In the culture of the Khakass people trees are not only the most important economic resource, but also a key structuring symbol. The tree has extremely wide semantic field. In the traditional consciousness of the Khakass people, the symbolic status and functions of the tree are determined by its perception as an object endowed with special properties, belonging simultaneously to the profane and...
This article overviews the written sources on religious beliefs and funeral rituals of the Kyrgyz people of the Tien Shan from the Middle Ages to the Modern Period. The study draws on the works of historians, poets, travelers, and anonymous authors, written in various languages and translated by V.V. Bartold, Z.N. Vorozheykina, O. Karaev, and other scholars. Analysis of these sources provides...
This article discusses the semantics of the ornamental motif of transverse grooves and notches made in vertical rows along the entire perimeter at an angle to the ground in the upper and middle parts of carved wooden posts which are set on graves among the Tobol-Irtysh Tatars. These structures above graves may be compared with vertical objects (trees, posts, etc.) which symbolized ladders for...
The author analyzes the basic ideas of the alternative Tengrian discourse related to general issues of Siberian Turkic religions. It is shown that since the 18th century, Shamanism had been viewed as the traditional Siberian Turkic religion; however, this established academic concept was challenged in the post-Soviet period. We demonstrate that the Tengrian discourse is rooted in two key ideas:...
Horse is a domestic animal of great importance in the economic life and spiritual culture of the Khakas, in particular, in shamanism. In the Khakas ethnography, the question of the meaning of the horse in the ritual practice of the shamans remains little studied. Due to this, the purpose of this article is to characterize the image of a horse in the shamanic attributes of the Khakas. The...