Introduction

Ideas about the zoo-and ornithomorphic appearance of the soul are universal: they are characteristic of many peoples, including Slavic and Finno-Ugric. Birds that "carry away" the soul are associated with views about the other world. The soul is said to "fly away". Many peoples of the world had the idea that the soul of the deceased, taking the form of a bird, could visit relatives, remind them of themselves, declare their will, and provide protection [Afanasyev, 1868, pp. 137-139; Zelenin, 1994, pp. 245-246; Eremina, 1991, pp. 102-116; Nikitina, 2002, p. 125]. According to traditional views, Ukrainian and South Slavic navi - souls of unbaptized infants-had an ornithomorphic appearance (Rybakov, 1981, pp. 35-36, 277; Nikitina, 2002, pp. 138-162). The bird was considered both a guide of the soul to the next world [Propp, 1996, p. 167-170] and a symbol of the incarnation of the spirit of the dead [Veletskaya, 2003, p.31].

According to some researchers, the image of the soul bird arose from the idea that when burning corpses, the soul went up in smoke. This transition of the soul approaches its transformation into fast-moving animals, especially birds and other flying creatures, and the primary source of such a metamorphosis was fire [Wundt, 2002, p. 382; Propp, 1996, p. 176-177, 208-209]. In the folklore of a number of peoples, including the Komi, there are traces of ideas about the connection of birds with the element of fire. In the Komi riddles, fire is compared to a bird running on a perch and dropping red eggs. There are well-known bylicks about birds that took revenge on people with a fire for destroying their nests [Mythology of Komi..., 1999, p. 88, 184]. A story recorded in Polesie tells of a gallows man "rising from the ground in flames and taking the bird-soul out of people's throats at midnight" (Sedakova, 2004, p.40). Luzhniki residents saw the soul of a suicide bomber as a burning bird [Gura, 1997, p. 41].

Ideas about the correlation of the soul and the bird are characteristic of the mythological views of the Komi people. But different groups have their own characteristics. However, the general orientation of rites, rituals and beliefs associated with certain bird species remains.

Soul Bird: a memorial ceremony for the southern Komi-Zyryans

The southern Komi-Zyryans associate small birds with the world of the dead. In a number of villages of the Priluzsky district of the Komi Republic, a special attitude towards them is noted. Letsko-Luz Zyryans build bird feeders in cemeteries (Figs. 1-3). They are hung from trees, placed on poles near graves, attached to grave structures or ancestral fences. Some feeders (cemeteries of the village of Obyachevo and adjacent villages) are small houses with gable roofs, with marked windows and doors. Some of these houses have four - or six-pointed crosses (Sorvacheva and Fedyunev, 2006, pp. 118-119). Remembering the dead, relatives must

The work was carried out in the framework of project 21.4 "Adaptation of peoples and cultures to changes in the natural environment, social and technological transformations": project 21.4.3 "Miforitual complex of Slavic and Finno-Ugric peoples: Ethnic traditions and interethnic relations in the Urals and Western Siberia".

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Figure 1. Bird feeder at the cemetery of Letka village (Komi Republic) Author's photo, 2006

2. Bird feeder with the inscription "To the grandfather from grandchildren" at the cemetery of Letka village (Komi Republic). Author's photo, 2006

3. A feeder with the image of a butterfly in the cemetery of Letka village (Komi Republic). Author's photo, 2006

leave treats in the feeders. It is believed that part of the bread is taken by birds to the sky, where it goes to souls who have left this world (Field materials of the author (hereinafter-PMA), Komi Republic, Priluzsky district, Letka village, 2006).

Most ethnographic groups of the Komi-Zyrians have preserved the idea of the existence of two souls in a person: the inner soul-breath (lov), with the departure of which earthly life ceases, and the shadow soul (ort)-the double of a person. Being out of the body and remaining invisible, the soul of ort accompanies a person all his life and gives a sign of the approach of death to the relatives of the one who is destined to die soon, or himself. While remaining invisible, the ort can detect its presence by making noises, moving and dropping household utensils, opening windows and doors, breaking dishes, and leaving bruises on its body. It is believed that death gives a sign, making the ort visible: more often it appears in the form of a person, whose soul-shadow it was, a bird that flew into the house or a squirrel that ran into it [Nalimov, 1907, pp. 1-23]. Zoo-and ornithomorphic hypostases are more typical for the ures-the soul-double in the tradition of the northern Komi-Zyryans. After the death of a person, his soul-double gains visibility and is completely identified with the personality of the deceased (the deceased "listens" with the ears of the ort). Within 40 days, the ort must go around the places where the deceased visited during his lifetime. Thereafterort goes to the grave (according to other sources, it turns into a stone or disappears somewhere unknown) [Mythology of Komi..., 1999, p. 55, 268-269].

Since ornithomorphic is one of the main forms of the ort soul, it can be assumed that the tradition of installing bird houses and feeders near graves among the Letsko-Luz Zyryans reflects the beliefs about the transition of the human soul after death into a bird. Similar views are found in related representatives of the Finno-Ugric language group. For example, the Khants and Mansi used to have the idea that one of the (four or five) souls in the form of a bird leaves the human body during sleep and at the moment of death (Chernetsov, 1959, pp. 116-156). Ethnographic data on the culture of Finno-Ugric peoples directly indicate the connection of zoomorphic images, including bird images, with totems [Sokolova, 1972, pp. 32-40]. Relics of beliefs about the reincarnation of the soul into a bird are widely spread among Slavic peoples [Rybakov, 1981, p. 277; Sedakova, 2004, p. 36, 179, 254]. The characteristic diminutive and affectionate name of the soul-"darling" - correlates with the ancient ideas about souls as small birds [Nikitina, 2002, p. 81]...Images of animals

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and birds in Russian traditional culture (home. clothing, utensils) - transformation of totem images "(Bernshtam, 1982, p. 32). Echoes of these archaic ideas are preserved, for example, in the tradition of making "woodchip birds" in the Russian North: they are hung from the ceiling, considered as home amulets [Dmitrieva, 1988, pp. 155-158]. Until the beginning of the 20th century, the Komi people had a custom of placing images of birds on poles near their houses (Syropyatov, 1924, pp. 6-7; Dmitrieva, 1988, pp. 144-145). The Old Believers of the Russian North placed wooden birds perched on poles on tombstones [Veletskaya, 2003, ill. 16]. D. N. Anuchin, studying the art and beliefs of the Ural Chud, noted the similarity of the figures of the Chudsky "flying birds" with ornithomorphic images on poles to which sacrificial animals were tied ostyaks, voguls, samoyeds, Altaians Aleuts, as well as with carved wooden birds suspended in yurts to ensure well-being in the house and protect against diseases [1899, p. 133-145]. This similarity is explained by universal ideas about birds "as creatures capable of being carriers of human desires... On the other hand, they are proclaimers of the will of the gods." 128]. Thus, in the culture of a number of peoples, birds were endowed with apotropaic functions inherent in patron spirits, which corresponded to their role as the personification of the soul.

Symbolic is the image of a butterfly on one of the feeders in the cemetery of the village of Letka (see Fig. 3). This insect is associated with the other world in the traditional beliefs of many peoples [Porchinsky, 1915, pp. 3-24; Ivanov and Toporov, 1974, p. 108]. The butterfly is considered the embodiment of the soul of the deceased, so it is treated as a harbinger of death, and sometimes as an image of death itself [Tura, 1997, p. 486-492; Ternovskaya, 1989, p. 155-159]. In a number of places in Russia, the moth was called darling (Porchinsky, 1915, p. 9; Vlasova, 1998, p. 120), and in Oryol Province, the moth was called smertochka (Sedakova, 2004, p. 231). According to Komi beliefs, the soul of a dying person usually looks like a cloud or vapor, but can "fly away" in the form of a butterfly or bird [Mythology of Komi..., 1999, p. 226]. Among the Ob Ugrians in the mid - twentieth century, the idea of the transformation of the "grave soul" into an insect was widespread; one of its hypostases was represented by a butterfly (Chernetsov, 1959, pp. 116-156).

Classical studies on Komi ornaments (Belitzer, 1958; Klimova, 1994) have not identified butterfly images in decorative and applied art. In the oral tradition of Komi-Zyryans and Komi-Permyaks, there are widespread ideas that in the form of a butterfly (lizard, mouse, worm, larva, hair), malicious spirits of sheva enter the human body, causing diseases and hysterical states [Mythology of Komi..., 1999, p. 109, 382]. It is possible that this is why the butterfly image was tabooed.

In the second half of the 19th century, mythologists and collectors of oral folk art recorded bylichki, signs and beliefs associated with butterflies, which at that time were common among the peoples of Europe, including the Slavs. Along with the views of the butterfly as a soul that has left (or is leaving) the human body [Afanasyev, 1865, p. 120; Kotlyarevsky, 1868, p. 189; Corinthsky, 1901, p. 702], there were ideas about the demonic nature of these creatures. Residents of the Olonets region, Oryol province, believed that the spring fever (vorogusha)flies in the form of a white butterfly: as a white night moth, it lands on the lips of a sleepy person and brings illness [Vlasova, 1998, p. 120]. According to Belarusians, witches turn into butterflies (birds or toads) [Shane, 1902, p.265]. Among the southern Slavs, there were widespread beliefs that the "evil spirit" of a witch who flew out of her body after death or during sleep could act as a moth. According to popular beliefs, such butterflies, like witches and ghouls themselves, can suck blood, take milk from cows, and infect people and livestock with deadly diseases [Porchinsky, 1915, p. 16-17; Ternovskaya, 1989, p.151-160; Gura, 1997, p. 486-492]. In other words, in South Slavic mythological representations, the butterfly largely coincides with the images of navei and strigs-ornithomorphic demons embodying restless souls (for more information, see: [Afanasyev, 1869, pp. 228-229; Zelenin, 1994, pp. 231-245; Rybakov, 1988, pp. 462-463; Nikitina, 2002, pp. 139-142]). Obviously, the image of the butterfly as a symbol of the soul at a late stage of myth-making began to duplicate the similar image of the soul bird, which was known to the Slavic and Finno-Ugric peoples since paganism and has not lost its relevance to this day.

The appearance of ideas about the butterfly soul among the Komi (as well as among a number of Slavic peoples) was probably associated with the spread of ancient Greek and Roman mythology and its popularization in Europe in the XVIII-XIX centuries. Ethnographers and mythologists of the 19th and early 20th centuries compared pagan beliefs of European peoples with ancient ones and drew analogies with the characters of the Greco-Roman pantheon. The butterfly among the ancient Greeks and Romans was considered the embodiment and symbol of the soul; they called the soul and the butterfly by the same word (psyche, anima) [Porchinsky, 1915, p. 8]. It is obvious that the image of the butterfly-soul among a number of European peoples (in particular, the Komi) was formed not earlier than the middle of the XIX century (and on the periphery even later) and reflects the development of literary and poetic creativity, which drew on the development of the Russian language.

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inspiration in the stories of antiquity. Most likely. until then, in the common environment, the butterfly was not isolated from the host of flying insects. Probably, for the same reason, its image was absent in the ornaments and decors of the Finno-Ugric and Eastern Slavs.

Thus, the verbal series includes the traditional idea of the butterfly in the context of the mythological views of the Slavic and Finno-Ugric peoples; however, its image in ornaments and paintings is absent. Most likely, the image of the butterfly-soul reflects the trends of the new time in the sacred visual arts. That is, the idea of ephemeris is traditional, and its image has become innovative. Perhaps the image of a butterfly on a cemetery feeder embodies traces of the Komi people's archaic ideas about the transformation of the soul into a flying creature.

According to popular beliefs, a person even after death (in any reincarnation) needs housing, food, etc. Therefore, many peoples practice rites of feeding the dead, inviting them to the bathhouse, etc. The theme of the house passes through most of the various tombstones [Orfinsky, 1998, p. 49-83; Frizin, 2001, p. 199-235; Sedakova, 2004, p.73-75, 209]. Perhaps this idea is also present in the tradition of the Zyryans of Priluzye to build bird houses. Assuming that the soul (or one of the souls) of the deceased can be reincarnated into a bird, the Zyryans try to provide shelter for it in this way.

However, there are different opinions about the reincarnation of the soul. For example, informants ' arguments that birds are intermediaries between living people and their dead relatives are recorded: Birds fly to the sky. And there are bright souls living there. We leave food in the cemetery. The birds will eat, and our parents in the next world will say "thank you". To them (the souls of the dead) it's nice (PMA, S. Letka, 2006).

The Letsko-Luz Komi people have a typical Christian idea of the presence of the souls of the deceased in heaven. Accordingly, birds can meet with them and bring treats prepared by relatives. Birds carry food intended for the dead to the top (PMA, S. Letka, 2006).

There is also a feedback loop: birds transmit messages from the sky to the ground. According to the behavior of birds, they judge the signs given by the dead. We treat the birds in the cemetery. If you remember well, the birds will eat everything. And if the parents are not happy with something, then the birds from that grave will not peck. So we should ask for forgiveness from our parents and remember them more often (PMA, S. Letka, 2006).

Letsky Zyryans bring a large amount of various food to the cemetery: eggs, pastries (rybnik), kutya (in the modern version - boiled rice with raisins), sweets, alcohol. They commemorate relatives by arranging meals at the place of their burial. Planks or a specially made table top (stored in the cemetery, leaning against a tree) are placed on the grave mound, thus constructing a table. Part of the food is eaten and distributed to those who meet during the wake. The appearance of strangers in the cemetery at this time is considered a good sign. Treating an outsider to a ritual meal is equivalent to feeding the deceased ancestor himself (an unknown, first comer, mysterious guest - a permanent addressee of ritual victims at funerals - is the "deputy" of the deceased [Sedakova, 2004, p.2, 136]). Some food is left on graves and placed in bird feeders.

"Treating" the dead by feeding birds is a practice known to many peoples. In the classical literature on ethnography, there are direct indications that the souls of people buried in them were associated with birds flying to the graves. Ukrainians, Belarusians, and Russians, leaving crumbled bread or pancakes for birds on the grave, waited for the soul of a relative for forty days after the death of a relative [Afanasyev, 1869, pp. 219-220].

In the cemetery of the village of Letka, stray dogs that are lured by local residents live, and they regularly "visit" the deceased. Among the Finno-Ugric peoples, the dog often acted as a patron spirit, protecting a person from hostile otherworldly forces. Such protection was associated with the dog's supernatural abilities [Nalimov, 1907, p.9, 18-21]. Among the Ob Ugrians, this animal was considered as a "substitute" for humans in rituals, including sacrifices [Perevalova, 2004, pp. 289-291]. Komi-Zyryans gave the rest of the memorial dinner to the dogs; if they ate willingly, it meant that the deceased was satisfied [Nalimov, 1907, p. 3]. Eating food by birds and dogs in the cemetery of the Komi Republic is still regarded as a good sign for the commemoration of the deceased. It is believed that birds, lifting food up, deliver it to the deceased to the next world (PMA, S. Letka, 2006). Thus, by means of dogs and birds living in the cemetery, Letsko-Luz Zyryans perform an ancient rite - "feeding" the dead.

Some of the food brought to the cemetery is taken back home by the Soviet Komi people. At home, they organize a memorial dinner with their family and close relatives, during which everyone should taste the food that has visited the grave of a relative (PMA, S. Letka, 2006). Obviously, this is how the communion of the living and the dead is expressed, their symbolic communion through the meal. In tearing, splitting, and pulling objects to pieces,

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4. Sculptural image of a dog on a Selkup grave. Cemetery of the village. Krasnoselkup (Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug). Photo by A. V. Baulo, 1979

those who were in contact with the deceased, as well as in the memorial meal, show remnants of archaic cannibalism (for more information, see: [Veletskaya. 2003, pp. 72-73]). Food brought from the grave can be considered as a part of the deceased, penetrated into the world of the living. The very division and collective eating of the memorial meal corresponds to the idea of the need to" dissolve " the body in the community, so that the soul, freed from all perishable things, can re-enter this world.

Feeding birds and dogs in the cemetery can also be seen as a relict trace of an ancient funeral rite that required the bodies of the dead to be exposed to animals. Among the Slavs, the role of such an animal was assigned to the bear [Voronin, 1960, pp. 28-29, 41-42]; among a number of peoples, including settled Iranian tribes, dogs and birds. "The semantic series that unites scavenger animals-animals and birds-is also archaic, as is the idea of death as" devouring the soul "by evil spirits" (Cheremisin, 1997, p. 32).

Thus, the mythological ideas of the Komi-Zyryans allow for a contradiction in the judgments about the role of the bird: it is both an intermediary between the worlds and an embodiment of the soul of the deceased. On the one hand, this contradiction can be explained by the contamination of pagan and Christian symbols. Adhering to the Orthodox tradition, people believe that the righteous souls of their deceased relatives are in heaven. Accordingly, in this worldview picture, the bird can only be an intermediary between the worlds of the living and the dead. At the same time, the popular interpretation of Christianity allows reasoning about the ornithomorphic appearance of souls, but such reincarnation occurs only in paradise. According to the ideas of the Komi Old Believers, the sinless souls of dead babies become birds of paradise. At the same time, their eclectic appearance is often detailed: "like the wings and legs of birds, but the body, face and mouth are like a human's" (Sharapov, 2004, p.148).

On the other hand, the twofold explanation of the role of birds in the myth-ritual tradition of the Komi-Zyryans may be caused by archaic ideas about the presence of several (at least two) souls in humans. Thus, the contradictions based on the stereotypical perception of the soul as a single substance are smoothed out. Komi's ideas about double-mindedness are probably echoes of the belief that after a person's death, both of their souls continue to exist. One of them goes to heaven, and the second, taking the form of a bird or in another image, remains on earth, in the immediate vicinity of the grave. It is possible that the incarnation of one of the souls of the deceased (a soul connected with the lower world) could be considered a dog.

Archaic ideas about the dog among the Slavic, Finno-Ugric and Samoyedic peoples connect this animal with the underwater (underground) world [Rybakov, 1981, p. 206-207; Perevalova, 2004, p.287-293]. Ob Ugrians sacrificed dogs to the spirit of water. The Voikar Khanty had a ritual in which a young dog was dressed up as a girl and put in a boat and drowned in a sacred lake [Perevalova, 2004, p. 291]. Khanty people living along the Poluy River always slaughtered a dog on the grave during funerals, believing that it shows the way to a person. A similar custom existed among the Kazym and Yugan Khants (Kulemzin, 1984, p. 142). On one of the graves of the Selkups (Krasnoselkup settlement, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District), a sculptural image of a howling dog with its muzzle raised up was found (Gemuyev and Pelikh, 1993, p. 292) (Fig. 4). All this corresponds to the role of the dog as a guide to the lower (underground, underwater)world. the world or watchmen of the afterlife, characteristic of Indo-European mythology in general.

The semantic connection "dog-water", which can be traced in Slavic, Finno-Ugric, and Turkic mythology, goes back to the image of the Iranian deity Senmurva (Cheremisin, 1997, pp. 31-39). Senmurv (or the dog Simargl - in the Eastern Slavs) was depicted in the form of a winged dog and was revered as an intermediary

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between the deities of heaven and earth, as well as as a guardian of seeds and young plants; his cult was associated with rusalii-festivals in honor of rusalok pitchforks [Rybakov, 1981, p. 207 - 208, 329, 432 - 135; 1988, pp. 624-627, 718-741]. All this indicates that Senmurva (Simargla) belongs to the world of the dead (see Zelenin, 1994, p. 230-300; Vinogradova, 1986, p.88-130). The semantic series " dog-snake-water "[Cheremisin, 1997, p.39] logically continues with the identity" snake-bird " [Tsivyan, 1984, p. 48-55]. And this mythological line is most clearly reflected in the hypostatically divided essentially unified image of Senmurv. It is possible that feeding dogs and birds in the cemetery may be a relic of a distant cult of the sky dog, whose image has fallen apart into the parts that once formed its eclectic appearance.

The funeral rites of the southern Zyryans may have reflected traces of Komi ideas about the transition of the souls of a deceased person to different worlds. The soul associated with the upper world took the form of a bird (or could be reincarnated in it for a while, descending from heaven to earth). The second soul probably referred to the lower world, which it entered when accompanied by a dog or when transformed into a Chthonic being. Perhaps it was believed that this soul - in the form of a dog-could meet relatives in the cemetery, take treats from them. There is no reliable information about the existence of such beliefs in the Komi Republic, but some rituals and rituals may conceal traces of ancient beliefs. Perhaps the rite of feeding dogs and birds in the cemetery of the southern Zyryans is one of these relics.

Vychkan bird-a harbinger of death in the beliefs of the Ob Komi people

The Ob Komi (an ethnoareal group of Izhma Zyryans living in the Lower Ob region) have ideas about a certain mythical creature vychkan, which portends death. Other Komi groups have not recorded any information about this character.

It is believed that it is invisible, with a naked body (without "hair"), small in size, can not fly, but screams loudly. This creature is called a bird, but its distinguishing features do not correspond to birds (with the exception of the voice). There is a bird like vychkan. The prophetess of evil. Shouts like this: "vych", "vych". Just so bright. A very loud bird. This is also ures. If he screams in the evening, it means that someone will die. I haven't seen her, but they say she's a little bird. She doesn't have any hair on her, she's naked all over. Lives, maybe, in the forest, and maybe in the village. It's not there during the day, only at night. She does not fly, but walks, since there is no wool on her. To whom it "provykkaet", at that trouble will happen, someone in the house will die (PMA, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District, pos. Ovgort, 2004). We have a bird. Small and naked. There is no feather or fur on it. Very brisk, you won't have time to see. And her voice is loud. Vichkan is called because it shouts: "hiv", "hiv". They say that she feels trouble and predicts, and everything is true (PMA, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District, pos. Vosyakhovo, 2006). My father saw the bird of vychkan. Small, naked, running around the house and shouting: "vych ", " vych ", "vych". It's usually heard. And so it is not visible, it is not shown to people. Near what house will shout-there will be grief. It smells and foreshadows the deceased (PMA, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District, pos. Ovgort, 2004). Ures comes to the house before he dies. It is not visible, but only audible. My name is Vychkan. They say he's a bird. "Provykkaet" so: "vych", "vych", it means everything, the person will die. You can't see it. If it shows itself to you, then you will die. Everyone who saw him is already dead. We just heard it. You will hear - someone from relatives will go to the next world, wait already (PMA, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District, pos. Vosyakhovo, 2006).

Ways to prevent the prediction of the wychkan bird correspond to methods of countering evil spirits. The magic of turning over is used, which protects against the "hostage" dead (those who died prematurely or unnaturally, whose souls did not find peace), who invade the world of people [Tolstoy, 1988, p.19-22; 1990, p. 119-127]. When you hear vychkan, you need to change your clothes backwards to prevent misfortune. Turn your clothes inside out and turn over: face where the back of your head was (PMA, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District, pos. Yamgort, 2004). In order to deprive the citizen of the opportunity to shout bad news, the border of the living space is conventionally fenced - corners, windows, and doors are" baptized". Vychkan-a bird. You can't see it, but you can hear it. It whistles in the dark. Runs under windows, doesn't fly. She's all naked. Bad bird, portends trouble. Shouts: "get used to it", "get used to it" in an unpleasant voice. To trouble, to the dead man. I've got all the corners crossed at the back of my house. But all the same, she caused trouble: her son died (PMA, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District, pos. Ovgort, 2004). Vychkan is associated not only with the lower world, but also with the souls of the dead (obviously, those who have not found peace, i.e. "hostage" dead).

The fact that the image is invisible confirms its special position-between the world of the living and the world of the dead; it emphasizes and enhances the functional characteristics of the image as a symbol of death. Most likely, the stories about the volcano combined the features of various mythological characters associated with the soul and death. First of all, it is ures: its appearance in the house in the form of a small forest animal or bird is considered a sign of death. URES is associated with a variety of-

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natural bird species. The key point of the tragic omen is their "inappropriate" behavior, especially penetration into the living space. If a bird hits the glass , a relative or acquaintance will die within a week (PMA, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District, Muzhi Village, 2004). If a bird comes from the forest and sits on the house, it will scream-this is ures. So, someone will die (PMA, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District, pos. Vossyakhovo, 2006). A woodpecker knocks on the wall of a house from the street-to the dead man. This has already been verified for sure. If they hit the wall, someone will die on the third day (PMA, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District, pos. Ovgort, 2004). Before death, the bird brings news to the house. In summer and winter. In summer-summer birds, in winter-winter. I couldn't sleep at night, so I went to the kitchen and looked out the window. A partridge sits in the snow in front of the window and looks at me. And then the husband died (PMA, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District, Muzhi village, 2006). The bird vychkan could "hear" not only around, but also inside the house. Vychkan beeps if someone has to die. No one saw him, but they could hear him beeping. My daughter died. And before that, for three days, we hear in the evening: beeping in the house. As if on the couch or under the couch. Searched, nowhere to be seen. In the morning, my daughter says: "I heard something all night, someone was squeaking." And the son didn't hear anything, he was sleeping in the same room with her. And then the daughter died, and immediately the bird disappeared, no longer heard (PMA, pos. Ovgort, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District, 2004). The bird vichkan was tormented for a whole year before her husband's death. In the summer, under the window vichkala: "hiv", "hiv". And in winter, he walks around the house - the floor creaks, it's creepy! Ures is an eerie feeling. Here, if you just heard something, you won't feel anything, and if it's creepy, it means that ures is walking around the house (PMA, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District, pos. Vosyakhovo, 2006).

The idea that birds are messengers of death is widespread among different peoples. One of the most mythologized birds among the Slavs and Finno-Ugric peoples is the cuckoo. An extensive body of research is devoted to this character (Razumovskaya, 1984; Gura, 1997, pp. 682-709; Nikitina, 2002). In folk beliefs, special attention is paid to the voice of birds: its unusual manifestations serve as signs that determine whether trouble or a joyful event will happen. But most often, signs associated with atypical behavior of birds are focused on waiting for death: a hen singing like a rooster, an owl calling, a raven cawing or a cuckoo crowing near a dwelling (similar ideas are also associated with a dog howling). It is believed that "the sandpiper, wandering along the banks of rivers, calls drowned people", and "the jay calls out with its cry, lures the soul out of a seriously ill person" [Gura, 1998, p. 97]. It is the voice of the vulture that is the sign that correlates it with birds. Other characteristics of this character do not indicate ornithomorphic appearance.

The verb" vychat "(phonetically correlated with the character vychkan) was common in the northwestern regions of Russia in the XIX - early XX centuries; it was used in the sense of "to miss, expressing it with sobs and moans" [Dictionary..., 1970, p. 358]. In Simbirsk Province, the word "wichat" meant "to shout, squeal like a child or like a puppy" (Dahl, 1994, p. 209). From this it follows that the name of the character vychkan can come not only from the word "vych", which is allegedly heard in his cry. It is possible that the verb "vychat" ("vichat") in the sense of" shout"," moan " could be known to the Zyryans. This word has ceased to be used in everyday speech (as in Russian), but, obviously, it has been preserved as a designation for the voice of a mythical creature, whose cry resembles a moan or cry and calls for contact with another world.

Vychka in Central Russia was affectionately called a sheep [Ibid.], and the word "vychvych" was a conscription nickname for sheep [Ibid., p. 326]. In the descriptions of the vychkan bird, attention is drawn to the fact that the character does not have wool, and not feathers. This indicates the presence of both ornitho-and zoomorphic elements in the image of vychkan. It is difficult to say whether the consonance of the words "sheep" ("vychka") and "vychkan" is a simple phonetic coincidence, or maybe there is something behind it that unites these characters in mythology. There are also stories linking demonic birds with sheep. A jay (which lures out the soul) "can imitate the voice of a sheep, lamb, or kid" (Gura, 1998, p. 97). In Central Russia, they believed in an ugly shearling bird that "lives in stables and shears all the wool of unloved sheep naked" (Maksimov, 1994, p.57).

The idea of the "nakedness" of the wychkan bird sharpens the perception of its chthonic essence, emphasizes the character's belonging to the "snake breed" [Ivanov and Toporov, 1974, p.31, 152-159; Tsivyan, 1984, p. 49-55; Nikitina, 2002, p. 139-150]. "A bird and a snake are the most common animals representing the soul" (Propp, 1996, p. 247). The sign of "nakedness" is inherent in some ornithomorphic characters of Slavic demonology, who were considered to be the incarnations of the souls of unbaptized infants or the restless dead. Bulgarians described navei as "naked chicks, without feathers, the size of an eagle" (Nikitina, 2002, p. 143). The Russians represented the striga "in the form of an owl bird with wings made of soft leather, not covered with feathers "(Maksimov, 1994, p. 57). Vychkan is one of the most vivid mythical images, which combines ornitho-and snake-like features.

In the mythological views of the Komi-Zyryans of European Russia, the character pastom ur, or kulem ur, ("squirrel without clothes") is known-bewitched-

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a small animal without fur. It was believed that the "skinned squirrel" is released by a goblin or sorcerer in order to cause damage to the hunter [Mythology of Komi..., 1999, p. 290]. Obviously, the stable sign of the character vychkan - "naked" - could refer to the pasty ur. Stories about the latter among the Ob Zyryans are not recorded. Modern Komi-izhemtsy of the Northern Ob region could hear bullheads about the "skinned squirrel" from their parents, grandparents who lived in the Komi region. Over time, this character was forgotten, but its distinctive feature - nakedness-began to characterize other mythical creatures. Besides, Wychkan can't fly. It runs fast and hides nimbly, making it almost impossible to see. The confluence of the mythological characters vychkan and pastom ur is probably due to the fact that both of them correspond to the ideas of ures, which takes the form of both a bird and a squirrel.

The appearance of the character vychkan among the Zyryans of the Siberian North may also be related to the ideas of the Ob Ugrians about the wagtail (vorsik). The Vorsik-oika sanctuary on the bank of the Magny River continued to function in the second half of the 20th century. [Gemuev and Sagalaev, 1986, pp. 16-25; Gemuev and Baulo, 1999, pp. 38-39]. The Mansi people living on the Lyapin and Severnaya Sosva Rivers, as well as the Kazym Khanty, tattooed the image of a wagtail on their shoulders, which "guarded the human soul during life and accompanied it to the lower world after death" (Chernetsov, 1959, pp. 128-129). Thus, the connection of the wagtail with the soul and the world of the dead is clearly traced among the Ob Ugrians; its role as a conductor of souls is indicated. This echoes the ideas of the Komi Republic about small forest birds that are baited in the cemetery. The area of Mansi worshipping wagtails coincides with one of the Zyryans of the Trans-Urals (the Lyapin and Severnaya Sosva Rivers). In addition, some Komi residents of villages located along the Synya and Malaya Ob Rivers, where stories about the volcano were recorded, are natives of the villages of Saranpaul and Lombovozh. Their parents, in contact with Muncie, may have adopted some elements of the wagtail cult. Probably, bylichki about the mountain petrel spread over time, covering a significant part of the Komi population of the Northern Ob region.

The similarity of the miforital complex of the Komi and Ob Ugrians living on the same territory is explained by the fact that the processes of mutual influence at the cultural and ideological level occur quite quickly. Mythological representations of an ethnic group under the influence of religious beliefs of the dominant non-ethnic environment can be modified only if the new, modified mythical image is consonant with the old, traditional ideas and does not contradict them.

The Mansi Villus-oika combines ornitho-and anthropomorphic elements in one image. He could be portrayed as a human, although he was perceived as a bird-man. The villi-equa appeared as a lizard or beaver (Gemuev and Sagalaev, 1986, pp. 19-20). The flow of images, the character's ability to reincarnate emphasize his "disembodied" essence and indicate that this character was obviously a generic totem. The equivalents of amorphous nature are the ability to be invisible, as well as the combination of functions and features of different animals in one image [Propp, 1996, pp. 166-167, 195-203]. The eclectic nature of the image is also characteristic of the creature vychkan. Vychkan's body is naked, so he doesn't show his face. It has a beak like a bird, legs, but no wings. He runs, doesn't fly. It can float on water. Gives a sign before misfortune: hisses like a snake (PMA, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District, pos. Yamgort, 2004).

The combination of features of different animals in the character vychkan was probably the result of either combining a number of characteristics of different images of Komi mythology, or the interaction of Komi with the Ob Ugrians. Zyryans have been living in the Lower Ob region for a relatively long time (since the middle of the XIX century), but they consider this territory to be Khanty and Mansi. The mythical "masters of the earth" of the Ob Komi are often associated with the guardian spirits of the Voguls and Ostyaks. This statement partly applies to the vychkan bird. The invisible bird runs, screams to the dead man. Vychkan is called. The Khanty also believe in it. We live on the Khanty land, so their spirits affect us (PMA, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District, pos. Yamgort, 2004).

The image of the wagtail (sychik) in the beliefs of the Komi people is associated with the arrival of spring [Mythology of Komi..., 1999, pp. 349-350] and, at first glance, is far from the ideas of the volcano among the Ob Zyryans. However, the phase of the holiday "meeting the wagtail" among the Zyryans of European Russia is a symbolic funeral of this bird: the wagtail is "treated" with beer, pouring it into a hole dug in the ground [Ibid., p. 350]. A similar rite of burial (baptism) of the cuckoo was common among Russians, Ukrainians, and Belarusians. The essence of rites of this type is to commemorate the dead (usually those who have not found shelter in the other world - "mortgaged" dead) [Oleonskaya, 1912, p. 146-154; Kedrina, 1912, p. 101-139; Vinogradova, 1986, p. 101-105; Nikitina, 2002, p. 156 - 160].

The image of the bird vychkan probably projects ideas about restless, wandering souls. They give a sign of the imminent death of a person: they come for his soul, "call" to leave this world. Ornithomorphy is a typical feature of a character who takes or accompanies a soul to the next world. Therefore, despite the absence of avian features in the appearance of the wychkan, it is called a bird and " uz-

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nayut " by the bird's cry. Other characteristics of the" naked bird " were obviously formed as a result of the influence of other mythical characters. These features enhance the sacredness of the image's perception, make it more mysterious and mythologized.

Conclusion

Mythological representations of various ethnographic groups of the Komi Republic reflect the idea of the soul's transition into a bird, which could be called universal. However, an in-depth study of regional specifics reveals new aspects of the myth-ritual practice of the Komi-Zyryans and makes it possible to reconstruct archaic religious views.

The tradition of the Letsko-Luz Zyryans to build houses and bird feeders in cemeteries, as well as their custom of feeding dogs and birds near graves, obviously goes back to the Komi ideas about the presence of two (or perhaps more) souls in a person. And these souls, probably, could be embodied in representatives of the earthly world-animals living in the cemetery, birds. By treating them, people perform an ancient rite - " feeding the ancestors." Christianity, having somewhat changed the role of birds, made adjustments to the traditional Komi ideas about the presence of souls in the next world. They began to be seen not as the embodiment of souls, but as intermediaries between the worlds. However, the rites of commemoration of the dead that exist today in the southern Komi preserved relict ideas about the zoo-and ornithomorphic forms of ancestral souls.

Stories about the mythical eichkan bird in the Ob Komi are connected with the idea that the souls of the dead, appearing in a zoo - or ornithomorphic form, "call" the souls of the living to the next world. This character, obviously, absorbed the features of various mythical creatures (perhaps not only in Komi). Stories about the volcano appeared, most likely, among the northern Zyryans of the Lower Ob region. This image appeared relatively recently, probably as a result of the myth-making of the last two or three generations. The preservation of ideas about the eichkan bird shows that modern myth-making corresponds to the traditional worldview and, taking on new features, returns to its foundations and essence.

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