The Smorodina River and the Kalinov Bridge are often mentioned in Slavic mythology. In fairy tales and bylinas this is the place of battles of the heroes and princes with the dragon Gorynych and Baba Yaga, and in historical legends this is a certain line between the two worlds Yav and Nav.
What is the Kalinov Bridge?
Fairy tales and beliefs of different regions differently describe this boundary between the worlds. In the western regions of Kalinov, the bridge is:
- purgatory by which the soul enters the afterlife ;
- the boundary between the possessions of death (Nav) and living people (Yav);
- possession of evil power;
- the kingdom of Morena;
- The place where witches draw their strength;
- the way in which evil spirits come into the world of people on the eve of the feast of Ivan Kupala.
The ancient Slavs believed that only the path along Kalinovy bridge determines whether the soul is worthy, to get to heaven or its place in the fiery hyena. If during life the soul did not live by the law of God and did not follow the commandments, in the middle of the bridge demons were stopped and led not to the Light, but to the Darkness. About where exactly Kalinov Bridge is located, the mythology of the Slavs does not tell, all the information boils down to the fact that it is located at the end of the world.
Kalinov Bridge - what does it mean for the Slavs?
Slavs believed that the Kalinov Bridge is not just a transition between the two worlds, this is the place of redemption of deadly sins. The bridge itself, according to legends, was not in the Russian lands, but in the far end of the world in the thirtieth kingdom. The Pantheon of the Ancient Slavic Gods is diverse, but Morena, in whose power there are decisions to take a person's life or leave it on the ground, required worship and personal possessions. Kalinov Bridge is the path by which the goddess of Death visits the world of the living in search of new subjects.
Who is guarding Kalinov Bridge?
Winged Serpent Gorynych and Kalinov Bridge are tied together. So, the place where the Smorodin River and the Kalinov River are located, the mythology of the Slavs calls the transition between the worlds, and the Serpent is a bane, after all, one who has not finished his earthly journey can not pass to the territory of Morena. Samy Gorynych himself is also not a simple character, he:
- The monster Three-headed immortal;
- fire-breathing dragon;
- guard the gate in Nav;
- the chain dog of Morena;
- the abductor of beauties;
- a relative of Baba Yaga.
Where the Smorodin River and the Kalinov Bridge are mentioned, there is always Zmiy Gorynych. In ancient Russia, there were tales and legends about the fact that the bogatyrs were fighting the Beast and he killed a lot of heroes. It is said that the square in front of the Kalinov Bridge is strewn with bones and remains of reckless daredevils and "a great beast of the souls of the righteous and unrighteous" destroyed a lot, but there was always someone who managed to defeat the Beast and pass the border.
Kalinov Bridge is a legend
Kalinov Bridge across the Smorodino River has a rich history. Some sources say that initially there was no boundary between the worlds, but the living and the dead did not stick to their territory. This led to the fact that women gave birth to dead babies from dead men, and dead women led into their possession of living guys and they became half dead. The hordes of such wandered through the territory of Yav, and the earth beneath their feet burned with infernal fire. The world of the living was gradually falling into decay, and the people prayed to the great gods with a request to divide the two worlds by an insurmountable barrier, neither for the living, nor for the dead.
The Supreme Gods gave the order to gather all living on one shore, and all dead on the other. It was decided to dig a ditch between the worlds, but since a transition to the world of the dead from the living world was needed, a brittle bridge was built between the ditch's sides. This structure was so thin that it could withstand only the soul, and not the living body. When the construction was completed, the gods gathered all the half-dead and threw them into the ditch. They walked in a circle, and fire burned under their feet, and soon all of them were enveloped in flames. So there was a fiery river, or the river Smorodina.
Kalinov Bridge - Rite
Kalinov bridge mythology of the Slavs over time will make part of the funeral rite . So, in the way of the funeral procession, a small puddle was artificially created, and a bridge was imitated from the chips. This masonry symbolized the very Kalinov Bridge of the Slavs, which is the last vital boundary. They believed that if a dead man was carried over a symbolic bridge to the other world, his soul would be much easier to go through purgatory and get to the Gods.