The Hopping Dead. Zombies in the Chinese Culture

The article examines the image of zombies in Chinese culture, the traditional perception of their appearance and internal characteristics. A wide scope of written sources served as the basis of the study: inscriptions on oracle bones, ancient fortune-telling calendars, historical treatises, chronicles and commentaries on chronicles, essays on geography and medicine, fiction of old and modern China, as well as entries and comments from the Chinese blogosphere. The authors examine how the idea of evil spirits (with a body or bodiless ones) first appeared in the religious worldview of the ancient Chinese, and trace its origin to the doctrine of existence of multiple souls in one person. The article also details the formation of the pictorial image of Chinese zombies: animated corpses covered with hair or dressed as government officials, with their arms extended forward, hopping on straight legs unable to bend their knees. As for the functional characteristics of zombies, the authors discuss not only their well-known features (e.g., cannibalism), but also their deep inner connection with water and drought. In conclusion, the authors explore the evolution of zombies in modern urban legends and demonstrate the continuity of traditional demonology that develops into modern narrative. Apart from that, the article contains a number of analogies and comparisons of the Chinese image of zombies with other nations’ mythological tradition.

CREATIVITY OF SPIRIDON MIKHAILOV (YANDUSH) AND THE WORLDVIEW OF THE CHUVASH ETHNOS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE XIX CENTURY

The worldview of the Chuvash ethnos is a person’s idea of the world formed on the basis of ethnic constants and cultural-value dominants. Being specific to each culture, it created the illusion of objectivity in its bearers. The Chuvash worldview is different in different periods of the ethnos’ life, but thanks to ethnic constants, their structure remains the same at its base. In the Chuvash mythological pantheon of the XVIII century, the main images of the patronizing forces were the God who dwells in heaven and the king who dwells on earth, and the images of the opposing forces were earthly evil spirits and churchmen who moved to the Chuvash villages. In the XIX century, this image changes: a mythological character Pulekhse approached the God, who transformed into the image that has the ability to harm a person, and not bring God-appointed good to him. Such transformations in the mythological pantheon occurred due to a change in the image of the enemy in the socio-cultural space of the Chuvash world. All these processes are well reflected in the scientific works and works of Spiridon Mikhailov (Yandush).

Magpie in Lithuanian and Slavic Ethnic Culture

The article, based on a variety of ethnolinguistic material, especially folklore texts, aims to reveal the main similarities and differences in the interpretation of the image of the magpie in the ethnic culture of Lithuanians and Slavs. This bird in two traditions, in Lithuanian and in Slavonic, is treated ambivalently, more often negatively. This is due to the peculiarities of the bird’s appearance, and in particular the variegation of its plumage. This characteristic feature in the ethnic culture of many peoples is traditionally associated with evil spirits. Too talkative people, most often women, are compared with this bird. Common is the motive of the thief magpie. The name of the bird in all the languages is feminine, therefore, in both Lithuanian and Slavic mythopoetic texts, the social roles of a peasant woman are attributed to it: a daughter-in-law, a mother, a hostess, a cook, a nanny. Another common feature is the image of a magpie as a sorceress, herald of good or evil news and future events. These functions are associated with the tendency to depict witches and other mythical characters in the form of a magpie. The most striking differences in the interpretation of the magpie are the following ones: it is unusual for Lithuanians to associate the idea of procreation with it, and some Slavs (for example, the Czechs) believe that magpies bring children into the house. Lithuanians are also unaware of some features of the “working” behavior of a magpie, for example, the threshing motive. In their turn, Lithuanians attribute such crafts as shoemaking, brewing, and agriculture to magpies.

Transition Periods in the Udmurt Folk Calendar and Their Spirits

The article investigates the perceptions of time based on lunar and solar cycles, seasonal changes in nature, and the rhythm of agricultural work. The key events of the annual cycle in the Udmurt calendar are winter (vozhodyr/uyvozho) and summer (invozhodyr) solstices. The winter solstice period (vozhodyr, lit: transition time, crossroads / crossroads of time, the time of vozho, the time of evil spirits) and the time of the summer solstice are described. The winter period is dedicated to the winter Christmas period from January 7th to January 19th, and includes the following components: gatherings with songs and games, divination, dressing up, and mumming. The article characterises the most important events, such as mumming and masking, as well as beliefs, rituals and prohibitions connected with the spirits of the transition time. The summer solstice is connected with the image of the Mother/Foremother Invozho (In(‘)vozho-mumy), that descends from heaven to earth at that time of year. During summer solstice period the Udmurt particularly venerated heavenly powers and held calendar festivals (gershyd, gerber, gyron-bydton) in order to glorify blooming nature and peasant farmer’s labour.

Asihan (Mantra) sebagai adat budaya masyarakat Lampung Pepadun

This research is motivated by an interest in the asihan or mantra of the Lampung Pepadun cultural community, North Lampung Regency which functions to strengthen mental and self-confidence, expel evil spirits, treat sick people, defeat the forces of nature, and subdue one's heart. The purpose of this study is to describe the function and meaning of asihan or mantra for the culture of the people of Lampung Pepadun, North Lampung Regency. The data in this study were taken from the traditional elders of Lampung Pepadun in North Lampung district. Data were collected by observation, interview, and recording methods.

IMAGE AND SYMBOLISM OF THE WOLF IN THE WORLDVIEW AND RITUAL OF THE BURYATS

В современности духовное наследие народов России, включая их традиционную картину мира, является объектом общественного и научного интереса. В этом ключе представляется важным реконструкция народных воззрений о животном мире. Целью работы является выявление значений волка в мифологических суждениях бурят и включенности этого дикого животного в их обрядность. Источниками для исследования послужили различные этнографические, фольклорные и лингвистические материалы. В работе использован в качестве основного структурно-семиотический метод. Анализ показывает, что у бурят сформировался неоднозначный образ волка, характеризующийся амбивалентностью коннотации. Выявлена в представлениях об этом звере особая роль символики цвета. Волк имел небесную (белый волк) и мужскую символику. Положительная коннотация выражалась также в признании апотропейной функции его шкуры. О сакральности его образа указывает соблюдавшийся охотниками обычай снятия с убитого хищника шкуры с головой и некоторыми внутренними органами. Отрицательная характеристика волка связывалась с тем, что этот зверь воспринимался как медиатор между мирами. Он отождествлялся с бедой. Полагали, что он имеет демоническую природу, служит транспортом для нечистой силы. На хтоническое происхождение хищника указывала его взаимосвязь с вороном. Волк также нес символику агрессии и увязывался с воинским культом. В этом контексте следует рассматривать его ассоциацию с оружием и идею оборотничества. Выяснено, что в шаманской обрядности бурят волк имел священный статус, что проявилось в поэзии и атрибутике шамана (в ритуальной одежде, в использовании волчьего фетиша). Определено, что народные воззрения бурят о волке находят параллели в традиционном мировоззрении других народов, что указывает на универсальные и типологические феномены в бурятской мифологической фауне. 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.

The image of a modern shaman. A literary example of Ida Brzezińska

The shaman figure is most often associated with primitive communities, inhabiting, among others Siberia. The shaman plays one of the most important roles in them - he is an intermediary between the world of people and the world of spirits. Responds to, among others for the safe passage of souls to the other side and protects her from evil spirits. However, is there room for representatives of this institution in contemporary Polish popular literature? How would they find themselves in the 21st century? The article aims to show the interpretation of the shaman on the example of Ida Brzezińska, the heroine of the books of Martyna Raduchowska. I intend to introduce the role and functions of the „shaman from the dead”, juxtaposing the way Ida works (including reading sleepy margins from a rather unusual dream catcher, carrying out souls and the consequences that await in the event of failure or making contact with the dead) with the methods described by scholars shamans. The purpose of the work is to show how much Raduchowska tried to adapt shamanism in her work by modernizing it, and how many elements she added from herself to make the story more attractive.

Specific running practices of certain regions of the East: the experience of philosophical analysis

The subject of this research is the sociocultural conditionality of specific running practices of certain regions of the ancient and modern East, which reflect the basic worldview attitudes of the authentic religious-philosophical traditions and social patterns that are characteristic to the Eastern type of civilizations. In light of the crisis of Coubertin's Olympism as a social movement and ideology, civilization of the East vividly demonstrates the importance of comprehensive spiritual development, which prompts the extraordinary physical achievements. The running experience of the Buddhist monks proves that namely in the sphere of higher ideal values is the elevating source of the need for physical perfection, and the existential goal of a human lies in continuous improvement of own capabilities, development of spiritual and bodily unity, “enlightenment”, and pursuit of harmony with the cosmos. The following conclusions were made: 1. Specific running practices of the ancient East are not competitive in nature, being just one of the means for achieving spiritual liberation. 2. Running in the ancient East was often considered as a type of dynamic meditation, which defines its uniqueness. 3. The unique training techniques of the Buddhist monks were the true methods for fulfilling the higher levels of spiritual and physical potential, which proves their universal humanistic value. 4. The social significance of specific running locomotion found its reflection in performing by bhikkhu of the secular function of heralds and religious-magic functions of personal confirmation of attainability of moksha and incantation of evil spirits. 5. The peculiarity of running in the East in the modern context is substantiated by its large-scale involvement, nonreligious motivation, capability to unite cultural principles of the Western and Eastern civilizations, serve as the means of consolidation of people, as well as express the national spirit and be form of women's emancipation.

Cult of the Domestic Animals in the Green Week Rites of the Historical -Ethnographic Volhynia

The article deals with the cattle-breeding component of customs and rites of the Green Holidays cycle in historical and ethnographic Volhynia. The main cattle-breeding rituals fell on the Sunday of Pentecost (Orthodox Trinity). On the eve of Trinity Sunday, on Green Saturday, Volhynians decorated their homes with greenery and flowers. They sporadically adorned with twigs cattlesheds as well. In some areas, in order to protect livestock from witches and all sorts of evil spirits, these byres were decorated with aspen and other plants endowed with apotropaic properties. In the territory of Pulyn, Khoroshiv, and Cherniakhiv districts of Zhytomyr Region, there was a custom of stealing cows on Trinity Sunday. On Green Sunday night, shepherds stole cattle from their owners and grazed them in the field. After grazing, those thieves-cowherds put woven wreaths on the cows’ horns and returned them home well fed, with receiving a ransom from the cows’ owners. In the Volyn part of Rivne Region, on the day of the Green Holidays, cows were decorated with wreaths. For Western Volhynia (a northern strip of modern Lviv Region, namely Zolochiv, Busk, and Kamyanka-Buzka districts), cattle-breeding customs and rituals on the Trinity are almost uncharacteristic. Unlike other districts, here they are represented on the Catholic feast of the Holy Eucharist. It was on this day that local Volynians consecrated wreaths in churches, which were later used during cattle-breeding occasions. Sporadically, potions consecrated on the Trinity were also used for this purpose. Wreaths were thrown mostly into a cow’s slops after her calving. Despite the local spread of the custom of stealing cows, in historical and ethnographic Volhynia, the Green Holidays were not accompanied by cowherd entertainments, full of ritual actions, which was typical of the customs of other Ukrainian ethnic lands and other Slavonic ethnic groups. On this day, the local population was wary primarily of the harmful effects of witches. To protect cows from the evil influence of witches, Volhynian homemakers fumigated them with sacred potions. In general, in historical and ethnographic Volhynia, the Trinity Sunday-related cattle-breeding theme had a typical apotropaic nature.