Stove or Pich

As the icon corner is associated with death, so the stove is associated with birth. Women will usually give birth near the stove, often on the large, shelf-like sleeping area attached to the stove. When the midwife is coming to the home of a woman in labor, she can look through the little window that is typically near the stove and see the future of the child about to be born. Sick children are believed to be improperly formed at birth and one remedy is to "rebake" them to shape them properly. To "rebake" a sick infant, the midwife or other woman places him on the paddle used for putting loaves of bread into the oven and briefly inserts the child into a warm stove.

The part of the stove that is fired up for baking faces away from the main room, into the entryway or, what has now become the kitchen area. There is a large opening where a fire is built. It will heat the stove and provide warmth for the entire house. Items to be baked, whether bread or pots with stew, soup, kasha, are inserted into the opening once the fire dies down. A lower section with burners is next to the main oven and to the left. The burners are used for boiling liquids and for frying.