Why, when cleaning a well, a lighted candle is lowered into it and an aspen shield is placed on the bottom: interesting facts

Some professions are fraught with a lot of incomprehensible and interesting things. When cleaning the wells, you can observe how the participants in this process lower a candle tied to the end of a rope into the well, and after the end of the work, an aspen shield is installed on the bottom. Candle, aspen... what is it done for? Ancient rituals from evil spirits or do these actions have a practical purpose? Let's find out the answer to this question!

A candle in a well - an indicator of the presence of oxygen

The candle in this case is a source of combustion, which indicates whether there is oxygen in the lower part of the well. As you know, oxygen supports combustion, and if it is not enough or not at all, the candle will go out. This will be a signal that in no case should a person go down into the well to perform work. If you ignore the study of a burning candle for oxygen content, then the employee may simply die. In an oxygen-free environment, he will lose consciousness, and then, if they do not have time to pull him out, he will die of suffocation. Yes, and the rescue operation in this case can lead to a more tragic outcome, because those who descended will also find themselves in an oxygen-free environment. In general, a burning candle is used to check the presence of oxygen in

well and it has nothing to do with magic.

By the way, if there is no oxygen in the well now, then air is pumped into it using a vacuum cleaner. And how it was done before is unknown.

Aspen shield - water filter

The round aspen shield is a kind of bottom filter. Its purpose is water purification. When groundwater rises into the well, the shield filters out sand and other impurities from it, and also maintains the water level. This method of cleaning began to be used several centuries ago. In Russia, aspen was chosen as the material for the shields. It was believed that it cleans water from evil spirits and does not decompose upon prolonged contact with water. Its water resistance, as well as a special chemical composition, have been confirmed by modern scientists. Oak has the same properties, but it stains the water brown and saturates it with tannins.

Aspen shields are not installed in all wells, but only in those that are located on quicksand. This is a water-saturated rock that moves under its own weight or under the influence of light loads. The shield prevents quicksand soils from getting into well and pollute the water. So there are no rituals and ceremonies here either!

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