Belief-System of the Pym-River H^anty
Contents
Cap. |
Article’s title |
PP. in this book |
Journal or volume-set wherein article was originally published |
Vol:PP. in that journal |
2. |
Space in the H^anty World-Outlook |
65-76 |
PRO FOLKLORISTICA |
5 (1997) : 16-26 |
3. |
Spirit Dolls at the Pym River H^anty |
77-86 |
Studies in Folklore and Popular Religion. 1996. |
1 : 125-32 |
4. |
Sacrificial Rituals of the Pym River H^anty, pt. 1 |
87-100 |
PRO ETHNOLOGIA. 1998. |
5 : 57-68 |
ARCTIC STUDIES. ". |
1 : "-" |
|||
5. |
Sacrificial Rituals of the Pym River H^anty, pt. 2 |
101-128 |
PRO ETHNOLOGIA. 1999. |
8 : 57-71 |
ARCTIC STUDIES. ". |
2 : "-" |
|||
8. |
Shamanism as Information Design |
157-[179] |
(manuscript) |
-- |
[The page-numbers in chapters 3 & 5 of the text, as printed, are identical with those of the original journal-articles; not re-set for this book (therefore do not agree with those of theTable of Contents). The page-numbers in chapters 2 of the text, however, are anomalously labeled with paginations each commencing with p. 1.]
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2. (pp. 1-9) Space in the H^anty World-Outlook
pp. 3-5 directionalizations (by sub-tribes) of house-doors; of praying; and of interred corpses
p. 3 |
for the __ tribe |
Northern H^anty |
Eastern H^anty |
|
the house’s door is __ |
north |
south |
||
the sacred shelf is __ |
south |
north |
||
members of the __ tribe |
pray facing __ |
|||
Mansi |
southward |
|||
p. 5 |
H^anty |
northward |
||
H^anty "stated that the shaman must go and consult the devil to find out the result of a {prospective} hunt. He must go to where the sun sets". |
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p. 4 |
"the ... Mansis who situated graves with the head facing north ... believed that the lower world could be found to the north ... . ... |
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The dead in the Pim region are entombed with the head facing the south ... since people sleep with their head facing north, the dead must lie in the opposite direction because in the underworld everything is turned upside down." |
pp. 5-6 journey by soul of the dead, encountring various deities
p. 5 |
"journey of the soul of the dead along the Ob river" : "it first turns toward Kaltesh (Kalto~ono~ settlement), then if no help is forthcoming from there, it moves on to the "Man looking at the people" in Belogoryie, and in cases where no help is forthcoming from there, the last hope resides in the "Old man of the sacred town" in Vezhakary. The latter god is ... a bear and a mouse ... . |
p. 6 |
If the spirit of the dead does not receive help from "The old man of the sacred town" it proceeds along the current, crying, whereupon it move on to the lower world in order to receive the final approval from the God of Sicknesses in Vanzevat (Schmidt 1989:225-225)." |
Schmidt 1989 = E`va Schmidt : "Bear-Cult and Mythology of the Northern Ob-Ugrians" In :- Uralic Mythology and Folklore. pp. 187-232.
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3. (pp. 125-132) Spirit Dolls at the Pim River H^anty
pp. 125-129, 131 hlunk-idols & their spirits
p. |
hlunk |
125 |
"The word hlunk as used by the Khantys (Ostyaks) denotes both gods, or spirits, and the sacred dolls made for them. ... Sometimes people met for example wood hlunks and had various relationships, including sexual, with them; sometimes they even cohabited with them for longer periods. ... Furthermore, for the Khantys and Mansis, ... people and hlunks ... are invisible to each other". "On the Lyamin, a tributary of the Pym, the "invisible people", as the hlunks are also known, had a colony where they lived together in families. ... |
126 |
There are still places on the banks of the Lyamin river which are considered so to be holy that people cannot live there." "The sacred dolls are kept and offerings are brought to them in sacred groves ...; the Khantys ... keep them in sacred storehouses and nartas. The sacred narta is then kept ten to fifteen steps north of the Khantys’ conical tent with its nose towards the south. ... their sacred storehouse ... is built is a separate location in the woods." |
"Some dolls are used only once as for example the doll of the fire spirit which is burnt at the end of the sacrificial ritual; others are preserved through people’s whole lifetime, as the dolls of married women which they get before their wedding from their homfolk. Most of the hlunks, however, are replaced every seven years." |
|
127 |
"The storehouse has its keeper ... . He takes care of the storehouse and dolls and distributes the offerings at common sacrifices, where a peculiar social levelling takes place between families ... . Each family brings as many offerings (food, textile, reindeers, money, etc.) as they consider necessary and affordable. In the course of the offering, the food is distributed equally, so that poorer families receive more than they brought to the hlunk. The same holds for clothing : ... the storehouse keeper divides these on behalf of the hlunks between the families". {so, these hlunk-s personify the sharing-principle of communism.} {likewise, the potlatch of the tribes of the Oregon Territory "is a way to share your wealth. ... Give your guests gifts. This is all part of sharing your wealth. Items should be ... given to your guests during the height of the potlatch. You are distributing your wealth and sharing what you have with others." ("SWP")} {"Potlatch can be seen as mutual aid. It is aid because it is the gift." ("MP")} {In the Solomon Islands, "Wealth is given away ... as it is acquired. (One notes how utterly threatening this giving away of wealth was to European missionaries and government officials in the cognate indigenous societies of the American Northwest in their criminalization of "potlatch" gift giving.)" ("C&P")} |
"If the river’s spirit ... has a special sacrificial storehouse at a sacred place ... the hlunk then resides [therein] with his assistants. These are usually the hlunks of bigger rivers such as the old man of the Ob As-iki, Kasym-imi of the Kazym and others. The god of the Pym has a special storehouse, too ... .All the Khantys living in the Pym basin take their offerings to that storehouse. The time of offering is set by the storehouse keeper who is advised by the hlunks. ... |
|
128 |
As-iki is considered more powerful than Pym-iki, the Pym being a tributary of the Ob. ... . ... goddess Kasym-imi of the Kasym river was said ... to have given a battering to her father, the highest god Numi-Torum. For that her father made her lame, ... to limp". |
129 |
"how one acquires a hlunk" : "Some of them are inherited, others appear to people in their dreams together with instructions on how their bodies are to be made." "The hlunks {hlunk-s as idols} are believed to help people without shamanic powers more that shamans who have to rely more on their own power." {power to summon the same hlunk-s as deities, without using idols} "sound-producing instruments besides the drum are also used in shamaning". {shamans summon deities by music rather than by idols.} |
131 |
leaden idols : "the master of the underworld, Kul-iki, and a serpent-shaped hlunk ... as well as a ... reindeer-shaped hlunk who will secure good luck in reindeer-hunting". |
"SWP" = http://www.ehow.com/how_4489504_spread-wealth-during-potlatch.html
"MP" = "Misconceiving Primitivism" http://www.fendersen.com/primitivism.htm
"C&P" = "Communion and Personhood" http://www.anthroglobe.info/docs/personhood_communion.htm
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4. (pp. 57-68) Sacrificial Rituals of the Pim River H^anty, pt. 1 http://www.erm.ee/?node=142
pp. 62-63 se’ances with spirit-medium under influence of Amanita-muscaria spirit
p. |
se’ances |
62 |
[a se’ance in the Pym river basin] "A shamanic seance took place, too, to find out the gods’ attitude toward the sacrifice. For that end, one of the renowned local shamans ate amanita while another beat the shaman’s drum (Khanty kuijyp) ... . Finally, however, the shaman who had eaten the mushrooms sat at the drum and "the spirits took him". He beat the drum for some time, then began to pronounce what life would be like ... . ... Thus the shaman kept alternately beating the drum and speaking, as the spirit of the mushroom (Khanty pong) went between him and Torum-Ati (another name for Numi-Torum). Here, pong is the intermediary between the shaman and the god, communicating by turns the questions and the answers. ... . |
63 |
... many times pong went to the heavens and came back." [se’ances elsewhere] "In the basins of the Vasyugan and the Irtysh, however, ... the spirit of the shaman himself goes to travel after eating pong ... . {Praesumably, the spirit of the shaman is guided by the pon-spirit in this journeying.} [In those river-basins,] it was not the was not the shaman who sang at the ritual, but the mushroom spirit, or the shaman merely repeated the songs sung to him by the spirits of the mushroom". |
p. 64 spirit-passport and spirit-border-guard’s entry-list
[unauthorized spirit-journey into the otherworld] "A path led to the south; he began to walk along it. He met a woman {goddess-guardianess of the entrance into a divine world} sitting by the path. They engaged in the following dialogue : ... The Woman : ... I must first inspect your documents! Got a passport? {The requirement of a passport, in order to enter in the otherworld, is a Taoist theme.} [The journeyer] showed her his passport. The woman consulted a list but could not find his name. Thereupon the woman told [the journeyer] to go back : If your name is not on the list you cannot pass. |
The episode recalls ... the Northern Khanty who maintain that the sky god provides the god of the underworld with a list of those doomed to die, and the latter refers to it when selecting the souls to be herded to his realm ... . Again relating to the Northern Khanty, ... the sky god does not keep count of the souls himself but has [en]trusted this job to his private secretary, who compiles the list according to his instructions ... . ... among the Northern Khanty, the life span is measured out by Numi-Torum’s wife Kaltesh, who keeps a book of records for this purpose (Schmidt 1989:223)." {This theme, of a book indicating how long each living person will live, is very Taoist.} |
p. 65 sequel to ritual banquet for deities
"Only leftovers can be given to the spirits of sickness. When the poryi is over, everyone goes home, the "upper ones" (that is, gods of the heavens) go away ... . "The lower ones", the demons, through around ... . When everything is finished, then they will come to gobble up the leftovers." |
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5. (pp. 57-71) Sacrificial Rituals of the Pim River H^anty, pt. 2 http://www.erm.ee/?node=166
pp. 64-70 pantheon of deities
p. |
n. |
deity |
64 |
1 |
"On the River Vakh, Anki-Pugos is regarded as Mother of Fire ... . Sometimes a red cloth is thrown into the fire there, "in order that Anki-Pugos may have children". Sometimes, again, the fire was covered with a red dress. It was said that Anki-Pugos would wear it. ... . ... the Eastern Khanties believe that Anki Pugos lives somewhere towards the East, where the sun rises; the Khanties of the Vakh, however, claim that her soul lives in the sky while she herself dwells on the Varyugan ... . ... she used to live in the upper world with her husband Numi Torum but was cast down because of breaching a ban. On her way down she had time to give birth to a son ... (known under various names, basically as Sorni-iki among the Eastern Khanties and as Mir-susne-Xum -- "The Man Who Watches the People" among the Mansi. ... Pugos-imi (a parallel name of Anki-Pugos) protects motherhood, birth-giving and children. If a woman has been unfaithful to her husband, Anki-Pugos may punish her with a difficult delivery ... . Another name -- Kaltash-anki (or Kattas imi ...), wife of Numi-Torum -- is also associated with Anki-Pugos. On the Vakh, she is said to be the mother of Torum ..., but apparently the researchers have not specified which of the torums is kept in mind. Probably it would be Kaltash's youngest son, Sorni-iki, one of the most popular torums of the region. ... Kaltash-anki is alternately the daughter, sister or wife of the main god ... : another fact indicating that the researchers have not properly identified the personage the Ob-Ugrians keep in mind when speaking about Torum. Kaltash is also the foremother of the Mos-phratry, appearing in the corresponding story in the shape of a female hare ... . Another shape she can take, according to the Khanties of Vakh, is that of an owl ... . Amongst other names she is known as Myv-imi -- Mother Earth. ... A strong argument in support of the connection between Myv-imi and Kaltash-imi is the above-mentioned story about how Kaltash-imi was cast down from the heaven by Numi-Torum because of her misbehaviour. The misbehaviour consisted |
65 |
in sexual intercourse with another man ... identified as "Lord of the lower world"... . The lord of the lower world is known as Myv-por-koon among the Pim Khanties. He is said to dwell on the seventh floor of the lower world. Other names for the Lord of the Lower World are Kul-Otar ... or Kul-iki. Myg-imi is said to protect people from diseases by keeping closed the hole in the earth which illnesses pass through. In order that she may do so, seven copper cauldrons are said to have been buried in the earth for her. These she is reported to use to cover up the holes. ... In her work she is assisted by a god called Myg-junk, associated ... with the heavenly god Torum-junk ... . Some Pim River Khanties take Myg-iki to be Myg-imi's husband ... . The Yugan Khanties connect Myg-anki or Pugos anki with childbirth. The latter is also the Mother of Fire, who according to some reports lives in the sky, according to others on the Little Yugan or perhaps the Vakh River ... . Kaltash-anki or Pugos-imi can be identified with Tshoorys-nai, Mother of Fire. The River Ob is said to flow into a big sea, at the bottom of which there is hole where the water falls and burns in a big fire. The fire is called Choorys-nai and she is the wife of Tshoor-skyyn, king of the sea, and also the mother of all fires (... Kerezsi 1997: 36). {Pippala-ada ‘Fig-Eater’ generated the mare-fire (SP 7:1:33 – WA&OMB, p. 229), into whose "mouth no larger than a needle" (WA&OMB, p. 230) the ocean is quaffed [so ought this "mare" to be a camel (us.t.ra = Old English goddess Eostre)]? – anyway her mouth may be the whirlpool said by other Siberian tribes to be located in the sea at the mouths of major rivers. "The five rivers put the fire in a golden pot ...; they threw it into the ocean, and it began to drink the waters little by little" (BP 110 -- WA&OMB, p. 232).} {"the mare-fire in the ocean, a metaphor for the fire of lightening in a cloud" (Sayan.a on RV 2:35:3 – GGI&T, p. 55, fn. 23) could also denote a whirlpool-like helix, since in Hellenic art the keraunos (‘thunderbolt’) held by Zeus is commonly depicted as a helix.} Another interesting report tells us that As-to-imi, wife of As-iki dwelling at the estuary of the Ob, gives children to women ... . The American researcher M. Balzer also identifies the Mother of Fire with Pugos and the "Mother of All Beings" (Balzer 1978: 133. 134). At the same time, there are reports stating that Choorys-nai and Kaltash are sisters: daughters of Mother Earth. The picture is further elaborated by a report saying that Mother Earth (Meh anki) has a mother called Mih pugos anki (Kerezsi 1997: 35). Generally, as I noticed at the joint sacrifice discussed in the present paper, the Pim River Khanties recognise a difference between Choorys-nai and Myg-imi and Kaltash, too, is represented at the offerings as a separate personage. Yet the coincidences cropping up in myths indicate that there must be some kind of link between these persons. ... To some extent, the subject has been examined by Ágnes Kerezsi (1997: 35. 38). ... Connections can be established between Kaltash -- Pugos -- Myg-imi -- As-to-imi -- Choorys-nai". |
|
66 |
2 |
"The Khanties of the Surgut region regard Heini-iki (known also as Kul-iki) as the ruler of the lower world, inhabiting the bottom-most, seventh floor of it. His colour is black. Therefore the animals offered to him in sacrifice had to be black, too. No other god of the lower or middle world is given black animals ... . The main aim of the sacrifices is to propitiate Heini-iki ... so he would not send sicknesses to people. Offerings of cloth were hung onto the branches of a fir, the sacrificial tree of kyn'-lung ... . Among the Khanties of Vasyugan, the same personage is known as kyn-lunk ("the spirit of sickness"). Furthermore he is called both there and on the Vakh "the God of the Dead", "the Evil God" and so on. As to his nature, he is said to be the opposite of his brother Torum, the heavenly god ... . Unfortunately, [the redactor] had not specified who exactly is meant by Torum. In the Khanty language, Torum is a generic name for god, signifying also weather and the sky ... . The text, however, allows to conclude that the person kept in mind here may be Numi-Torum's youngest son, Sorni-iki. Kerezsi's data lead to the same conclusion (Kerezsi 1997: 35). According to some researchers, the Khanties of the Vakh and the Vasyugan saw the relationship between those two as being far more sanguinary than conceived by the Khanties of the Surgut region. The ambiguity of the collected materials is proved even by the reports on the Mansi ... . In the stories they published, Sorni-iki has been replaced by Numi-Torum who is also at odds with Kul-otyr. At the same time, they also publish a myth according to which the great diver who brought forth the earth between its beak was actually Kul-otar, having taken the appropriate shape for the occasion ... . Kul-iki can appear in the shape of a dog or a cat. He can also assume the likeness of fog, hiding from people their guardian spirits, as a result of which people become his easy victims ... . ... the shrine of Kul-iki on the River Yugan ... holds the image not only of Kul-iki himself but also of his mother Evut-imi ... .As a rule, Kul-iki's name was not mentioned, particularly in the presence of a sick person." |
3 |
Numi-Torum has various parallel names: Ent-Torum (Great Torum), Sanki or Sange Torum (Bright Torum), Jem-Sanki (Good Light), Alle-iki (Great Old Man), Nagi-iki (White Old Man), Ynyt Torum (Great God), Kansh iki, Tarn Sanki, and so on (... Kerezsi 1997 ...). Numi-Torum dwells on the seventh floor of the upper world, too high to deal with the affairs of mortals. If a person desires to address Numi-Torum, he must do so through the mediation of some lower god. ... human beings can find assistance from the children of Numi-Torum : Sorni-iki, Kazym-imi and other minor gods. In order to appeal to them, one must give an offering to the addressee, too, and say an appropriate prayer asking to dispatch the soul of the sacrificed reindeer to the Highest One. |
|
67 |
... the Khanty Turum is inaccessible to common people and it is not possible to bring sacrifices to him directly ... . ... even shamans are unable to converse with him: the best of them only reached as high as the fifth heaven in their journeys, whereas the All Powerful inhabits the seventh one. ... Actually, the status of Numi-Torum is not very different from that of the supreme gods of other peoples. A characteristic feature of Numi-Torum is that after the completion of the acts of creation, he no longer meddles with further developments in the world. Relatively little is known about him, and it is virtually impossible to contact him directly. As such, he belongs to the long list of dei otiosi known all over the world (Eliade ... ). Numi-Torum created the world and also, according to some traditions, the man ... . In the Surgut region, nothing is known about his sisters or brothers; yet among the Mansi, ... Numi-Torum fashioned the figure of a human being out of clay but could not give it the breath of life. It was only his sister Kaltash who could give the soul to humans ... . {[Chinese] Fu-xi and his sister Nu:-gua made the first humans out of clay.} The rest of the data I have been able to collect, however, identify Kaltash-anki as the wife of Numi-Torum. Naturally one role does not exclude the other. In Greek mythology, for instance, Hera was simultaneously sister and wife of the supreme god, Zeus. The name of Numi-Torum occurs in the old myths, but rather less frequently than those of the gods inhabiting the lower floors of the upper world and consequently standing closer to humans. ... the Lord of the Lower World, Kul-otyr, is also Numi-Torum's brother ... . ... the Highest One also had a father and even grandfather ... . I was told that Num-Torum's father was called Shlaap-Torum (or Pytto-Torum-iki) and inhabited the seventh floor of the upper world, whereas Num-Torum, his son, lived on the sixth floor. Nevertheless, it remains unclear who should in that case be Num-iki (Khanty for The Higher Old Man) or Buus-iki, because according to the data gathered from the upper course of the Ai-Pim River it is that god who inhabits the seventh floor of the sky. Literature presents data confirming the existence of Numi-Torum's father and grandfather. The Mansi know his father under the name of Kors-Torum and grandfather as Kosjar-Torum; among the Northern Khanties, the corresponding names are Num-Kurys and Num-Sives ... . ... Num-Kurys and Num-Sivys are, together with Num-Torum, three different spirits of the upper world, fathered by Kors-Torum. In texts collected ... on the Sosva River, Numi-Kworys occurs as the supreme god who lowered Numi-Toorym, Saghl-Toorym and T'apyl-iki together with their sister Kaltash-ekwa between heaven and earth ... . ... |
|
68 |
The Khanty word Torum signifies not only god, but also sky -- that means it is a generic name. Therefore, when the name Torum is mentioned without epithets, it is sometimes difficult to decide which deity is referred to. The context must always be kept in mind upon making such decisions. Very often, for instance, the name is used to refer to the "Khanty God", Sorni-iki, the youngest son of Numi-Torum. An interesting parallel has been drawn between Numi-Torum and Sorni-iki, on the one hand, and the old Iranian Mithra, on the other. There are data indicating that the lineage Kors-Torum -- Numi-Torum -- Sorni-iki is associated with the Iranian sun god; the argument takes support from the coincidences between the name Kors and the Iranian word xurðét, "bright sun", as well as from several analogous traits in the mythological themes of the two peoples, treating on Mir-susne-Xum and Mithra, respectively (Toporov 1989: 170. 174). In his article, Toporov brings further examples supporting his theory of strong mutual connections between the Uralic and old Iranian peoples (ibid.)." |
|
4 |
"Depending on the region, that deity is known under different names ... . A well-known name is Sorni-iki, "the Golden Old Man". Another name is Postojank-iki, "the Fast Old Man". Thus he is called on the rivers Pim and Lyamin, the same names are used on the Tromagan. Kulemzin believes that these names signify different deities acting as assistants to Torum ..., but the Khanties of the Pim and Lyamin rivers insist they are merely different names of one and the same god. They say that if he is invoked by the name of Postojank-iki, he gives a start and leaps high into the air, rushing off to see who was calling to him so urgently. Woe be him who did it just for fun! Therefore he also has another name, Yi-shlapt-lah-hlioty-iki, to be used when people do not want to startle him. This is the name often used to address him during sacrifices. Sorni-iki rides around on a white horse. Whoever sees him flying past on that white mount may expect to become very lucky. On the Tromagan, he is described in the same manner but under the name of Sorni kan iki (Kerezsi 1997: 38). Sometimes he is heard just galloping past in the sky. Sorni-Torum does not like anybody to fly faster than himself. I even heard [an informant] claim that Sorni-iki determines the speed of jet planes which are not to fly faster than he has allowed. Judging by how he has manifested himself at very short intervals to people living at great distances from each other, [that informant] believes that his speed must at least equal that of light. Once he is said to have run around the world quicker than it took a bit of birch-bark to burn up. Nevertheless he found time to help people, on his way ... . |
|
69 |
Among the Mansi, kindred people of the Khanties, the heavenly horseman is known under the name of Mir-susne-Xum, "The Man Who Looks on the World" ... . For several reasons, he is one of the favourite gods of the Mansi. First and foremost, he is considered to be the forefather of the Mos tribe ... . He was born during the fall Kaltash-imi took upon being cast down from the sky by Numi-Torum because of her misbehaviour. Having obtained the miraculous steed, Mir-susne-Xum or Sorni-iki was able to ride around the whole world. The Mansi see him as the main mediator between Numi-Torum and humans ... ." |
|
5 |
"As-iki is the god and "master" of the greatest river of Western Siberia, the Ob. According to the informants, he actually rules not only over the river but also over all the land which sends its waters into the Ob. The hierarchy of the gods of different rivers is determined by the relations between the rivers of the region. The god whose river spills into the river of some other god is subordinate to the latter. Often the relation is expressed in terms of age, so that the gods of tributaries are younger than the god of the main river, often his children or grandchildren. The world outlook involving such interrelatedness finds expression also in the behaviour of the Khanties. Thus, for example, when the son of a family has grown up and married, he moves with his family upstream, often to the bank of some tributary (Barkalaja 1996: 128). Accordingly, As-iki is the most important of the "masters" of the region. That, however, is no guarantee that the others should obey him without dispute. Relationships of subordination are very vague among the Khanties. In support of this, I should like to quote the following story : "As-iki is the master of fish. He makes fish and sends them into the nets of the fishermen. He also decides how many fish must go into each river. Once it so happened that the god of Salym (a tributary of Ob. The god of Salym is the master of Thunder and notorious for his bellicose disposition -- author's note) thought he was getting too few fish from As-iki. So up he goes to As-iki and demands: `Listen, why do you give me so few fish, give me more.' But As-iki was in a defiant mood, did not give him fish. So the god of Salym went away and began to prepare for war. He picked up an arrow-shaft and began to whittle away on it. Whittled one chip off it . the chip turned into a stickle-back. Whittled another chip . that, too, turned into a stickle-back. Thus the stickle-backs became many. They swam downstream into the river Ob. As-iki looks . a stickle-back. Looks again . nu, holera, (emotional interjection in Russian, translates as "Oh, cholera!") another stickle-back! So he went upstream along the Ob until he could see . the Old Man of Salym is whittling away at arrow-shafts, chips are falling down and turning into stickle-backs. As-iki got a terrible fright, began to call from afar: `What are you doing there, planning to wage war? Against whom?' Salym-iki called back: `Against you, of course, why don't you give me fish?!' So As-iki reckoned the matter was grave and sent lots of fish into the Salym, many large pikes. Mhmh." ... |
|
70 |
Thus As-iki was the giver of fish ... . He also had assistants. On the Yugan these were local water spirits; according to the reports from the Agan, however, the fish-giving water spirits were independent ... . The notions about spirits in general, not only water spirits, seem to be rather confused. This has also been noted by other researchers with field experience among the Khanties ... . A common name for a water spirit is Jyngk-hlunk. Some of the Pim River Khanties thought that Jyngk-iki and As-iki stood for the same personage, others again thought they were different beings. I got the impression the names were not of the same level . in the light of such data, Jyngk appears more like a generic name. {cf. /JINX/?} By way of comparison it could be pointed out that on the Irtysh, As-iki is known under the name of Jynk-tonk-iki ... . Another report must be made mention of, according to which the most important giver of fish is none else but the king of the sea, Choor-skyyn. The latter view is certainly logical, since the Ob flows into the sea exactly like the other rivers flow into the Ob. In the Pim river basin, one likeness that As-iki may assume is that of a gadfly. When a Khanties notices a gadfly struggling in the water, he is certain to pick it out since according to tradition, the gadfly helps men to escape the danger of drownings." |
Kerezsi 1997 = A`gnes Kerezsi : "Life and Beliefs of the Ostyaks of the Surgut Region". In :- Katalin La`za`r (ed.) : Studies on Surgut Ostyak Culture. Budapest : Museum of Ethnography. pp. 13-58.
WA&OMB = Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty : Women, Androgynes, and Other Mythical Beasts. U of Chicago Pr, 1980. http://books.google.com/books?id=EBvHzornoMwC&pg=PA230&lpg=PA230&dq=
SP = Skanda Puran.a
BP = Brahman Puran.a
GGI&T = Bennett Blumenberg : The Great Godddess in India and Tibet. http://home.earthlink.net/~merlynne6/eBooks/INDTB151-2.pdf
RV = R.c Veda
Balzer 1978 = Marjorie Mandelstam Balzer : Strategies of Ethnic Survival : ... Khanty (Ostiak) in ... Siberia. doctoral dissertation, Bryn Mawr College.
Toporov 1989 = V. N. Toporov : "About a Probable Ob-Ugrian Reflection of the Iranian Mithra". In :- Hoppa`l & Pentika:inen (edd.) : Uralic Mythology and Folklore. Helsinki. pp. 169-178.
Barkalaja 1996 = Anzori Barkalaja : "On ... Outlook of ... Hanti of Pim and and Tromagan Regions". In :- Contemporary Folklore. pp. 51-60.
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8. (pp. 1-23) Shamanism as Information Design
p. 1, fn. 2 praeternatural entities
"The Khanties have also seen UFOs." |
""At the lower course of the river Ob in the village of Korvozhevo, a Khanty informant described two types of menkv (‘spirit’ in Khanty). One was described as a "bigfoot", the other displayed traits of an "alien". The latter were described as being three metre tall robot-like creatures who had flashlights for eyes." |
p. 11, fn. 15 a spirit-journey
[quoted from :- Balzer 1993:149] "It was my first attempt at a se’ance ... . ... . ... I started beating on the drum and chanting. Soon two beings, exactly, definitely two, appeared on either side of me. ... So I looked and I saw I was very far from my hearth. It was recending {receding}". |
Balzer 1993 = Marjorie Mandelstam Balzer : "Two Urban Shamans". In :- George E. Marcus (ed.) : Perilous States. U of Chicago Pr. pp. 131-164.
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DISSERTATIONES FOLKLORISTICAE UNIVERSITATIS TARTUENSIS, 1 = Anzori Barkalaja : Sketches toward a Theory of Shamanism : the Belief System of the Pim River Khanties. Tartu U Pr, 2002.