Russian/Slavic cultural question

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Nektarios14
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Russian/Slavic cultural question

Post by Nektarios14 »

I was at a families house at my parish where the husband is Romanian and the wife Russian and I noticed a lot of the traditional Russian nesting type dolls (sorry if this isn't the right term) mixed in with their icons. Do these have any Orthodox symbolism or meaning or are they just a cultural Russian thing?

Many thanks,
Nektarios

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Liudmilla
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Post by Liudmilla »

The nesting dolls or "matrushki" were at one time considered a sort of fertility symbol. As far as I know there is no religious significance to these dolls. They really shouldn't be displayed with icons.

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Natasha
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Post by Natasha »

I agree with Liudmilla..I have never seen matryshki displayed with icons, it is not appropriate.
Maybe they just didn't know where else to put them in the house?

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