Stone cross with ancient cosmological symbolism unearthed in Haradok district

The find from Haradok district was shown by historian and chief specialist of the Culture Department of the Vitsebsk Regional Executive Committee Dzianis Yurchak on his Facebook page. Judging by the photo, the cross was unearthed during the laying of communications to the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord in the village of Khvošna.

The front side of the stone cross features geometric symbols. At the top of the cross, an equilateral cross inscribed within a circle is carved, and in its center, at the intersection, a large eight-pointed star is placed, also confined by a circle.

Star as a soul and a solar wheel

The symbolism depicted on the cross has a deep pre-Christian origin. In his research on traditional Belarusian gravestones, historian Dzmitry Skvarcheuski explains that the star (including the eight-pointed one) in Belarusian mythology was directly identified with the human soul. According to folk beliefs, a new star lights up in the sky at the birth of every person, and it falls after their death.

Павялічыць

The "cross in a circle" symbol, located in the upper part of the artifact, belongs to the oldest Indo-European symbols and has been known since the Bronze Age. According to Skvarcheuski, this symbol is associated with ideas about the chariot of the Sun god and the solar wheel. In Belarusian folklore, the Sun traditionally served as a symbol of rebirth: just as the celestial body "dies" in the evening and "is born" in the morning, so too does a person continue to exist in the afterlife after death. Solar symbolism on gravestones also performed a protective function: it was believed that sunlight and fire drive away evil spirits and illuminate the path of the soul to Vyraj (the Slavic paradise).

The presence of such cosmological symbols indicates that the Khvošna cross is a monument of folk (syncretic) Christianity, where official religion is closely intertwined with the ancient mythological beliefs of the population of Northern Belarus.

Павялічыць

The unique artifact was found directly during the laying of communications to the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord. The church itself is a monument of classicist architecture and was built of brick in 1807. Its walls are one meter thick, which allowed the building to survive the Soviet anti-religious campaign and World War II.

Павялічыць

In 2024, a major repair of the dome part of the temple began. During the modernization, the old disproportionate tin onion-shaped dome was dismantled. A new helmet-shaped one, culminating in a cupola on a drum, was installed instead. The shape itself looks good, but the covering, according to the modern fashion of the Russian Orthodox Church, was made of golden titanium nitride. The excavation work, carried out in parallel with the roof reconstruction, allowed for the discovery of the unique stone cross.

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