Abstract

ISLAMZADEH, Kamala. On the trail of a plot of ritual origin: “seeing-off to the other world”. Universidad y Sociedad [online]. 2021, vol.13, n.5, pp. 289-296.  Epub Oct 02, 2021. ISSN 2218-3620.

Rituals are a phenomenon of great cultural significance and they have set guidelines in the development and evolution of human societies. Its objectives are varied, however, some are common to all peoples, such as personal protection rituals or rituals to bring abundance, although their manifestations are not always the same. The objective of this article is to discuss one of the most controversial rituals of antiquity: "the killing of the old" or “seeing-off to the other world”. This ritual included on one hand the ancestral cult to elderly and on the other hand elements of sacrifice. Although various peoples performed this ritual differently, it is essentially the same and involved giving up the elders who became a burden to a tribe. The rudiments of this ritual are still preserved both in stories, legends and concise and laconic phrases. It is very interesting that when talking about this barbaric and cruel ritual, popular narrators direct it to didactic and educational purposes. The examples considered in the article highlight moral problems and emphasize the respect for the elderly. Referring to the antique and modern historical sources the author tries to reveal the historical aspects of the plot. Special attention is also given to the moments based on the different peoples’ ethnopsychology during the analysis of the folklore samples. Each motive of the plot and their variants inherent in different cultures are studied, also contradictions of the nature of the central character is related both to the demiurge and to the trickster features.

Keywords : Traditional plots; rituals; seeing-off to the other world.

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