Who is a bannik and what can he do? Bannik - who is this in Slavic mythology? Why Bannik is dangerous and what he doesn’t like
Who is Bannik? If you like visiting bathhouses, then most likely you know. Someone might think that this is the person who runs the bathhouse. However, Bannik, aka Anchutka, aka a lizard and an evil spirit, and you can still find many names - this is the main one in the bathhouse. He, like the brownie, belongs to the mythical characters present in human life.
There are many legends around this creature, but one thing is constant in all legends: there is no creature more evil and kind at the same time than the bannik.
Bannik - owner of the bathhouse
The contradictory nature of Anchutka was formed due to the combination of different elements - fire, water and the human spirit.
A bathhouse is not a simple room. In villages, in ancient times, people not only washed themselves in the bathhouse, but also did laundry. And in severe frost, in the northern regions, when a person died, they could bury him under the floor of the bathhouse, in the only place where the earth gave in to a shovel, until spring.
In addition, the afterbirth of a woman in labor was also buried in the bathhouse, believing that a guardian angel lived in it. This is how dark and light spirits, the forces of good and evil, were supposed to get along in the bathhouse.
Only a very complex creature could manage such a complex establishment.
Bathhouse owner knew that his home was like the border between pure and unclean, between the human soul and the harmful spirits of nature.
The bathhouse helped not only to wash away dirt and fatigue, but also to heal the soul and body. And a bannik helps a person in all this. And for help to come faster, you need to know how to ask the bannik about it.
The main task of the bannik, anchutka, is to protect his home, not to allow spirits that are evil for a person into it. Although our mythical hero is attached to a person, he strives to be useful for him, but he can seriously frighten him, or even unleash a frenzy if he gets very angry.
Therefore, the bannik - laznik was always greeted and praised at the entrance to the bathhouse, asked for permission to wash, wash, or perform some ritual. They crossed the threshold with the words: “For your glory, Bannichek, for our health.”
How a bannik helps a person
If a person needed to cleanse his soul, then they went to the bathhouse with a wormwood broom, steamed and asked the owner of the bathhouse to drive away the evil spirits from the soul.
If you needed to cure your back and aching bones, they came to the bathhouse with the following treat: milk, honey, etc. They put a treat in a corner and asked the bannik to try it without disgust. Then they lay down on their stomachs and asked for their back to be treated and their bones to be strengthened. Only then did they start steaming and washing.
Every time you leave the bathhouse, you need to thank her a little - leave a bucket of water, fresh water and a bar of soap. Let him take a steam bath after you.
According to beliefs and legends, they asked for a bannik and for wealth. In the bathhouse they talked about the irredeemable coin. But a person did not always receive the desired increase in income, and all because the bannik decided when a person was ready to become rich.
If you live in a city apartment and do not visit the bathhouse, you can also turn to the bathhouse for help.
Prepare a picture of the bannik, a treat for him, light a candle and put a glass of water. Lie down on the sofa or bed, think about this creature and pray for recovery. After the session, thank them and leave the picture with the banner on the table for three days. Then hide it.
Feed your pets or birds with your sweat treat.
You can talk not only with the bannik, but also with the brownie, the courtyard and all their brothers and sisters, mythical creatures that accompany a person through life. Don’t whine or moan, but speak with dignity and ask with faith for help. Ask specifically for help to cope with the problem, to find a solution and a way out, and not for a specific thing.
Light steam to all bathhouse lovers, and a good bathhouse to help.
Bannik. Belief 1.
Bannik- a spirit living in a bathhouse, in beliefs Eastern Slavsfrightening people and demanding victims , which he should leave in the bath after washing. Bannik is often represented as a small but very strong old man with a shaggy body.
Folk performances
Bannik is blamed for all failures in the bathhouse. The bannik's favorite pastime is to burn people with boiling water, throw stones in the stove, and also knock on the wall, scaring those steaming. Bannik causes great harm (peels the skin or steams to death) only to those who violate prohibitions.
To appease Bannik, they leave him a piece of rye bread with a lot of coarse salt. To prevent Bannik from harming him at all, they take a black chicken and, without plucking its feathers, strangle it and bury it under the threshold of the bathhouse, trying to time it for Maundy Thursday.
Bannik in a female form is called Bannikha, Baynitsa, Baennaya Mother, Obderikha. Obderiha is a shaggy, scary old woman. May also appear naked or in the form of a cat. Lives under the shelf.
Another version of the bannik woman is Shishiga. This is a demonic creature that pretends to be familiar, and by luring you into a bathhouse to take a steam bath, it can steam you to death. Shishiga is shown to those who go to the bathhouse with bad intentions, without prayer.
Bannik takes part in Christmas fortune-telling. At midnight, girls approach the open doors of the bathhouse, lifting up their skirts. If the banner is touched with a shaggy hand, the girl will have a rich groom, if he is naked, he will be poor, and if he is wet, he will be a drunkard.
Any evil spirits are very afraid of iron, and the bannik is no exception.
BANNIK harms those who come to the bathhouse late, after sunset, at night, or after two or three shifts of steamers: BANNIK strangles them or rips off their skin; BANNIK scares those entering the bathhouse by pretending to be a person. BANNIK can replace an abandoned child. Changelings can be ugly: big-headed, pot-bellied, they don’t grow, they don’t walk, they don’t speak, they live like this for several years, and then they die or turn into a brand, a bath broom. BANNIK sometimes protects from other demonic creatures (barnwood, dead people, etc.).
Among other functions of BANNIK, it should be noted his participation in Christmas fortune telling: in midnight girls approach the bathhouse door outside, lifting up their skirts; or they approach the heater’s forehead, or they stick their butts into the chimney; if the bannik touches with a shaggy hand, the groom will be rich, if with his bare hand, the groom will be poor. For those who, guessing, stick their hand into the window of the bathhouse, BANNIK can bind their fingers with iron rings. In order to protect themselves from the harmful actions of BANNIK, to appease him, they bring bread and salt to the new bathhouse, and bury him under the threshold of a strangled black rooster or chicken.
The bathhouse spirit can also appear in a female form - bannikha, baynitsa. Mother of God, on Pinega and Pechora - obderiha. Obderiha looks like a shaggy, scary old woman, sometimes naked; shown as cats; lives under the regiment; beliefs about her are similar to ideas about BANNIK (except for participation in fortune telling). How a female version of a bath spirit can also act shishiga- a demonic creature that appears in the bathhouse to those who go there without prayer; takes the form of a friend or relative and invites you to take a steam bath; can steam you to death (Vladimir, Saratov provinces).
We often say in our hearts to our interlocutor: “Go to the bathhouse!”, but at the same time we promise the person big problems! You will ask why? Yes, because he lives in the bathhousebanner -typical Russian domestic evil spirits! Yes, yes, it’s the bannik, not the bathhouse attendant. Who is the bath attendant? The big guy who heats the bathhouse, whips you with a broom and drips eucalyptus onto the pebbles.
But the bannik is not like that, according to eyewitnesses who turned prematurely gray, he is a naked, pot-bellied old man with a huge shaggy beard, moldy from constant humidity. Damn, this is the rickety brother of Santa Claus, no less! :) However, the banner does not glow much, but prefers to hide, like any other evil spirits.
The bannik itself is very strong, it can strangle, stun, burn with boiling water, and at the same time it will lock the door so that even if you chop it with an ax, you won’t be able to open it. Just sprinkle some holy water on it. then it will open. In general, the bathhouse has been considered a disastrous place since ancient times; houses are never built on the sites of abandoned bathhouses. Any traveler at night will never enter the bathhouse to spend the night.
In order not to anger the bannik, you should follow his orders!
The first of the laws: steam in no more than three shifts, the “fourth steam” is for the bannik himself and his kents, other unclean ones.
The second law: steam only at the appointed time: until seven o’clock in the evening in the summer, and before lunch in the winter. And in general, never go to the bathhouse after sunset. Damn, we're breaking all his laws! What should I do now? What to do - what to do! First of all, you need to worry about cleanliness and remove mold in the bath , if she started there. This can only be done with complete disinfection using special means.
Many terrible stories are told about Bannik even today. He appears as a tiny but very strong old man, naked, with a long, moldy beard. Fainting and accidents that sometimes occur in the bathhouse are attributed to his evil will. Bannik's favorite pastime is scalding those who are washing with boiling water, splitting stones in the stove and “shooting” them at people. Maybe he will drag you into a hot oven and tear off a piece of skin from a living person. However, you can get along with him. Knowledgeable people always leave Bannik good steam, a fresh broom and a basin of clean water. And they never push each other on - Bannik can’t stand it, he gets angry. And if you fall under Bannik’s arm, you need to run out of the bathhouse and call Ovinnik or Domovoy for help: “Father, help me out!”
When they began to clear forests and plow the land for fields and pastures, the new lands, of course, immediately acquired their own “small” deities - the Fieldmen.
In general, there are many beliefs and signs associated with the grain field. Thus, the division of agricultural crops into “male” and “female” survived until the last century. For example, only men sowed bread, stripped almost naked and carried sowing grain in special bags made from old pants. Thus, they seemed to enter into a “sacred marriage” with the plowed field, and not a single woman dared to be present. But turnips were considered a “female” crop. And the women also sowed it almost naked, trying to transfer part of their reproductive power to the Earth.
Myth
According to Slavic beliefs, a brownie lived in the house, a merman and a mermaid lived in ponds, a goblin lived in the forests, and even the fields had their own spirits. And the buildings around the hut are also inhabited by wonderful inhabitants. A bannik lived in the bathhouse, otherwise they called him Anchutka.
They said that the banner was small and shaggy. He loved to make evil jokes on people.
They said that once a girl bet that she would spend the night in the bathhouse alone and during this time she would sew herself a shirt. Closer to midnight, the Anchutkas, the bannik's children, began to gather around the girl and nail the hem of her shirt to the floor. They nail you down and whisper that they won’t let you out, they won’t let you out. The girl looks, and it’s really difficult to get out. And the banner can tickle you to death, or even drag you away. The girl figured out what to do: she decided to unravel the shirt she was wearing and sew a new one from these threads. She unraveled and sewed, and as soon as she unraveled everything, she burst out of the bathhouse naked with a new shirt in her hands.
Bannik. Belief 2.
Bathhouse, Baynik, Bainnik, Baennik - the spirit of the bathhouses, an evil old man, dressed in robes made from leaves that have fallen from the bathhouse brooms. Quite often Banniks marry Kikimoras, the union with which gives birth to Anchutok.
Many terrible stories are told about Bannik even today. Fainting and accidents that sometimes occur in the bathhouse are attributed to his evil will./span>
Bannik's favorite pastime is scalding those who are washing with boiling water, splitting stones in the stove and “shooting” them at people. Maybe he will drag you into a hot oven and tear off a piece of skin from a living person.
Bannik especially harms those who come to the bathhouse late, after sunset, at night, or after two or three shifts of steamers. Sometimes Bannik scares those entering the bathhouse by pretending to be a person. Bannik can even replace the abandoned child. Changelings can be ugly: big-headed, pot-bellied, they don’t grow, they don’t walk, they don’t speak, they live like this for several years, and then they die or turn into a brand, a bath broom.
However, you can get along with Bannik. Knowledgeable people always leave him a good steam, a fresh broom and a bowl of clean water. And they never push each other on - Bannik can’t stand it, he gets angry. To appease Bannik, they leave him a piece of rye bread with a lot of coarse salt. To prevent Bannik from harming him at all, they take a black chicken and, without plucking its feathers, strangle it and bury it under the threshold of the bathhouse. But if you fall under Bannik’s arm, you need to run out of the bathhouse and call Ovinnik or Domovoy for help: “Father, help me out!”
There is a belief that Bannik appears in the bathhouse for the first time after a woman in labor has been there.
Banniki - bath perfume. Living in close proximity to humans, they did not show themselves to people, but demanded strict obedience. Their conditions were simple: the bathhouse had to be located where their true, mystical owner wanted it. Otherwise, the bannik would not hesitate to take revenge. He acted rather vilely and probably even to the point of inflicting fatal diseases on people. However, as soon as the bathhouse was moved, the patient, already with one foot in the grave, was on the mend.
The bathhouse spirit can also appear in a female form - bannikha, baynitsa. Mother of God, on Pinega and Pechora - obderiha. Obderiha looks like a shaggy, scary old woman, sometimes naked; appears in the form of a cat; lives under the regiment; beliefs about her are similar to ideas about Bannik. A shishiga, a demonic creature that takes the form of a friend or relative and invites you to take a steam bath with you, can also act as a female version of the bath spirit; can steam you to death (Vladimir, Saratov provinces).
Bannik. Belief 3.
In Rus' there were two bathhouse spirits: Bannik and Bannitsa, Bannaya Obderikha. Contrary to popular belief, people in Russia have always washed. Moreover, the bathhouse was considered a symbolic, serious place in a Russian estate, a place of transition from one world to another. This was due to the presence of water in the bathhouse - a special sacred power. In the bathhouse they could deliver a child and wash a dead person - that’s the transition for you. It was believed that this border was guarded by respectable border guards, so they were treated with great respect. There is a whole scheme for how to steam. Don’t go to the bathhouse when you’re drunk, don’t jump on the shelves and don’t yell - they’ll punish you. Show some respect, you came to visit after all. Maybe you built the bathhouse yourself, but they are the owners here. In general, no matter what you touch, there are a lot of significant little things that few people remember.
In Russian beliefs, a bannik is a spirit living in a bathhouse. He was represented as a tiny but very strong shaggy old man with a long beard covered with mold, one shaggy arm and the other without hair.
The influence of Bannik is associated with fainting and accidents in the bathhouse. If someone got burned, hit themselves, or slipped, it was believed that all this was Bannik’s pranks. Bannik’s favorite pastime is scalding those washing with boiling water and “shooting” stones in the heater, splitting them. He also likes to scare steamers by knocking on the wall. However, Bannik begins to seriously harm people (peel their skin or even steam them to death) only when people maliciously violate traditional bathing prohibitions: they wash on holidays, late at night, or after two or three shifts of steamers.
Bannik also has his own “responsibilities” - he certainly takes part in Christmas fortune-telling. In winter, on Christmastide, at midnight, when girls, lifting up their skirts, approached the door of the bathhouse or the stove from outside, Bannik often touched their naked bodies. It was believed that whoever Bannik touched with his shaggy hand would have a rich groom. If he touches with his bare hand, then he is poor.
They achieve Bannik’s goodwill in a well-known way: they leave him in the bathhouse a piece of rye bread, thickly sprinkled with coarse salt. And in order to forever take away his desire to harm, they “give” Bannik a black chicken. Having built a new bathhouse, the black chicken is strangled (but not cut) without plucking its feathers, then buried under the threshold for Bannik.
The bathhouse spirit could also appear in a female guise - Bannikha, Bathhouse Mother, Obderikha. Obderiha looks like a shaggy, scary old woman, sometimes completely naked. She may appear to people as an ordinary walking cat. Beliefs about her are similar to those about Bannik, only Bannikha, or Obderikha, does not take part in fortune telling.
The bathhouse has always been of great importance for the Slavs. In a difficult climate, this was the best way to get rid of fatigue, or even drive away illness. “The bathhouse soars, the bathhouse rules, the bathhouse will fix everything,” they still say. But at the same time it was a mysterious place. Here a person washed away dirt and illness from himself, which means that it itself became unclean and belonged not only to man, but also to otherworldly forces. But everyone must go to the bathhouse to wash: whoever does not go is not considered a good person. Even the banishche - the place where the bathhouse stood - was considered dangerous, and it was not recommended to build a dwelling on it, a hut or a barn. Not a single good owner would dare to build a hut on the site of a burnt bathhouse: either bedbugs will prevail, or a mouse will ruin all the belongings, and then expect a new fire! Over many centuries, many beliefs and legends associated specifically with the bath have accumulated.
Like any place, its spirit lives here. This is a bathhouse, bannik, bainnik, bainnik, baennik - a special breed of brownie, an unkind spirit, an evil old man, dressed in sticky leaves that have fallen off the brooms. However, he easily takes the form of a boar, a dog, a frog and even a person. His wife and children live here with him, but in the bathhouse you can also meet barnacles, mermaids, and brownies.
If you want to see the undead in a bathhouse, you need to go there at night and, stepping over the threshold with one foot, throw off the cross from your neck and put it under your heel.
Bannik, with all his guests and servants, likes to take a steam bath after two, three, or even six shifts of people, and he washes himself only with dirty water that has drained from people’s bodies. He puts his red invisible hat to dry on the heater; it can even be stolen at the stroke of midnight - if you're lucky. But here you really need to run to church as soon as possible. If you manage to run before the bannik wakes up, you will have an invisibility cap, otherwise the bannik will catch up and kill you.
In general, you need to behave carefully in the bathhouse. For example, they don’t go to the bathhouse with a cross; it is removed and left in the dressing room or even at home. In general, everything from which one washes is considered unclean: basins, tubs, tubs, gangs, ladles in baths. You cannot drink water prepared for washing in the bathhouse, even if it is clean.
If you don’t follow these rules or show up at the bathhouse at the wrong time, the baennik will attack, throw hot stones, splash boiling water; If you don’t run away skillfully, that is, backwards, it can completely get lost, and everyone will think that the person just went crazy.
He does not like women in labor, who in the old days were taken to the bathhouse; but they cannot be left there alone. In general, the baennik is not averse to making vicious jokes on women, and when they hear wheezing and snoring, howling behind the heater or laughter and whistling, they need to run away as quickly as possible. If a woman in the bathhouse begins to scold and tell her children to go to hell, the baennik can rip off her skin from head to toe.
To prevent him from causing mischief or harm in the new bathhouse, in former times they brought a black chicken as a gift. Such a chicken, without plucking its feathers, was strangled (rather than cut) and buried under the threshold.
They gain the favor of the baennik by leaving him a piece of rye bread, thickly sprinkled with coarse salt. It is also useful to leave a little water and at least a small piece of soap in the tubs, and a broom in the corner: baeniki love attention and care!
The bathhouse will allow you to spend the night if the traveler politely asks him for permission: “Master-father! Let me spend the night!” The bannik protects such a passerby from all evil spirits. When a goblin once wanted to drag a man into a bathhouse, the bannik did not allow him:
“No, you can’t, he asked me!”
The bathhouse owner is asked for permission when they want to heat the bathhouse: “Bathhouse owner, let me heat the bathhouse!” - and so on three times. In the bathhouse you cannot knock or speak loudly, otherwise the baennik will get angry and scare you.
When leaving the bathhouse, you need to thank its owner.
Bannik is a spirit that lives in a bathhouse. The bannik looks like a small, skinny old man with a long beard. He has no clothes on, but his whole body is covered with broom leaves. Despite its size, the old spirit is very strong; it can easily knock down a person and drag him around the bathhouse. Bannik is a rather cruel spirit: he loves to scare those who come to the bathhouse with terrible screams, and can also throw hot stones from the stove or scald with boiling water. If the bannik is angered, the spirit is even capable of killing a person by strangling his enemy in the bathhouse or flaying him alive. An angry bannik can also kidnap or replace a child.
Bannik is a very “social” spirit: he often invites other evil spirits to visit him to “take a steam bath”; he arranges such meetings at night after 3-6 shifts of bathers; it is dangerous to enter the bathhouse on such days. Bannik generally doesn’t like it when people disturb him at night.
Most of all, the spirit loves to scare women, which is why they should not go to the bathhouse alone. But what angers the bannik the most is when a pregnant woman enters the bathhouse; under no circumstances should such expectant mothers be left in the bathhouse unattended by men.
Capabilities
Bannik is able to become invisible and instantly move in space within his bathhouse. Women Banniki - Obderikhi are able to change their appearance, turning into a cat or even a person.
In addition, the bannik is capable of revealing to people their future.
How to fight?
If you follow the basic rules, the bannik will never attack a person. But if the bannik is angry, then you can appease him: leaving the spirit a piece of rye bread generously sprinkled with coarse salt, in some cases it is necessary to sacrifice a black chicken, burying it under the threshold of the bathhouse. If, nevertheless, the bathhouse attacked you, then you need to run out of the bathhouse with your back forward and call for help: “Father, help me out!..”. This spirit is also afraid of iron, so if the bannik does not allow you to leave the bathhouse, you should hit him with an iron rod and immediately run away.
If you like to visit the bathhouse, then you probably think that the bannik is the person who is in charge of the bathhouse. However, at the entrance you will not meet a man with brooms and towels, because a bannik is a mythical creature, the spirit of the bathhouse. He, like the brownie, is a fictional character present in a person’s life. There are many legends around this character, but in all the legends one thing remains the same - no Slavic mythology beings that are more evil and kind at the same time.Mythical bathhouse owner
This contradictory nature of the bathhouse keeper was formed due to the combination of different elements - water, fire and the human spirit. A bathhouse is a difficult room. In ancient times they not only washed here, but also did laundry. And in the northern regions, in severe frost, a deceased person could even be buried under a bathhouse, because under the floor was the only place where the earth could yield to a shovel. That is why the bathhouse was covered in myths and legends.How to recognize a bannik
Usually, the bannik looked like a skinny old man with a very long beard. He is not wearing any clothes, but his entire body is covered with broom leaves. Despite its miniature stature, the spirit is endowed with enormous physical strength, such that it can easily knock a person down and drag him throughout the bathhouse. Despite his rather cute appearance, the bannik has a cruel temper. He loves to scare those who come to the bathhouse with terrible screams, and can also throw a hot stone at a guest or scald him with boiling water. If the bannik gets angry, he can even kill a person by tearing off his skin. Bannik is a social creature, so he likes to invite other spirits to visit him. Thus, it is believed that entering the bathhouse after 6-8 shifts of bathers is dangerous. But most of all, the bathhouse man likes to scare women who come to the bathhouse alone. Maybe this is where the tradition of getting together in a cheerful, noisy group to relax in the bathhouse came from.Magic abilities
Of course, the mythical creature has a huge number of abilities that are beyond the control of humans. Bannik can become invisible at any time, and also has the ability to instantly move within his bathhouse. But the women of the Banniki - Obderikhi are able to change their appearance, appearing to guests either in the form of a cat that accidentally looked into the bathhouse, or in the form of a bird knocking on the window, or even in the form of a person. In addition to reincarnations, a bannik can reveal the future to people. This is where the tradition of Christmas fortune-telling in the bathhouse came from.How to behave
Many people are afraid of the bannik, but you shouldn’t put off your visit to the bathhouse because of this creature. Bannik is never the first to attack people. But if the bannik gets angry, you can appease him by leaving a piece of rye bread sprinkled with coarse salt in the bathhouse. In some cases, people sacrificed a black chicken and buried it under the floor of the bathhouse. It was believed that in this case the spirit of the bathhouse was appeased and would not disturb a person’s peace.![](https://i2.wp.com/vrnbanya.ru/images/articles/who-is-banner1.jpg)
Cure your back and it was the bannik that helped the aching bones. To do this, they came to the bathhouse with treats. Milk, honey and bread were placed in a corner of the room and the bannik was asked to taste the treat without disgust. Then they lay down on their stomachs and asked the bath attendant to treat their back, and only then began the bath procedures.
Wealth Help also provided a banner. To do this, they charmed an irredeemable coin in the bathhouse and believed in the help of the bannik. But when a person did not receive the desired income, they thought that the bannik decided that the person was not worthy of wealth.
Share your power Many people asked for the bannik, because he is endowed with the power of the three elements and, undoubtedly, can transfer it to people. With the help of a bannik, people coped with mental disorders; they could ask the bannik to help overcome grief, separation or depression.
Today, when visiting, you can also hope to meet the mysterious mythical creature. But we should not forget that the bannik is an attribute and guardian of the classic Russian bathhouse, known to us since ancient times. But perhaps today there are more modern, but no less mysterious characters.
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