BULL AS A SYMBOL OF FERTILITY IN THE TRADITIONAL KHAKAS CULTURE (THE END XIX – MID XX CENTURIES)
DOI: 10.23951/2307-6119-2017-4-64-75
The aim of the work is to reveal the connection of the image of a bull with the idea of fertility in the culture of the Khakas. Proceeding from the goal, the following tasks were set: to analyze the folklore of this people and to introduce into scientific circulation new archival materials on the designated topic; to explore the semantic links of the image of this animal with the religious-mythological views about the life forces and fertility of domestic animals. 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 complex, 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 most important place is assigned to cattle. In the Khakas folklore, the image of Kok puga – the Blue Bull became widespread. In the mythopoetic tradition of the people, this horned animal embodied the center of vitality and fertility of livestock. Such a religious-magical attitude extended to the stone statue that personified it. At the same time, the cult practice of the Khakases, aimed at the development of cattle breeding, was not limited to honoring the sacred stone bull. In the world outlook and ritual of the Khakas, other traditional methods aimed at ensuring the well-being of people's economic activities, multiplying the livestock and protecting them, also spread. Among them, one should single out the sacred actions associated with the testicles of males, and various methods of retaining and ensuring the happiness of cattle, including tearing out pieces of wool from certain places of the animal, dedicating yzyh and blood sacrifices to various patron spirits and deities. In all the designated ritual practices, a large role was assigned to cattle and, in particular, bull/ox, a symbol of the masculine principle and strength, fertility, and the successful continuation of the life of the genus.
Keywords: culture of Khakas, bull, Kok puga, cattle breeding, fertility, symbol, myth, rite
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Issue: 4, 2017
Series of issue: Issue 4
Rubric: ANTHROPOLOGY
Pages: 64 — 75
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