The Pelenashka doll is a famous traditional Slavic doll that was made for a baby. The diaper is always without a face. It was believed that it protected the newborn from the evil eye.

In the article:

Ritual dolls then and now

Why ritual dolls attract modern historians and simply lovers of Slavic culture: first of all, in the everyday life of ordinary peasants. After all, for each stage of life, a doll was created that helped to undergo initiation, receive a new social role, and realize the new responsibility that a person assumed as he grew older.

They protected and guarded, deceived dark spirits and attracted wealth, helped young girls meet their loved ones, and mature women manage large households.

And cope with many events inexplicable for ancient man.

History of Pelenashka

Twist called " Pelenashka" was done by the eldest woman in the family as soon as the family found out about the pregnancy. She, like other amulets, was made without a face so that evil spirits would not move into her.

Other sources say that Pelenashka was twisted by the expectant mother in the last month of pregnancy.
First of all, such a twist was placed next to the woman in labor to facilitate the arrival of a new person into the world, and then the Pelenashka was placed in a cradle to warm it for the newborn. Further, the amulet protects the baby from the evil eye. This was especially true for children with birth injuries.

Later, with the advent of Christianity, the doll was removed immediately after the child’s baptism and stored together with the baptismal shirt.

There is another ritual in which Pelenashka was used. She was placed on the lap of the young wife, who after the wedding moved to her husband's house. It was believed that in this way maternal power passes to the girl. They resorted to the amulet if there was no small child in the house.

For twisting, fabrics from old clothes of the child’s father or mother and sheets were used. The worn fabric had a special generic power that was passed on to the baby. That is why new materials were not taken for amulets.

It should be very small in size to fit in the hands of a baby.
When making the Pelenashka doll with their own hands, the craftswomen reproduced the three elements of a person: the head, the body and the navel, which was considered the vital center.

Ethnographic museums have preserved versions of Swaddling clothes not only made from fabric, but also from straw, wood, and bone. That is, any natural material was taken as a basis, which was then dressed like a baby.

Pelenashka doll master class

There are many nuances in making the Diaper, since this is the first amulet and the first doll for a person, which is why it must be made with special care.
For this amulet you need to take:

• for the body white fabric 8*18 cm;
• for a scarf, colored fabric in the shape of a triangle;
• a wide piece of colored cloth for a diaper;
• wide colored ribbons;
• narrow colored ribbons;
• red thread.

It’s worth mentioning separately. The fact is that she has always been considered protective, carrying within herself a force that is capable of protecting. That is why red natural thread was used to connect all the elements in ritual dolls in Rus'.

Manufacturing process

Roll the white fabric, the basis for the diaper, into a tube. Some craftswomen advise rolling compacted cotton wool into a roller so that the doll has a more durable shape.

The finished roll must be tied with a red thread in the middle, thus forming the waist of the future doll. Then we form the head in the same way. The result should be a twist in two places, tied with red thread.

A wide ribbon is placed over the head and tied at the back. Now it's the turn of the scarf. The scarf is tied in a woman's fashion, crosswise.

The Diaper doll is ready!

Rules for making ritual dolls

Let's make a Pelenashka doll so that she " worked." Since this amulet is intended for a baby, it is necessary to sit down to perform it with pure thoughts and in a good mood. When making the Diaper, imagine a happy and healthy child.

All materials must be taken only natural, the same applies to threads. The color of the fabrics is selected in the same range. The base is always white, and all clothes and ribbons are colored.

Traditionally, scissors and needles are not used in the doll making process. All fabrics are torn by hand, and all elements are tied together with ribbons and threads. Now many have moved away from this rule, however, real craftswomen still adhere to this rule.

Nowadays they are gaining popularity. Making them is not only a pleasant pastime, but also a way to join our culture and traditions.

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This is a traditional protective doll of the Slavs. The swaddled doll was placed next to the baby in the cradle, where it necessarily remained until baptism. It was believed that the doll protected the child from danger, protected from evil spirits and took upon itself all the misfortunes that threatened the baby unprotected by the cross. Only after baptism was the doll removed from the cradle.

Another Russian ritual is associated with the Pelenashka doll. After the bride moved to the groom's house, a swaddled doll was placed on the bride's lap. It was believed that after this maternal strength came to the young wife.

The Pelenashka doll was also made for children to play with. Then they usually used household items - sheets, blankets, etc. Having wrapped the folded sheet in a column, they wrapped the doll in a blanket and tied it with a belt or rope. Later, older girls could make such a doll for younger ones. After the game, the doll was unwrapped, and the things were again used for their intended purpose.

The Pelenashka doll is very easy to make. This is a baby in a scarf, swaddled in a swaddling cloth and wrapped in a swaddling blanket. The doll is made from a piece of white worn fabric. It was believed that worn fabric contained a piece of the life force of the person who wore clothes made from this fabric or in the home where it was used. Let's try to make a small Pelenashka doll. Such dolls were usually made for other large mother dolls and tied to them with a belt (for example, a doll Moskovka).

We prepare the necessary materials.

Fold the white fabric in half and roll it tightly from the bottom up.

To designate the head, we drag the roll with threads, highlighting a third of the length from one of the ends.

We drag the doll in the middle. The knot being tied symbolizes the navel - the concentration of vitality.

Fold the fabric for the doll's scarf diagonally.

We tie a scarf on the head of the Pelenashka doll, we put the ends behind the back crosswise, without tying a knot.

We place the doll on top of the diaper, having first slightly bent its upper edge.

We wrap the roll in the diaper, taking turns bringing the corners of the fabric diagonally behind the roll. We bend the lower part of the diaper, throw it over the Diaper and pull it back by the roll.

We wrap the Diaper doll with a swaddling wrap (a narrow long strip of fabric, rope or ribbon). We start by winding it behind the head, then cross it in front and pull both ends at the bottom.

The Diaper doll is ready!

Pelenashka is a traditional Slavic amulet that parents created for a newborn. The doll was made to look like a baby in diapers. It was believed that it helps protect the baby from the evil eye.

The origin story of Pelenashka, oddly enough, is connected with a funeral rite. Several thousand years ago, it was customary to wrap deceased people in a cloth (shroud), thanks to which the arms and legs of the deceased did not spread out to the sides, and the body was preserved this way much longer. Our ancestors took this tradition as the basis for protecting the baby from evil spirits.

A well-fed baby in a diaper does not move or make any sounds during sleep, resembling a deceased person. The ancient Slavs believed that the dark forces, seeing a swaddled baby, would decide: in front of them there is not a living soul that they can take for themselves, but something uninteresting to them. They believed that the feverish woman would fly away without a sip, and even tell her relatives that there was not a sweet baby here, but only a deception.

It was customary to make a protective doll even before the baby was born. This was done either by the eldest woman in the family or by the expectant mother. To make the Diaper, they took worn homespun fabric, since it was believed that it had ancestral power. As a rule, they used scraps from their parents' old shirt. The basis for the amulet was any natural material:

• tightly twisted fabric;
• wooden sticks;
• straw;
• bones.

The base material was swaddled like a newborn.

The diaper was made small so that it could fit in a child’s hand

Purpose and rules for using the amulet

The diaper is first placed in bed next to the pregnant woman to facilitate the birth process. When the baby is born, the amulet is placed in his cradle. There the doll remains until the newborn is baptized.

It is believed that a baptized baby no longer needs strong protection. Therefore, immediately after the sacrament, the doll is put into a chest or closet along with the baptismal shirt and taken out only when the child is sick. When the baby grows up, Pelenashka becomes an ordinary toy.

The diaper is used not only to protect the baby. The doll is also made for a woman who cannot get pregnant for a long time, and for the bride, so that the young couple quickly acquires an heir.

The diaper is placed in the baby's cradle only before his baptism

How to make a Diaper with your own hands

To make a Diaper, you don’t need any special skills; anyone can make it.

Necessary materials:

To make diapers, they usually took homespun fabric

Manufacturing process:

According to the ancient Slavs, it was the red thread that could save people from the influence of evil forces. Therefore, it was used to make any amulets.

Photo gallery: step-by-step production of the Pelenashka doll

The flaps are placed on top of each other Rolling the fabric into a roll Putting on a headscarf
The edges of the scarf are straightened on the back of the diaper Preparing the doll for swaddling

Video: master class on making a ritual doll Pelenashka

The Slavic protective doll Pelenashka is very popular nowadays. It is easy to make, but has powerful protective power.

The ancient Slavs had various pregnancy rituals, and folk memory has brought many of them to us. The main idea and desire in ancient legends is to confuse the evil forces that are preventing the birth of a baby. And in this case, a doll came to the rescue, which became a talisman against all evil and helped the baby find his way to his parents.

The main doll in this sense is a pregnancy doll with a birch bark pencil case, which contains the image of the desired baby.

The doll was made from cotton or linen, and protective embroidery was used to decorate the clothes. The base was necessarily tied with red thread, and a protective cross was made. The base of the doll was made without the use of a needle and only with positive thoughts.

Bones or seeds, which can actually germinate, were put into the doll, as the basis for the birth of a new life. Such a living seed symbolized the beginning and essence of any life.

Such a doll must be made by the woman herself who wants to get pregnant. It is not recommended to make a pregnancy doll for someone. You can get pregnant yourself or take on the problems of others. If you want to help a friend or relative, help her make a doll HERSELF.

And you need to invest in this image not only desire, but also all the power of positive energy, kindness and love. The doll should be made according to all the canons of a folk doll, with a very specific meaning and desire inherent in it - to conceive and protect.

Key points to consider:

• you need to make a doll on the waxing moon;
• tear fabrics by hand;
• bite threads;
• there should be no men in the house during the making of the doll;
• Do not give the finished doll to anyone, especially men, and keep it close to you as much as possible.

Master Class

For the base of the doll, take a small birch stick or a piece of birch bark.

Wrap the stick tightly with a ribbon of white fabric (linen or cotton), forming the desired thickness of the doll's body. To make the doll neat and the threads do not stick out at the bottom, take a strip of fabric twice as wide as the length of the stick and fold it in half.

When winding, make sure that the folded edge lies flat - this is the bottom of the doll, and the quality of the winding determines whether it will stand well.

Use red thread to tie the base in several places to prevent the fabric from unraveling. The first thread determines the place of the neck, the second - either the waist or the line under the chest (depending on what kind of doll you are making). The third thread secures the bottom of the fabric.

For the petticoat, take a piece of red fabric, correlating its dimensions with the base: the width of the strip should be approximately equal to the height of the stick, and the length should be so that the fabric wraps loosely around the doll, creating volume.

To secure the skirt to the doll's body, wrap the fabric around the base, adjust to the desired length and pull tightly around the neck (but do not tie). The fabric will wrinkle in the right place and the line along which you need to tie the skirt to the doll will be clearly visible.

Next, turn the fabric over to the wrong side and wrap the base again, but this time so that the bottom of the skirt covers your head. Align the marked line with the line of the neck, place the edges of the fabric overlapping each other where the back will be. Wrap the thread around the skirt around the neck, distributing the fabric to create even folds. Try to ensure that the skirt gathers evenly and is not skewed, otherwise the edges of the fabric at the back may move apart.

Then tightly wind the skirt to the base with thread and tie a knot. Turn the skirt down.

To make it more convenient to distribute and fix the fabric, you can use a round elastic band: put it over the skirt, fix everything in the desired position, and after tying it with thread, remove the elastic band. But how this relates to the canons of making folk dolls is unknown...))

In the same way, attach the top colored skirt to the doll.

Important: The upper skirt should be slightly shorter than the lower one so that the hem of the lower skirt shows slightly.

From a long red flap, form the doll’s chest: wrap two small pieces of cotton wool in the flap, put a cherry pit in each. Twist the fabric between them in a figure eight and secure with thread.

Tie the chest so that the long ends of the fabric hang down at the sides to form sleeves.

Tie a linen apron just under your chest. The apron can be decorated with embroidery, braid, lace, etc.

From birch bark or thick paper, prepare a little pillow for the baby, matching its size with the size of the doll.

Secure the pencil case in 2 places with red thread and thread a wicker belt into it.

To make a baby, you will need a rectangle of white fabric and a long red thread.

Important: The baby is made with one thread, which breaks only at the very end of the work.

Fold the flap in half, placing a ball of cotton wool in the center. Pull the fabric together with thread to form the baby's head.

Fold the fabric inward from the sides to make handles.

Wrap the handle with thread from head to palm, then back to the head

Make a loop around your head and wrap the second handle.

If you want to put a baby girl in a pencil case, then make 3 turns around the waist and tie a thread in the navel area.

If you need a baby boy in the pencil case, continue working without breaking the thread.

Fold the bottom of the fabric and make the baby’s legs in the same way as the arms: start winding the thread from the hip to the foot and back, then wind it around the waist and move on to the second leg.

Here he is - a ready-made boy with an umbilical cord.

The pink tissue is the placenta.

Wrap your baby in a pink rag.

Insert the small doll into the pencil case.

Then take a piece of the same fabric as for the apron and wrap the pencil case in it. Fold the edges of the fabric inside the pencil case.

Secure the fabric with red thread. In the middle, make a protective cross out of threads.

Tie the pencil case to the doll under the chest, and tie the belt under the pencil case.

Tie “horns” from a red strip of fabric onto your head.

Put a scarf on the warrior, and the doll is ready.

Such a doll should be kept by Navid until the woman gives birth, and then it is hidden.

If the pregnancy went well, the pupa was passed on from generation to generation.

The doll was given to children to play with so that the image of motherhood penetrated their consciousness.

The doll is very cleverly designed. There is a baby in her tummy, and sometimes up to 4 babies were put in her tummy!

The internal structure of the doll's tummy repeats the structure of the female body: uterus, placenta, embryo. While creating this doll with her daughter, the mother explained to her daughter the structure of the female body in a playful way, to the extent possible, of course.

T A traditional rag doll is a mysterious world of living and interesting images, fraught with many hidden meanings. As a toy, a talisman, or a ritual symbol, the doll accompanied a person from birth, and the secrets of its manufacture were passed down from generation to generation.
The purpose of the books in this series is to preserve precious grains of our culture. We’ll start by making play and protective dolls for children. No special skills or tools required. Dolls are made literally “on the knee” from scraps and threads. Comforter, girlfriend, mother, diaper - rag dolls will never get boring! And they may not have a face and impeccable symmetry, but they have a kind soul and a rich history. They develop imagination and introduce children to Russian folk art.

A large number of photographs, interesting facts, detailed master classes - the book has everything so that everyone can join the enchanting world of the doll and create their own patchwork story.

Hello to all needlewomen!

Remember the TV show “While Everyone is Home”? There is a phrase: “You will have a child!”

So, if your family is expecting a new addition, you should look for everything necessary for the baby in advance, so that later you can slowly buy all the best.

In ancient Slavic villages, the whole family prepared for the birth of a child.

The eldest of the family, the grandmother, made a talisman for the newborn, the so-called “Pelenashka” twist - a baby in a diaper without the designation of eyes. The “diaper” was placed in the cradle along with the baby. It was believed that the amulet would protect the baby from the evil eye, since his eyes were not marked, and therefore the evil spirit would not be able to settle in the “twist”.

When the baby turned 2-3 years old, a new amulet “Bereginya” was made for him. This is a rag doll and also without the marking of the eyes.

The amulets made from multi-colored shreds of the doll without using a needle or marking eyes turned out to be very elegant. Therefore, the ancient Slavs considered them not only as amulets, but also used them as a baby’s first toy.

Currently, in the Russian outback they are still making amulets for children. Only some craftswomen still pin a pin inside the doll. Just to be sure!

How to make a amulet doll Pelenashka

A diaper doll is the very first amulet in a person’s life. The diaper even protects the conception of a child. When a young couple gets married, the midwife or another adult woman places a swaddling doll on the young wife’s lap in order to deceive the evil forces. He sees evil - people are getting married, want to have a child, and begins to wait. And then suddenly a young “baby” appears on her lap, so they move into him instead of the real one.

And before giving birth, such a doll is placed in the crib so that it warms the bed for the baby. After the birth of a baby, this doll becomes both the first amulet in life and the first toy. I advise you to definitely make such a doll if you want to have a child, and also if you are going to become a mother-in-law or mother-in-law in order to protect your future grandchildren from evil.

Attention! Before making a doll, read carefullygeneral recommendations , as well as recommendations for manufacturingVepsian pupa .

To make a diaper you will need:

1) A piece of white fabric approximately 8x18 cm in size

2) A triangle of colored fabric for a scarf

3) A beautiful ribbon or braid to decorate the child’s face (optional)

4) Colored bright fabric measuring approximately 10x15 cm

5) Narrow braid or yarn for tying a diaper

6) Red thread

rice. 1 pic. 2

Before making this doll, clear your thoughts. Imagine a healthy, beautiful, smart child. Fill yourself with good thoughts and feelings, then get to work. Take a white cloth (Fig. 1) and roll it into a tube (Fig. 2).

rice. 3 fig. 4

Tie the roll in the middle, forming the waist, and also in the middle of the upper part, forming the head (Fig. 3). Throw a beautiful braid or ribbon over your head and wrap it back behind your head (Fig. 4).

rice. 5 fig. 6

Prepare a beautiful piece for the scarf (Fig. 5). Put on the scarf like a woman, overlapping under the neck, and wrap it behind your back, carefully, without pressing, tie the ends (Fig. 6).

rice. 7 fig. 8

Prepare a colored cloth and place the doll on it so that the head protrudes slightly above the middle of the long side (Fig. 7). Wrap the right end of the fabric around the pupa (Fig. 8).

rice. 9 fig. 10

Fold the lower end of the fabric hanging under the pupa upward (Fig. 9). Now wrap the doll with the left end of the diaper, you will get a package (Fig. 10).

rice. 11 pics. 12

Secure the bundle with red thread in the middle and prepare thin braid or wide yarn (Fig. 11). Wrap the diaper with braid along the entire height of the diaper, tie it carefully, and hide the ends under the wrapping. The doll is ready. Don’t forget to think good thoughts about your future child all the time. Be happy!

During the wedding, after the bride moved to the groom's house, a small child was placed on her lap or a swaddled doll was placed - it was believed that after this maternal strength came to the young wife.

The swaddled doll was placed in the baby’s cradle, where it was before baptism, in order to confuse evil spirits and take upon themselves all the misfortunes that threatened the baby unprotected by the cross. After baptism, the doll was removed from the cradle and stored along with the baptismal shirt.

For newborns, the mother made a “baby diaper” doll. The doll was sewn immediately before the birth of the child, with prayer, with thoughts about the future child; the fabrics used for making were original - from a sundress, from a shirt from a father, grandfather, etc. - all this preserved ancestral and genetic memory. The doll was placed in the palm and, clenching his fists, the baby himself massaged the entire inner surface of the palm. Nowadays, many children are born with various birth injuries, and osteopaths prescribe a similar massager, but it is made of synthetic material and is not made by the hands of a loving mother. A simple doll - a baby - is quite complicated to make and, accordingly, carries a lot of important and necessary information.

At the birth of a child also in the maternity ritual, a “swaddle” doll was used. The lower part of her figure was wrapped in cloth seven or ten times (a symbol of the oldest model of heaven). Immediately after birth, the baby was hidden in a stable or closet. At this time, a “diaper doll” was brought to the husband lying on the bed in a woman’s dress and moaning, depicting his wife giving birth. It was believed that this ritual diverted danger from mother and child.

The diaper was also an invariable doll for the child in games.

Based on the rules for making the Diaper, they reproduced the main signs of human resemblance: the body, head and center of vitality - the navel. The doll was made from a piece of worn homespun clothing, which had absorbed the warmth of the hands that made it and was soaked with labor sweat. It was believed that a piece of vitality was transferred to the doll with native, homemade material. When made, the doll in the hands of a person seemed to repeat the sacrament of birth. A tight knot tied in the middle of the roll symbolized the navel (the knot is located in the front of the doll!). The remaining ends of the cord were bitten off in the same way as the umbilical cord at the birth of a child. The second significant detail is the head. To designate it, the ray was tied with threads, highlighting a third of the length from one end of the ray - from this point on, the proportions of the doll were commensurate with the proportions of the baby.

To confuse the evil spirits, a swaddled doll was placed in the baby’s cradle, where it remained until the child’s baptism, in order to take upon itself all the misfortunes that threatened the child not protected by the cross. Only after baptism, which confirmed the baby’s human status, was the doll removed from the cradle. The doll was kept in the house along with the child’s baptismal shirt.

This doll reproduced the peculiarities of the worldview of Russian peasants. It was believed that restricting movement would make the child invisible to evil spirits, so the baby spent almost the entire first year of his life tightly swaddled in the cradle.

The rules for making the Pelenashka doll are based on the traditional peasant understanding of the universe. In it, using the simplest manufacturing techniques, they reproduced the main signs of a human likeness: the body, head and center of vital force, which, according to popular belief, is located in the navel area.

The doll was made from a piece of worn homespun clothing, which had absorbed the warmth of the hands that made it and was soaked with labor sweat. It was believed that a piece of vitality was transferred to the doll through native, homemade material. When made, the doll in the hands of a person seemed to repeat the sacrament of birth.

The diaper or baby doll has a talismanic design. The doll is placed in the child’s hand as a natural massager, and when guests arrive, it is inserted into the folds of the child’s handkerchief and then the guests, so as not to “jinx” the child, say about the doll: “Oh, how good the doll is!”

The Diaper doll is a very simple doll in appearance - a baby in a scarf, swaddled in a diaper and wrapped in a swaddling blanket.

The first time I saw this doll was probably at the Museum of Ethnography. There we have such a workshop of folk crafts “Paraskeva”. Here they have it at their stand. And I learned how to do it from the book “Russian Rituals and Traditions. Folk doll” by Kotova I. N. and Kotova A. S. St. Petersburg. Ed. “Parity” 2003 Like many other dolls. That’s why I miss the images that are transmitted directly by knowledgeable people.

It was placed in the cradle of a child before his baptism, as a talisman against evil spirits. And I don’t know who these evil spirits are. But it seems to me that these are spirits that are stuck here for revenge or other unfulfilled tasks. Those who move into someone else's body. But all this needs to be studied and researched.

It could have been a talisman during childbirth. It was placed on the moaning husband of the woman in labor in place of the baby, again to avert the eyes of evil spirits. And one more application - they placed it on the newlywed’s lap so that maternal strength would come to the woman. I don’t know anything about maternal strength either.

The diaper is simple to make. It is made from a long piece of white, worn fabric. The flap is so long and different. It's like this word. And the worn fabric is thin, so it takes quite a long time to roll up. It was believed that worn fabric carried a piece of vitality.

The fabric is tightly rolled into a roll and tied in the middle with a specially made belt. And the belt is simply twisted from two threads. Someone told me that the Old Believers wore such belts on their bodies all their lives. And now we saw our guys in the bathhouse. But that man said that he only wears it in the bathhouse against the evil eye. A knot is tied, symbolizing the navel - the center of vitality. The ends of the belt are bitten off, just like the baby’s umbilical cord.

Then they designate the head. To do this, tighten the roll with threads, highlighting a third of the length. They tie a scarf, swaddle it tightly in a diaper and wrap it with a swaddling blanket. The doll is ready.

It is amazing how much skill is transferred in the making of this simple doll! I can almost see my grandmother saying as she makes a doll: “Let’s just bite off the umbilical cord, but wait until it stops beating. Then we'll call it a day. And then the tips will dry out. Let's swaddle. Like this. Yes so. Well, that's good. And okay." And now if they find childbirth in an inopportune place, the woman in labor will not be confused, and the knowledge gained in childhood will come to light.

The manufacturing process itself symbolizes the separation of man from the natural world. It was a shapeless rag, but became a doll. The condition that occurs during rolling is also interesting. It is close to the state of contemplation. The state of contemplation, as I think, is such calm attention, as if without thoughts, and is thought there in images. Or thoughts there flow smoothly and flow out one after another. And somehow it’s good to solve problems in it. The hands do it themselves. And I somehow expand and just look. If it does not occur, twisting does not work. It either crooks or falls apart.

I think that children, when making twists and twisted belts, gain the experience of a state of contemplation, which is necessary when creating something new. And by what difficulties a child encounters when making a doll, and how he overcomes them, one can judge his character.

The very method of rolling also conveys the long labor of bearing a child. And also the method of winding the body of the diaper, as well as the dolls with twists and columns, conveys the image of the layered structure of the subtle bodies of a person, the image of gradual incarnation. The layers of personality also respond here. But all this requires more detailed study. So a simple doll turns out to be not so simple.

Information from Vejena:

About babies - the designs are different for everyone, the Kaluga one has a disproportionately large head. Kaluga and Tula (diaper) are spun BEFORE childbirth, even for a woman who is not yet pregnant (for example, a newlywed) to invite the soul of the baby. Kaluzhsky was made about two weeks before the birth, it was a talisman for the cradle and then hid in the chest until the next baby. The Vyatka baby, and not one, but seven at once, spun during labor between contractions, as a talisman for the passage of the walking soul through the Gate between worlds. If the woman in labor did not have time or could not do it herself, relatives helped.

The designs of diapers (which are before childbirth) are fundamentally different from each other in that Tula - twist, and Kaluga - knotted doll. The Vyatka Baby (also a twist) generally has the entire amulet enclosed in a structure - inside, under the diapers, everything is protected with red crosses and there is an amulet for the spine.