Bull and cow: images and symbols in the traditional culture of the Khakas (late 19th - mid-20th centuries)

The aim of the work is to characterize the images of a bull and a cow in the Khakas culture. Proceeding from the aim, the following objectives were set: to analyze the folklore of this people and to reveal the semantic links of the image of these animals with the religious-mythological views about the cosmos, the ancestors and man himself. As a result of the analysis, the following conclusions can be drawn: (1) in the Khakas culture the most important place is assigned to cattle. The images of a bull and a cow have a broad semantic field, covering almost the entire universe. They include ideas about the world order and the space sphere. At the same time, the coverage of their functions and personifications is quite diverse: these are the pillars of the world, heavenly bodies, co-creators of individual cosmic objects and thunder as an atmospheric phenomenon; (2) in the traditional consciousness of the people, a bull and a cow are also represented as a mythical ancestor. For the ancient clan puga, the bull is directly perceived as a totemic animal. The roots of such representations, obviously, go to the Hunnish and ancient Turkic times. Their traces are found in the name of the generic structure of the Khakas and their toponymy; (3) in the religious-mythological views of the Khakas, the images of the animals in question are not simply connected by various semantic threads to man, but also directly identified with him. The bull is the personification of the male principle, and the cow is the female one. The image of a bull-warrior, captured in a heroic epic, was widespread in the archaic thinking. It contained a whole complex of features and traits that characterize him as a warrior, beginning with the qualities necessary for this, such as great strength, fearlessness, courage and ending with his "weapons" - "saber horns". The image of a cow, as a personification of the feminine, was not so unambiguous. Due to its practical use and the important place assigned to it in economic activities, it certainly caused respect. In this connection, the image of a "dairy cow" symbolized prosperity and abundance in the oral folk art. At the same time, probably, in the conditions of the patriarchal society, the symbolic status of the cow began to be greatly belittled. First of all, it was expressed in giving it such derogatory qualities as stupidity, clumsiness, talkativeness, etc.; (4) at the same time, such a wide coverage of symbolic meanings connected with the image of cattle may indicate its extraordinary affinity for man, and also about the important role they played in man's life, not only economic but also spiritual. 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.

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