Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 46 (4) 2018   DOI: 10.17746/1563-0110.2018.46.4.094-099

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Chthonic Animals in the Traditional Buryat Culture

А.А. Badmaev

Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 17, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia

This study, based on archival, literary, and field data collected by the author, discusses the role of the snake, the frog, and the mouse in the Buryat mythology, folklore, and ritual. The article describes the Buryat lexemes tied with the snake, frog, and mouse. Classes and groups of these animals in the folk ethno-zoological classification are described and are shown to be overlapping. The meaning of the principal zoonyms—mogoy, khorkhoy, bakha, and khulgana—is assessed. In traditional beliefs, “snake-like animals”, “amphibians”, and “mouse-like rodents” have a mostly negative connotation. The relationship to the snake, however, is ambivalent, but with a positive attitude predominating. Chthonic animals in general have ambivalent symbolism, like the elements of water and earth. Their symbolism is related to the ideas of life energy, fertility, wealth, but also to illness and death.

Keywords: Buryats, worldview, ritual, symbolism, chthonic animals