preserve the energy of the family. But on the other - the ring made an alliance with loneliness.

The most popular motif for the wedding rings of the Slavs was the swastika. It had about 50 meanings and interpretations, the main of which was the symbol of eternal life and the cycle of life. The symbol resembled the sun and personified the victory of good over evil.

The outlines of the swastika on paired jewelery meant infinite loyalty and love, as well as overcoming all difficulties and joint rebirth after death.

The most popular amulet and symbol were considered jewelry with a wedding. The symbol consists of two swastikas, a red one and a blue one, personifying the masculine and feminine, as well as the interweaving of two genera. Symbols are not closed around, which means that the family lives not only in their own world, but also in the tribe. Svadebnik has no sharp corners, which speaks of smoothness and peace.

Eight rays personify eight children who were given by spouses to parents and gods as payment. Four gave mother, four father. And the ninth child - the firstborn, was given by both parents to his Family.

Wedding rings decorated the sign of Solard. It is also designed as a swastika and means fertility and femininity.

Another symbol for wedding rings is the Odal rune. It symbolizes the continuation of the family, homeland and property, but the main value is the safety of wealth in the family.

For women, wedding products were decorated with the symbolism of Mokosh - Mother Earth. They were depicted on the rings as a square, divided into four parts.

For the manufacture of Slavic wedding rings used mainly bronze, copper and gold. Silver was considered a rare and expensive metal, and the owners of such jewelry could only envy.

But, despite the availability of silver in our days, it is still not recommended to be used for the manufacture of wedding jewelry, as it is short-lived and eventually loses its shape.

The most popular rings in the Slavic style are products made of white gold. They look like silver, but are durable.

Cast decorations with an engraved pattern are not inferior to them in popularity.

In Russia, the rules of wearing wedding rings have always been respected. After the rite of passage and censure of the bride and groom, the young people exchanged rings-wards and put them on each other on the ring fingers of the right hand.

Immediately after the marriage itself, only other rings were worn on the same finger of the left hand.

With the advent of Orthodoxy, part of the tradition has sunk into oblivion, and now the newlyweds are limited only to wedding rings, which they put on each other after the wedding on the right hand.

The wedding rings of the Slavs differed from the engagement in that the first had to be exactly the same, and the second could differ, depending on the charm applied to them.