Cats in the Khakas beliefs and rituals (late 19th - mid 20th century)

This study covers the late 19th - mid 20th century, analyzing a wide range of folklore and ethnographic sources, and presenting previously unpublished archival ethnographic evidence on the subject. Historical and ethnographic methods of semantic analysis and relict method were used. An important role of the cat in the rituals associated with moving into a new house andfirst placement of the child into the cradle has been established. Ethical norms of interaction between people and cats, including the norms related to pregnant women, as well as place and role of cats in shamanistic practices have been identified. The analysis of typical features of cats' biological behavior has made it possible to uncover the mechanism of symbolization of cat's image in religious and mythological consciousness of the Khakas people. The author comes to the conclusion that: 1) in the culture of the Khakas people, cat and its image played an important role; 2) cats came to the Khakas people from the Russians; 3) apocryphal narrations about cats entered the Khakas environment together with the image of cats from popular Christianity; 4) biological nature, behavior, and lifestyle of cats influenced the emergence of typical features of the mythological image of the cat, and 5) image of the cat was inextricably linked with the other world in religious and mythological beliefs of the Khakas people thus contributing to ambivalent features of this animal in the minds of the people and both positive and negative assessments of cat's image in their oral folklore.