Suchergebnisse

On the basis of field ethnographic material and general scientific methods, the article examines the rituals of the life cycle of one of the sub-ethnic groups of the Avars, the Gidatlins. The study of the forms of marriage, wedding, maternity and funeral rites, customs and beliefs of the Gidatli people showed the predominance of traditional elements in them, intensifying Islamic and some new rituals. Such syncretism is explained by the stability of traditional forms, the specifics of the Sufi trend of Islam practiced by the Gidatli people, the peculiarities of their ethnic psychology and mentality - conservatism and adherence to an established way of life. At the same time, under the influence of globalization and urbanization, some new customs were fixed in the household rituals of the Gidatly people, which were organically woven into their ritual culture.

The article is devoted to the description of the house-spirit, Domovoj, a mythological personage in the folk beliefs of the Dagestan peoples. The whole nomenclature and functions of the mentioned image are given with a detailed indication of its geographical distribution and peculiarities depending on the given ethnic environment.

The paper discusses some mythological characters―demons, masqueraders, zoo- and anthropomorphic dolls―found in the popular beliefs of the peoples of Dagestan and manifested in children's games, calendar holidays, and in the rainmaking rituals. The characteristic feature of these figures is that they are depicted in folk imagination as having herbal nature.

The paper discusses the characteristic features and spheres of activities of the patron deities of the hunt, masters of the animals and protectors of game and wildlife in the folk beliefs of the Dagestani highlanders―different groups of Avars, Laks, Lezgins, Dargins, Tabasaranis, Tsakhurs, Rutuls, and Kumyks. Some of these deities are ambivalent figures equally standing as harmful demons, who steal the foetus of righteous women, new-born babies or cows.

AbstractMaskers play a vital role in the ritual and social ceremonies of Dagestan. With sceptre in hand, the maskers' part in folk traditions has preserved this previously sacral iconography in a profane form. This paper seeks to illuminate the role of the maskers and the mythological symbolism of the sceptre through descriptive analysis of festive ceremonies in Dagestan, while comparing its function to other Caucasian communities.

The article highlights modern marriage and family rituals of the Dargins of Kaitag, a sub-ethnic group of the Dargin ethnos of Dagestan. On the basis of the field ethnographic material and literary sources collected in the Kaitag villages, traditional and new forms of marriage, wedding, birth and funeral-memorial rituals and customs of the Kaitag people are studied, taking into account the transformations that have taken place in them under the influence of socio-cultural processes (globalization, modernization, urbanization, the influence of the Muslim religion).

The article is devoted to the traditional and modern rites of the Gumbet Avars - wedding, maternity and funeral rituals and customs. It was based on field ethnographic material collected in the villages of the Gumbetovsky district of the Republic of Dagestan, as well as special historical literature. Using historical-comparative, historical-genetic, retrospective methods and a systematic approach, the authors presented a picture of modern marriage and family and household rituals of the Gumbet Avars with clarification of the preservation of traditional elements in them and the appearance of new components.

The article explores some aspects of modern childbirth rituals and practices among the city dwellers of Dagestan, focusing on their syncretic nature and the mixture of traditional and new customs. Proper Islamic religious ceremonies occupy a significant place in the childbirth rituals, among them being mawlid, on the occasion of the birth, name-giving of a new-born, circumcision, visiting ziyarats, etc. Traditional ceremonies include the custom of treating a new mother with flour porridge, putting a child in a traditional cradle, the first hair-cut ceremony, the loss of the first tooth, the first steps of the child, etc. Some of the popular rites were invented in the Soviet and post-Soviet times.

The paper describes several interesting details from the rich repository of folk beliefs, cults, rites and ceremonies of obviously pre-Islamic nature, recorded among the Gidatlis. The latter are a sub-ethnic group of the Avars living in the Shamil region of Dagestan.

Written on the basis of field material, using general and special methods of historical science, the article is devoted to the description of the mythological characters of the former pantheon and pandemonium of the Gumbet Avars that have survived to the Soviet post-war and modern times – personified celestial bodies and atmospheric phenomena, mummers and dolls, cartridges of wild animals and hunting , supreme deities; "House snakes", penetrating into the dwelling and strangling a person during sleep, evil demons, antagonists of pregnant women, shaitans. The sources of these representations are folklore (mythology, oaths, good wishes, sayings), vocabulary and phraseology, calendar, family and social rituals, customs and beliefs. With the adoption of the Muslim religion by the Gumbet Avars, most of the mythological characters of their pagan pantheon and pandemonium were consigned to oblivion, and some of the surviving ones, in view of the stability of traditional religious beliefs in the spiritual culture of the ethnic group, were Islamized and took the form of syncretic and "domestic Islam". Some of the Islamized mythological characters have become mediators between man and the Almighty, which is contrary to the doctrine of Islam. A significant role in the consolidation of pre-monotheistic beliefs in the spiritual culture of the Avars and other peoples of Dagestan in the Soviet and modern times was played by the healthy conservatism inherent in all Dagestanis and the peculiarities of their mentality – adherence to the traditional way of life. This circumstance inspires certain confidence in the preservation of their religious, cultural and ethnic identity in the era of globalization.