«Healer Snake» in the Bashkir mythological and ritual tradition


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Authors

  • Azaliya Ilimbetova Ufa Federal Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.32523/2664-5157-2022-1-25-33

Keywords:

Bashkirs, cult, healer snake, patron snake, rituals, customs, religious and mythological beliefs

Abstract

In the oral tradition and everyday rituals of the Bashkirs, the snake, as the first ancestor

and patroness, acts as a healer of people. In Bashkir folklore, beneficent snakes resurrect heroes cut into

pieces, restore their sight and give advice on how to revive a person. The Bashkirs believed that at home,

yards where snakes live, diseases are bypassed. In the mystical views and magical practice of the Bashkirs,

healing properties were attributed to individual parts of the snake body. So, the Bashkirs, when abscesses

appeared under the nails, applied a snake crawl to the sore spot. Snake skin was also used for eye diseases,

and also as a wet poultice for joint pain and swelling. Stewed meat of a black snake was used for damage

to vision. In Bashkir folklore, plots of the use of the ashes of a burnt snake for medicinal purposes are

recorded. Snakes resorted to help not only in case of illness of people, but also in case of illness of livestock.

The snake, having the gift of healing ailments, can at the same time endow people with these abilities.

According to the prejudices of the Bashkirs, the hands of a person who found a snake crawled out were

recognized as healing. Similar ideas about the «healer snake» are in the religious and mythological beliefs

of the most diverse peoples of the world.

Author Biography

Azaliya Ilimbetova, Ufa Federal Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Candidate of Historical Sciences, Senior Researcher at  the Institute of History, Language and Literature

Published

2022-03-31

How to Cite

Ilimbetova А. (2022). «Healer Snake» in the Bashkir mythological and ritual tradition. Turkic Studies Journal, 4(1), 25–33. https://doi.org/10.32523/2664-5157-2022-1-25-33