Sometimes a drop of dew, flowing down the delicate petal of a water flower, turns into a transparent stone when falling. If a drop of a dew falls to the bottom of the river, it disappears, but if a drop of a dew manages to get into the open shell, it turns into a pearl. The color of the future pearl depends on which flower and at what time of day the dew falls. When a droplet rolls off a yellow capsule at sunset, the pearl acquires a beautiful golden hue. A silvery color is given to pearls donated by midday dew from a water lily, and soft pink to one that was born at dawn from a drop from a lotus corolla. Amazingly beautiful legend, right? This is exactly what our ancestors, who sincerely love pearls, believe. Pearls from the northern rivers are especially valued, because the ideas of a joy have always been associated with pearls there. Another legend that reflects this idea says that tears that rolled down the mirror in moments of joy become scatter pearls.

In Russia’, pearl fishing has existed for a long time. In the old days there was a female ritual of watering, after which the girls just became pearl miners from the river bottom.

But for the ritual it was necessary to make a special ointment which was made it from the bile of a toad, chilibuha grass (possibly from some other), in which there was atropine, and “algae with pheromones.”

The “magic” mixture should be applied to the skin, and then the girl was put under water for several minutes. The procedure had to be repeated many times. With each time, the duration of the girl’s stay under water increased. So she learned to be under water for a long time, “skin breathing” was opened.

In old Russia’, people believe that the poison of a toad is able to open the pores of the skin for oxygen to enter, and this poison is precisely the key to the “magic ointment.” So village girls could be under water for about 30-40 minutes. The world record for being underwater is 22 minutes.

And the girls, who have passed the initiation, go to get pearls. Pearls are considered especially valuable which is perfectly round in shape. If you put it on a plank and tilt it slightly, then the pearls easily rolled off. They decorated kokoshniks, made beads and earrings.

I believe it’s a reality and lost magic.

Many tales talk about girls who could stay under water for a long time.

Surely you remember Russian folk tales where the girls stay under water for a long time, but then return home alive and healthy. For example, Alyonushka from the fairy tale “Sister Alyonushka and brother Ivanushka” was at the bottom of the river for a long time and remained alive and well.

In the fairy tale “The Girl in the Well”, the girl jumped into the well to get the spindle, which she dropped into the water, but then returned home with riches most likely precious pearls.

You must know the Brothers Grimm fairy tale “Lady Blizzard” with a similar plot.

Mermaids are not magical creatures, but quite real women who were engaged in pearl fishing in Russia. Aren’t they?

These fairly takes are likely to be connected with the very ritual of watering. But this topic is still little studied! Therefore, an initiation exist.

-Peter the First killed the tradition and restricted to collect river pearls gathering. He liked the Western culture and for some reason was not proud of his own Russian culture. – it is not surprising that he forbade fishing for pearls.

Pearls are a stone of magical beauty! They are incredibly charming, romantic, bewitching. This is why different peoples of the world love to compose fabulous legends and myths explaining the magical origin of this beautiful stone.

Hundreds, and maybe thousands of beautiful legends are talking about the origin of pearls.

“Sea Mermaids”

A village woman’s husband died in the sea. This shocked her so much that life lost all meaning for her. The woman began to fade day by day. Nothing could please or surprise her. Even the beloved son, who was still very small. All the household chores fell on him – he matured early. The boy not only began to run the household himself, but also looked after his sick mother as best he could. In rare moments of rest, the young man went to the far shore and sat there alone, thinking about his bitter fate.

On one of those days, he heard a splash of water next to him and a gentle and beautiful voice. It turned out that this little beautiful little mermaid swam to the shore when she saw the boy. Like all mermaids, she began to plaintively talk about her involuntary imprisonment in the sea and ask to be released. The young man knew perfectly well that it was deadly. Nevertheless, he began to talk to her almost every day, when he resorted to a distant shore in order to take a break from childish troubles and hard work. They became friends very quickly. Not a single day passed that they did not meet, bathe together on the seashore and chat about some pretty trifles.

Winter came, and the young man could no longer talk with the little mermaid for a long time – it was too cold. The season of storms was approaching, which meant that the pretty friend would have to go far from the coast so that the waves would not smash her against the sharp rocks. The separation made them both very sad. They began to think about how to avoid parting. The boy remembered one old legend about pearls and mermaids, which his father, a fisherman, told him – that if you get the right pearl from the day of the sea, then the mermaid will forever be freed from sea captivity! The brave child decided, by all means, to find that very pearl and save his sweet friend. Before the onset of cold weather, there was very little left, and he needed to hurry.

The next day, quickly finishing his business, he took his father’s boat and went to sea. He dived almost non-stop until the sun went down, but the pearl was never found. He did not lose hope and dived even in pitch darkness.

Under water, he could see absolutely nothing – not even his own arms and legs. But the boy could not leave his little mermaid in trouble. He began to listen to his loving heart and move in the direction where it prompted. In one moment, with his eyes closed, he saw a bright light and realized that he was on the way to his goal. With an effort, he got to her, and was even able to take the sink in his hands. But then he realized that he did not have enough air and strength to climb up. The little fisherman was seized with deathly horror, and he immediately felt that some unknown force began to pull him to the surface of the water.

It turned out to be his faithful mermaid friend, who guessed the boy’s plans and rushed to find him. She managed to save him in time. When they swam to the shore, he was surprised to find that the little mermaid had turned into a beautiful girl! She looked exactly like all the girls in the fishing village were.

Only the hair was radiant – white and strongly shimmered with mother-of-pearl light. She was beautiful like an angel. Happy children ran for a long time along the shore, whirled in a cute children’s dance and laughed with great joy. And when they returned to the village, they told everyone that the girl miraculously escaped from the shipwreck. Among the people, mermaids were terribly hated for the numerous deaths of men in the sea. The girl would be in mortal danger if someone found out about her origin.

Therefore, the children decided to keep the secret for life. The boy’s mother was incredibly happy with the “foundling” and fell in love with the mermaid girl from the first day, like her own daughter. She could not get enough of her divine beauty, the heavenly radiance of her blond mother-of-pearl hair. This unexpected joy helped her cope with a serious illness, sadness left her heart forever and she recovered very quickly. Their family lived a long and very happy life. Since then, this amazing story began to be told and passed down from generation to generation, until it turned into a beautiful legend.

Since the beginning of time, people believe that only a pure soul can engage in pearl mining. Maybe mermaids have the purest soul more pure than contemporary people. 🙂

Magical Pearls is a lost fairy tale of Ancient Russia.