Calendar Cycle Research Articles

Обрядовые и театрально-игровые основы художественных и педагогических экспериментов Е.В. Честнякова

The idea of a close relation between the work of the original Kostroma artist Efim Chestnyakov (1874-1961) and the traditional peasant culture has been expressed repeatedly. However, there were no direct parallels between the images and plots of his works and the folk rituals of the calendar cycle characteristic of the Kostroma land. In this regard, the purpose of this study is an attempt at a source analysis of the famous paintings by Efim Chestnyakov Our Festival and Festive Procession with a Song. Kolyada and verification of the previously stated hypotheses. For the first time, ceremonial rounds of courtyards on Yuletide and Saint George’s Day, as well as the carols (koliadki) and folk poems (prigovory) performed by their participants, are considered as the authentic basis of the fairy tales, paintings and clay figurines by Chestnyakov and at the same time as the context of the existence of his works when working with local children. Special attention in the article is paid to mummery as a game technique most in demand by Chestnyakov. According to his countrymen, the artist used disguises and masks traditional for mummery both inside folklore rituals, in which he involved his pupils — peasant children, and in theatrical productions based on folklore subjects invented for them.

«Требник атеиста»: теория и практика гражданской обрядности в СССР

The article is devoted to the analysis of the book “Socialist Rituals”. Kyiv. 1985, which outlines the theory and practice of civil rituals in the late USSR. This manual may well be called an “Аn atheistic breviary”, designed to replace the church breviary. The work shows the artificiality and lifelessness of Soviet civil rituals, considered by its creators primarily as an element of persecution of the Russian OrthodoX Church. The inability of Soviet civil rituals to satisfy human spiritual needs has been proven. The main, unsolved task of the creators of non-religious civil rituals was to find means of persuasion and evidence of its effectiveness. The article shows how, in order to impart a certain “spirituality” to civil rites, the authors of the manual consciously or unconsciously use the method of mental associations. New Soviet rituals are analyzed — “rites of the calendar cycle”, “solemn registration of marriage”, “solemn registration of a newborn”, “civil funeral services”.

THE MYTH OF THE WILD HUNT IN EUROPEAN FOLKLORE AND IN THE NOVEL «KING STAKH'S WILD HUNT» WRITTEN BY U. S. KARATKIEVICH

The article compares the myth of the Wild Hunt, which is widespread in European folklore, with «The Wild Hunt of King Stach» written by U. S. Karatkievich. The most characteristic features of the myth in European (and in particular in German) folklore are highlighted, such as: the participants of the Wild Hunt, their leader, accompanying animals, the place and time of the appearance of ghosts, the consequences of meeting with the Wild Hunt). The article highlights that the myth has a connection with the calendar cycle. Examples of similar legends in Belarusian folklore are given, assumptions are made as to the possible source of the Wild Hunt motif in the book written by U. S. Karatkievich.

The Images of Sacred Trees in Ancient Egyptian Fairy Tales

The paper examines the semantics of trees described in the ancient Egyptian fairy tales “Tale of Two Brothers” and in the “Story of Sinuhe”. The purpose of the study is to identify the semantics of trees in these fairy tales, their relationship with the religious ideas of the Egyptians and specifies of ideas about the calendar cycle displayed in these texts. The author traces literary parallels between the images of fairy-tale trees and the motifs of the “Book of the Dead”, which tells about the posthumous life of the soul of the deceased in the Netherworld. The study reveals that in the “Tale of Two Brothers”, the cedar and two persea trees are correlated with the Osiris and solar cults. The persea trees represent the rays of the sun, Osiris and the deceased as the blessed spirit Akh. The cedar inflorescence located at the top of the tree is also associated with the image of the sun. It was found that in this fairy tale, the description of tree life and the hero’s repeated birth reflect the change of calendar cycles from the flood season to the harvest season, from the period of visibility of celestial bodies and plants to the period of their invisibility. The sycamore, mentioned in the “Story of Sinuhe”, is the sacred tree of Hathor, Isis and Nut and appears as a symbol of the heaven with which these goddesses were associated.

Plots and Motives of Altai Myths about the 12-year Animal Calendar

The purpose of this article is to identify the plot-motivational features of Altai etiological myths about the appearance of the 12-year eastern calendar. Analysis of historiography on the problem of the origin of this animal cycle allowed the author to come to the conclusion that the animal calendar existed among the Turkic peoples already in the distant past. Based on the material of the narrative folklore of the Altai people, the plots and motives about the appearance of the 12-year animal calendar are considered. The main research method is plot-motive analysis of the text. The novelty of the research lies in identifying the plots and characteristics of the characters in the myths about the 12-year calendar cycle. The animals present in the calendar – dragon, tiger and monkey – indicate the influence of the mythology of other eastern peoples. The results of a comparative analysis of Altai myths about the 12-year animal calendar with the myths of the Kazakhs, Mongols and Chinese showed a difference in the main characters: among the Altai people the creator of the calendar is the deity Kudai (theonym variants: Dayuchi / Dayaachy), the mythical character Dyylchy, others among the southeastern peoples are Buddha, and in particular among the Chinese – Yu Di. A chronological feature of Altai myths is the relationship between the appearance of the calendar and the mythological time after the flood. In the folklore of the Altai people, based on the plot of competitions between animals wishing to enter the calendar, independent plots of an etiological nature also arose. Independent motifs include the mythological motifs “who will see the sun first” (about a camel and a mouse), “thunder is an animal” (about a dragon), “the cloven hoof of a cow” (about a cow and a monkey). The Altaians have developed certain mythological ideas about the characters of each of the twelve years, repeating in a cycle, which they associate with the behavioral characteristics of animals. Using this calendar, people figured out what the coming year would be like.

Astrology and Divination in a Chronicle from the Tangut Collection of IOM, RAS. Preface, Translation from Tangut and Commentary

Manuscript Tang 1770 (11th–13th centuries) from the IOM, RAS Collection is an astrological and mantic text. It has no beginning, where we could possibly find the text’s title, but its end has survived, so we know the name of its author or compiler. Its handwriting is quite clear and structure is also easy to read and understand, which is rarely the case with Tangut books. Judging from its grammar and lexical characteristics, it appears to be an original Tangut text rather than a translation from Chinese or Tibetan. Content-wise, this work offers a description of the agricultural calendar cycle, its beginning and ending, and significant mantic and astrological characteristics of every cycle. We also find here the elements of a year-by-year chronicle: some evidence of everyday life and real facts from Xixia history. There are also some interesting language traits which deserve further research. All these aspects make this text a very important written source for the Tangut studies.

Spring ritual baking in Russian calendar rites of the middle Volga region

The article discusses the peculiarities of ritual baking in the Middle Volga region. The names and symbolic meaning of ritual baking, its place of the calendar cycle, ceremonial and ritual actions performed with bakes are considered. The purpose of this study is to determine the functions of ritual baking in the calendar ritual of the Volga region Russians. The work was carried out on the materials of folklore and ethnographic expeditions of the Institute of Humanitarian Studies of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 2004, 2018–2023, expeditions of the Department of Oral Folk Art of Lomonosov Moscow State University in the 1980s. The study showed that the calendar timing of the baking crosses tradition changes throughout the XX century – from the Feast of the Holy Cross to Epiphany. This is due to the consonance of the names, the same symbolism of the holidays and the«falling out» of the Sredokrestie from the national calendar in Soviet times. Ladder baking retains their calendar timing for the Ascension holiday, but by the middle of the XX century they practically cease to exist, as the church holiday got replaced by alternative secular ones – the feast of the first furrow, etc. The tradition of baking «larks» has only survived to the present and is actively in existence, but its original meaning has changed. Christian and agrarian symbolism has been replaced by the motifs ofthe seasonal change.

Fenomén mečového tanca v Európe. Kultúrno-historické kontexty

Sword dances belong to the oldest layers of dance culture. The origin of these dances, which can be described as a phenomenal manifestation of dance culture in almost the whole of Europe, unfortunately cannot be reduced to a single genetic basis. It goes without saying that such dancing would not still exist today without its bearers. Sword dancing has been gradually modified in some countries, losing its ceremonial function or its connection to the calendar cycle, and being transformed into a theatrical form; in some countries it is now only maintained by small groups of dancers as a social occasion. The tradition of sword dancing is a unique example of Europe‘s intangible cultural heritage. The ancient chain and circle form of the dance is an element common to European countries, apart from the connection with the carnival season. The dance itself has its own specific features – dance patterns, costumes, clothing accesories, and props, which are unique components of the dance that point to its archaic character. The aim of the study is to document these dances, identifying the characteristic features and common expressions across almost all of Europe, or in the countries where they have been documented.

Йойги в контексте свадебной обрядности северных карелов: семантика и особенности функционирования

The article deals with the joiks as a genre of North Karelian folklore, which in traditional culture marks the transitional, crisis situations in the life- and calendar cycles and is an element of the wedding ritual’s musical code. In terms of the poetic text content, the joiks bear a typological similarity to the reprobating (korilnye) songs from the folk music of Slavic peoples. The lack of research on the semantics and functions of the joiks in the context of wedding rituals, as well as on the correspondence between the joik poetic texts and ritual tunes makes this study relevant. The task for this article is to identify the ritual and non-ritual functions of the joik musical and poetic texts based on ethnographic data and the study of the etymology and the semantic field of the term’s meanings. Another aspect examined in the article is that of the features of functioning of the joiks when they are performed with wedding song tunes. The material for the study was provided by a set of published and archival texts and audio records made by folklorists and musicologists predominantly in the mid-20th century.

NEPOTISM AS A PHENOMENON OF UKRAINIAN INGUOMENTALITY (BASED ON THE MATERIAL OF RITUAL SONGS)

The presented research is dedicated to the study of the tradition of nepotism in various rituals of both ritual cycles: family and calendar. Taking into account the fact that there is no single point of view among historians, cultural scientists and ethnologists on the understanding of the origins of nepotism, we included in the analysis the texts of ritual songs, in particular, christening songs, which contain information about godfathers, attitudes towards them, characterized their moral qualities and relationships between them. The purpose of the study was to analyse the texts of folk songs, which reveal the ancient folk tradition of nepotism among Ukrainians. The object of our attention was the phenomenon of nepotism, that is, the presence of them in separate rituals of the family and calendar cycle. The subject was the characteristics of godparents and the relationship between them, the attitude towards the godparents of godchildren, etc. In the process of working with the texts of ritual songs, we used the methods of induction and synthesis, descriptive and comparative methods, as well as the method of contextual and interpretive analysis of folklore texts. The etymology of the words kum and kuma confirms the information that most of the rites of the family cycle were purely female. Ethnographic materials testify to the importance and necessity of the presence of them in the christening ritual. After the christening ritual in the church, the organizers of the festive dinner could be both the parents of the newborn child and the godfather and godmother. At dinner, the main ones were the midwife and godparents, they were the ones who sang majestic songs. Taking into account the fact that the godfather and godmother were chosen for the child with the aim and the possibility of fully duplicating the duties of the biological parents in case of misfortune with the latter, in ancient times sexual relations between godfathers were not condemned, as between a real husband and wife. As a result of the research, we came to the following conclusions: the tradition of nepotism in family rites was primary; in calendar – secondary. Grooming in the broadest sense involved the establishment of family or blood relations; in a narrow way – duplication of married life in all its manifestations as a result of imitative magic, in which the ancestors believed. Godfathers were treated with great respect, even more than biological parents. Folk songs about godparents that have come down to our times record a later period when they were honoured and glorified, and intimate relationships between godparents were condemned.

Studying of folk (dialectal) speech in extracurricular work of middle school

The studying of folk (dialectal) speech is important in the school course of the Ukrainian language, especially in rural areas, as it offers an understanding of the specificity of the Ukrainian language in its territorial expression. Awareness of the specificity of the territorial variety of the Ukrainian language will contribute to the manifestation of patriotic feelings of students, the desire to preserve the ethnic (territorial) peculiarity. The relevance of our research is determined by the need to study folk speech in the school course ofthe Ukrainian language. The purpose of the article is to develop the topics of one of the forms of extracurricular work (of a colloquium) on the Ukrainian language for the study of spoken language in secondary school. The research was carried out on the material of the dialects of the villages of Ulashkivtsi and Zabolotivka of the Chortkiv district of the Ternopil region. Research methods. The research was carried out on the main general scientific methods of analysis and synthesis, as well as on linguistic methods – descriptive, structural. With the help of the descriptive method the factual material was summarized. The inventory and systematization of language phenomena was promoted by the structural method. Conclusions. As a result of the insufficient coverage of information from the "Dialectology of the Ukrainian language" in school teaching course of the Ukrainian language, the role of extracurricular work as one of the types of educational work is increasing, the purpose of which is to deepen the information from this course, as well as to explain to schoolchildren the differences between folk (colloquial) words and literal names. Therefore, students must understand the specifics of the manifestation of the territorial variety of the national Ukrainian language. For this purpose, the most optimal form of extracurricular work is a colloquium, during which the teacher will provide information about the types of dialectal phenomena, tell about the origin of the dialecticisms of speech, offer information about the vocabulary of the calendar cycle (middle grades), and explain the phonetic-grammatical regularities of dialectal speech (senior grades).

Chrononyms and Some Features of the Calendar Cycle of Makarevsky District, Kostroma Region

The article examines the local holiday tradition recorded in an area of the Upper Volga basin, namely in the Makaryevsky district of the Kostroma region. It particularly focuses on the linguistic representation of this tradition: chrononyms (holiday names), related proverbs, and chrononymic derivatives. The research is based on field materials collected by members of the Toponymic Expedition of the Ural Federal University during several field trips (in 2004 and 2021–2023). The local calendar system is subject to selective rather than complete description that focuses on the factors that shape the originality of the local tradition. Among these are the unique chrononyms exclusively specific to Makaryevsky district, including those naming the annual holidays of Makaryevsky settlements (such as Yarilova Plesh, Ostannoye Voskresenje, Revun (day)). Another feature of the local calendar are the names of holidays referring to locally significant shrines or saints (revered in the vicinities of Unzha and Vetluga rivers or in Kostroma land in general). These are, for example, Makariev (Macarius) Day, Varnaviev (Barnabas) Day. High concentration of settlements celebrating these as patronal holidays in the region displays the significant role of the Rev. Macarius and Barnabas for these places. The paper also touches upon the local character of some all-Russian holidays, particularly the well-known Ilyin’s (Elijah’s) Day and the Day of St. Spyridon-the-Turner as the most notable for the festive tradition of the Makaryevsky district. For chrononyms with an obscure original meaning, the article provides motivational comments.

The Maya 819-Day Count and Planetary Astronomy

AbstractArguably the most enigmatic of the Maya calendar cycles, the 819-day count has challenged modern scholars for decades. Even today it is not completely explained and there are several areas for further research, including its relationship with the synodic periods of the planets visible to the naked eye. Earlier research has demonstrated a four-part, color-directional scheme for the 819-day count such that each of the calendar stations progress in increments of 819 days in cycles of 4 × 819 days. Although prior research has sought to show planetary connections for the 819-day count, its four-part, color-directional scheme is too short to fit well with the synodic periods of the visible planets. By increasing the calendar length to 20 periods of 819-days a pattern emerges in which the synodic periods of all the visible planets commensurate with station points in the larger 819-day calendar.

The Enduring Usefulness of the Tur’s 247-year Calendar Cycle (Iggul of Rabbi Nachshon)

The Enduring Usefulness of the Tur’s 247-year Calendar Cycle (Iggul of Rabbi Nachshon)

КОНЦЕПТ СВІТОВОГО ДЕРЕВА В УКРАЇНСЬКІЙ ЕТНОКУЛЬТУРНІЙ ТРАДИЦІЇ ТА КУЛЬТУРІ СТАРОДАВНЬОЇ ІНДІЇ

ThearticleexaminestheconceptoftheWorldTreeas a dominantelementintheUkrainianethno-cult Abstract. The article examines the concept of the World Tree as a dominant element in the Ukrainian ethno-cultural tradition and the culture of Ancient India. The image of the World Tree is the basis of archaic culture and is represented through the prism of mythology and the worldview system of our ancestors. Attention is focused on the fact that the World Tree reflects an ordered model of the universe in space and time, which determines the organization of the cosmic space and has the corresponding symbolism. In many cultures of the world (the proposed work focuses on the culture of Ancient India), the World Tree represents the unity of three worlds - the heavenly (the world of Gods), the earthly (the world of people) and the afterlife (the world of ancestors). The World Tree (Tree of Life) also has temporal symbolism, that is, the roots are the past, the trunk is the present, the crown is the future. In the Ukrainian ethnocultural tradition, the image of the World Tree is characteristical for the mythological consciousness of our ancestors and embodies the universal concept of the world, which is reflected in various manifestations (heavenly tree, tree of life, ancient tree), as well as in transformational images (world pillar, world mountain, paradise tree, willow). Using the examples of folklore texts, it is proved that the World Tree means a sacred point of origin, functioning as an important sphere of fertility cult in various rites of the calendar cycle and family rites. Attention is focused on the position of the universality of the image of the World Tree in the ancient myths of ancient India, which is embodied in the world axis, temple, tree of life, tree of knowledge and, what is interesting, in the image of the great "inner man" that lives inside each individual. In Indian culture, over the centuries, accumulated knowledge about the inner spiritual world of a person, combined with a perfect physical body, made up a whole system of teaching - yoga. In a broad sense, this concept includes a combination of spiritual, psychological and physical practices that were originated in Hinduism and Buddhism. Therefore, the concept of the World Tree acts as a sacred, fixed symbol almost everywhere and had a powerful influence on the formation of the mythological worldview.

Субрегиональные календарные традиции белорусов-переселенцев: стабильные, мобильные и уникальные компоненты

The article deals with the ritual and song components of the subregional calendar traditions of Belarusian settlers from the Omsk and Novosibirsk regions, Krasnoyarsk and Primorsky territories (records of songs and descriptions of rituals of the 1970s–2010s). It has been established that the subregional traditions of Belarusian settlers differ from each other in the composition of calendar rituals, the presence or absence of a song component in them and the number of song samples. The author comes to the conclusion that the annual calendar cycle of Belarusian migrants includes stable and mobile folklore and ethnographic complexes. Stable ones are developed in all the studied subregional traditions, in them the ratio of “rite-song genres” is balanced. Mobile ones may be present / absent in different sub-regional traditions or have different weight in their ritual-genre systems, the ratio of rituals and songs in such complexes is, as a rule, unequal. In addition, there are a small number of unique elements that distinguish any tradition from a number of others. The most stable is the winter festive folklore-ethnographic complex. It is present in all sub-regional traditions in sufficient completeness and safety. Only the Omsk subregion has a striking difference, where there is also a uniqat – the Christmas ritual game “Tereshka’s marriage”. The second stable component is the stubble ritual-labor complex with song genres related to it, including ritual ones and those dedicated to the season. The features of mobile folklore-ethnographic complexes are considered. The unique features of each subregional tradition are revealed.

Специфика нового полевого материала в корпусе тома по несказочной прозе бурят

At present, the manuscript of the volume “The non-fairytale prose of the Buryats,” compiled for the series “Monuments of Folklore of the Peoples of Siberia and the Far East,” presents the etiological, mythological, legendary, historical narratives that are the most characteristic of the Buryat ethnic tradition. Despite covering the most characteristic thematic plots and motives of the non-fairytale prose of Buryats, the text lacks mythological works and stories with a mythological basis. This lacuna can be somewhat filled by expeditionary records made in Inner Mongolia region of China from the ethno-territorial group of Buryats living in the Shenehen area. Thus, it is proposed to include the mythological stories about how the first people appeared, why the constellation of Ursa Major is called the Seven Elders, why Buryuats began to read the lamb scapula. Noteworthy are the records featuring a supreme deity of heavenly origin as the main character, the initiator of ordering the sequence of changing years and creating a twelve-year calendar cycle, each year corresponding to one of the animals. Al-so, it is worth including the “explanatory” stories, recorded among the Buryats of Inner Mongolia, based on the people’s ancient knowledge of the ethnological peculiarities of Buryat life. Thus, the forthcoming volume will include authentic textual sources based on ancient mythological views of people about the existing universe and world order, shamans and lamas having magic powers, foresight, and other non-standard superpowers, also based on explaining the specificity of ethnic elements of Buryat culture and everyday life.

Ancient Beliefs and Traditional Singing of Ukrainians: Gender Differentiation

Gender differentiation in the Ukrainian song tradition is most consistently manifested in the ritual system, and partly – in the epic tradition and lyrical song tradition. The primary attention in the article is paid to the ritual sphere, first of all to the calendar cycle. The paper highlights in detail the traditional distribution of functions between men and women in pre-Christian rituals, during which, according to ancient ideas and beliefs, there was some contact between «that» (sacred) and «this» («profane») worlds.
 Males, or more precisely, boys who were members of the so-called «parubotchi gromady» (young men communities) took an active part in the rites only once a year – at the beginning of the calendar-time cycle that is, in winter (in ancient times this happened in the spring) during the rituals of the yards circumambulation. The main purpose of these actions was to wish good for each family from the dead ancestors for the coming year (verbal magic), and in return, the ancestors received gifts – sacrificial food from representatives of the living world to appease them for the next year.
 Women, as representatives of «this» world, maintained contact with otherworldly forces throughout the entire agrarian period from sowing to harvest, as well as in ceremonies associated with the birth of a child, a wedding, or escorting the deceased to the afterlife. In times of crisis in the development of nature and human life, they turned to their deceased ancestors for help. The magical instrument of this connection was the voice, which filled the ritual texts with specific ritual timbre-intonation.
 The gender distribution in other genres of Ukrainian traditional song is somewhat different. Thus, if in the epic songs the prerogative belongs to men, then the lyric song system is characterized by the joint and almost equal participation of men and women. However, it should be noted that the performers of social songs were predominantly men, and women sang family lyric songs. But the most common was a mixed lineup of singing groups. Even more this property is inherent in the late layer of lyrical song performance.
 The author also draws attention to the age aspect of the performance of ritual and non-ritual songs in the Ukrainian tradition

RITUAL WORDS AND SONGS IN THE MUSICAL FOLKLORE OF THE DARGINS

The structure of the musical folklore of the Dargins is considered in accordance with the social organization, in relation to the levels of the rural community: tribal (tukhum), rural neighbor (jamaat) and inter-village (khureba). In the article, the author, basing on the field expedition material from the personal archive, focuses on the ritual genres of the tribal and calendar cycles that exist in both applied and ritual functions. In the ritual genres, the forms of performance are revealed, and the attachment of vocal and instrumental genres to gender and age groups is also traced.

„Prošao život“ Jovana Radulovića – roman alegorija o nestanku jednog naroda

Јovan Radulovic introduced himself to the readership as a writer of main- land, karst Dalmatia, as well as the literary successor of Simo Matavulj. The first two decades of Radulović’s litarary work were oriented exclusively to the topics related to his homeland. Only since the novel Braća po materi has his interests spread to larger urban areas (Zadar, Šibenik, Zagreb, Belgrade, Ljubljana). By skillfully inserting a multitude of data about the Knin region, about its historical, geographical, social and cultural circum- stances, into the narrative of the novel Prošao život (1997), Radulović highlights the great significance and continuity of Serbian culture in Croatia. In this novel, says the writer, I paid homage to all those who successfully built what was called ’Serbian intelligence on the Coast’. The basic idea that unites all thematic, motivational, characterological, narrative, expressive and qualitative factors of the novel is reduced to the allegory of passed life. It permeates topics, characters, time, events ‒ all elements of the novel. The basic idea is diversified in many different ways and by using different stylistic means: contrasts, sym- bols, allusions, allegories. The idea is particularly emphasized in the passages describing everyday life of the people, as well as cultural and historical events. Even the characters have one common role: to form a coherent whole, to revitalize the collective spirit of the people that, by losing its natural habitat, has ceased to be what it was there. The novel is completely built on Christian symbolism: there is a calendar cycle of the most important Christian and Serbian holidays: Epiphany, Easter, Vidovdan, Saint Nicholas and Christmas; mention is made of Gojko’s Golgotha, wiping feet with a sinner’s hair, mourning the dead, the riders of the apocalypse who come in the form of Ignjat’s killers. The basic idea can also be interpreted as a symbol of the Christ-like suffering of an entire nation.