DOI: 10.36871/hon.202002020
Authors
S. A. Sitnikova
Russian State University named after A. N. Kosygin (Technology. Design. Art) Branch in Tver, Tver, Russian Federation
Abstract
The article is devoted to comprehension of ritual and magic role of coniferous tree (spruce,
pine) in traditional national culture and is based on materials of a long-term (2000–2019)
folklore and ethnographic expeditionary survey of villages of Tver region made by teachers
and students of the State Academy of Slavic Culture (nowadays — Russian State University
named after A. N. Kosygin).
In addition to expedition materials, the work includes identified folklore and ethnographic
archival records and publications of past years, related to the evidence of the coniferous tree's
sacral meanings and reflecting the ritual tradition of not only Tver land, but also of territories
associated with it. In Tver folk culture there is often a ritual synonymy of spruce and pine,
which manifests itself both in attributive and in verbal terms.
The logic of this article is primarily associated with Tver traditional calendar and agrarian
complex, in which the spruce (pine) tree acts as a mythopoetically saturated ritual attribute of
calendar rites and holidays. In addition, folklore and ethnographic evidence of the ritual and
symbolic role of spruce (pine) in family and household rituals (wedding, maternity, recruiting)
has been introduced. Thus, the material is built so that the archaic sacral meanings of the
image of spruce (pine) in the ritual zone of Tver traditional culture are revealed, first of all,
taking into account the North Russian dialect vocabulary connected with words "yel' ", "yelina",
"yolka", "sosna" аnd their dialect meanings, аnd secondly, with the involvement of local
ethnographical samples of traditional folk architecture and applied arts such as embroidery,
weaving, wood carving and painting, which have preserved in a more or less evident form the
sacred character of the depicted coniferous tree.
Keywords
plant symbolism, ethnoarboretum, Tver calendar rites, family and household rites
