Today I received a letter from Victoria Semenova from Irkutsk:

"Hello Irina. Recently I learned that 2014 is the year of the Firebird according to the Slavic calendar. I thought that it might be interesting for you and that you can convey this magical information to all our fairies from the site.

AT next year in the book “The Gift of Fate”, Ivan Tsarevich and Baba Yaga from the Firebird center appeared out of nowhere, by themselves.

These images were born by themselves, I didn’t even think that in 2014 the topic would receive the most unexpected continuation!!! My life is already full of miracles, and this ... this is generally a wonderful miracle and a wonderful marvel !!! So, according to the Slavic calendar, we are entering the year of the Firebird. What does he bring us?

WHERE IS THE FIREBIRD COMING FROM

In different parts of our world, there are legends about amazing animals and birds that no one has ever seen, but the descriptions of which are strikingly similar.

The ancient Slavs revered the mythical miracle bird, also known as the Phoenix bird, as the messenger of Iriy (the Old Slavic analogue of Paradise) - a holy place where there is neither death nor winter, where everyone is content and happy. Her name is preserved in fairy tales, epics, legends.

In different cultures, the image of the Firebird acquired its own details and shades. The Slavs have the Firebird, ptak Ohnivak (Czech and Slovak) - a fabulous, fiery bird, its feathers shine with silver and gold (Ognivak has red-gold feathers), wings like flames, and eyes glow like a crystal.

The Egyptians believed that the Phoenix is ​​a link between the divine plan and the embodiment of the plan in life, reminds of divine creation and the revival of life. Phoenix is ​​the soul of Osiris, it is the hope of overcoming the path of the dead. In the Egyptian "Book of the Dead" it is written: "Like a phoenix I will pass through the regions of the other world."

The Greeks, who took the story of the Phoenix from Egypt, believed that the life of the Bird is cyclically connected with world history and depends on the course of the planets (the Sun, the Moon and other planets return to their "former" places). The Stoics, in support of this, said that the world, like the Bird, perishes and is born in fire, and there is no end to this transformation.

The Iranians knew another name for this bird - Simurgh. The bird had the gift of foresight, but its nature was dual, containing the "good" and "harmful" halves.

In Sufism, the Simurgh symbolizes the Perfect Man, possessing the knowledge of the Divine Essence. This Essence, like the legendary bird, cannot be seen.

In the early Christian apocrypha of Baruch, it was written about the Bird: “This is the guardian of the world ... If it were not for covering | the fiery eye | of the sun, neither the human race nor all creatures on earth would live from the heat of the sun.

The Chinese fiery Feng Huang was one of the four sacred creatures, and symbolized immortality, perfection and generosity. The appearance of such a bird, even in a dream, meant a turning point in a person's life, the need to commit a significant act or the birth of a child endowed with special talents.

The alchemists of medieval Europe considered the Phoenix a symbol of rebirth, the completion of the Great Work. For them, it also meant the purifying and transforming fire, the chemical element sulfur, and the color red.

The description of the Bird is very similar for different peoples. “The air blossomed with all the colors of the rainbow, beautiful sounds came from the feathers and wings of the bird, a pleasant smell emanated from it ...” - this was said about the miraculous bird Simurgh in an Arabic treatise of the 13th century. “There is another sacred bird there, ... and its name is Phoenix,” Herodotus wrote. “Her appearance and appearance are very reminiscent of an eagle, and her feathers are partly golden, partly red.” “The cinnabar bird, the substance of the flame”, “its color pleases the eye, its crest expresses righteousness, its tongue is sincere” - the Chinese said, referring to Feng Huang, the ruler of the South. The fire bird, the Slavs believed, meaning the Firebird, you can easily get burned on its plumage. Each feather glows like a multitude of candles, and is sharper than damask steel. And she herself shines either blue or crimson light.

“O Atum-Khepri, you shone [in the form of] Benu on the eternal Hill of Ben-Ben…” – this is how the words of the ancient Egyptian Hymn about the creation of the world sound. Not created by anyone, the originally former bird flew over the waters of the ocean, until it finally built a nest for itself on Ben-Ben Hill. However, many nations tell stories that a bird took part in the process of creating the world. It is unlikely that people knew exactly who created the world, but the image of a dazzling bird remained in myths and legends, and obelisks shone, reflecting the sun, on a memorial hill near Heliopolis.

If we try to restore the story of the fabulous Firebird, or, as it is more commonly known, the Phoenix, according to the surviving legends, then we can tell such a legend.

The beautiful Bird with dazzling plumage existed from the very beginning of the world, perishing and being reborn in the purifying flame at the turn of the eras. She herself sacrificed herself, and each time, rising again from the ashes, she turned her gaze beyond the earthly limits, through the stars, to the world of pure light, to the place where the once immortal gods were born, and where she went in those three days until her body turned to dust, and her soul became free. The bird knew what was, what is and what will be, and yet it kept the world in which it built its nest. People who heard about the Bird believed that, like her, they also have an immortal soul that only changes shells.

There lived a magical Bird far, far away, on the very edge of the earth. Exactly where, no one knew. Some said that her nest was hidden from human eyes on the top of a mountain, others said that she built it in the middle of an endless desert, in the thirtieth "other" state, perfect and far from worldly fuss. A lot of trials and dangers lay in wait on the way of those who dared to go in search, for any path to a creature that keeps the fire of the original creation in itself is thorny and unpredictable.

To get to the Bird, one had to overcome the Valley of Search, the Valley of Love, the Valley of Knowledge, the Valley of Separation, the Valley of Unity, the Desert of Amazement, the Desert of Annihilation and Death. And one could try to go this long way along the roads, washing iron boots and gnawing iron loaves, or one could - in one's heart, overcoming and changing oneself.

Rarely have mortals been able to see the beautiful Bird in all its glory. For this to happen, peace and harmony had to reign on earth. Only a desperate daredevil with pure thoughts, led by a dream through life, could see her, having overcome many trials. No wonder the Bird was sometimes called the Firebird, because heat, fire is both creativity, and creation, and “burning”.

She was a perfect creation of the One, and everyone who saw her even from a distance became the owner of a wonderful gift. The light of the divine radiance that surrounded the Bird also fell on a person, endowing him with what he most wanted in his heart: talents, skills, happiness. And now the person who received the gift from the Bird himself carried a reflection of magical light.

WHAT IS THE FIREBIRD?

It is about the size of a peacock.

The Firebird lives in the Garden of Eden of Iria, in a golden cage.

At night, it flies out of it and illuminates the garden with itself as brightly as thousands of lit fires.

The Firebird has a favorite food in the garden - rejuvenating apples, which give her beauty and immortality.

The Firebird has a healing song, and when it sings, pearls fall from its beak.

A blinding light surrounds her. Every year, in the fall, the Firebird dies and is reborn in the spring.

Sometimes you can find a dropped feather from the tail of the Firebird, brought into a dark room, it will replace the richest lighting.

You can’t catch it with your bare hands, as you can get burned on its plumage.

The fallen feather retains the properties of the plumage of the Firebird for a long time. It glows and gives warmth. And when the pen goes out, it turns into gold.

And only then people, so that the luck and happiness that the Firebird bestows, do not leave them, they began to make amulets and amulets, paint dishes with its bright images.

CRIMEAN LEGEND ABOUT THE FIREBIRD

Long ago, peace, joy and prosperity reigned in our region. Overseas guests came with outlandish gifts, they were welcomed by local residents, they were taken to look at the wondrous marvel - the Firebird.

There was that bird of extraordinary beauty: every feather on it burned and shimmered, and it shone in the night like the clear sun. The Firebird flew in every night to feast on the rejuvenating apples that grew at that time on our fertile land. Having eaten, she began to sing angelic songs in a heavenly voice. The guests listened to healing singing and admired such a rich land and its kind people.

Year after year passed, and somehow, with one ship, Greed sailed from across the sea. She went into the huts to people, whispered evil intentions in her ear.

The neighbors began to quarrel with each other, looking for richer guests so that they would get the best and richest gifts. Black thoughts entangled their heads, fierce envy settled in kind hearts. People became greedy, evil and inhospitable, they began to slander and often stomp their feet in anger.

And the earth hardened, went to stones, dried up without human love.

From this apple trees with bulk apples dried up, there was no one to look after them. Yes, and magic apple trees never grow on earth, where brother will not give a hand to brother and where discord reigns between people.

The marvelous Firebird stopped coming for her favorite delicacy. The last bulk apple fell from the branch, the grains fell into the earth's cracks, and did not germinate again.

So they lie there until now, waiting for the soil to become soft and caring again. And the earth will be better only if kind and good people begin to live on it.

As soon as people begin to coexist in love with each other again, they stop envying and intrigues to repair evil, so the earth and nature will answer them the same. And then the seeds of the rejuvenating apple tree will sprout, and the Firebird will again fly to us. And again, overseas guests will come with gifts to look at the wondrous marvel, listen to angelic songs, and will praise our wonderful prosperous land.

2014 - THE YEAR OF THE FIREBIRD

2013 is the beginning of the Great Transition, 2014 is the time of realizing where we are and where we are going.

Friends, we are waiting for a unique, magical time. Just think: in Reality, that is, in the physical world, the program of Iria, the world of the absolute, ideally tailored, is launched. And we are invited to live by this tracing paper.

What is especially pleasant is that it is not necessary to turn into the righteous, fall into asceticism and religious ecstasy. We are waiting for a kind of fitting wings on the usual clothes.

We will live in two worlds: physically - in Yavi, and on a psychological level - in Iria.

Chapter one

At the very bottom, dreaming of nothing,
Once upon a time Midia lived, not knowing grief.
She spent her whole life in the depths
And life seemed quite enough.

There was no Light, but it was calm.
And that was enough for the Mussels.
But at night disturbed her sometimes
A charming dream where she is like a star

Illuminated all the inhabitants, the creatures of the sea,
And she lit the way to the Gulf Stream.
And in the morning she woke up in delirium:
“I will definitely find this Light!”

But the days passed, as before, in the mist.
And where can he get it, at the very bottom?
But once something bad happened to her:
A grain of sand seeped through its doors.

She began to slightly irritate the body,
All the time interfering in peace to sleep.
But Midia decided to end it.
She surrounded her with mother-of-pearl.

And suddenly a pearl began to grow in it,
As if a flashlight was lit inside.
Mussel became proud of the pearl
And keep on working on it.
She, as best she could, sent her Light,
And she blossomed more and more in response.

One day, the Mussel's sash opened,
And the space around was lit up with Light.
That pearl shone like a star in the sky,
And Midia immediately melted into bliss.

To this Light, fish, jellyfish sailed,
And even the lobster squirmed in the silt.

Nobody wanted to offend anyone

And the Light from the pearl burned brighter.

But Midia suddenly closed her doors.
And a flock of fish immediately swam away.
"I will not shine for everyone in the sea, -
She said, “I will keep my Light!”

And she became suspicious, angry.
She was annoyed and disturbed by anyone,
Who accidentally swam near the bottom,
Who invited to visit him for an hour.

Since then, she has not been calm at all.
She was very tired of keeping the Light within herself.
She wanted to open the doors, as before,
But it was a pity to give Light to everyone!

She hid from everyone under a rock.
Deeper, into the crevice, into the very darkness.
And there, finally, away from everyone, Revealed.
"Shine for me alone!"

But the darkness did not dispel, did not change.
A pearl turned into a simple stone.

Midia wept: “What can I do?
How to sparkle, shine and shine again?

Then a sea hermit crawled out to Media:
“I could help you with this trouble.
And if you wish, I will give wise advice,
How can you get back your lost Light.

“Ah, good hermit, I really want
Find out why I don't light at all?
And what should I do to return the Light?
I want to shine like a star again!

“So listen carefully. Star in the sky
Shines for everyone. Correctly?
-Yes.
“After all, Light is a gift that the Creator gives us,”
The hermit, the great sage, said to her,

Someday everyone will understand
That only the one who distributes it is happy.

Then only you will be able to return your Light,
When you forget about yourself And go
You will go, helping everyone along the way,
Filling the pearl with love again.

Then she will shine, as before.
Take Faith, Love and Hope with you.
And remember: the more you distribute the Light,
The brighter you burn and the happier you live. —

The hermit said so and suddenly disappeared.
Or maybe he just dreamed of Mussels?
I don't know, but Midia still decided
To return her Light and hurried on the campaign.

Chapter Two

"Farewell! I'm going to the far seas!
And I'm on my way as soon as possible,
She told everyone who knew her,
I will not return to my parents' house soon.

But she didn't get far.
It was hard to walk without legs.

Mussel jumped up: one, two and three.
There is only one leg, and besides - inside!
Only a crab and a flock of cod laughed.
And our Midia was completely sad.

Suddenly he looks, slowly rolls along the bottom,
Dreaming about something, cuttlefish clam.
She sings and does not know grief,
Meanwhile, a flock of cod swims up.

Here is a predatory flock surrounded her.
Here the toothy mouths opened wider.
They are about to seize the unfortunate victim.
But Midia shouted to the predators: “Enough!”.

Then she gathered her strength,
She kicked off as far as she could,
And jumped right into the cod flock,
Just a thought flashed by:
"Well, that's it, I'm dying!"

From her impudence
The military order was broken.
And the Cuttlefish woke up
The ink rose like a cloud
And like a fast arrow
She immediately swam away.

The cod was left without dinner.
"I did it! Victory!
I was able to overcome myself
And help cuttlefish!”

And then it became clear to our Media
That doing good is very nice!
As if bliss was overflowing in a wave.
Or maybe the pearl lit up a little?

When the ink dispersed into the sea,
The clam-cuttlefish sailed again.
And Midia started a conversation with her,
In which she invited me on a hike.

The survivor was not surprised.
And gladly agreed to go with her.
“For a long time I dreamed of seeing the sea.
I want to jump, laugh and sing!

Everyone knows that it's more fun to go with friends.
— Oh, how glad I am! Swim quickly!
Her Cuttlefish in "hands" took
And sailed to a distant unknown land.

Chapter Three

Mussel with his new girlfriend
They sailed many days and nights.
Anyone in need was helped along the way.
Warm words warmed the hearts.

Have seen a lot. Learned a lot.
Distant distances became their home.
Mussels really wanted to open up,
To enjoy the pearl again.

She was only afraid that again
A pearl stone will lie.
In general, she did not dare to open up.
So at least there is still hope!

And then one day, on Sunday evening,
They had a meeting with Dolphin.

“Look, Cuttlefish, do you see, Dolphin?
The cub is still completely alone.
The poor man rushes about, does not know what to do.
We need to get closer to him!

Our friends swam up to the baby,
- What's wrong with you, little one? they asked in unison.
The Dolphin told them a story.
I give it to you this very hour:

“To be honest, I was just born.
In the morning I swam with my mother, frolic.
Suddenly an unexpectedly angry shark
She closed her teeth in front of me.

Mom shouted to me: “Darling, swim!
Meet me near the rocks, near the ground."
I got scared and quickly swam away.
What happened next, I don't remember. Forgot.

When I woke up, it was already evening...
Mom is probably waiting among the rocks.
I can't find them at night.
There are no stars in the sky. It's scary to scream.
Maybe a shark will swim to my cry.
What should I do? And how can I be?

Good Midia almost cried:
“Oh, this villainous shark to me!”
If only I could shine
That Dolphin, of course, saved!

He could lift me to the surface
And find your mother among the rocks.
How I want to give the Light to me!
-I believe. You can, dear, shine! —

Her friend supported her as much as she could, -
You just try! The wave has passed.
And Midia slowly opened the doors.
Suddenly the Divine Light illumined everyone!

Oh miracle! The pearl glowed brightly.
She was filled with kindness and love.
As if there had never been a stone before.
Only Faith, Love and Hope remained.

- Take me, Dolphin, rather.
I will light the way for you instead of fire!
Travelers joined their hearts
And together they swam to the blackening rocks.

And here, near the formidable mysterious rocks,
The kid saw his mother among the waves.
Everyone was happy to meet this!
Gratitude and happiness flowed like a river.

The clam cuttlefish said in the morning:
We sailed with you, my friend, a lot.
You have found the Light, like a bird of paradise.
Do you think it's time to return?

To which Midia replied:
-You know,
I'm at home. I'm always at home, you know?
And everyone that fate sends me
Fills me with Divine Light.

You know people sometimes say
That in the sea, in the night, the lights are burning.
And these pearls glow brightly.
Lost Souls Return Home.

Elena Ponkratova

The Firebird is a bird the size of a peacock, and appearance most of all, it resembles a peacock, only it has a bright golden plumage with an overflow of red plumage. The firebird cannot be taken with bare hands, as its plumage burns, while the firebird is not surrounded by fire. These birds spend most of their lives locked up in Iria, in private hands they are kept mainly in golden cages, where they sing songs all day long, and at night these amazing birds are released to feed. The favorite food of firebirds is fruits, they are very fond of apples, especially golden ones.

Firebirds are good-natured and idle by nature, they rarely pay attention to what is happening around, and little can distract the bird from its favorite pastime - singing.

The birthplace of the firebird is Iriy, however, some powerful sorcerers, in particular Koschey the Immortal, kept the bird by force. Sometimes the firebird leaves Iriy herself and then she can be found in the gardens, especially she loves apple trees.

Capabilities

It is believed that the song of the firebird is able to cure any disease, and prolong the life of those who regularly listen to it. Firebird feathers also have special properties: a fallen feather radiates light and heat for a long time, and when it cools down, it turns into gold. It is also believed that the feathers of the firebird bring happiness to those who managed to take possession of them.

How to fight?

The Firebird is immortal and nothing can harm it, so it is impossible to fight it, in general the bird has a good disposition and does not attack people. Catching a firebird is very difficult, The best way is to use a trap: in the garden you need to hang a large enough golden cage in which to put three apples.

HYPERBOREAN CALENDAR

Hyperborean Russian calendar has more than 7,000 years in world history. The gifts of the Sun were imprinted in mystical chronology of world history, which was called the ancient archetypal dictionary or calendar.

This is a book of living solar succession and writing. Who touched the calendar, he was attached to the solar secrets of life and clothed in solar robes.

The Hyperborean calendars were intended for reading the Minnian scrolls, messages and revelations given by the Mother of God to the great anointed ones. Slavic-theogamic elders and white shipbuilders guarded and valued them in the highest way. Calendars were kept in Russia until the 20th century. They were hunted for, and when they were discovered by punitive detachments, they were burned, and in the same fire with Christovers, Balti and Belitsy. Nothing was so feared as these calendars, because they exposed falsification and distortion of true historical events...

The structure of the Hyperborean calendar depended on the purpose: (1) for beginners in following spiritual path, (2) for dedicated ascetics and (3) for white elders. The calendar consisted of 12 volumes (one volume per month), each of which contained about one and a half thousand pages. The calendar is bound in valuable papyrus or leather binding.

YEAR OF THE FIREBIRD

Today, revelations from the mystical library are opened directly by the Virgin Mother Goddess herself to her faithful son, the outstanding mystic Blessed John.

In the last revelations, Wisdom says the following:

‘2014 is the year of the Firebird. The symbol of the Firebird of the coming year will awaken the archetypal memory of the seven billion inhabitants of the Earth, will open their spiritual heart to them.

The freedom-loving Russian people in fairy tales, legends, epics preserved the magnificent image of the Firebird, which surpasses all ideas of kindness and beauty. The Firebird lives in the distant kingdom (3x9 - 27th dimension). Her eyes are like burning crystals, her wings are like a tongue of flame. She is the size of a peacock, her voice heals, and while singing, pearls pour from her beak.

The Firebird is a small spiritual sun that visits the world from time to time. She is the personification of Minne (divine love). Our fathers glorified her, saying that the goal of human life is to turn into a firebird with golden plumage. The spiritual heart captures the flame of higher love, and then, as the candle ignites, it turns into a firebird.

It's not easy to get a Miracle Bird. In order to find it, one must be Ivan Tsarevich, a faithful son of the ecclesia of Ioannova, and Ivan the Fool - who has abandoned the path of rationality and embarked on the path of opening the spiritual heart. One must give up all the treasures of this world in order to covet her alone.

According to legend, one magic feather of the Firebird kindles thousands of candles of the heart, illuminates the path of those who seek the truth and acquire the superior love of Minne. Each appearance of the Queen of the world is a dropped golden feather that burns millions of beautiful souls on Earth with the fire of love.

ARCHETYPICALITY OF THE FIREBIRD

In the archetypal memory of all ancient peoples and civilizations, flaming images of firebirds, phoenixes, firemen, finists of clear falcons are stored ...

Ancient Greek legends indicate that Apollo donated the first model of the Delphic temple from the Atlantean pantheon of deities to his ancestral home of Hyperborea. This temple was created from fabulous feathers, each of which was the most illustrious scroll of the Hyperborean Beauty - the fiery Firebird.

Ancient Slavic legends speak of the great bird Phoenix: as large as nine mountains, its wings from East to West. She is the keeper of light and peace on Earth. It spreads its wings and blocks the fiery rays of the sun, so that the fire of the Spirit does not harm those who live on Earth. She dies every evening in a fiery sunset and resurrects the world every morning at sunrise, separating light from darkness.

The martyrs of the Middle Ages, going to the fires with the words ‘God is love’, burned like a phoenix bird... These were hours of inspiration, fragrance and the birth of new deities from the ashes.

In our time, the planet Earth, perceived in the intergalactic synclite of 16 good constellations, is worthy of an extraordinary sign - the Firebird Minne. The image of the miracle bird given from above is intended to resurrect the humanity of the Earth from the deadly corruption of adaptive molding, awakening it from the oppressive icy sleep. The descent into the world of the Love Bird Minne will illuminate and enliven millions of thirsty hearts with golden pollen.

May the whole of humanity acquire fiery wings, a fiery heart and fiery flight of the Firebird - bestowing the purest light of love!

According to the Hyperborean calendars, the coming year 2014 is the year of the Firebird. But how to get the Firebird in the new year, many ask? The Firebird (Simurg, Phoenix, Alkanost) symbolizes true Hyperborean beauty. It is known that visiting the earth and throwing her golden feathers on it, she makes it virginally beautiful, and fills hearts with unearthly love. But not everyone could acquire the ability to perceive this unearthly beauty. Since ancient times, it was considered a great gift if the Firebird herself visits a person - that will be a great success in everything.

On the one hand, the Firebird itself chooses those whom it seeks to visit. Her fiery wing always touches those who are passionately and virginally in love. And then the first spark of her wing, like a great fire, touching the heart of a person, begins to displace all evil, which is considered a great gift according to the Hyperborean scrolls. When evil is incinerated inside by a Firebird with golden feathers, a flame of great heavenly love is kindled in the heart.

Ancient mystics explained: just as much as a person is sealed in evil, so he is not able to perceive perfect beauty and pure love. The Russian epic depicts the search for the golden feather of the Firebird by Ivan Tsarevich (the virgin son of the heavenly King).

Alas, the contemplation of beauty was lost for a long time by mankind. And the Firebird stopped visiting the earth...

The firebird, the phoenix bird, risen from the ashes... The fire conquers it, it is the fire of heavenly love, which awakens the bodhisattva sleeping in the soul of every person with the bell of Kuan Ming. And how many of these firebirds descended into this world - do not count! The hypnosis of this world is powerless against them, they are the spiritual knights of the White Lady - the heavenly Mother, bowing to man as a vessel of the divine principle. One should hold on to such lamps and taste what each soul came to Earth for.

The great sign of the coming 2014 is next. When a person can see the true, perfect beauty, the fiery Firebird will visit him and bring him the fire of heavenly love. And whoever opens his heart to her will be touched by the sparks of her golden feathers and the golden rain of heavenly drops of love will pour into the inner!..

Based on the materials of Blessed John Bogomil

To order books and CDs: "Koliria" "Books of Russia"

Go to section s: Oh revelation B lights D eve M ateri

I apparitions B lights D eve M ateri

In a certain kingdom, in a certain state, there lived Tsar Berendey. And the king had a magnificent garden, and in that garden an apple tree grew with golden apples.

Someone began to visit the garden, steal golden apples. Then the tsar sent his youngest son Ivan Tsarevich to guard the garden. Ivan walked until late at night - he did not see any thief. Suddenly the garden was lit up with a bright light. The prince sees: the Firebird sits on an apple tree and picks golden apples. Ivanushka grabbed the Firebird by the tail, but she broke free and flew away. Only one feather remained, and such was the light from this feather that the whole garden seemed to be on fire...

Here is one of the old Russian fairy tales about an amazing bird. Probably everyone knows this tale, but few people know that Ivan Tsarevich, and Tsar Berendey, and Kashchei the Immortal, and even Elena the Beautiful are invented. Only the Firebird is real, and more than one prince managed to admire it.

On September 9, 1864, Theodore, the deacon of the old Ladoga St. George's Cathedral, which stands on the steep bank of the mighty Volkhov, was returning home from christening. It was a warm evening, the sky was covered with low, heavy clouds. It was a light autumn rain. The clerk had a good time, and his senile legs, which had not been very obedient for a long time, completely refused to walk. Entangled in the skirts of his wet cassock, stumbling and sliding on the muddy ground, Theodore found the path with difficulty.

The faint sound of rain drowned out all other sounds, only somewhere below, near the water, the bell of a hobbled horse rattled, and from time to time the silence was broken by the whistling of the wings of duck flocks flying from the Volkhov. Ducks frightened Theodore. He trembled, made the sign of the cross with an unsteady hand, and wandered on, looking out in the darkness for a close precipice. Suddenly, like a shooting star, a bright point rushed towards me. In an instant, it turned into a luminous spot, there was a characteristic noise of wings, and everything disappeared. Rising from the wet grass, where he fell from surprise, the deacon shook his fist for a long time after the flying bird. The next morning, they learned in the parish that the devil, turning into a fiery bird, tried to throw Theodore off the cliff, but was shamed and driven away.

The rector of the cathedral, who did not approve of Theodore's merry revelry, in order to protect the clerk from ungodly visions, imposed repentance on him: fifty bows a day before the icon of the Mother of God. Bows didn't help. Rumors spread around the village about a firebird that had appeared in the district. Every evening she caught someone's eye. As soon as the evening darkness came and the duck years began, the luminous duck appeared. She was met until the end of September and always alone. Then she disappeared, apparently flew south.

Firebirds have also been reported from other places. Near Arkhangelsk, Pomor hunters saw and even tried to get two luminous geese, but to no avail. In the Yaroslavl, Simbirsk provinces, in the GDR, the FRG, France, England, luminous owls or large owls have been repeatedly noticed. But perhaps the most interesting case occurred on the Black Sea near the Swan Islands. A local fisherman told a midshipman visiting from Sevastopol about a luminous swan. At night, the midshipman not only managed to admire the amazing spectacle, but also killed a rare bird. Only the feathers glowed. The bird, brought into the fisherman's house, lit up the room with a faint light, but sufficient to read the print. The glow lasted all night, but the next day the feathers transported to Sevastopol almost lost this ability.

These are the strange things that sometimes happen in the world. And it is no coincidence that Father Theodore blamed everything on evil spirits. He was not alone in doing so in such cases.

No less mysterious stories that excited hundreds of people took place at the end of the last century on the distant islands of the Indian Ocean.

The island of New Guinea was discovered at the beginning of the 16th century, but its virgin forests were so impregnable and inhabited by such warlike tribes that the European colonial powers did not try to master it for a long time. Only more than three hundred years later, the Dutch declared its western part their colony. By that time, the local population of the coastal regions already knew the white enslavers well and fought back fiercely. Papuan warriors, perfectly adapted to life in the jungle, able to send poisoned arrows without a miss, terrified the invaders. Their black skin, tattoos, and decorations for ears and nose, giving their features a ferocious look, the ability to silently appear and disappear just as silently caused superstitious fear. It is no coincidence that the Dutch dubbed their colony "the country of the devil himself."

It was hard for the invaders. To protect their settlements from the Papuans, the Dutch built them in hard-to-reach places. So on a small stretch of sandy beach, separated from the island by a thirty-kilometer strip of mangroves with impenetrable bogs and swamps, the city of Babo arose. Nevertheless, the village had to be guarded vigilantly, the Papuans from time to time made raids, either penetrating through the mangroves, or sailing by sea.

On that memorable night for the inhabitants of Babo, about which the story will go, there was terrible weather. In the afternoon, heavy low clouds covered the entire sky. At night it became completely dark, and the whistle of the wind and the sound of the waves drowned out all other sounds. It’s scary on such a night to be alone, and the sentry guarding the village from the side of the beach involuntarily huddled up to the nearest buildings, hiding from the splashes of the sea surf that even reached here. And he peered intently into the impenetrable darkness of the night, listened to the roar of the waves, trying to discern in the cacophony of the storm some unusual sound, foreshadowing danger. Suddenly, a faint, barely visible light on the shore attracted the soldier's attention. The light seemed to be approaching, it streamed along the shore in a narrow ribbon, became brighter, ran in a chain of luminous spots, closer, closer, and now, some two or three meters away from him, the guard saw on the sand a string of brightly glowing footprints of a bare human foot. They appeared out of nowhere and after a few seconds turned pale and died out.

Almost losing consciousness from fear, the soldier waited for his shift, and in the morning it turned out that a man had disappeared from a neighboring house. He went out into the street at night and did not return.

Who, besides the devil, could leave fiery footprints and kidnap a grown man? Suspicion fell on him. We made inquiries among the pacified Papuans, and they confirmed: “Soangi! Devil!"

Since then, the fiery traces of soangi have appeared in Babo from time to time. The devil chose dark, stormy nights for his visits, and his visits always brought misfortune. That carried away the boat into the sea, then the pig ran away into the mangroves.

Apparently, soangi was a sea devil, as footprints only appeared on the beach. Belief in Satan was undermined by an incident with one of the Dutch colonists. In the evening, in the deepening twilight, he went to check whether the boats were well tied, and the neighbors saw with horror that a luminous trail was stretching behind him. The unfortunate man was suspected in connection with evil spirits. He was threatened with lynching and, probably, death. Salvation came unexpectedly: the people sent after him in pursuit left fiery footprints on the wet sand. Subsequently, it turned out that occasionally there are nights when everyone who comes ashore leaves a luminous trail.

Who was this mysterious sea soangi and how did he manage to light the wet sea sand? Where did the amazing luminous creatures come from, which became the prototype of the fabulous firebird? Scientists did not soon manage to figure out this riddle, and the superstitious Dutch colonists had to endure all kinds of horror.

Solving the mystery

Of course, the devil, whatever it may be, sea or land, has nothing to do with either fiery birds or luminous footprints. The glow is very widespread in nature, and everyone has probably come across it. The rotten ones glow in the dark, sometimes the sea glows wonderfully at night. This was known in antiquity, they could not only understand the reasons. Subsequently, it was possible to find out that it is not the wood or water itself that glows, but the microorganisms that have settled in it. They are not alone on our planet. A wide variety of animals and plants have the ability to glow. There are now more than 1,100 species of animals on Earth, whose light somewhat softens the darkness in the places where they have to live.

The glow is external and intracellular. In the first case, animals have two types of cells. Some contain large yellow bodies of a special substance - luciferin, others contain small granules of the luciferase enzyme. When an animal thinks of lighting its fires, it squeezes these substances into the intercellular spaces or even outward with the help of muscle contractions, here luciferin is oxidized with the help of luciferase, and a glow occurs. It can only occur in water and with sufficient oxygen.

With intracellular luminescence, both luciferin and luciferase are located in the same cell. How the light is turned on, no one really knows. It is possible that animals sharply increase the supply of free oxygen to the cells.

The glow of animal organisms usually causes surprise. Indeed, how could such a seemingly unusual property for living beings arise? More than one generation of scientists was confused by this question. Only in our days it ceased to seem surprising.

Research that shed light on the origin of bioluminescence began over 30 years ago. Soviet scientists V. Lepeshkin and A.G. Gurvich discovered an ultra-weak glow in the most common plant cells. The glow was so weak that in those years it was not even possible to design instruments that could catch and measure them. Such devices were created only at the very recent times. With their help, scientists were able to establish that chemiluminescence, that is, the conversion of chemical energy directly into light, is a very common phenomenon. Many substances can glow when oxidized, including some fats. It turned out that the tissues of plants and animals constantly glow, especially intensively during work. For example, the surface of a frog's contracting heart gives off continuous light.

The glow of animal tissues occurs mainly due to the oxidation of fats - lipids. During these chemical reactions excited molecules arise in which the electrons have moved to higher orbits. When the electrons then return to their previous levels, the energy that is thus released is used to build new chemical bonds or is given out in the form of light quanta. The processes occurring in this case are directly opposite to photosynthesis, where light causes the transition of an electron to more high level, and the energy is used to synthesize carbohydrates.

Later it turned out that ultra-weak bioluminescence occurs in the body not only during accidental lipid oxidation, but also during chemical reactions necessary to maintain life. And if so, it would be strange if there were no organisms that could develop, improve and use this phenomenon. There are many such animals on Earth, and all the rest, including you and me, glow, unfortunately, super weakly.

Most of the luminous organisms live in the seas and oceans. The most common are peridineas - tiny flagellated organisms. It is they who create pictures of the luminous sea that are unique in their beauty. In a calm state, the peridineas do not glow. Only disturbed by the movement of water from a passing vessel, on the crests of waves or in the zone of sea surf, they flare up with bright light for a few moments, so that, having used up the entire supply of energy, they go out.

An amazing sight will present itself to a night swimmer who ventured to dive in those days when many peridines accumulated in the water. Every movement sets off fireworks. Behind the glass of an underwater mask, thousands of sparks fly in different directions, as if someone has lit dozens of sparklers. The spectacle is so delightful that once you see it, you will remember it for the rest of your life.

Thrown out with sea foam on a wet shore, peridineas do not die and soon restore their ability to glow. If there are a lot of them, then a person walking along the shore leaves behind a chain of brightly burning footprints. These rested peridineans respond with a flash of light to the irritation caused by the human foot.

Fire trails on the ocean coast were observed not only in New Guinea, they were seen in other places, both in tropical and polar countries. The well-known researcher Nordenskiöld describes fire trails on the sea-soaked snow on the coast of Svalbard and the De Long Islands. Here the same peridineans or copepods – metridia shone.

Large animals are most often unable to produce luciferin. They glow because they harbor luminous microorganisms. Such a community is called symbiosis, which means an alliance between organisms based on mutually beneficial conditions. The host organism creates the conditions necessary for the life of his little luminous friends, and they, in turn, pay him a cheerful ray of light.

In the order of symbiosis, two very specific types of animals always coexist, which do not live separately. But besides such permanent unions, existing from century to century, sometimes, under favorable circumstances, temporary cohabitation may arise. Random glowing settlers who have taken root on bird feathers, and create fabulous firebirds. More often these are waterfowl living on the coast of the seas and oceans. On their feathers, apparently, marine microorganisms settle. Eagle owls and owls, living all their lives in the hollows of old decaying trees, become infected with a luminous fungus.

Live lanterns

Most luminous organisms live in the ocean. There are especially many of them at great depths, and this is understandable: in the pitch darkness of the ocean depths, only living beings give light. In the smallest of them, the whole body glows, in the larger ones there are special organs. The organs of luminescence are especially perfectly arranged in some cephalopods and deep sea fishes. However, the inhabitants of the surface of the oceans are trying to keep up with them. Off the coast of America, in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, there are flocks of marine midshipmen - small fish, 25–35 centimeters long. Usually these fish draw attention to themselves during the breeding season, as they spawn near the coast, in the mouths of rivers and along shallow sea bays. At the end of spawning, the females swim away, and the male remains to guard the eggs until the fry hatch from it.

The saying "mute like a fish" does not apply to midshipmen, they are able to make sounds. The male guarding the eggs constantly buzzes, apparently scaring off enemies. This is probably why the fish have gained such wide popularity.

The midshipmen got their name for their peculiar coloring and luminous dots arranged in regular rows, like shiny buttons on a naval uniform. Midshipman's lanterns, there are about three hundred of them, are very complicated. It's like miniature living spotlights.

Outside, the body is dressed in a dark opaque shell. Inside it is shiny, well reflecting light - it is a reflector. In front there is a transparent lens concentrating the light flux. Inside is glow-in-the-dark slime. The naval midshipman is unlikely to use his "flashlights" for lighting. It is believed that it glows only during the mating season.

In the "edible squid" and many other animals, light organs are used for illumination. They are usually much larger and located in front of the body, sometimes above the eyes or even in front of the eyes and, therefore, illuminate the part of the space where the animal is looking. Often there is a device for extinguishing the light. This is a skin fold that covers the luminous organ at the right time.

The light emitted by living organisms can be of different colors: white, blue-green, ruby ​​red. Sometimes one animal is equipped with lanterns of 3-4 colors. Probably, colored light has a number of advantages, since many animals that have not learned how to produce it pass a stream of achromatic rays through the colored lenses of their flashlights and use them to arrange a cheerful colored illumination. The luminous goo inside a living spotlight is usually a collection of luminous microorganisms. That's what big creatures do, they provide living space for their little friends.

But it happens otherwise. Almost all the seas of the world are inhabited by single-celled flagellar organisms of the night-lighter, tiny balls no larger than 2 millimeters in size. On the one hand, the ball has a deep impression - the mouth. If you look at the night light through a magnifying glass, you can see a long transversely striated tentacle and a short longitudinally striated flagellum.

Nightlights have the ability to glow. In the body of some of them, living in tropical seas, hundreds of other microscopic flagellar organisms - cryptomonads - settle. What makes them live together?

The body of cryptomonads contains chlorophyll. They, like green plants, can extract carbon dioxide from the environment and synthesize starch from it. But synthesis goes only in the light. Using free lighting and carbon dioxide, and there is a lot of it in the body of nightlights, the cryptomonads that settled here can synthesize starch even at night. Nightlights do not suffer from such a fellowship either. Cryptomonads help them get rid of harmful carbon dioxide, and in return supply them with oxygen formed during the synthesis of starch.

The depths of the sea and tropical forest jungle are a favorite habitat for living lanterns, but even under the canopy of our northern forest, tiny lights flare up at night.

The middle of summer is the best time of the Russian forest. On the ground at the foot of the trees there is a green sea of ​​​​forbs, and on the sunny glades the first strawberry has already turned pink, gaining strength. With the onset of twilight, cheerful greenish lanterns are lit in the glades, along the roadsides and in the thicket. Their light gives a special, mysterious beauty to the night forest. It seems as if the young mischievous stars, who had misbehaved somewhere, high in the sky, hid in the thick grass from their strict tutors. But these are not stars and not coals scattered by some kind of mouth.

Pick up any - it's cold. This glows a small insect - the Ivanovo worm, or, as it is also called, a firefly. Few people saw them during the day. Fireflies are nocturnal insects. During the day they hide in thick grass, and at night they go hunting. Ivanovo worms are predators, they feed on snails, spiders and small insects.

The male and female of the Ivanovo worm are very different from each other. The female is larger, 2–3 cm long, with a small head, chest, on which 3 pairs of legs are located, and a large fleshy abdomen. It is all brown-brown in color, with the exception of the underside of the last three segments of the abdomen. These segments are white. They do glow. Light propagates easily through the chitinous membrane of the abdomen; the richly pigmented chitinous integuments on the dorsal side of the body hardly let it through.

During the day, the female presses her abdomen to the ground and becomes almost invisible. But as soon as the forest is enveloped in the dusk of night, she hastily gets out of her hiding place, climbs onto a high stalk and hangs down with her belly, bending it so that the underside is turned up: the light should be especially clearly visible from above. The flashlight serves to attract males. The light of Ivanovo fireflies is quite bright and visible from afar. With the help of one firefly, leading them along the lines, you can read a book.

Male fireflies are much smaller than females and fly well, but they almost cannot glow.

Nature gave the Russian forest only one living lantern, one luminous insect. Another species of fireflies lives in our Caucasus. They glow during flight. Reddish sparks floating in the air give a special charm to the dark southern nights.

Glow is a very common phenomenon in nature, but it's ridiculous to say that we still don't know how most living organisms use their light. Only with forest fireflies everything is clear. They need light so that males find females during the mating season. In the tropics, where many different fireflies live, they blink with short flashes of light. It’s just impossible to glow, males would constantly confuse them, and the genus of fireflies could disappear from the face of the earth. After all, a mistake would cost the male his life: the female, discovering that in front of her is a “foreign” gentleman, will certainly gobble up such a negligent confusion.

To avoid possible confusion, the fireflies had to develop a very complex signaling system. Males flying through the night forest send a call into the darkness - rhythmic flashes of light. Noticing the signals, the female sitting on the ground or in the branches begins to respond, and in each species of fireflies - after a strictly defined time after the signal of the male. According to the length of the interval between the calling and response flashes of light, the male determines which of the responding females is “own” and which is “alien”. If the female makes a mistake and starts sending answers a little earlier or a little later than expected, this can mislead the winged cavalier.

Not surprisingly, such an alarm system has not taken root everywhere. Reasonable "men" did not want to depend on their frivolous ladies. Fireflies that live in Southeast Asia don't run around in pitch darkness at night looking for a mate. Calmly perched on the branches somewhere in a forest clearing, they all together, no matter how many there are, strictly simultaneously send a light signal into the darkness, and the night forest is lit up with rhythmic flashes, as if someone had installed a huge banner in the jungle like those that appear in holidays on the streets of our cities. The only thing left for females to do is to find a company of gentlemen impatiently waiting for them, determine by the frequency of flashes whether they are their own or others, and choose which of them to fly up to.

Glow is used when protecting from enemies. Squids and cuttlefish live in the depths of the ocean, which escape from attacking enemies by throwing out a cloud of luminous liquid, which in shape and size is very similar to themselves. It is not surprising that a bloodthirsty pursuer happens to be deceived and pounces on a luminous fake, while its owner, wasting no time, hides in darkness.

Many small sea crustaceans do the same. Near the mouth of deep-sea shrimps there are special glands, from which a light cloud flows out in case of danger. A flock of shrimp that has been attacked is immediately fenced off from the predator by a “fiery” curtain of many luminous spots and rushes in all directions.

Many animals "light up" only when they are in someone's teeth. This is also a means of protection: maybe the predator will be frightened or open his mouth in surprise, and then he will be able to escape. Some worms are especially cunning. If they are cut in half, only the back half begins to glow, the front does not reveal such an ability.

One of the pioneers of the study of the deep sea, William Beebe, during a deep dive, saw a large, faintly glowing worm behind the glass of the porthole. In front of the observer, this unlucky worm, whose species identity the researcher was unable to determine, was bitten in two. The tail end flared brightly and was immediately swallowed. The head piece behaved quite differently. He immediately extinguished the lights and hurriedly disappeared into the darkness. Most worms have a highly developed ability to regenerate lost body parts, apparently, and this worm's tail will grow back very soon. Probably, the glow, as well as the convulsive twitching of the tail thrown by the lizard, serves only to divert the attention of the attacker and, sacrificing the less valuable, save the main one.

It is possible that there are other ways to use living light to protect against enemies. Maybe there is a light signal. After all, a bright flash of a tiny crustacean caught in the teeth of a sardine is nothing more than a signal of danger. The accumulation of crustaceans, disturbed by the fish that attacked them, glows brightly, signaling to their fellows that there is danger. Perhaps the flashes of tiny nightlights on the crests of the waves serve as a signal for the rest to go down to the depth. For now, this is just speculation. It is difficult to judge how fair they are. No one knows if there is any benefit to the nightlight itself from being able to glow.

The vast majority of luminous organisms live in total darkness. It would seem that they need the light of living searchlights primarily in order to illuminate their path. But, looking at them more closely, you are convinced that for most of them the luminous organs serve at best only to find each other and recognize their relatives by the color and pattern of luminous spots and to attract prey. Deep-sea anglers are equipped with a very interesting device. In them, one of the rays of the dorsal fin reaches a very long length and is directed not backward, like the rest, but forward. From this peculiar rod, right above the very mouth of the monster, the bait hangs - a pear-shaped thickening, very brightly colored, and for many, it is also luminous. No need to explain that underwater inhabitants, imprudently interested in this bait, instantly find themselves in the teeth of an insidious fish.

Firebird in our service

The fairy tale king Berendey, having learned about the existence of the Firebird, wanted to have this curiosity at home. It has been customary to use living light for one's own needs since ancient times.

In the rainforests of Brazil, mushrooms grow, in which the underside of the cap glows. Locals have long used them instead of flashlights. Although the light is not very bright, it is sufficient to avoid stumbling on the forest paths at night.

Marine luminous crustaceans were used during the war in the Japanese army. Each officer carried a box with these crustaceans. Dry crustaceans do not glow, but it is worth moistening them with water, and the lantern is ready. Wherever the soldiers are: on a submarine silently floating up in the silence of the night, in the thick wilds of the tropical jungle or on the endless steppe plains, it may always be necessary to turn on the light in order to view the map or write a report. But this cannot be done. At night, the light of an electric torch or even a lit match is visible from afar, and the faint light of a torch made from sea crustaceans cannot be discerned even a few dozen steps away. This is very convenient, does not violate the disguise at all.

Luminous organisms can also be used to illuminate houses. For this, special bacterial lamps were invented. The device of the lamps is simple: a glass flask with sea water, and in it a suspension of microorganisms.

The light of one bacterium is negligible. In order for the lamp to give light equal to one candle, there must be at least 500,000,000,000,000 microorganisms in the flask. But they are small, so you can create quite bright lamps. In 1935, during an international congress, the great hall of the Paris Oceanographic Institute was illuminated with such lamps.

Will people in the age of atomic energy and the construction of giant power plants use luminous organisms? Probably will. In recent years, intensive development of the sea depths has begun. The first houses were built on the seabed in which people can live and work for a long time. It is very tempting to use natural light on underwater roads - the light of marine organisms. Some scientists support this idea.

It is even more interesting to master under artificial conditions the conversion of chemical energy directly into light energy. Lamps operating on this principle must be very economical, much more profitable than our incandescent lamps. After all, all the energy expended in bioluminescence is completely converted into light, while in incandescent lamps only 12 percent of the energy expended is converted into light. In addition, which is also by no means unimportant, they do not need to pull an electric cable from afar. The implementation of this idea is quite realistic. The century of rapid development of chemistry will probably bring us even more amazing discoveries.