Traditional ideology of the Altaians: cult of water and phenomenon of life

The work is devoted to the cult of water in Altai, considered in the culture of aforesaid ethnos as part of a set of ideas about the animation of the whole surrounding world and closely associated with the understanding of such phenomena as life. The cult researched in the article - a quite unique phenomenon, since it is not just peculiar cultural "artifact" which had become a thing of the past and finding its logical continuation in the literature sources, but a lively and successfully functioning tradition these days. The author particularly focuses on the fact that for Altai ethnos the cult of water serves not just one of the many sacral symbols and life savers, but it is an important, essential point of traditional ideology and world outlook. In the article the author analysis of various aspects of the issue is introduced, where a connection between life phenomenon and cult of water is revealed, involving various phenomena of the material and spiritual culture of The Altaians: "Female image of a water spirit", "Water as a fundamental principle of the Universe", "Water in a life cycle," "Ritual symbols associated with water", "Healing properties of water"," Prohibitions related to water". In the first aspect special attention is given to an image of "water spirit" (Suu-Eezi) and feminine side associated with vital force of water and characterized by ambivalent properties as a source of life itself as well as its destroyer. In the second aspect it is noted that in universal system of notions about the origin of the Universe a primary material for its creation in the Altaic version it was a water element, from which the progenitress of all life on Earth appeared - Umai-Ene ( "Holy Mother"). In the third aspect the emphasis is on the fact that in the myth and ritual conception of the Altaians' existence the water as life itself is dual: not only it is an equivalent of the primeval chaos existed long before creation of the Universe, but also the element associated with birth, creation and death. In the fourth aspect water is regarded as one of the mediators connecting the world of the living with the world of the dead determining all the basic living conditions of the Gorny Altai population. And in that capacity this element is analyzed as part of a series of ritual actions connected with birth, awakening of nature in spring, and also with an ancient Funerary Culture of the Altaians. The fifth aspect highlights the healing properties of water combining real medical effects with the magical ones. In the sixth aspect the taboos and restrictions of various kinds associated with water are recorded. The article is based on both the attracting a wide range of academic research materials among which the works of A.V. Anokhin, V. I. Verbitsky, E.N. Konda-rakovoy are notable and the examples of the Altai folk sources.

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