EARTH–WATER
EARTH–WATER is a dual mythologized deity in female image, protector of nature pow ers; an image of the Motherland. It combines male and female principles, includes the unity of time and space, a person and nature. Thus, a healing Bashkir spell describes the ancient origin of the motherearth with a metaphorical image of a ginger beard as its color; it the same as the color of soil: “Mother of earth – a red beard! / Drink it, eat it!” Similar motifs are typ ical for “Tolbuytsy” Bashkir legend. The heal ing spells registered by G.F. Vildanov contain the names of spheres and their colors – Mother of Earth, Mother of Water and Mother of Sky: “Mother of Earth red beard, / Mother of wa ter – grey beard, / Mother of Sky – blue beard, / Navel of the earth – is a single road. / A shawl for the Earth, / Healthy body – for me, / If you catch me – set me free, / I place it for a dzhin, not for the earth. / Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!” “Anthem to the Urals” kubair praises the Motherland – the sacred land of the ancestors: “Oh, sacred land! / My father was a groom on this land, / My mother was a bride on this land, / My umbilical cord was cut on this land...”. “Uzak-Tuzak - the last of the balabashnyaks” folklore epic presents the idea of bloodkinship close relations and unity of E.W. and the human body: “EarthWater is the beating of my heart, / Earthwater is my best friend, / The memory of my father, / The strength of my hands, / The feeling of my heart. / But I look for the only – / man like me. / The soul of EarthWater and Adam – / My, Uzak’s companion and pair. / The body of Earth Water is a man, / A man’s pair and essence is EarthWater”. The deification of Z.W. is con nected with the archaic belief that a human was created with soil. The Motherland is sacred, its nature is praised in Bashkir ethnic songs.
R.A. Sultangareyeva