Sacred Elements Research Articles

The concept of personality and national identity in contemporary Kazakh prose

Colonialism has had a profoundly negative impact on national consciousness. Although the Republic of Kazakhstan has gained independence, it has not yet fully overcome the adverse effects of colonialism on its national consciousness. A portion of the Kazakh people has been Russified. Meanwhile, the younger generation, raised in their native language, either lacks a deep understanding of or is gradually forgetting the foundations of national identity that date back to ancient times. During the Soviet era, communist ideology prevented the population from truly knowing their history, traditions, and beliefs. In this context, literature plays a crucial role in reviving national memory. This article examines the concept of personality in literary works and the uniqueness of national identity based on the works of several contemporary authors. The introduction provides an overview of researchers’ conclusions related to the concept of personality. The ancient origins of national identity—sacred elements, rituals, shamanism, and the mystical connections between humans, nature, and animals—as depicted in literary works are analyzed within the dynamics of the present day, alongside the fates of the characters. The desecration of sacred elements is not merely ignorance but a sign of the erasure of national memory; rituals are not just words but embody sacred concepts accumulated from centuries of the people’s experience, which are reflected in the works. Accordingly, the research article analyzes and provides examples from several literary works. In compiling conclusions about the concept of personality, the study utilized descriptive, biographical, and socio-psychological methods to describe national identity in literary works and its ancient manifestations, as well as the depiction of sacred elements and rituals.

Ayurvedic Management of Overweight child with Panchagavya Therapy – A Case Report

Childhood obesity is a widely spreading public health condition specifically after the COVID pandemic. It is also a risk factor for the onset of various non-communicable diseases. Obesity in childhood period does not only affects the growth and development in children but also has a life-long impact if neglected. This article encompasses management of an overweight child having complaints like Exertional dyspnea, Perspiration, increased appetite & thirst. The treatment protocol was based on Panchagavya. Both the methods of management of sthaulya were practiced viz. Shodhana (Purification therapy) in the form of Gomutradi Asthapana Basti & Shamana (Pacifying therapy) in the form of oral medication. Panchagavya is the group of five sacred elements obtained from the Indian cow, from which Gomutra has been said to be useful in treating Sthaulya in adults. Strict emphasis on Nidanparivarjana (Avoidance of causative factors) was also considered. Marked improvement in the BMI from 25.4 (Before treatment) to 22.9 (After treatment) and the clinical symptoms from grade 2 to grade 0 was observed. Modification in the oral administration of Gomutra in the form of Gomutra arka was found to be palatable considering the age of the child. Gomutra via both Asthapana Basti and Oral route helped in the breakdown of the Pathology of Sthaulya. Diet restriction also helped in the process.

The Religious Theme in the Work of Grigory Gurkin

The article explores the religious theme in the works of Grigory Ivanovich Gurkin (1870–1937), the first professional artist of the Altai Mountains. A talented master of landscape, a pupil of Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin, Gurkin became widely known after his first solo exhibition in Tomsk in 1907. During the February Revolution he was elected chairman of the Altai Mountain Duma, for which he was politically persecuted by the Bolsheviks and had to hide in Mongolia and Tuva from 1919 to 1925. Homesickness forced Gurkin to return to the Altai Mountains, but he remained politically unreliable for the Soviet authorities, and in 1937 he was shot by the NKVD. After his rehabilitation in 1956, Gurkin’s life and work became the subject of many studies, and after the establishment of the Altai Republic in 1992, Gurkin became a figure-symbol of national and cultural identity. In the conditions of reconstruction of Burkhanist and shamanistic practices in the Republic, it is relevant to study Gurkin’s pictorial and graphic works depicting religious beliefs that existed in the Altai Mountains in the late 19th — early 20th centuries. As a result of culturological and semiotic analysis, the interpretation of the artist’s works on religious themes is supplemented. The first painting on the theme of shamanism “Sacrificial Night” or “Kamlanie” (1895) revealed profane and sacred elements: the peculiarities of the material culture of the Kumandins and the theme of the sacred tree, the mirror-like surface of water and the symbolic unity of the worlds of the shamanic universe. From this work, reality in Gurkin’s painting and graphics is supplemented by mythological representations. In the painting “The First Ray of Christianity in Altai” Gurkin combined Orthodox and pagan pictures of the world to show the contradictory nature of the Christianisation process. Chet Chelpanov’s portrait contains a psychological characterisation of the leader of Burkhanism, and Gurkin’s detailed comments help to determine the time of the emergence of new phenomena in the religious culture of the Altai Mountains.

Through Traditional Music Sarone and Cultural Learning in an Educational Context

This research aims to describe the sacredness of Sarone music in wedding ceremonies within the Tanjung Luar village community, Keruak Subdistrict, East Lombok Regency. The research employs a qualitative ethnographic method. Data collection is carried out through literature review, observation, interviews, and documentation. Data are analyzed through data reduction, data presentation, and conclusion. To ensure data validity, triangulation techniques are utilized. The research findings reveal that the sacredness of Sarone music in wedding ceremonies in Tanjung Luar village encompasses elements such as origins, rituals, Sarone heirlooms, taboos, instruments, songs, and Mancak. Sarone music is considered a form of respect for ancestors, a link to cultural heritage, a means of preserving tradition's sanctity, and an integral part of the cultural identity of the Tanjung Luar village community. While the community has diverse perspectives, they all emphasize the importance of maintaining the strong tradition and cultural values associated with Sarone music. In conclusion, Sarone music possesses sacred elements like its history, heirlooms, taboos, instruments, songs, and Mancak dance, which create a sacred atmosphere and are used in the sequence of wedding events and rituals as a form of tribute to ancestors and the preservation of the cultural identity of the Tanjung Luar village community.

БІБЛІЙНІ РЕМІНІСЦЕНСІЇ КОНЦЕПТУ "РІЗДВО" В ПОЕЗІЇ СЕРГІЯ ЖАДАНА

The article is devoted to the analysis of biblical reminiscences of the concept "Christmas" in Serhiy Zhadan's lyric work. The concept of sacrum is considered in the historical and cultural context. The religiosity of the Christmas holiday is explored through a historical and etymological prism. The most important element of Zhadan's work is the leading line of ideality of imperfect Ukrainians who do not betray their authenticity. And the image-symbol of Christmas is used by the poet as a canvas to strengthen the illustration of natural processes of a historical and socio-national nature. Christmas is interpreted as the beginning of something new on the deep and sacred basis of faith and love in Serhiy Zhadan's poetry. The relevance of the study is determined by the challenges of the time, namely the awakening of the sacred aspects of the cultural and national consciousness of Ukrainians against the background of the struggle against the aggressor at the beginning of the 21st century. The purpose of the article is to analyze the features of the author's interpretation of biblical reminiscences of the concept "Christmas" in Serhiy Zhadan's poetry. The methodological basis of the research is the descriptive and analytical method, with the help of which we can investigate Serhiy Zhadan's Christmas reminiscences through the prism of not only the poet's worldview, but also the scientific base on this issue. The methodology of receptive aesthetics allows to explore the concept of "Christmas" not only in the modern interpretation of Serhiy Zhadan, but also in the context of modern realities of wartime, which is relevant. The results of the research are presented in the analysis of images-symbols in Christmas-themed poems through the prism of the study of artistic means, symbolism, sacred elements and the tonic structure of Serhiy Zhadan's poems, which is included in the unified structure and concept of the postmodern perception and interpretation of the author's sacred reminiscences. The conducted research allows us to draw the following conclusions: the sacred motifs in Serhiy Zhadan's poems about Christmas were analyzed and studied, where the images of Mary Magdalene, the church, and Christmas itself were singled out. In particular, artistic means and methods of conveying sacred motifs through images-symbols in poetry were analyzed. The tonal structure of Zhadan's poems was separately analyzed as an important artistic and structural technique in the author's illustration and accentuation of biblical and sacred motifs.

Revealing the Place: Sacred Architecture along the Portuguese Coastline

Revealing the place addresses the referential role of sacred architecture elements that dot the Portuguese Atlantic coastline in contemporary architectural pedagogy and in the practice of architecture. The long Portuguese coastline, the case study of the research, is dotted with sacred architectural elements—sanctuaries, churches, chapels and crosses—oriented according to both compositional and canonical cosmological principles. The character of the space of articulation between the land and the sea is made evident by the tension between the sacred elements and the landscape. This paper addresses this relation, resorting to decomposition interpretative drawings and arguments that uncover the formal relationships between sacred architecture and the landscape, proposing an interpretative reading of the built elements that combines type and place. Furthermore, it discusses the transposition of composition principles from sacred to secular architecture, building an analogy for the typological transfer process, considering the transference of existing qualities in sacred architecture for contemporary architectural projects. The hypothesis discussed is that the decoding of the architectural composition of sacred elements in the landscape remains useful both in the pedagogy and practice of architecture. Finally, it is evidenced that this exercise allows us to transfer formal relations established between sacred buildings and the landscape for contemporary architectural practice, revealing type and topos.

Ethno-Specific Codes: Metaphor and Everyday Symbolization of Objectified Space in Anna Nerkagy’s Story “The White Moss”

The features of decoding ethnospecific codes of metaphorization in the literature of the peoples of the North are considered on the material of A. Nerkagy’s story “The White Moss”. This article is intended to reveal certain “algorithms of speech behavior” embedded in the language, the principles of mythologization and metaphorical objectification of the real world, to reveal more deeply the structure of understanding a literary text. The relevance of the study is due to the need to search for new tools to identify ethnospecific cultural models that determine the vision of the world of representatives of a particular national community, structuring the field of expressiveness of a literary text. Attention is paid to the formation mechanisms of figurative meanings, when the dynamics of the narrative, which is not bright at first glance, is compensated by a careful detailing of the description of a northerner life, which is achieved through the actualization of the sacred elements of the symbolic picture of the world. So, for A. Nerkagy’s creativity, mythological codes of imagery become ethnospecific: bird, wolf, stone, fire, time, water, man. The personification of objects of nature and the perception of the world through the prism of one’s own body are traced. Each of the listed semantic elements is an element of metaphor, metonymy. The symbolic image is indivisible; it is based not just on an associative component, but on a ritual, a myth.

Метаморфозы «на краю света»: транзитивное общество теленгитов обособленного селения

The article focuses on the interdisciplinary analysis of the transformation processes in social situation of development of local people in the territorially detached community (a case study of the Yazula village of Ulagan region of the Altai Republic) through comparison of expeditionary materials of 2003 and 2019 years. The research is conducted within the framework of cultural-historical psychology and based on the methodological principle of metaposition. The analysis demonstrates that increasing of cultural diversity dictates the need for self-determination of locals and their families on behavioral level and complicates the structure of their social identity, including a problem of ethnocultural and religious self-identification. These processes provide the experiencing of insecurity of locals in front of the “outside world” and strengthen preservation of life-important rituals and sacred elements of ethnic culture.

Religion, Nonreligion and the Sacred: Art and the Contemporary Rituals of Birth

This paper looks at the role of art and material culture in the rituals of birth, first taking into consideration research on material culture in traditional rituals of birth and then turning to the primary topic, which is how art in the contemporary rituals of birth often holds sacred meaning even when the ritual is of a nonreligious nature. A discussion about the sacred in the context of a nonreligious ritual hinges upon an understanding of that which is “sacred”; thus, the paper looks at research on modern theology and the sacred to examine the term in the context of birth as a contemporary rite of passage. Giving examples of how material culture has been important in several traditional birth rituals from different cultures, the paper then traces a similar occurrence in which participants in contemporary nonreligious rituals of birth also uphold art and material culture as sacred elements of the rituals. The paper provides the reader with description of a rich array of art and material culture used across cultures in different rituals of birth. Taking into consideration the numerous contributions that scholars have made to the emerging field of birth and religion, including the interdisciplinary importance of theories related to birth as a rite of passage, the paper also presents new research on the materiality of the contemporary rituals of birth.

Cultural Astronomy in Hispanic-Indigenous Contexts of Central Chile

We present the results of an archaeoastronomical analysis of structures dating from the Inca and early colonial periods in the Mapocho River basin, Chile. Our purpose is to show possible continuities or ruptures in the creation and management of architectural and natural spaces, particularly those linked to the observation of astronomical phenomena with ceremonial and calendrical significance in the Andean world. We focus on Santiago, where we undertook topographical and horizon survey work at the Main Square, Metropolitan Cathedral, San Francisco Church and Santa Lucía Hill, and evaluate documentary and ethnographic sources. Using models developed in cultural astronomy and landscape archaeology, we found these places were ancient observation spots for the Sun and Moon around the solstices, equinoxes and lunar standstills. Sightlines (ceques) may have connected these places to potentially sacred elements of the environment from a central point located in the Main Square (haukaypata).

Vladimir Beșleagă’s dream journal (manuscript): introspective views on our own existence

The article analyzes Vladimir Besleaga’s dream diary, an original manuscript, unknown to the wide public, which can be consulted at the National Museum of Romanian Literature “Mihail Kogalniceanu”, the collection of “Manuscripts”. The manuscript was offered by the author to the researcher, PhD in philology Ana Ghilas and the undersigned, in order to explore the depths of the creative imaginary of the nonagenarian Bessarabian writer. Thus, in the diary we will recognize some recurring images impregnated in the literary creation of Vladimir Besleaga – village, house, mother, water, father etc. The usual area and childhood experiences are for the author of this diary (with the title of manuscript Dreams of night and day (diary ante- anti- octogenate)) an endless source of miracles that helps him to renew his creative impulses and to put in order his ordinary, profane human condition with sacred elements from the abyss of being.

Христианские культовые сооружения и их народно-разговорные номинации (на материале текстов Е.В. Честнякова и живых поунженских говоров)

We consider the peculiarities of ecclesionyms functioning in Unzha patois from the point of their form, semantic structure and speech usage. The research is based on the texts of the local writer E.V. Chestnyakov, as well as field materials collected in Kologriv and its environs. We analyze a number of religious constructions names and identify their connection with the topography of the area. We pay special attention to identify the sacred elements of the interior decoration of the chapel closest to the writer's house, where in the texts of E.V. Chestnyakov adjoins Church Slavonic and folk and colloquial vocabulary, as well as the status in the patois of the lexeme chapel, which can be considered as a transform of a common noun into a proper name, which is typical for small territories. We note that a specific feature of the ecclesionims, the names of the Unzha churches, which act as local topographic signs, are such types of metonymy as the transfer of one of the side-altars to the entire temple name – the temple name to the village, and the village name to the temple. We conclude that the live folk speech re-codes complex official names into short, and often different, variants. Often, the transformed names of religious constructions reflect dialectal phenomena and the local topography features.

Yaô africano: the orixá in the voice of Patricio Teixeira

Patricio Teixeira was an important voice in Brazilian music, particularly during the 1920s and 1930s. His career in radio broadcasting extended into the mid-1950s. Teixeira’s work gave visibility to black subjects and their cultural identities. This article analyzes the sacred elements that overflow into the musical and recreational universe of Rio through some of the songs recorded by Teixeira. With varied appropriations, these recordings of chants for orixá, Afro-Brazilian practices, and rituals mark the presence of the Afro-Brazilian sacred in Brazilian popular song.

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE GEOMETRIC MOTIFS OF THE ATEEQ MOSQUE (SHIRAZ) AND THE CORDOBA MOSQUE (CORDOBA) WITH A CONTEXTUAL APPROACH

Islamic art is an introverted art derived from mystical thought and believes expressed in artistic activities and is pure, indigenous, and commensurate with the spirit and social status of its time; Islamic architecture also has an Islamic foundation, and it has a close relationship with the decorative arts. In this regard, mosques are considered the most significant Islamic architecture achievements; in most cases, geometrical shapes and motifs with religious and natural themes have been used. Therefore, the present study's primary purpose is to study the geometric patterns of the Ateeq Mosque (Shiraz) and the Cordoba Mosque (Cordoba) by a descriptive-analytical method. Analyzing the collected data revealed that the motifs and their role in both the Ateeq Mosque of Shiraz and Cordoba are similar. Among the essential motifs observed in these two mosques can be the circle (symbol of being and the symbol of heaven and God), Shams (symbol of the sun and celestial light), the triangle with the downward vertex, the symbol of the female principle and the upward symbol of the mountain symbol and the masculine principle and crucifix (symbol of rotation of the seasons and permanent reproduction) and spiral as the symbol of fertility. In the Islamic period, these motifs are decorated with architectural spaces. The geometric motifs represent natural elements. As appreciation and sanctification of natural elements have been noticed, geometric motifs symbolically evoke those sacred elements and were illustrated in Iran and Spain's arts.

DEFENSE BUILDINGS OF BERNARDIN’S ORDER MONASTERIES OF WESTERN UKRAINE IN XVII-XVIII CENTURIES

Reliable fortifications were the key to the stable functioning of the castle, city or monastery on the territory of Western Ukraine in the XVII-XVIII centuries. Monastic complexes dominated actively in the space of settlements or landscape. Bernardin Order monasteries were one of the most numerous among the orders of the Western rite. Nowadays there often arises the question of determining the historical boundaries of objects and the original architectural and compositional integrity of monastic complexes during the development of urban planning documentation and restoration projects. Bernardin Order monasteries were actively studied by Ukrainian and Polish scientists, such as V. Vuytsyk, O. Boyko, I. Somochkin, A. Bethley, M. Kurzey, E. Kvetsinska. Research focuses mostly on the sacred elements of the complexes and describes the historical and architectural aspects of the monuments. The fortifications were partially inspected or not mentioned at all. The purpose of the article is to collect, systematize and reveal new facts of functioning and formation history of the defensive structures of Bernardine Order monasteries in Western Ukraine. Also the the purpose is to determine the location, dimensions, architectural and planning features of the fortifications of monasteries. In the studied period, we can identify about 50 defense complexes of various orders of the Western Rite, located in or outside the downtown. Bernardine Order monasteries are among the most common and are represented in in Berezhany, Husiatyn, Dubno, Zbarazh, Izyaslav, Lviv, Leshniv, Sokal and Khrystynopil. The Order of Bernardines is a branch of the Franciscan order, which was formed in the XII century. The Order of Bernardines appeared in the territory of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Western Ukraine in the middle of the 15th century. As a result of the study of nine monasteries of the Bernardine Order, it was found that the architecture of the Order is clearly traced in the construction of its own fortifications. The article identifies the influence of the urban planning factor on the configuration and dimensions of the defense lines of objects. The Bernardines owned some of the most powerful defensive monasteries in Western Ukraine: in Sokal, Izyaslav and Lviv. The monasteries of this order were mostly located in downtown. Three of them, namely in Berezhany, Dubno, Leshniv, were located in the corners of downtown near the gates. The monasteries in Lviv, Husiatyn and Khrystynopil, which were blocked to the corner of the city defensive walls from the outside allocated to a separate type. Monastery in Zbarazh was located in the middle of the defense line near the gate and had its own defense walls. At this stage, the study revealed one defensive monastery church - in Leshnev. The monasteries in Dubno and Brzezany were defended by powerful city fortifications. The fortifications of the monasteries in Lviv and Sokal should be singled out. The monastery in Lviv, due to the status of the city and responsibility, was committed to active defense, which explains the presence of a three-tiered tower, strong walls with a loophole and a ravelin at the entrance. The monastery in Sokal was an outpost of the territory and a powerful center of pilgrimage that resulted into its economical wealth. It was found that the Bernardine complexes used mostly newer forms of protection - bastions and ramparts.

Sakralitas Ritual Sedekah Bumi di Makam Kramat Batok Kabupaten Bekasi

This study is aimed at revealing the process of the Sacredness of Ritual Sedekah Bumi in Kramat Batok, Bekasi. The study is done toward the structure of the ritual and the sacred elements of Batok sacred tomb, the offerings, ronggeng, masks, shadow puppets, a winding paddy (pocong padi) and buffalo slaughtering. This is to find out how people perceive the phenomena. The analysis of the sacredness uses Mircea Eliade’s view of sacredness and Victor Turner’s point on symbolic form. It is found out that the ways in which the community carries out its meaning are influenced by the social facts of the dominance of buhun (ancient) Sundanese culture, Pre-Islam and Hindu-Buddhist in the lives of Kramat Batok people for generations as a legacy from their ancestors.The analysis applying Jacob sumardjo’s proposition on paradox esthetic shows the harmony understanding between two contrary entities but completing each other. This is formulated as the three of Sundanese people, Tritangtu. The qualitative observation method is used in recording the activities of Kramat Batok community. By conducting interviews, field studies, literature studies and documentation studies, it is known that the Ritual Sedekah Bumi is a paradoxical cultural phenomenon in Kramat Batok community. This is because of the dualism belief in the system of thinking of the people, namely believing in the existence of Islam and its karuhun. The Sacredness of Ritual Sedekah Bumi has become part of the cycle of cultural events. This is as a form of expression of gratitute for the harvest. The ritual shows the primordial view of Kramat Batok community which is passed down from generation to generation, making the ritual activities maintained until todays. Keywords: Ritual, Sacred, Ngukup, Sedekah Bumi

Дискурсивная борьба в пространстве постсекулярности: продолжение эпохи религиозных войн

The article represents philosophical and theological substantiation of the idea of post-secularity. The author proposes the definition of post-secularity as the suppressed (hidden) religiosity, and suggests to interpret the current scientific situation around religious and secular issues as the continuation of religious wars by discursive means, including the use of cultural policy and the ideologization of social sciences. The article analyzes various strategies and ideological positions that exist within the framework of post-secular culture. The main attention is paid to the confrontation between secular (immanentist) and theological tendencies. The rationale of the hidden religious sources of secularity is provided and an attempt is made to identify sacred elements in the secular.

Images of Power in the Societies of Antiquity and the Middle Ages: Symbols and Ritual Practices of the East and West

This collective article is dedicated to the images of power in the ancient and medieval societies, their forming, functions and the ways of representation. Authors found the universal components of the images of power in the different pre-industrial societies of the East and Vest, such as procedures of obtaining power, coronation and anointment, ruler’s regalia and the forms of organizing space of power. The authors investigate the relationship between the secular and the sacred elements in the political mythology of power. This paper deals with the evolution of images of power, rituals and symbols of authority from Ancient Eastern to Medieval societies. The purpose of the article is to present the universal components of the images of power in Ancient and Medieval times. The identification of common and specific features in the representation of power and ritual practices will allow us to see the evolution of ideas about power in pre-industrial societies.

Water and Cosmology in the Stone Age of Northeastern Europe

This paper explores water and watery places as sacred elements among the cultures of the northern boreal zone during the Stone Age, and especially the Neolithic period, through materials deriving from Northwestern Russia and Fennoscandia. The peculiarity and importance of water and certain watery environments, like rivers, lakes, bogs, waterfalls, and rapids, are discussed through depositional practices of material culture, mainly lithic artifacts. Rock-art provides further tools for approaching the topic, not only through its locations in the landscape but also through its motifs, which allow parallels to be drawn to later ethnographical sources and folklore, too. Finally, the paper briefl y touches upon the rationality behind making a strict separation between “sacred” and “mundane” when interpreting prehistoric cultural phenomena. Water was integral to human life in many different ways, but bodies of water and watery places could also be threatening and unpredictable. Therefore water would have been an ambivalent element, probably invested with signifi cant cultural meanings in the Stone Age world.

Framing gratitude journaling as prayer amplifies its hedonic and eudaimonic well-being, but not health, benefits

Gratitude is commonly practiced as prayer, but experimental studies testing the ability of gratitude journaling interventions to increase well-being have only examined secular forms of thanksgiving. We hypothesized that framing gratitude journaling as prayer would amplify its well-being effects. Undergraduate participants (N = 196) were instructed to write 10 things for which they were grateful once a week for five weeks. Participants were randomly assigned to read their thanks aloud to themselves, read their thanks to another person, or pray their thanks aloud to God. Participants in the prayer condition experienced a decrease in negative affect, and participants in the prayer condition who also exerted high effort demonstrated gains in gratitude, positive affect, and hope. Results indicate that the prayer condition may have led to increased health symptoms. Non-significant effects for the social condition suggest that the mechanisms explaining the effects of prayer are related to the theistic and sacred elements of prayer rather than its social features.