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Chernysheva Yu. Christmas Ritual Cookies of the Tersky Pomors: Peculiarities of Their Existence

Yu. Chernysheva
Institute of Humanitarian Studies, Ural Branch of the RAS
Perm, Russia
ORCID: 0000-0001-7311-9457
E-mail: yulyachernysheva99@gmail.com

 

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ABSTRACT. This article examines a distinctive element of the traditional culture of the Tersky Pomors — the ritual cookies known as kozuli. The study analyzes the name of the ritual cookies, their production techniques, forms, functions, and cultural significance. A distinctive feature of the Pomor kozuli tradition is the considerable diversity of forms. Ethnographic materials make it possible to identify several characteristic types of Tersky kozuli, including representations of domestic and wild animals, as well as anthropomorphic and ornithomorphic figures. The study also demonstrates that the term tetiora was used both to designate an ornithomorphic kozuli and another type of ritual cookie made from wheat dough. Artisans specializing in the production of kozuli were known as kozulshchik (male) and kozulshchitsa (female). Variations in the depiction of goat figures are observed, reflecting both local traditions and individual craftsmanship. Within Pomor traditional culture, kozuli fulfilled several functions: they were exchanged as gifts during Christmas caroling, served as children᾿s toys, performed symbolic roles when placed near icons on the icon shelf, and acted as an important marker of the Christmas season in the folk calendar. By the 1970s–1980s, the ritual use of kozuli on the Kola Peninsula had largely disappeared, and examples from the late twentieth century are now preserved primarily in family collections and museum holdings. Today, kozuli have been transformed from a ritual attribute of the Christmas cycle into a souvenir product; nevertheless, the Tersky (Pomor) kozuli tradition continues to exist in this new form.

 

KEYWORDS: calendar rituals, Christmas, ritual cookies, kozuli, Tersky Pomors, Russians, Kola Peninsula

 

DOI 10.31250/2618-8600-2026-2(32)-30-49
UDC 392.813(470.21)

 

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