Cosmogonic Myths Research Articles

Monumental snake engravings of the Orinoco River

Rock art of the Middle and Upper Orinoco River in South America is characterised by some of the largest and most enigmatic engravings in the world, including snakes exceeding 40m in length. Here, the authors map the geographic distribution of giant snake motifs and assess the visibility of this serpentine imagery within the Orinoco landscape and Indigenous myths. Occupying prominent outcrops that were visible from great distances, the authors argue that the rock art provided physical reference points for cosmogonic myths, acting as border agents that structured the environment and were central to Indigenous placemaking along the rivers of lowland South America.

In the Beginning: Chinese Cosmogonic Myths and Taoist Philosophy

In the Beginning: Chinese Cosmogonic Myths and Taoist Philosophy

THE MYTHOLOGICAL IMAGE OF THE LADYBUG AMONG THE PEOPLES OF THE URAL-VOLGA REGION

The article is devoted to the mythological image of a ladybug among the Slavic, Finno-Ugric and Turkic ethnic groups of the Ural-Volga region.
 
 The purpose of the study is to reveal some of the origins of this mythologeme among the peoples of the region.
 
 Materials and methods. The work mainly used the comparative historical method, as well as field studies. The materials drawn from the scientific literature on this subject, the author’s field studies, were supplemented with the materials of explanatory and etymological dictionaries, compared and analyzed.
 
 Results. As a result of the research, the author revealed the following picture. The basis of the ladybug’s mythological image is likely to be made by animistic-totemic beliefs. So one of the Chuvash names of the insect deserves attention – “bird of the top”. Perhaps in the past, the ladybug could act as a totem-the progenitor of individual family lines. Among Russians, Udmurts, Mari, Bashkirs, the ancient image is concretized through the concept of “god” or the name of a certain deity (Marena, Inmar, Kilchin, Invu-mums, Kuaz, Humo).
 
 Conclusions. It is worth agreeing with the researchers of the topic that among the Russians the ladybug is equated, as a rule, with the concept of a heavenly god, among the Mordvins and the Udmurts – with rain, water, among the Chuvash, the Tatars and the Bashkirs – with rainless weather and the sun. The latter may be due to the fact that in ancient Turkic mythology, the idea of the “primordial nature of heaven and earth” played an important role. On the contrary, the cosmogonic myths of the Finno-Ugric peoples anyhow include an element of the water primordiate. The Russian and Udmurt materials, as the researchers note, go back to the mythologeme of heavenly flocks. Some Udmurt and Mari materials are probably calques from the Russian language or motifs associated with a Proto-Indo-European source. At the same time, as the author of the article believes, in Mari mythology, the connection of the ladybug with wet young grass, forest, with water primordial, bottom (the earth, as opposed to the heaven), the creation of the world from an egg and a “heavenly wedding” is traced. The association of the ladybug with rainless weather can be traced mainly among the mountain Mari. The originality of the image of the “Mari” ladybug, as the author sees it, can be explained by the fusion of both Turkic and Finno-Ugric traditions. The author also believes that the ideas of the Udmurts and the Mari people about the “Inmar/Kylchina/Kuazya/Yumo cow” could have arisen independently on the basis of an already existing idea of bulls (cows) or horses of the heavenly god. In this regard, it is necessary to pay attention to another, perhaps Central Asian, source of legends about the animal-the messenger of God. This refers to the legend of the “eaten book”, common among the Russians, the Mari, the Udmurts, the Chuvash and the Tatars.

Eros and the Pearl. The Yezidi Cosmogonic Myth at the Crossroads of Mystical Traditions , by Artur Rodziewicz

Eros and the Pearl. The Yezidi Cosmogonic Myth at the Crossroads of Mystical Traditions , by Artur Rodziewicz

The nothingness myth

Abstract This article analyzes the concept of “nothingness” as a part of human- resource relations in pre- and post-industrial landscapes. It addresses nothingness as a part of mythological narratives in Kvartsitnyi settlement in northwestern Russia. Kvartsitnyi was built in the 1970s near the new quartzitic sandstone quarry and was initially viewed as a modern settlement attracting workers from all around the country. However, in the early 2000s, the quarry went bankrupt and closed. The pre-industrial landscape of Kvartsitnyi is often viewed in the interviews as empty, and the quarry's closure recreated this symbolic “nothingness.” These narratives resemble mythological creation stories when a new world appears from nothing but is destroyed as a result of human mistakes. The article discusses the cosmogonic myth of Kvartsitnyi within the larger context of Soviet and post-Soviet myth-making.

Myths about the world creation from an egg of Baltic-Finnish peoples in comparison with cosmogonomic myths of Mary and Udmurts

The subject of this study is the motives of the myth of creation from an egg among Mari and Udmurts. Until now, the myth of the world creation from an egg (MCE) has been noted in the tradition of the Baltic-Finnish peoples, as well as the Mordvins and Komi. An analysis of Mari cosmogonic myths and folk songs reveals two mythological motives related to MCE: 1) a cuckoo builds a nest on an oak tree with six branches; 2) a duck (goose) breeds five, six, seven, twelve chicks right on the water (the top of the grass growing in the river middle). The main conclusions of the study are the following provisions. The image of a duck of the Eastern Mari is not so popular and is replaced by the images of a cuckoo and a swan. A wagtail and an ermine are also mentioned in the Mari folklore which finds parallels in Ainu and Nenets myths. Udmurt variants of folk songs include the mythologem of a duck (goose) with ducklings. The myth of a creator eagle and two ducks was perhaps characteristic not only of the Finns, Hungarians and North American Indians but also of the Mari. The Udmurt myth of creation is characterized by the presence, in addition to Inmar and Shaitan, of a cancer which finds a parallel in the Buryat cosmogonic myth. The motif of primordial ice and frozen primordial earth was probably widespread in the traditions of Izhora, Mari, part of the Bashkirs who were descendants of the Finno-Ugric peoples, Nganasan. And, thus, this motif was apparently present in the Proto-Uralic mythology.

Сайтинские боги в шаманизме бурят: семантика образов и функции

The article examines the semantics and functions of the deities known in the Buryat shaman pantheon of the Baikal region as “Saitani Burhad” (Saitin gods). The chronological framework of the study covers the period from the last quarter of the 19th to the beginning of the 20th century. The research is based on historical, ethnographic, ethnolinguistic, folkloristic, mythological and archaeological materials. Structural-functional and cultural-semantic analyses used to identify the semantics of the image of each Saitin deity in the pantheon showed their conditionality by the process of personification, which correlates with one of the structural components of the white shamanism of the Buryats, defined by its origin as female shamanism. They include shamanic trance, silver as a sacred metal in the sphere of white shamanism, the process of invoking gods and ancestral spirits with the help of chants, the ritual attire of the shaman, as well as the rite of sacrifice and its attributes. The study of the image and functions of the mythological ancestors of the Buryats of the Hori tribe, represented in the pantheon of the Saitin gods with the functions of intermediary spirits between earthly people and the White heavenly gods of the “Western Tengri”, reveals their commonality with the worldview, cosmogonic myths and cosmological representations of the Turkic-Mongolian peoples of Southern Siberia, Central Asia and the Yakuts. The origins of this community go back to the culture of the Iranian-speaking peoples of the Eurasian steppes of the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age, who revered the creator God, whose name is formed from the root aar/aya. The analysis of the ethnogonic myth of the Khori-Buryats as the plot of the cosmogonic myth correlated with the seasonal rituals of the Turkic-Mongolian peoples showed that historically the bearers of these beliefs were a social community with the totemic cult of the Scythian Deer-Sun and Swan-Sun Bird. Taking into account the correlation of images and events in the Khori myth with petroglyphs in the Sagan-Zaba Bay and Aya Bay on the northern shore of Lake Baikal, the origin of the Saitin gods among the population of the Baikal region can be correlated with the tile graves on Olkhon Island and the northern coast of Lake Baikal.

The Moon and the Sun in Kalmyk Mythology

This article is devoted to the analysis of Kalmyk cosmogonic myths about the Sun and the Moon. The author's task is to analyze the myths in the collections, to show that, despite the records or publications in different years, the general culture influenced the cosmogonic mythology of the Kalmyks. The subject of the study is plots, images and other elements of Kalmyk oral narratives about heavenly bodies. The main material of the study is the texts of Kalmyk myths recorded by researchers of the Kalmyk Scientific Center in the regions of Kalmykia and published in the volume "Myths, Legends and Legends of the Kalmyks" of the "Code of Kalmyk Folklore", and the material printed in the collection "Seven Stars" was also used. The novelty of the research lies in the analysis of cosmogonic myths presented in two collections published at different times. The main conclusion of the study is the fact that there are several versions of the myth of the Arach, which are different versions of the same plot. The appearance of the Sun and Moon is mentioned only in a few myths, in which they appear from the waters of the ocean in different ways: knocking down water with a mountain, with the help of a huge pump, with a blow of a sharp spear. Kalmyk cosmogonic myths explain not only the birth of the Sun and Moon, but also solar and lunar eclipses. This plot is quite widespread among the Mongolian peoples. In all the myths described above, the Sun and the Moon help Vajrapani Gegyan catch the Arach and cut it in two. The lower part descends to the ground, the upper part rises to the sky. Lunar and solar eclipses found a peculiar reflection in the consciousness of the ancestors. The peculiarity of the Kalmyk cosmogonic myths indicates the desire of the ancestors to know the world.

POETHOLOGY OF "HOLY WATER" MOTIVES IN LEGENDS

In this article, the motif of sacred water sources, widespread in folklore, is taken as the main object, and first of all, the events related to water from the cosmogonic myths are considered. At the same time, the significance of water in Islam was compared with the characteristics of the Buddha and Christian knowledge. In the Ancient worldview, creation was associated with various objects related to water. Water is the most common natural creature in mythology. The world ocean, bottomless and infinitely deep water is a phenomenon that existed before the appearance of the first being. Natural spontaneity stands at the origins of all creation, as well as one boundary in the transition from chaos to the cosmos. In mythical knowledge, the concepts of the sea, ocean, river, lake, stream, and sources are very important. One of the important features of the veneration of water as a sacred object is the motives associated with springs or sacred wells. In the knowledge of the peoples of Turkic origin, water is a symbol of creative origin, reproduction, abundance and fertility, destruction and rebirth, virtue, and Kie. The article compared the rituals common to the Turkic peoples related to water: the consecration of water, the opening of spring, the expansion of the streambed, and the invitation of rain. The sources of myths about the origin of water in the knowledge of the ancient Turks are analyzed, and the mythical motifs associated with water are systematized. Samples of folklore about the origin of a stream, river, lake, or sea were considered. The role of prophets and saints in the origin of rivers and springs was highlighted by examples in religious rituals. Three types of holy water mentioned in the Quran are analyzed, and their special function for the human race. The concepts of "holy water", "Holy spring", "living water", and "water of life" were taken into account, and examples were given. "The sacred places of the water and the legends concerning people with special sacred, mysterious power, prophets were compared. Examples from the lyrics of songs common to the Turkic peoples are studied, and appropriate conclusions are drawn.

The blessed handful of light: genesis and message of the Yezidi berat

ABSTRACT The article is devoted to berat, the sacred object of the Yezidi religion. It is a pearl-shaped white pellet made in the holy Iraqi valley of Lalish from the local dust mixed with several ingredients. For the Yezidis, berat constitutes a physical testimony of their connection with the holiest place on earth and at the same time the link with the location that, according to their cosmogonic myth, has been created by God in the heavens and then descended as the first place on earth. The objective of the article is to analyse this sacred object, describe its preparation, discuss its symbolism, and its use in Yezidi religious rituals. Such an approach allows the author to conclude the article with a hypothesis about the origin of the berat and its connection with similar Muslim and Christian objects (turba, hnana, Malka), and early Islamic legend about the creation of primordial Muhammad from a handful of light resembling a pearl. The study, which is the first monograph on berat, is based mainly on the author’s own field research in Iraq, Georgia and Turkey, Yezidi oral tradition and source texts.

Delimiting Religion

Delimiting Religion

The Value Reality of Peace from The Cosmogonic Myth of The Srumbung Gunung Hamlet

This research is based on the idea that myth as a form of culture projects the reality of the values ​​that are lived by the community, talking about collective ideals about the form of society that is dreamed of together. In addition, myth also shows the tendency of people to overcome conflict. This study uses an ethnographic qualitative research method. Thus, the data were taken from direct observations and from interviews with community leaders or elders of the Srumbung Gunung hamlet to find out various versions of the myth of the origin of the Srumbung Gunung hamlet. These data are then analyzed using an ideational cultural framework, exploring the cosmogonic myth of Dusun Srumbung Gunung. Seeing the layers of values ​​that wrap around myth, specifically to understand the values ​​that support peace while at the same time seeing the tendency of community patterns to resolve conflicts. Furthermore, the results of this study show that the reality of the value of peace in myth is prioritizing dialogue or deliberation, cooperation and kinship, respect for nature, respect for those who are different and living an attitude of like to work hard, dare to sacrifice in seeking a prosperous life. This myth also shows the tendency of community patterns in dealing with conflict. There is a tendency for some people to take aggressive actions, but on the other hand there are also those who tend to be more preventive, restrictive and self-defense rather than attack. In the end, a deep understanding of culture is important for peace-building efforts to be more effective.

Мотив музыки луны в поэзии К. Д. Бальмонта

In the article the motive of the music of the moon in K. D. Balmont’s poetry is researched on the material of his poems, prose and aesthetic articles. Its symbolic value and evolution in books of the early, mature and late periods are explored. The following conclusions are drawn. In the early lyric poetry of Balmont the moon is associated with the oxymoronic motive of the ‘sounding silence’. This motive is determined by the principal role of psychologism in the early poems of the symbolist, the ‘sounding silence’ emphasizes the state of the inner world of the hero, who is always detached from reality and is reflecting on the essence of life and death. The connection of the motive of the ‘sounding silence’ with gothic symbolic range is considered, which is characteristic for the first books by Balmont. In his mature lyrical poetry, the moon is associated with the theme of music, which has a lot of connotations. Firstly, the music of the moon correlates with the traditional motives of poetry and art. In the book Let’s be Like the Sun the world is on the line between lunar silence and melody of strings, which the poet uses to play his odes to the orb of the night. But in mature poetry in the books Only Love. Seven-color Flower, Liturgy of the Beauty. Hymns of the Elements and Sonnets of Sun, Honey and Moon. The song of worlds lunar music is connected with themes of fairy tale, magic, love, dream and phantasy, but at the same time with motives of the illusion, unfeasible reveries, death, specularity and ghostliness. Particular attention is paid to the connection between the motive of lunar music and the philosophy of music of the senior symbolist and his spontaneous mythology. No less important is the functioning of this motive in the poem The Moon, dedicated to the cosmogonic myth of the creation of the world, where moon music is related to the themes of archaic mythology and the motives of initiation, death, rebirth and transformation into a deity.

Историко-культурные истоки космологических представлений балаганских бурят племени булагатов (конец XIX – начало ХХ в.)

Cosmological representations associated with cosmogonic plots belong to the little-studied problems of the traditional culture of the Buryats. The purpose of this article is to identify the historical and cultural origins of cosmological representations of the Balagan Buryats of the Bulagat tribe, personified in the images of celestial deities with the common name “Kings of Waters” (Bur. Ukhan-khat). The relevance of the study is because the images of these deities in the plots of cosmogonic myths and shamanic iconography of the Balagan Bulagats differ from the traditions of all other Buryats groups of the Baikal region. The methods of comparative analysis of the specifics of their cult in the local traditions of the Buryats used in the study, historical and comparative analysis of their leading elements in the language, mythology, folklore, cosmography, and calendar of the Indo-European and historical Indo-Iranian peoples of Eurasia presented their images as a personification of cosmological classifiers. Thus, the images of anthropomorphic figures with three rays on their heads in the iconography of the Kings of the Waters at the Balagan Bulagats go back to the images of Indo-European and Indo-Iranian thunder gods with the functions of defenders of light and servants of their cult, who performed their rituals through singing and dancing. The Buryats' ideas about the origin of the shaman from the eagle and his ability to “travel” in different worlds go back to their images. The views of the Balagan Bulagats about a three-part vertical picture of the world have commonality with Hindu cosmography with the idea of the Polar Star as the top of the sky and the beginning of the process of creation of time in the evening, spatially correlated with the direction “northwest”. The name of the head of the heavenly gods with the functions of the creators of the “Kings of waters” reveals a lexical and semantic commonality with the Scythian term ‘Ud’, reflecting the concept of the soul as a substance bestowed by heaven, which, after the death of a person, separates from the form-body and ascends to heaven again. The study revealed the historical and cultural origins of the cosmological representations of the Balagan Buryats of the Bulagat tribe in the motifs of Indo-European mythology and related worldviews of the peoples of the Scythian cultural circle

Мотивы космогонического мифа о небесном охотнике и трех маралах в фольклоре калмыков

Introduction. There are a great number of “familiar” motifs and plotlines in Kalmyk folklore that originate from mythology. One such archaic story of a universal character in the Turkic-Mongolian world is a cosmogonic myth of the heavenly hunter and the three red deer. The article aims to attempt at reconstructing this cosmogonic myth in the Kalmyk epic heritage. Importantly, such reconstruction requires typological comparisons because the story is easily “identified” in a variety of traditions. The research materials used are the texts of early Baga Tsokhur cycle sagas of Kalmyk heroic epic “Djanggar”. The analysis was based on structural-semantic, structural-typological, and comparative methods. As a result, the author comes to the following conclusions. The structural-semantic analysis of the motif manifests its archaic roots originating from the ideas of cosmogonic beginnings of the universe. The epic story relating of Savar Warrior following the moon path while hunting deer and red deer originates from a cosmogonic myth of the heavenly marksman [Sirius] and the three red deer [the stars from the belt of the constellation Orion]. Moreover, the character of Savar Warrior shows some elements that may be associated with the archaic myth of a bear-hunter chasing the deer that stole the sun. The results of the present study agree with other researchers’ views, according to which, the principal symbols that the archaic calendar of the Kalmyk ancestors included were the images of a hoofed animal and a bear and that the image of the heavenly hunter of the ancient myth relating of the world beginning characteristic of a number of folklore traditions was a substitute of the mythological bear, the liberator of the sun.

Alcohol and its functions in the culture of the Khanty of the Surgut Ob region

The aim of the research is to show the functions of alcohol in the traditional culture of the Eastern Khanty. The basis of the work is formed by the author's field data collected in 2002–2018 in Khanty Surgut Ob region, including the right bank of the Ob River (Lyamin, Pim, Tromyegan, and Agan) and its left bank (Bolshoi Yugan, Malyy Yugan), as well as the right tributary of the Irtysh River (Demyanka). The study of the role of alcohol in the traditional rituals of the Eastern Khanty was based on the methodology of gift exchange proposed by M. Mauss [2011]. The structural-functional approach was used to analyze the functions of alcohol, its place in the traditional culture, and social relations of the Eastern Khanty [Malinovskiy, 2006]. Despite the problems associated with alcoholism, as well as the negative impact on the health of the Eastern Khanty, alcohol performs a number of functions in the traditional culture. The recognition of the legitimacy of alcohol in the traditional worldview is based on the cosmogonic myths. In the ritual sphere, alcohol is a gift to the deities, from whom the indigenous people, in return, expect assistance to a person in hunting and fishing, prosperity, health, and safety. Alcohol performs the function of erasing social boundaries in the community of participants in a traditional ritual. During traditional ritu-als, alcohol is a tool for a person's transition to an altered state of consciousness. In everyday life, alcohol per-forms the functions of relaxation and stress relief. Alcohol serves as a social catalyst when a stranger is included in a traditional collective. Until recently, alcohol occupied not the last place as an equivalent of money in the in-kind exchange of goods and services. At the beginning of the 21st century, structural changes caused by the industrialization of the Surgut Ob region, as well as economic and social reforms of the Post-Perestroika period, led to reduction in the consumption of alcohol by the Eastern Khanty. Today, these changes are represented by two oppositely directed trends. The first tendency is represented by the processes of the revival of traditional culture, nature management, and religion. The second trend includes reappraisal of traditional religion and transition of a part of the Eastern Khanty to Protestantism.

THE COMPLEX OF ANCIENT OBSERVATORIES ON THE TABLE MOUNTAIN IN INGUSHETIA

The proximity of the three ancient sanctuaries to each other on the flat top of the Table Mountain against the background of the sacred peaks of Kazbek and Tsey-Loam, the opportunity to observe the sunrises and sunsets in the highlands of the Caucasus, cosmogonic myths, all this gave an assumption about the astronomical functions of these sanctuaries. The purpose of the study was to prove that these ancient sanctuaries were used by the priests to determine the key moments in the annual cycle of the Sun and were a calendar.
 This is proved by using special computer programs and calculators that determine the azimuth and altitude of the Sun; instrumental observations and measurements on the ground.
 It is established that the shrines of Myat-Seli and Myater-Dyal on Table Mountain in Ingushetia are a complex of medieval solar near-horizon observatories. And it is hypothesized that these sanctuaries were built on the site from which solar cycles were observed from about the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. This work also provides prerequisites for determining various astronomical observations from sanctuaries and the presence of other ancient observatories in the Caucasus. A method has been developed for searching for prehistoric solar, lunar and stellar near-horizon observatories.

The elements in the cosmogonic myths of the world nations

For many sciences, such as history, archaeology, ethnology, linguistics, and for philosophy, cosmogonic beliefs of ancient peoples became a subject of detailed study. This work uses field research results with reliance on the scientific tradition. The authors used both special, or general scientific, and philosophical methods. The problem of semantic analysis of the elements in the folklore of the world nations in the contemporary context is highly relevant. One of the tasks of this article is to identify the importance of the elements in the ancient beliefs. For this purpose, the article describes the results of a comparative study of myths mentioning different types of the elements. The article reveals the characteristics of the elements’ embodiment in the cosmogonic myths of the world nations and determines the reasons for worshipping the sky, earth, fire, and water in cosmogonic folklore. The authors analyse the common and the special in figurative symbolism of the elements in classical and contemporary folklore. The analysis of semantic load of archetypal images describing the elements showed that each of the elements in the world mythology is sacred. The elements act at all levels of the universe and occupy the entire cosmos in the cosmogonic myths of the world nations.Contribution: The results of the article can be used in scientific research in the field of folklore and ethnology.

Cosmogonies of the Bound: Titans, Giants, and Early Greek Binding Spells

This article suggests that the mythical bindings of the Titans, Hekatoncheires, and other divinities served as powerful models for some private Greek curse tablets; these inscribed lead curses echo much older binding traditions known from hexameter poetry. The presence of dactylic hexameter, epic diction, and deictic language hints that some private curse tablets preserve fossils of early ritual speech—namely, performed binding incantations—and that cosmogonic myth could inform and sculpt private curse practice. The Titans’ binding in Tartarus made them particularly apt figures for supernatural exploitation in binding spells, and this myth undergirds several Greek curse texts. Embedded in theogonic myth, such cosmogonies recalled moments in which the order of the cosmos was shifted and reset, times in which enemies were overthrown and “bound” in punishment. An allusion to the Titans’ “binding” in Tartarus thus became an authoritative paradigm for binding spells meant to analogically “bind” or restrain a flesh-and-bone human enemy. In approaching that elusive common ground shared by myth and ritual, we can observe how the former could shape the latter in everyday thought and practice.

Hare in Folklore and Religious Mystical Views of the Bashkirs

The article is devoted to the analysis of the remnants of the cult of the hare among the Bashkirs, which was one of the revered animals in their ancient religious and mystical views. In oral stories, the Bashkir hare is endowed with human qualities — it has feelings, the gift of thinking and speech. In the fairy tale and children's play folklore, traces of the belief of the ancestors of the Bashkirs in the mutual transformation of a person and a hare into each other appear. In the tribal ethnonymy of the Bashkirs, motives have been preserved about the origin of certain groups of people from a hare, totem and totemic ancestor. In oral poetry, customs and rituals of the Bashkir hare acts as a totemic ancestor, patron saint of family and marriage relations, women in labor and children. In the folk calendar and signs of the Bashkir, the hare symbolizes fertility and fertility. In the mythological tradition, the Bashkir hare acts as a benefactor of heroes — it creates favorable conditions for them, brings wealth, and protects their lives. In religious and magical practice, the Bashkir hare appears as a healer of people. The protective functions of a hare are revealed in attributing protective properties to images of a hare and in the practice of sewing hare ears and tails on children's hats, as amulets against evil spirits and the evil eye.
 In the oral works of the Bashkirs there are remnants of ancient cosmogonic myths about the participation of a hare — a totemic ancestor in the creation of the earth and keeping it in the Universe.