Opposition models of the body code in the magical practices of the slavs

Temchenko, A. (2022) Opposition models of the body code in the magical practices of the slavs. East European Historical Bulletin (24). с. 8-22.

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Introduction. The article examines the oppositional models of the body code in the ritual practices of the Slavs. The aim of the paper is to study the semantics of the “sitting” position in the ritual practices of the Slavs in the context of bodily oppositions. Methods. The study uses methods of structural anthropology, where the cultural text is seen as a system of semantic balances and ounterbalances. Results. In the mythological picture of the world, the sequence of ritual actions should follow the process of “divine providence”, which ends with the creation of man. As a result, the human body is a model of the organization of sacred space. The repetition of natural locations, which is imitated by the participant of the rite, involves the transformation of global values into the plane of specific meanings. In particular, the horizontal position of the body is interpreted as inanimate, while the vertical state corresponds to the opposite value. At the same time, the ritual names of “horizontal / dead” include the idea of further resurrection (the prospect of bodily verticalization), as evidenced by taboo forms with a direct hint of the temporality of this state (“dead”, “deceased”). Thus, the myth denies the idea of absolute completion, and life is understood as the alternation of birth and death. In contrast to the dual vertical-horizontal arrangements that denote the states of “life-death”, status mythological characters are in an intermediate (neutral) “sitting” position. Significant are the descriptions of their locations – on the island, the blue sea, under / near the tree, which symbolize the imaginary return of the patient at the time of creation of the world (the state of “pre-disease”). The main feature of “sitting” characters is the refusal to perform the work of “living”, associated with the manufacture of thread and canvas. Involvement in spinning and weaving associates these images with the goddesses of fate, who by the logic of the myth should “weave” the thread of life, but do not. The negative characteristics of the images of the goddess of fate are compared to the magic of healing-magic-destruction, which is realized by the reverse rotation of the spindle. Changing the direction of movement provokes opposite consequences – the transformation of “sick” to “healthy”, “indifferent” to “in love" or “living” to “dead”. For this reason, the “sitting” images of “grandma” and “virgin” have dual characteristics, combining the opposite states of “life” and “death”, which explains the dosed use of the attributes of the funeral cult in medical rites. Changing the direction of movement provokes opposite consequences – the transformation of “sick” to “healthy”, “indifferent” to “in love” or “living” to “dead”. For this reason, the “sitting” images of “grandma” and “virgin” have dual characteristics, combining the opposite states of “life” and “death”, which explains the dosed use of the attributes of the funeral cult in medical rites. The semantics of mythological characters with signs of the “otherworldly” is compared with the image of the archaic genitrix. The rudiments of honoring the great mother are recorded in oronyms, which could be used as ancient sanctuaries. A similar function is taken over by landscape objects of artificial origin, for example, mounds on which anthropomorphic stone stelae were placed, or graves, the ceremonial use of which is combined with a sacrificial “throne”, which on funeral days serves as a kind of portal connecting “living” and “dead”. Ritualized elements of the “sitting” position are also recorded in transitional rites – at funerals while sitting next to / with the “deceased”, ceremonies of age initiations, enthronement ceremonies. In this way there is a ritual imitation of the actions of the Creator-Savior, who “sits” on the heavenly throne and justly rules the world.

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