Oriental Studies (Dec 2020)
Fox in Bashkir Folklore and Religious-Magical Practices
Abstract
Introduction. The article analyzes vestiges of the fox cult among Bashkirs. The animal used to be a most revered one in religious and mystical beliefs of the nation. Goals. The work seeks to study the fox cult in all its manifestations in everyday life and economic activities on the basis of folklore, ethnographic and other materials. The main sources involved are ethnographic, folklore, linguistic publications, as well as the author’s field data. Methods. The research rests on theoretical, retrospective and comparative historical analyses of the mentioned sources. Results. The study is first to analyze various data on the fox cult among Bashkirs, which makes it possible to reconstruct some aspects of Bashkir ethnic history and is also instrumental in identifying the historical and genetic roots of ethnic spiritual culture. The paper employs new folklore and ethnographic materials, and introduces them into scientific discourse. Conclusions. The traditional ethnic worldview contains the idea of kinship and identity between Bashkirs and the fox; the former proclaims a possibility of mutual reincarnation and somewhat absence of any fundamental difference between the latter ― all this to constitute the essence of the ancient man’s ideas about his place in the world. Folklore and rituals maintain vestiges of faith that individual clan groups are descended from the fox. When viewed as a totemic ancestor, the fox takes on the roles of a patroness, protector, adviser and helper of people that gives health, prosperity and family happiness. Bashkir oral literature contains materials that recognize the fox as a zoomorphic deity, the mistress of nature and personification of the sun. In everyday traditions and folk choreography, there are traces of a totemic ritual of honoring the fox as a totem and totemic ancestor. Being a sacred creature, the fox was a tabooed animal in customs and beliefs of the Bashkirs.
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