IMAGE AND SYMBOLISM OF THE WOLF IN THE WORLDVIEW AND RITUAL OF THE BURYATS
DOI: 10.23951/2307-6119-2021-2-93-101
In modern times, the spiritual heritage of the peoples of Russia, including their traditional picture of the world, is an object of public and scientific interest. In this context, it is important to reconstruct popular views about the animal world. The purpose of the work is to identify the meaning of the wolf in the mythological judgments of the Buryats and the inclusion of this wild animal in their rituals. Various ethnographic, folklore, and linguistic materials were used as sources for the research. The paper uses the structural-semiotic method as the main one. The analysis shows that the Buryats have formed an ambiguous image of the wolf, characterized by ambivalent connotations. The special role of color symbolism is revealed in the ideas about this animal. The wolf had a heavenly (white wolf) and male symbolism. A positive connotation was also expressed in the recognition of the apotropaic function of his skin. The sacredness of his image is indicated by the custom observed by hunters of removing the skin from the killed predator with the head and some internal organs. The negative characteristic of the wolf was associated with the fact that this beast was perceived as a mediator between worlds. He was identified with trouble. It was believed that it has a demonic nature, serves as a transport for evil spirits. The chthonic origin of the predator was indicated by its relationship with the raven. The wolf also carried the symbolism of aggression and was associated with a military cult. In this context, we should consider its association with weapons and the idea of werewolves. It was found out that in the shamanic rites of the Buryats, the wolf had a sacred status, which was manifested in the poetry and attributes of the shaman (in ritual clothing, in the use of a wolf fetish). It is determined that the Buryat folk beliefs about the wolf find parallels in the traditional worldview of other peoples, which indicates universal and typological phenomena in the Buryat mythological fauna.
Keywords: the Buryats, the traditional world, the wild fauna, the image of the wolf, folklore, and ritual
References:
Baldaev S. P. Rodoslovnye predaniya i legendy buryat [Pedigrees and legends of the Buryats]. Pt. I. Ulan-Ude: Buryat Univ. Press, 2009. 376 p.
Bazarov Sh. L. Poslovitsy aginskikh buryat [Proverbs of the Agin Buryats] // Trudy Troitskosavsko-Kyakhtinskogo otdeleniya Priamurskogo otdela Imperatorskogo russkogo arkheologicheskogo obshchestva [The works of the Troitskosavsk-Kyakhtinsky branch of the Amur department of the Imperial Russian geographical society]. 1903. Vol. 6, iss. 1. P. 21–39.
Buryaad-orod toli. Buryatsko-russkii slovar' [Buryat-Russian dictionary]. Ulan-Ude: Respublikanskaya tip., 2010. Vol. II. 708 p.
Chistokhin I. Inorodcheskie zagadki [Foreign riddles] // Izvestiya Vostochno-Sibirskogo otdeleniya Imperatorskogo Russkogo geograficheskogo obshchestva [News of East Siberian branch of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society]. Irkutsk, 1895. Vol. 26, № 1–3. P. 37–39.
Erdenebold L. Traditsionnye verovaniya oirat-mongolov (konets XIX — nachalo XX v.) [Traditional beliefs of the Oirat Mongols (late XIX — early XX century)]. Ulan-Ude: BSS SB RAS Publ., 2012. 196 p.
Fol'klor Kurumchinskoi doliny [Folklore Kurumchinskii valley]. Ulan-Ude: BSS SB RAS Publ., 1999. 137 p.
Galdanova G. R. Dolamaistskie verovaniya buryat [Pre-buddhist beliefs drilled]. Novosibirsk: Nauka, 1987. 115 p.
Geser. Buryatskii narodnyi geroicheskii epos [Geser. Buryat folk heroic epic]. Ulan-Ude: Buryat book Publ., 1986. Vol. II. 288 p.
Gura A. V. Simvolika zhivotnykh v slavyanskoi narodnoi traditsii [The symbolism of animals in slavic folk tradition]. Moscow: Indrik, 1997. 912 p.
Khandagurova M. V. Obryadnost' kudinskikh i verkholenskikh buryat vo vtoroi polovine XX veka (basseinov verkhnego i srednego techeniya rek: Kuda, Murino i Kamenka) [Rites of the Kudinsky and Verkholensky Buryats in the second half of the XX century (upper and middle river basins: Khuda, Murino and Kamenka)]. Irkutsk: Amtera, 2008. 228 p.
Khangalov M. N. Sobranie sochinenii [Collected works]. Ulan-Ude: Buryat book Publ., 1958. Vol. I. 551 p.
Khangalov M. N. Sobranie sochinenii [Collected works]. Ulan-Ude: Buryat book Publ., 1960. Vol. III. 421 p.
Khoroshikh P. P. Starik Khoreldoi [Old Khoreldoi] // Zhizn' Buryatii [Life in Buryatia]. 1926. № 4–6. P. 27–28.
Maadai-kara. Altaiskii geroicheskii epos [Maadai-kara. Altai heroic epic]. Gorno-Altaisk: Gorno-Altay branch of the Altai book Publ., 1979. 271 p.
Miller G. F. Opisanie sibirskikh narodov [Description of the siberian peoples]. Moscow: Monuments of historical thought Publ., 2009. 456 p.
Osokin G. M. Na granitse Mongolii: Ocherki i materialy k etnografii Yugo-Zapadnogo Zabaikal'ya [On the border of Mongolia: Essays and materials for the ethnography of South-Western Transbaikalia]. St.-Petersburg: Suvorin Publ., 1906. 304 p.
Potanin G. N. Ocherki Severo-Zapadnoi Mongolii. Rezul'taty puteshestviya, ispolnennogo v 1876–1877 gg. po porucheniyu Imperatorskogo Russkogo Geograficheskogo Obshchestva [Essays on North-Western Mongolia. Results of a trip performed in 1876–1877 on behalf of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society]. Iss. I: Dnevniki puteshestviya. Materialy dlya fizicheskoi geografii i topografii Severo-Zapadnoi Mongolii [Travel diaries. Materials for physical geography and topography of North-Western Mongolia]. St.-Petersburg, 1881. 425 p.
Potanin G. N. Ocherki Severo-Zapadnoi Mongolii. Rezul'taty puteshestviya, ispolnennogo v 1879 godu po porucheniyu Imperatorskogo Russkogo Geograficheskogo Obshchestva [Essays on North-Western Mongolia. Results of a trip performed in 1879 on behalf of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society]. Iss. IV: Ethnographic materials. St.-Petersburg: Kirshbaum Publ., 1883. 1026 p.
Protasov N. Iz buryatskikh skazanii [Of the Buryat legends] // Sibirskii arkhiv [Siberian archive]. 1912. № 8. P. 623–631.
Sharakshinova N. O. Uligery buryat [Tales of the Buryats]. Ulan-Ude: BSS SB RAS Publ., 2000. 153 p.
Smolev Ya. S. Tri tabangutskikh roda selenginskikh buryat: etnograficheskii ocherk [Three Tabangut kinds of Selenga Buryats: an ethnographic essay]. Moscow: Mamontov Publ., 1900. 58 p.
( 752.46 kB ) 
( 685.07 kB )
Issue: 2, 2021
Series of issue: Выпуск № 2
Rubric: ANTHROPOLOGY
Pages: 93 — 101
Downloads: 847