I. S. Karabulatova, E. N. Ermakova, G. A. Shiganova
28
mythological synopsis from the toponymic legends of astanas. These
legends reveal the sacred meaning of the name Astana. Foremost are the
legends about terrible punishment and miraculous healing, as well as
legends of the appearance of holy spirits in these places.
The study of such communication comes naturally when we consider
formalizing the regulatory mechanisms of life, culture, strategy and everyday
human behaviour. The authors believe that the sacred complexes known as
astanas occupy a key position in the process of understanding the traditional
culture of the Siberian Turkic peoples.
On the one hand, popular myths about astanas affect the underlying
mechanisms of humanity, promoting the formation of ethnic and religious
consciousness. On the other hand, the mere presence of sacred astana
complexes and the presence of legends about astanas creates favourable
conditions for the reproduction of sacred tradition.
Astana the Capital of Kazakhstan and Astanas in Siberia as a Linguistic-Cultural
Aspect of the National Islam of Eurasia
(Abstract)
By the time Islam penetrated into the Siberia and Kazakhstan, these territories were
inhabited by various Turkic nomadic tribes whose spiritual and religious life was very
varied. From the earliest age, a variety of cultural and ideological systems coexisted,
including huge range of autochthonous ancient beliefs based on nature worship and
ancestor worship, involving magic and the deification of the sky (Tengrism). After
unification with Islam, these beliefs could later be found in the culturally-based traditional
lifestyles of Siberian Tatars and Kazakhs. This is particularly true in the peripheries of the
spread of Islam - in Siberia and Northern Kazakhstan, with their largely nomadic ways of
life. The authors speculate on the name, astana, given to a succession of topographical
objects, suggesting it represents a method for concealing the sacred in the profane.
In modern socio-cultural reality, considering the mythological potential of a name
involves examining fundamental characteristics of the culture such as 1. the interactive
nature of culture itself, 2. its mythology, 3. its appeal to the potential of the past in search
of the lost eternal values, and 4. the primacy of cultural interactions with respect to social
processes. Whether the reader agrees or disagrees with this, one thing is clear: everything,
even the tiniest shades of meaning that may arise in the human mind, must be considered.
The vivid, powerful, multifaceted image that arises from the valuation of
toponymical objects is valuable for the modern man; it rebuilds the ruined individualism
and immensity of the world, thus broadening our own cultural space. The sacral complex
of an astana can be understood as a kind of socio-cultural communication which provides a
record of a collective tradition.
Astana the Capital of Kazakhstan and Astanas in Siberia as a Linguistic-Cultural
Aspect
29
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