Old maids
Such as, mothers felt they unbecoming so you can marry from other youngest child ahead of the latest earliest and you may, once the earliest needed a bridegroom and you will probably activities and gatherings, the latest youngest was not permitted to and, so, stayed “within the maidenhood”. Needless to say, there had been including girls whom merely cannot pick a couple they enjoyed. Peasant community handled them thus harshly that it’s unpleasantly surprising today.
People who is kept as girls were titled an option of insulting nicknames: vekovukha (‘century-dated one’), odnokosok (‘one-braided girl’, due to the fact unmarried girls wore one braid even in adulthood), ‘gray-haired’, perespelok (‘brand new excessively ripe one’). Particularly an effective girl can also be taken within the village by the their unique mothers for the a beneficial sledge, heta svenska kvinnor shouting: “Nadolba, nadolba! (A phrase definition about “thick while the a stone”) Who desires an excellent nadolba?” If the a family group decided, they could already “struck a deal” and have married a day later.
To remain a great vekovukha is experienced about town an effective disgrace – it absolutely was thought that such a female had not understood their particular virility possible. Even lameness, lop-sidedness or becoming hunchbacked were not thought a barrier to help you wedding.
When the a good girl failed to elizabeth over 25 years dated, youngsters perform prevent welcoming their own to their events and you can she’d feel taboo to put on girls’ clothes. Now, her outfits must be regarding ebony tone, like those from widows and you may old women. New vekovukhas constantly resided ilies in the another type of strengthening, in which it kept her own home.
Widows and you may vekovukhas, despite the a bit disadvantaged reputation, was indeed considered regarding the village because bearers out of physical and spiritual love. As a result, it satisfied of a lot important ceremonial characteristics – primarily associated with new transition to the other world. Since the signs off emptiness and you may non-parity, widows and you will centenarians don’t sit in wedding receptions, births, christenings – nonetheless participated in the rites and you can laundry of the inactive, watched over the muscles before the funeral service, generally handled and you may left the fresh new funeral service life.
Another essential “work” is the “plowing” of the arable homes by vekovukhas and you may widows, that has been widespread in lot of provinces, having women that are pregnant (which symbolized virility) harnessed to your plow. This extremely important ritual would be to performed only symbolically from the “barren” ladies in this new dark of night, to make certain that, on the other hand, new home is rich whenever big date emerged.
Of many vekovukhas and you will widows, shortly after purchasing decades within this standing, first started doing people treatments and you can witchcraft inside their senior years. But, there are together with ladies in the brand new Russian country, exactly who felt like which they would alive alone right from its younger many years.
Nuns
New girls exactly who did not stick to the household members path of lives, however, find the highway away from servitude so you’re able to Goodness, was in fact named chernichkas. The definition of chernichka is a beneficial feminitive particular the term chernets (‘the only in black colored robes’) – a beneficial monk who belonged to your “black” (celibate) clergy. Becoming a chernichka, a great girl had to state their wanna after attaining the ages of relationship – this is how this new girl perform begin to be greeting so you’re able to events and you can events because of the town young people. This might takes place because of the girl’s form of individual piety – or because of a guarantee created by their unique mothers.
On claiming her notice, the brand new girl needed to hand out most of the their unique colourful maidenly outfits and you will wear dark gowns, including an effective vekovukha or an effective widow. The braid was also symbolically clipped while uttering the words: “Due to the fact my personal locks cannot get back to each other, I won’t come back to my personal maidenhood.”