Chut, or Khut, () is one of the

household spirit A household deity is a deity or spirit that protects the home, looking after the entire household or certain key members. It has been a common belief in paganism as well as in folklore across many parts of the world. Household deities fit int ...

s in Belarusian mythology. He brings

money Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money are: m ...

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached husk, hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and ...

and success to the hosts of the house, but, not being fed, Chut could perform a cruel revenge on them.

Description

Belarusian language Belarusian (, ) is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language. It is one of the two Languages of Belarus, official languages in Belarus, the other being Russian language, Russian. It is also spoken in parts of Russia, Lithuania, Latvia, Polan ...

Chut has masculine

grammatical gender In linguistics, a grammatical gender system is a specific form of a noun class system, where nouns are assigned to gender categories that are often not related to the real-world qualities of the entities denoted by those nouns. In languages wit ...

– that's why in most cases Chut is described as a male. Chut is a

polymorphous Polymorphism, polymorphic, polymorph, polymorphous, or polymorphy may refer to: Computing * Polymorphism (computer science), the ability in programming to present the same programming interface for differing underlying forms * Ad hoc polymorphism ...

spirit: he could look like a little

boy A boy is a young male human. The term is commonly used for a child or an adolescent. When a male human reaches adulthood, he is usually described as a man. Definition, etymology, and use According to the ''Merriam-Webster Dictionary'', a boy ...

dwarf Dwarf, dwarfs or dwarves may refer to: Common uses *Dwarf (folklore), a supernatural being from Germanic folklore * Dwarf, a human or animal with dwarfism Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * Dwarf (''Dungeons & Dragons''), a sh ...

. The Chut, like the fiery flying serpent (), is born from an egg laid by a black rooster, aged either three or seven years, but the egg must be carried by the human in the bosom for one to three years for it to hatch. It is also able to take the form of both animate and inanimate objects — a gnarled piece of wood, old

wheel A wheel is a rotating component (typically circular in shape) that is intended to turn on an axle Bearing (mechanical), bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the Simple machine, six simple machin ...

, dry stump and so on. Chut appears in the houses, where the daughter either killed her illegitimate child, or tried to raise it without

baptizing Baptism (from ) is a Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by sprinkling or pouring water on the head, or by immersing in water either partially or completely, traditionally three t ...

Belarusians Belarusians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Belarus. They natively speak Belarusian language, Belarusian, an East Slavic language. More than 9 million people proclaim Belarusian ethnicity worldwide. Nearly 7.99&n ...

believe that the soul of this child transforms into Chut. Chut saves the childish features of character forever: he is foolish, playful, joking and emotionally labile. This spirit likes to make fun of the guests: to hide somebody's

hat A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...

, to spill the

beans A bean is the seed of some plants in the legume family (Fabaceae) used as a vegetable for human consumption or animal feed. The seeds are often preserved through drying (a ''pulse''), but fresh beans are also sold. Dried beans are tradition ...

and

peas Pea (''pisum'' in Latin) is a pulse or fodder crop, but the word often refers to the seed or sometimes the pod of this flowering plant species. Peas are eaten as a vegetable. Carl Linnaeus gave the species the scientific name ''Pisum sativum ...

(and then gather them again at night). If Chut lives in the house, the host must feed him fried eggs with (, bread akin to the Russian ''

baranka Bublik (also ''booblik'' or ''bublyk''; , plural: ; ) is a traditional Eastern European bread roll. It is a ring of yeast-leavened wheat dough, that has been boiling, boiled in water for a short time before baking.Savella Stechishin (1989). ''T ...

''); the combination is

ceremonial A ceremony (, ) is a unified ritualistic event with a purpose, usually consisting of a number of artistic components, performed on a special occasion. The word may be of Etruscan origin, via the Latin . Religious and civil (secular) ceremoni ...

food, and Belarusians usually eat such fare at

weddings A wedding is a ceremony in which two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnicities, races, religions, denominations, countries, social classes, and sexual orientations. Most weddi ...

, baptisms, pn

Kupala Night Kupala Night (also Kupala's Night or just Kupala; Polish: , : , Russian: Ива́н Купа́ла: , Купала: , Ukrainian: Іван Купало: ) is one of the major folk holidays in some of the Slavic countries that coincides with the C ...

, Trinity Holiday and young women's rites; they are also considered favourite foods of children. The host uses a particular incantation to invite Chut to accept the meal: "Chut, Chut, come here! I'll give You fried eggs and abaranki!" ().

References

Slavic mythology {{mythology-stub Slavic household deities

Description

See also

References