Why can't you go to the bathhouse at night? A variety of experts in baths and bath art unanimously claim that the reason lies in evil spirits. They tell scary stories as evidence and reinforcement of their words.
Bathhouse and mysticism in the stories are intertwined in an amazing pattern. Perhaps there is some truth in these stories.
How many buildings the peasants had, and in the modern world there are plenty of them.
A barn, a cellar, a shed, a barn - not one of these buildings has become overgrown with occultism over its centuries-long history. Or maybe a bathhouse is just a bathhouse, even at night. Maybe it has nothing to do with hidden forces and phenomena unknown to science?
Mysterious bath
The bathhouse is a mysterious place. Such fame has been firmly entrenched in her since ancient times. In ancient stories, the bathhouse stood at the crossroads of the elements: shore and sea, earth and sky, life and death. Fire, water, air and earth united in one place.
And how can one not remember the mysterious water?! It can be in several states at the same time: water, steam and even ice.
The entire bath space is filled with ordinary, purely everyday items. Basins, gangs, barrels, tanks, ladles...
But they are all intended for water: healing, cleansing and life-giving. Everything in this place has its own unspoken order, its own unwritten rules. One of which: you can’t go to the bathhouse at night.
And who monitors this order, is there a bathhouse guard? Now it’s time to talk about the ruler of the bathhouse, the baennik!
Why can't you swim at night?
Since ancient times, the Slavs believed that evil spirits lived in the bathhouse, so the washing process was a kind of ritual that should definitely be performed so as not to bring trouble upon oneself. According to ancient legends, a bannik lives in the bathhouse, who looks like a little old man. He, like the brownie, must be treated with respect, observing his rules. For example, the man should wash first, and then only the woman. You should not shout or swear while taking a bath or shower, as this may anger the spirit. After carrying out hygiene procedures, it is necessary to leave a piece of soap, a broom and some water in a ladle for the bathhouse.
Now let's move on to the most important thing and figure out why you can't swim at night.
It is believed that after sunset, evil spirits come to visit the bannik, which means that a person can expect various problems. By the way, since the place where a person washes is associated with evil spirits, it is here that it is customary to conduct various magical rituals and fortune telling. In ancient times, people even renounced God by removing the cross and placing it under their heel in the bathhouse.
Many people are interested in whether it is possible to swim in the Black Sea at night, when absolutely nothing is visible. In the old days, people were afraid to go into the water, believing that it was infested with various evil spirits that could drag them to the bottom. To this day, many people are afraid of the dark abyss.
Baennik
The entire bath space belongs entirely to the baennik. He doesn't like uninvited guests in the bathhouse at night.
And the point here is far from being that he is an evil spirit, and the night is his time. Everything is a little more complicated...
Baennik is a pagan deity.
The pagans imagined the world as a living being, just like them. Therefore, everything in nature was animated, things and phenomena were personified. This attitude helped explain why this or that event occurs in nature. Spirits and gods were born who ruled the world of people.
Each pagan deity had its own element. Each of the spirits was responsible for one natural process.
Baennik is an amazing creature. I dedicated a separate article to him: The Spirit of the Bath - Baennik. Take a look - very informative!
The efforts of Christianity were not in vain and the baennik was discredited and reduced to the level of evil spirits. And all because he was responsible for the transition from one dimension to another.
The bathhouse combined all four elements. In ancient beliefs, a person in a bathhouse finds himself simultaneously in two dimensions, two worlds.
One foot in the otherworldly, irrational, mystical bath space. The other leg is outside this space. The boundary of the sacred world is the threshold.
One of the places of residence of the guard of the bath portal is the threshold of the bathhouse. Hence the human prohibition: “Don’t stand on the threshold.”
Each pagan deity had its own appointed hour. The time of the spirit of the bathhouse is night, so you cannot go to the bathhouse at night. Baennik jealously guards the borders of the two worlds.
True facts of antiquity
- In some areas of the Vologda province, baths were not installed at all. They did not want to encroach on pagan possessions.
Where did people wash then, you ask? They washed and steamed in the oven - this is a historical fact.
My friend’s grandmother lives in the Vologda region. As a child, she was washed like this herself. When Lena told me her story, I was very surprised. Her story pushed me, I began to collect information on this topic. This is how my article “Is it possible to wash and steam in an oven” was born.
- According to Vepsian beliefs (Finno-Ugric people who live in Karelia, Vologda and Leningrad regions), having cut down a bathhouse, you must immediately agree on how many shifts people will go to steam.
On the third and fourth couples, at night, the bath spirit itself and the entire gathering of pagan deities come to wash.
Initially, the spirit of the bathhouse was not considered an unclean and harmful force. Therefore, amulets against evil spirits were left outside the threshold of the bathhouse...
- The attributes and symbolism of Christianity are alien and hostile to the pagan deity. The bathhouse never had anything to do with the sign of the cross, prayers, icons and the church.
For this reason, icons are not hung in the bathhouse and people are not baptized. Anyone who enters into the possession of a pagan deity must renounce his Christian affiliation. In the old days, a peasant entered the bathhouse without amulets, showing his trust in the true owner.
RќRµ S…RѕRґРёС‚Рµ RЅРѕС‡СЊСЋ RI R±R°РЅСЋ!
РњРЅРѕРіРёРµ наверно слышали, что нельзя S…одить ночью РІ баРSСЋ . R“РѕРІРѕСЂСЏС‚, что после RїРѕР»СѓРЅРѕС‡Рё РІ бане RјРѕСЋС‚СЃСЏ S‡РµСЂС‚Рё. РЇ РЅРµ верю РІ эти байки Рё довольно S‡Р°СЃС‚Рѕ бывает, что РїСЂРёС …одится идти РІ Р ± аню после полуночи . Чертей РЅРеРєРѕРіРґР° РЅРµ видел.
РќРѕ, как-то раз РѕРґРёРЅ знакомый рассказал: Довольно долго R *РЅ РЅРµ С…РѕРґРёР» РІ Р± аню, уже казалось, что покрылся слоем РіСЂСЏР·Рё. R»РЅРµРј РѕРЅ был СЃРельно занят, RїРѕСЌС‚РѕРјСѓ SЂРµС€РёР» СЃС…РѕРґРёС‚СЊВ РЅРѕС ‡СЊ СЋ РІ Р±Р°РСЋ .
True facts of our days
A person enters the bathhouse naked, leaving behind the threshold his last protection, his clothes. We seem to say to the owner of the bathhouse: “Here I am, calm and defenseless. I have come to your domain, asking for some light steam.”
In our village, bath time is still set from five o'clock to nine o'clock in the evening. This unspoken rule is observed by everyone, a kind of bath law. To tell the truth, our bathhouses are modest and have nothing to do with modern bathhouse mansions.
We do everything the old fashioned way. We do not organize endless noisy parties, drunken gatherings in bathhouses with songs and loud music. We honor the unwritten ancient bathhouse laws and do not go to the bathhouse at night. In my youth, I never dared to tell fortunes in the bathhouse, the fear of the unknown was so great.
I believe that the bathhouse is the border of the worlds. In the old days, baths were placed near a river or lake, next to water. I think that water is a kind of conductor in the sauna portal.
No matter how great my curiosity is, I will not violate bath prohibitions. I don’t go to the bathhouse at night and I don’t advise you to. As they say: “God protects those who are careful.”
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Beliefs about soap
A sick person and a healthy person should not use the same soap so that the disease does not pass on. Especially if it is an unfamiliar person. By reading the plot to yourself, you can transfer the illness to soap.
You cannot use soap. Instead of feeling good, you will get a bad mood. If the bannik is in a bad mood, he might get sick. Now the remnants are thrown away, in the old days they were buried in the ground so that sorcerers would not get them. A love spell or damage can be cast on the soap that a specific person has used. A piece made from soap remnants is only suitable as a gift to an enemy.
The soap broke into two parts - to separation from your loved one. If it fell to the floor from a shelf or from your hands - to troubles, collapse of plans and quarrels. Girls tell fortunes using soap. Exactly - the husband will be rich. On the one hand, the piece has become smaller; family life will pass in need.
Don't raise the temperature
It seems that the bannik is still female, because he cannot tolerate alcohol. Of course, you can increase the temperature in a bathhouse, but only the temperature. From those who liked to “knock over” in the bathhouse, and more than one at a time, the bathhouse, it was believed, could tear off the skin and pull it onto the ceiling. However, this superstition has quite understandable explanations. A drunk person can perform such “miracles” in a bathhouse: douse himself with boiling water, fall on hot coals, or even “pass out.” Then, of course, you can say that this is the work of the bannik, but such an explanation will not make the burns hurt any less.
Use of creams and aromatic oils
This mistake is especially common among representatives of the fairer sex. In order to better remove toxins and improve the condition of the skin, all kinds of creams and oils are used. But their use in a bathhouse leads to a completely different effect.
Due to clogged pores, toxins cannot come to the surface through sweat. The result of such vaping will be severe rashes on the skin, which are quite difficult to remove.
Additionally, the body overheats greatly, which can cause heat stroke.
To better remove toxins and improve skin health, scrubs or peelings should be used in the bath. The best option would be to use natural honey or oatmeal based formulations.
Signs and superstitions
According to signs, people who wash after twelve will experience negative events in the near future. To understand what to expect, you need to pay attention to the details of what happened. There are several options for determining the consequences of a night trip to the bathhouse.
By day of the week
Depending on the day of the week, which came after 12 o'clock, you can understand what foreshadows such an act as washing in a bathhouse at night.
- On Monday - to quick disappointment in the second half. It turns out that the partners overestimated the positive qualities of each other, without paying attention to the negative character traits, because of this, feelings will cool down, which will lead to a breakup.
- As the signs say, taking a bath after 12 on Tuesday means receiving unpleasant news from a friend. The information will concern mutual friends. In order to help those in trouble, you will have to neglect your own affairs and spend energy, time and money on friends.
- A long-term lack of motivation to work is the reason why you can’t take a bath on Wednesday. A person will not be able to cope with responsibilities in a short period of time, as a result of which his professional status will deteriorate.
- Washing in a bathhouse on Thursday is an omen of an unpleasant conversation with a stranger. An unexpected meeting and conversation will entail discussions about controversial issues. A dispute will flare up, after which both parties will have a negative opinion of each other.
- According to signs, going to the bathhouse on Friday after 12 at night means losing self-respect after a blunder; troubles at work and workload will negatively affect a person’s performance, which is why he will not be able to cope well with the instructions of his superiors.
- Washing in a bathhouse on Saturday means attracting the attention of devils to your own family. Each of the relatives will have minor problems that will require effort and time to solve. A series of failures will negatively affect the mood in the house. Spending time together and having a heart-to-heart conversation will help get rid of despondency and discontent.
- If a person goes to the bathhouse on Sunday night, then a financial crisis awaits him. Problems with money will lead to a desire to work more, which will lead to new responsibilities. A gradual transition to a busy work schedule will allow you to increase your budget.
Bathing with relatives means becoming a victim of ridicule in the work team
Surrounded by the bathhouse
According to the signs, you cannot wash after 12 under any circumstances. To understand what such an event portends, you need to remember who else was in the bathhouse.
- Going to the bathhouse with your parents means losing one of your close friends. The moment a person needs support, a friend will turn away from him. The place of this acquaintance will be taken by another, thanks to which the individual will still be able to sort out the problems.
- If a person washes his or someone else’s child in a bathhouse after 12 at night, it means that problems with upbringing will soon appear. The child will not have the desire to develop and remember new information. Gaps in learning will lead to more serious problems in the future.
- Bathing with relatives means becoming a victim of ridicule in the work team. A few offensive mistakes will result in shame in front of your superiors. Failures will leave a mark on the employee’s reputation that cannot be washed away even over time. In the future, it is these events that will bring a smile to the lips of colleagues.
- Going to the bathhouse with friends is an omen of separation from your significant other. Due to long-term conflicts that will be difficult to resolve, partners will cool off towards each other. In the future, this will negatively affect the relationship between lovers, which is why they will separate.
- If colleagues washed in the bathhouse, then everyone will have professional problems. Due to misunderstandings between employees and the boss, duties will be performed incorrectly, and the project will have to be redone in a short time, making every effort. The final result will not be satisfactory, so there will be no reward for your efforts.
- Washing alone in the bathhouse means a poor choice of partner. A person will begin a relationship with the object of adoration, but due to the large number of shortcomings of each, lovers will not be able to enjoy the feelings.
If a person washes in the bathhouse after 12, it means he is bringing trouble on himself and his family. Signs that indicate what to expect in the near future after such an act will help you prepare for negative events.
Using only one type of broom for steaming
Experienced bath attendants recommend using several types of brooms in the steam room. The minimum quantity is birch and oak brooms. It is also important to start the soaring process with a birch bundle.
It helps open all the pores, which will promote good sweating and remove most waste and toxins from the body.
To cover the pores, an oak broom is used at the end of the steaming procedure. Between the two stages, it is also recommended to steam the body with any herbal bundle. The main condition is to steam the broom according to all the rules.
Attention! When using any broom, you should not hover a person with strong and harsh blows. It will bring nothing but bruises.
The bathhouse was considered not just a place where you could relax and unwind
At first glance, this phenomenon seems ordinary, but it turned out that various beliefs are associated with it. This is not just a bathhouse in which you can relax after difficult everyday life. The following beliefs and signs are associated with the traditional Russian bath:
- our ancestors believed that in it you could cleanse both your body from dirt and your soul from accumulated sins;
- It was believed that evil spirits lived in the bathhouse, for this reason, every time before going to it, people performed special rituals in order to please this force and not attract trouble to themselves.
The evil spirit was represented in the form of a short old man with a beard, whose name was Bannik. He lives behind the stove and has similar features to Domovoy.
For this reason, there are many prohibitions associated with the bath. For example, you cannot pray in it. Before entering the bathhouse, our ancestors took off their pectoral cross, and during church holidays they did not heat it.
It was forbidden for one person to go to the bathhouse or to leave children in it for a short time, since our ancestors believed that Bannik would definitely replace them. Under no circumstances should you drink water. And, of course, in the bathhouse people tried to talk very politely and quietly, so as not to anger Bannik.
In Rus', all people followed one important rule: men should go to the bathhouse first, and women should wait patiently for their turn. In the case when a woman entered the bathhouse first, all her sins were necessarily transferred to the next person. This rule was observed very strictly by our ancestors. After men and then women bathed in the bathhouse, they tried to leave it empty for Bannik so that he could also wash himself. At this moment it was strictly forbidden to enter the bathhouse, since Bannik could take revenge. For this reason, there was soap, a broom and water in a ladle for him in the empty bathhouse.
Is Bannik good or evil?
Initially, when the bannik first appeared in the worldview of the Slavs, this spirit of the bathhouse was not evil and did not harm the common people in any way.
But they began to perceive the bannik as an evil, grumpy and unfriendly creature when Christianity entered the life of the Slavs. People began to believe that the bannik was not at all kind, because he lives and guards such a mystical place where two worlds meet - the dead and the living. Our ancestors generally believed that in a bathhouse a person has one foot in the world of people and the other in the world of spirits.
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And the bannik’s favorite place is the threshold. You have often heard that it is not recommended to stand on the threshold, and it is undesirable to give money over the threshold. This is because there is an unkind spirit sitting there who may not like the intrusion into his space and will harm the people who disturbed him.
The bannik protects the entire space of the bathhouse, and therefore the space where one world passes into another. The time reserved for this creature is night. It is at night that he gains special strength and becomes powerful.
In order not to get yourself into trouble and not to anger the owner of the bathhouse, you should not enter this room at night at all, let alone stay there overnight.
Why was it forbidden to go to the bathhouse after midnight?
In Rus', another rule was observed, according to which one should not wash after 12 o’clock at night. It was believed that it was during the night period that all the evil spirits flocked to Bannik to wash themselves. If a person interfered with this action, the owner of the bathhouse could steam him to death. For this reason, our ancestors strictly observed it.
At the same time, despite the strict rules that people followed so as not to anger the spirit, it was in the bathhouse that various fortune telling and divination were very often carried out. In Rus' they believed that if a person behaves correctly, then Bannik will not get angry, but, on the contrary, will help protect him from evil spirits.
Of course, in the modern world, people have long stopped associating the bathhouse with mysticism and are not so afraid of evil spirits. However, it is best to be careful, because no one knows who may live in the dark corner of the old Russian bathhouse.
Explanation of why you can’t take a bath at night
Another strict rule of the bathhouse is not to wash after midnight. Why can't you shower after 12 midnight? Here everything was explained simply - at night various evil spirits come to visit Bannik, which he washes. And if you interfere with this action, old Bannik can steam an unwary person to death. Therefore, one should not be surprised that this rule was observed religiously.
But for the same reasons why people followed all these rules and were afraid to somehow anger the evil spirits, the bathhouse has always been a favorite place for various fortune-telling and divination. It was believed that if you behave correctly, Bannik will not only not get angry, but will also protect you from evil spirits.
Of course, these days the bathhouse has ceased to be such a mystical place, and people have not been afraid of evil spirits for a long time. Still, it’s better to be careful, because no one knows for sure what lies dormant in the dark corners of ancient Russian baths. Now you know why you can’t go to the bathhouse at night, as well as other signs related to this.
Each person gets a broom
Bath brooms are such a serious attribute that their choice should be approached with special trepidation and excitement. You can knit brooms only during the full moon, and you should consider whether you are plucking twigs from a burnt tree and whether two trunks are growing from the root of this tree. And when you mercilessly break the branches of an oak or birch, constantly pray to the tree for forgiveness. And under no circumstances should you use a broom in the bathhouse after someone else. It is believed that with someone else's broom you will transfer all the ailments, worries and troubles of its owner onto yourself. So everyone who takes a steam bath gets a personal broom!
Why can't you swim after sunset?
Let's start sorting everything out from the bathhouse. The Slavs believed that evil spirits lived in the bathhouse, so the washing process became a ritual, and the bathhouse had to be treated with respect, observing its rules. The man washed first, then the woman. Bannik was always left with a piece of soap, a broom and some water in the ladle. After sunset, evil spirits come to visit the bathhouse, so washing at this time could lead to various problems.
Now let's move on to swimming in open water. In the old days, people did not enter it at night, because they believed that evil spirits could drag them to the bottom. In addition, representatives of the other world could transmit evil to people after sunset.
In general, it is obvious that such bans were dictated by safety considerations, since at night it is simply difficult to see anything in the water and you can get hurt or fall into a whirlpool or pool, for example.
As for the sea, firstly, you should not swim in it at night, since the water at this time of day has already cooled down, which can cause a person’s arms or legs to cramp. Secondly, there are no lifeguards on the beach at night, so in case of an emergency, no one will help. Even if they exist, they are still useless, since it is difficult to see vacationers in the dark.
Thirdly, various dangerous marine inhabitants, including jellyfish, move closer to the shore. Not all of them are deadly, but meeting them will clearly be remembered for a long time and will ruin your vacation. Considering all of the above, we must remember that night is not the best time for swimming.
Doctors dispelled myths about the bath
In the Russian language there are several dozen sayings about the bathhouse. According to popular wisdom, it allows you to get rid of illness, straighten your bones, not grow old, and even be born again. How useful is a bathhouse from the point of view of doctors?
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We selected 7 common statements about baths and saunas and asked International Medical experts to tell us how true they are.
1. Is it true that a sauna helps you lose weight, and in one session in a good steam room you can “melt” up to 2 cm of fat?
Elena Yurievna Grigorieva, nutritionist:
“You can “melt” fatty deposits in a bathhouse, but you won’t be able to get rid of them this way. The visual sensation of losing weight by 2-3 cm is due to the fact that the fat layer is dehydrated. When exposed to hot air (above 60°), the fat in the subcutaneous fat changes from a semi-solid state to a more fluid form. At the same time, it still remains in the cell, because the lipid membrane does not let it out. The lipocyte itself does not disappear under the influence of heat, and the fat, cooling, again takes the form of a dense substance.
Where did superstition come from and what does it mean?
In those days, people did not have bathrooms or showers; they washed exclusively in baths, and tried to do it before dark. Then such a legend was born. The people believed that after midnight, representatives of the “dark side” came to the bathhouse - demons, devils (Bannik’s relatives). Many even claimed that they met them during water procedures: the unclean one came to the bathhouse in human form, washed and steamed, and after leaving there were traces of hooves. Therefore, people tried to take bath procedures before darkness came.
Entering the steam room with cold hands or feet
If possible, take a short warm shower before visiting the steam room. It will help equalize the temperature of the entire body.
If you enter a hot bath with cold hands and feet, you run the risk of developing a severe headache immediately after entering a cooler place.
Therefore, in the desire to warm up faster, you should not immediately rush to the steam room. If you do not have a shower, then if your extremities are frozen, it is recommended to first rub them a little, and only then enter the hot air.
Rational explanation
Medicine is developing every day, and now everyone knows that taking a steam bath at night is very harmful to health. At night, the human body must rest, and going to the bathhouse is a huge burden. This can lead to the development of diseases and poor health. People didn’t know this then, but they knew how to listen to their bodies. After visiting the steam room at night, the general condition and well-being could indeed deteriorate significantly. There have been cases when people did not return from the bathhouse because they neglected safety rules. That's why people came up with the owner Bannik and the dark force that carries out bathing procedures at night.
Nowadays, people find logical explanations for almost every sign, but some remain faithful to the rules of their ancestors. Some people have transferred this legend to the modern world, avoiding visiting not only bathhouses, but also modern bathrooms at night.
Sources
- https://cyrillitsa.ru/tradition/101736-pochemu-na-rusi-nelzya-bylo-khodit-v-ban.html
- https://santatrade.ru/pochemu-noch-yu-nel-zya-prinimat-vannu/
- https://BlogoBane.ru/pochemu-nelzya-hodit-v-banyu-nochyu/
- https://delhimodi.com/voprosy/mozhno-li-mytsya-nochyu.html
- https://PrimetyTut.ru/bytovye/pochemu-posle-12-nelzya-hodit-v-banyu
- https://rsute.ru/914862-pochemu-nashi-predki-strogo-soblyudali-vse-poverya-svyazannye-s-russkoj-banej.html
- https://vse-o-bane1.ru/banya-nochyu/
- https://BlogoBane.ru/pochemu-nelzya-mytsya-v-bane-nochyu/
