Folk Religion

This volume presents a collection of the legendary creatures, animals, and plants found in the traditions of the Roma communities of the Carpathian Basin. The illustrations incorporate works by painters of earlier periods alongside artworks by Roma artists.

Wang, Lawrence K. 王抗曝  (2026). 金書留芳百世: 紀念浙江大學金庸教授  "Golden Books Shall Endure Through the Ages: In Memory of Professor Jin Yong of Zhejiang University";  Global Humanities and Liberal Arts, Lenox Institute Press,  2026(6F), May 26, 2026. pp. 18; DOI : 10.17613/8nman-t8003 ......ABSTRACT:  本文以詩文並陳的方式，敬頌金庸先生之文學成就、俠義精神、教育襟懷與文化遺澤。金庸，本名查良鏞，浙江海寧人，為二十世紀以來華文世界最具影響力的武俠小說家之一。他以十五部武俠小說建構兼具歷史想像、人性洞察、家國情懷與江湖倫理的文學世界，其作品早已超越通俗文學範疇，成為全球華人文化記憶的重要組成部分。金庸與浙江、杭州、嘉興及浙江大學皆有深厚淵源；杭州雲松書舍與嘉興金庸圖書館，尤為其文脈留存與公益精神之具體象徵。本文所附兩首詩作，分別以古風與七律形式，追懷其大俠風範，並寄寓其圖書館與書舍留芳百世之願。關鍵詞： 金庸；查良鏞；武俠小說；浙江大學；雲松書舍；金庸圖書館；華文文學；俠義精神; This commemorative essay and pair of poems pay tribute to Jin Yong, also known by his given name Louis Cha Leung-yung, for his literary achievements, chivalric imagination, educational vision, and enduring cultural legacy. Born in Haining, Zhejiang, Jin Yong became one of the most influential Chinese-language novelists of the modern era. Through his fifteen martial arts novels, he created a vast literary universe shaped by historical imagination, moral reflection, human complexity, and the ethics of the jianghu. His writings have long transcended the category of popular fiction and become an essential part of the shared cultural memory of Chinese-speaking communities worldwide. Jin Yong’s ties with Zhejiang, Hangzhou, Jiaxing, and Zhejiang University were profound. Yunsong Book House in Hangzhou and the Jin Yong Library in Jiaxing stand as lasting symbols of his literary spirit and public-minded generosity. The two poems included here, one in classical-style verse and the other in regulated seven-character verse, honor his heroic stature and express the hope that his libraries, writings, and cultural influence will endure for generations. Keywords: Jin Yong; Louis Cha; wuxia fiction; Zhejiang University; Yunsong Book House; Jin Yong Library; Chinese-language literature; chivalric spirit
 

Fakir Lalon Shah, c. 1774-1890, remains one of the most influential spiritual figures in Bengali history. This essay examines Lalon’s life, songs, and symbolic universe through the themes of syncretism, embodied spirituality, and the religion of the heart.

Rather than treating Lalon only as a mystic poet or folk musician, the essay reads his teachings as a Bengali philosophy of inward realisation. It focuses on his refusal of rigid religious identity, his teaching of the moner manush, the Man of the Heart, the embodied discipline of dehotattva, and the symbolic role of the ektara. The essay argues that Lalon’s legacy remains relevant because it offers a deeply humane alternative to caste, sectarian pride, and fixed identity.

This article examines Peter Ackroyd's The English Ghost (2010) as a significant cultural archive gathering ghost stories that emerged over a broad time span, from the Anglo-Saxon period to the present day. Ackroyd compiles this collection by synthesizing accounts from diverse origins, ranging from newspapers, memoirs, and letters to ghost story collections and folk histories. Ackroyd's collection serves as a rich repository of ghostlore, often treated as a folkloric discipline dedicated to the study of spectral phenomena. By presenting various manifestations and haunted locales across different eras, the collection reveals the underlying cultural facets and the evolving heritage of the English supernatural tradition. The article draws on a methodology of close reading and folklore studies, specifically the theories of William Bascom and Richard Bauman, to examine how ghost narratives function in the construction of national identity and collective memory. Moving beyond their value as entertainment, the article analyzes how the narratives in Ackroyd's collection function as mirrors of English culture and heritage. This study specifically explores three recurring themes in the narratives: the persistent intrusion of the past into the present, the dichotomy between rational thought and supernatural occurrences, and collective fears regarding mortality and the afterlife. Ultimately, the article contends that this collection of ghost stories provides a comprehensive understanding of how a nation's enduring fascination with the spectral embodies its cultural identity and reinforces its connection to an ancestral past.

How did Syriac Christian missionaries engage with 'Zoroastrian' folk practices in Central Asia and Western China during the early Tang Period (618-907 CE)? This will be the topic of my presentation at the international conference organized by the Yale-Edinburgh Group on World Christianity and the History of Mission next June. Paper in review.

This study is based on finding an answer to the problem: “What are the consequences of demonizing the term reconciliation in the Sinhala language as Sanhindiya Karayo and Sahajeewana Puuttuwa for social harmony in Sri Lanka?” There are certain popular and productive mechanisms used to spread ideologies through language in both positive and negative ways. Particular wording styles can promote or demote certain concepts. Demonizing is a popular strategy for portraying someone or something as bad or evil. According to the Cambridge Dictionary, the act of trying to make someone or a group of people seem completely evil is called demonizing.

Reconciliation and social harmony are essential elements in the aftermath of the violent armed conflict in Sri Lanka. These directly affect the sustainable development of the country, and the slow progress of reconciliation has become a major challenge for Sri Lanka. The reconciliation process faces many challenges. The demonization of groups of people, concepts, and terminologies has created a significant burden on reconciliation. Demonization is one particular narrative-based and psychological dimension of conflict (Normand, 2016).

The process of promoting social harmony, which is largely undertaken by Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), has often been labelled and demonized by extremists using terms such as “NGO Kaarayo” and “NGO Kaakko.” There is a knowledge gap regarding the consequences of this phenomenon. The demonization of reconciliation-related terminologies and associated entities has created a significant impact on the active engagement of the general public, as well as other stakeholders involved in the reconciliation process in Sri Lanka.

This essay attempts to examine the nature of Mughal state formation in the region of Bengal from the late sixteenth century onwards. To comprehend the nature of Mughal state formation, this essay focuses on the expansion of the Mughal political frontier across Bengal. The expanding Mughal political frontier was a product of the interactions between the Mughals and the various local ruling houses of the region. This essay will examine the relation between Mughals and three prominent local ruling groups of medieval Bengal to demonstrate the complex nature of these interactions. This essay also argues that the resilience of the Mughal political frontier in peripheral regions like Bengal depended on their ability to win the support of local social groups and not just the local rulers. Failure to win over the local society not only made it difficult for the Mughals to retain their political hold over such regions but also eroded their claims of absolute sovereignty.

எல்னா உ஦ிர்க்கும் திநப்தை என்தது பதாதுஇ஦ல்தை என்று அனண஬ரும் ச஥ம் என்ந மகாட்தாட்னட உனகிற்கு அநிதொகப்தடுத்஡ி஦து ஡ிருக்குநள். உனகப்பதாது஥னந, பதாய்஦ாப஥ா஫ி, ஬ாயுனந஬ாழ்த்து, ஡஥ிழ்஥னந, பதாருல௃ன஧, ப஡ய்஬த௄ல், ஡ிரு஬ள்ல௃஬ம் எண ஆகச்சிநந்஡ பத஦ர்கனபக்பகாண்டு இவ்வுனகில் ஥ாதெடம் ஡ிநம்தட ம஥ம்தாடனட஦ ஬஫ி஬னக உன஧க்கும் த௄ல் ஡ிருக்குநள். ன஬஦ம் ஬ாழ்஬ாங்கு஬ா஫ அநம், பதாருள், இன்தம் என்று தொப்தால் அ஡ிகா஧ங்கனப குநள்ப஬ண்தா ஬டி஬ில் எடுத்துன஧த்஡ன஧த்துள்பார் ஬ள்ல௃஬ப்பதரு஥கணார்.
உனகத்஡஥ி஫ர்கபாலும் திநஇணத்஡஬஧ாலும் ஈ஧ா஦ி஧ம் ஆண்டுகல௃க்கு ம஥ல் தின்தற்நி பகாண்டாடப்தடும் ஢ீ஡ித௄ல் ஡ிருக்குநள் என்தது சிநப்தைக்குாி஦து. இத்஡ிருக்குநபில் ஥ாத௅ட ஬ாழ்஬ி஦ல் ம஥ம்தாடு என்த௅ம் கருத்஡ி஦ல் ம஢ாக்மகாடு அன஥஬து஡ான் இக்கட்டுன஧஦ின் த஦ணாகும்.

This paper examines the long‑term relationship between the Baltic and Slavic peoples, arguing that their development is best understood not as a clean linguistic rupture but as a continuum of shared survival shaped by deep prehistoric kinship and divergent historical pressures. Drawing on linguistic reconstruction, archaeology, and historical analysis, the study traces how a unified Proto‑Balto‑Slavic community—characterized by shared satem features, parallel accentuation patterns, and conservative morphology—gradually differentiated into distinct Baltic and Slavic branches. As the text notes, both groups preserved “exceptionally archaic Indo‑European features,” making them central to Indo‑European comparative studies.

The paper evaluates competing scholarly models of Balto‑Slavic divergence, contrasting early‑split hypotheses with theories of prolonged unity followed by later contact‑driven convergence. It then follows the historical trajectories of Baltic and Slavic peoples from antiquity through the medieval formation of states, Christianization, imperial domination, and twentieth‑century sovereignty. Particular attention is given to the asymmetry between Slavic expansion and Baltic regional stability, as well as the distinct religious transformations that shaped each group—including the Christianization of Slavic polities and the externally imposed conversion of many Baltic communities.

In its synthesis, the paper argues that Baltic–Slavic affinities—linguistic, mythological, and cultural—persist as structural echoes rather than evidence of a unified cultural sphere. Their intertwined histories illuminate broader questions of Indo‑European diversification, cultural adaptation, and the geopolitical significance of northeastern Europe as a zone where ancient continuities intersect with modern political identities.

The mermaid is one of the most famous and popular mythological figures in the Belarusian folk tradition. The analysis conducted of Belarusian mythological texts about mermaids and descriptions of their appearance demonstrates the extreme diversity and polymorphism of this image, including the characteristics (from beautiful to scary) and axiological (from evil spirits to saints). Many texts about mermaids describe only their appearance, while saying nothing about their actions. Researches have mapped individual motifs in mythological texts and typical characteristics of habitat, microareals and isodoxes. The maps for the article were prepared using the QGIS geographic information system, which is distributed under the GNU GPLv2 license.

Whether there is deity remains to be investigated but a sense of awe was seen among the people of the Sangam period for the sake of belief in deity. Like good-evil, day-night, sun-moon, people believed that if there is a deity, there is also a demon. They said ghosts are the spirits of the dead. They believed that the deity would protect the people and the ghost would bring tribulation to the people. Not only that, people were afraid that if we did something wrong, the gods would do evil to them. Deities like Murugan and Thirumal are mentioned as the deities who protect the people and Sur, Anangu and Suli are mentioned as the deities who can threaten the people. They had great faith in God. From ancient times till now, religious belief has become an inseparable part of people's lives. Rituals and worship arose for the sake of faith.

Bizim kəndimizdə cin hakqında belə danışıllar ki, deer, bir kişiin atı varmış töləsində bir-iki baş. Hər səhər durup gedəndə görürmüş atın biri qan-tərin içindədi. Hər səər bıın yorulmuş görür. Bir gün gedir. Deer, mən bına nağayrım kı, görüm bını nədi belə eliyən? Gətirir bı atın yəhərin qoyur. Yəhərin üsdünə, qara qır olur eyy, onu əridir, yayır bı yəhərin üsdünə. Səər-səər gedir, baxır. Görür bir dənə bədheybət. Belə kadına oxşayır. Helə bir dənə cin oturup atın üsdündə. Bı nəkqədə yalvarır, məni aç bırax, sən nə desön, eliyərəm, məni aç, bırax, çıxım gedim. Deeb, yox eyy, helə şey yoxdu. Gətirib bının yaxasına qiyıx sancıp. Cinin yaxasına da qiyıx sancanda o, dəbərə bilmir, heş yerə qaça bilmir. Bı, deer, sahədə odun, ocax qoymayıb. Həəqi, bizim kəndimizdə olmış bir əhvalatdı. Odun-ocax qalmayıbdı. Bəlkə, iki maşınacan odun-ocax gətirip yığıp həyətə bı cin. Bı uşağlar həyətdə oynayırmış. Bir gün uşağın birinə yalvarır, nə cürəə. Deer ki, noolar, əyğıma tikan batıp, gəl bı qiyığı bırdan çıxart ver mənə, o tikanı çıxardım ordan. Uşağ da allanır da, nə bilsün ki. Gəlir qiyığı götürür. Qiyığı çıxartcağun cin qaçır, yox olur. O qaçannan soora ora nə qədər odun-ocax yığmışdısa, elliyi bir gecədə yox olur. Daşıyıb aparıb hamısın (S:1; T:1). *** Keşmişdə dağdan kol qırıllarmış. Körpə balası olan cini -ana olup da bı, tutup gətiriplərmiş. Oon da deer nətəər saxlıyasan. Yaxasına, dərisinə bi dənə sancağmı, iynəmi keçirdirsən. O, deer, heç yerə qaça bilmir onda. Bını da elə

Folklor xalqın genetik yaddaşının, milli-mənəvi yaşantılarının təcəssümüdür. Xalq tə-fəkkürünü müxtəlif forma və məzmunda əks etdirən mətnlər keçmişimiz haqqında dəyərli faktlardır, hiss və düşüncələrimizin təzahürüdür. İraq türkmanları ictimai-siyasi səbəblərə görə doğma yurdundan uzaq düşmüş, İraqın şimalında məskunlaşmış və hər zaman Azərbay-can dilində danışan soydaşlarımızdır. Bu gün əlimizdə İraq türkmanlarından toplanmış zəngin xalq yaradıcılığı irsi var. Bu irsin mövzu, məzmun və dil xüsusiyyətlərindəki əksər eyniliklər tarixi birliyimizi, can-qan qardaşları olduğumuzu bir daha təsdiq edir. Tarixi və coğrafi amillərin təsiri nəticəsində yeni özünəməxsus cəhətlər qazanmasına baxmayaraq, bu folklor kökdən gələn adət-ənənəni, inancları, fikrin ifadə tərzini yaşatmaqdadır. İraq-türkman folklorunda xalqın düşüncə və yaşam tərzini büsbütün əks etdirən istər epik, istərsə də lirik nümunələri Azərbaycan folklorundakı həmin janrlara xas mətnlərlə qarşılaşdırdıqda məzmun və dil oxşarlıqları aydın görünür. Bu mətnlər mövzu, həmçinin fonetik, leksik, üslubi cəhət-dən mənəvi yaxınlıq, doğmalıq diqtə edir. İraq-türkman xoyratlarına nəzər saldıqda Azər-baycan folklorunda aktiv şəkildə işlədilən ən qədim janrlardan olan alqış, qarğış, atalar sözləri, inancların, eləcə də etnoqrafik dünyagörüşünün bu mətnlərdə geniş yer aldığını görürük. Böyük zaman sərhədlərini aşaraq yaşamını davam etdirmiş bu folklor mətnlərinin dilində müşahidə edilən tələffüz özəllikləri Azərbaycanın bir çox bölgələrinə məxsus dialekt göstəriciləri ilə üst-üstə düşür. Xüsusən keçid qrupu dialektində sait səslərin uzun tə-ləffüzünə, bəzi samit səslərin eyniləşməsinə İraq-türkman folklorunda da rast gəlirik. Məqalədə Azərbaycan folklorunda işlək olan paremioloji vahidlərin, həmçinin etnoq-rafik bilgilərin İraq-türkman xoyratlarında geniş yer almasından bəhs olunur, müxtəlif mü-qayisələr aparılır, məzmun və dil oxşarlıqları, özəllikləri tədqiq edilir. Azərbaycanın keçid qrupu dialektinə məxsus lokal dil göstəricilərinin İraq-türkman xoyratlarında da mövcud olduğu diqqətə çatdırılır, fonetik, leksik baxımdan müqayisə edilir. Açar sözlər: Azərbaycan folkloru, İraq-türkman folkloru, xoyrat, paremioloji vahidlər

RITUAL FOLKLORE OF WESTERN AZERBAIJAN: POETIC STRUCTURES, ARCHETYPAL CODES AND THE SYNERGETIC MODEL OF COLLECTIVE MEMORY This study examines the ritual folklore of Western Azerbaijan as a multilayered cultural system that integrates mythological thought, social ritual, verbal art and collective emotional experience. Ritual genres such as saya chants, holavar, wedding songs, laments, rain-invoking prayers and sacrificial invocations form a syncretic structure in which word, sound, movement and symbolic objects operate as a unified performative mechanism. Through semiotic, archetypal and synergetic analysis, the research reveals that this folklore functions not only as an aesthetic tradition but also as a cultural memory system that preserves identity, restores emotional balance and rEkonstructs the lost homeland on the symbolic level. The post-1988 displacement strengthened the role of ritual folklore as a medium of cultural continuity and mnemonic resistance. The findings demonstrate that Western Azerbaijani ritual folklore represents a self-organizing poetic cosmos that regenerates collective memory and sustains national identity across generations.

This article presents a simplified and structured analysis of the motif of "Return to the Homeland" in the folk poetry of Western Azerbaijan. The study demonstrates that the concept of return is not limited to physical relocation but also involves the preservation of collective memory, restoration of national identity, and maintenance of spiritual connection. The poetic features, metaphorical systems, and archetypal images of the return motif are examined in detail. Additionally, selected examples from the Zangezur folklore collection are analyzed to illustrate how this motif is represented in folklore. The research concludes that the motif of return functions as a psychological mechanism of resistance against historical trauma and serves as a key carrier of cultural memory.

Kudryavtsev A.A., Reshetova I.K. The Cemetery of St. George's Church on Torg in Veliky Novgorod. The article presents the results of archaeological and paleoanthropological studies of the cemetery of St. George's Church on Torg in Veliky Novgorod. A comprehensive analysis of 164 burials (223 individuals) discovered during excavations around the church in 2023 has been conducted, and the main stages of the necropolis's formation have been identified. Based on stratigraphic data, dendrochronological and radiocarbon dating, it has been determined that the cemetery dates back to the 14th to 18th centuries.

ITA: L’articolo analizza la festa di Sant’Antonio Abate nel Sud Italia come dispositivo rituale di gestione del rischio invernale. Collocata in un tempo di soglia tra la fine del ciclo natalizio e la persistenza dell’inverno, la ricorrenza del 17 gennaio si esprime attraverso pratiche simboliche – in particolare i falò e le benedizioni degli animali – che segnano la chiusura dell’eccesso festivo e il ritorno all’ordine. Il culto del santo, figura liminale tra umano e non umano, appare così come un sistema di protezione collettiva volto a garantire equilibrio, sopravvivenza e continuità nel mondo contadino.
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ENG: The article examines the feast of Saint Anthony Abbot in Southern Italy as a ritual mechanism for managing winter-related risk. Occurring in a liminal period between the end of the Christmas cycle and the persistence of winter, the January 17 celebration is expressed through symbolic practices—particularly bonfires and animal blessings—that mark the closure of festive excess and the restoration of order. The saint’s cult, positioned at the boundary between human and non-human realms, functions as a system of collective protection ensuring balance, survival, and continuity within rural societies.
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FRA: L’article analyse la fête de Saint Antoine Abbé dans le sud de l’Italie comme un dispositif rituel de gestion du risque hivernal. Située dans un temps liminal entre la fin du cycle de Noël et la persistance de l’hiver, la célébration du 17 janvier se manifeste à travers des pratiques symboliques – notamment les feux de joie et les bénédictions des animaux – qui marquent la clôture de l’excès festif et le retour à l’ordre. Le culte du saint, figure de frontière entre humain et non-humain, apparaît ainsi comme un système de protection collective garantissant équilibre, survie et continuité dans les sociétés rurales.

ITA: L’articolo analizza i calendari folklorici come dispositivi culturali attraverso cui le comunità danno forma all’attesa e trasformano il tempo ordinario in tempo rituale. Attraverso esempi tratti da tradizioni cristiane, ebraiche e islamiche, nonché da pratiche locali dell’Italia meridionale, il testo mostra come oggetti, gesti, canti, digiuni e simboli non si limitino a misurare il tempo, ma lo rendano socialmente e affettivamente significativo. In prospettiva antropologica, i calendari folklorici emergono come strumenti di memoria collettiva, liminalità e performatività, capaci di collegare sacro e profano, passato e presente, corpo e comunità.
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ENG: This article examines folk calendars as cultural devices through which communities shape waiting and transform ordinary time into ritual time. Drawing on examples from Christian, Jewish, and Islamic traditions, as well as local practices from Southern Italy, the text shows how objects, gestures, songs, fasting, and symbols do not merely measure time, but make it socially and emotionally meaningful. From an anthropological perspective, folk calendars emerge as tools of collective memory, liminality, and performativity, linking the sacred and the profane, past and present, body and community.
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FRA: Cet article analyse les calendriers folkloriques comme des dispositifs culturels par lesquels les communautés donnent forme à l’attente et transforment le temps ordinaire en temps rituel. À partir d’exemples empruntés aux traditions chrétiennes, juives et islamiques, ainsi qu’à des pratiques locales du sud de l’Italie, le texte montre que les objets, les gestes, les chants, les jeûnes et les symboles ne se limitent pas à mesurer le temps, mais le rendent socialement et affectivement significatif. Dans une perspective anthropologique, les calendriers folkloriques apparaissent comme des instruments de mémoire collective, de liminalité et de performativité, capables de relier le sacré et le profane, le passé et le présent, le corps et la communauté.

В статье излагаются результаты полевого исследования друзских святилищ мухафазы Эс-Сувейда. Автор на основании собранных материалов пытается типологизировать обследованные храмы друзов, выяснить их роль в народной религии региона, реконструировать мифологические основания зафиксированных культов. Основной части работы предпослана краткая справка об истории друзской общины, появлении первых друзов на территории Леванта в XII в., судьбе Танухидского и Маʽанского государств. Во втором разделе приводятся сведения о тридцати двух храмах сирийского Юга, их распределении на кельиḥuǧrāt, святилища — maqāmāt и mazārāt; отдельно анализируются причины сооружения святилищ, их хронология и устройство типичных для друзов сакральных локусов. В третьей части статьи описаны ритуальные практики друзов, так или иначе связанные с существованием святилищ: паломничество, молитвословия, обеты, дары и обряды бдений. Также обсуждаются сведения о судебной роли друзских святилищ, отмеченной в сообщениях информантов. Ссылаясь на ключевой вероучительный источник общины «Послания мудрости», автор приходит к выводу, что народная религия друзов Сирии во многом развивается параллельно доктринальному единобожию посвященных и потому сохраняет архаические общеарабские черты вроде возведения кенотафов или почитания локальных святых, якобы способных ответить на мольбы пилигримов. Вместе с тем визуальные символы, обнаруживаемые в святилищах, как и сами святилища, по сей день служат маркерами идентичности друзских сообществ, по большей части состоящих из непосвященных.

The article puts forward considerations regarding the location of geographically meaningful expressions such as “Turkman eli”, “Teke-Turkman”, “Turkman yurd” which are frequently found in the "Koroglu" epic, which holds a special place in the epic creativity of the Azerbaijani people. According to the researcher, the names of the buyer mentioned in the epic are more appropriate for the territory of Iraq where Turkomans live today. The author tried to justify his ideas in the article by drawing on both the text of the epic and historical facts. Since the area called Turkmaneli, where Turkomans live compactly in Iraq, is part of the Azerbaijani ethnocultural area, the "Koroglu" epos and the Jalali movement, which is the source of inspiration for the epic, did not bypass this area, and traces of the Turkomans living in Mesopotamia can also be seen in the epic.

Bulteok is a unique outdoor stone structure used by haenyeo -female divers who harvest marine products -and is representative of the haenyeo culture on Jeju Island, Korea. This study aims at examining the structure, form, function, and spatial transformation of bulteok on Jeju Island. Through historical records, literature reviews, and field surveys, this study has identified their structure, form and materials. The study analyzes their function and spatial characteristics through field surveys and measurement, interviews with 12 haenyeo, and observation of their behavior at bulteok on Udo Island, Jeju Province. The original bulteok are open-air structures with no roof, but new buildings for haenyeo have been constructed as replacements for those spaces. Old bulteok were mostly built in the form of a rectangle or a circle by piling up stones found on the coast. The materials of the bulteok researched are categorized into four types based on the wall enclosing the fire space: natural rock-hole, stone only, stone and cement, and stone and brick. Bulteok function as spaces for community life, changing of clothes by haenyeo, protection from weather, work activities, and training.

This paper reports the sculptures documented from three temples in village Muthalankurichi, Karungulam Block, Srivaikuntam Taluka of Thoothugudi district, Tamil Nadu. These sculptures, made of black basalt, include one of Lakshmi-Narasimha enshrined in a small brick temple of its own, a large sculpture of Ganapati in the open, a sculpture of Bhairava in a Shiva temple along with some smaller sculptures. A sculpture of Mahakali is worshipped as Gunavathiamman or Nallampillaipetraval in a separate temple about a kilometre away in the same village, on the banks of the Tamraparani river; the complex also contains several smaller shrines to other deities. The Mahakali image is comparable to sculptures located in the Tamil Nadu Government Museum, Tirunelveli, and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalay, Mumbai, both dated to the Early Medieval Pandya Period (11th century CE). By extension, all other sculptures may also be dated to the same period, on the grounds of similarity in form and material. Oral interviews of one of the officiating priests, Sundara Kambar, indicate the presence of an Agraharam (Brahmin quarter) which was abandoned sometime in the past.

Among the legends of folk hagiography about Saint Nicholas the Miracle-Worker, there are well-known stories about Saint Nicholas and a thief. A thief, who used to put candles before theft, prays to Saint Nicholas while fleeing. The Saint, disguised as an old man, instructs him to hide into a carrion pit. Later, the old man reveals himself to be Saint Nicholas and explains that the thief’s candle (a symbol of prayer) made him feel as stiffed as the thief did from the stench of the carrion. Similar stories are noted in indexes of folklore prose (AaTh 848* The Thief and St. Nicolas; SUS 848* =AA *848), where they are included only in Russian folklore material. The plot is rare and is represented by single texts dating from the second half of the 19th to the first quarter of the 20th century. All known variants of plot type 848* (including those discovered during research and not included in the indexes) are represented only by northern Russian, Ural, and Siberian records. A comparative analysis of these narratives revealed differences in their plot structure, allowing us to identify two variations. It was also established that the distribution of texts by plot version is not related to their locale: the same plot version can be found in a northern Russian recording and in a recording made in Siberia or the Urals. This distribution of texts by plot version 848*, coupled with the fact that some known records originate from the pure Russian North while others come from territories settled by people from various Northern Russian regions, supports the theory of Northern Russian origin of these folk hagiographic narratives about St. Nicholas the Miracle-Worker and the thief

Zêw ÖZ Bu çalışmada, Güneydoğu Anadolu'da karnaval, şenlik veya festival olarak adlandırabileceğimiz zêwin toplumda dayanışma ve bütünleşmenin inşasındaki rolü ve işlevine değinilmektedir. Aynı zamanda zêwin sosyo-kültürel açıdan anlamı ve toplumsal bazda ürettikleri ele alınmıştır. Bireyler ata topraklarına gelerek, kabirler etrafında birlik ve beraberlik içerisinde şenlikler düzenleyip ziyafetler vermektedir. Farklı aşiretler ve köyler arasında çatışma olmaksızın gerçekleştirilen bu etkinlikler, toplumda dayanışmayı ve bütünleşmeyi güçlendiren önemli işlevlerler taşımaktadır. Zêwler dayanışmanın, bütünlüğün ve birliğin tahsis edilmesi ve toplum tarafından üretilmesi için önemli etkinlikler arasındadır. Araştırmamızda Güneydoğu Anadolu'da kadim ve kutsal bir bölge olan Turabdin yer alan etkinlikler ele alınacaktır. Ziyaret fenomeninde hem kutsal ile manevi bir bağlantı hem de toplumsal düzlemde kolektif eğlence kültürüne işaret eden ritüeller yapılmaktadır. Zêw şenliklerinde ataları anma, manevi tatmin, dua, adak adama ve dilek dileme gibi kutsal birtakım ritüeller gerçekleştirilir. Bunlara ek olarak zêw sırasında potlaca benzeyen ziyafetler düzenlenmektedir. Zêw sırasında sergilenen etkinlikler, bölgenin yerel kültürü ile şekillenen eğlence biçimleri olan cirit oyunu, mıtırpların çalgı çengisi ve kilometrelerce uzanan halay kültürü de aynı mekânda senkretik bir nitelik sergilemektedir. Çalışmada farklı tarih ve mekanlarda yapılan zêw şenliklerinin en meşhurlarından olan Seyyid Bilal ve Şeyh Hasan Zêw'leri ele alınacaktır. Bölgede zêwlerin ekonomik, politik, sosyo-psikolojik, kültürel ve tarihsel işlevleri ortaya konulmuştur. Bu bağlamda 20 katılımcı ile derinlemesine mülakat yapılarak elde edilen veriler analiz edilmiştir. Sonuç kısmında elde edilen veriler ritüel, sembol ve inanç üzerinden ele alınarak tartışılacaktır.

媽祖信仰在臺灣占有重要地位，是移民社會下的產物，對臺灣社會影響深
遠，在數百年來的發展過程當中，媽祖如何在地化，並與臺灣的歷史人文、地理
環境緊密結合，是形構媽祖「文化多樣性」（cultual diversity）非常重要的議題。
過去研究中，不乏對媽祖信仰本土化議題進行討論，從俗諺語、民間傳說、信仰
特徵、信仰儀式等各方面，探討情況多元豐富。其中，林美容曾對媽祖信仰與文
化的顯（manifestation）與隱（latency）主題進行拋擲，將媽祖信仰整體的文化
變遷與在地化特點進行綜合性的學理分析，所提子題中，曾談及媽祖信仰由海神
信仰擴散到農業神信仰的顯性形象；本文試圖就此延伸媽祖轉型為農業神後，與
臺灣人生活緊密結合的情形，由節日形成角度切入，論述媽祖信仰儀式作為春季
儀式的特性與意涵。
節日之形成，大抵與原始宗教儀式、環境變化、農耕需求、官方推動等複合
性因素習習相關。臺灣每年自農曆過年後，至三月媽祖生以前，大量且頻繁的迎
媽祖活動，有諸多與農耕生活息息相關的信仰需求，並且配合著季節性的自然環
境因素，這種整合儀式與環境問題的信仰活動，形構出屬於臺灣特有的節日特
性，並承載著臺灣人的集體記憶，更跨越族群間的日常生活；雖然媽祖信仰屬於
民間宗教活動之一環，但從節日結構的觀點而言，媽祖信仰儀式儼然構成臺灣專
屬的歲時祭儀，成為臺灣歲時節日中，相當重要的一項春季慶典。

Mazu religion, a product of migratory society, is very important to and has great
influences on Taiwan society. In its hundreds years of development, how Mazu was
localized and intervened closely with Taiwan’s historical humanity and geographical
environment is a very crucial subject matter for shaping and constructing Mazu’s
“cultural diversity.” Among the literary studies, many researches had taken the
localization of Mazu religion as the subject matters, probing diversely and richly from
the aspects of proverbs, folk legends, religious characteristics and rituals, etc. Ms. Lin
Meirong had brought up the subject of manifestation and latency of Mazu religion and
culture to the arena of research, performing a comprehensive theoretical analysis on
the holistic cultural changing and the characteristics of localization of Mazu religion.
In one of her studying series, she mentioned that Mazu religion of sea goddess beliefs
had transformed into the character of a goddess of agriculture. This study attempts to
discourse the characters and implications of the rituals of Mazu religion as spring
sacrifice rites by extending Lin’s idea of Mazu’s transformation into a goddess of
agriculture and how it was closely coherent with Taiwan people’s life, through the
angle of the forming of Taiwan festivals.
The forming of the festivals usually relates to compound events or factors such
as primitive religious rites, the changing of environment, agricultural needs, official
promotion, etc. In Taiwan, after the Lunar New Year and before the birthday of Mazu
in the third month of lunar calendar, plenty of welcoming Mazu activities relate to the
religious needs of agricultural lives and costume with natural environment of the
season. Such religious activities combined with rites and environmental problems
shape and constitute the characteristics of Taiwan festivals, and bear well the
collective memories of Taiwan people, going beyond the barrier of ethnic groups in
their everyday lives. Although Mazu religion is a branch of folk religions, from the
perspective of the organization of festivals, Mazu religion would rather be an
exclusive seasonal rite for Taiwan people and became a significant spring sacrifice rite
among Taiwan festivals.

Joseph is one of the most beloved of the Abrahamic patriarchs, with Jews, Christians and Muslims pulling lessons from his story characteristic of the religious expression of their respective faiths.  Though utilizing an Hebraic text and comparing it to the Qur’anic text, this paper will focus mostly on the latter two Abrahamic faiths and explore how separation of Church and State and the spread of secularism has yet to better the relationship between Christians and Muslims in this country.  Even the most enlightened Christian and the most tolerant Muslim is ruled by fear when it comes to life in the public square in the USA.  This fear can only lead to resentment (Gen 37: 4 || Al-Yusuf 8), which can sometimes turn violent (Gen 37: 20 || Al-Yusuf 9).
Granted, Americans hailing from myriad cultural backgrounds who claim not to adhere to any religion, suffer from some degree prejudice and mistrust of Muslims; however, this paper focuses on Christians in good standing and the puzzling notions many of us have with respect to our Muslim brothers and sisters.  I explore the tendency of American Christians to identify with Judaism more than Islam, though, arguably, Christianity has more in common with Islam than with Judaism.  Christians also, like Potiphar, tend to believe the worst of our Muslim brethren (Gen 39: 19 || Al-Yusuf 29), even those who—unlike Joseph in relation to his Egyptian neighbors—are American born and/or bred.
I segue a bit to compare Aquinas’ doctrine of salvation (potentiality) to the Qur’anic commandment explicit in Al-Baqarah 256, which are delightfully and thoroughly representative of Christian and Muslim conviction, respectively.  Both texts present a variegated worldview and an almost kaleidoscopic reference to the power of God, which is our only recourse to fix the broken state of affairs between the faiths.  Fixing what’s broken is one thing, but can we hope to one day flourish together as well?  Why not?  Why should our coming together depend on political direction and secular policy rather than doctrine?  Should it not depend on the God we worship in common instead?
Like the Muslim with little understanding of Qur’anic instruction on their responsibility toward the People of the Book, unenlightened Christians demand that Muslims “assimilate” into American society.  Do we not realize that this assimilation goes beyond the cultural to require a religious conversion of sorts? Muslims would need to adopt a “separation of Church and State” mentality that not only is utterly foreign to Islam, but nullifying as well.  Christianity has long since given up its power as a counter-cultural force in this country, with Christians choosing to put God before country, yes, but country before faith.  The youngest of the Abrahamic faiths, Islam has not yet lost its zealous fervor.  Will we Christians, elders in the faith, continue to deal with Islam as Joseph’s brothers dealt with him?  Or will we adopt a truly American multi-colored worldview and embrace our Muslim brethren instead?

As Villanova University students navigate campus life, ghost stories tied to specific buildings, paths, and rituals circulate as grassroots spatial narratives. This article argues that these stories involving haunted halls, underground tunnels, and ritualized practices surrounding seals, arches, and fountains, function as forms of Radical Placemaking, through which students collectively reinterpret, appropriate, and sometimes resist the university's officially sanctioned spatial order. Drawing on 162 student testimonies collected in 2019, translated into Spanish, and analyzed using topic modeling, co-occurrence mapping, and GIS visualization, the study demonstrates how vernacular stories encode lived experiences, informal knowledge, and alternative claims to campus space. Nine thematic clusters emerge, organized into three narrative domains: supernatural encounters anchored to institutional buildings (including Alumni Hall's Civil War history, the St. Mary's nun legend, and Tolentine Hall hauntings), ritual and tradition practices that reinscribe or subvert formal authority (the Corr Chapel arch, the Driscoll Hall seal ritual, and student ceremonies), and hidden-space narratives that imagine infrastructures beyond official visibility (such as underground tunnels linking campus buildings). Analysis of narrative transmission reveals uneven power relations: institutional channels circulate curated traditions aligned with university identity. Peer networks and personal experiences generate counter-mappings that privilege exploration, embodiment, and affect. Villanova's ghost stories constitute spatial perceptions that enable students to assert belonging, contest institutional narratives, and produce place through collective storytelling within an evolving and hierarchically governed campus landscape.

The so-called mid-period esoteric Buddhist art of Silla, represented by the Vairocana
Buddha statue in the mudra of Supreme Wisdom (jigwon-in), is often evaluated as
unorthodox or as a uniquely Silla-style adaptation. This paper seeks to renew the
understanding of Silla esoteric Buddhist art by critiquing the conventional practice of
distinguishing between orthodoxy and non-orthodoxy based on 9th-century Japanese
esoteric art, instead turning attention to phenomena in 8th-century Tang China and Silla.
By examining the coexistence of esoteric rituals and concepts in 8th-century Silla works
such as the Illuminated Manuscript of the Avatamsaka Sutra (755) and the Stone Seated
Vairocana Buddha of Seoknamam-sa Temple Site in Sancheong (766), as well as the
depiction of one-faced, four-armed wrathful deities on a stupa in the collection of the
National Museum of Gyeongju, the paper highlights the subjectivity and dynamism of
the 8th-century Silla Buddhist community. This community responded swiftly to
changes in the Tang Buddhist world and proactively embraced and utilized esoteric
iconography and concepts in a pioneering manner.

This article examines how the Puritan colony of New Haven (1638-1665) constructed and maintained a sovereign space accountable to divine authority alone. Against the historiographical consensus that frames the colony's absorption into Connecticut in 1665 as the inevitable collapse of an overly rigid religious experiment, this article argues that New Haven succeeded in engineering a durable mechanism of sovereign exclusion that outlasted the political entity that housed it. Drawing on the theoretical frameworks of Mircea Eliade's sacred geography and the concept of institutional appropriation of folk epistemology, the analysis identifies three interdependent conditions that made this sovereignty possible: the deliberate theological weaponization of the American wilderness through the Pequot War, which produced the vacuum domicilium upon which a sacred templum could be inscribed; the institutional monopolization of folk diagnostic authority through the Relation of Faith, which transformed the Calvinist paradox of predestination into a mechanism of civic enfranchisement and exclusion; and the constitutional refusal of a royal charter, which sealed the colony's governance within a closed loop of divine legitimacy impervious to external jurisdiction. The article further argues that the regicide episode of 1661-1665 constitutes the definitive test of this sovereign architecture, and that the spatial inversion enacted at Judges' Cave-wherein the previously satanic wilderness became a sacred sanctuary-reveals the full operational logic of New Haven's territorial sovereignty. The political collapse of 1665 did not destroy this mechanism; it transmitted it. As the external geographic frontier was erased, the community's defensive paranoia turned inward, establishing the structural conditions for the Salem witchcraft crisis of 1692.

Исследуются распространенные у русских и других народов Евразии ритуальные практики XIX–XX вв., связанные с магическим перекрытием пути. Автор реконструирует комплекс представлений и действий по созданию символической преграды. На материале этнографических, фольклорных и диалектологических источников изучается применение таких действий в ключевых обрядах жизненного цикла (свадьба, похороны), а также для защиты от болезней и нечистой силы, для поиска пропавших и выявления ведьм. Эти практики рассматриваются как один из элементов дорожной традиции России, т.е. устойчивых стереотипов поведения во время поездок гужевым транспортом и при пешем ередвижении. Вплоть до первой половины XX в. дорожная традиция представляла собой значимую часть повседневной жизни России. Эта область научного знания имеет явные пересечения с этнографией и культурной антропологией. Выясняется, что символическое gерегораживание пути бывало разнообразным («перерубание дороги», «закрытие дороги», «рубка холеры», «бросание крестов» и др.). Это обычно сопровождалось произнесением заговорных формул. Такие действия рассмотрены в статье как акциональное выражение смыслов, укорененных в глубинах народного, коллективного мировоззрения. Показано, что подобные ритуалы основывались на универсальном принципе разграничения «своего» и «чужого» пространства. / This article examines ritual practices of magical path blocking, which were widespread among Russians and other Eurasian ethnic groups in the 19th and 20th centuries. The research reconstructs a complex of beliefs and ritual actions associated with the creation of symbolic barriers. Drawing on ethnographic, folkloric, and dialectological sources, the author examines such actions within the framework of key rites of passage (such as weddings and funerals), as well as in the context of protection against diseases and evil spirits, the search for missing persons, and the identification of individuals accused of sorcery or witchcraft. The study positions these rituals as one of the elements of the road tradition in Russia — a system of stable behavioral stereotypes associated with travel on foot or by horse-drawn transport. Until the first half of the 20th century, the road tradition constituted a significant aspect of everyday life in Russia. This area of scientific knowledge obviously intersects with ethnography, anthropology, and cultural studies. Symbolic path obstruction had different forms. The article examines such varieties as “cutting off a road”, “closing a road”, “chopping the cholera”, “throwing the crosses”, etc. These actions were typically accompanied by the recitation of incantations. The article considers such rituals as performative expressions of cultural meanings rooted in the collective worldview. Analysis reveals that such rituals were grounded in the universal principle of demarcating “one's own” and “other's” space.

Within current Philippine public discourse, race is often deemed an irrelevant category as exemplified in the oft-heard rebuke of homeland folks to North American diasporic Filipino critical scholars, to wit: “Don’t export your racism to us. There’s no racism in the Philippines. We all descend from the islands’ original peoples.” This paper traces the simultaneous dynamic of race-making and race-erasure in the Philippine postcolonial context back to the historic wedding of colonial Christianity (both in its Spanish Roman Catholic and American Protestant iterations) with a much older civilizational supremacy—and the subsequent naturalization of such an unholy union in the secularized aspirational vision of the nascent Philippine nation-state, thus effectively hiding its racialized dynamic. In particular, it will revisit the archive of religious debates during the revolutionary ferment against Spain and during the Philippine-American War (especially around the notions of the “lazy native,” the “scandalous” absence of private ownership, the Empire’s justification for militarist response to animist/millenarian resistance movements, and the insistence on the need for longer tutelage of the fledgling Philippine nation). How the postcolonial Philippine nation-state effectively enshrines and secularizes the civilizational premises of Empire and now unwittingly enacts their inherently racialized dynamic toward its own land-based indigenous ethnolinguistic populations will form the core of the study. At stake in such historical analytical unpacking is the undeclared war of the nation-state against its own unassimilated peoples and the unwitting complicity of its majority population in the latter’s ongoing destruction and demise through forcible assimilation and takeover of their indigenous territories. Making visible the invisible discourse of race and its roots in both Christian and civilization supremacy is crucial to halting the holocaust.

Bogdan N eagota ("Babeş-Bolyai" University) -editor in chief; Ileana Benga (Institute o f Folklore Archive, R om anian Academy, Cluj-Napoca); Sorin N em eti ("Babeş-Bolyai" University); Gianfranco Spitilli (Bam bun. Associazione Culturale per la Ricerca D em oetnoantropologica e Visuale, Teram o / U niversità degli Studi del Chieti, Italia); D on Filippo Lanci (Ufficio Arte Sacra Diocesi Teram o-A tri).

В условиях активного развития креативных индустрий и расширения потребительского рынка в Казахстане особое значение приобретает номинация брендов как инструмент лингвокультурной идентификации, прагматического позиционирования и символической репрезентации. В статье рассматривается проблема языковых механизмов создания брендовых наименований в казахстанской брендовой культуре и выявляется, каким образом номинативная функция реализуется через лингвистические стратегии нейминга. Номинативная функция в ономасиологической парадигме рассматривается как базовый механизм вторичной языковой номинации, направленный на создание устойчивой связи между знаковым выражением и денотатом, обогащённой когнитивными, аксиологическими и культурными компонентами. Она обеспечивает узнаваемость, вербализует концепт, символически кодирует товар и задаёт ориентиры его интерпретации в массовом сознании.
На материале казахстанских брендов, функционирующих в различных отраслях (одежда, еда, косметика, финансы, технологии), выявлены разнообразные способы реализации номинативной функции – от семантической транспарентности и этнокультурной маркированности до фоносемантической экспрессивности и визуально-графической выразительности. В частности, анализируются примеры, где номинация активирует метеорологические метафоры, коннотируя свежесть и натуральность; где используются традиционные имена, связанные с женственностью и красотой в казахской культуре; где сочетаются топонимы и универсальные англоязычные лексемы, реализуя модель глобально-локального синтеза; где сочетаются прилагательные и слова, обозначающие благосостояние, репрезентируя идеи прозрачности и надёжности в сфере финансов; где используются лексемы с высокой эмоциональной нагрузкой, соединяя эмоционально-прагматическую и метафорическую стратегии; где используются слова, связанные с восточной эстетикой, мягкостью и визуальной симметрией, создавая эффект мягкости и чувственности; где базируется на понятиях духовной награды в исламе, транслируя этические ориентиры бренда и создавая устойчивую ценностную привязку.
Таким образом, номинативная функция в структуре казахстанского бренднейминга реализуется через разнообразные лингвистические механизмы: лексико-семантические, культурно-маркированные, топонимические, религиозно-ценностные, фоносемантические, мотивационные и эмоционально-символические. Имя бренда выступает не как нейтральная номинация, а как многоплановая когнитивная структура, реализующая культурные, этические и прагматические смыслы через языковую форму.
Ключевые слова: номинативная функция, лингвокультурная идентичность, прагматоним, казахстанские бренды, лексико-семантический анализ, культурная маркированность, фоносемантика.

Azərbaycan, türk qadını tarixən öz qəhrəmanlığı, qeyrəti, namusu, vətənpərvərliyi,
ailəcanlılığı və s. ilə seçilmişdir. Bütün bu xarakterlər ulu babalarımızdan bizə miras qalan
atalar sözlərində də öz əksini tapmışdır. Bu məqsədlə də Azərbaycan və türk atalar sözlərinin
qadını necə təqdim etməsinə nəzər yetirəcəyik.

W Materiałach znalazły się podhalanika z następujących miejscowości (podaję współczesny zasięg powiatów): Miejscowość Powiat Chochołów nowotarski Czarny Dunajec nowotarski Czerwienne nowotarski Dzianisz tatrzański Harklowa nowotarski Knurów nowotarski 1. Przysłowia Biyda to w trzeci dziyń za wilkiym strzylać (Sp) Biyda to, jak cłeka naraz chyci na oba kóńce (P) Bo baba jest psiápara, lec przez baby okwiara (P) Brat zaseł do Peści o scygólnyf dwóf watrzniákaf i piynci karpielaf (Sp) Bzdom gówno zbić (B) Bzdom gówno zbyć (P) Cego oko nie uwidzi, tego sercu nie zál (P) Cego panowie nawarzom, tym sie chłopi poparzom (P) Chłop jak ksiyndzym ostáł, to w ornacie spáł (P) Chłopski rozum, babskie mieso (P) Chłopskie miary ni majom wiary (P) Chłopu za nic stoji umiyrać w pościeli (P) Choć złomany ociec, kie je ociec, to go sanuj (P) Choćbyś siedział w zielezie, to cie Pán Bóg nálezie (O) Chodzi jak owieczka, a tryka jak baran (L) Chorá, z dupy jyj forá (O) Chudy do budy, tłusty do kapusty (B) Ciapu kapusta, ciapu grok (B) Cichá woda nábarzyj brzyzki podmywá (B) Cłekowi ze smutke we wnuku to tak nijak zýć jak niedźwiedziowi z kulkom w brzuchu (P) Cłowiek serca zakwardzielsego to ze smutku na serce bardzo nie popuści, choć i złe przińdzie (P) Co chłop woze do chałupy prziwiezie, to baba hnet w podołku wyniesie (Sp) Co głupiymu po rozumie, kiedy go ni má (B) Co mara, to wiara (P) Co ocý widzom, tego sercu zál (P) Co po hónorze, kie pusto w kómorze (O) Co sie to kwálić, kie ni ma cým pálić (P) Co słychać na jarmarku? -Małe gudki po dwa dudki, a prosiynta po półpiynta (P) Co świat zrobieł dobrego, to nie lá chłopa (O) Co uzbijá łakota, to pozyje lichota (B) Co wieś, to inná powieść, co chałupa, to inná nauka (B) Co wybite, to má rozum (P) Cudze kraje kwálmy, swojik sie trzimájmy (P) Cýje zres, tego bres (P) -Cý wiys, co wrazice zrobiyli? -Nos mu do rzici włozyli (P) Dajze chłopie rzond, kie ni más skond (P) Dajze komu zone, sám obłapiáj słome (P) Dáwno tego zawiesiyli, co lepiyj zrobiył, jak umiáł (B) Długsá zápora jako kómora (O) Przysłowia polskich Górali tatrzańskich i beskidowych… Dłuzyj stynkaca niźli skákaca (Sp) Do bryji nie bees wykłuwáł zymbów (O) Dobrá boleść, kie dá pojeść (P) Dobrá i mucha, kiedy wpadnie do brzucha (B) Dobrego karcma nie zepsuje, a złego kościół nie naprawi (P) Dobry cłek je kazdi zrencni (L) Dobry i chlyb, kie ni ma kołáca (P) Dobry moskál z ości, kie sie brzuk wypości (P) Dobrymu syndyl dobrze (P) Dobryś Gabryś (tyle co: masz teraz!) (B) Dobrze drzyć łyko z drzewa, kiedy miazga puscá (B) Dobrze jak sie topis, a rynke ci kto podá (P) Dobrze nie barzo (P) Dobrze temu, co nic ni má, bo sie wyśpi, nie wydrzymá (P) Docká sie świycka wiecorka (B) Dre jak gudza wór (O) Drobo orz, gynsto siyj, rzádko jydz, a bees gazdom (P) Dziád o chlybie, baba o fijołkak (P) Dziadowi nie dej kónia, ba torbe i kij (O) Dziadowi nie dej kónia do gárzci, ba kij (P) Dźwiyrze sie otwiyrajom, jedzie głupi (P) Dźwiyrze sie otwiyrajom, przińdzie głodny (Sp) Fto gorko chlipnie, to na studene ducho (L) Gaździná trzi wyngły trzimá w chałupie, a gazda ino cwárty (Sp) Gdy jutrzenka przed Gody długo świyci, chleba majom dosýć Boze dzieci, ale gdy niknie w zasłone, nastompiom lata płone (P) Gdzie duzo gazdów, tam ni ma zgody (B) Gdzie ni ma gazdy, tam je głupi kazdy (O) Głodny jak młynarská kura (B) Gościec trzimie swoje złe kóńce (P) Górála Pán Bóg stworzył, Górál wysráł gówno, a z tego gówna zrobieł sie Miemiec (Sp) Grzyk pod brzyg, pokuta pod koguta (P) Hereśt nie lá panów (P) Hnet sie sydło z worka wydziobie (L) I niyboja wilcy zjedzom (Sp) I ón chory, i ty ni móg, a z gárka tak jakby wymiót (Sp) Igła przez kóńca, niebo przez słońca, przez pokory dzieci, przez owoców drzewo, przez dzwonów wieze, przez zbroje zołnierze, kłosa przez násienie, nie wárce spomnienie (B) Já nie lykárz, Pán Bóg lykárz, jak nie umrzes, to postynkás (P) 1. Przysłowia Já nie pytám rajce, kie mi sie srać kce (P) Jak bocánie, w jesiyni leconc, nisko spocýwajom, to sie słoty, fujawicý zaráz pocýnajom, a jak boćki leconc, wznosom sie wysoko, to pogoda bedzie daleká, syroká (P) Jak biyda, do Zýda, a jak nyndza, to do ksiyndza (B) Jak hole mnijsze, to budzie pogoda (L) Jak komu co miyłe, to choć na polu zgnite, to je przecie miyłe (P) Jak Kuba Bogu, tak i Bóg Kubie (P) Jak listki gruli hore spoglondajom, to nám na pogode znak pewny dajom (P) Jak łyzka w gárku na noc lezy niewyjyntá, to nieporada spać (O) Jak na świyntom Jagnieske jasno, to o lyn ciasno, a jak pochmurno, to o lyn trudno (P) Jak na wilijom Sýćkik Świyntyk mróz, to se schowáj wóz, a jak ni ma mroza, to nie chowáj woza (P) Jak ni ma gazdy, to płóny kazdy (Sp) Jak nie prziłozýs gymbom, to musis kiesyniom (P) Jak sie z Boga nie spuścis, to nie zginies (P) Jak spód zakładajom, to jeś i pić dajom, jak krokwiami łacom, to diabłami płacom (P) Jaká chowała, taká powała (B) Jaká mać, taká nać (B) Jaká praca, taká płaca (P) Jaki kij wzioneś, takim sie podpiyráj (P) Jaki ociec, taki sýn, jakie drzewo, taki klin, jakie gynśle, taki smycek, jaki psiárek, taki strycek (P) Jakiegoś mnie Panie Boze stworzył, takiego mnie más (P) Jakimi ci gárnek prziwarami nawre, takimi śmiyrdzi (O) Jeden kse, drugi do lasa (L) Jedno swinonć, drugie minonć (B) Jedyn sie sýdłym ogoli, a drugi brzitwom ni moze (P) Jeśli wonz przejdzie droge, to scynście (P) Ka ni ma pokłymby, tam ni ma co włozyć do gymby (O) Ka sie świyci, babe krynci (P) Ka sie wzionć, to sie wzionć (B) Kany w imie Boze dwók, tam Pán Bóg trzeci (P) Kany zgoda, tam i Pán Bóg (P) Kany złe przipadki, tam przijáciel rzádki (P) Kapusta i flaki dobry galas taki (Sp) Kazdá rzec má swój dowód i swoje kóńce (P) Kazdy pták gałgán, co do swego gniázda paskudzi (Sp) Kazdy świynty má swoje wykrynty (B) Przysłowia polskich Górali tatrzańskich i beskidowych… Kie baba do cie z grabiami, to ty do niyj z cepami, kie baba do cie z nozym, to ty do niyj z kosom (P) Kie biyda, to do Zýda, a po biedzie, wyliz mi rzić Zýdzie (P) Kie do cie nie zdrówkám, to nie odpowiadáj (P) Kie idzie dwók, tam Pán Bóg trzeci (P) Kie já do tobie nie pijym, to ty do mnie nie zdrówkáj (Sp) Kie já mám, to zjym sám, kie ty más, to zjydzmy wráz (Sp) Kie je śliz*, to mu rzić wyliz (P) Kie más przijáciela dobrego, to nie zaziyráj cynsto do niego (P) Kie mlyko skipi na ogniu, to sie króweckom i cýcki nadejom (P) Kie na wilijom Matki Boskiyj Przedgodniyj mróz, to wygryzki do gnoju włóz, a jak na Matke Boskom kałuzki, to wyciongnij z gnoju ogryzki (P) Kie sýsek na smrekak obficie, grul nie starcý na wyzýcie (P) Kie za dudek dopuścis głodu do brzucha, to go trzoma nie wyzenies (P) Kieby nie klin, a nie mek, toby budárz zdek (P) Kij i skała majom dwojakie prawo (P) Kogo Pan Bóg stworzi, tego nie umorzi (L) Koła koło kościoła, a osi we wsi (P) Komu sie nie lyni, temu sie zielyni (P) Krynci sie jak suchá rzepa w rzici (P) Krynci sie, kieby sie sydeł najád (Sp) Ksiondz choćby beł w lesie, to mu kázdy niesie (P) Ksiynze pinondze psim pukiym przidom i nic sie ś nik nie dorobis (O) Kto chlebym gardzi, to chlyb nim bardziyj (B) Kto chodzi na posmycki, potraci onycki (P) Kto drogi prostuje, tyn doma nie nocuje (P) Kto má dzieci, wániá smród, kto má pscoły, lize miód (P) Kto nie skoro przichodzi, sám se skodzi (P) Kto nosi torbe, tego torba niesie (P) Kto od strachu umiyrá, to mu bździnami dzwoniom (Sp) Kto pinionzki má, to mu duda grá (B) Kto płuce flaki, myśli, ze kázdy taki (P) Kto rano wstaje, temu Bóg daje (P) Kto robi posmycki, potraci onycki (O) Kto sie dotyká smoły, zbabrze sie od niyj (P) Kto sie nie obziyrá na zadnie koła, to źle wyjedzie (P) Kto słuchá pode ściany, to wysłuchá swoje gany (P) Kto starsý, to má ogón twardsý (P) Kto z Boge, Bóg z nim (P) * Rodzaj rybek zwinnych, bardzo trudnych do łowienia. Kto za kim ryncy, tego dijas myncy (Sp) Kto za młodu źle gazduje, tego na starość biyda bije (P) Kupiyłby coś, zeby miał piniondzy trzos (B) Kury do wody, dziád w trzeciyj wsi, a ty jesce śpis (B) Kwieciyń stodół wymieciyń (P) Lasoty cas do roboty (O) Látać jak pies z przebitom nogom (P) Lepiyj być dobrym chłopym anizeli złym popym (P) Lepiyj być wilkołakiym niźli nieborakiym (P) Lepiyj dźwigać jako ścigać (P) Lepiyj starego dźwigać jak młodego ścigać (Sp) Lepiyj w marcu wilka uwidzieć jak chłopa bez odziyniá, bo zima bedzie na wiesne (P) Lepiyj z brzićkim pod pierzinom jako z ładnym pod jedlinom (P) Lepiyj z kobyłom páciyrze mówić jak z głupim gádać (P) Lepsá chudá zgoda jako tłuste prawo (O) Lepsá cnota w błocie jak niecnota w złocie (P) Lepse jedno hulała jak sto páciyrzi (P) Lis koło swojyj nory nika kur nie dusi (P) Lijze sie, wodziczko, bez moje garliczko (L) Ludzká praca nie popłaca (P) Ludzki kwiat budzi świat, co przibudzi, to przismudzi (B) Mało jádła, a gówno jak kłádka (Sp) Mały máj krowie dej, a jak przidzie wielki máj, to jom w pole kijym wál (P) Miemiec wsy bić poseł na kamieniec (Sp) Młodymu napowiadáj, a z wilke páciyrze mów (albo: a z wilke oráj), na jedno wynidzie (albo: to sýtko jedno) (P) Mnie ta w kozuchu do wody nie wzynies (P) Mondry a głupi to sie nigda nie nazdadzom, bo głupi bedzie mondrymu wse ciukáł, ze je głupi, a mondry sie głupiego nie chyci, coby go naucył, bo sie ś nim babrać nie bedzie kciáł (P) Mondry, a kobyła mu zymby wypiyrdziała (O) Mondry jak Maćków kot, co świycke zjád, a po ćmáku chodziył (B) Mondry jak Micháł z gówna (Sp) Mondry kóń obyndzie sie bez krzizowyk podwodek (P) Mondry obiecuje, głupi sie raduje (P) Mścity bywá dwa razý bity (P) Na całym dziury nie sukáj (P) Na co go bić, kiedy sám nie kce (B) Na Cyrwonym Wiyrchu gmła, jazda Boga dyscýk dá (P) Na kwarde zbiórki diabły sýjom worki (P) Przysłowia polskich Górali tatrzańskich i beskidowych… Na mój sto práwdu! (O) Na nie warza, kie nie parza (P) Na obludzie niedaleko sie pudzie (P) Na Podhálu chlyb sie kóńcý, a woda i skále sie zacýnajom (P) Na przodek nie wychódź, na zadku nie ostáj, do pośrodka sie nie ciś (Sp) Na starom wierbe i kozý skácom (P) Na śwanty krziż owce strziż (L) Nádzieja w Bogu, w torbie syr...

In the Eastern Slavic folklore rusalka is a feminine being/spirit that looks after forests and waters. The word rusalka has no Indo-European etymology. An important distinctive feature in the appearance of rusalka is her loose long hair. The Eastern Slavs had contacts with the relic groups of the most ancient population of the East European Plain, which spoke a language that was a juncture between the Yeniseian family and the North Caucasian family. And in the Eastern Slavic folklore there are mythological objects and beings that were borrowed from these relic groups. The figure of rusalka, and the word rusalka also could have come from the language of these relic groups. In the word rusalka the root is rus. The root rus correlates with Proto-North-Caucasian *ɦ ʒ "long hair", "tail" and with proto-Avaro-Andian * :V "tail", "goat's wool". Thus, it is possible to conclude the word rusalka originally meant "hairy".

The deliberations featuring in this contribution are based on the conversations with an interlocutor from the vicinity of Knjaževac, who possesses unique knowledge regarding, on the one hand, demonological aspects of traditional culture, and on the other, the domain which may be defined as the field of New Age spirituality. In the introductory part of the study, the summary overview of the New Age research is presented, followed by the etching of the current image of New Age in Serbia as the context in which the material which is the subject of the analysis is positioned. The deliberation focuses on the narrative strategies of constructing religious authority—beside the repertoire of knowledge, the attention is also focused on the autobiographic narrative incorporating the predestination motif, the narration about visionary experience and dreams including commands, but also the stories about the astral projection experience. Since it is the case that the presented autobiographic narrative is distinguished by religious concepts and teachings eclecticism, adopted by various channels (from oral, typical of folklore, to obtaining information via electronic media), the final segment is devoted to the commenting on the relation between the New Age and folk religion.