«CULT ATTRIBUTES OF THE GODDESS UMAI IN THE RELIGIOUS-MITHOLOGICAL VIEWS OF THE KHAKASS PEOPLE (END OF XIX – THE SECOND HALF OF XX CENTURY)»
The paper aims to characterize religious paraphernalia of Umai and its role in the worldview and ritual practices of Khakass people. To achieve this goal, the following objectives are met: systematization of published and unpublished materials on the issue; classification based on the analysis of similarity and external signs of main constituent elements; review of their inclusion in the ritual practice. The chronological scope of the work covers the period from the end of XIX century to the second half of the XX century. The choice of these time limits is defined by the state of the source base on the study. The main sources are the literary, archival and ethnographic materials. The work is based on a comprehensive, systematic and historical approach to the study of the past. The study uses historical and ethnographic methods – scientific description, a concrete and historical relic. In spiritual life of Khakass, a special place was given to the cult of the goddess Umai. With the cult of the goddess Umai, Khakasses communicated ideas about women's life-affirming the beginning, and at the same time as a mighty god – patron of motherhood, whose sacred power focuses on fertility, birth of children, saving their lives and health, as well as providing them with a happy future. Such a significant role in the religious life of the people contributed to the wide dissemination of its religious paraphernalia. Things endowed with sacred status were diverse. They differed in external form and functional specificity. The ritual purpose of some of them was determined by the child's sex. However, they all had a generalized name, Umai. Of these, particularly identified are those that play the role of amulet, bow and arrow, a spindle, cowrie shells, buttons, navel-kin, etc. In addition, there were also fetishes tös’, anthropomorphic figures made of wood, bark and cloth. To venerate them, a special ritual was developed. It consisted of a prayer to the God of fertility and to the spirit of fire, as well as the offering of sacrifice, ritual food and feeding of the children. Moreover, a fairly common practice was to use not only a fetish, but also talismans, by sprinkling them and smearing with sacrificial meal. During various rites in family shrines, Umai can be employed both individually and collectively. This practice may indicate that in the religious consciousness of Khakasses, fetishes as mascots were equally endowed with a kind of divine energy and beneficial magical properties and often combines the features of each other. Therefore, shamans were involved in their manufacture and endowed them with spiritual power. They also performed the rites, the atoning sacrifice of this powerful goddess, which often prevented the theft of the soul of a child, as well as preventing its premature death. In the course of this rites and magical practices, they will certainly used as sacred objects. In the future, the whole ritual would have been performed either by the woman herself or her older cousin. Specifically important role in the cult of Umai was assigned to a ritual object Hara Umai. This was both a receptacle and the personification of the Black malicious spirit of Umai. In the general system of rituals, this was one of the very important instruments to overcome death and to celebrate life.
Keywords: Khakasses, tradition, worldwiev, shamanism, Umai cult, rituals, charms, fetishes, tös’
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Issue: 3, 2016
Series of issue: Issue 3
Rubric: ANTHROPOLOGY
Pages: 39 — 52
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