P. A. OYUNSKY ON THE EVOLUTION OF RELIGION IN LIGHT OF THE SAKHA EPIC OLONKHO

Abstract

This article discusses the works by P. A. Oyunsky, the great poet, revolutionary, founder of the Soviet literature of the Sakha, dedicated to the wonderful world of the Olonkho epic and the legend of the famous founder Uluu Kudangsa, which reveal the deep philosophical and religious meaning of life, developed by the ancestors of Sakha in the ancient times. The poet rightly believed that in the Sakha archaic epic, light female shamans and their goddess Aiyhyt make the archaic layer of the Aiyy creators cult. Under the influence of the ancient cults of Heaven and Earth, zoomorphic guardian spirits and female shaman “mothers of beasts” moved to the Upper World, joining later men patrons of the military democracy era. The former goddesses of the Universe, represented in the form of the cosmic moose, deer, bears, acquired anthropomorphic features and turned into spouses of higher deities. This process resulted in a mirror-reflection of social relations on earth that took place from the period of the late Neolith and Paleo Metal until the early Iron Age. That is why the Pantheon of deities lived in large families and abided by the rules of the tribal relations. All this was typical of the social societies standing on pre-state stage of development. The Olonkho epic, which goes back to the Turkic tradition of singing oleng, preserved ancient totemic features that disappeared in other Turkic epics. Thus, the analysis of Olonkho texts and ritual hymns of algys blessings can trace the evolution of early forms of religion and the formation of the Pantheon of deities of the Upper World, where there was a strict hierarchy of sacred power. The novelty of the research lies in the accuracy of reproduction of Sakha traditions, rituals and myths. As a result, the author reveals the organic unity of light shamanism with the cult of ancestors. The works of the great poet P. A. Oyunsky arouse keen interest of researchers in the Humanities. The reconstruction of early cults reveals the continuity of totem cults and their influence on the sacred power of fire priestesses, blacksmiths, shamans, warriors, and leaders.

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