Family Rites Research Articles

New secular holidays in modern Kazakh culture. Westernization of everyday life and transfor-mation of family rituals

The growing attention to processes related to the revival of Islam throughout Central Asia leaves in shadow some no less interesting tendencies associated with the westernization of the daily life. These processes have been recorded across the entire Central Asia but presently they manifest themselves to the greatest extent specifically in Kazakhstan, where interweaving of traditional elements of the East and the West created a remarkable distinctive culture of the 21st century. The voluntary or involuntary neglect of these processes undoubtedly leads to serious misrepresentation in our understanding of further routes of development of the traditional rites. Equally important is the fact that problems of Islamization itself undoubtedly appear more prominent when taking into account factors linked with the new ‘westernized daily routine’. In this regard, very interesting are the new secular rituals and festivities which appeared in modern Kazakh culture not long ago: gender reveal party, baby shower, tilashar (Kaz., literally ‘opening of the tongue’), constituting the subject of this research. This study employs methods of his-torico-cultural and ethnographic approaches, and it is based on fieldwork data obtained during the ethnographic studies in Western Kazakhstan in recent years and data from monitoring personal profiles of users of social networks and services. Gen-der reveal parties and baby shower celebrations are widespread in the entire world, and they are of a secular nature. The analysis of evidence from Kazakh culture shows an example of how modern Kazakhs attempt to fit the ‘westernized’ practices into the universal matrix of present-day Kazakh ritual activities based on three constituents: a repast with an indispensable na-tional dish of ‘meat in Kazakh style’, a symbolic exchange of presents between members of socially kindred group, and bata beru i.e. ‘best wishes from senior relatives’. This is also supported by the search for parallels in the rites, conventional synonymity of the new practices and established family rites. Thus, the secular celebrations of gender reveal and baby shower are acquiring a national colour. The culture is adapting the ‘westernized’ practice; copying of the original example and its re-interpretation at a new level is taking place. In contrast to family rites, the gender party and baby shower are not obligatory; following of such practices is rather a fashion of its kind — a response of the modern Kazakh young people to cultural globalization. The author is trying to find an answer to the ques-tion: why indeed the Kazakh culture is so readily accepting and adapting practices of this kind? The answer seems to lie in the specifics of the social organization of the Kazakh society, in the emergence of new channels for storing and broadcasting of information, and in the overall orientation of modern Kazakhstan towards globalization.

Регіональні особливості функціонування заручин та вінчання на теренах сучасного Слобожанського краю

The article is aimed at deepening the understanding of the importance of recording and popularizing family ritual poetry, wedding customs of the 21st century. The authors substantiated the relevance of the topic of collecting and studying wedding rituals and the folklore that accompanies them in the territory of the Sumy region. Emphasis is placed on the local history aspect of oral folk art. The published sources of folklore collectors of the Sumy Oblast were elaborated and the existing source base was supplemented with materials of own field research with a description of family rites, customs, and modern genres of oral folk art. The regional peculiarities of ancient wedding customs and the modern state of family and household rituals of the Western Slobojan region are considered. The stages of the wedding ceremony, such as engagement and wedding, were studied on the territory of the Sumy region (Western Slobojan region), as well as the changes, transformations and innovations experienced by the wedding rituals of the Slobojan region were traced.

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.

УКРАЇНСЬКІ ПАРЕМІЇ В ЕТНОГРАФІЧНОМУ ДОРОБКУ СТЕПАНА НОСА

The article, based on the study of the updated works of S. D. Nos and archival documents, analyzes the scientific work of the scientist in the field of ethnography and folkloristics on the example of the study and use in his works of Ukrainian folk proverbs, which are systematized according to genre: proverbs and sayings, beliefs and omens, riddles, fairy tales. It is noted that proverbs and sayings, which the scientist used when preparing his scientific works, were the most used in the work of the ethnographer. It is emphasized that numerous proverbs and sayings are used in works on traditional calendar and family rites, ethnology, ethnomedicine, national cuisine, in particular in his works such as «About diseases and how to prevent them», «To the ploughman», «In every nation own nature» etc. It has been established that the largest number of proverbs, sayings, parables, superstitions and fairy tales are available in the handwritten researches of S. D. Nos, which are stored in archival institutions and library departments, as well as on the pages of the journal «Osnova» and «Chernihiv provincial gazettes». Prose and poetic paremies, which reflect the everyday life and traditions of the Ukrainian people, song creativity, ritual art, which testify to the ethnographer’s deep knowledge of Ukrainian society, its history and culture, are considered.

ЕТНОЛІНГВІСТИЧНІ АСПЕКТИ СІМЕЙНОЇ ОБРЯДОВОСТІ ЗАКАРПАТЦІВ У ЗБІРЦІ М. ДОЧИНЦЯ "КАРБИ І СКАРБИ"

The paper examines the reproduction peculiarities of action, real-object and verbal elements of family rituals in the context of artistic style; the specifics of the artistic representation of the family rituals of Transcarpathians in connection with the personality of M. Dochynets himself as an implicit narrator has been traced; semantic and word-forming and etymological analysis of ceremonial names has been carried out as well. The family rituals of Transcarpathians are artistically reproduced in the short stories “Circus”, “Ant in Amber”, “Domestic Bird” (birth ceremony); “Black Angel”, “Wax Rings” (funeral rite); “Mother’s Bread” (wedding ceremony). Family rituals in M. Dochynets’s works are represented both through artistic images and the prism of philosophical, traditional folk and religious ideas of the author himself as an implicit narrator. The picture of his artistic world reproduces the peculiarities of the national Ukrainian worldview and world consideration. Action elements of family rites are most vividly reproduced, including washing and dressing of the deceased, night vigil near the deceased, wedding invitations, gift giving to the young, etc. In most of them, pagan and Christian traditions are closely intertwined, fixed in the mental consciousness of Transcarpathians. The specificity of the real-object plan of family rites in M. Dochynets’s novel is the reflection of mystical, symbolic features formed on the basis of mythical and religious ideas of the people. The verbal context of the family rituals of the analyzed collection is represented mainly by lexemes and occasionally by phrasemes. By origin, these are mostly Ukrainian proper names with Proto-Slavic roots and a few borrowings. Most of the ceremonial nominations are the words of Ukrainian origin used mostly in the literary language, with the exception of a few dialectical words (sváyba, krúzhmo, uprovíd, dérevúsche). Symbolic meaning is inherent in such names as soul, candle, cross, wax rings, etc.

Функциональное назначение некоторых обрядов бурят, посвященных всеобщему благополучию и лучшему перерождению

Introduction. Nowadays lay Buddhist rites pertaining to everyday life and dealing with community, group, family, individual and household causes are viable, needed, and productive enough. Goals. The study aims at revealing most stable household / family rites of the Buryats and determining their essentials and features. Methods. Traditional classification and systematization methods have proved instrumental in identifying stable and changeable properties, local features of family / household rites across various Buddhist ethnic groups in Buryatia. The method of comparative historical analysis serves to define the actual processes of preserving and transforming life cycle rites. Those of observation, interview, and interrogation make it possible to characterize the present-day religious consciousness of lay Buddhists and reveal certain changes in traditional Buryat attitudes and customs that emerged due to historical processes to have yielded some formal peculiarities of basic rituals and rites. The paper pays special attention to the revived everyday rite of sangaril. Results. Field data show that cult practices have preserved only what is best remembered without books and experts, i.e. what is familiar since olden times, most common, and requires no high theological qualifications — if there is a significant loss of the bookish tradition, and in the absence of Buddhist ritual experts of Tibetan origin. So, those are everyday rites most closely connected with folk customs and dealing with economic and household needs of believers that prove most persistent. In other words, what is most closely connected with everyday life does survive and exist. Conclusions. Traditional family and everyday rites, such as oboo, sangaril, maani, funeral and Sagaalgan-related ones (New Year), collective worshipping of sahiusan-protectors for family well-being, are currently perceived as folk customs and viewed as integral elements of the original Buryat ethnic tradition. To date, those are religious ideas and beliefs of the public that serve a most characteristic phenomenon in religious life of Burya­tia’s Buddhists, rather than activities of the official clergy. Our observations also attest to that religious efforts of believers tend to increase.

Sacred Foundations of Folk Song Art

The purpose of the research is to determine the influence on the spontaneous and creative formation of song symbolism (in particular, musical-typological), which took place through instincts. The research methodology uses scientific methods to emphasise that folklore is an extremely complex and much more difficult system to be systematized than literature and music. Therefore, the criteria of genre classification of written works to folklore can be used in part, aware of their conditionality. In folklore, which is the bearer of the pre-written experience of mankind, in addition to mental formative and aesthetic achievements, biological instincts are also reflected. Instincts influenced the intuitive and creative formation of song symbolism (in particular, musical and typological). The scientific novelty of the research is that it emphasizes the folklore to be a legacy of the Neolithic worldview (phenomena: magical, religious, organizational and social, legal – like a wedding). For several thousand years under the influence of historical circumstances, and then Christianity in the Neolithic and folklore heritage has undergone significant distortions. The most significant changes have affected the vocabulary of lyrics and melodies of songs: they are the least stable components of the song in the race of time. Much less time affected the rites, beliefs and especially musical forms of songs. The rhythmic structure of musical forms has been preserved the most, as well as the compositional structure of song texts, which is always organically combined with musical rhythmics. Conclusions. The stability of ritual actions over the millennia, which is inherent in all religions (and paganism as well), is due primarily to the influence of sacredness. But sacredness does not affect the mind, but the senses. In order to assert it, the magic of the cycle of the agricultural year and the linear movement of human life (from the cradle to the grave) was worked out. To consolidate in the minds of the genus (tribe) through magic the laws of the annual agrarian cycle, the Magi-priests intuitively developed a perfect musical system of cognitive signs: winter, spring, and summer. The same applies to family rites. In fact, ritual melodies have clearly defined rhythmic structures that are associated with a certain time of year, with family events.

Children in Need: Evidence for a Children’s Cult from the Roman Temple of Omrit in Northern Israel

Excavations of the Roman temple at Horvat Omrit, situated in the foothills of Mount Hermon and the Golan, yielded terracotta figurines dated from the first century BC—first century AD. Some 100 fragments of figurines portray young children standing with arms lifted up from the sides and bent at the elbow, palm turned outward. Although this group is unique in its iconography, it fits in with nearby temples in Phoenicia, where numerous figurines and statues of children were consecrated. Images of children from temples around the Mediterranean are often associated with healing cults and rites of passage. The child figurines from Omrit are examined with regard to their gesture, age, and gender, in order to reconstruct the likely cult that took place in the temple. The picture emerging from the terracottas is of family rites celebrating a crucial threshold in life, when passing from infancy to childhood at around the age of three. This is a vulnerable stage in childhood, since mortality rate among young children was very high in ancient societies, and rites were performed to protect them. These rites have further significance in terms of socialization, in introducing the infant to the family, to the cult, and to society in general.

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.

Родючість в українських обрядах родинного циклу

The aim of the article is to study the role of fertility in rites, which is carried out after the construction of structures of wedding, funeral and maternity cycles, as well as after their comparative analysis. The use of the method of structural and functional analysis opens wide prospects for scientific studies of national rituals.                 The scientific novelty of the research results is the combination of family rites, as the most stable component of the Ukrainian tradition, with the expediency of introducing an ethnological approach and coordination with the structural and functional method. The problem is to verify the conformity of the structures of the cycles of wedding, funeral and maternity rites constructed by the researcher to the well-known and popular concept of the presence in ritual actions of processes of making, using and destroying ceremonial attributes.                 It was established in the result of study that the ritual attributes in the wedding cycle can be considered virginity and social status of the bride, in the funeral – the dead body and the coffin with the dead, and in the maternity – baby, festive table, whip-round. Thanks to the verification of rites, it was possible to establish the true nature of the action of some episodes in each of the three cycles, due to which the structures underwent a certain transformation. Because for each of the three actions – making, using and destroying – there must be a separate episode in the structure of a rite.                 The researcher comes to conclusion that with the use of ritual attributes and the growth of the sacralization of the surrounding reality, the ritual action is saturated with elements of fertility and there is a close connection between fertility and sacralization. The driving force of ritual action is the conflict between death and fertility, because only fertility can resist death. In this case, both forces – death and fertility in primitive mythological notions are the energy of the afterlife. Energy that is able to penetrate reality only during ceremonial actions, opening access to the afterlife and sanctifying, sacralizing the surrounding reality.

Traditional family rites of the Ukrainians of Podolia: archaic elements of а cultural text

Podolia is an ethnographic region of Ukraine, which is known for active interethnic contacts for many centuries, which, on the one hand, have systematically enriched the Podolsk spiritual and material culture, and on the other hand, in various spheres of the traditional culture of the Podolians, there is a preservation of many Slavic archaic elements. The article presents the archaic elements of the traditional culture of the Ukrainians of Podolia in traditional family rituals – birthlore, wedding and funeral on the material of the verbal component of the cultural text. Field records of dialectal texts, made by the author in 2006–2014 in more than 100 villages of Vinnitsa region served as empirical basis of the study. The family rites texts attest the realization of the main semantic oppositions of the Slavic picture of the world: "top" – "bottom", "full" – "empty", "own" – "alien". The motives of the cult of ancestors, deception of death, syncretism of agrarian and family rituals are elements of the archaic, which constitute an essential part of the folk consciousness and beliefs of the Podolians. Several fragments of the folk culture of the Ukrainians of Podolia presented in the article through the prism of the comparative typological analysis, with the involvement of data from other Slavic traditions, signal the preservation of the general archaic fund of the spiritual culture of the Slavs

The ritual incorporation and cross-cultural communication in Camau, Vietnam: a case study of the Tianhou cult

ABSTRACT Tianhou (天后) is a popular religious figure rooted in Fujian, China. Historically, she was continuously ‘standardised’ by late imperial China, making this character a standard symbol. In the late 17th century, Chinese immigrants propagated the Tianhou cult in Southern Vietnam, further developed, and made Tianhou the identity marker of their community. However, in Camau and other places of Southern Vietnam, this symbol became partially changed due to the process of localisation and cross-cultural exchange. The Chinese successfully incorporate Chinese Tianhou rituals with Vietnamese family rites (especially the worships of Kitchen God and ancestors) to gain both community consolidation and cross-ethnic integration. The illusionary incorporation effectively consolidates the ties between peoples and improves the position of the ethnic Chinese in the local society. This paper mainly applies the concept of ‘inventing tradition’ and Seligman’s and Weller’s (2012) viewpoint of the cultural interaction of notation, ritual and shared experience to generalise the nature and significance of liturgical transformation in the Tianhou cult among the ethnic Chinese in Camau. The study shows that cultural adaptation, as a means for survival and evolution, has been the goal of an endless struggle among the Chinese in contemporary Vietnam.

The Experience of the Virtual Investigation of the National Culture of the Burgenland Croatian Village of Koljnof (Western Hungary)

This article provides an overview of the survey of the Burgenland Croatian village of Koljnof (hung. Kophaza), located in western Hungary, six kilometres south of Sopron. The survey was conducted remotely via Skype and took place in two stages in August and September 2021. A brief outline of the history of the village is given, and the main difficulties arising from conducting a remote survey are described. These include the rapid fatigue of informants, the active role of the "guide" in the process of conducting interviews, and the difficulties with conversations on topics that are related in some way to the organization of space in the village. After that, the phenomena of the traditional spiritual culture of Koljnof collected during the survey from the field of calendar and family rites, as well as folk mythology, are considered. Calendar rites are most fully represented here, with a number of important terms in the field of family rites and several epics in the field of folk mythology being recorded. In general, the remote survey, despite its limitations, is a viable method of preliminary study of the traditional folk spiritual culture of a particular village. The collected data show that the village of Kolnof is part of Northern Burgenland for a number of reasons. In addition, the collected material allows us to verify some fragments of the tradition of the nearby Koljnof Croatian village of Unda resulting from Hungarian influence, including the rounds of boys on St. Lucia’s Day and the rounds of girls on Trinity.

The Supine in Czech Biblical Translations of the National Revival Period (Second Half of the Nineteenth Century)

This article provides an overview of the survey of the Burgenland Croatian village of Koljnof (hung. Kophaza), located in western Hungary, 6 kilometres south of Sopron. The survey was conducted remotely via Skype and took place in two stages in August and September 2021. A brief outline of the history of the village is given, and the main difficulties arising from conducting a remote survey are described. These include the rapid fatigue of informants, the active role of the "guide" in the process of conducting interviews, and the difficulties with conversations on topics that are related in some way to the organization of space in the village. After that, the phenomena of the traditional spiritual culture of Koljnof collected during the survey from the field of calendar and family rites, as well as folk mythology, are considered. Calendar rites are most fully represented here, with a number of important terms in the field of family rites and several epics in the field of folk mythology being recorded. In general, the remote survey, despite its limitations, is a viable method of preliminary study of the traditional folk spiritual culture of a particular village. The collected data show that the village of Kolnof is part of Northern Burgenland for a number of reasons. In addition, the collected material allows us to verify some fragments of the tradition of the nearby Koljnof Croatian village of Unda resulting from Hungarian influence, including the rounds of boys on St. Lucia’s Day and the rounds of girls on Trinity.

GENDER STEREOTYPE OF FEMININITY IN THE CONTEXT OF RITUALS ON CHRISTMAS IN UKRAINIAN TRADITIONAL CULTURE

The dichotomy of male and female origins is one of the most fundamental and ancient. The interaction of the representatives of both sexes is initially regulated by society. Hence cultural, economic and political factors, which are formed in different historical periods, influence this process. Modern, impetuous changes in society are associated with the destruction of gender stereotypes and the emergence of concepts such as gender identity, queer (identification of marginalized sexual inclinations), etc. The purpose of the article is to describe the most important traditional duties of the Ukrainian womanmistress on Christmas holidays, to analyze and explain the sacred or symbolic content of such ritual actions. At the beginning of the XXI century in many Ukrainian Christmas and New Year rituals there has already been a loss of a clear gender distribution of ritual duties. However, in the ritual actions of our ancestors, there were clear gender divisions: the woman took care of the microcosm of the family, was engaged in its symbolic renewal; she guarded the customs of the family. It was purely a woman's job to perform protective rituals: the hostess put garlic under a tablecloth on all four corners of the table, sanctified dinner with holy water before the family sat down at the table, and so on. In the Ukrainian traditional culture, a woman is the keeper of the hearth. At Christmas she “extracted a new fire”, prepared ritual dishes, baked holy ritual bread, and laid the table. Caroling on Christmas holidays reflects the ancient archetype of masculine origin as a positive, female – as a negative. However such gender stereotypes in the middle of the last century in various regions of Ukraine have already been almost ruined. The analysis of masculinity and femininity in the Ukrainian traditional culture in a ritual discourse in a broad sense, which include the rituals of calendar and family rites, and ceremonial songs that accompany almost all ritual actions will be prospective for future articles.

Family Rites of Pruzhany Polesye Based on 2019 Field Data From Pruzhany Disctrict of Brest Region of Belorussia

The article presents folk narratives collected during recent field research in western Polesye (Brest province). This area is considered one of the most promising regions for cultural studies, as it has been populated since the Neolithic and according to archeological findings, there is a significant cultural continuity between ancient and modern population. This territory is also situated exactly at the “crossroads” between eastern and western Slavic areas which provides ample opportunities for cross-cultural, -religious and -tradition explorations. The article presents the first part of work containing descriptions of wedding and childbirth rites, along with the concerning beliefs, practices and folk terminology

NONVERBAL CODES OF RITUAL DISCOURSE ON THE MATERIAL OF THE CALENDAR CYCLE OF CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS OF UKRAINIANS

Artificially created ideology and rites were imposed in Ukraineduring the Soviet Union's existence. The implementation of new rites is one of the main reasons for forgetting and losing of meaning of traditional calendar ceremonial holidays. In the conditions of modern economic, intellectual, scientific integration from each nation, special attention is required to its spiritual origins. The object of this article was the ceremonial discourse (calendar cycle), the subject of non-verbal codes of communication of ancient Ukrainians with the surrounding world, in particular, with supernatural forces, as well as with the spirits of ancestors during the Christmas holidays. Rites and rituals for an archaic man were a kind of form of communication with the outside world and with the afterlife; syncretic means of magical influence on the forces of nature, the dead ancestors, from which depended not only welfare, but also the survival of the clan. Non-verbal codes of the calendar rituals of the winter cycle are concrete actions of symbolic significance aimed at honoring the forces of nature and the spirits of the ancestors. The article describes the following symbolic rituals: making jewelry; bringing to the house Didukh; execution of magical protective actions, preparation of an obligatory dish – kutia, etc. Due to the fact that calendar rites and rituals have almost lost their significance, and first of all it concerns non-verbal codes, we consider the research of such codes as in calendar and family rites promising.

Fertility in the cycles of the national wedding and maternity rites: comparison of the structures and functions

The aim of the article is to compare structures of the cycles of the national wedding and maternity rites, to establish the prospects for such a procedure for scientific research of a family ritualism.Research methodology. The structural and functional method of research and partly structural and semiotic and comparative, in particular, comparative and historical ones, were used to compare the created structures of these ritual cycles. All of these approaches are advanced enough to study family ritualism.Results. Comparing the structures of wedding and maternity rites, and involving in the consideration the funeral structure, it is possible to establish that social statuses of the main ceremonial characters are divided not only into the profane and the sacred. Their range is much broader and has four groups: initial and final profane statuses, sacral statuses, and marginal statuses. Based on the stage at which one or the other occurs, the division of the ritual into four periods — pre-ceremonial, initial, fundamental and final ritual actions — depends. It has been established that fertility in wedding and maternity rites is manifested through the use of bread and other polyphony symbols, as well as washing and ablution processes. As a result of the research, the grounds for performing the rites were found — stimulation of fertilization and imitation of the creation of the world. If in wedding ceremonies the action is directed to fertilization, its stimulation and provocation by means of sexual intercourse, then the maternity rites are imitation and repetition of the divine cause of creation of the world.Novelty. The attempt is made to construct and compare the structures and functions of the cycles of the Ukrainian traditional wedding and maternity rites for the first time.The practical significance. Further cultural studies of the structures will enable a much broader consideration of the connections between the particular family rites, comparing them with each other and the ritual activities of the calendar cycle; to explore in more detail the change of status of the main characters, to determine the time and space frames, the level of sacralization, to reveal the display of fertility in traditional family and calendar ceremonies.

The Role and Place of Mediation in the Structural and Functional Studies of the Cycle of the Ukrainian Wedding Ceremonies

The aim of the article. The study of rituals, in particular of a family cycle, makes it possible to expand existing concepts of national culture and to deepen knowledge of how the ancestors lived and breathed and what they sought.Research Methodology. Structural and functional studies of traditional wedding ceremonies provide a broad perspective for obtaining new scientific results. The doctrine on mediation is a leading one in the structural theory and it gives grounds for its successful applying for the study of national wedding ceremonies.Results. Mediation in the structural theory is the main mechanism for provoking further action, which gives the participants an opportunity to perform the rite. The fulfillment of the mediation function in the national ceremonies of the wedding cycle is connected with the arrivals of mediator characters to the places of rites and the fulfillment of the necessary traditional ritual actions. In the rites that carry out the transition of the participants to new social statuses — engagement, wedding, tiny room — there is not one, but two media actions of various levels: classical, which reconciles the contradictions between antinomic couples and mediation, intended to provoke the course of further ritual action. Since the wedding initially divides all characters into two groups, characters from the bride’s team and the groom’s team are alternately involved in the mediation.Novelty. The study attempts to explore national rituals with the help of a struc-tural and functional method for the first time.The practical significance. The created structure of a large cycle of wedding ceremonies can contribute to further studies of traditional national rituals.Keywords: family rites, Ukrainian wedding, structural and functional method, mediation mechanism, mediator characters.

Pengaruh Pemberian Etanol Peroral terhadap Berat Testis Tikus Putih (Rattus norvegicus Strain Wistar)

Alcohol (ethanol) has long been used as liquor. In some areas in Indonesia, the use of ethanol is an insaperable part of family rites and traditional festivities.  However, due to its serious consequences, alcoholism becomes a chronic social problem. Ethanol effects the metabolism in body organs and tissues, including male reproductive organ. The objective of this study was to prove that ethanol comsumption may reduce the weight of testis. This study used Posttest Only Group Design with experimental animals of 30 male rats (Wistar strain Rattus norvegicus) that were subjected in five types of treatment, i.e,(1) feeding with aquades 2ml/day as control group (2) feeding with 10% 1 gr/Kg/day of ethanol, (3) feeding with 10% 3gr/Kg/day of ethanol, (4) feeding with 30% 1 gr/Kg/day of ethanol and (5) feeding with 30% 3 gr/Kg/day of ethanol. Treatment was given daily for 45 days. At the end of the study, on the day 46th, the rats was sacrified for examination. Sample of testis were taken for weight examination.  Data were analysed using Anova and when the difference was found, the analysis was followed with Least significant Difference at the level of significance of 95%. The result of this study showed that ethanol reduced the weight of testis compared to control. The results of Anova  test revealed that higher dosage and concentrations of ethanol resulted in significantly different decrease of the testis’s weight (p<0,05) compared to other dosage and other concetration. In conclusion, ethanol has effect in the reduction of the weight of the testis.Key words: ethanol, male reproduction, Rattus norvegicus, weight of testis.