Космологический образ мира в творческом наследии Г.Д. Гачева

Полный текст

Introduction

The advertence of humanitarian sciences to the national images of the world as well as to the incorporated values of their representations has determined the search of the universal “optics” revealing the evolution of the archaic conscience as a holistic unity of human natural, existential and spiritual essence. At that, a significant research interest is caused by the cosmological worldview expressed through language, culture and conventional existence imperative modes.

The given article is devoted to discussing the cosmological image of the world through the prism of the research credo of the well-known scholar and writer-philosopher G.D. Gachev, who in his writings pushed the envelope of the classical antique philosophy as “the issues of cosmogony, the origins of the world and a man, while the essentials of the Universe were treated then in the narrow aesthetical <…> categories of the beauty and harmony” [1.  P. 30]. Such approach let the author make an important discovery: the artefacts conserved till our times “hide a profound scientific and theoretical truth which said that the very first revelations of human labour and conscience are directly related to the aesthetical issue” [1.  P. 4].

Thus, after G.D. Gachev’s book “Life of the Artistic Conscience” was published, the notion of “the aesthetical learning of the world” was introduced into the academic discourse, and together with that, there came the apprehension of an ancient man having his proper inherent sacral demand “to introduce some order, advisability, harmony and beauty into the chaos of nature” [1.  P. 29].

As to the methodological core necessary for the holistic consideration of a cosmological world image, the article is based on the introduced by G.D. Gachev notion of “the Cosmo-Psycho-Logos” focusing on the attention to the national world image which predetermines the psychological pattern, mentality and historic development of a nation” [2.  P. 364].

Assuming that “optical” point of view opens the possibility to holistically understanding of the cosmic space through the prism of inherited aesthetical values and sacral world perception dating back to the archaic stage of human evolution.

Discussion The concept of aesthetical activity and conscience

Discussing the development of conscience, language and culture proceeding from “the aesthetical apprehension of the world”, G.D. Gachev has formulated the principally core question, “How did it happen that the category of beauty started to be perceived as a general feature of all human activity, but not as a specific property of some special activity which we call artistic or art?” [1.  P. 31]. In search of the answer we’d try to reveal the background factors of the aesthetical activity which researchers date back to the epoch of the Neanderthal man (BC: 60–40 thousand years ago).

By that we mean the worldwide known memorials of the primitive art: the cave decoration to depict brave hunters and dynamic strong animals; sculptures, including figures of beasts, birds and cult statuettes of “women-progenitors, and also various articles of mammoth bones and decorations having the great artistic value.

The book “The Morning of the Art” is devoted to the Palaeolitic creative activity and academician A.P. Ovchinnikov wrote there that the origins of the art are rooted “in creative fantasy and the ability to enjoy the beauty, i.e., the aesthetical feeling. And in their prime forms they undoubtedly are no younger at any account than formalized cut of the dead and reverence of the beast and they are no younger than magic” [3.  P. 30]. At that the author specified the problem “to reveal the primes in the full meaning of the word original forms, and consequently, the origins of the creative activity and aesthetical feeling on the whole” [3.  P. 22].

As one can see, the similar problem was put by G.D. Gachev who was interested not only in the emerging of an image as a form, but also in the structure of conscience. Indeed, ‘the prerequisites of an image arise long before the advent of a proper artistic image, quite the same way as an aesthetical moment is born in the human labour before the art” [1.  P. 3].

As to producing various and ideal tools of stone and bone, they presented themselves not just being the result of sensible and practical perception of a certain pattern. Their elaboration supposed the existence of rather a developed speech due to which the accumulated skills and capabilities were transferred to future generations. Those conditions came into being by the end of the epoch of the later Palaeolite (BC: 40–35 thousand years ago), when there emerged a man of the modern type (Homo sapiens) [4.  P. 12] possessing the potential of the aesthetical perception which had been developed later on.

Alongside, the newest discoveries in the field of archeology, anthropology, ethnography and linguogenetics let us assert that “the origins of art should be noticed in the more earlier times” For the example, we’d refer to “the recent discovery of the beads made of shells by the earlier Homo sapiens, who lived in the Cave of Skhul about 100 thousand years ago” [5.  P. 18].

In this context, great interest is evoked by the Palaeolitic culture of Siberia, and among those the encampment of the Denisov Cave bearing the traces proper to the aesthetics of the Lower Palaeolite. At the same time, the author of the publication marked that “an ancient craftsman had applied “creative freedom and will” to obtain clean and smooth razor, and she concluded that “the obtained regularities to produce ancient tools <…> remind us in form and manner to elaborate them like the tools from Panjab and Africa being the predecessors of cutting tools of the Palaeolitic epoch” [5.  P. 18].

Therefore, the Neolithic culture involved a man who was granted with the capability of the aesthetical perception, which “were rooted in the primitive primeval world with spiritual prerequisite and stipulations” [6.  P. 132].

Turning again to the book by G.D. Gachev, we’d remark that in fact it revealed “the main trend of the aesthetical activity of that period — the transfer from sensitive and practical formation to the cognition and reflection of the being. Changing from the form of social labour it turns into the form of social conscience, into the artistic conscience” [1.  P. 31]. Finally, an important conclusion followed: “the category of beauty lies in the very essence of human labour, and its nature includes the aesthetical origins” [1.  P. 30].

In 2012, the G.D. Gachev’s conception of the aesthetical origins of conscience and activity had got a potent confirmation in the doctoral research of “The Archetypical Basis of the Aesthetical Conscience” by V.S. Yezhov and revealed in the primitive practice formal properties of the aesthetical (harmony, symmetry, rhythm, proportion, adequacy, timeliness, purposefulness and continuity), that allowed the author to prove “the ontological status of the aesthetical conscience as a phenomenon” and disclose “the generic essence of a man” [7.  P. 5].

Thus, there appeared the prospect to get down to the issue of the formation and further development of the linguistic conscience of our distant ancestors.

The cosmologic image of the world: the earliest period

From word to myth. During millennia the primitive syncretism which hadn’t yet separated the economic and instrumental activities from one another, and the emotional plane was more valuable than the plane of content itself, there appeared the need for communication and self-expression. Those provoked the language to “become an outward entity” (M.M. Bakhtin) for the sacral perception of nature and inherited worship of totemic ancestors. However, “at first a word played an insignificant part and possessed not the meaningful features, but the character of a rhythmical signal realized by means of a sound (shouting)” [1.  P. 44].

Such is the prehistory of a word as a means of communication which was developing on the plane of the sensitive-aesthetical perception of the objective world and the sacral memory of the totemic ancestors which lowered the psycho-emotional tension.

At that the transfer process of a primitive man from the half-gregarious existence of hunters and gatherers to life in a social group was accompanied by gradual transformation of things into fetishes, which were endowed with magic capabilities to influence people [1.  P. 9].

Therefore, with the development of meaningful associations, “a word-rhythm has become the bearer of the sacral idea that denoted something existing beyond the visibility” [1.  P. 65], and the story formed, and there appeared “magnetic space”. At that, a word didn’t just consolidate its own meaning but also fixed a corresponding “energetic meaningful” potential (A.F. Losev), which translated an emotion-will tone of communication. And the emerging word images (figures of speech, or tropes) made “the first holistic structures, cells of literary and artistic utterances able to relatively independent life and dynamics” [1.  P. 60].

However, an ancient man, meaning himself to be an integral part of the world continued “to see soul and will existing in the natural objects and phenomena, and in human actions — the interference of natural forces’ [1.  P. 5]. That is why he still had to overcome his half-animal state. But because at this stage of development the only close and understandable things were only congregated generic relations, he personified nature endowing it with typical just for himself features and actions which in time laid the basis of mythology” [8.  P. 7].

Gradually, in course of working activity the fetish conscience is overcome, and in conscience there appear animalistic images: demons, spirits, gods, and later on anthropomorphic heroes which help people defending them from enemies. In such a way in times mythological stories came into being and “the myth-telling became itself the magic solemn performance rite, custom, ritual” [1.  P. 23].

Cosmonyms: the Milky Way. In the Introduction in the book “Life of the Artistic Conscience” G.D. Gachev highlighted the Milky Way as a model of “phantasmagoric” and “absurd” forgery connecting the origins of that celestial body with “milk, which sprang from the nipples of an antique goddess” [1.  P. 3]. But clearly it’s not only that idea stipulated the choice for the nomination. Moreover, the significance of the condition is due to the fact that discussing it one could find earlier (Palaeolitic) semantic layers of that nomination and trace its further evolution.

First of all, let’s remark, the image of the Greek Goddess Gera is rooted in the general Indo-European ideas about the Mother Earth, which exist in the myths of many nations of the world. Considering the name Gera (´Hρα), it is said to arise to the pre-Indo-European root (*ier — ‘bright, passionate, irate’) which refers to its initial identification with the independent and powerful Great Mother being worshiped in the “chthonic” epoch (before the 6^th century BC). It’s rather possible that this celestial object was named quite the other way in those times [9.  P. 5–6].

Starting the analysis of cosmonym of the Milky Way in the Russian linguocultural space, let’s present the cultural and historical conception of G.G. Shpet, found in his archives and published V.P. Zinchenko [10.  P. 79–80]. According to the understanding developed in it, there are the following stages in the linguistic conscience: nominating (language), religious-and- mythological, artistic-heroic, cognitive or scientific-and-technical, cultural-and-historical and philosophic-and-cultural.

A to the Milky Way, its nomination is to be seen also deeply dating back into the centuries when in the nominative conscience there was constructed the image of the Great Mother, and together with it there arose myths as the aesthetical perception expression of the natural world and sacral attitude to it.

Regarding this let’s pay attention to the following remark of G.D. Gachev. “myth itself represents not the characteristics of a god and the history of his deeds, not the holistic image, <…>, but a single episode connected with this or that material object, e.g., a Cyprus tree”. At that a significant circumstance is considered: “telling a myth was itself a magic solemn performance, a rite, a ritual” [1.  P. 23], rendered by conscience and conserved in the memory for a long time.

Sharing such interpretation, let’s try to prove the following version. According to the ancient mythological-and-poetical impressions the origins of the cosmonyms under discussion is connected with the zoomorphic goddess who was crossing the heavens where until now her Milky Way could be seen. Finally, the identification of a celestial object and the sacral image of a mysterious cow took place, and it passed from a generation to another generation, fixing the assumed name — the Milky Way.

Accepting this version, we based on the publications in which just a cow stayed behind the image of the given celestial object, “And then the cow Zemun went to the blue fields and started to grease the grass and give milk. And flew the milk along the heavenly cataracts, and like stars shone above us at night”^[1].

The image of a cow-protectress, mediatress, helpmate and foster-mother is still preserved in our time. We mean here widely-known folk fairy-tales “Buryonushka” and “Kroshechka-Khavroshechka” in which are reflected the early generic impressions about totemic ancestors who possessed specific magic powers. And in the fairy-tale “Bodlivaya korova” (‘The Apt to Butt Cow’) the animal immediately personifies the mother, who selflessly protects her calf from an angry wolf, and also a small girl, who also confirms the connection of this anthropomorphic image with the profound archaic. On the whole, the image of the mythical cow as a symbol of fertility and well-being, prosperity exists in many archaic cultures of various peoples [9.  P. 5–6].

Regarding the links of milk and the heavens with the atmospheric phenomena which were inherited in the archaic sacral perception of the natural world, they were confirmed in the writings by S.M. Tolstaya. Thus, according to the folk impressions of the Slavs, rain is nothing else but the milk of the heavenly cows-clouds, and the cloudy weather predicts the abundance of cow-milk^[2].

In fact as G.D. Gachev wrote, “folklore gives us an opportunity to reconstruct the evolution of a man from an animal state to a social one, and allows us seeing de visu the way to generate the mystified comprehension by a man himself the cumulative power as a secret spiritual origin” Therefore a society and social connections make “a direct continuation of the nature and natural connections” [1.  P. 26].

Indeed, the undertaken discussion of the Russian world cosmological image of the example of the Milky Way not only allows tracing the evolution of Homo sapiens, but at the present stage of the evolution of a man while perceiving the nature as “the one large generic community” [1.  P. 7], also transpose the kinship links on animals and the surrounding space including the heavens. At that, it’s the mother-woman who primarily acts as an embodiment of the social connections because these connections mean the intergeneric (by blood), natural ones creating the matriarchal kin” [1.  P. 26].

The well-known Russian folklorist and a researcher of the Slavonic spiritual culture A.N. Afanasyev wrote the following, “The fertile power of sunrays and rain showers falling from the heavens soars the fertility of the land, and the latter, warmed and moistened, grows grasses, flowers, trees and nourishes men and animals” [11.  P. 66]. Besides, in the language of agricultural and stock-raising tribes the Earth was perceived by default as “producing bread and linen”, and the Heavens as a “provoking the birth-labours” source, which means the reflection of an ever-existing ancient myth of the Earth and Heavens marriage [11.  P. 157].

In this context, there are noteworthy superstitious beliefs concerning the Milky Way and its influence on the natural world and human activities presented in the book “The Russian People, Its Customs, Rites, Legends, Superstitions and Poetry” by M. Zabelin:

(In Russian) Когда Млечный Путь светит, то будет хорошая погода. Когда же кажется, что звезды на нем словно бегут, то будет ветер. Черные круги около звезд — к дождю. Белые и красные — к ветру. Темные, зеленые и бледные круги — к дождю. Сильно блестят звезды летом — к жаре. Зимой — к морозу. Темнеют — к переменной погоде, ветру и дождю. Мало звезд видно — к пасмурной погоде и дождю, а откуда лучи звезд длиннее, оттуда будет ветер (lit. ‘When the Milky Way shines, the weather will be fine. When it seems that the starts on it are as if running, the wind will blow. Black circles around the stars mean the rain is coming. White and red cicles again mean the wind. Dark, green and pale ones again mean the rain. The stars are shining brightly in summer signal the heat. In winter they signal the frost. If the are darkening means the weather is changing bringing wind and rain. A few stars seen means cloudy weather and rain, and where from the star rays are longer there from the wind will come”) [12.  P. 288].

The given Abstract adds to the South-Slavonic rite stimulating the raising amount of milk yield. When on the St. George’s Day a landlady churned butter from milk, her daughter raised to the house roof and answering the mother’s question ‘what’s the weather is out-of-doors’, she said that ‘all over the land the sun is shining, but over there house it’s cloudy’^[3].

Naming the Milky Way in the Russian linguocultural space

From the very beginning the undertaken study of the cosmological world image (on the material of the Milky Way naming) was orientated on the idea of “Cosmo-Psycho-Logos” which allows combine in the one research plane the national image of nature and the psychological pattern, mentality and historically formed model of the Russian national personality existence [2.  P. 364].

The significance of treating the given issue seems obvious because this opens the prospect to understand if the modern Russian discourse preserves itself like “the stream which is passing from one generation to another one” [13.  P. 256], as well as the direction to “the aesthetical comprehension of the world” (G.D. Gachev) and the inherited with language and culture sacral demand for the harmonization of the world and one own self.

Having the aim in mind, we’d come back to the cultural-and-historical conception of G.G. Shpet and discuss the Milky Way naming arising to the nominative, religious-and-mythological, artistic-and-historical stages of the evolution of conscience.

Naming conscience

While characterizing the initial stage in developing the linguistic conscience, G.G. Shpet wrote, “The first moment when a man tried to overcome his naturally animalistic being is language — and this is the very first moment of the nature’s socialization” [10.  P. 79].

We’d tackle as illustrations the following names of the Milky Way which emerged in the epoch of gathering-hunting landowning, and quite for a long time have served to orientate on the stars at night:

(In Russian): Млечный путь (шлях), Молочная дорога, Молочная речка, Дорога / Дороги (мн.), Пути, Тропа, Улица, Становище, Молоко разлито, Молочник, Млечный Дождь, Цыплячья Дорожка, Заячья Тропинка, Лисьева Дорога, Мышины тропки, Дорога к Краю, Северная Дорога, Полоса, Косая дорога, Белая Дорога, Светлый Путь, Млёклый Путь (lit.: ‘Milky Way (Road), Milky Road, Road/Roads (pl.), Ways, Path, Street, Camping Ground, The Milk poured, Milkman, Milky Rain, Chicken Route, Rabbit’s Path, Fox’s Road, Mice Paths, Edge Road, Northern Road, Stripe, Diagonal Road, White Road, Light Way, Lactiferous Way’).

Besides, within this layer of names it seems purposeful to specify nominations with the semantics containing aesthetical constituents as a result of the sensitive-and-aesthetical perception of the natural world lowering the possible psycho-emotional tension:

(In Russian): Дорожные Звезды, Небесная Дорога, Звездная Дорога / (Дорожка), Звездный Путь, Звездный Луч, Дорога Звездовая, Серебряная Дорога, Светлый Путь (lit.: ‘Road Stars, Heaven’s Road, Star Track/(Path), Star Ray, Road of Stars, Silver Road, Light Way’).

Religious-and-mythological conscience

Presenting the given type of the developing conscience in his notes, G.G. Shpet restricted himself to the following characteristics: “each thing in the world is introduced into the sociocultural world through its intermedium” [10.  P. 79].

The comprehension of the world around by means of ancient conscience was really intermediated through the fixed totemic images and perceptions because a man thought to be himself an integral part of the nature. Thus, the image of the zoomorphic goddess which predetermined the Milky Way naming, forwards us to “the archaic legends about totems as the reflections of the mystical group kinship with animals being our prime ancestors” [14.  P. 5].

One more proof of totemic representations depending on the Milky Way naming is the image of migrating birds which got the “outward interpretation” in the ancient beliefs in birds as the totemic ancestors who accompanied men during all the life, supported the sacral modus of his existence^[4] (about the cave contours and sculptures of totemic birds see: [3.  P. 19, 52]). Here are a few examples of the Milky Way naming:

(In Russian): Птичий путь, Гусиный путь, Диких гусей дорога, Журавлиная дорога (lit.: ‘Birds’ Way, Geese Way, Wild Geese Road, Cranes’ Road’).

Rather a widespread idea reflects the embodiment of the soul looking like a bird and connected with it popular custom in the South of Russia: during forty days after a relation’s death one has to feed birds flying to the window or over the grave as a sign to commemorate the dead^[5]. Moreover, the Slavs believed in the ability of birds not only to predict the early arrival of spring, but also wealth, health and abundant crops^[6].

A specific research interest of the Russian popular tradition is evoked by geese as the bearers of the demonic power. That’s why people thought “if geese started to shout at night, it means that they saw an angry spirit”^[7]. Considering the fairy-tale image of Geese-and-Swans, we’d remark that they are functioning as mediators between the world of those alive and dead. Initially, Geese-and-Swans of the fairytale under the similar title are possibly personifying the souls of dead ancestors who the Slavs have imagined as birds’ images since early times.

Finally, the totemic image of a goose, on the one hand, is a symbol of the universal power, and due to this, it reflects the ancient presentation of the world construction and its sacral core, and on the other hand, it’s an embodiment of the afterworld.

The adopting of the Orthodox belief didn’t just introduced a renovation of the traditional world perception, but also influenced the cosmological world view. Here we mean the following Milky Way naming:

(In Russian): Божья дорога (путь), Иисусова Дорога, Моисеева дорога (Дорожка), Путь Моисеев на небо, Святая дорога, Богородицын путь, Дорога к Святыням, Дорога (из Киева) в Старый Иерусалим, Дорога (Путь) в Иерусалим и Райская дорога (lit.: ‘God’s Road (Way), Jesus’s Road, Moises’s Road (Path), Moises’s Way into the Heavens, Saсred Road, Holy Mother’s Way, Road to the Holy Relics, Road (from Kiev) to the Old Jerusalem, Road (Way) to Jerusalem and Paradise Road’).

In this context we’d like to emphasize the following evidence: peasants of the Tula region consider that the souls of the Orthodox people go into the Heavens along the Milky Way:

(Old Slavonic) въ заутреню Свҍтлаго Воскресеiя праведники встаютъ изъ гробовъ и въ это время Млечный путь спускается на землю и указываетъ имъ дорогу въ царствiе Божiе (lit.: ‘In the morning of the Holy Sunday the true Orthodox people get out from the coffins, and at that time the Milky Way descends on the Earth and show them the way to the God’s realm’) [15.  P. 160].

Moreover, the Milky Way is associated with the sacred road which in one direction led to the Heavens, and in another direction it served as a “guidebook” for pilgrims to sacred places. Thus, in the Podolsk province it was considered that

дорога эта идетъ изъ Москвы въ Iерусалимъ. Кто только идетъ въ Iерусалимъ, должен избрать для себя указателемъ Млечный путь и никогда не собъется съ дороги: придетъ прямёшенько въ Москву, а затҍм въ Iерусалимъ, гдҍ Млечный путь и кончается (lit.: ‘this road goes from Moscow to Jerusalem. And he who goes to Jerusalem should choose the Milky Way as a guide for himself, and he’d never lose the route; and he’d come directly to Moscow and then to Jerusalem where the Milky Way ends’) [15.  P. 162].

Obviously with the adapting the Orthodox Christianity the initial semantics of the discussed cosmonyms was radically redesigned, but didn’t disappear by default and was still preserved in the national memory. As a result, the ancient sacralization of the Milky Way since long time ago has served as a reliable guideline and the inherited aesthetical perception of the celestial skies and possibly, rueful feelings caused by the loss of contact with totemic ancestors, were filled in the cosmological world image as an integral part of the Russian cosmological world image.

Artistic-and-heroic conscience

As to the artistic-and-heroic type of conscience which adds “a natural thing to the sociocultural existence through its dismissal of the reality and its transformation concerning the real existence and meaning” [10.  P. 80], among the 80 samples naming the Milky Way, there is no cultural hero found, who could act as a demiurge or defender of the world around.

Alongside, the noteworthy research interest is caused by such nominations, as Russian Батыев путь (Batyj’s Way) and Мамаева дорога (Mamaj’s Road) where the antihero is meant. According to M.E. Rut, the given Milky Way Russian nominations together with such naming like Татарская дорога, Дорога татарская на Святую Русь, Басурманское становище (lit.: ‘the Tatars’ Road, the Tartars’ Road to the Holy Russia, Unorthodox (Moslem) Campground’) appeared in the cosmonymy according to the model of the mythological identification, and they form a group of “memorial historical names” connected with the Mongol-and-Tatar invasion [16.  P. 67].

The proof of the validity of the conclusion could be supported with the following commentary of the Батыев путь (Batyj’s Way), truly Russian popular naming, given by A.N. Afanasyev in his writing “Poetical Views on the Nature of Ancient Slavs”: “they say, this road is going from iron mountains where the Tatars are locked, i.e., it joins those Hell caverns of the cloudy mountains where suffer “mysterious peoples”, the giants of disastrous tempests and thunderstorms. In the Middle Ages mythical legends about the latter were transferred onto severe and wild nomads who ruthlessly devastated the Russian lands and because of this they were named Scourge of God” [17. Vol. 3.  P. 137].

Proceeding from the said above, we’d assume that before the nominations stipulated by the Mongol-and-Tatar invasion into the Ancient Russia, there existed the ideas about some half-mythological creatures which were associated with such celestial natural phenomena like thunderstorm, lightning and thunder, the images of which have been later on transposed onto Mongols and Tatars.

In such a way at the artistic-and-heroic stage of the developing conscience the Milky Way nominations entered the Russian cosmological worldview to make relevant in memory the images of antiheroes-nomads who were enemies of the Russian people.

Perceptive, or scientific-technological conscience

Taking into account the developing economic activity in the traditionally hunting regions we’d shortly discuss such naming of the Milky Way as Russian dialectal names Матица (‘Mother’) and/or Матка (also Mother’).

In the classical Russian log-house dating back to the Diakonovskaya culture period (VII .— V centuries BC), as far as the inherited means of construction were improving, in the center of a log-house they started to make матица or матка (both mean ‘mother’) — a solid support bar to which logs of the ceiling were fixed, and later of the floor as well.

Thus, Матица as a naming of the Milky Way becomes inseparably connected not so much with a Russian kinship term мать (‘mother’) arising to the Indo-European radical *mater-, but also with such an important piece of a house under construction as матица, which allows interpret the naming as a bearing frame of the observed cosmic space on the whole.

Conclusions

Since ancient times the celestial starry sky was a reliable space-and-time landmark for gatherers, hunters and rain deer-breeders who sensing their unity with guiding stars worshiped them as their totemic ancestors and patrons. Finally, the world cosmological image developing during many centuries has reflected the evolution of conscience which could have been traced since the times of the appearance of the modern type of a man.

Specific research interest considers cosmonyms of the Milky Way as one of the key objects of the national cosmological image of the world bearing the expression of the aesthetical and sacral attitudes to celestial stars.

The syncretism of the aesthetical sources of conscience and the sacral perception of the nature proper for the naming of the Milky Way predetermined the use of the holistic methodology of G.D. Gachev which explains the “entelecheia” (purposeful reason) of each and every national community.

The initial orientation on the “Cosmo-Psycho-Logos” which combines on the same research plane the national image of nature with the psychological state, mentality and the historically set modus of life of the “national Russian personality” and allowed analyzing 80 nominations of the Milky Way and correlate them with the stages of conscience evolution (G.G. Shpet).

The article paid special attention to the Milky Way cosmonyms which arise to the religious-and-mythological stage of the conscience development and, in particular, to the image of the zoomorphic goddess who crossed the Heavens where until now one could see her Milky Way. Finally, there appeared the identification of the starry celestial object with the sacral image of a mysterious cow which was transferred from generation to generation fixing the naming of the Milky Way.

The proposed version of analysis is based on the national Slavonic ideas up to our times telling that rain is the milk of celestial cows-clouds, which is why the cloudy weather predicts the abundance of milk, and also the well-known fairytales ”Buryonushka” and “Kroshechka-Khavroshechka” and “Bodlivaya korova” (‘Butting cow’) which reflected the early kinship ideas about the totemic ancestors possessing specific magic powers.

Therefore, the undertaken study of the Russian cosmological image of the world on the material of the Milky Way naming fully confirm the G.D. Gachev’s conclusion about the folklore being able to trace the evolution of Homo sapiens, who was initially endowed with the aesthetical perception of the world and also with spiritual prerequisites.

 

 

^{1 Veles Book (1995). Moscow: Manager.  P. 17. (In Russ.).}

^{2 Slavonic Mythology. Encyclopedic Dictionary (2002). Moscow: Mezhdunarodnye otnosheniya.  P. 249.}

^{3 Slavonic Mythology. Encyclopedic Dictionary (2002). Moscow: Mezhdunarodnye otnosheniya.  P. 249.}

^{4 Myths of the world nations (1992). Encyclopedia: 2 vols., S.A. Tokarev (Ed.). Moscow: Sovetskaya entsiklopedia. Vol. 2.  P. 346.}

^{5 Slavonic antiques: ethnolinguistic dictionary (2009). N.I. Tolstoy (Ed.). Vol. 4. Moscow: Mezhdunarodnye otnosheniya.  P. 145.}

^{6 Slavonic antiques: ethnolinguistic dictionary (1995). N.I. Tolstoy (Ed.). Moscow: Mezhdunarodnye otnosheniya.  P. 537.}

^{7 Slavonic antiques: ethnolinguistic dictionary (1995). N.I. Tolstoy. Vol. 1. Moscow: Mezhdunarodnye otnosheniya.  P. 543.}

Об авторах

Татьяна Евгеньевна Владимирова

Российский университет дружбы народов

Автор, ответственный за переписку.
Email: vladimirova-te@rudn.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0003-2458-3653
SPIN-код: 2859-4934

доктор филологических наук, профессор, старший педагог дополнительного образования кафедры русского языка и межкультурной коммуникации Института русского языка

117198, Российская Федерация, г. Москва, ул. Миклухо-Маклая, д. 6

Светлана Васильевна Яковлева

Российский университет дружбы народов

Email: yakovleva-sv@rudn.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0001-9036-9378
SPIN-код: 5678-5783

педагог дополнительного образования кафедры русского языка и межкультурной коммуникации Института русского языка

117198, Российская Федерация, г. Москва, ул. Миклухо-Маклая, д. 6

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