A RAM AS A SYMBOL OF PROSPERITY IN THE TRADITIONAL CULTURE OF THE KHAKAS (LATE 19TH — MID-20TH CENTURIES)
DOI: 10.23951/2307-6119-2021-1-144-152
The purpose of this article is to characterize the image of a ram / sheep in the traditional culture of the Khakas, as an animal that gives a person well-being and prosperity. The chronological framework of the work covers the late 19th — mid-20th centuries. The choice of such time boundaries is due to the state of the source base for the research topic. Leading in the study is the principle of historicism, when any cultural phenomenon is considered in development and taking into account a specific situation. The research methodology is based on historical and ethnographic methods: remnants (relic) and semantic analysis. As a result of the analysis, the following conclusions can be drawn: 1. in the traditional culture of the Khakas, the ram / sheep and its image occupied an important place. The animal in question was extremely in demand due to its utilitarian and sacred meaning. In practical terms, it was undoubtedly perceived as an important and accessible source of meat food and raw materials for household needs; 2) The presence of a large number of small ruminants along with other domestic animals was the basis of material prosperity and a high social status of a person in society; 3) In folk life, the ram served as a measure of the value of goods and services, was widely used in exchange trade and was a widespread subject of gift exchange processes; 4) The image of a ram was consistently associated with the idea of vitality and fertility; 5) Some rams / sheep were included in the category of sacred domestic animals — yzykh. They acted as living sacrifices to various patron spirits. They believed that they mystically contributed to the well-being of the economy. Yzykh had the status of an inviolable creature and were distinguished by ritual ribbons — chalama; 6) The images of some patron spirits of sheep, to whom the yzykh were dedicated, had their own material image and were called tos. There was a ritual practice in relation to them; 7) The Khakass also gave sacred status to special animals called mal kizik or mal talaan. They usually had the appearance of a lamb and personified the center of happiness and well-being of the entire human economy; 8) In the cult practice of the Khakas, the veneration of a stone statue of a ram khucha tas, the embodiment of the life force of livestock, became widespread.
Keywords: Khakas, traditional culture, rituals, ram, sheep, yzykh, tos, image, symbol, fertility, stone statue
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Issue: 1, 2021
Series of issue: Issue 1
Rubric: ANTHROPOLOGY
Pages: 144 — 152
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