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At all times and among all peoples, bread was the most revered product, it was treated with care. He was always put at the head of the table, thus showing the highest degree of respect. Our ancestors said: "Bread is the head of everything." Not a single meal could do without this product, and it doesn’t matter if it was a modest family dinner or a rich noisy feast.
There are many folk tales about bread. This is a centuries-old wisdom that has come down to our days and does not lose its relevance.
Household beliefs
There are several signs that will tell you how to properly cut bread in order to avoid misfortune:
- You need to start cutting only from a high edge - there will be prosperity in the house.
- It is impossible to cut on weight - to poverty, need.
- You should not cut it during a feast with different knives - quarrels cannot be avoided. If the knife is taken away, it is better to just break the bread with your hands.
- Do not cut a new loaf after sunset - otherwise the family will live in poverty.
- After a piece has been cut off, it is forbidden to leave a knife stuck in a loaf - you will starve.
It would seem that signs about bread are quite simple. But according to our ancestors, they played a huge role. And non-compliance with these rules and traditions could turn into trouble for a person.
We all drop something from time to time, and there is nothing special about it. But if the bread fell on the floor, this can be regarded as a kind of warning. In this case, you need to take into account the situation when everything happened.
1. During the feast, a piece falls - a welcome guest will be in the house.
2. During a simple lunch or dinner - the appearance of a visitor will not bring joy.
3. Bread falls from the table to the floor - someone is in a hurry to you.
4. Drop a whole loaf or loaf - the year will be lean.
Many signs are associated with bread - they accumulated and supplemented, passed down from generation to generation:
- You can’t sweep the crumbs off the table with your hand - there will be a need in the house.
- Half-eaten pieces of bread are not left on the table - otherwise you will lose your happiness.
- It is impossible to throw away stale, moldy pieces - this is to need and disease. The best thing to do would be to feed them to the birds.
- Eat a moldy piece - a person will not die in the water.
- You can’t eat bread standing behind a person’s back - you will take away his strength and health.
- It is forbidden to turn the bread - this is a nuisance.
- The started loaf is not put with a cut to the wall - friends and relatives will turn away from you.
- It is impossible to pass through the threshold - life will be such that no one will envy.
- Do not lend to anyone after sunset - give happiness from home.
- You can’t refuse it to someone in need - be sure to give it, even if you have this last piece in the house. Then you will live in goodness and prosperity.
wedding traditions
The wedding loaf is a symbol. Parents meet the newlyweds with him, wishing them well-being and prosperity. The loaf at the wedding was always treated with special reverence. It is believed that only a woman who is happily married should bake it - then she will share her happiness with the newlyweds. In no case was it possible to bake a loaf in a bad mood or with an indisposition - this could ruin the life of those who would eat it. Yes, and the bread itself will turn out tasteless.
Before the start of kneading the dough for the loaf, as well as during its preparation, special prayers were read. Even the patterns that adorned the wedding loaf had significance. For example, a traditional sprig of viburnum symbolizes love, a wheat ear - wealth, oak leaves - health. If the loaf burned or cracked a little, it was considered a bad omen: the family would not be very friendly, scandals and misunderstandings were possible.
Attentive and respectful attitude to such an important product will help to avoid many troubles. Even if you do not believe in folk signs, you should not be careless about this product - after all, signs about bread did not arise just like that, each of them has a basis.
In the old days, going to the field to work or wander around the world, people always took a loaf of bread with them. In difficult times for the country, when the population received bread on cards- people were kind even to the crumbs, and sometimes they saved others from starvation, sharing with them an already modest share ...
“There will be bread - there will be lunch”, “if there was bread, but there will be people with bread”, “if you want to eat - you will talk about bread”, “there is a land of bread - there will be paradise under the spruce”, “lunch is bad if there is no bread” - these are just a few of the many proverbs about bread. Isn't this evidence that bread is revered and revered at all times?
From early childhood, parents teach us to respect the bread. “Don’t throw bread on the floor”, “don’t play with bread” - isn’t it true that each of us heard such instructions even before he learned to speak? We ourselves have firmly mastered these rules and now we teach our children the same. However, in addition to the simplest rules, the meaning of which we understand clearly and do not even try to read between the lines, there are a lot of signs and superstitions, the meaning of which remains a mystery to many people. This is the topic of today's article.
If, while eating, you grabbed a new piece of bread, and then found that you had a half-eaten piece left on your plate, it means that someone close to you is currently feeling hungry (or in need).
If during a festive lunch (dinner) a piece of bread fell from the table - someone is in a hurry to visit you. If bread fell on weekdays (an ordinary lunch), then an unnecessary person is in a hurry to your house.
If you leave bread crumbs on the dining table at night, diseases will come into the house.
Sloppy cut bread - to trouble, hard life (uneven cut - the same uneven life).
Starting a new loaf after sunset - to a poor life.
Carelessly eat, dropping bread crumbs on the floor - to crop failure, poverty.
Putting a loaf upside down on the table - close the doors of your house for joy and good luck (turned bread is a symbol of misfortune, everything in the house will turn upside down).
Leave your piece of bread half-eaten - leave your happiness (if someone else ate it, they took yours for themselves). Another version - to disturbing, bad dreams.
Throwing bread in the trash - inviting need, hunger, illness.
Prick bread with a fork (for a girl) - deprive yourself of happiness.
Eat moldy bread - protect yourself from death in the water.
To let someone eat bread behind your back is to let that person take your strength.
Giving bread to someone at sunset - to debt.
If, during baking, a part of the loaf separated and “left” to the side, one of the relatives will have to travel.
If the loaf breaks when cutting - to a quarrel between husband and wife.
Sharing bread with those who need it, even if it is the last slice - to prosperity in the house and a rich life.
Start and end a meal with a piece of bread and salt - to a happy life.
If you were greeted with freshly baked bread, this promises you wealth.
If, when cutting a loaf, the crumb sticks to the knife blade, next summer will bring with it a rich harvest. According to another version, rainy weather will last for a long time.
This is interesting…
How bread was used as a talisman:
Bread was often placed in a baby's cradle.
They took it with them, setting off on a journey, so that it would protect them from troubles.
They put it where the body of the deceased lay, so that bread would triumph over death, and the deceased would not take fertility with him.
They were taken out of the house to the street when a thunderstorm was approaching in order to protect the crops from severe adversity.
During the beginning of the fire, they went around the house with bread to stop the fire.
This is interesting: in the fishing villages of Northern England, it was forbidden to turn a loaf of bread (bottom up). It was believed that every time someone did this, one ship turned over in the sea.
I would like to mention one more thing. Of course, Easter cake is not exactly bread, but still ...
It is believed that if a depression (depression) has formed on the cake, this portends the death of one of the family members. The sign is gloomy and, on the one hand, failed baking can be explained by “hands growing from the wrong place”, “stale yeast”, “unverified recipe”, etc. But, on the other hand, when you cook from year to year Easter cakes according to one recipe, you are careful about the choice of products, observing proportions, as well as cooking technology - and suddenly, for no reason at all - all Easter cakes turned out to be “with pits”, this cannot but alert. I didn’t even know about such a sign when I took a whole baking sheet of failed Easter cakes out of the oven two years ago. That same year we lost our grandmother. And later I found out about this sign.
Consider, using a specific example, how to explain the signs and superstitions associated with bread:
Don't shake breadcrumbs off the table with your bare hand.
If an unmarried girl brushes crumbs off the table with her palm, she runs the risk of living alone all her life and not knowing what it is to be a mother. For a married girl, sweeping away crumbs means ruining relations with her mother-in-law. If a man shakes off the crumbs with his hand, his wife will be bald. And in general, shaking bread crumbs off the table with your hand - to quarrels in the house, lack of money.
Where do the legs of these signs grow from? One of the most logical versions is related to the attitude to bread as a shrine. It is simply a sin to shake bread crumbs on the floor, while many people in the world are dying of hunger or living in poverty, feeding from garbage cans. Bread symbolizes prosperity in the house and, brushing off the leftovers from the table with an uncovered hand, we thereby shake off prosperity and all the good that we have into the void (we simply get rid of it). Another reasonable explanation: for many people, the gesture with which crumbs are swept away is associated with the gesture of the beggars, and a subconscious fear arises that by doing this, you are trying on the role of a beggar, dooming yourself to a beggarly existence. You can also draw another parallel: if bread crumbs can be shaken off the surface of the table with your hand, then it is smooth, that is, without a tablecloth (for many people, both in past times and now, a tablecloth on a table is associated with prosperity in the house, and its absence - says the opposite).
Of course, there are signs and superstitions that today seem to us very absurd, and even funny. In particular, the superstition "if a man sweeps crumbs off the table with his bare hand, he will have a bald wife." But not all signs and superstitions can be explained logically. And how to treat them is a personal matter for everyone. It is likely that with the help of such horror stories they simply intimidated people who were not affected by other signs (“there will be no money”, “to strife in the family”). Some men stubbornly continued to shake the crumbs on the floor - and an attempt was made to intimidate them in another way. Later, this attempt grew into another superstition. Or maybe the corresponding conclusion is based on someone's real experience and observations. Although, it is quite difficult to imagine that in some families where men swept crumbs from the table with an uncovered palm and in fact there were bald spouses - it is quite difficult.
This is interesting….
Why dream of bread?
According to Freud's dream book: one who eats bread in his dreams - in real life he missed normal human relationships (tired of endless non-committal meetings). Seeing fresh warm bread in a dream - portends a meeting with an energetic person who is easy on life, stale bread - symbolizes a long-standing relationship that has become obsolete and has become uninteresting to you.
According to Miller's dream book: a woman eating bread in a dream promises to face sorrows and worries in real life. Sharing bread with someone means that you are provided for in real life, and you should not expect more from fate. Seeing a lot of dry bread in a dream portends suffering and a poor life. Eating bread made from rye flour is a sign of a friendly, hospitable home. Seeing a crust of bread in your hands in a dream is a warning that it will be very difficult for you to cope with the coming troubles due to neglect of your duties.
According to Vanga's dream book: to see bread in a dream - to a comfortable life, making a profit. Eating bread - says that without much effort a benefit will be obtained in some business. Cutting bread - to obstacles in business, temporary difficulties.
According to the Vedic dream book: to eat good bread in a dream - to longevity and good health, to eat black (burnt) bread - to a funeral.
According to the gypsy dream book: to see how someone handed you a loaf - to the birth of a child. Cut bread - share luck with others. Eat fresh bread - have good friends, stale bread - to a possible illness.
According to the wanderer's dream book: bread dreams of prosperity in the house, good prospects in business.
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Folk omens have their roots in the depths of centuries and times. The signs associated with bread can be considered the most ancient, because since ancient times in every culture and every people there have been rituals and signs for the harvest. Signs and customs about bread carry the meaning of continuing life. And if you respect and observe the signs and traditions associated with bread, you can ensure yourself a happy, well-fed life in abundance, among the love and respect of your friendly family.
You always need to share bread, if a hungry person asks, even the last piece - in this case, there will always be a lot of bread in the house, which means that the family life will be rich.
If someone is met with bread just taken out of the oven - to wealth.
He who did not take food in the morning should not give bread to a stranger, otherwise he himself will be left without food.
Should not lend leb at sunset, otherwise you yourself will be in debt.
After sunset, a new loaf of bread must not be cut, otherwise you yourself will become a beggar.
Elijah the prophet knocks out bread from those who deceive the buyer when selling bread.
If you take bread with unwashed hands, there will be heartburn.
Bread must not be baked in the house where a person has died: this will lead to another death.
You can’t bake bread on Sundays or holidays, if necessity forces you to bake bread on such a day, then you need to salt the dough, and then there will be no sin.
If in the evening whole bread is brought and the half-eaten bread is left overnight, then the souls of dead ancestors, who have taken the form of mice, will gather for such bread all night.
It is a bad omen if the bread lies with the bottom crust up: there will never be prosperity in the house or someone from the family will leave the house.
If you eat a crust with bread, then the wife (husband) will quarrel.
The loaf of bread must be cut from the edge that protrudes, uneven.
You can’t cut bread with different knives during dinner - there will be a quarrel in the house.
It is impossible for bread to have two knives while eating - this portends a quarrel.
When bread is on the table, salt and a bread knife, which are intended only for bread, must always lie. If the bread knife needs to be removed or taken away from the table, then bread and salt must also be removed from the table with it.
If a piece of bread falls out of your hands during a festive meal, this means that an honored guest will soon arrive.
If a piece of bread falls out of your hands during an everyday lunch, then this portends the arrival of a fool or an unnecessary person.
If someone, while having lunch or supper, takes a piece of bread and, without finishing it, takes another piece of bread, this means that one of his relatives is starving.
Whoever does not eat up bread at the table and leaves leftovers, he will see disturbing, painful dreams.
Whoever eats other people's leftovers will get a toothache.
The rest of the road bread should not be eaten at home and even brought into the house, as this can lead to night blindness. It is best to divide this bread evenly among the pets.
Old as the world superstition. After the invention of the yeast-based method of making bread, bread is shaped in a very specific way during baking. Below - a caked crust, and above - a ruddy crust, like a convex lid. Old, kind, round loaf. One of the most ancient forms of yeast bread. So it was considered a bad omen to put bread on the table with the top crust. In some cases, this reached the level of prohibition.
For example, it was completely unacceptable to turn a loaf upside down in some fishing villages in Northern England.
It was believed here that with every overturned loaf in the sea, a ship overturns. Turning the loaf upside down was also considered a great sin, since bread is a gift from God and such a disrespectful attitude towards it could entail a corresponding punishment from the Almighty. It is also believed that the bread has a "head" - the upper crust, so turning it "upside down" was perceived as a gross obscenity. Let's try to understand the origin and reason for such a long existence of this superstition.
The bottom crust of bread baked in the oven was often, if not always, burnt, and was not eaten. In addition, it could have caked ash on it. Therefore, she played the role of a kind of stand, bottom. The upper beautiful crust was used for food. And even for reasons of hygiene wrong. There are other explanations as well. For the peasant, especially those who lived in the old days, the process of maturation, upward growth, had great religious significance. Everything around the peasant is alive and, with proper care, growing.
Bread, it is also alive - it ripens in the oven and grows up. This is the magical power of nature, one of the most important and powerful ancient cults. Therefore, putting the bread upside down meant turning everything upside down, interrupting the growth, the flow. The old Russian name for bread is zhito. From the word "live". Great meaning is invested in this, and its significance is also huge. And there is also such a Russian proverb: "Bread is the head of everything." That's right, because how much needs to be done in the peasant economy, how much long and hard work needs to be done in order to finally bake bread.
And then take a loaf that gives life, this pinnacle of so many things, and turn it over. Bread, round, light, warm, absorbed so much sun when the wheat ripened, which is no wonder - it became one of the sun. So you have to be especially careful with turning the bread, just like turning the sun! Bread is also a symbol of the fraternal circle, the family. Remember these sayings: meet with bread, break bread with friends. All this meant that if you tried my bread, you became your own, entered our circle. In light of this, turning bread on the table is a magical symbol of rejection of the common circle, family significance. Such a step can have a very negative impact on the family itself.
The process of cutting bread is also covered with many superstitions, for example: if a loaf breaks in the hands when cut, this portends a family quarrel. After all, cutting bread is actually the business of the owner of the house, he gives everyone his share, and if he does it nervously, carelessly, everything will affect his household, everyone will start to get nervous. Well, if the owner does not know how to cut bread, then it’s really bad: what kind of owner he is - he’s just clumsy.
Or: if a person cuts bread unevenly (one piece turns out to be thin in places, and in places with thickenings), then his life will be just as uneven and difficult. And vice versa, if the cut piece is even, then the life of such a person will be smooth and calm. This, its meaning is that, when slicing bread, you must remember that you give everyone sitting at the table from your share. In this case, bread is your share. Your life - as you cut, so you live.
Signs about bread were formed in ancient times and almost all of them are connected with the fate of a person. Those who honored bread were treated with due respect, had both prosperity and good health, and good luck always accompanied such a person. Therefore, they tried to follow the signs about bread steadily. This has been taught since childhood. Here are the most common signs about bread.
Bread as sacred food
In the cultural traditions of many peoples, bread is more than just food. It is a sacred food that is used in certain religious activities. Among the Eastern peoples, when taking an oath, you need to hold a holy book in your hands and eat a piece of bread - flat cakes. However, the traditions and signs associated with bread are similar in many nations.
Even bread crumbs are of particular value - the one who eats them to the end will be rich, and if you shake the crumbs off the table, you will soon have to beg yourself. And as a sign of respect, first of all, bread should be served to guests. At the same time, in no case should you break it off with one hand, but throw it on the ground and even more so step over - and it’s completely sacrilegious.
The round shape of the bread or flatbread has a special meaning. The circle symbolizes the solar disk, and its light is the source of life.
The Kazakhs have a sign about bread associated with travel. Anyone who has a long journey ahead must eat a loaf of bread before leaving the house. The remaining bread until the return of the traveler is stored in the house. It is believed that higher powers will keep him on the way, and when he returns home, he must finish eating this bread as a sign of respect. In the place where they set off on their journey, they must certainly buy bread home. You can’t pass bread over the threshold - money will flow out of the house.
You can’t stick a knife into a loaf of bread or a loaf of bread, only cut it into pieces, but it’s better to break it with both hands
There are also special signs. For example, among Uzbeks, in no case should flat cakes be cut with a knife or turned over and put with the top side (cap) down - this is a big trouble, it is believed that luck can turn away for a long time. Any important event was preceded by the breaking of bread. This mission was entrusted to the elder or head of the family, from his hands all the rest received their portion of bread.
In the traditions of the peoples of the Middle East, as well as in Egypt, bread was carried as an offering to the gods, and the breaking of bread was associated with the saturation of the souls that had left the manifest world. In those days, it was believed that the god Anu kept the bread, as well as the water of immortal life, in Heaven. In ancient Egypt, up to 40 types of bread were baked.
In the Slavic tradition, bread is a symbol of mutual exchange between the deity and people, as well as between living people and deceased relatives. This is a kind of connection between generations. It was believed that the ancestors themselves invisibly take part in baking bread, and then receive their share in the form of steam or a specially allocated part of a loaf of bread or loaf.
It was customary for the Slavs to keep bread on the table in the red corner. It was also customary to store bread in front of icons as a sign of fidelity to God. It is believed that God, in response, takes care of the well-being of the family, so that there is always fresh bread on the table.
wedding omens
The wedding celebration also has its own signs about bread. So, even at the matchmaking, they take bread with them without fail. By antiquity, the hands of the young were placed on the loaf as a sign of unification and an agreement on a wedding. Already at the wedding, the loaf appears with the blessing of the young by their parents, and after the wedding, the newlyweds are greeted with bread and salt. The peoples of Central Asia still have a tradition of breaking bread over the head of the bride, as the guardian of the hearth.
There is also such a romantic sign about bread: if a guy and a girl bite off one slice of bread, they will be united by falling in love, and then, possibly, eternal love.
Of course, the traditional attribute of a wedding feast, both in antiquity and today, is a loaf. Every detail counts in its production. As a rule, in the old days, the dough for the loaf had to be kneaded by a married woman who has children and is happily married - this is how she will convey good luck to the bride. During the preparation of the dough, prayers were read without fail. But the finished loaf was put into the oven by the husband of this woman. The loaf was decorated with sprigs of viburnum, symbolizing love. In addition to the big loaf, small pies were baked, which were distributed to children during the solemn feast.
The wedding loaf after the newlyweds taste it, the godparents should share for the guests
A ready-made loaf, if baked and turned out without flaws, promised family happiness. It was not considered a particularly good omen if the wedding loaf cracked, but if on one side the dough burned during the baking process, this was a sign that the spouses would quarrel from time to time. The girls who wanted to, after the loaf was taken out of the oven, rolled out the tub in the courtyard, while the guys had to jump three times on the spot. In the center of the loaf, as a rule, there was a recess for a salt shaker. They carried the loaf on a new embroidered towel. It was considered bad luck to drop the wedding loaf, as it is sacred food.
And now such wedding signs are considered true: the bride and groom must bite off a piece of the loaf, whoever has it more will be the true head of the family. It is possible to break the loaf, then the one who got the larger half will dominate. In this case, salt should never be spilled.
Household beliefs
All signs associated with bread are designed to honor this sacred food. It is believed that if you feed dogs with bread from the table - to be a poor owner. You can not leave half-eaten pieces of bread on the table - this is a disease. There is also such a special sign - it is not recommended to eat up a piece of bread that another person began to eat, because in this way you will take away his strength and good luck. For the same reason, one should not eat bread behind someone's back.
In no case should you throw away the remnants of bread, it is better to dry the crackers and eat
You need to eat bread slowly, and making sure that crumbs do not fall out of your mouth - it is believed that this is a premature death. Among the Caucasian peoples, it is considered an insult to reject the treat offered by the owners, especially if it is bread. In some cultural traditions, it is not customary to even simply lean your elbow on a bag of flour. And if bread or a piece of it fell on the floor, it must be picked up, kissed and put on a raised platform, for example, on a windowsill.
And in general, in Russia it was believed that a person’s fate could be influenced - they brought either good luck or misfortune - the way he handles bread.
Bread not only gives strength, but also promotes harmony in all spheres of life. For example, two people can become true friends if they break bread at the same time and then eat it. “I ate a piece of bread with him,” this expression still reflects a trusting relationship and spiritual closeness between people. By the way, if you want to please the owners when you go to visit, buy and give cakes only in a clear amount.
If you accidentally bought or baked and brought an odd number of cakes or other bread products to your friends' house, break one into two parts. But an odd number of pastries or bread are usually carried to the wake: it is believed that no one else will leave the house in the near future. The preparation of bread, of course, has its own characteristics, for example, a woman cannot start baking bread on the days of menstruation, immediately after childbirth, and also after sexual intercourse. They did not bake bread during major holidays and on Sundays.
Bread that they forgot to take out of the oven had special properties. Magical properties were attributed to such bread: if a person tastes it, yearning without measure for a deceased relative or loved one and wishing to start a new life, then the bread will cleanse him of all negative emotions. It was also used as a healing agent.
Love and respect for bread were instilled from childhood
Thus, bread in all cultural traditions is considered a sacred food that requires special treatment. It was believed that if parents taught their child to treat bread with due respect, then they brought him up correctly and his life would turn out well.
