MYTHS
MYTHS (from Greek mythos – fable, narrative) is the form of integrated mass experience and interpretation of reality by means of sensory-visual images that are considered to be independent phenomena in reality; a main way to understand the world in ancient society. M. has specific features, such as comparison of natural and cultural (social) objects, personification of the surrounding natural environment (anthropomorphism) including the personification of space objects. The distinctive features of mythological thinking are ethologism and genetism. Ancient people considered M. as sacred and believed in them. Bashkir M. are reflected in the Bashkir language; rites and rituals, customs, beliefs and signs; epics (“Akbuzat”, Zayatulyak and Khyukhylu”, Kungyr-buga”, “Ural-batyr” etc.), legends, bylichkas, fairytales, proverbs, idioms, riddles; ornamentation etc.
Mythology distinguished 2 chronological layers of M.: archaic and religious. Archaic M. are: etiological M. – M. explaining the origins of different natural and cultural peculiarities as well as social objects. In general, the majority of M. are etiological. The proper etiological M. are the M. about animals or plants origin or about their particular properties, meteorological phenomena, social institutes, economic activities etc. According to mythology, animals and plants often have human origin: a bear is a man-turnskin that has lost his magical dagger and is doomed to be an animal; a cuckoo is a woman, which is looking for her husband in a bird’s body; a snowdrop is a girl, which was turned into a flower by the spell of her lover’s father; etc. The appearance of some animals is connected with the activities of a cultural hero, e.g. Ural-batyr bending the horns, tearing apart a hoof of the Katil bull creates his shape. According to other beliefs, the horses, bulls were given to people by the inhabitants of underwater world.
Cosmogonic and tellurogonic M. – are the M. about the Universe and Earth origin. According to mythology, Chaos usually looks like endless water space. Outer space is created by the greatest efforts of Ural-batyr, his sons and his grandson Khauban. The Earth was created by demiurge: the solid ground was made by two ducks after they had gained some silt from the bottom of the world’s ocean. The ancient Bashkirs believed that the world has 3 parts that are vertically arranged: the sky, earth surface, and underground (underwater) world. The shy is supposed to be created by Tengri as a place for him to live (see Tengrianism). The main deity of the middle world (Earth) is Earth-Water; it grants life for the whole world and can take it back to create a new life. There are host-spirits living near people. It is important to hold special rites to appease them. The 7-layered underground world can be reached through a hole in the Earth. Evil demons live there (irgail etc.) Horizontally the Earth is a quadrilateral resting on the horns of a giant bay bull standing on a giant fish. The Earth has a navel that is the middle point of the world. Kapova cave (Shulgan-tash), the Tratau, Iremel river and other places are considered to be the navel of the Earth, these places are sacred and have magic power. The Ural Mountains are also the middle of the world, they represent World Mountain. Kaf-tau is at the edge of the Earth. Chaos begins behind it.
Astral M. – are M. about constellations, stars and planets. The moon, according to mythology, was created from one (extra) of the two Suns by Ural-batyr. The spots on the Moon are either a wolf constantly hunting a roe deer or a girl carrying a yoke. The moon personifies the male principle, however, sometimes it is shown as a woman; The Sun is usually associated with the female principle: it is Khumay mother in the “Ural-batyr” epic and the zaklichkas for children address it as the “sister-Sun”. The stars are connected to the sky with thick iron chains; Ursa major constellation is seven beautiful girls that have run to the sky escaping from diyu chasing them; the Milky way is crane feathers scattered across the sky. When Ural-batyr died his horse Akbuzat flew to the sky and turned into one of the stars of Ursa Minor, one of the other stars of the constellation is the horse of Samrau’s daughter Aysylu. Celestial bodies were believed to be sacred: the absence of the Morning star, the appearance of a comet were the harbingers of trouble; the Ursa Major was believed to be the people’s protector; a falling star meant somebody’s death, etc.; toponymic M. – are the M. about names origin of geographical objects. The etiology of certain geographical objects and their names are connected with mythological characters: Ural-batyr created the Ural Mountains, Idel, Nugush, Khakmar, Yaik created the rivers with the same names; Alpamyshi created mountains and hills with dirt and sand accumulated in his shoes. Some toponyms are connected with demonic creatures: Shaytanbaskantau (the mountain on which a shaytan stepped), Azhadakhalykiseu (the ford where azhdakha lives), Bayerkule (pyariy’s lake) etc.; ethnogonic M. – are the M. about tribes, clans, ethnic origins etc. E.g., the origin of some Bashkir clans is believed to be connected with their first ancestor – a totemic animal (see Totemism) or with a demonic creature (shaytan, shurale). A wolf has a special place in ethnogonic structure (see Cults). The mythical connection with the magical first ancestor is reflected by ethnonyms: Katay tribe has a crane-katay, eagle-katay, Burzyan tribe has a hare, a hedgehog etc.
Muslim M. are anthropogonic (about human origin), M. about destiny, afterlife, eschatological (about the end of the world) M., etc. The work to uncover and systematize the structure of Bashkir M. and other peoples of RB is not complete.
