THE SUCCESSION OF TRADITIONS: THE SNAKE IN THE BELIEFS AND CUSTOMS OF THE HUTSULS OF RAKHIV REGION (ACCORDING TO MATERIALS GATHERED IN THE FIELDS)

Abstract

The article is based on the materials recorded by the author in Rakhiv district of the Zakarpattya region in 2017. It has been systematized and analyzes the beliefs and customs of residents regarding the actions against snakes. These records are compared with a regional, an all-Ukrainian, and an all-Slavic context. Observing an extreme prevalence of ancient beliefs and rituals associated with snakes, the author sees the reasons for the establishment of this tradition in the region first and foremost in connection to the people (even the residents of small urban settlements) who live here and in the previous centuries had been in constant contact with the local natural environment. At the same time, they used their natural resources for life (gardens, orchards, forests, mountains, meadows, etc.) and came across reptiles. Secondly, despite the modernization impacts in the Zakarpattya region, the traditional folk culture is preserved as a whole that is it is kept in the minds of the majority of the population (at least of middle-aged and older ages) calendar holidays stay relevant with their complex beliefs and rituals, archaic and pagan, but strictly adapted to Christian realities (a phenomenon of the so-called «folk Christianity»). The author draws attention to apotropaic magical actions and disallowance of specific actions during holidays (primarily Christmas, Annunciation, Exaltation holidays) aimed at avoiding contact with snakes and the use of purely physical factors (including the garlic smell) to scare away reptiles. The proper attention is also paid to the beliefs about the Queen of snakes (with a crown on her head) and the algorithm of actions of those who want to become rich. Folk conceptions of a «magic wand» that becomes as such if a person manages to save a frog from the jaws of a snake have also been analyzed. The article also throws light on a domestic adder snake – the «owner of a house» which in no case can be killed even if it sucks milk from a cow. The range of meanings of the image of a snake considering the folk dream interpretation tradition has also been given in the article.