On omens associated with the magpie (on the material of old Mongolian written sources from the National museum named after Aldan-Maadyr of the Republic of Tyva)

The collection of old Mongolian written monuments in from the National Museum named after Aldan-Maadyr of the Tyva Republic is of great interest to researchers in terms of studying the history of the Buddhist tradition among the Tuvans. Moreover, it provides material for reconstructing and depicting in full detail all the richness of Buddhist literature that was circulating among the clergy and laymen and has survived up to now. Although some samples of Mongolian written sources from the museum collection have been introduced into scientific circulation, still a large layer of literature is not known to a wide circle of Buddhist and Mongolian scholars. The author aims at considering handwritten materials that describe the signs associated with the magpie, and conducting textological and thematic analyses, as well as identifying the general and special in the texts that describe the signs associated with birds. The author made a selection of texts from the museum collection, including the newly described ones, in which the magpie is mentioned, as well as signs associated with other birds, analyzed their content, and determined the characteristic features. A description is given of 7 handwritten texts written in Old Mongolian graphics, which include descriptions of signs associated with the magpie. The considered texts allow us to conclude that the signs associated with birds have ancient roots, are the result of observations of nomadic pastoralists over nature, the surrounding world, represent a way of understanding it and commenting the events taking place in it, i.e. reflected the worldview and worldview of the people. Having evolved over the centuries, they now provide universal formulas containing a description of natural phenomena associated with the behavior of birds (magpies, crows), as well as explanations that reveal patterns of events occurring in this world. This explains the stability of these formulas in the oral tradition, which was codified in writing, and later borrowed by Buddhist preachers, who included these patterns in the texts with signs and fortune-telling.