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Sodnompilova M. Hair in Mythological Human Anatomy and Ritual Practice of Turkic and Mongolic Peoples

M. Sodnompilova
Institute for Mongolian, Buddhist and Tibetan Studies of Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Ulan-Ude, Russian Federation
ORCID: 0000-0003-0741-0494
E-mail: sodnompilova@yandex.ru

 

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ABSTRACT. This article continues the studies of human anatomy in the traditional views of the Turkic and Mongolic peoples of Inner Asia. From the standpoint of mythological anatomy, typical of the traditional worldview of the Turkic and Mongolic people of the region under study, hair is an essential part of the human body as the center of the human soul. The traditional studies of the structure of the human body and how to maintain the body’s health by the Turkic Mongols contain the views on the connection of hair with a person’s vitality. In the vast range of meanings and functions of hair in the culture of the Turkic — Mongolic peoples, the connection between hair and human life is most prominent: various rituals and restrictions associated with intrauterine hair attest to this. The tradition of decorative hairstyles, various prohibitions, and rituals convey the connection between the life force of brothers and sisters, spouses, a girl, and a woman enclosed in hair. The ideas about hair, hairstyles, etc., reflect more general ideas about the relationship between members of society: mothers and children, nephews and maternal uncles. The notion of the soul and the life force is predominant here. In the afterlife after death, hair was also significant: its preservation during earthly life guaranteed the possibility of continuing human existence in the other world.

 

KEYWORDS: Inner Asia, Turkic-Mongolic peoples, mythological anatomy, hair, life force, soul

 

DOI 10.31250/2618-8600-2023-4(22)-261-277
УДК 392(=512.1)

 

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