Celestial Tragedy: Lunar Eclipse in the Language and Mythology of the Turkic and Mongolic Peoples

Introduction. Among the cosmic objects in the traditional worldview of the Turkic and Mongolic peoples, it was the night luminary that was associated with a wide variety of meanings, symbols, and functions. The purpose of this article is to analyze the reflection of the lunar eclipse in the language, mythology, magical practices, and rituals of the Turkic and Mongolic peoples. Materials and methods. The work is based on a comprehensive, systemic-historical approach to studying the past. The research methodology is based on historical and ethnographic methods. The main sources of the study were materials on the mythology and folklore of the Turkic and Mongolic peoples, reflecting the ideas of nomads about the satellite of our planet. Results. In the vocabulary of the Turkic and Mongolic peoples, the lunar eclipse is associated with a group of terms expressing the ideas of 1. the capture of the night luminary, 2. its death, and 3. pollution/clouding. The first idea, closely related to myths about characters swallowing celestial bodies, prevails in the region. The other  ideas are fixed in the languages of the Mongolic peoples independently of the myths. The names of the eclipse, conveying the idea of ​​pollution, clouding, are traces of an archaic mythological plot with African “roots”, despite the absence of myths in the Turkic and Mongolic environment that tell about the cause and form of pollution of the moon. Conclusions. In the central part of Inner Asia, ideas about the lunar eclipse are concentrated as the capture, absorption of the moon by a certain monster localized in the sky, the image of which has a southern origin. An exception is the image of a bear, characteristic of the northern periphery of the Turkic and Mongolic world. In ritual actions aimed at saving the celestial body, one can see traces of archaic ideas that connect Siberia with the regions of the Russian Far East and East Asia. The custom of including orphans in the rituals of “saving” the Moon among the Turkic peoples of Southern Siberia and the Buryats is of a local nature. The group of such special people in some places is supplemented by widows, twins, boys who have reached 3 years of age.

1. Alekseev N. A. Early Forms of Religion of the Turkic Peoples of Siberia. Novosibirsk: Nauka, 1980. 315 p. (In Russ.)

2. Big Academic Mongolian-Russian Dictionary. Vol. 3. Ö–F. Moscow: Academia, 2001. 439 p. (In Mong. & Russ.)

3. Berezkin Yu. E. Africa, Migrations, Mythology. Areas of Distribution of Folklore Motifs in Historical Perspective. St. Petersburg: Nauka, 2013. 320 p. (In Russ.)

4. Buryat-Russian Dictionary. K. Cheremisov (comp.). Moscow: Sovetskaya Entsiklopediya, 1973. 803 p. (In Buryat & Russ.)

5. Burnakov V. A. Traditional Ideas of the Khakass People about Dogs. In: Worldview of the Population of Southern Siberia and Central Asia in Historical Retrospect. 2012. No. 5. Pp. 196–216. (In Russ.)

6. Burnakov V. A., Tsydenova D. Ts. The Moon in the Traditional Worldview of the Khakassians. Vestnik NSU. Seriers: History & Philology. 2013. Vol. 12. No. 3. Pp. 267–279. (In Russ.)

7. Butanayev V. Ya. Khakassian-Russian Historical and Ethnographic Dictionary. Abakan: Khakasiya, 1999. 236 p. (In Russ.)

8. Butanayev V. Ya. Burkhanism of the Sayano-Altai Turkic Peoples. Abakan: Khakassian State University, 2003. 260 p. (In Russ.)

9. Butanayev V. Ya., Mongush Ch. V. Archaic Customs and Rituals of the Sayan Turkic Peoples. Abakan: Khakassian State University, 2005.196 p. (In Russ.)

10. Vasiliyev V. E. On the Origin of the Cult of the Sun and Sky among the Yakuts. In: Geography: Development of Science and Education. St. Petersburg: Asterion, 2020. Pp. 431–435. (In Russ.)

11. Ganbold M. The Nature Conservation Tradition of the Oirat Mongols. (Bibliotheca Oiratica–XXVIII). Ulaanbaatar: Soyombo, 2012. 189 p. (In Mong.)

12. Geser. Buryat Heroic Epic. Book 1. V. Soloukhin (transl. from Buryat). Moscow: Sovremennik, 1988. 397 p. (In Russ.)

13. Dzhanuzakov T. D. Essay on Kazakh Onomastics. Alma-Ata: Nauka, 1982. 175 p. (In Russ.)

14. Dondokova D. D. Vocabulary of Buryat Spiritual Culture. Ulan-Ude: Buryat Scientific Center (SB RAS), 2003. 134 p. (In Russ.)

15. Dugarov B. S. Buryat Geseriad: Heavenly Prologue and the World of Epic Deities. Ulan-Ude: Buryat Scientific Center (SB RAS), 2005. 298 p. (In Russ.)

16. Katanov N. F. The Dialects of the Uriankhians (Soyots), Abakan Tatars and Karagases (Samples of Folk Literature of Turkic Tribes, published by V. V. Radlov). Vol. 9. St. Petersburg, 1907. 640 p. (In Russ.)

17. Kuz’mina A. A. The Concept of “Moon” in the Yakut Linguistic Picture of the World. NSU Vestnik. Series: Linguistics and Intercultural Communication. 2023. Vol. 21. No. 3. Pp. 106‒117. (In Russ.)

18. Manzhigeev I. A. Buryat Shamanistic and Pre-shamanistic Terms. Moscow: Nauka, 1978. 125 p. (In Russ.)

19. Mikhaylov V. A. Religious Mythology. Ulan-Ude: Soyol, 1996. 111 p. (In Russ.)

20. I am studying Kalmyk. Small Kalmyk-Russian Dictionary. I. Ilishkin, B. Muniev, V. Badmaeva, M. Shurguchinova (comp.). Elista: Kalmykia Book Publ., 2002. 511 p. (In Russ.)

21. Podgorbunskiy V. I. Religious and Cosmological Ideas of the Buryats, Yakuts and Tungus (field materials from 1913–1922). In: Problems of the Ethnic History and Culture of the Turkic-Mongolian Peoples of Southern Siberia and Adjacent Territories. No. 2. Moscow: Nauka, 1996. Pp. 221–241. (In Russ.)

22. Podmaskin V. V. Cosmography of the Tungus-Manchus and Nivkhs. Vestnik of the Far Eastern Branch of the RAS. 2004. No. 1(113). Pp. 94–105. (In Russ.)

23. Potanin G. N. Essays on Northwestern Mongolia. No. 4. Ethnographic Materials. St. Petersburg: V. Kirshbaum, 1883. 1029 p. (In Russ.)

24. Potapov A. P. Essays on the Folk Life of the Tuvans. Moscow: Nauka, 1969. 401 p. (In Russ.)

25. Rassadin V. I. Soyot-Buryat-Russian Dictionary. Ulan-Ude: [s.n.], 2002, 226 p. (In Russ.)

26. Seven Stars. Kalmyk Legends and Traditions. D. Basaev (comp., trans., intod. article, comm.). Elista: Kalmykia Book Publ., 2004. 415 p. (In Russ.)

27. Sleptsov P. A. (ed.). Yakut-Russian Dictionary. Moscow: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1972. 568 p. (In Yakut. & Russ.)

28. Turkic Peoples of Eastern Siberia. D. Funk, N. Alekseev (ed.). Moscow: Nauka, 2008. 422 p. (In Russ.)

29. Khangalov M. N. Collected Works. In 3 vols. Vol. 2. Ulan-Ude: Buryatiya Book Publ., 1959. 443 p. (In Russ.)

30. Yusha Zh. M. The Cult of the Sun and Moon in the Rituals and Beliefs of the Turks of Sayan-Altai. Traditional Culture. 2024. Vol. 25. No. 4. Pp. 14–21. (In Russ.)

31. Yakut Myths. N. Alekseev (comp.). Novosibirsk: Nauka, 2004. 451 p. (In Yakut & Russ.)