MYTHOLOGICAL AND RITUAL SPACE OF THE BEAR'S HOLIDAY OF THE NORTHERN MANSI

The research object is to reveal a connection of traditional ideas forming the mythological space and the ritual of the Bear's Holiday of the Northern group of Mansi people. In the work, the author relies on the sources of the Mansi Bear's Holiday researchers: A. Kannisto, B. Munkacsy, N.L. Gondatti, V.N. Chernetsov, E.I. Rombandeeva, N.I. Novikova, and mythological texts. Considerable attention is paid to the author's field materials. Mansi celebrated two types of the Bear's Holiday. One of them (sporadic) is held on an occasion of the killing of a bear. Another type (social-periodic) is dedicated to the rite of honoring of the most significant ancestral spirit. The starting point of mythological and ritual space is designated by the "organizer" of Bear rites and by a celebration object. In a sporadic type the "organizer" is Polum-ojka (Polum Torum or Ken'sya.), and in a periodic type the "organizer" is Yalpus ojka (Konsy. ojka). In the first case, the object is a real bear/ she-bear, in another case the object is an embodiment of the spirit represented in the form of imta 'skin with the head of a bear/she-bear'. The myth about Polum-ojka 'Pelym Man' reflects a motif of the first creation - a peat hummock that appeared on the water surface and the gradually grown into a land. Polum-ojka descended from the sky to the water went to hunt, killed a bear, delivered a bear into a house on this small piece of land and organized the first Bear's Holiday, which became a model of subsequent sporadic Holidays. The merit of Yalpus ojka 'Man of the Sacred Town' is the initial people training to hunt animals. After killing a bear, he not only organized a Bear's Holiday, but also set its frequency - a seven-year cycle. The starting point of the "organizers" is gradually expanded including various relationships (profane and sacred), for example, a house and a sacred corner (a special "large [=sacred] house" for public rites and a "small hut" for sacred activities and sacred objects). Spatial relationships including moving (movement) reveal the mythological links in the wider area. Here we are talking about the myths of the descended from the sky and sailed away from their native lands sons of Polum Torum. According to a custom, guest trips were arranged (trips of sons to their father and vice versa). Similar relationships existed between Yalpus ojka and his sons. The ancestral spirits of different territories at Bear's Holidays are represented by actors on the sacred night, and their anthropomorphic figures are also shown at periodic Holidays. The principle of organization of space of the bear rites has its own patterns. Mythological characters (objects) are closely related to actual religious beliefs. The inclusion of objects in relationships structures the mythological and sacred space and defines territorial boundaries based on myths. The performance of rituals ensures the arrangement of living space and order in society.