The flickering light of creation: on the question of the symbolism of the primordial modalities of culture

The study of the semantics of "light" as the original modalities of culture on the material of mythological texts of archaic and modern times, as well as the semantics of precious stones is presented. The emphasis is on the universal metaphor of "flickering", characteristic of the situation of creation or extinction of cosmic life, a red thread running through the ideas of the beginning and end of the world in different cultures.