“This is a bad omen!” - said A.S. Pushkin when his wedding ring unexpectedly fell on the carpet. Belief in omens, interest in rituals, and fortune telling were widespread among the nobility of Pushkin’s time. Words, objects, the behavior of people and animals - everything had its own secret meaning in the eyes of even the most enlightened person of the first half of the 19th century. About what they believed in, what they were afraid of, what they tried to avoid, and what they passionately desired, Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin and his contemporaries, the reader learns first-hand: from memories, letters, newspaper and magazine publications of that time, lovingly collected and carefully, tastefully organized by the author of the book.