THE HORSE AS A CELESTIAL BEING IN THE RELIGIOUS AND MYTHOLOGICAL REPRESENTATIONS OF THE KHAKAS (LATE XIX – XX CENTURY)

The veneration of the horse is one of the bright and widespread phenomena represented in the traditional culture of many peoples engaged in horse breeding. Khakas are no exception. In their minds, this animal was endowed with a positive characteristic, which was due to the involvement of the horse in almost all spheres of human activity. The horse was an indispensable assistant in economic activity and the military sphere, the fastest and most reliable means of transportation, a source of meat and dairy products and various raw materials, etc. At the same time, the respectful attitude was not limited to a purely utilitarian value. The sacralization of the image of а horse was also influenced by the people’s faith in its heavenly nature, which contributed to the formation of a special ritual associated with it. The purpose of this work will be to characterize the horse / horse as a religious and mythological character in the traditional worldview of the Khakas associated with the sky. The chronological framework of the work is limited to the framework of the late XIX – XX centuries. The choice of such time limits is determined by the state of the source base on the research topic. Ethnographic and folklore materials, both published and introduced into scientific circulation, served as a source base. Among folklore sources, heroic tales (alyptyg nymakhtar) are widely used, excerpts from which are presented for the first time in the author’s translation in Russian. Leading in the study is the principle of historicism, when any cultural phenomenon is considered in development taking into account a specific situation. The research methodology is based on historical and ethnographic methods: remnants (relic) and semantic analysis. As a result of the research, the author comes to the conclusion that in the Khakas culture, the horse has a wide semantic field. One of the most striking facets of his image is the perception as a celestial being and the endowment of a high semiotic status. This animal was included in the mytho-ritual complex associated with the idea of heaven and the celestials. Among the diverse manifestations of this phenomenon, one should distinguish such as: the dedication of a horse – yzyh, solar-lunar and astral symbolism of a horse and its fiery nature, identification of images of a horse and a bird, etc.

Khakas, traditional culture, worldview, ritual, horse, sky, sun, moon, stars, fire, bird