The bull as the embodiment of the demonic origin in the traditional beliefs and folklore of the Khakas (late XIX - mid. XX centuries)

The aim of the work is to characterize the images of a bull and a cow in the culture of the Kha-kas, as the personification of a demonic entity. Proceeding from the goal, the following tasks were set: to analyze folklore and ethnographic information of this people and to reveal the semantic links of the imagery of these animals with religious and mythological views about shamanic practices and demonological representatives of the other world. The chronological scope of the work covers the late XIX - mid XX centuries. The choice of such time limits is caused, first of all, by the state of the source database on the research topic. The work is based on integrated, system-historical approach to the study of the past. The research methodology is based on historical and ethnographic methods - scientific description, concrete historical analysis, structural-semantic and relict. As a result of the analysis, the following conclusions can be drawn: 1) in the Khakas culture, the image of the bull / cow was vested with a pronouncedpolysemanticism. In religious-mythological consciousness, this animal, along with positive characteristics, had negative connotations. A cattle based on their physical and other characteristics, was categorized as a category of creatures directly related to the otherworldly space and its inhabitants,which are often perceived as a mediator between the worlds. In this connection, he was widely involved in shamanic practices and had a certain iconic status and was embodied in ritual attributes. At the same time, his symbolic value varied from his perception as a spirit-helper of the shaman, the mount of the dead souls to the direct representative of another world and even his supreme hierarch - Erlik Khan. In Khakas folklore, the motif of the Tavromachia - the struggle of man with the bull - became widespread. In archaic thinking, under this uniform process, the various ideas that stood out against each other were symbolically understood: from interaction with uncontrolled natural forces and evil spirits to the struggle against foreign invaders. As a result, the image of the bull / cow has become one of the key to denote all these phenomena and the corresponding characters. In traditional representations the external appearance of this animal caused an ambiguous evaluation and was more often recognized as aesthetically inconsistent with the aesthetic norms of the people. Close interaction with these domestic animals over a long period contributed to the deep penetration of their image into the religious-mythological consciousness of man and his ritual practice. In turn, this led to the fact that through this symbolization, a man with an archaic type of thinking tried to explain and order the world around him, make it intelligible and accessible, and thus comfortable and safe for himself.

Keywords

Authors

References