Nikos Chausidis | Ss. Cyril & Methodius University in Skopje (original) (raw)
RECENT PAPERS by Nikos Chausidis
Philosophy, Cognition, and Archaeology, 2024
I. Eftimovski, N. Chausidis, "Archetypes and Archaeology: Have Archaeologists Unjustly Overlooked... more I. Eftimovski, N. Chausidis, "Archetypes and Archaeology: Have Archaeologists Unjustly Overlooked Jung?", In: J. Nešić, V. Subotić (eds.), Philosophy, Cognition, and Archaeology, Belgrade: University, Faculty of Philosophy, 2024, 163-174.
The paper reviews the compatibility of C. G. Jung’s theory of archetypes with the principles of contemporary archeological theory. After the introduction to the topic, the first section of the paper tries to outline Jung’s ideas and define the key terms in his theory of archetypes. The second section reviews the current archeological views on Jung’s theories and addresses the criticism that Jung has drawn from archeologists, at the same time offering responses on why said criticism is to a larger extent ungrounded. The third section tries to show to what extent are Jung’s ideas in fact compatible with the archeological study of symbols. In the last section, the authors present their thoughts on how Jung’s ideas can be useful to contemporary archeological theory.
A. Jakimovski, E. Dimitrova (eds.), International Scientific Conference: 75 Year Jubilee of the Institute of Art History and Archaeology (12th – 14th October 2022, Dojran, Macedonia), 251-293. , 2024
The article builds upon the author's previous research in which he analyzed the relations between... more The article builds upon the author's previous research in which he analyzed the relations between a category of Iron Age objects known as cross-shaped strap dividers and a similar motif inscribed within a wheel on the coins of Getas - king of the Edonians. Presented in detal within the article are firstly the dividers from the Balkans, Central, and Eastern Europe, with regards to their form, context of discovery, cultural affiliation, purpose, and mutual interaction. Then, starting from the coin of Getas, the author analyzes in detail the coins of the Edonians and other neighboring peoples (primarily the Ichnaeans) with a reverse depiction of a wheel whose spokes coincide with the dividers. Within those frameworks, several hypotheses are considered regarding the ethnic groups that could have first introduced this specific wheel into coinage, which would also give them the status of bearers of the indicated Iron Age objects. Also discussed at the end of the article are the semiotics of this motif within the framework of the specific coins - separately and in relation to their obverse representations.
Key words: Iron Age, Macedonian bronzes, cross-shaped strap dividers, symbolism of the wheel, numismatics, Edonians, Ichnaeans, Paionians, Cimmerians, Strymon, Axios.
Studia Mythologica Slavica 26, 2023
The article presents a stone idol located in the courtyard of the monastery of St. Naum near Ohri... more The article presents a stone idol located in the courtyard of the monastery of St. Naum near Ohrid, discovered within its boundaries or somewhere in its surroundings at an unknown date. The authors offer a description of the monument, assumptions about its former appearance, and an analysis of its iconographic elements, with an emphasis on ithyphallicity and the pose of the hands. Through analogies, the article assesses the chronological and cultural affiliation of the idol, with arguments in favor of its potential Pagan-Slavic character. The monument is also observed in context of the mythological and religious traditions of the region, with a focus on the local cult of St. Naum and the legend of how he yoked a bear. In that direction, presented in the article are also the surrounding toponyms that contain Pagan-Slavic theonyms, with a predominance of those of a chthonic nature. The attribution and character of the idol is then derived on the basis of comparing its iconography with the domains of St. Naum as the depicted character’s Christian successor: agriculture, livestock, water, crafts, trade, as well as healing, especially of childlessness and mental illness.
KEYWORDS: stone idol, Paleo-Balkan Paganism, Slavic Paganism, Christianity, folk traditions, St. Naum Monastery, Ohrid (Macedonia)
![Research paper thumbnail of N. Chausidis (2023). 打谷场：作为古代天文观测台的象征性范式 [The threshing floor as a symbolic paradigm of ancient observatories], 丝路文化研究 The Silk Road Cultural Studies, Issue 8, (2023), 200-212.](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/109322175/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](丝路文化研究 The Silk Road Cultural Studies, Issue 8, 200-212, 2023
Every human observation of the sky is in some way its descent on Earth. In the past, it was done ... more Every human observation of the sky is in some way its descent on Earth. In the past, it was done more symbolic than practical, through reflection of the image of the sky in an object that functioned like a mirror. In that context, we analyze a Dodola folk song from Serbia in which a fairy invokes rain with a mirror she holds in her lap. During the ritual she is on top of a fir tree which has all the elements of a cosmic axis – it is located in the middle of the village and stretches high in the sky. The genesis of this structure can be traced back to the neolith through figurines of women-witches with a bowl of water in their lap in which they reflect the sky. These interpretations are further supported by lexemes from the Slavic languages which reflect the connection of the words for magic, sorcery (чарати, бацати чини) and those for shallow bowls, plates (чара, чинија). Then we analyze similar South Slavic rituals designed for taking the milk of a cow or a breastfeeding mother from another family. In these rituals women go to the threshing floor, take off their clothes and put a plate with water in their lap to reflect the moon. Then they strain the water through a sieve and believed that this makes the moon descend down to earth and moo like a cow. This is a magical ritual in which the straining of the water actually represents extracting the milk of the Moon which is depicted as a deity in the form of a cow. Supporting the relation woman-moon-water- fertility we mention numerous ethnographic and archeological facts which are based on the interference between the moon cycles and the female menstrual cycles. The movement of the sun in the ancient cultures was not always imagined as a cycle, but more as a semi-circular or wavy pattern, mostly because of the absence of a wheel as a paradigm. Still, the cyclic dynamics of the sun, the moon and the starry sky were observed even before the invention of the wheel and the carriage which later appeared in the era of metals and not as utilitarian but symbolic objects. It is assumed that the threshing hold prepositioned this, being a circular platform with a central pillar around which the horses or livestock moved in circles, stomping the wheat, separating the grain from the straw. This object also appeared as a symbolic phenomenon, a mythical image of the sky which depicts the cyclic movement of the celestial bodies. Its agricultural use comes secondarily. This is supported by the fact that most constellations have animal names, as well as the entire zodiac (‘animal circle’) ...
И. Пановска-Димкова (уред.), Зборник во чест на проф. д-р Људмил Спасов – по повод 70 години од неговото раѓање. Скопје: Филолошки факултет "Блаже Конески"; Институт за македонски јазик "Крсте Мисирков" , 2022
The study starts from the premise that in the early stages, languages were not formed according t... more The study starts from the premise that in the early stages, languages were not formed according to the modern logical-discursive way of thinking, but according to the principles of so-called "mythical" i.e. "mythopoeic thought". Contrary to the domination of the principle of semantic distinction between words in modern languages, the prevailing one among archaic languages was the principle of connection, which resulted in the designation of various things with the same or similar lexemes, in order for them to reflect the mythical-symbolic identicalness of what stood behind them. The article proposes such a connection of two groups of words belonging to the Slavic languages. At the basis of the first group is the root бие (bie) manifested through two meanings that seemingly have nothing in common: pounds/beats and exists/lives. The interaction between these words at the semantic and phonetic level is sought in the heartbeat/pulse as one of the key symptoms of human and animal vitality. Presented in support of this are also other specific components of vitality which "mythic consciousness" treats as "substances of life" (heat, breathing, redness, wetness, eating), followed by their manifestations in language and beliefs. Apostrophized among the lexemes of the second group, based on the root чини (čini), are two diametrical aspects - action and functionality, on the one hand, and sorcery, magic and semblance on the other. This complementarity is due to the fact that in archaic cultures the last three phenomena were not treated as less real and actionable than the pragmatic and utilitarian ones. The argumentation of this view is carried out through several groups of words, objects and actions in which the magical and the utilitarian are inseparably interwoven. Some relate to cooking (seasoning food, leavening bread), while others to ritual-magical procedures of manipulating the heavenly elements (rainfall, moon) by their reflection into a bowl of water.
Истражувањето тргнува од премисата дека во раните стадиуми јазиците не се формирале во согласност со современиот логичкодескурзивен начин на мислење, туку според принципите на т.н. „митско“, т.е. „митотворно мислење“. Наспроти доминацијата на принципот на семантичка дистинкција меѓу зборовите во современите јазици, кај архаичните преовладувал принципот на конекција, кој резултирал со означување на разни нешта со исти или со слични зборови, со цел тие да ја рефлектираат митскосимболичката истоветност на она што стои зад нив. Во статијата се предлага такво поврзување на две групи лексеми што им припаѓаат на словенските јазици. Во основата на првата е коренот бити, при што интеракцијата на нивните две главни значења (бие/чука и постои/живее) се бара во чукањето на срцето/пулсот како еден од клучните симптоми на живоста на човекот и на животните. Во рамки на лексемите од втората група, во чија основа се наоѓа коренот чини, се апострофираат два навидум дијаметрални аспекти, кои за „митската свест“, очевидно, немале таков карактер – дејственоста и функционалноста, од една страна, и волшепството, магијата и привидот, од друга страна.
Клучни зборови: митска свест, семиотика, етимологија, словенска, симбол.
Фолклористика , 2020
Summary The impetus for this study is an unusual detail from the famous fresco composition The La... more Summary
The impetus for this study is an unusual detail from the famous fresco composition The Lamentation of Christ from the Church of Saint Panteleimon in the Nerezi Monastery near Skopje, North Macedonia. In this scene the dead Christ lies in a rhombic field formed by the legs of the Virgin Mary, which are spread in thighs, angled in knees, joined at feet and fully covered by her skirt. The study also includes the figure of Rachel, shown in a similar pose, in the scene of the Massacre of the Innocents of Bethlehem from Marko’s Monastery near Skopje, as well as several representations of Gaia in the compositions of The Last Judgment from several churches in Ohrid and some other Balkan regions. The aim of the article is to trace the character, origin and meaning of the specific pose in which a woman is depicted with her legs in the form of a rhombus. The study attempts to discover the meaning of this iconographic element by analyzing the two essential components of the pose ‒ the semiotics of the female legs, especially the spread ones, on the one hand, and the symbolism of the rhombus on the other. Its character and origin are revealed through comparison of the aforementioned artistic representations with analogues from other cultures throughout the world, and across diverse historical periods, stretching from prehistory to contemporaneity. There, the female body is in various ways combined with the figure of the rhombus: supplemented by a rhombus, completely metamorphosed into a rhombus or shown with legs that themselves form a rhombus. The study also includes the variants of the previously introduced combinations in which the rhombus is alternated with a vesica piscis - a vertical ellipse with pointed poles as a more realistic symbol of the open vulva, which confirms the female connotations of the rhombus. Special emphasis is given to the Christian representations that include a similarily shaped mandorla, for which, within the frames of their own canonical interpretations, certain implicit meanings related to the female principle are also proposed.
Keywords: rhombus, Medieval corporeality, semiotics of legs, female genitals, vesica piscis, mandorla, Byzantine iconology, Virgin Mary, Gaia, St. Panteleimon ‒ Nerezi Monastery (North Macedonia)
Резиме
Повод за ово истраживање је једна необична појединост на чувеној фресци Оплакивање Христа у цркви Светог Пантелејмона у манастиру Нерези код Скопља (Северна Македонија). У овој сцени мртви Христос лежи у пољу у облику ромба који формирају ноге Богородице, с раширеним коленима, спојеним сто- палима и у потпуности покривене њеном хаљином. У истраживање су укључени и фигура Рахеле, приказане у сличној пози, у сцени Покољ витлејемске деце у Марковом манастиру код Скопља, и неколико представа Гее у композицији Страшног суда. Циљ чланка јесте да се одреде карактер, порекло и значење специфичне позе у којој се жена приказује с раширеним бедрима и коленима, те спојеним стопалима, при чему њене ноге обликују фигуру ромба. Начињен је покушај да се открије значење овог иконографског елемента посредством анализе две главне компоненте ове позе – семиотике женских ногу, посебно раширених, с једне стране, и симболике ромба, с друге. До његовог карактера и порекла се долази поређењем поменутих ликовних представа с аналогијама присутним у другим културама које потичу из разних делова света и из разних периода, од праисторије до савременог фолклора. На њима се тело жене на раз- не начине комбинује с ромбом: допуњава се ромбом, у целини је трансформисано ромбом или је приказано с ногама које чине облик ромба. У рад су укључене варијанте поменутих комбинација у којима се ромб замењује с фигуром vesica piscis (рибљег мехура), у облику вертикалне елипсе са зашиљеним половима, што је реалистичнији симбол отворене вулве, што потврђује феминина значења ромба. Посебно су наглашене хришћанске представе које укључују мандорлу с истим обликом, за коју су предложена извесна имплицитна значења везана за женско начело, у оквирима њихових канонских интерпретација.
Кључне речи: ромб, средњовековна телесност, семиотика ногу, женске гениталије, vesica piscis, мандорла, византијска иконологија, Богородица, Геа, Свети Пантелејмон – Манастир Нерези (Сверена Македонија)
Živa Antika (Antiquité Vivante) 70/1-2, 2020
The topic of this article is the described episode from the Odyssey in which Odysseus, after his ... more The topic of this article is the described episode from the Odyssey in which Odysseus, after his long wanderings around the world, returns to Ithaca where he confirms his identity by shooting with a bow and arrow through 12 axes planted into the ground. The goal of the study is to reveal the character and semiotics of this act. The analysis begins with a presentation of the female aspects of the axe and especially of the double axe i.e. the labrys as a woman and a goddess. This is followed by an analysis of the arguments that point to the symbolic identification of these tools with the female genitalia and specifically - the equation of their handle opening with the vulva and uterus. Sufficient attention is also dedicated to the multiplication of the axes, based on several archaeological finds, as well as the symbolism of the bow and arrow, with special emphasis on the traditions that represent them as a symbol of the male principle. At the end, based on all the separately analyzed elements, a thesis is presented and argued that in the given period the mentioned act functioned as a ritual in which the archer entered a symbolic coitus with the female deity represented through the double axes. This procedure bore the character of hierogamy through which the man confirmed his masculinity, his legitimacy as a husband, as a companion (impregnator and son) of the Great Goddess and as ruler of the given land.
Key words. – Odyssey, Odysseus, hierogamy, axe, double axe, labrys, bow and arrow.
Patrimonium.MK 18, 2020
The article is dedicated to two, in nowadays completely destroyed Byzantine inscriptions that wer... more The article is dedicated to two, in nowadays completely destroyed Byzantine inscriptions that were presented in the works of five authors from the 19th century. Based on their descriptions, the inscriptions were located on one of the towers i.e. gates of the acropolis of the medieval town of Skopje, located on the hill "Kale", in the center of today's city of Skopje. Presented in the introductory part is brief information about the previous archaeological excavations of this site and the main titles under which they are published. This is followed by an overview of the other hitherto known medieval inscriptions (Byzantine and Old Slavic) discovered, or only recorded, in Skopje's "Upper Town" and its immediate surroundings. Further undertaken is a detailed presentation of the contents of the passages from the five publications which mention the inscriptions that are the subject of this study. They are: J. G. von Hahn, F. Kenner, A. Evans, M. G. Dimitsa and P. N. Miljukov. Judging by their descriptions and the drawing published by the last-mentioned of the authors, the lower inscription was preserved much better than the upper one. It was carved into several large square stone blocks of which the building was built, while completely illegible fragments of the second one were executed on bricks placed vertically on its facade. According to the two readings of the lower inscription performed first by P. N. Miljukov, and more recently by А. Rhoby, its ktetoric and panegyric character is evident, praising the erection of the "new town" by a Byzantine ktetor whose name has not been preserved.
Based on the comparative analysis of the statements made by the mentioned authors, proposed and examined in the article are several hypotheses about the exact character of the building onto which the two inscriptions were placed (a tower that at the same time served as a gate), as well as its location within the Skopje Acropolis. Based on the obtained results, it is concluded that it was a gate-tower (probably the main one within the "Upper Town") located in the middle of the inner northeastern rampart (today known as "Cyclopean"), just behind the currently preserved eastern gate of the outer rampart from the Ottoman period. Then arguments are made that in pre-Ottoman times, on this part of the inner rampart there must have been a gate as the most logical communication between the acropolis and the main (eastern) suburb of medieval Skopje (today's Old Bazaar). Also presented are facts about the fortification of part of this suburb with a rampart and towers, in which one might also seek the reason for the relatively good preservation of the "Cyclopean wall" i.e. the most solid phase of the fortress, regardless of its extent on a relatively flat terrain that seems to have been more accessible to the blows of siege machines. While searching for the exact location of this, nowadays completely destroyed gate-tower, also reconstructed is the time during which the destruction of the part of the wall where it was located had taken place. Based on the preserved photographs, an assumption is made that this certainly happened after the visit of Miljukov (1898) and gradually until the middle of the second decade of the 20th century. A reason is sought in this why these inscriptions are completely absent in the publications about the fortress published from the beginning of the last century until the newest ones, issued last year.
Based on the existing assumptions about the dating of the lower inscription (end of XI and XII century) and of the "Cyclopean wall" on which it was located, also discussed are the possible relations between the construction campaign that it represented and the phases of building and renovation of the fortification elements of Skopje's "Upper Town". In that context, assessed once again is the probability of both theories regarding the main construction phase of the "Cyclopean wall" – the "Justinian" one, according to which it would originate from the VI century CE, and the "Komnenian" one – from the end of the XI and XII century. Within that framework, the unjustifiably marginalized arguments that support the first hypothesis are summarized, namely: the numerous spolia from the Roman town of Scupi, the triangular towers and the indented gate, for which there are reliable analogies even in the Skopje valley. In regards to this, the current absence of a large number of finds and integral archaeological layers from this period is sought on two sides. The first reason for this would be the eventual abandonment of the building (civilian or military) soon after its inhabiting, and possibly before its full completion, while on the other – the destruction of these finds and layers during the following extensive construction interventions in the fortress. At the end, two possible options are proposed on the relationship of the inscriptions presented here with the structure onto which they were located. According to the first one, the main phase of the "Cyclopean wall" would have originated in the Komnenian period, after the completion of which, engraved onto its main gate-tower was the lower inscription that glorifies this construction campaign. According to the second one, this inscription would have been secondarily carved into the blocks of the gate-tower built before that, in the early Byzantine period, in honor of the great renovation of that wall executed at the end of the XI and XII century. The placement of the other (completely illegible) inscription above the previous one, as well as its execution into a different material, in both options would indicate its more recent date, most likely as a sign of some renovation that followed after the one immortalized in the first inscription.
Апстракт:
Во статијата се претставени два денес загубени византиски натписи кои се презентирани во трудовите на петмина автори од XIX век. Се наоѓале на една кулa т.е. портa од акрополата на средновековиот град Скопје. Според цртежот публикуван кај едниот од авторите, долниот натпис бил издлабен на квадерните камени блокови од кои таа била изградена, додека сосема нечитливите фрагменти од вториот биле изведени на тули вградени во нејзината фасада. Врз основа на двете досегапредложени читања на долниот натпис, станувало збор за ктиторски натпис во кој се воспејува подигањето на „новиот град“ од страна на византиски ктитор чие име не е зачувано. Врз основа на исказите на петте автори, се прави обид за точно определување на карактерот на објектот на кој биле поставени натписите (кула која воедно служела и како порта, денес целосно урната), како и неговата локација во рамки на скопскиот „Горни Град“ (на средината од внатрешниот североисточен „киклопски“ бедем). Врз основа на предложените датации на долниот натпис (крај на XI и XII век) и на бедемот на кој се наоѓал, се разгледуваат можните релации меѓу градежната кампања што тој ја воспејувал и фазите на градење и обновување на скопската тврдина. Во тој контекст се проценува уште еднаш веројатноста на двете теории за главната градежна фаза на „киклопскиот ѕид“ – „Јустинијановската“, според која таа би потекнувала од VI век н.е. и „Комненовската“ – од крајот на XI и XII век н.е.
Клучни зборови:
византиска епиграфика, средновековно Скопје, Скопско Кале, средновековни тврдини, Јустинијана Прима, Јустинијан, Комнени
Lj. Fidanoski, G. Naumov (eds.), Neolithic in Macedonia in Honour of Dragica Simoska, 2020
The subject of the article are the vessels in the form of shoe or a human leg dressed in a shoe, ... more The subject of the article are the vessels in the form of shoe or a human leg dressed in a shoe, boot, opanak or sandal, which appear in various cultures around the world, starting from prehistory onwards through almost all subsequent periods. In this case, the study is concentrated primarily on such containers from prehistory, though with a focus not on their pragmatic aspects (form, typology, chronology, etc.) but on the spiritual ones. Taken into account is their symbolic, mythological, magical and religious meaning, from which the basic purpose of these objects was also derived within the specific communities in which they were produced and used. The article begins with the presentation of the several prehistoric cores of shoe-like containers and their ancient, medieval, exotic and modern analogies. This is followed by a description of the form, appearance, archaeological context and functions of the presented specimens and the previously expressed interpretations of their symbolic aspects. Afterwards comes the main part of the study, which includes extensive comparative material related to the meanings of the shoes, primarily from Slavic and Balkan folklore, the folklore of other regions of Europe and the world. Certain attention is also dedicated to the examples from ancient Mediterranean cultures, as well as the synchronous and medieval cultures of the Middle East. This material is organized according to the basic semiotic relations and symbolic meanings contained in the specific examples. Extracted in the last part of the article, based on the presented comparative material and the conducted analyzes, are the primary symbolic meanings of the shoes, once again organized according to the semiotic relations of these objects with some other elements. Discussed within that framework is also the symbolism of the human legs, as a basis from which the main meanings of the shoes are derived. Presented at the end are also some of the more general (in principle secondary) meanings of the shoe, which are based on the primary ones.
Keywords: containers in the form of shoes, cult containers, semiotics of shoes, semiotics of the leg, wedding rituals, Prehistory
Тема на трудот се садовите во форма на обувка или на човечка нога обуена во чевла, чизма, опинок или сандала, кои се јавуваат во разни култури ширум светот, почнувајќи од предисторијата, па натаму низ речиси сите наредни периоди. Во овој случај истражувањето е насочено, пред сѐ, кон ваквите садови од предисторијата, но со фокус не кон нивните прагматски аспекти (форма, типологија, хронологија итн.) туку кон духовните. Тука се има предвид нивното симболичко, митолошко, магиско и религиско значење од кои произлегувала и основната намена на овие предмети во рамки на конкретните заедници во кои тие биле произведувани и користени. Трудот започнува со презентирањето на неколкуте предисториски јадра на садовите-обувки и на нивните антички, средновековни, егзотични и современи аналогии. Потоа се претставени формата, изгледот, археолошкиот контекст и функциите на презентираните примероци и досега изнесените толкувања на нивните симболички аспекти. Натаму следи главниот истражувачки дел во кој е приложена обемна компаративна граѓа поврзана со значењата на обувките и тоа, пред сѐ, од словенскиот и балканскиот фолклор, фоклорот на други региони на Европа и светот. Одредено внимание им е посветено и на примерите од античките медитерански култури, како и синхроните и средновековните култури од Блискиот Исток. Оваа граѓа е организирана според базичните семиотички релации и симболичките значења содржани во конкретните примери. Во последниот дел од трудот, врз основа на приложениот компаративен материјал и спроведените анализи, се екстрахирани примарните симболички значења на обувките, повторно организирани според семиотичките релации на овие предмети со некои други елементи. Во тие рамки е обработена и симболиката на човековите нозе, како база од која произлегуваат главните значења на обувките. На крајот се претставени и некои од пооопштите (во принцип секундардни) значења на обувката кои се надоврзуваат на примарните.
Клучни зборови: садови во форма на обувка, култни садови, семиотика на обувките, семиотика на ногата, свадбени обреди, предисторија
Зборник на Музеите на Македонија (Археологија), н.с. бр. 1, Скопје, 153-166 , 1995
Nikos Čausidis LEAD AMULET WITH AN INSCRIBED PRAYER AGAINST "NEZHIT" FROM THE CITY OF CREŠĆE (S... more Nikos Čausidis
LEAD AMULET WITH AN INSCRIBED PRAYER AGAINST "NEZHIT" FROM THE CITY OF CREŠĆE
(Summary)
The lead plaque-amulet bearing on Old Slavic inscršption has been discovered at the site of "Hisar" near the vilage Creška in the Lower Bregalnica, where the mediaeval town Črešče is located. After inscribing the letters, the plaque must have been folded in a scroll. In that postion, rather damaged, it has been discovered as surface find. Because of the damage and some untypical features, we managed to read and reconstruct the inscription starting from the term "nezhit" mentioned in it. In a Gospel book from Macedonia (now in the National Library in Sofia) dated to the 17th century, a payer is written with almost identical content. The prayer was intended for protection from disease, personified in the character of the demon "nezhit" and it is particularly important that it is recommended to be written in lead, which makes it more efficient. By comparison of the inscription from Črešče with this prayer, we realize that the essence of our text is also the transmission of the demon "nezhit" from one place to another, i.e., from Adam's body into Eve's, and from her body into the lead, after that into the water and the shore, therefrom into the grass, and finally in the dew and the sun. At the end of the prayer, the sun destroys the "nezhit" by drying it up. Both the nature of the inscription, and the features of the plaque on which it has been written, point to two possibilities: the plaque must have been either carried on the body and robes, or thrown away in ritual after being inscribed. Finally, we give consideration of the mythical "nezhit". A demonic character is in question, an incarnation of the evil and various specific diseases, which is known trom the traditions of almost all Slavic nations. In addition to the aforesaid prayer, the South Slavs have preserved other variants in which the nature of "nezhit" is described, as well as his fight with different Christian saints. It is especially interesting that in the folklore of South Slavic nations some fables have been preserved, showing the older, pre-Christian, i.e., pagan-Slavic chracter of this demon.
Р. Солунчев и др. (уред.), Логос и Тропос: Зборник на текстови од Меѓународниот симпозиум , 2020
The aim of this study is to discover the early forms of human perception of the Logos, understood... more The aim of this study is to discover the early forms of human perception of the Logos, understood as cosmic order. This is done not through the verbal medium (written or orally presented myths), but through analysis of the pictorial manifestations of myth based on the methods of semiotic archaeology and pictorial and visual semiotics. Presented in the introductory part are the visual and pictorial forms of myth as autonomous manifestations of mythic consciousness, as well as some of the methodological principles for their research. In continuation, the question is addressed as to whether man, as a paradigm of the Logos takes up the universe for himself. Discussed in the following six chapters are several specific topics, through which one can see the archaic manifestations of the Logos. First is the relation between menstruation and the lunar phases, which in all epochs and all parts of the world is manifested through the equalization of woman, moon and water as symbols of fertility, i.e., the creative principle. The second topic refers to the representation of nature, i.e., the universe as a woman and a mother. At its core is a deeply infantile paradigm behind which is the identification of the universe, that is, nature with the caring and responsible mother that feeds and protects humans as her own children. The next topic presents order in the universe as family harmony rooted on the hierogamy of its principal members – Father Sky and Mother Earth. In the fourth chapter, the cross is analyzed as a universal human symbol of the spatial aspects of the Logos. The chapter deals with the horizontal, vertical, and three-dimensional sixth-armed crosses that are based on the six-fold human perceptual-orientation apparatus which, manifested on the macrocosmic level, gives the six basic directions. The next topic refers to the wheel as a symbol of the dynamic aspects of the universe represented by time, manifested through the various cyclical processes that take place within the universe and in man. The sixth topic discusses the image of a pair of opposing animals controlled by their tamer in which the symmetrical zoomorphic figures symbolize the complementary forces and tendencies of wild nature, while the human standing between them encodes the factor of order, and by standing between them ensures their balance, i.e., cosmic harmony. Presented at the end are three contemporary symbols of the Logos which in modern Western civilization bear the key features of myth: aliens as bearers of the Logos, the Logos as cosmic software and the genome as Logos within man.
Keywords:
logos, cosmic order, semiotic archaeology, pictorial semiotics, visual semiotics, archaic cosmology
Acta Musei Tiberiopolitani, Vol. 3, Strumica: NI Institute for protetction of cultural monuments and Museum Strumica, 2020, 151-169. , 2020
The article presents several sanctuaries from the territory of the Republic of North Macedonia wh... more The article presents several sanctuaries from the territory of the Republic of North Macedonia whose continued use as cult spaces can be followed on the basis of ethnographic facts, historical sources, archaeological finds and preserved toponymy. In the article, the transformation of cults and mythological figures i.e. deities is analyzed through the interdisciplinary and comparative method, within the frames of the six dominant chronological, ethnocultural and religious complexes present in this part of the Balkans: the Paleo-Balkan, Ancient, Pagan-Slavic, Christian, Islamic and Folkloric.
Key words:
Macedonia, cult sites, sanctuaries, religion, mythology
Lj. Fidanoski (ed.), Skopje before 8 millenia. 3. Among deities and men from Cerje – Govrlevo / Љ. Фиданоски (уред.), Скопје пред 8 милениуми. 3. Меѓу божествата и луѓето од Церје – Говрлево, Skopje: Museum of the City of Skopje, 103-135 , 2019
In every culture, regardless of its geographic or chronological affiliation, we can identify a fo... more In every culture, regardless of its geographic or chronological affiliation, we can identify a focus point in which it directs most of its energetic, mental and emotional potential, building, in fact, its entire social, economic and religious system around it. Among Balkan Neolithic cultures this role is carried by the house, whereas among the ones in Macedonia this character of the house is even more pronounced due to the presence of an exceptionally specific type of objects that nowhere in the world appear in such a striking form and in such a large number of specimens and variants. These are ceramic objects shaped like a human-house or more precisely woman-house, which in academia are most often referred to as anthropomorphic house models or altars in the form of an anthropomorphized house. The shape and context of discovery of these objects has so far led all researchers to the conclusion that they are symbolic objects that participated in the spiritual life of Neolithic people, i.e. in those spheres of life that today we call religion, mythology, magic and cult. According to the large number of such finds, it can be safely concluded that the territory of today’s North Macedonia was the nucleus of this phenomenon, whose peripheral manifestations can be also sporadically seen in neighboring regions. The place of Cerje-Govrlevo within the frames of this phenomenon is especially important, given the fact that the existence of the largest number of such objects (almost 160) has so far been ascertained there, based on the excavations of a fairly small part of the former Neolithic settlement. This was the reason why in this publication, dedicated to the spiritual life of the Neolithic community that existed on the site, a special place was given to these objects, also followed by an attempt to reveal their former spiritual significance. Most of the anthropomorphized house models present an unrealistic image – fusion of house and human, in numerous cases with highlighted female characteristics (breasts, pubis, pregnancy, more complex hairstyles, jewelry). In studies so far, the combination of these two elements has been interpreted as an aspiration for their symbolic identification, that is, the representation of the house as a woman, i.e. of the woman as a house. In several of our articles, including the one in the previous volume of this edition, we have justified the mentioned combination by the Neolithic man’s discovery of the common morphological and functional components in the two elements. Both the house and the woman, in fact, encompass space in which humans exist, where the space of the house is identified with the uterus, and its occupants with the fetus. Because of this, we suggested that such objects be named ceramic models of the type “Mother-House”.
Lj. Fidanoski (ed.), Skopje before 8 millenia. 3. Among deities and men from Cerje – Govrlevo / Љ. Фиданоски (уред.), Скопје пред 8 милениуми. 3. Меѓу божествата и луѓето од Церје – Говрлево, Skopje: Museum of the City of Skopje, 29-102 , 2019
The Neolithic site Cerje-Govrlevo has been explored in several campaigns, with excavations being ... more The Neolithic site Cerje-Govrlevo has been explored in several campaigns, with excavations being carried out within just two expanded trenches. The first (in an area of 5 x 5 m) was excavated from 1982 to 1985, while the second (in an area of 12 x 9 m), with few interruptions, was excavated from 2000 to 2010. Regardless of the relatively small extent of excavations, in several layers of the Neolithic settlement a large number of anthropomorphic ceramic house models, most commonly represented by a single fragment and rarely by few belonging to the same object, have been found. During 2010, in the collection and the documentation of the Museum of the City of Skopje we registered and documented 157 fragmented specimens of such models from this site . Fragments excavated during the last excavations carried out during October and November 2010 were excluded from this process due to the unfinished process of their documentation and conservation. According to the insight into the published material from other Neolithic sites in North Macedonia, this is by far the largest number of documented such findings found within a site. However, we believe that a similar situation can be expected at other more intensely excavated Neolithic sites (e.g. Veluška Tumba-Porodin, Porodinska Tumba-Porodin, Tumba-Madžhari), whose findings and documentation have unfortunately not yet been fully systematized and published. We find it important to note that, with the exception of only a few specimens, all other recorded fragments from Cerje-Govrlevo belonged to separate models and that these findings were discovered in an area of only about one hundred square meters. It must be said that, whatever the size, this number does not reflect the actual quantity of these findings in the layers, which should in fact be even greater.
Неолитскиот локалитет Церје – Говрлево е истражуван во повеќе кампањи, при што ископувањата се изведуваа во рамките на само две проширени сонди. Првата (на површина 5 х 5 m) е работена во периодот од 1982 до 1985 г., додека втората (на површина од 12 х 9 m), со неколку прекини, се ископувала почнувајќи од 2000-та па сè до 2010 г. Наспроти релативно малиот обем на ископувања, во неколкуте слоеви на неолитската населба се пронајдени голем број примероци на антропоморфни керамички модели на куќи, најчесто застапени со по еден фрагмент, а поретко и со по неколку кои му припаѓаат на еден ист предмет. Во текот на 2010 г., во збирката и документацијата на Музеј на град Скопје регистриравме и документиравме 157 фрагментирани примероци на такви модели од овој локалитет. Во овој процес не беа вклучени фрагментите откриени при последните негови ископувања, реализирани во текот на октомври и ноември 2010 г., и тоа поради незавршениот процес на нивно документирање и конзервирање. Според увидот во публикуваната граѓа од другите неолитски наоѓалишта од Северна Македонија, ова е засега најбројната целина од документирани вакви наоди пронајдени во рамките на еден локалитет. Сепак, веруваме дека слична ситуација може да се очекува и на други поинтензивно ископувани неолитски наоѓалишта (на пример: Велушка Тумба – Породин, Породинска Tумба – Породин, Тумба – Маџари), чии наоди и документација за жал сé уште не се целосно систематизирани и публикувани. Сметаме дека е важно да се напомене оти, со исклучок на само неколку примероци, сите други евидентирани фрагменти од Церје – Говрлево им припаѓале на засебни примероци модели и дека овие наоди се откриени на површина од само околу стотина квадратни метри. Мора да се каже дека, без разлика на големината, овој број не го одразува вистинскиот степен на присуство на овие наоди во слоевите, кој реално би требало да биде уште поголем.
Patrimonium.MK 17, 364-388 , 2019
The motive for a detailed presentation of this book comes as a necessity for me, first because th... more The motive for a detailed presentation of this book comes as a necessity for me, first because the finds from the Velestino hoard have been a subject of research literally during my whole professional career. The second reason is that my articles i.e. the interpretations presented within them take on a prominent place in this publication, with the authors repeatedly mentioning them, discussing them and giving their own thoughts and opinions. In this article I will try to express my thought and remarks on this book and the insights presented within it, which, given the breadth and importance of the topic, will certainly not be the last. I hope that my research so far on the specific objects from this hoard, presented in different separate publications, will soon be rounded up in one monograph, directed primarily towards their mythological-religious aspects. An important part of it will certainly be the new and very valuable information and thoughts by Curta and Szmoniewski presented in this book. The remarks I direct towards them will also be explained and argumented in more detail within it, but also my own interperations on the content and meaning of the objects that comprise the Velestino hoard.
Books by Nikos Chausidis
The name "Luristan standards" refers to a very large and enigmatic group of bronze objects (with ... more The name "Luristan standards" refers to a very large and enigmatic group of bronze objects (with an obvious symbolic i.e. cultic character) that date back to the Late Bronze and Iron Ages. They were found in the region of Luristan in western Iran, from where, in the last century, they would reach almost all major world museums and private collections.
Со називот „луристански стандарди“ се означува една мошне голема и загадочна група бронзени предм... more Со називот „луристански стандарди“ се означува една мошне голема и загадочна група бронзени предмети (со очевиден симболички т.е. култен карактер) кои потекнуваат од доцното бронзено и од железното време. Пронајдени се во областа Луристан во западниот дел на денешен Иран од каде, во минатиот век, ќе доспеат во речиси сите позначајни светски музеи и приватни колекции.
This study deals with the pictorial representation of the Bogomil movement, an aspect that has no... more This study deals with the pictorial representation of the Bogomil movement, an aspect that has not been systematically treated before. It should be emphasized that the term Bogomil movement is used in its broader meaning and refers to all the mediaeval dualistic heresies in the Balkans (Bogomils, Massalians, Paulicians, Cathars, Paterens). Such an approach is based on the findings - confirmed by mediaeval written sources - according to which the Bogomils did reject the veneration of icons, but not necessarily the pictorial representation of its religious teaching (the decoration of prayer houses and holy books). Our research employs the methodology that has already been used in the study of the pagan religion of the Slavs which was based on the pictorial representations that survive on archaeological and ethnological objects. This method includes the analysis of the pictorial elements of an image, the discovery of their mutual relations and meanings and an interdisciplinary comparison of the results obtained. In this case, the motives for such an approach lie in the lack of exhaustive and precise written records on the Bogomil movement, which requires their supplementation and testing through an exploration of material evidence of a different kind and through the application of complementary scholarly approaches. This study covers the dualistic religious teachings from Macedonia and the neighbouring Balkan regions. In terms of chronology, it covers the period from Late Antiquity (3rd century AD), i.e., the emergence of the Manicheans, through the Middle Ages and up to the 19lh and 20th centuries (the last surviving elements of dualistic heresies in folklore).
Chapter I concerns itself with the dualistic teachings in the Roman period. This research has been inspired by the discovery of funerary monuments in the south of the Republic of Macedonia, in the vicinity of the town of Kavadarci. These are stelae of roughly hewn stone decorated with schematized motifs that date from the period between the 3rd and 4th centuries. On the basis of the analyses carried out, their complex iconography is interpreted in the context of Manichean doctrines about man’s afterlife, i.e., the transposition of his celestial soul from the world of matter to Heaven or to the “realm of eternal light”. The basiciconographic elements on the monuments and their meaning are identified in the context of the basic dogmatic postulates of the Manicheans and the myth of the salvation of the soul.
Chapter II focuses on the dualistic religious concepts in the Middle Ages. Considering the presence of dualistic elements in the Slavonic pagan religion, it examines the connection between this type of dualism and that of the mediaeval heresies. It also refers to the hypotheses on the genesis of pagan Slavonic dualism that have been presented so far. This chapter quotes those assumptions which have been (not always justifiably) disputed and which refer to the eventual early presence of heretic doctrines in the culture of the Slavs and certain other barbaric populations (Pechenegs, Bulgarians, Magyars, etc.) as early as at the time of their migration. It also quotes new arguments from the spheres of archaeology, history and linguistics.
Chapter III examines the indirect presence of the Bogomil movement in official Christian iconography. The influence of the Bogomils was strong and therefore the church fathers were forced to take their negative attitude towards them into the church, exhibiting it in frescoes and icons.
Chapter IV explores the traces of dualistic teaching in mediaeval and 18th and 19th century funerary monuments. It deals with stećci, the Bosnian mediaeval monuments, the interpretations of these tombstones, and especially the hypotheses concerning their heretic character.
The last chapter explores the last phases, i.e., the decline of the Bogomil movement.
Skopje: Nikos Chausidis , 2005
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An urge for an active attitude to his environment, i.e., his surroundings, has always been characteristic of man. It is one of the basic features which distinguish him from all the other known species. This urge is manifested in several forms which often intertwine: interest in the environment; its active perception; creation of concepts of the environment; active participation in its existence and functioning; active changing of the environment. These forms are manifested in relation to all spatial levels with which man is faced or in which he is included: the microcosm, i.e., the body in which man’s mind and ego “reside”; the mesocosm, i.e., the dwelling (house, settlement, immediate ecological environment); the macrocosm, i.e., the cosmos seen as absolute, that is, global space which includes all the above and other spatial systems.
Cognition occurs simultaneously on all these levels, while a unique transfer takes place between them – the experiences and images formed within one level are incorporated in the comprehension and representation of other levels. For instance, the elements of the human body and its dwelling place are used as the matrix for the understanding of the cosmos, and vice-versa – smaller spatial levels (the ecological environment, the house, the human body) are defined and conceived with the mediation of the elements and functions of the cosmos. Consequently, when we speak in this study about the relation between man and the cosmos on the largest/global spatial level we, in fact, also refer to its relation with all the other spheres that surround him. Man does not comprehend the world only when he silently contemplates it, absorbed in thought, but even more when he externalises his images of it, when they move from the sphere of the mental to the sphere which concerns phenomena and the material (which we today limit to production, art or religion, that is, myth, magic and ritual). The cosmos as a totality/whole is perceived and comprehended by the human mind at several levels, where at every level a separate process of symbolisation is initiated and represented through different means. Although it functions separately, the spatial level of the cosmos cannot be represented in isolation from is other manifestations. The level of form concerns the appearance of the cosmos. In most cases, in mythical images this level is not represented separately either but, like the spatial level, can only theoretically be isolated as separate. In certain more developed (civilised) stages, certain cultures have succeeded in extracting those levels from their mythical models as abstract knowledge. The level of functions concerns the events that happen in the cosmos and the form in which certain processes occur. Since this level is based on the practical and the existential, it was the first to become part of the comprehension of the cosmos. In contrast to its seeming impressiveness, its comprehension took place gradually, through several concepts of identification between the functions of the cosmos and certain spheres that were closer to man. The concept of biologisation of the cosmos is one such essential concept which includes recognition, conception and representation of its functions in the context of certain phenomena in the biological world. Within it, three separate lines/concepts can be identified: the phyto-symbolical, the zoo-symbolical and the anthropo-symbolical. A specific concept but, at the same time, one common to these three, is the sexual-symbolical concept in which the relation between the sexes is taken as a model for the understanding of the cosmos, its origin and functioning.
Оваа книга има за цел да ги проучува древните, односно архаичните претстави на луѓето за космосот, најчесто интегрирани во оние сфери на културата што современата наука ги определува како мит. За разлика од најголемиот дел досегашни научни истражувања на оваа тема, овие претстави за космосот тука не се согледани врз база на вербалните форми на митот (изговорени или запишани митови), туку на нивните ликовни манифестации, дојдени до нас од минатото (цртежи, слики, релјефи, скулптури, па и градби). Ако земеме предвид дека современата наука има увид во само мал дел запишани митови од минатото, кои не досегаат наназад повеќе од околу 5-6 илјадалетија, тогаш се покажува предноста на овој пристап. Наспроти ретките пишани документи, низ целава планета се пронајдени, а и денес се откриваат огромен број ликовни претстави од разни епохи и култури, во кои се кодирани претставите на луѓето за вселената, за нејзиниот облик, нејзиното функционирање и смисла. Тоа е огромна предност која ги продолжува рецепторите на современата наука – и тоа не само наназад за уште неколку илјади години, туку и навнатре – кон секојдневните, масовно распространети претстави, а не само „ексклузивните митови“, запишани од ретките писари, под покровителството на моќните владетели, или препораките на влијателните првосвештеници.
Првиот том го содржи текстуалниот дел на монографијата во обем од 439 страници, во рамки на кој се наоѓа и англиското резиме во обем од 18 страници. Во вториот том се поместени 202 табли со илустрации придружени со каталог во кој се дадени основните податоци за илустрациите и се посочени изданијата од кои се тие преземени. Во овој том се наоѓа и библиографија (во обем од 28 страници) и деталниот индекс на поими (во обем од 26 страници).
Skopje: Nikos Chausidis , 2005
An urge for an active attitude to his environment, i.e., his surroundings, has always been charac... more An urge for an active attitude to his environment, i.e., his surroundings, has always been characteristic of man. It is one of the basic features which distinguish him from all the other known species. This urge is manifested in several forms which often intertwine: interest in the environment; its active perception; creation of concepts of the environment; active participation in its existence and functioning; active changing of the environment. These forms are manifested in relation to all spatial levels with which man is faced or in which he is included: the microcosm, i.e., the body in which man’s mind and ego “reside”; the mesocosm, i.e., the dwelling (house, settlement, immediate ecological environment); the macrocosm, i.e., the cosmos seen as absolute, that is, global space which includes all the above and other spatial systems.
Cognition occurs simultaneously on all these levels, while a unique transfer takes place between them – the experiences and images formed within one level are incorporated in the comprehension and representation of other levels. For instance, the elements of the human body and its dwelling place are used as the matrix for the understanding of the cosmos, and vice-versa – smaller spatial levels (the ecological environment, the house, the human body) are defined and conceived with the mediation of the elements and functions of the cosmos. Consequently, when we speak in this study about the relation between man and the cosmos on the largest/global spatial level we, in fact, also refer to its relation with all the other spheres that surround him. Man does not comprehend the world only when he silently contemplates it, absorbed in thought, but even more when he externalises his images of it, when they move from the sphere of the mental to the sphere which concerns phenomena and the material (which we today limit to production, art or religion, that is, myth, magic and ritual). The cosmos as a totality/whole is perceived and comprehended by the human mind at several levels, where at every level a separate process of symbolisation is initiated and represented through different means. Although it functions separately, the spatial level of the cosmos cannot be represented in isolation from is other manifestations. The level of form concerns the appearance of the cosmos. In most cases, in mythical images this level is not represented separately either but, like the spatial level, can only theoretically be isolated as separate. In certain more developed (civilised) stages, certain cultures have succeeded in extracting those levels from their mythical models as abstract knowledge. The level of functions concerns the events that happen in the cosmos and the form in which certain processes occur. Since this level is based on the practical and the existential, it was the first to become part of the comprehension of the cosmos. In contrast to its seeming impressiveness, its comprehension took place gradually, through several concepts of identification between the functions of the cosmos and certain spheres that were closer to man. The concept of biologisation of the cosmos is one such essential concept which includes recognition, conception and representation of its functions in the context of certain phenomena in the biological world. Within it, three separate lines/concepts can be identified: the phyto-symbolical, the zoo-symbolical and the anthropo-symbolical. A specific concept but, at the same time, one common to these three, is the sexual-symbolical concept in which the relation between the sexes is taken as a model for the understanding of the cosmos, its origin and functioning.
Оваа книга има за цел да ги проучува древните, односно архаичните претстави на луѓето за космосот, најчесто интегрирани во оние сфери на културата што современата наука ги определува како мит. За разлика од најголемиот дел досегашни научни истражувања на оваа тема, овие претстави за космосот тука не се согледани врз база на вербалните форми на митот (изговорени или запишани митови), туку на нивните ликовни манифестации, дојдени до нас од минатото (цртежи, слики, релјефи, скулптури, па и градби). Ако земеме предвид дека современата наука има увид во само мал дел запишани митови од минатото, кои не досегаат наназад повеќе од околу 5-6 илјадалетија, тогаш се покажува предноста на овој пристап. Наспроти ретките пишани документи, низ целава планета се пронајдени, а и денес се откриваат огромен број ликовни претстави од разни епохи и култури, во кои се кодирани претставите на луѓето за вселената, за нејзиниот облик, нејзиното функционирање и смисла. Тоа е огромна предност која ги продолжува рецепторите на современата наука – и тоа не само наназад за уште неколку илјади години, туку и навнатре – кон секојдневните, масовно распространети претстави, а не само „ексклузивните митови“, запишани од ретките писари, под покровителството на моќните владетели, или препораките на влијателните првосвештеници.
Првиот том го содржи текстуалниот дел на монографијата во обем од 439 страници, во рамки на кој се наоѓа и англиското резиме во обем од 18 страници. Во вториот том се поместени 202 табли со илустрации придружени со каталог во кој се дадени основните податоци за илустрациите и се посочени изданијата од кои се тие преземени. Во овој том се наоѓа и библиографија (во обем од 28 страници) и деталниот индекс на поими (во обем од 26 страници).
Philosophy, Cognition, and Archaeology, 2024
I. Eftimovski, N. Chausidis, "Archetypes and Archaeology: Have Archaeologists Unjustly Overlooked... more I. Eftimovski, N. Chausidis, "Archetypes and Archaeology: Have Archaeologists Unjustly Overlooked Jung?", In: J. Nešić, V. Subotić (eds.), Philosophy, Cognition, and Archaeology, Belgrade: University, Faculty of Philosophy, 2024, 163-174.
The paper reviews the compatibility of C. G. Jung’s theory of archetypes with the principles of contemporary archeological theory. After the introduction to the topic, the first section of the paper tries to outline Jung’s ideas and define the key terms in his theory of archetypes. The second section reviews the current archeological views on Jung’s theories and addresses the criticism that Jung has drawn from archeologists, at the same time offering responses on why said criticism is to a larger extent ungrounded. The third section tries to show to what extent are Jung’s ideas in fact compatible with the archeological study of symbols. In the last section, the authors present their thoughts on how Jung’s ideas can be useful to contemporary archeological theory.
A. Jakimovski, E. Dimitrova (eds.), International Scientific Conference: 75 Year Jubilee of the Institute of Art History and Archaeology (12th – 14th October 2022, Dojran, Macedonia), 251-293. , 2024
The article builds upon the author's previous research in which he analyzed the relations between... more The article builds upon the author's previous research in which he analyzed the relations between a category of Iron Age objects known as cross-shaped strap dividers and a similar motif inscribed within a wheel on the coins of Getas - king of the Edonians. Presented in detal within the article are firstly the dividers from the Balkans, Central, and Eastern Europe, with regards to their form, context of discovery, cultural affiliation, purpose, and mutual interaction. Then, starting from the coin of Getas, the author analyzes in detail the coins of the Edonians and other neighboring peoples (primarily the Ichnaeans) with a reverse depiction of a wheel whose spokes coincide with the dividers. Within those frameworks, several hypotheses are considered regarding the ethnic groups that could have first introduced this specific wheel into coinage, which would also give them the status of bearers of the indicated Iron Age objects. Also discussed at the end of the article are the semiotics of this motif within the framework of the specific coins - separately and in relation to their obverse representations.
Key words: Iron Age, Macedonian bronzes, cross-shaped strap dividers, symbolism of the wheel, numismatics, Edonians, Ichnaeans, Paionians, Cimmerians, Strymon, Axios.
Studia Mythologica Slavica 26, 2023
The article presents a stone idol located in the courtyard of the monastery of St. Naum near Ohri... more The article presents a stone idol located in the courtyard of the monastery of St. Naum near Ohrid, discovered within its boundaries or somewhere in its surroundings at an unknown date. The authors offer a description of the monument, assumptions about its former appearance, and an analysis of its iconographic elements, with an emphasis on ithyphallicity and the pose of the hands. Through analogies, the article assesses the chronological and cultural affiliation of the idol, with arguments in favor of its potential Pagan-Slavic character. The monument is also observed in context of the mythological and religious traditions of the region, with a focus on the local cult of St. Naum and the legend of how he yoked a bear. In that direction, presented in the article are also the surrounding toponyms that contain Pagan-Slavic theonyms, with a predominance of those of a chthonic nature. The attribution and character of the idol is then derived on the basis of comparing its iconography with the domains of St. Naum as the depicted character’s Christian successor: agriculture, livestock, water, crafts, trade, as well as healing, especially of childlessness and mental illness.
KEYWORDS: stone idol, Paleo-Balkan Paganism, Slavic Paganism, Christianity, folk traditions, St. Naum Monastery, Ohrid (Macedonia)
丝路文化研究 The Silk Road Cultural Studies, Issue 8, 200-212, 2023
Every human observation of the sky is in some way its descent on Earth. In the past, it was done ... more Every human observation of the sky is in some way its descent on Earth. In the past, it was done more symbolic than practical, through reflection of the image of the sky in an object that functioned like a mirror. In that context, we analyze a Dodola folk song from Serbia in which a fairy invokes rain with a mirror she holds in her lap. During the ritual she is on top of a fir tree which has all the elements of a cosmic axis – it is located in the middle of the village and stretches high in the sky. The genesis of this structure can be traced back to the neolith through figurines of women-witches with a bowl of water in their lap in which they reflect the sky. These interpretations are further supported by lexemes from the Slavic languages which reflect the connection of the words for magic, sorcery (чарати, бацати чини) and those for shallow bowls, plates (чара, чинија). Then we analyze similar South Slavic rituals designed for taking the milk of a cow or a breastfeeding mother from another family. In these rituals women go to the threshing floor, take off their clothes and put a plate with water in their lap to reflect the moon. Then they strain the water through a sieve and believed that this makes the moon descend down to earth and moo like a cow. This is a magical ritual in which the straining of the water actually represents extracting the milk of the Moon which is depicted as a deity in the form of a cow. Supporting the relation woman-moon-water- fertility we mention numerous ethnographic and archeological facts which are based on the interference between the moon cycles and the female menstrual cycles. The movement of the sun in the ancient cultures was not always imagined as a cycle, but more as a semi-circular or wavy pattern, mostly because of the absence of a wheel as a paradigm. Still, the cyclic dynamics of the sun, the moon and the starry sky were observed even before the invention of the wheel and the carriage which later appeared in the era of metals and not as utilitarian but symbolic objects. It is assumed that the threshing hold prepositioned this, being a circular platform with a central pillar around which the horses or livestock moved in circles, stomping the wheat, separating the grain from the straw. This object also appeared as a symbolic phenomenon, a mythical image of the sky which depicts the cyclic movement of the celestial bodies. Its agricultural use comes secondarily. This is supported by the fact that most constellations have animal names, as well as the entire zodiac (‘animal circle’) ...
И. Пановска-Димкова (уред.), Зборник во чест на проф. д-р Људмил Спасов – по повод 70 години од неговото раѓање. Скопје: Филолошки факултет "Блаже Конески"; Институт за македонски јазик "Крсте Мисирков" , 2022
The study starts from the premise that in the early stages, languages were not formed according t... more The study starts from the premise that in the early stages, languages were not formed according to the modern logical-discursive way of thinking, but according to the principles of so-called "mythical" i.e. "mythopoeic thought". Contrary to the domination of the principle of semantic distinction between words in modern languages, the prevailing one among archaic languages was the principle of connection, which resulted in the designation of various things with the same or similar lexemes, in order for them to reflect the mythical-symbolic identicalness of what stood behind them. The article proposes such a connection of two groups of words belonging to the Slavic languages. At the basis of the first group is the root бие (bie) manifested through two meanings that seemingly have nothing in common: pounds/beats and exists/lives. The interaction between these words at the semantic and phonetic level is sought in the heartbeat/pulse as one of the key symptoms of human and animal vitality. Presented in support of this are also other specific components of vitality which "mythic consciousness" treats as "substances of life" (heat, breathing, redness, wetness, eating), followed by their manifestations in language and beliefs. Apostrophized among the lexemes of the second group, based on the root чини (čini), are two diametrical aspects - action and functionality, on the one hand, and sorcery, magic and semblance on the other. This complementarity is due to the fact that in archaic cultures the last three phenomena were not treated as less real and actionable than the pragmatic and utilitarian ones. The argumentation of this view is carried out through several groups of words, objects and actions in which the magical and the utilitarian are inseparably interwoven. Some relate to cooking (seasoning food, leavening bread), while others to ritual-magical procedures of manipulating the heavenly elements (rainfall, moon) by their reflection into a bowl of water.
Истражувањето тргнува од премисата дека во раните стадиуми јазиците не се формирале во согласност со современиот логичкодескурзивен начин на мислење, туку според принципите на т.н. „митско“, т.е. „митотворно мислење“. Наспроти доминацијата на принципот на семантичка дистинкција меѓу зборовите во современите јазици, кај архаичните преовладувал принципот на конекција, кој резултирал со означување на разни нешта со исти или со слични зборови, со цел тие да ја рефлектираат митскосимболичката истоветност на она што стои зад нив. Во статијата се предлага такво поврзување на две групи лексеми што им припаѓаат на словенските јазици. Во основата на првата е коренот бити, при што интеракцијата на нивните две главни значења (бие/чука и постои/живее) се бара во чукањето на срцето/пулсот како еден од клучните симптоми на живоста на човекот и на животните. Во рамки на лексемите од втората група, во чија основа се наоѓа коренот чини, се апострофираат два навидум дијаметрални аспекти, кои за „митската свест“, очевидно, немале таков карактер – дејственоста и функционалноста, од една страна, и волшепството, магијата и привидот, од друга страна.
Клучни зборови: митска свест, семиотика, етимологија, словенска, симбол.
Фолклористика , 2020
Summary The impetus for this study is an unusual detail from the famous fresco composition The La... more Summary
The impetus for this study is an unusual detail from the famous fresco composition The Lamentation of Christ from the Church of Saint Panteleimon in the Nerezi Monastery near Skopje, North Macedonia. In this scene the dead Christ lies in a rhombic field formed by the legs of the Virgin Mary, which are spread in thighs, angled in knees, joined at feet and fully covered by her skirt. The study also includes the figure of Rachel, shown in a similar pose, in the scene of the Massacre of the Innocents of Bethlehem from Marko’s Monastery near Skopje, as well as several representations of Gaia in the compositions of The Last Judgment from several churches in Ohrid and some other Balkan regions. The aim of the article is to trace the character, origin and meaning of the specific pose in which a woman is depicted with her legs in the form of a rhombus. The study attempts to discover the meaning of this iconographic element by analyzing the two essential components of the pose ‒ the semiotics of the female legs, especially the spread ones, on the one hand, and the symbolism of the rhombus on the other. Its character and origin are revealed through comparison of the aforementioned artistic representations with analogues from other cultures throughout the world, and across diverse historical periods, stretching from prehistory to contemporaneity. There, the female body is in various ways combined with the figure of the rhombus: supplemented by a rhombus, completely metamorphosed into a rhombus or shown with legs that themselves form a rhombus. The study also includes the variants of the previously introduced combinations in which the rhombus is alternated with a vesica piscis - a vertical ellipse with pointed poles as a more realistic symbol of the open vulva, which confirms the female connotations of the rhombus. Special emphasis is given to the Christian representations that include a similarily shaped mandorla, for which, within the frames of their own canonical interpretations, certain implicit meanings related to the female principle are also proposed.
Keywords: rhombus, Medieval corporeality, semiotics of legs, female genitals, vesica piscis, mandorla, Byzantine iconology, Virgin Mary, Gaia, St. Panteleimon ‒ Nerezi Monastery (North Macedonia)
Резиме
Повод за ово истраживање је једна необична појединост на чувеној фресци Оплакивање Христа у цркви Светог Пантелејмона у манастиру Нерези код Скопља (Северна Македонија). У овој сцени мртви Христос лежи у пољу у облику ромба који формирају ноге Богородице, с раширеним коленима, спојеним сто- палима и у потпуности покривене њеном хаљином. У истраживање су укључени и фигура Рахеле, приказане у сличној пози, у сцени Покољ витлејемске деце у Марковом манастиру код Скопља, и неколико представа Гее у композицији Страшног суда. Циљ чланка јесте да се одреде карактер, порекло и значење специфичне позе у којој се жена приказује с раширеним бедрима и коленима, те спојеним стопалима, при чему њене ноге обликују фигуру ромба. Начињен је покушај да се открије значење овог иконографског елемента посредством анализе две главне компоненте ове позе – семиотике женских ногу, посебно раширених, с једне стране, и симболике ромба, с друге. До његовог карактера и порекла се долази поређењем поменутих ликовних представа с аналогијама присутним у другим културама које потичу из разних делова света и из разних периода, од праисторије до савременог фолклора. На њима се тело жене на раз- не начине комбинује с ромбом: допуњава се ромбом, у целини је трансформисано ромбом или је приказано с ногама које чине облик ромба. У рад су укључене варијанте поменутих комбинација у којима се ромб замењује с фигуром vesica piscis (рибљег мехура), у облику вертикалне елипсе са зашиљеним половима, што је реалистичнији симбол отворене вулве, што потврђује феминина значења ромба. Посебно су наглашене хришћанске представе које укључују мандорлу с истим обликом, за коју су предложена извесна имплицитна значења везана за женско начело, у оквирима њихових канонских интерпретација.
Кључне речи: ромб, средњовековна телесност, семиотика ногу, женске гениталије, vesica piscis, мандорла, византијска иконологија, Богородица, Геа, Свети Пантелејмон – Манастир Нерези (Сверена Македонија)
Živa Antika (Antiquité Vivante) 70/1-2, 2020
The topic of this article is the described episode from the Odyssey in which Odysseus, after his ... more The topic of this article is the described episode from the Odyssey in which Odysseus, after his long wanderings around the world, returns to Ithaca where he confirms his identity by shooting with a bow and arrow through 12 axes planted into the ground. The goal of the study is to reveal the character and semiotics of this act. The analysis begins with a presentation of the female aspects of the axe and especially of the double axe i.e. the labrys as a woman and a goddess. This is followed by an analysis of the arguments that point to the symbolic identification of these tools with the female genitalia and specifically - the equation of their handle opening with the vulva and uterus. Sufficient attention is also dedicated to the multiplication of the axes, based on several archaeological finds, as well as the symbolism of the bow and arrow, with special emphasis on the traditions that represent them as a symbol of the male principle. At the end, based on all the separately analyzed elements, a thesis is presented and argued that in the given period the mentioned act functioned as a ritual in which the archer entered a symbolic coitus with the female deity represented through the double axes. This procedure bore the character of hierogamy through which the man confirmed his masculinity, his legitimacy as a husband, as a companion (impregnator and son) of the Great Goddess and as ruler of the given land.
Key words. – Odyssey, Odysseus, hierogamy, axe, double axe, labrys, bow and arrow.
Patrimonium.MK 18, 2020
The article is dedicated to two, in nowadays completely destroyed Byzantine inscriptions that wer... more The article is dedicated to two, in nowadays completely destroyed Byzantine inscriptions that were presented in the works of five authors from the 19th century. Based on their descriptions, the inscriptions were located on one of the towers i.e. gates of the acropolis of the medieval town of Skopje, located on the hill "Kale", in the center of today's city of Skopje. Presented in the introductory part is brief information about the previous archaeological excavations of this site and the main titles under which they are published. This is followed by an overview of the other hitherto known medieval inscriptions (Byzantine and Old Slavic) discovered, or only recorded, in Skopje's "Upper Town" and its immediate surroundings. Further undertaken is a detailed presentation of the contents of the passages from the five publications which mention the inscriptions that are the subject of this study. They are: J. G. von Hahn, F. Kenner, A. Evans, M. G. Dimitsa and P. N. Miljukov. Judging by their descriptions and the drawing published by the last-mentioned of the authors, the lower inscription was preserved much better than the upper one. It was carved into several large square stone blocks of which the building was built, while completely illegible fragments of the second one were executed on bricks placed vertically on its facade. According to the two readings of the lower inscription performed first by P. N. Miljukov, and more recently by А. Rhoby, its ktetoric and panegyric character is evident, praising the erection of the "new town" by a Byzantine ktetor whose name has not been preserved.
Based on the comparative analysis of the statements made by the mentioned authors, proposed and examined in the article are several hypotheses about the exact character of the building onto which the two inscriptions were placed (a tower that at the same time served as a gate), as well as its location within the Skopje Acropolis. Based on the obtained results, it is concluded that it was a gate-tower (probably the main one within the "Upper Town") located in the middle of the inner northeastern rampart (today known as "Cyclopean"), just behind the currently preserved eastern gate of the outer rampart from the Ottoman period. Then arguments are made that in pre-Ottoman times, on this part of the inner rampart there must have been a gate as the most logical communication between the acropolis and the main (eastern) suburb of medieval Skopje (today's Old Bazaar). Also presented are facts about the fortification of part of this suburb with a rampart and towers, in which one might also seek the reason for the relatively good preservation of the "Cyclopean wall" i.e. the most solid phase of the fortress, regardless of its extent on a relatively flat terrain that seems to have been more accessible to the blows of siege machines. While searching for the exact location of this, nowadays completely destroyed gate-tower, also reconstructed is the time during which the destruction of the part of the wall where it was located had taken place. Based on the preserved photographs, an assumption is made that this certainly happened after the visit of Miljukov (1898) and gradually until the middle of the second decade of the 20th century. A reason is sought in this why these inscriptions are completely absent in the publications about the fortress published from the beginning of the last century until the newest ones, issued last year.
Based on the existing assumptions about the dating of the lower inscription (end of XI and XII century) and of the "Cyclopean wall" on which it was located, also discussed are the possible relations between the construction campaign that it represented and the phases of building and renovation of the fortification elements of Skopje's "Upper Town". In that context, assessed once again is the probability of both theories regarding the main construction phase of the "Cyclopean wall" – the "Justinian" one, according to which it would originate from the VI century CE, and the "Komnenian" one – from the end of the XI and XII century. Within that framework, the unjustifiably marginalized arguments that support the first hypothesis are summarized, namely: the numerous spolia from the Roman town of Scupi, the triangular towers and the indented gate, for which there are reliable analogies even in the Skopje valley. In regards to this, the current absence of a large number of finds and integral archaeological layers from this period is sought on two sides. The first reason for this would be the eventual abandonment of the building (civilian or military) soon after its inhabiting, and possibly before its full completion, while on the other – the destruction of these finds and layers during the following extensive construction interventions in the fortress. At the end, two possible options are proposed on the relationship of the inscriptions presented here with the structure onto which they were located. According to the first one, the main phase of the "Cyclopean wall" would have originated in the Komnenian period, after the completion of which, engraved onto its main gate-tower was the lower inscription that glorifies this construction campaign. According to the second one, this inscription would have been secondarily carved into the blocks of the gate-tower built before that, in the early Byzantine period, in honor of the great renovation of that wall executed at the end of the XI and XII century. The placement of the other (completely illegible) inscription above the previous one, as well as its execution into a different material, in both options would indicate its more recent date, most likely as a sign of some renovation that followed after the one immortalized in the first inscription.
Апстракт:
Во статијата се претставени два денес загубени византиски натписи кои се презентирани во трудовите на петмина автори од XIX век. Се наоѓале на една кулa т.е. портa од акрополата на средновековиот град Скопје. Според цртежот публикуван кај едниот од авторите, долниот натпис бил издлабен на квадерните камени блокови од кои таа била изградена, додека сосема нечитливите фрагменти од вториот биле изведени на тули вградени во нејзината фасада. Врз основа на двете досегапредложени читања на долниот натпис, станувало збор за ктиторски натпис во кој се воспејува подигањето на „новиот град“ од страна на византиски ктитор чие име не е зачувано. Врз основа на исказите на петте автори, се прави обид за точно определување на карактерот на објектот на кој биле поставени натписите (кула која воедно служела и како порта, денес целосно урната), како и неговата локација во рамки на скопскиот „Горни Град“ (на средината од внатрешниот североисточен „киклопски“ бедем). Врз основа на предложените датации на долниот натпис (крај на XI и XII век) и на бедемот на кој се наоѓал, се разгледуваат можните релации меѓу градежната кампања што тој ја воспејувал и фазите на градење и обновување на скопската тврдина. Во тој контекст се проценува уште еднаш веројатноста на двете теории за главната градежна фаза на „киклопскиот ѕид“ – „Јустинијановската“, според која таа би потекнувала од VI век н.е. и „Комненовската“ – од крајот на XI и XII век н.е.
Клучни зборови:
византиска епиграфика, средновековно Скопје, Скопско Кале, средновековни тврдини, Јустинијана Прима, Јустинијан, Комнени
Lj. Fidanoski, G. Naumov (eds.), Neolithic in Macedonia in Honour of Dragica Simoska, 2020
The subject of the article are the vessels in the form of shoe or a human leg dressed in a shoe, ... more The subject of the article are the vessels in the form of shoe or a human leg dressed in a shoe, boot, opanak or sandal, which appear in various cultures around the world, starting from prehistory onwards through almost all subsequent periods. In this case, the study is concentrated primarily on such containers from prehistory, though with a focus not on their pragmatic aspects (form, typology, chronology, etc.) but on the spiritual ones. Taken into account is their symbolic, mythological, magical and religious meaning, from which the basic purpose of these objects was also derived within the specific communities in which they were produced and used. The article begins with the presentation of the several prehistoric cores of shoe-like containers and their ancient, medieval, exotic and modern analogies. This is followed by a description of the form, appearance, archaeological context and functions of the presented specimens and the previously expressed interpretations of their symbolic aspects. Afterwards comes the main part of the study, which includes extensive comparative material related to the meanings of the shoes, primarily from Slavic and Balkan folklore, the folklore of other regions of Europe and the world. Certain attention is also dedicated to the examples from ancient Mediterranean cultures, as well as the synchronous and medieval cultures of the Middle East. This material is organized according to the basic semiotic relations and symbolic meanings contained in the specific examples. Extracted in the last part of the article, based on the presented comparative material and the conducted analyzes, are the primary symbolic meanings of the shoes, once again organized according to the semiotic relations of these objects with some other elements. Discussed within that framework is also the symbolism of the human legs, as a basis from which the main meanings of the shoes are derived. Presented at the end are also some of the more general (in principle secondary) meanings of the shoe, which are based on the primary ones.
Keywords: containers in the form of shoes, cult containers, semiotics of shoes, semiotics of the leg, wedding rituals, Prehistory
Тема на трудот се садовите во форма на обувка или на човечка нога обуена во чевла, чизма, опинок или сандала, кои се јавуваат во разни култури ширум светот, почнувајќи од предисторијата, па натаму низ речиси сите наредни периоди. Во овој случај истражувањето е насочено, пред сѐ, кон ваквите садови од предисторијата, но со фокус не кон нивните прагматски аспекти (форма, типологија, хронологија итн.) туку кон духовните. Тука се има предвид нивното симболичко, митолошко, магиско и религиско значење од кои произлегувала и основната намена на овие предмети во рамки на конкретните заедници во кои тие биле произведувани и користени. Трудот започнува со презентирањето на неколкуте предисториски јадра на садовите-обувки и на нивните антички, средновековни, егзотични и современи аналогии. Потоа се претставени формата, изгледот, археолошкиот контекст и функциите на презентираните примероци и досега изнесените толкувања на нивните симболички аспекти. Натаму следи главниот истражувачки дел во кој е приложена обемна компаративна граѓа поврзана со значењата на обувките и тоа, пред сѐ, од словенскиот и балканскиот фолклор, фоклорот на други региони на Европа и светот. Одредено внимание им е посветено и на примерите од античките медитерански култури, како и синхроните и средновековните култури од Блискиот Исток. Оваа граѓа е организирана според базичните семиотички релации и симболичките значења содржани во конкретните примери. Во последниот дел од трудот, врз основа на приложениот компаративен материјал и спроведените анализи, се екстрахирани примарните симболички значења на обувките, повторно организирани според семиотичките релации на овие предмети со некои други елементи. Во тие рамки е обработена и симболиката на човековите нозе, како база од која произлегуваат главните значења на обувките. На крајот се претставени и некои од пооопштите (во принцип секундардни) значења на обувката кои се надоврзуваат на примарните.
Клучни зборови: садови во форма на обувка, култни садови, семиотика на обувките, семиотика на ногата, свадбени обреди, предисторија
Зборник на Музеите на Македонија (Археологија), н.с. бр. 1, Скопје, 153-166 , 1995
Nikos Čausidis LEAD AMULET WITH AN INSCRIBED PRAYER AGAINST "NEZHIT" FROM THE CITY OF CREŠĆE (S... more Nikos Čausidis
LEAD AMULET WITH AN INSCRIBED PRAYER AGAINST "NEZHIT" FROM THE CITY OF CREŠĆE
(Summary)
The lead plaque-amulet bearing on Old Slavic inscršption has been discovered at the site of "Hisar" near the vilage Creška in the Lower Bregalnica, where the mediaeval town Črešče is located. After inscribing the letters, the plaque must have been folded in a scroll. In that postion, rather damaged, it has been discovered as surface find. Because of the damage and some untypical features, we managed to read and reconstruct the inscription starting from the term "nezhit" mentioned in it. In a Gospel book from Macedonia (now in the National Library in Sofia) dated to the 17th century, a payer is written with almost identical content. The prayer was intended for protection from disease, personified in the character of the demon "nezhit" and it is particularly important that it is recommended to be written in lead, which makes it more efficient. By comparison of the inscription from Črešče with this prayer, we realize that the essence of our text is also the transmission of the demon "nezhit" from one place to another, i.e., from Adam's body into Eve's, and from her body into the lead, after that into the water and the shore, therefrom into the grass, and finally in the dew and the sun. At the end of the prayer, the sun destroys the "nezhit" by drying it up. Both the nature of the inscription, and the features of the plaque on which it has been written, point to two possibilities: the plaque must have been either carried on the body and robes, or thrown away in ritual after being inscribed. Finally, we give consideration of the mythical "nezhit". A demonic character is in question, an incarnation of the evil and various specific diseases, which is known trom the traditions of almost all Slavic nations. In addition to the aforesaid prayer, the South Slavs have preserved other variants in which the nature of "nezhit" is described, as well as his fight with different Christian saints. It is especially interesting that in the folklore of South Slavic nations some fables have been preserved, showing the older, pre-Christian, i.e., pagan-Slavic chracter of this demon.
Р. Солунчев и др. (уред.), Логос и Тропос: Зборник на текстови од Меѓународниот симпозиум , 2020
The aim of this study is to discover the early forms of human perception of the Logos, understood... more The aim of this study is to discover the early forms of human perception of the Logos, understood as cosmic order. This is done not through the verbal medium (written or orally presented myths), but through analysis of the pictorial manifestations of myth based on the methods of semiotic archaeology and pictorial and visual semiotics. Presented in the introductory part are the visual and pictorial forms of myth as autonomous manifestations of mythic consciousness, as well as some of the methodological principles for their research. In continuation, the question is addressed as to whether man, as a paradigm of the Logos takes up the universe for himself. Discussed in the following six chapters are several specific topics, through which one can see the archaic manifestations of the Logos. First is the relation between menstruation and the lunar phases, which in all epochs and all parts of the world is manifested through the equalization of woman, moon and water as symbols of fertility, i.e., the creative principle. The second topic refers to the representation of nature, i.e., the universe as a woman and a mother. At its core is a deeply infantile paradigm behind which is the identification of the universe, that is, nature with the caring and responsible mother that feeds and protects humans as her own children. The next topic presents order in the universe as family harmony rooted on the hierogamy of its principal members – Father Sky and Mother Earth. In the fourth chapter, the cross is analyzed as a universal human symbol of the spatial aspects of the Logos. The chapter deals with the horizontal, vertical, and three-dimensional sixth-armed crosses that are based on the six-fold human perceptual-orientation apparatus which, manifested on the macrocosmic level, gives the six basic directions. The next topic refers to the wheel as a symbol of the dynamic aspects of the universe represented by time, manifested through the various cyclical processes that take place within the universe and in man. The sixth topic discusses the image of a pair of opposing animals controlled by their tamer in which the symmetrical zoomorphic figures symbolize the complementary forces and tendencies of wild nature, while the human standing between them encodes the factor of order, and by standing between them ensures their balance, i.e., cosmic harmony. Presented at the end are three contemporary symbols of the Logos which in modern Western civilization bear the key features of myth: aliens as bearers of the Logos, the Logos as cosmic software and the genome as Logos within man.
Keywords:
logos, cosmic order, semiotic archaeology, pictorial semiotics, visual semiotics, archaic cosmology
Acta Musei Tiberiopolitani, Vol. 3, Strumica: NI Institute for protetction of cultural monuments and Museum Strumica, 2020, 151-169. , 2020
The article presents several sanctuaries from the territory of the Republic of North Macedonia wh... more The article presents several sanctuaries from the territory of the Republic of North Macedonia whose continued use as cult spaces can be followed on the basis of ethnographic facts, historical sources, archaeological finds and preserved toponymy. In the article, the transformation of cults and mythological figures i.e. deities is analyzed through the interdisciplinary and comparative method, within the frames of the six dominant chronological, ethnocultural and religious complexes present in this part of the Balkans: the Paleo-Balkan, Ancient, Pagan-Slavic, Christian, Islamic and Folkloric.
Key words:
Macedonia, cult sites, sanctuaries, religion, mythology
Lj. Fidanoski (ed.), Skopje before 8 millenia. 3. Among deities and men from Cerje – Govrlevo / Љ. Фиданоски (уред.), Скопје пред 8 милениуми. 3. Меѓу божествата и луѓето од Церје – Говрлево, Skopje: Museum of the City of Skopje, 103-135 , 2019
In every culture, regardless of its geographic or chronological affiliation, we can identify a fo... more In every culture, regardless of its geographic or chronological affiliation, we can identify a focus point in which it directs most of its energetic, mental and emotional potential, building, in fact, its entire social, economic and religious system around it. Among Balkan Neolithic cultures this role is carried by the house, whereas among the ones in Macedonia this character of the house is even more pronounced due to the presence of an exceptionally specific type of objects that nowhere in the world appear in such a striking form and in such a large number of specimens and variants. These are ceramic objects shaped like a human-house or more precisely woman-house, which in academia are most often referred to as anthropomorphic house models or altars in the form of an anthropomorphized house. The shape and context of discovery of these objects has so far led all researchers to the conclusion that they are symbolic objects that participated in the spiritual life of Neolithic people, i.e. in those spheres of life that today we call religion, mythology, magic and cult. According to the large number of such finds, it can be safely concluded that the territory of today’s North Macedonia was the nucleus of this phenomenon, whose peripheral manifestations can be also sporadically seen in neighboring regions. The place of Cerje-Govrlevo within the frames of this phenomenon is especially important, given the fact that the existence of the largest number of such objects (almost 160) has so far been ascertained there, based on the excavations of a fairly small part of the former Neolithic settlement. This was the reason why in this publication, dedicated to the spiritual life of the Neolithic community that existed on the site, a special place was given to these objects, also followed by an attempt to reveal their former spiritual significance. Most of the anthropomorphized house models present an unrealistic image – fusion of house and human, in numerous cases with highlighted female characteristics (breasts, pubis, pregnancy, more complex hairstyles, jewelry). In studies so far, the combination of these two elements has been interpreted as an aspiration for their symbolic identification, that is, the representation of the house as a woman, i.e. of the woman as a house. In several of our articles, including the one in the previous volume of this edition, we have justified the mentioned combination by the Neolithic man’s discovery of the common morphological and functional components in the two elements. Both the house and the woman, in fact, encompass space in which humans exist, where the space of the house is identified with the uterus, and its occupants with the fetus. Because of this, we suggested that such objects be named ceramic models of the type “Mother-House”.
Lj. Fidanoski (ed.), Skopje before 8 millenia. 3. Among deities and men from Cerje – Govrlevo / Љ. Фиданоски (уред.), Скопје пред 8 милениуми. 3. Меѓу божествата и луѓето од Церје – Говрлево, Skopje: Museum of the City of Skopje, 29-102 , 2019
The Neolithic site Cerje-Govrlevo has been explored in several campaigns, with excavations being ... more The Neolithic site Cerje-Govrlevo has been explored in several campaigns, with excavations being carried out within just two expanded trenches. The first (in an area of 5 x 5 m) was excavated from 1982 to 1985, while the second (in an area of 12 x 9 m), with few interruptions, was excavated from 2000 to 2010. Regardless of the relatively small extent of excavations, in several layers of the Neolithic settlement a large number of anthropomorphic ceramic house models, most commonly represented by a single fragment and rarely by few belonging to the same object, have been found. During 2010, in the collection and the documentation of the Museum of the City of Skopje we registered and documented 157 fragmented specimens of such models from this site . Fragments excavated during the last excavations carried out during October and November 2010 were excluded from this process due to the unfinished process of their documentation and conservation. According to the insight into the published material from other Neolithic sites in North Macedonia, this is by far the largest number of documented such findings found within a site. However, we believe that a similar situation can be expected at other more intensely excavated Neolithic sites (e.g. Veluška Tumba-Porodin, Porodinska Tumba-Porodin, Tumba-Madžhari), whose findings and documentation have unfortunately not yet been fully systematized and published. We find it important to note that, with the exception of only a few specimens, all other recorded fragments from Cerje-Govrlevo belonged to separate models and that these findings were discovered in an area of only about one hundred square meters. It must be said that, whatever the size, this number does not reflect the actual quantity of these findings in the layers, which should in fact be even greater.
Неолитскиот локалитет Церје – Говрлево е истражуван во повеќе кампањи, при што ископувањата се изведуваа во рамките на само две проширени сонди. Првата (на површина 5 х 5 m) е работена во периодот од 1982 до 1985 г., додека втората (на површина од 12 х 9 m), со неколку прекини, се ископувала почнувајќи од 2000-та па сè до 2010 г. Наспроти релативно малиот обем на ископувања, во неколкуте слоеви на неолитската населба се пронајдени голем број примероци на антропоморфни керамички модели на куќи, најчесто застапени со по еден фрагмент, а поретко и со по неколку кои му припаѓаат на еден ист предмет. Во текот на 2010 г., во збирката и документацијата на Музеј на град Скопје регистриравме и документиравме 157 фрагментирани примероци на такви модели од овој локалитет. Во овој процес не беа вклучени фрагментите откриени при последните негови ископувања, реализирани во текот на октомври и ноември 2010 г., и тоа поради незавршениот процес на нивно документирање и конзервирање. Според увидот во публикуваната граѓа од другите неолитски наоѓалишта од Северна Македонија, ова е засега најбројната целина од документирани вакви наоди пронајдени во рамките на еден локалитет. Сепак, веруваме дека слична ситуација може да се очекува и на други поинтензивно ископувани неолитски наоѓалишта (на пример: Велушка Тумба – Породин, Породинска Tумба – Породин, Тумба – Маџари), чии наоди и документација за жал сé уште не се целосно систематизирани и публикувани. Сметаме дека е важно да се напомене оти, со исклучок на само неколку примероци, сите други евидентирани фрагменти од Церје – Говрлево им припаѓале на засебни примероци модели и дека овие наоди се откриени на површина од само околу стотина квадратни метри. Мора да се каже дека, без разлика на големината, овој број не го одразува вистинскиот степен на присуство на овие наоди во слоевите, кој реално би требало да биде уште поголем.
Patrimonium.MK 17, 364-388 , 2019
The motive for a detailed presentation of this book comes as a necessity for me, first because th... more The motive for a detailed presentation of this book comes as a necessity for me, first because the finds from the Velestino hoard have been a subject of research literally during my whole professional career. The second reason is that my articles i.e. the interpretations presented within them take on a prominent place in this publication, with the authors repeatedly mentioning them, discussing them and giving their own thoughts and opinions. In this article I will try to express my thought and remarks on this book and the insights presented within it, which, given the breadth and importance of the topic, will certainly not be the last. I hope that my research so far on the specific objects from this hoard, presented in different separate publications, will soon be rounded up in one monograph, directed primarily towards their mythological-religious aspects. An important part of it will certainly be the new and very valuable information and thoughts by Curta and Szmoniewski presented in this book. The remarks I direct towards them will also be explained and argumented in more detail within it, but also my own interperations on the content and meaning of the objects that comprise the Velestino hoard.
The name "Luristan standards" refers to a very large and enigmatic group of bronze objects (with ... more The name "Luristan standards" refers to a very large and enigmatic group of bronze objects (with an obvious symbolic i.e. cultic character) that date back to the Late Bronze and Iron Ages. They were found in the region of Luristan in western Iran, from where, in the last century, they would reach almost all major world museums and private collections.
Со називот „луристански стандарди“ се означува една мошне голема и загадочна група бронзени предм... more Со називот „луристански стандарди“ се означува една мошне голема и загадочна група бронзени предмети (со очевиден симболички т.е. култен карактер) кои потекнуваат од доцното бронзено и од железното време. Пронајдени се во областа Луристан во западниот дел на денешен Иран од каде, во минатиот век, ќе доспеат во речиси сите позначајни светски музеи и приватни колекции.
This study deals with the pictorial representation of the Bogomil movement, an aspect that has no... more This study deals with the pictorial representation of the Bogomil movement, an aspect that has not been systematically treated before. It should be emphasized that the term Bogomil movement is used in its broader meaning and refers to all the mediaeval dualistic heresies in the Balkans (Bogomils, Massalians, Paulicians, Cathars, Paterens). Such an approach is based on the findings - confirmed by mediaeval written sources - according to which the Bogomils did reject the veneration of icons, but not necessarily the pictorial representation of its religious teaching (the decoration of prayer houses and holy books). Our research employs the methodology that has already been used in the study of the pagan religion of the Slavs which was based on the pictorial representations that survive on archaeological and ethnological objects. This method includes the analysis of the pictorial elements of an image, the discovery of their mutual relations and meanings and an interdisciplinary comparison of the results obtained. In this case, the motives for such an approach lie in the lack of exhaustive and precise written records on the Bogomil movement, which requires their supplementation and testing through an exploration of material evidence of a different kind and through the application of complementary scholarly approaches. This study covers the dualistic religious teachings from Macedonia and the neighbouring Balkan regions. In terms of chronology, it covers the period from Late Antiquity (3rd century AD), i.e., the emergence of the Manicheans, through the Middle Ages and up to the 19lh and 20th centuries (the last surviving elements of dualistic heresies in folklore).
Chapter I concerns itself with the dualistic teachings in the Roman period. This research has been inspired by the discovery of funerary monuments in the south of the Republic of Macedonia, in the vicinity of the town of Kavadarci. These are stelae of roughly hewn stone decorated with schematized motifs that date from the period between the 3rd and 4th centuries. On the basis of the analyses carried out, their complex iconography is interpreted in the context of Manichean doctrines about man’s afterlife, i.e., the transposition of his celestial soul from the world of matter to Heaven or to the “realm of eternal light”. The basiciconographic elements on the monuments and their meaning are identified in the context of the basic dogmatic postulates of the Manicheans and the myth of the salvation of the soul.
Chapter II focuses on the dualistic religious concepts in the Middle Ages. Considering the presence of dualistic elements in the Slavonic pagan religion, it examines the connection between this type of dualism and that of the mediaeval heresies. It also refers to the hypotheses on the genesis of pagan Slavonic dualism that have been presented so far. This chapter quotes those assumptions which have been (not always justifiably) disputed and which refer to the eventual early presence of heretic doctrines in the culture of the Slavs and certain other barbaric populations (Pechenegs, Bulgarians, Magyars, etc.) as early as at the time of their migration. It also quotes new arguments from the spheres of archaeology, history and linguistics.
Chapter III examines the indirect presence of the Bogomil movement in official Christian iconography. The influence of the Bogomils was strong and therefore the church fathers were forced to take their negative attitude towards them into the church, exhibiting it in frescoes and icons.
Chapter IV explores the traces of dualistic teaching in mediaeval and 18th and 19th century funerary monuments. It deals with stećci, the Bosnian mediaeval monuments, the interpretations of these tombstones, and especially the hypotheses concerning their heretic character.
The last chapter explores the last phases, i.e., the decline of the Bogomil movement.
Skopje: Nikos Chausidis , 2005
sale and delivery of the book: https://kupikniga.mk/product/kosmoloshki-sliki-tom-1-i-2/ An u... more sale and delivery of the book:
https://kupikniga.mk/product/kosmoloshki-sliki-tom-1-i-2/
An urge for an active attitude to his environment, i.e., his surroundings, has always been characteristic of man. It is one of the basic features which distinguish him from all the other known species. This urge is manifested in several forms which often intertwine: interest in the environment; its active perception; creation of concepts of the environment; active participation in its existence and functioning; active changing of the environment. These forms are manifested in relation to all spatial levels with which man is faced or in which he is included: the microcosm, i.e., the body in which man’s mind and ego “reside”; the mesocosm, i.e., the dwelling (house, settlement, immediate ecological environment); the macrocosm, i.e., the cosmos seen as absolute, that is, global space which includes all the above and other spatial systems.
Cognition occurs simultaneously on all these levels, while a unique transfer takes place between them – the experiences and images formed within one level are incorporated in the comprehension and representation of other levels. For instance, the elements of the human body and its dwelling place are used as the matrix for the understanding of the cosmos, and vice-versa – smaller spatial levels (the ecological environment, the house, the human body) are defined and conceived with the mediation of the elements and functions of the cosmos. Consequently, when we speak in this study about the relation between man and the cosmos on the largest/global spatial level we, in fact, also refer to its relation with all the other spheres that surround him. Man does not comprehend the world only when he silently contemplates it, absorbed in thought, but even more when he externalises his images of it, when they move from the sphere of the mental to the sphere which concerns phenomena and the material (which we today limit to production, art or religion, that is, myth, magic and ritual). The cosmos as a totality/whole is perceived and comprehended by the human mind at several levels, where at every level a separate process of symbolisation is initiated and represented through different means. Although it functions separately, the spatial level of the cosmos cannot be represented in isolation from is other manifestations. The level of form concerns the appearance of the cosmos. In most cases, in mythical images this level is not represented separately either but, like the spatial level, can only theoretically be isolated as separate. In certain more developed (civilised) stages, certain cultures have succeeded in extracting those levels from their mythical models as abstract knowledge. The level of functions concerns the events that happen in the cosmos and the form in which certain processes occur. Since this level is based on the practical and the existential, it was the first to become part of the comprehension of the cosmos. In contrast to its seeming impressiveness, its comprehension took place gradually, through several concepts of identification between the functions of the cosmos and certain spheres that were closer to man. The concept of biologisation of the cosmos is one such essential concept which includes recognition, conception and representation of its functions in the context of certain phenomena in the biological world. Within it, three separate lines/concepts can be identified: the phyto-symbolical, the zoo-symbolical and the anthropo-symbolical. A specific concept but, at the same time, one common to these three, is the sexual-symbolical concept in which the relation between the sexes is taken as a model for the understanding of the cosmos, its origin and functioning.
Оваа книга има за цел да ги проучува древните, односно архаичните претстави на луѓето за космосот, најчесто интегрирани во оние сфери на културата што современата наука ги определува како мит. За разлика од најголемиот дел досегашни научни истражувања на оваа тема, овие претстави за космосот тука не се согледани врз база на вербалните форми на митот (изговорени или запишани митови), туку на нивните ликовни манифестации, дојдени до нас од минатото (цртежи, слики, релјефи, скулптури, па и градби). Ако земеме предвид дека современата наука има увид во само мал дел запишани митови од минатото, кои не досегаат наназад повеќе од околу 5-6 илјадалетија, тогаш се покажува предноста на овој пристап. Наспроти ретките пишани документи, низ целава планета се пронајдени, а и денес се откриваат огромен број ликовни претстави од разни епохи и култури, во кои се кодирани претставите на луѓето за вселената, за нејзиниот облик, нејзиното функционирање и смисла. Тоа е огромна предност која ги продолжува рецепторите на современата наука – и тоа не само наназад за уште неколку илјади години, туку и навнатре – кон секојдневните, масовно распространети претстави, а не само „ексклузивните митови“, запишани од ретките писари, под покровителството на моќните владетели, или препораките на влијателните првосвештеници.
Првиот том го содржи текстуалниот дел на монографијата во обем од 439 страници, во рамки на кој се наоѓа и англиското резиме во обем од 18 страници. Во вториот том се поместени 202 табли со илустрации придружени со каталог во кој се дадени основните податоци за илустрациите и се посочени изданијата од кои се тие преземени. Во овој том се наоѓа и библиографија (во обем од 28 страници) и деталниот индекс на поими (во обем од 26 страници).
Skopje: Nikos Chausidis , 2005
An urge for an active attitude to his environment, i.e., his surroundings, has always been charac... more An urge for an active attitude to his environment, i.e., his surroundings, has always been characteristic of man. It is one of the basic features which distinguish him from all the other known species. This urge is manifested in several forms which often intertwine: interest in the environment; its active perception; creation of concepts of the environment; active participation in its existence and functioning; active changing of the environment. These forms are manifested in relation to all spatial levels with which man is faced or in which he is included: the microcosm, i.e., the body in which man’s mind and ego “reside”; the mesocosm, i.e., the dwelling (house, settlement, immediate ecological environment); the macrocosm, i.e., the cosmos seen as absolute, that is, global space which includes all the above and other spatial systems.
Cognition occurs simultaneously on all these levels, while a unique transfer takes place between them – the experiences and images formed within one level are incorporated in the comprehension and representation of other levels. For instance, the elements of the human body and its dwelling place are used as the matrix for the understanding of the cosmos, and vice-versa – smaller spatial levels (the ecological environment, the house, the human body) are defined and conceived with the mediation of the elements and functions of the cosmos. Consequently, when we speak in this study about the relation between man and the cosmos on the largest/global spatial level we, in fact, also refer to its relation with all the other spheres that surround him. Man does not comprehend the world only when he silently contemplates it, absorbed in thought, but even more when he externalises his images of it, when they move from the sphere of the mental to the sphere which concerns phenomena and the material (which we today limit to production, art or religion, that is, myth, magic and ritual). The cosmos as a totality/whole is perceived and comprehended by the human mind at several levels, where at every level a separate process of symbolisation is initiated and represented through different means. Although it functions separately, the spatial level of the cosmos cannot be represented in isolation from is other manifestations. The level of form concerns the appearance of the cosmos. In most cases, in mythical images this level is not represented separately either but, like the spatial level, can only theoretically be isolated as separate. In certain more developed (civilised) stages, certain cultures have succeeded in extracting those levels from their mythical models as abstract knowledge. The level of functions concerns the events that happen in the cosmos and the form in which certain processes occur. Since this level is based on the practical and the existential, it was the first to become part of the comprehension of the cosmos. In contrast to its seeming impressiveness, its comprehension took place gradually, through several concepts of identification between the functions of the cosmos and certain spheres that were closer to man. The concept of biologisation of the cosmos is one such essential concept which includes recognition, conception and representation of its functions in the context of certain phenomena in the biological world. Within it, three separate lines/concepts can be identified: the phyto-symbolical, the zoo-symbolical and the anthropo-symbolical. A specific concept but, at the same time, one common to these three, is the sexual-symbolical concept in which the relation between the sexes is taken as a model for the understanding of the cosmos, its origin and functioning.
Оваа книга има за цел да ги проучува древните, односно архаичните претстави на луѓето за космосот, најчесто интегрирани во оние сфери на културата што современата наука ги определува како мит. За разлика од најголемиот дел досегашни научни истражувања на оваа тема, овие претстави за космосот тука не се согледани врз база на вербалните форми на митот (изговорени или запишани митови), туку на нивните ликовни манифестации, дојдени до нас од минатото (цртежи, слики, релјефи, скулптури, па и градби). Ако земеме предвид дека современата наука има увид во само мал дел запишани митови од минатото, кои не досегаат наназад повеќе од околу 5-6 илјадалетија, тогаш се покажува предноста на овој пристап. Наспроти ретките пишани документи, низ целава планета се пронајдени, а и денес се откриваат огромен број ликовни претстави од разни епохи и култури, во кои се кодирани претставите на луѓето за вселената, за нејзиниот облик, нејзиното функционирање и смисла. Тоа е огромна предност која ги продолжува рецепторите на современата наука – и тоа не само наназад за уште неколку илјади години, туку и навнатре – кон секојдневните, масовно распространети претстави, а не само „ексклузивните митови“, запишани од ретките писари, под покровителството на моќните владетели, или препораките на влијателните првосвештеници.
Првиот том го содржи текстуалниот дел на монографијата во обем од 439 страници, во рамки на кој се наоѓа и англиското резиме во обем од 18 страници. Во вториот том се поместени 202 табли со илустрации придружени со каталог во кој се дадени основните податоци за илустрациите и се посочени изданијата од кои се тие преземени. Во овој том се наоѓа и библиографија (во обем од 28 страници) и деталниот индекс на поими (во обем од 26 страници).
‘Macedonian bronzes’ refers to a pretty copious category of Iron Age bronze objects, dated mainly... more ‘Macedonian bronzes’ refers to a pretty copious category of Iron Age bronze objects, dated mainly between 8th and 6th centuries BC. The majority of them are considered being used as jewelry with an emphasized symbolical i.e. magical and religious purpose. It is believed that they primarily belonged to the Paeonians, but also to other populations living in Macedonia and its surroundings. Even though this monograph encompasses the typology, the chronology, distribution and other material aspects of these items, mainly, its focus is the spiritual culture of the people who created and used them, especially their symbolical, magical, mythical, religious and the global semiotical system. Besides these finds, while revealing the aforementioned aspects, the author uses written historical sources referring to relevant periods and territories, but also to related phenomena of other cultures from the Indo-European and the Mediterranean areal.
Apart from the basic text in 8 chapters, this book contains 389 tables with catalogued illustrations, a bibliography and English summary in 75 pages.
This monograph contains a vast illustrative material to which we often refer in the very text and whose mechanical review makes the reading difficult. Therefore, we provided a possibility to hyperlink the images by clicking the number of the exact table marked in blue, whereupon it shows in a separate window, without leaving the text page. A prerequisite for this is to have the illustration folders in the same folder with the PDF of the whole monograph, without replacing or renaming the folders and the files. The folder "Figures" can be found on the same address as the PDF document of the whole book.
http://www.cip-cpr.org/en-publishing/_nikos-chausidis-macedonian-bronzes.html
Н. Чаусидис, Македонските бронзи и религијата и митологијата на железнодобните заедници од Средниот Балкан, Скопје: ЦИП - Центар за истражување на предисторијата, 2017.
Со називот македонски бронзи се означува една категорија бронзени предмети од железното време, датирани главно меѓу 8. и 6. век пр. н.е., од кои за повеќето се смета дека биле користени како накит со нагласена симболичка намена. Се смета дека им припаѓале, пред сè, на Пајонците, но и на други популации од Македонија и од нејзиното опкружување. Иако во оваа монографија се претставени и типологијата, хронологијата, распространетоста и другите материјални аспекти на овие предмети, нејзиниот фокус е насочен кон духовната култура на луѓето што ги создавале и што ги користеле овие објекти, односно нивниот симболички, магиски, митско-религиски и глобалниот семиотички систем. Освен наведените наоди, во откривањето на овие аспекти се вклучени пишаните историски извори што се однесуваат на дадените време и простор и сродните феномени кои припаѓаат на други култури од индоевропскиот и од медитеранскиот ареал.
Покрај основниот текст, организиран во 8 глави, книгата содржи 389 табли со каталогизирани илустрации, библиографија и резиме на англиски јазик на 75 страници.
Оваа монографија има обемен илустративен материјал на кој текстот честопати се повикува и чиешто механичко прегледување многу го отежнува читањето. Поради тоа, обезбедена е можност за повикување на сликите со кликнување на бројот на конкретната табла со илустрации означен со сина боја, при што таа се појавува во посебно прозорче без да се напушти матичната страница со текстот. Услов за оваа операција е во истиот фолдер во кој се наоѓа PDF документот на монографијата да биде и фолдерот со илустрациите (Figures), без притоа да се менуваат местото и називите на овој фолдер и фолдерите и фајловите сместени во него. Фолдефот "Figures" се наоѓа на истата адреса со ПДФ документот на целата книга.
http://www.cip-cpr.org/_publishing/_nikos-chausidis-makedonski-bronzi.html
Skopje Before 8 Millennia_3: Among Deities and Men of Cerje-Govrlevo. Fidanoski Lj. (ed.). Authors: A. Tomaž, G. Naumov, N. Čausidis and E. Aleksiev. Museum of the city of Skopje. Skopje. 2019. (Macedonian and English edition), 2019
P. Shydlovskyi (ed.), Prehistoric Networks in Southern and Eastern Europe. Collection of scientific works. Vita Antiqua, №10. Kyiv: Center for Paleoethnological Research, 2018
The article is based upon the thesis of the existence of intense relations between the Northern B... more The article is based upon the thesis of the existence of intense relations between the Northern Black Sea and Macedonia towards the end of the 2nd and the beginning of the 1st millennium BC, confirmed with various traditions related to rivers. Toponyms and ethnonyms containing the following roots sind-, sinth-, sith-, are given as a first indicator, confirmed in both regions through ancient sources, thus considering its Indo Aryan interpretation as a river. Such interpretation is considered in context of the theories of Indo-Aryans moving south of the Northern Black Sea at the second half of the 2nd millennium BC; the Balkans being one of their directions. This last trajectory is related to the presence of Cimmerians and Hyperboreans at this peninsula, also verified in ancient written sources. A special significance is given to the ancient reports of Aria as the oldest name for Thrace. Numerous archaeological finds also refer to these motions, confirmed with a relevant literature. Moreover, different traditions witnessed in ancient sources are noted regarding the role of rivers in the spiritual culture of populations of both regions, especially in genealogical myths. Bull as a zoomorphic epiphany of river gods is especially emphasized, manifested with similar traditions, among which the roots taur-, taor found in the toponymy, ethnonymy and the theonymy of both regions.
Key words: Indo-Aryans, Macedonia, river cults, Thraco-Cimmerians, Sindoi, Tauria
Zona is taking pride in presenting Macedonia, the Land of… our monograph about Macedonia. This mo... more Zona is taking pride in presenting Macedonia, the Land of… our monograph about Macedonia. This monograph weaves the story about our land through colour, sound, spirit, and creativity. We rediscovered the ancient Macedonian land for our customers through its Colours, Grace, Fragrance, Feelings, and The Sublime.
The monograph contains a DVD-ROM with a short movie evolved from the book itself. The sound is recorded and mixed in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound technology. This exclusive and finely boxed package contains a small surprise gift: Terracotta icon with motifs from ancient Vinica fortress, or silver filigree butterfly, made by domestic artists. The complete project was prepared and developed by us in cooperation with professional and highly regarded writers, musicians, and photographers.
MACEDONIAE ACTA ARCHAEOLOGICA 21, 2019
The issue of Macedoniae acta archaeologica includes scientific results from the archaeological ex... more The issue of Macedoniae acta archaeologica includes scientific results from the
archaeological excavations in the Republic of Macedonia that were presented
at the XXI Meeting of the Macedonian Archaeological Scientific Association,
held in Strumica in 2010.
Studia Mythologica Slavica, 15, Ljubljana, 2012, 91-115
Five fragmented tiles originating from the 15th century and found in Prague are the research topi... more Five fragmented tiles originating from the 15th century and found in Prague are the research topic of this text. A woman and another zoo-anthropomorphic figure spinning in front of a spindle can be seen on the better preserved examples. An attempt has been made to connect the second figure with: (1) some forest or house female spirits from the Slavic folklore that are linked to the textile activities; (2) the initiation rites of girls into adult women through symbolic transformation from the natural sphere (animal, bear, forest) into the cultural (a wife, a house-socium) through the act of spinning and other textile activities.
Keywords: Slavic mythology, female forest spirits, female house spirits, Mokosh, spinning, weaving, initiation
Interpretations, Vol. 3, Figures of Memory: Black Arab (Ed. by K. Kulavkova), Skopje: Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, 2009, 73-104
K. Kulavkova (ed.) Interpretation: european project for poetics and hermeneutics. Vol. 2, Skopje: MANU, 2008, 261 - 303
The mountain is one of the paradigmatic symbols of the primordial, unchangeable and eternal, thus... more The mountain is one of the paradigmatic symbols of the primordial, unchangeable and eternal, thus becoming a personification/visualisation of the global memory of the surrounding environment and its inhabitants throughout the centuries. The purpose of this study is to elaborate some aspects of the complex mythology and symbolism of the mountain, using several Macedonian, Balkan and Slavic examples (the mountain as cosmic, i.e. primordial, elemental and equivalent, as an axis and pillar of the world, the mountain as a symbol of Sky and Heaven, the mountain as Mother Goddess, birth-giving goddess and hypostasis of the Goddess Earth, the mountain as a shrine, temple and home of the gods). This will be realised through an interdisciplinary dialogue emphasising ancient historical sources and archaeological finds and depictions, as well as through an exploration of toponyms, rituals and mythical stories (early and contemporary) regarding the mountain.
Лесная и лесостепная зоны Восточной Европы в эпохи римских влияний и Великого переселения народов. Конференция 3: Сб. Статей/Под ред. А. М. Воронцова, И. О. Гавритухина, Тула: Государственный музей-заповедник „Куликово Поле“, 2012, 527-551
Лесная и лесостепная зоны Восточной Европы в эпохи римских влияний и Великого переселения народов (конференция 2, часть 2), Тула: Государственный музей-заповедник „Куликово Поле“, 2010, 204-225
Кодови словенских култура, Т. 10 (ватра), Београд: Клио, 2008, 13-114
Studia mythologica Slavica, 9, Ljubljana, 2006, 97-160
The paper focuses on the semiotic function of the crepna (bread baking dish) and the vrshnik (its... more The paper focuses on the semiotic function of the crepna (bread baking dish) and the vrshnik (its cover). These traditional clay dishes were characteristic of the Balkans. Examined are several topics: the form of the crepna, which is reminiscent of the female body and therefore connected with a number of ritual magic procedures; female symbolism of the crepna; the crepna - dish - uterus - woman relation; and analogies and etymologies from Slavic languages. In popular tradition and phraseology, the crepna denotes earth while the vrshnik indicates the sky covering the earth. Examined is the custom in which a male effigy is placed on a peg wedged in the center of the crepna. The function of the male figurine was to protect the earthenware dish during the drying process. By employing semiotic and comparative analyses, and in relation with the mythological German, the author investigates the role of German and his implicit function as fecundator, mediator, and god sacrificed on the cosmic axis. The paper then looks at medieval Slavic, Indo-European, and worldwide parallels in art. One of the symbolic postulates is the analogy between the making of bread (kneading, leavening, baking) and the growth of a baby inside its mother's womb. In this respect, the crepna dish attains the character of the uterus - the mother of the bread and earth. The yeast represents the father of the bread, and the sperm means the rain.
Lettre internationale, 15-16, Скопје, 1999, 48-57
Studia mythologica Slavica, Ljubljana, 1, 1998, 75-92
The article represents a segment of global research emanating from the visual images of the Slavi... more The article represents a segment of global research emanating from the visual images of the Slavic deities, mostly manifested on archaeological finds, in this particular case, early Slavic artefacts (the plates of a cult character, and the so-called radiate-headed fibulae) found in the Balkans. By analysis of the iconography and symbolical features of these finds, the author attempts to define a type of mythical picture of an “anthropomorphic firmament with the phases of a solar cycle”. By its Slavic analogies, he follows this mythical picture through to the 19th century. Then, by use of iconographic analogy, and by comparison of visual images, attributes, and functions (the comparison is foremost made to the Iranian-Avesta god Z’rvan), the author suggests that this image should be identified as a mythical picture of the Slavic god Svarog who is manifested as the anthropomorphic sky. Finally, the author connects his proposed hypothesis with the known written sources, toponyms and etymological definitions related to the theonym Svarog.
Studia, mythologica Slavica, 3, Ljubljana, 2000, 23-41
This paper was based on an interpretation in the Slavic translation of "The world Chronicle" by I... more This paper was based on an interpretation in the Slavic translation of "The world Chronicle" by Ioannes Malalas which is thought to have originated in the area where South Slavic languages are spoken. This pseudohistoric tradition cites that after emperor Svarog's reign had terminated, his son Dažbog, the Emperor Sun, took over.
The discord between Dažbog's character in folkloric traditions and the one from Malalas' citation gives rise to the author's suspicion of the total authenticity of the World Chronicle. He therefore attempts a different interpretation and reconstruction, first analyzing an Iranian myth about Z'rvan (Zervan, Zurvan) as a dualistic paradigm for the citation in Malalas' Chronicle. According to this myth Z'rvan (who is identical to the Creator, the universe, and endless time) wanted to create a son, his successor (Ormazd / Ahura Mazda). However, since he had doubts over the rationality of this act, he produced Ahriman, an incarnation of evil, who was born first and who rules the world at present. After 90.000 years Ahriman will be succeeded by Z'rvan's second son. Z'rvans true successor. Based on the relation between Malalas' citation and these fairytales the author defines the equation Dažbog = Emperor Sun as a mistake, or possibly an intentional rewrite, suggesting the following reconstruction of the original context between these characters: Svarog (=Z'rvan) - primogenitor, Emperor Sun (*Ormazd /Ahura Mazda) - one of the two sons of Svarog who is identical to Svarožoč as an incarnation of the sun, fire, light, and good; Dažbog (= Ahriman) the second son of Svarog, an incarnation of chtonic zones of the universe, of darkness and light.
The author concludes his paper by citing preliminary conclusions about the presence of the chtonic god (thus also Dažbog) in medieval archaeological finds and in other elements of material culture. Here Dažbog appears as an opponent to the celestial god Svarog.
Studia mythologica Slavica, Ljubljana, 2, 1999, 275-296
The author writes about the so-called “mythical pictures", a new source for the research of Slavi... more The author writes about the so-called “mythical pictures", a new source for the research of Slavic mythology, which were created in order to express people ’s religious notions.The article is centered on four of the most common groups of mythical pictures which, due to their archetypal characteristics have survived to the present:paintings of the human body, those representing the female principle, solar mythical pictures, and the paintings of the male principle.
Histria antiqua, 13, Pula 2005, 437-456
The paper represents a synthesis of the author’s years-long research in this sphere. The methodol... more The paper represents a synthesis of the author’s years-long research in this sphere. The methodological approach is based upon the symbolic-iconographic analysis of figurative representations present on the finds of material cultures, which are, with a higher or lower degree of probability, attributed to early Slavic cultures from the region of the Balkans. Apart from the aforementioned method, the identification of cultual figures has been made through comparative analyses with analogous examples from the circle of Indo-European populations, with mediaeval written sources referring to certain Slavic pagan religion, as well as with certain Slavic folklore traditions. The research includes several groups of archaeological finds. The most important is, certainly, a find of a group of early mediaeval metal tablets from the village of Velestino in Thesally, whereon a pantheon with anthropomorphic and zooanthropomorphic deities can be identified, which belonged to Slavic Velegizits, populating this region (God-Sky, Thunderer, Solar Horseman, Child-Bearing Goddess, a zoo-anthropomorphic chthonian god…). Analogous in their character and style are also individual finds from Biskupija, Čitluk, Dobrudža, as well as a recently found richly ornamented bronze hand from Romania. The other group is represented by early mediaeval ornaments. In the first place there are some types of so-called „thumb fibulas,” which are attributed to the Slavs and Antes. On those fibulas the figures of deities encoding the mythical images of the universe are identified (God-Sky, its chthonian opponent, Child-Bearing Goddess...). There are also other types of synchronous ornaments („Komani”-culture pendants, a silver button from Karojba...). This research also covers policefalous idols (the monumental idol from Bribir, the miniature idols from Preslav and Skopje), graffiti chiseled in stone, plaster, and ceramics, and some motives from the mediaeval Bosnian standing tombstones – as comparative material.
Етнокултуролошки зборник, књ. IX, Сврљиг, 2004, 135-148
Studia, mythologica Slavica, 10, Ljubljana, 2007, 83-101
This work is pointed towards the semiotic and mythological aspects of the threshing floor in Slav... more This work is pointed towards the semiotic and mythological aspects of the threshing floor in Slavic culture, including the period from the Middle Ages till the contemporary folklore. According to the real form and the functions of the threshing floor, its dynamical cosmological symbolic is stressed, accenting its celestial character: - threshing floor = sky/heaven; - the hinge = axis mundi; - the circular movement of the animals = cyclical dynamics of the celestial bodies. A few myths referring to this particular object are elaborated. “The threshing Floor where the Birds are threshing Immortelle” is explicitly represented in the stories from Macedonia and Bulgaria, while implicitly its presence can be noticed in the Balkan rituals connected with the “Christmas Straw” and the legends of “The Milky Way” (“Godfather`s Straw”/”Kumova slama”). The relation between the mythologized threshing floor and the faries is elaborated through the components “Fairies' Th reshing Floor” (“Vilino gumno”, “Judinsko horo”), present throughout toponyms and legends. The second part of this work will give elaboration to the motif of the “Metallic Th reshing Floor”.
Studia, mythologica Slavica, 11, Ljubljana, 2008, 65-103
In this part special place is given to the “Myth of the Metallic (Copper / Bronze) Th reshing Flo... more In this part special place is given to the “Myth of the Metallic (Copper / Bronze) Th reshing Floor”, present in the toponyms, legends, magical stories and in the mediaeval apocrypal texts. It contains analyses of the next mythical elements: the metallic components (threshing fl oor, castle, fi eld, plants, food …); the connection between the mythical threshing fl oor and the cosmological myths about the fi rst mountain; the relation between the “metallic threshing fl oor” and the “metallic shrine”. Th e similarity between the threshing fl oor and one type of the Slavic pagan shrines with circular form, and the representation of the threshing fl oor on the ritual loaves from the 19th century are also discussed. Elaboration is given to the chthonic and “outer world” location of the metallic threshing fl oor, and the basic actions that take place on it: the fi ght between the hero and the dragon; the holy marriage between the hero (=sky / cosmic axis) and the Earth, (=ground upon which the threshing fl oor lies).
Зборник на Музеите на Македонија (Археологија), н.с. бр. 1, Скопје, 1995, 153-166
Македонски фолклор, 53, Скопје, 1999, 55-69
Кралот Марко во историјата и во традицијата, Прилеп, 1997, 309-317
G. Terence Meaden (ed.) An Archaeology of Mother Earth Sites and Sanctuaries through the Ages: Rethinking symbols and images, art and artefacts from history and prehistory, Oxford: BAR International Series 2389, 2012, 5-19
This paper summarizes our past researches of the pictorial representations of the Mother Earth my... more This paper summarizes our past researches of the pictorial representations of the Mother Earth myth and the separation of the basic iconographical types. Generally, the paper is not geographically cultural or chronologically limited. This means that we approach the phenomenon in its wider aspect, searching for its universal (transhistorical and transcultural) features. This is justified by the simple fact that the Mother Earth phenomenon itself possesses such a character, being universal for the bigger part of mankind. Yet, beside this principal openness, the focus of our research points toward the archaic cultures, i.e. those that had never, or not in a sufficient degree, entered the spheres of the cultures that are today regarded as civilizations. Here we have in mind the cultures of the Neolithic, the Age of Metals and the later centuries BC. We have divided the corpus of the pictorial representations of Mother Earth into several categories based not so much on the appearance but on the basic semiotic concept that generated them: namely (i) A female figure in a determined posture; (ii) Reduction and partition of the female figure; (iii) Geometrisation of the female figure; (iv) Zoomorphisation of the female figure; (v) Woman that appears from the earth.
Key words: Archetypes, Birth-Giving Goddess, Mother Earth, pictorial representations.
Лесная и лесостепная зоны Восточной Европы в эпохи римских влияний и Великого переселения народов. Конференция 3: Сб. Статей/Под ред. А. М. Воронцова, И. О. Гавритухина, Тула: Государственный музей-заповедник „Куликово Поле“, 2012, 527-551
Studia, mythologica Slavica, 6, Ljubljana, 2003, 37-106
The article analyzes a bronze hand from Romania found at an unknown site. The hand, which was dat... more The article analyzes a bronze hand from Romania found at an unknown site. The hand, which was dated between the 6th and the 7th centuries, was placed on auction in New York in 1989. With the help of artistic, stylistic and iconographic comparisons it has been established that it belongs to the so-called Early Medieval pagan-Slavic iconographic system. By employing the symbolic and iconographic comparative analysis, the first part of the article focuses on the identification and interpretation of the mythical pictures depicted on the hand (zoomorphic, anthropomorphic and geometric). These pictures indicate former affiliation with cosmological iconography.
The second part of the study analyzes the role of hands and palms in traditional Slavic culture. The author writes about the .racian-Phrygian god Sabazios and compares the hand from Romania with other similar bronze hands that were connected with the cult of god Sabazios and widespread between the 2nd and the 4th centuries.
Лесная и лесостепная зоны Восточной Европы в эпохи римских влияний и Великого переселения народов (конференция 2, часть 2), Тула: Государственный музей-заповедник „Куликово Поле“, 2010, 204-225
The article represents a segment of global research emanating from the visual images of the Slavi... more The article represents a segment of global research emanating from the visual images of the Slavic deities, mostly manifested on archaeological finds, in this particular case, early Slavic artefacts (the plates of a cult character, and the so-called radiate-headed fibulae) found in the Balkans. By analysis of the iconography and symbolical features of these finds, the author attempts to define a type of mythical picture of an “anthropomorphic firmament with the phases of a solar cycle”. By its Slavic analogies, he follows this mythical picture through to the 19th century. Then, by use of iconographic analogy, and by comparison of visual images, attributes, and functions (the comparison is foremost made to the Iranian-Avesta god Z’rvan), the author suggests that this image should be identified as a mythical picture of the Slavic god Svarog who is manifested as the anthropomorphic sky. Finally, the author connects his proposed hypothesis with the known written sources, toponyms and etymological definitions related to the theonym Svarog.
Balcanoslavica, 32-33, Прилеп, 2003, 25-42
Studia, mythologica Slavica, 4, Ljubljana, 2001, 47-80
The paper explores the iconography and symbolism of certain types of late Avarian belt tongues (7... more The paper explores the iconography and symbolism of certain types of late Avarian belt tongues (7th-8th centuries) which depict three figures (zoomorphic, zoo-anthropomorphic, or anthropomorphic), two of which are engaged in a combat. The author proceeds from a thesis that this scene depicts a symbolic struggle between two opposing gods, a representative of the celestial/luminous principle, and a representative of the htonic principle. The author cites arguments according to which this jewelry, and the scenes depicted on it, belonged to Pannonian Slavs or to other peoples which had participated in Slavic ethno-genesis.
Гласник одјељења умјетности (Црногорска академија наука и умјетности), 11, Подгорица, 1992, 41-107
Труды VI Международного Конгресса славянской археологии, Т.5, Москва, 1999, 154-169
Стожер, 1997/8-9, Скопје, 1997, 5-6.
В. Мартиновски, В. Томовска (ред.) Сите лица на смешното: од антиката до денес. Скопје: Друштво на класични филолози Антика; Друштво за компаративна книжевност на Македонија, 2013
"The article is a continuation of the previous researches of the author, targeted to the classica... more "The article is a continuation of the previous researches of the author, targeted to the classical circus performances and its archaic mytho-religious levels. This research is focused on the ambivalence of the clowns mouth which causes positive and negative emotions. Seeking the historical genesis of it, he first comes to the big, wide, gaping mouth of the mythical character Silenos and other chthonic gods, which indicate the regressive aspects of the universe - the principle of destruction and death. Since male chthonic gods do not possess organs of birth, such a mouth takes over their creative function, so the chthonic god, through vomiting, returns back to nature that which he had eaten or drank before (water, sun, fire, plants, etc.). This is why the use this type of mouth, in Greek theater masks, can be treated as residue of the presence of characters with such features in theatrical performances.
Female mythical characters of the type of the Greek Gorgon Medusa or the Indian goddess Kali were also depicted with a similar gaping mouth. Both are obviously goddesses of death and destruction, which is represented exactly by using this organ. But, if you take into consideration their female gender, accentuated often by their spread legs, (pose specific for coitus and childbirth) it leads to the conclusion that originally (in relation with the vulva) progressive aspects of existence, conception and birth, were also coded in them.
The concept of equalization between the organs of the upper and lower halves of the human body, and in this framework, of the mouth and the vulva, is inherent for all mankind. This relationship is the basis of the myth of Demeter and Baubo, whose core plot is the moment when Demeter who, after greaving for a long time because she lost her daughter Persephone, finally smiles when the old woman Baubo lifts her skirt and shows her her vulva. These actions cause the awakening of nature which suggests the basic logical structure of this myth: laughing = opening of the mouth = opening of the vulva = conception and birth = activation of the vegetative processes in nature. Taken generally, laughing (especially women`s) represents her spiritual opening which is proceeded by the opening of her body.
This meaning, but also laughing as compensation for traur, may be taken as the key to justify the ritual laughter presented in funeral rites and ritual human sacrifices. The smile on the faces of the deceased and the sacrificed or the laughing of their mourning relatives, were seen as an indicator of the resurrection of the deceased and the instigator of their successful transition to the world of the gods.
The mouth is an organ intended for grinding food and killing other creatures. Therefore, it symbolizes death and destruction. It is quite a small difference between the mouth open for laughing and the mouth gaping for devouring. In all its ambivalence, both meanings are present in the Balkan Gorgon Medusa, Demeter and Baubo, the Indian Kali, but at the same time in the typical European clown - "August the Stupid" and the unique "Joker" in the film "Batman."
"
M. Walczak-Mikołajczakowa, A. W. Mikołajczak (eds.) Święty Tryfon w kulturze europejskiej. Poznań: Pracownia Humanistycznych Studiow Interdyscyplinarnych Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu, 2018, 87-155., 2018
This text discusses the incision or cutting off St. Tryphon’s nose recorded in the folklore of th... more This text discusses the incision or cutting off St. Tryphon’s nose recorded in the folklore of this saint, preserved foremostly in Macedonia, Bulgaria and Serbia. The research commences with a narratological analysis of legends, thus proceeding with their typology and determining the main characters. Then, key actions related to them are given, mostly associated with the incision of St. Tryphon’s nose while he was pruning the grape vines. Implicit sexual aspirations of Tryphon towards Virgin Mary, whom legends depict as his sister, are suggested as motives for this. Hence, cutting off the nose is interpreted as a symbolic castration which would present a punishment worthy of such a misdeed. Further chapters reflect on Pre-Christian patterns for such actions, mostly in two mythical complexes: (a) myths of Attis, Agdistis and Cybele and (b) those related to Lycurgus. Insobriety and insanity (induced by gods) are considered key components of these myths, which would cause injuries of the main characters and their close ones (castration and amputation of limbs). In the legends of St. Tryphon such components are presented through his insobriety and the grape vines he is pruning i.e. the wine that is about to be fermented. A special attention is given to Pre-Christian visual patterns of the appearance of St. Tryphon, while also analyzing several archaeological finds from Macedonia and other regions depicting male characters with an emphasized nose: ancient anthropomorphic vessels, ancient earrings and Neolithic ceramic objects. Finally, presented characters are semiotically analyzed, focusing on these symbolic relations: long nose – ithyphallicism; long and/or sharp nose – beak of vultures and raptors; nose – death – chthonic.
Key words: St. Tryphon, nose, phallus, incest, castration, grapes, pruning
grape vine, wine, Attis/Agdistis and Cybele, Lycurgus.
Macedoniae acta archaeologica, 21, 2018
The beginning of this article discusses the question whether the presence of negroid characters o... more The beginning of this article discusses the question whether the presence of negroid characters of the presented archaeological objects is the result of actual presence of black people in the pointed region or it is the result of mythical traditions where these characters appeared. Further, the black mythical characters are analyzed from semiotic aspect in the frames of the concept of binary oppositions:
white people - white world - this world - up - life - good - clean - humans
black people - black world - that world - down - death - bad - dirty - nonhumans
The presence of negroid characters on the vessels is elaborated first from the archaeological finds. The first presented object is the Neolithic vessel from Govrlevo, near Skopje, with possible cult purpose and a negroid head on the side of the body. Next are two golden vessels from the hoard at Panagjurishte in Bulgaria: the rhyton-amphora with two black people heads and the phiale with multiple heads of the same kind, organized in concentric circles. Also mentioned are the Hellenic aryballoi with a negroid head combined with the head of a white woman. From the Roman samples, there are two finds from the ancient theaters at the territory of the Republic of Macedonia, in Stobi and in Heraclea Lyncestis. Few bronze balsamaria shaped as negorid heads or negroid figures from the territory of Bulgaria are also mentioned. The second part presents jewellery with the same motif from the Hellenistic period. Those are mainly earrings shaped as a rhyton with negroid head coming out.
The concept of identifying the macrocosm (the surrounding world) and the microcosm (the man) in ... more The concept of identifying the macrocosm (the surrounding world) and the microcosm (the man) in relation to the principle of thought in binary oppositions creates a representation of an anthropomorphized cosmos in the archaic consciousness, in which the earth is a woman and the heaven a man. This mythic-symbolic structure, motivated among everything by human urge mechanisms, implies a mythic content regarding the sexual intercourse of these anthropomorphized cosmic elements. Moreover, such an action becomes a good model for explicating many other aspects of the universe existence: its genesis, development, dismemberment, ability to produce other elements (including creating human and other beings). Due to the universality of the factors that generate creation of these mythic-symbolic structures, different cultures around the world will invest a great amount of energy in them, resulting (often independently in various cultures) in myths of the ‘sacred marriage’ between the Heaven and the Earth, but also between other cosmic elements. In those myths the marriage takes place at the very beginning of world and time, being a prerequisite and a cause of all things. This study begins with a review of verbally manifested myths of hierogamy in cultures of the Old world and in the later ages, while some of the key aspects and functions of the ‘sacred marriage’ are being emphasized: (a) hierogamy as inception of the universe, as primordial chaos, as ancient era of felicity; (b) hierogamy for the purpose of agricultural activities, producing fire, legitimizing the ruler, death perceived as marriage with the Mother-Earth in a negative sense (as a cause of death) and in a positive sense (as a cause of resurrection). Given the relatively young age of the first written myths of hierogamy, the method of semiotic analysis of its pictorial representations creates new possibilities for a historical continuance of this phenomenon, finding its profound aspects and primary forms and even revealing the genesis of these myths. A great number of pictorial representations i.e. mythic pictures of hierogamy have been presented and analyzed in this paper, from the earliest Prehistoric times until the contemporary archaic cultures. They are divided in several groups and subgroups. Within the group of realistic anthropomorphic representations of hierogamy, the horizontal, vertically-symmetrical and crossed variances have been represented. Another subgroup encounters the cosmological context, especially emphasizing the examples shown on Early Slavic double plate fibulae. Partial i.e. separated hierogamy representations are classified in three combinations comprised of separate subcategories: a partial phallus and a partial vulva; a partial phallus and a female figure; a partial vulva and a male figure. Implicitly coded hierogamy representations are elaborated in a separate group, where the man and the woman are represented standing, sitting or lying one next to the other, with no explicit coitus representations. Instead, their genitals are symbolically represented through other parts of the body (arm, leg, mouth, armpit, nose, etc.), while the coitus itself is coded in different corresponding actions related to these organs (pointing, touching, trampling, beating, hurting and killing with weapons). Zoomorphized pictorial representations of hierogamy are divided as zoomorphic, zoo-anthropomorphic and zoomorphically partial. This category differentiates depending on whether the intercourse is between a man and a female animal, between a woman and a male animal or between anthropo-zoomorphic characters. A separate group consists of presentations where the coitus is performed above the animal or on a zoomorphized bed. Objectified pictorial hierogamy representations are only merely mentioned in this paper and coded in various objects, i.e. artefacts. Two geometric representations of the ‘sacred marriage’ are also included. In the first one, the sexes are represented with inversely oriented triangles which tangent or overlap (in a shape of a hexagram), while in the second they are represented with two rounded segments creating a circle (yin and yang).
Key words: sacred marriage, hierogamy, cosmogony, mythic picture, phallus, vulva, lingam-yoni, yin-yang, marital bed.
В изобразительном медиуме, между множеством гибридных зооантропоморфных персонажей, является и че... more В изобразительном медиуме, между множеством гибридных зооантропоморфных персонажей, является и человеческая фигура чьи руки метаморфозированны в виде протом животных или заменены целыми животными. Такие фигуры типичны культурам железного века Балканах, Апенинского Полусотрова и Луристана. В древних культурах являются ретко, а вновь становятса частыми в средневековых европейских культурах („Днепровские зооантромпоморфные фибулы, амулеты „змеевики“). Причина такой гибридности и ее значение можно искать на макрокосмическом и на микрокосмическом уровне. Предлагаем тезис по которому, в обоих случаях пар зооморфных елементов симболизирует определенные дуальные категории проицырованные на космосс и на человека которые, аналогно рукам, функционируют как действующие компоненты. При том сама антропоморфная фигура представляет идейный энтитет (божество?) которому они принадлежат и по чьей воле действуют.
Миф, 12, София, 2007, 35-67
Миф, 12, София, 2007, 35-67
Folia Archaeologica Balcanica, 2, Skopje, 2012, 263-282
K. Kulavkova (ed.) Interpretation: european project for poetics and hermeneutics. Vol. 2, Skopje: MANU, 2008, 261-303
The mountain is one of the paradigmatic symbols of the primordial, unchangeable and eternal, thus... more The mountain is one of the paradigmatic symbols of the primordial, unchangeable and eternal, thus becoming a personification/visualisation of the global memory of the surrounding environment and its inhabitants throughout the centuries. The purpose of this study is to elaborate some aspects of the complex mythology and symbolism of the mountain, using several Macedonian, Balkan and Slavic examples (the mountain as cosmic, i.e. primordial, elemental and equivalent, as an axis and pillar of the world, the mountain as a symbol of Sky and Heaven, the mountain as Mother Goddess, birth-giving goddess and hypostasis of the Goddess Earth, the mountain as a shrine, temple and home of the gods). This will be realised through an interdisciplinary dialogue emphasising ancient historical sources and archaeological finds and depictions, as well as through an exploration of toponyms, rituals and mythical stories (early and contemporary) regarding the mountain.
G. Terence Meaden (ed.) An Archaeology of Mother Earth Sites and Sanctuaries through the Ages: Rethinking symbols and images, art and artefacts from history and prehistory, Oxford: BAR International Series 2389, 2012, 5-19
This paper summarizes our past researches of the pictorial representations of the Mother Earth my... more This paper summarizes our past researches of the pictorial representations of the Mother Earth myth and the separation of the basic iconographical types. Generally, the paper is not geographically cultural or chronologically limited. This means that we approach the phenomenon in its wider aspect, searching for its universal (transhistorical and transcultural) features. This is justified by the simple fact that the Mother Earth phenomenon itself possesses such a character, being universal for the bigger part of mankind. Yet, beside this principal openness, the focus of our research points toward the archaic cultures, i.e. those that had never, or not in a sufficient degree, entered the spheres of the cultures that are today regarded as civilizations. Here we have in mind the cultures of the Neolithic, the Age of Metals and the later centuries BC. We have divided the corpus of the pictorial representations of Mother Earth into several categories based not so much on the appearance but on the basic semiotic concept that generated them: namely (i) A female figure in a determined posture; (ii) Reduction and partition of the female figure; (iii) Geometrisation of the female figure; (iv) Zoomorphisation of the female figure; (v) Woman that appears from the earth.
Key words: Archetypes, Birth-Giving Goddess, Mother Earth, pictorial representations.
Patrimonium MK, 10, Скопје, 2012, 59-94
The text begins with a depiction of the find, the circumstances of its discovery and of the paper... more The text begins with a depiction of the find, the circumstances of its discovery and of the papers in which it was previously published. It continues with an analysis of its appearance, the posture and the other features of the figure represented and its relations to several mythical characters i.e. deities from the Balkan and the Mediterranean traditions: Daedalus, Hephaestus, Bes, Satyr, Silenus, Pan, Priapus, Eros, the Cabeiri and Cadmos. The semiotic i.e. the mythic-symbolic meaning of several elements of the figure represented have been especially analyzed: the artificial wings, the advanced age, the baldness, the hair-covered body, the disproportionate height i.e. dwarfism, the uncovered phallus, the boots, kneeling on one knee, hands placed on the thighs and the pediment. In favour of relating the statue to Daedalus, several examples are given as analogues (the vessels from Tenos, Cerveteri and Boeotia) where the winged Daedalus is presented in a similar position. The relations with Hephaestus can be confirmed with the correspondence of some of its features to the ones of Daedalus (wisdom, technical skills, advanced age). There is a special emphasis on him having wings as an indicator of the mystical journey through the cosmic zones, i.e. the shamanic character typical for the archaic smiths and craftsmen. Furthermore, the morphological and iconographic liaisons of the statue with the representations of the Egyptian god Bes are mentioned, which spreading through the Mediterranean and the Balkan, probably by the Phoenician and the Cypriot smiths, has left traces in the appearance of several characters from the Balkan mythologies. Then, a thorough analysis of Silenus follows, who is related to the Plaošnik statue according to the following features (which simultaneously refer to Bes as well): dwarfism, a beard, baldness, nudity. The age of Silenus is emphasized (as a symbol of wisdom) combined with his affinity for drinking. Again, this refers to the mystical knowledge immanent to shamans, which can be obtained, among other things, by drinking priests’ alcohol potions. The links between the baldness and the ithyphallicism of this character are given through the visual similarities of the bald head and glans penis. Several scientific theories have been apostrophized according to which Silenus should be of Asia-Minorian i.e. of Phrygian origin as a god of rivers and springs, to which his theonym refers. Through the migration of the Bryges (= Phrygians) such descent could be traced as far as their ancient homeland in Macedonia and the Central Balkan. The possible presentation of a winged Silenus could be justified by relating him to Siljan, a mythical character from the contemporary Macedonian folklore, who embodies the key shamanic features of previously described characters. There are traditions and stories that depict him as an immature boy who achieves the status of a mature man by transforming into a stork ...
Interpretations, Vol. 3, Figures of Memory: Black Arab (Ed. by K. Kulavkova), Skopje: Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, 2009, 73-104
K. Kulavkova (ed.) Memory & Art. Interpretations. Vol 2, Skopje: MANU, 2008, 261-303
This paper summarizes our past researches of the pictorial representations of the Mother Earth my... more This paper summarizes our past researches of the pictorial representations of the Mother Earth myth and the separation of the basic iconographical types. Generally, the paper is not geographically cultural or chronologically limited. This means that we approach the phenomenon in its wider aspect, searching for its universal (transhistorical and transcultural) features. This is justified by the simple fact that the Mother Earth phenomenon itself possesses such a character, being universal for the bigger part of mankind. Yet, beside this principal openness, the focus of our research points toward the archaic cultures, i.e. those that had never, or not in a sufficient degree, entered the spheres of the cultures that are today regarded as civilizations. Here we have in mind the cultures of the Neolithic, the Age of Metals and the later centuries BC. We have divided the corpus of the pictorial representations of Mother Earth into several categories based not so much on the appearance but on the basic semiotic concept that generated them: namely (i) A female figure in a determined posture; (ii) Reduction and partition of the female figure; (iii) Geometrisation of the female figure; (iv) Zoomorphisation of the female figure; (v) Woman that appears from the earth.
Key words: Archetypes, Birth-Giving Goddess, Mother Earth, pictorial representations."
Macedoniae acta archaeologica, 19, Скопје, 2010, 157-175
This article is an attempt at interpretation of two bronze craters from the Trebenište necropolis... more This article is an attempt at interpretation of two bronze craters from the Trebenište necropolis and their iconography as well as their connection with the well-known myth of Kadmus and Harmonia. The legitimacy of this connection can be found in a few versions of this myth according to which the historical or mythical Kadmus spent part of his life in the Lihnidos region – an area where the above-mentioned bronze vessels were excavated. A few iconographical elements emphasize the connections with this well-known myth. Firstly, the pair of female mythical creatures, applied under the handles of both craters, were formed in the shape of goddesses with Gorgon – Medusa heads and widespread snakelike legs that end in snake heads. So far our studies have shown that the figures with this kind of markings in Europe and Asia represent the primordial mythical woman in childbed, whose functions are connected with the Cosmic proto-woman in childbed, Mother – Earth, Proto-woman in childbed of the Ethnos, but also with the Goddess of death. Namely, certain totemic aspects related to the cosmic waters had been incorporated into their zoo-anthropomorphic appearance. The best known example of this kind is the Scythian “Serpent legged Goddess”, who after her contact with Heracles or Zeus, or their Scythian equivalent, gave birth to the Scythians. Although they were not always acknowledged in verbal mythical forms, a few analogous zoomorphic Birth-giving Women were also found in the Luristan bronzes, Eastern Mediterranean, Etruria, and in the Early Middle Ages in the pagan cultures connected with the German, Slavonic and Finno-Ugric populations. The connection to Kadmus is also visible in the fact that in the myths, the bottom part of the body of both spouses is transformed into serpents, and Kadmus has a crest (cock’s crest?) on top of his head. In that context the examples of male mythical figures (Abraxas / Anguipede) who beside the serpent-legs also have a cock’s head appear. The second possibility would be the plausible identification of the zoomorphic legs of the Trebenište “Gorgons”, not with the serpents but with eels that are actually specific for the faunal characteristic of that area where the mythical cycle of Kadmus and Harmonia flows (the lake Kopaidi near Thebes, Ohrid Lake, the river Drim and its delta). Ancient sources have shown that in most of these locations, the eel was considered a sacred animal, which refers to its totemic character of a proto-Birth giving Woman of the local ethnos. Furthermore the ethnonym Encheleae / Engelans, literally means “human-eels”. In this constellation, the serpent-legged goddess from the Trebenište craters could be identified with Harmonia -Kadmus’ wife in the role of proto-mother of the Encheleans. The presence of these mythical creatures inside the graves of the Trebenište monarchs (perhaps applied on vessels that were used as urns) could be explained by the concept according to which the death of the monarch was considered as a marriage between him and the Mother Earth. A marriage that will result in mastering death (-as personal deification, i.e. heroisation of the deceased monarch as a continuation of the dynasty in the name of his heirs). The first aspect could be found in the cavalry column in the upper zone in one of the craters (the horses symbolizing motion and epiphany of the sun’s deification, which as well as the deceased dies and is born in the same circle of life). Regarding the cow column, applied on the second crater, it could be related to the important role of this animal in the previously mentioned myth of Kadmus (as a paradigm of the zoomorphic Goddess Mother or paradigm of the time cycles). The parallels of the Egyptian culture (Nut, Isis, Hathor) motivate the presumption that the cow’s presence is in the role of divine characters that will ensure the rebirth of the buried monarch. The presence of similar iconographic images on the craters that belong to other cultures (for example, the one from Vix) shows the presence of similar mythical concepts among the other barbarian populations in Europe.
Културен живот, 2010 / 1 - 2, Скопје, 8-21
Жива антика, 38/1-2, Скопје, 1988, 69-89
This paper examines the symbolic and cult meaning of some objects (primarily jewelry) from the "m... more This paper examines the symbolic and cult meaning of some objects (primarily jewelry) from the "macedonian bronzes". The fact that most of them have been found as grave enclosures points out their funeral character, which does not exclude the possibility of having been worn by human beings. It shows that the jewel¬ry had important magic-protective role: the person (whether alive or dead) had been protected from the influence of evil forces. Of especial importance is the appearance of the grave objects which should have helped the soul of the deceased person to leave his body and later to be revived. These are ritual weiths and anchors and miniature cases for "saint liguid" built in a column, or stylised "tree of life" that are accompanied by "heaventy messengers", represented by figures of animals and birds. Some objects have human figures representing their gods. The bronze ware with birds protoms show the female god of fertility and moisture with hands as birds protoms and blown up intestines from which a run heavenly streams. On the pendants in the shape of stylised "tree of life" and on some of the bells in the shape of dishes there are figures representing the male vergetation god of fertility and the beginning of the new life. He is represented with an erect phalus and with a whistle in his hands. There are perfomances of the magic agrarian symbols and gods that lead and maintain the life Vegetation cycle. They are put in the grave of the deceased person to reanimate his soul, which is another trance of the ancient interweaving of the agrarian and funeral cults and beliefs. The objects with representations of these gods disappear later, but their faces, with some changed characteristics are found in these areas and in the later ancient and neareastern religius traditions.
Lj. Fidanoski, G. Naumov (eds.), Neolithic in Macedonia: a step forward in the study of the first farming societies. Skopje: Center for prehistoric research, 2017
The paper analyzes the purpose of daub objects inside Neolithic houses from the Republic of Maced... more The paper analyzes the purpose of daub objects inside Neolithic houses from the Republic of Macedonia, which were either next to the ovens or in their immediate proximity (Zelenikovo, Govrlevo, Madzari, etc). Similar examples from other regions (Republic of Serbia, Bulgaria, Ukraine) have also been given, analyzing the degree of their similarity compared to the Macedonian counterparts. Based on the available literature, the actual theories regarding the character i.e. the purpose of these objects are presented, assessing the argument in their favor or against: grain grinders, salt extractor, objects used for dough kneading and its rising and cult objects i.e. altars. In favor of the first argument, several Neolithic constructions are given similar to those found in the Republic of Macedonia, where grindingstones were found, but also pictorial presentations of analogous objects from later periods. While presenting the second theory, the low degree of its reasoning is stressed as well as the absence of a fully developed concept in terms of resources and technology for salt extraction.The use of these objects related to dough kneading and rising is buttressed with similar items of the Balkan ethnography, ancient examples and the necessity to locate them near a warm source. Their cult purpose is confirmed with the ornaments found in some of them, but also their shape as a basin with a ‘backing’ i.e. a chair or a throne, paradigms of which are sought for in the female figure, based on semiotic analyses and relevant analogies. Finally, the possibility that these objects were used for both actions related to bread production is emphasized, intertwined with a cult purpose based on the symbolical identification of this activity with the biological functions of women as birth-givers and nurturers.
Keywords: Neolithic, daub objects, Neolithic altars, Neolithic grindstones, dough kneading, bread, Neolithic cult objects
Во трудот се анализира намената на објектите од лепеж лоцирани во неолитските куќи од Република Македонија кои се прилепени до калотестите печки или се наоѓаат во нивна близина (Зелениково, Говрлево, Маџари и др.). Претставени се и слични примери од околните регини (Република Србија, Бугарија, Украина) при што се анализира степенот на нивната сличност со македонските. Врз основа на постојната литература се презентираат досегашните теории за карактерот т.е. намената на овие објекти со проценка на аргументите кои им одат или не им одат во прилог: објекти за мелење жито, објекти за екстракција на готварска сол, ноќви т.е. објекти за месење тесто и негово оставање да нарасне и култни објекти т.е. жртвеници. Во прилог на првата теорија се приложуваат неолитски конструкции слични на оние од Република Македонија во кои се констатирани мелнички камења, како и ликовни претстави на аналогни објекти од подоцнежните периоди. При презентирањето на втората теорија се истакнува нискиот степен на нејзината аргументираност и отсуството на целосно заокружена концепција во смисла ресурси и технологија на ескстракција на сол. Намената на овие објекти поврзана со месењето и нараснувањето на тестото се поткрепува со слични објекти од балканската етнографија, антички примери и со потребата за нивно лоцирање покрај извор на топлина. Култната намена се аргументира преку орнаментите присутни кај некои од примерите како и формата во вид на корито со „наслон“ т.е. столица или трон, чии парадигми, врз основа семиотичка анализа и соодветни аналогии, се бараат во фигурата на жената. На крајот се апострофира можноста овие неолитски објекти да се користеле паралелно за двете постапки поврзани со подготовката на лебот, проткаени и со култна намена базирана на симболичката идентификација на оваа дејност со биолошките функции на жената како родилка и хранителка.
Клучни зборови: nеолит, објекти од лепеж, неолитски жртвеници, неолитски олтари, неолитски мелници, ноќви, подготовка на леб, неолитски култни предмети
Н. Чаусидис, Неолитските корени на „македонските бронзи“ и на други синхрони бронзени предмети од... more Н. Чаусидис, Неолитските корени на „македонските бронзи“ и на други синхрони бронзени предмети од Средниот Балкан (Abstract: Neolithic roots of "Macedonian bronzes" and other synchronous bronze objects from the Middle Balkans) // Љ. Фиданоски, Г. Наумов (ред.), Неолитот во Македонија: нови сознанија и перспективи. Скопје: Центар за истражување на предисторијата, 2016, 203 – 229.
http://www.cip-cpr.org/_publishing/_neolitotVoMakedonija.html
Macedonian bronzes refer to several types of small Iron Age bronze objects (8th-6th centuries BC) originating from Macedonia and neighboring Central Balkan regions. Depending on the shape and the character of the exact types, their origin is sought for in different sides. Some researchers made attempts to prove their Caucasian or the descent from the region north of the Black Sea, by making parallels, relating them to the so-called Thraco-Cimmerian movements (beginning of the 1st millennium BC), to which written sources also refer. Other finds (double axe models) are related to the Bronze Age Aegean cultures (Minoan and Mycenaean). This study argues a so far insufficiently promoted thesis regarding the indigenous Central Balkan component of some Iron Age objects from the aforementioned groups. It is made by comparing certain Iron Age objects or their features to relevant Balkan finds of previous periods. Those are several types of ceramic finds from the Neolithic which are mainly related to the far northern parts of the Balkan Peninsula, foremostly from the Vinča culture. Most of them are referred to as Vinča amulets in literature, given that based on their shape and the pierced apertures it is believed they were meant to hang on ropes, worn on human bodies as pendants with certain magical or symbolical purpose.
Keywords: Macedonian bronzes, Vinča amulets, Neolithic, Iron Age, jewelry.
Со терминот „Македонски бронзи“ се означуваат повеќе видови ситни бронзени предмети од железното време (VIII–VI век пр.н.е.), коишто потекнуваат од Македонија и од соседните среднобалкански области. Нивното потекло се бара на разни страни, зависно од обликот и карактерот на конкретнитe типoви. Некои истражувачи се обидуваат, преку паралели, да го докажат кавкаското или северно-прицрноморското потекло на дел од нив, поврзувајќи ги со т.н. „трако-кимериски“ движења (почетокот на I мил. пр.н.е.), на што упатуваат и пишаните извори. Други наоди (модели на двојни секири), се ставаат во сооднос со бронзеновременските егејски култури (минојската и микенската). Во оваа студија се изнесени аргументи за една досега недоволно промовирана теза околу автохтоната средно-балканска компонента на некои железновременски предмети од спомнатите групи. Тоа ќе се реализира преку компарирањето на конкретни железновременски предмети, или нивни обележја, со соодветни балкански наоди од постарите периоди. Станува збор за неколку типови ситни керамички наоди од неолитскиот период кои главно се врзуваат за посеверните делови на полуостровот, пред сè од кругот на „Винчанската култура“. Најголемиот дел од нив во науката се познати како „винчански амулети“ со оглед на тоа што, врз основа на обликот и пробиените отвори, се претпоставува дека биле предназначени да висат на јаженца, обесени на човековото тело, и тоа во функција на приврзоци со одредена магиска или симболичка намена.
Клучни зборови: македонски бронзи, винчански амулети, неолит, железно време, накит
G. Terence Meaden (ed.) An Archaeology of Mother Earth Sites and Sanctuaries through the Ages: Rethinking symbols and images, art and artefacts from history and prehistory, Oxford: BAR International Series 2389, 2012, 5-19
This paper summarizes our past researches of the pictorial representations of the Mother Earth my... more This paper summarizes our past researches of the pictorial representations of the Mother Earth myth and the separation of the basic iconographical types. Generally, the paper is not geographically cultural or chronologically limited. This means that we approach the phenomenon in its wider aspect, searching for its universal (transhistorical and transcultural) features. This is justified by the simple fact that the Mother Earth phenomenon itself possesses such a character, being universal for the bigger part of mankind. Yet, beside this principal openness, the focus of our research points toward the archaic cultures, i.e. those that had never, or not in a sufficient degree, entered the spheres of the cultures that are today regarded as civilizations. Here we have in mind the cultures of the Neolithic, the Age of Metals and the later centuries BC. We have divided the corpus of the pictorial representations of Mother Earth into several categories based not so much on the appearance but on the basic semiotic concept that generated them: namely (i) A female figure in a determined posture; (ii) Reduction and partition of the female figure; (iii) Geometrisation of the female figure; (iv) Zoomorphisation of the female figure; (v) Woman that appears from the earth.
Key words: Archetypes, Birth-Giving Goddess, Mother Earth, pictorial representations.
Скопје: Магор, 2011.
The Neolithic attracts a particular interest among the researchers of Prehistoric archaeology, as... more The Neolithic attracts a particular interest among the researchers of Prehistoric archaeology, as the innovations this period brought on the territory of the Republic of Macedonia and the Balkans in the second half of the seventh millennium BC, have major role in the manner in which the society was formed, functioned and existed. Building the first houses, organization of the earliest settlements, cultivation of plants and domestication of animals are Neolithic acquisitions which changed the course of human development and still remain crucial segments for any community. These social, economic and building innovations also reflect how the Neolithic people perceived the world that surrounded them and their place within. To define and explicate this relation they used clay i.e. ceramics as material which was already present as a new technological discovery. In addition, they employed pottery as medium where their own ideas about the world were registered, as well as those related to their own bodies. For the first time in the Balkans there were artifacts representing human figure not only as a reflection of their actual appearance, but also as manifestation of mythical characters which were constituent elements of their life. These anthropomorphic objects in particular are the subject of this monograph. A general overview of Neolithic finds in Macedonia is made where complete human body is represented or just parts of it. The anthropomorphic house models, vessels and figurines in all Neolithic phases are elaborated. They were rarely considered in Macedonian publications so far, especially not assembled as unit, but merely in chronological and typological perspective and sometimes through history of art. However, recent archaeological tendencies indicate that these aspects are not sufficient for a profound insight into their complex character and meaning. Therefore, we have established the aims of this book i.e. the elementary directions of our research project which resulted in realization of this publication.
Ј. Лужина (ed.), Македонскиот театар: балкански контекст, Скопје: Факултет за драмски уметности, 2007, 45-101
Anthropomorphic and Zoomorphic Miniature Figures in Eurasia, Africa and Meso-America. Morphology, materiality, technology, function and context , BAR International Series 2138, Oxford, 2010, 25-35
Objects usually called ‘altars’, some of which have been previously published, are common to the ... more Objects usually called ‘altars’, some of which have been previously published, are common to the territory of the Republic of Macedonia and appear to be specific to the Central Balkan region. In this paper we present a typology of these objects and attempt to relate the different types and subtypes into a unique system where their mutual genetic relations may be defined. In spite of the absence of immediate parallels, comparable objects of this period include ceramic models of houses from southeast Europe and the Near East. Based on a symbolic and iconographic analysis, we suggest they were cult objects of the ‘woman-house’ type. We propose they represent deified and personalized houses which symbolize several categories and functions (i.e., the power to give birth, to produce, to protect, to feed, to maintain life, to gather and to organize people, to operate community and probably to reproduce and resurrect the deceased). The meaning and cultic use of these objects are revealed by the comparative method and especially by their synchronic and diachronic aspects. The parallels for the symbolic relation of ‘woman-house’ or its wider meaning ‘woman-dwelling’, is found in several classical cultures and especially in folklore traditions in several populations from European and Asian regions, and even abroad. The general symbolic meaning of some house elements and comparative material leads us to propose several hypotheses for the cultic use of these Neolithic objects from the Republic of Macedonia: for libation or lighting and for; imitative magic in which objects were inserted in them (e.g., icon lamp, grain, bread and milk), so that in the real house ‘the hearth is forever active’ and plenty of food may be stored.
Key-words: Neolithic; Republic of Macedonia; house models; typology of ‘Woman-House’ models; symbolism of dwellings; ethnographic analogies.
Балканские чьтения 10: „Переходы. Перемены. Превращения“, Москва: Институт славяноведения РАН, Москва, 2009, 97-105
Macedoniae acta archaeologica, 18, Скопје, 2008, 75-92
The aim of this work is to analyze the character and the purpose of the openings on the Macedonia... more The aim of this work is to analyze the character and the purpose of the openings on the Macedonian Neolithic altars of the Mother-House type, based on it, and a verification of several hypothesis about the meaning and the function of this category of cult objects. Presented here is a part of these analysis which are related to these openings, located on the upper area (roof) and the bottom of the cubus (modeled house) (PI. I) and on the top of the anthropomorphic cylinder (PI. III). On some of the altars, on the four corners on the roof of the presented house there is a circular hole cut in with a diameter of around 1 cm. So far there is an assumption, according to which they could be used for putting in ropes so the altar can be hanged on the roof. Not really denying this hypothesis, the author is proposing a new one, according to which these openings had cult character i.e. were used for ritual adding of certain elements in the cubus: water, various liquid food (milk, cooking oil), processed or granulated (wheat, flour, bread crumbs), vegetation (leafs, flowers, branches) and animal elements (wool, hair, feathers) or elements who can burn or smoke (candles, pitch, embers). This hypothesis can be argued through appropriate rituals concluded at the Slavic and Balkan folklore, as well as the ehnographic traditions of other distant regions of the world. Actually, they are actions taken during various occasions (moving into a house, bringing the bride in the house, New Year's and other festivities). Namely, in the four corners of the house or on the roof various goods are placed, all with the same purpose, the abbility to gain happiness, welfare and protection in the future through this action. Especially important are the traces of such rituals, reffered to as "donating to the corners" during the excavation at the real houses from the Neolithic period. Semiotic analyses show that the four angles of the house, in these procedures symbolically are coding its total area.
The mentioned rituals quite often end with giving a present at the last point - the fireplace which codes the central part i.e. the center of the house, where in the case of elaborated Neolithic altars coincides with the central hole made on the peak of the anthropomorphic cylinders. Based on the funnel shape and traces of burning, can be assumed that through this hole on the cubus some kind of liquid was poured, or through it a smoke was going out. Besides this function and shape, the cylinders rising from the cubus, shouldn't be treated as chimneys (they appeared in the future epochs), but as a symbolic-iconographic elements with a purpose to anthropomorphize i.e. divinize the house. On some altars, this central hole on the cylinder has its own match - larger central hole cut on the basement of the cubus. The author makes an effort for additional development and argument on the previously stated assumptions stating that it serves for pouring out the elements that were ritually added into the cubus. He doesn't exclude the possibility that through this hole, in the cubus periodically could be possible to put out or put in certain elements (candle, icon lamp, planted plant) so the altar will simply cover them.
Adding various ritual elements could be made through larger holes, made on the lateral walls of the cubus. They could be elements that are already mentioned (in a role of symbols of the richness and the welfare of the house), so according to the principle of the homeopathic magic - and the real house to be filled with these elements or the one that they are symbolizing. Except the real jments, they could also be their art representations (figurines of people or animals). Considering the same concept, adding certain prophylactic elements (especially at the four corners) could lead to apostrophic effect, i.e. house protection from various negative aspects. In regard of listed concepts some parallels could be found, kept until present time in the Slavic and Balkan Folklore. We have in consideration the ritual breads (round breads, somewhere eve called "house"), made for Christmas or for the saint-patron holiday of the certain house, i.e. family. On their surface often is making an application of various artistic motifs, made in dough, and schematically are coding certain categories which the house should be fulfilled ("full barns", "multiplication of the cattle in the stables", "full house with children"). Some distant ethnographic examples are referring to the possibility of here shown Neolithic altars could serve also for symbolic sheltering and serving the souls of the deceased tenants that sometime lived in the house where this altar was placed in.
Histria antiqua, 18/1, Pula, 2009, 113-128
The subject of this paper is the research of possible meanings of some of the elements present on... more The subject of this paper is the research of possible meanings of some of the elements present on the Neolithic altars of the “Mother-House” type recovered in the Republic of Macedonia. These elements are ceramic objects in the form of an anthropomorphic house (15 to 50 cm high), consisting of two parts. The lower part is in the shape of a cube and represents a realistic or schematic house, while the upper part is cylindrical, in the form of a human head or female body. Both parts are hollow and connected, bearing different openings. Judging by the obvious mythic and religious purpose of the items in question, the holes must have had a specific symbolic meaning and a certain cult purpose. The author’s approach to the analysis and interpretation of the openings on the cubic part of the altar is based on his former research, and leads the author in the direction of identifying two different meanings to the holes. The first interpretation of the meaning is based on the symbolic identification of the house windows with human or animal eyes, and arises from the functional identification of both elements (a visual perception of the outside). The basis for such an interpretation is provided by the oval and almond shape of some of the openings on the mentioned altars, and on the presence of the holes in pairs. The author corroborates this hypothesis by intercultural and diachronic comparisons referring to different cultures and heteroaspectual sources (written sources, archaeological, ethnographic and linguistic material). The author interprets the suggested semiotics of the house windows as intentional, meant to represent the mythic patroness of the house who watches over the order in the house, thus protecting it from all forms of evil and bad fortune. The second interpretation of meaning is based on the assumption that the doors of the house represent a human or animal mouth. This assumption is also derived from their functional identification (both openings enable entering and exiting in and out of the body, that is, the house). The starting point for such an interpretation is provided by the form of some of the openings on the lower part of the ceramic elements of the Neolithic altars from Macedonia. They present indentations which suggest that the opening can be identified with the terrible jaws of a beast. The author corroborates this hypothesis with extensive comparative material, as in the case of his first hypothesis. He sees the motivation for the explained semiotics in two different observed aspects. The first aspect sees the house as a grave which “devours”, that is, kills the one who enters. The second aspect sees the house as a house of initiation,
where the entrance of the neophyte through its door-jaws acquires the meaning of his death, that is, the death of the child within him, while the coming out of the house would represent the birth of a new, mature person.
Традиционална естетска култура: тело и одевање, Ниш, 2009, 202-233
The paper is based on the concept of research of female clothes semiotics in relation to sex/repr... more The paper is based on the concept of research of female clothes semiotics in relation to sex/reproductive female functions, on the basis of prehistoric and contemporary examples. Apron: a triangular shape of archaic apron in relation to triangular pubis. Panties, thong, sanitary napkins: the end of female body complete and independent of body position; indicator of female emancipation in relation to her sex. Stockings and panty hoses: female legs as part of her genital system; stretch socks = ‘uncovered’ and ‘hidden’; mesh stockings = woman as a caught trophy (the stimulus for ‘hunt’ and ‘attack’ of man); panty hose = membrane that closes the entire lower half of a woman. Skirt = a cone connecting woman and earth – both with the function of creating; a woman in a skirt = a woman-mountain / Mother-Earth; mini skirt – distancing/emancipation of a woman from the earth/her macrocosmic archetype. The space between the female outstretched legs = the first outer space into which we pass from the uterus; ‘the lap of mother’s legs’, covered with a skirt = the archetype of a house. Covering and uncovering of waist and female belly: - emphasizing the volume of hips; - showing that the woman is not pregnant.
Key words: female body semiotics, genitals, sex/sexuality, mons pubis, legs, apron, panties, stockings, mesh, skirt, house "
Every human observation of the sky is in some way its descent on Earth. In the past, it was done ... more Every human observation of the sky is in some way its descent on Earth. In the past, it was done more symbolic than practical, through reflection of the image of the sky in an object that functioned like a mirror. In that context, we analyze a Dodola folk song from Serbia in which a fairy invokes rain with a mirror she holds in her lap. During the ritual she is on top of a fir tree which has all the elements of a cosmic axis – it is located in the middle of the village and stretches high in the sky. The genesis of this structure can be traced back to the neolith through figurines of women-witches with a bowl of water in their lap in which they reflect the sky. These interpretations are further supported by lexemes from the Slavic languages which reflect the connection of the words for magic, sorcery (чарати, бацати чини) and those for shallow bowls, plates (чара, чинија). Then we analyze similar South Slavic rituals designed for taking the milk of a cow or a breastfeeding mother from another family. In these rituals women go to the threshing floor, take off their clothes and put a plate with water in their lap to reflect the moon. Then they strain the water through a sieve and believed that this makes the moon descend down to earth and moo like a cow. This is a magical ritual in which the straining of the water actually represents extracting the milk of the Moon which is depicted as a deity in the form of a cow. Supporting the relation woman-moon-water- fertility we mention numerous ethnographic and archeological facts which are based on the interference between the moon cycles and the female menstrual cycles. The movement of the sun in the ancient cultures was not always imagined as a cycle, but more as a semi-circular or wavy pattern, mostly because of the absence of a wheel as a paradigm. Still, the cyclic dynamics of the sun, the moon and the starry sky were observed even before the invention of the wheel and the carriage which later appeared in the era of metals and not as utilitarian but symbolic objects. It is assumed that the threshing hold prepositioned this, being a circular platform with a central pillar around which the horses or livestock moved in circles, stomping the wheat, separating the grain from the straw. This object also appeared as a symbolic phenomenon, a mythical image of the sky which depicts the cyclic movement of the celestial bodies. Its agricultural use comes secondarily. This is supported by the fact that most constellations have animal names, as well as the entire zodiac (‘animal circle’) – The Milky Way whose names contain straw – the essential part of the threshing hold; the immobile Polar star in the center of the sky or Pole star. It is believed that the threshing floor is not just a paradigm of the sky and its cyclic phenomena (‘celestial’/’ copper threshing floor’) but of numerous other constructions as well, which used to have a strong sacral status (the antic theaters orchestra, the arenas of the amphitheaters and stadiums..). It is also the basis of many temples-observatories like Stonehenge, as well as to similar Slavic bath-houses and the temples of other European tribes which were most likely used to observe the cyclic phenomena in the sky. The components we pointed out in this paper can be recognized in the temple in Kokino but not in the form of the object but in the form of the cyclic phenomena they observed in the temple (the threshing floor circle) and the central point through which they were observed (the threshing floor pillar).
Poznańskie Studia Slawistyczne 13. Poznań 2017. Publishing House of the Poznań Society for the Advancement of the Arts and Sciences, pp. 337–357. ISSN 2084-3011, 2017
The main reason for this study are the bronze objects found on the body of a woman (supposedly a ... more The main reason for this study are the bronze objects found on the body of a woman (supposedly a “priestess”) from an Iron Age grave (VII century BC) from Marvinci in the Republic of Macedonia. There has also been a bronze statue recently presented in a public space in Skopje, as a contemporary art interpretation of this archeological finding. The main focus of this article is a semiotic analysis of arch-shaped bronze elements from this grave. Based on the form of similar finds from Europe they are defined as cheek-pieces i.e. elements of the reins for horse riding, but in Macedonia they have been used in another function – as female jewelry or as handles of a specific ritual implement. The study suggests overcoming of these contradictions through the following semiotic relations: a girl/mare + equipment for riding = a harnessed mare/wife, i.e. the use of these objects as symbols of a “wild woman” who is transferred from the sphere of “natural” to the sphere of “cultural” through the act of marriage, becoming a “tamed/a domesticated wife”. Within the same relationship the following paradigm is proposed (husband = ruler: wife = subject). Several facts are stated in the argumentation of this relationship: the mythological and ritual traditions based on ancient written sources; a ritual tradition of Slavic and Balkan folklore; a Slavic and ancient Greek lexeme with the meaning husband and wife whose etymology is based on the meaning of harnessed. This semiotic relation offers a possible key for the interpretation of the twenty bronze statues of horsemen placed in the last three years in the capital of the Republic of Macedonia, as part of the project “Skopje 2014”.
Keywords:
Iron Age; Macedonian bronzes; semiotics of a rider; harness; reins; horse; mare; husband and wife; “Skopje 2014”
Skopje before 8 millenia -1: the earliest bulders from Cerje - Govrlevo = Скопје пред 8 милениуми - 1: најстарите градители од Церје - Говрлево. Skopje: Museum of the city of Skopje = Скопје: Музеј на град Скопје, 2017, 61–94. , 2017
Living daily in his house, the archaic man must have imposed upon himself the following logical c... more Living daily in his house, the archaic man must have imposed upon himself the following logical connection that will have profound religious and philosophical implications: I live in a house, it belongs to me, but nevertheless, I am not a house. I live in a body, it belongs to me, but nevertheless, I am not a body. Acceptance of this relationship means that the house is one of the components (perhaps the key one) that will stimulate the differentiation of man as a being in two separate spheres of existence - the sphere of the material and sphere of the spiritual. As I reside in my house as its essence, so resides my soul, myself, in my body as its essence. My body is the house of my soul. From this relation comes the idea of posthumous existence: When my house is destroyed, I move to another house. When my body is destroyed, I (my soul) will move to another body.
This archetypal relation can be placed at the base of various phenomena from the funeral sphere, related to the meaning of the grave as a new space in which, after death, the deceased is staying, i.e. his soul as his essential and lasting part. Although a paradigm of the relationship grave = the house of the deceased, one can take the real habitat, and should not forget the material body that is seen as a house, a casing, a box, a package of his soul. In some Balkan, Mediterranean and Eastern religions (Orphism, Hinduism, Manichaeism etc.), it was believed in metempsychosis - posthumous moving of the soul from one body to another, these traumatic reincarnations were being treated as its unnecessary torture. In this context, the body was considered a “prison for the soul”, (the house - a dungeon) that should be avoided through the enlightenment of the soul realized through gnosis (knowledge) and application of other religious practices.
The identification of the human body with the house also occurs in the contemporary western science. In psychology it is used to metaphorically represent the psychological structure of a man: the ground floor is the conscious part of our psyche, visible, accessible and available to the mind. The basement is the unconscious, which is animalistic, dark and inaccessible to our consciousness, but also close to the creative forces of the earth from which we are frightened and fascinated by. The attic is the supernatural, also unavailable to the consciousness, but in the opposite direction from the animalistic, it is directed upwards, towards the sky, the divine and the spiritual.
Д. Жунић (ed.), Традиционална естетска култура: Игра, Ниш: Центар за научна истраживања САНУ и Универзитета у Нишу, 2011, 35-63
The paper presents the analysis of the swinging semiotics, understood as transcultural and transh... more The paper presents the analysis of the swinging semiotics, understood as transcultural and transhistoric phenomenon, primarily at the level of traditional culture (rite, myth, visual representations), circus performances (trapeze) and sport skills (horizontal bar, rings). Ritual swinging is depicted with examples that mostly belong to Slovene and Balkan traditions (prehistory, the classical period, folklore). There are elaborated various motivations behind this phenomenon: marriage, the stimulus for the harvest of agriculture and live stock, the prosperity of individuals and community, the health of those who are swinging. In the paper there is the analysis of a few semiotic levels of ritual swinging. The vegetative swinging (the growth of plants, live stock, and children) is present through various aspects – marriage-sexual (immediate identification of swinging with sexual-erotic spheres and coitus, based on nerve-sense impulses present during swinging, the aspect of imitative, that is homeopathic magic (as high as we swing, that high the plants will grow), the concept of transposing of fertile powers from the one who is swinging towards nature (air, soil, plants) and vice versa, hierogamy (the union of the sky and the Earth via the swing). Within the lustrative aspect of swinging there are elaborations of the aspects of psychological catharsis, ‘ventilating’ the body, the wind as the sacralised destroyer of negative factors. Within the theme of ‘swinging as mythical paradigm’ the following aspects are considered: the swing as the ‘world axis’, as a ‘ship leading to the sky’, as a ‘dangerous swing’ that hurts, kills and thus takes to ‘that other world’ those who are swinging on it. There is a detailed analysis of solar-celestial aspect of the swing, primarily the swing as the most archaic paradigm of periodical movement of the sun across the sky (ascending and descending), even before the appearance of the concept of cyclical understanding of solar dynamics. In the end, there are presented the semiotic aspects of ritual hanging: hanging as scarifying, as a precondition for advancing, hanging as execution, the hung mythical characters.
Key words: ritual swinging, the swing, gallows, hanging, the hung
person, circus, trapeze, sacrificing, solar myths, cosmic axis, shamanism, ritual eroticism, hyerogamy.
Миф, 14, София, 2008, 5-43
This article is dedicated to the phenomenon known as "The transfer of libido" within the frames o... more This article is dedicated to the phenomenon known as "The transfer of libido" within the frames of the ancient and modern traditional communities and especially its manifestations in material culture. In the introduction, there is a little elaboration about relation between archeology and physiology and the role of pictorial semiotic as their mediator. Afterwards there is a criticism of the concepts in which, after explanation of primary cultural's genesis and especially manufacture products, the active rationality of archaic man included during the explanation is baseless. Instead of this, we suggest another concept in which genesis of primary forms of productions are seeking in the spheres of "mutated" and "perverted" instinctive mechanisms of the humans. In addition, there is attempt for proving (based mostly on artistic illustrations) that human's libido is invested in the hunt during the time of the Paleolithic period and cult objects are included too. Also there are parallels with analogical phenomenon in the later cultures, in which those ones from Balkan's folklore also take part. Due to this, we are emphasizing symbolic identification of the weapon with phallus, of the hunted animal with women and of the hunt with coitus. With the same analogy is treated the investment of the libido in the spheres of agriculture, based upon the symbolic identification of the soil with the Women and of the agricultural tool with the phallus, where the act of cultivation of the soil is becoming act of coitus. This identification (presented above) is manifested through few traditions, beginning from late prehistory to the modern folk¬lore (artistic illustrations, traces in the languages, myths and rituals). At the end is presented the example of investment of the libido in production of the Bronze Age's stone ax (procedure of perforation of the hole for handle is identified as coitus).
Кодови словенских култура, Т. 10 (ватра), Београд: Клио, 2008, 13-114
Studia mythologica Slavica, 9, Ljubljana, 2006, 97-160
The paper focuses on the semiotic function of the crepna (bread baking dish) and the vrshnik (its... more The paper focuses on the semiotic function of the crepna (bread baking dish) and the vrshnik (its cover). These traditional clay dishes were characteristic of the Balkans. Examined are several topics: the form of the crepna, which is reminiscent of the female body and therefore connected with a number of ritual magic procedures; female symbolism of the crepna; the crepna - dish - uterus - woman relation; and analogies and etymologies from Slavic languages. In popular tradition and phraseology, the crepna denotes earth while the vrshnik indicates the sky covering the earth. Examined is the custom in which a male effigy is placed on a peg wedged in the center of the crepna. The function of the male figurine was to protect the earthenware dish during the drying process. By employing semiotic and comparative analyses, and in relation with the mythological German, the author investigates the role of German and his implicit function as fecundator, mediator, and god sacrificed on the cosmic axis. The paper then looks at medieval Slavic, Indo-European, and worldwide parallels in art. One of the symbolic postulates is the analogy between the making of bread (kneading, leavening, baking) and the growth of a baby inside its mother's womb. In this respect, the crepna dish attains the character of the uterus - the mother of the bread and earth. The yeast represents the father of the bread, and the sperm means the rain.
И. И. Срезневский и история славяно-русской филологии: Тенденции в науке, образовании и культуре, Рязань, 2007, 33-36
Предавања на XL меѓународен семинар за македонски јазик, литература и култура, Скопје: Универзитет „Св. Кирил и Методиј“, 2008, 209-236
In this article we reach the mytho-symbolic and ritual character of the drum considering the Mace... more In this article we reach the mytho-symbolic and ritual character of the drum considering the Macedonian (and broadely the Balkan) Traditional culture. We summarize its role in the shamanic activities, afterwards assuming its role as the mystical «mean of transportation", which in the scope of the Macedonian dance «Teškoto» enable the dance leader to separate himself from the earth and its traveling to the «other world». There is an atempt the component of the mystical travel to be found in the dancing on one leg (typical for the «Teškoto» dance) and especially in relation with the appropriate pose of the stork / crane as a paradigmatic zoomorphyc traveler between the worlds. The comparative research shows that the drummer often carries within itself the priest functions. Regarding the way of the performing (kicking/hiting) he is also considered as blacksmith and magician. In the Macedonian traditional culture the both functions were accomplished by the foreigners (most frequently the gypsies - blacksmiths). All these components emphasize the sacralised animal (horse) as the mediator which was the main factor for achieving the already mentioned functions. At the end we consider the relation between the hiting in the drum, stroke of the thunder, the drummer and the God of Tunder.
In this article we reach the mytho-symbolic and ritual character of the drum considering the Mace... more In this article we reach the mytho-symbolic and ritual character of the drum considering the Macedonian (and broadely the Balkan) Traditional culture. We summarize its role in the shamanic activities, afterwards assuming its role as the mystical «mean of transportation", which in the scope of the Macedonian dance «TeSkoto» enable the dance leader to separate himself from the earth and its traveling to the «other world». There is an atempt the component of the mystical travel to be found in the dancing on one leg (typical for the «Teškoto» dance) and especially in relation with the appropriate pose of the stork / crane as a paradigmatic zoomorphyc traveler between the worlds. The comparative research shows that the drummer often carries within itself the priest functions. Regarding the way of the performing (kicking/hiting) he is also considered as blacksmith and magician. In the Macedonian traditional culture the both functions were accomplished by the foreigners (most frequently the gypsies - blacksmiths). This thesis is focused on one archeological object discovered in Suvodol (near Bitola) representing an animal (horse) head carved in a stone. Its analogies could be traced through the East Europe up to the Caspian coast, and to be connected with the influences and migrations of the Indo-Europeans during the 3rd millennium B.C. We present the hypothesis strasing that this object had sacral caracter with several functions: ruler scepter, drum percussion and magical instrument. All these components emphasize the sacralised animal (horse) as the mediator which was the main factor for achieving the already mentioned functions. At the end we consider the relation between the hiting in the drum, stroke of the thunder, the drummer and the God of Tunder.
Традиционална естетска култура: тело и одевање, Ниш, 2009, 202-233
The paper is based on the concept of research of female clothes semiotics in relation to sex/repr... more The paper is based on the concept of research of female clothes semiotics in relation to sex/reproductive female functions, on the basis of prehistoric and contemporary examples. Apron: a triangular shape of archaic apron in relation to triangular pubis. Panties, thong, sanitary napkins: the end of female body complete and independent of body position; indicator of female emancipation in relation to her sex. Stockings and panty hoses: female legs as part of her genital system; stretch socks = ‘uncovered’ and ‘hidden’; mesh stockings = woman as a caught trophy (the stimulus for ‘hunt’ and ‘attack’ of man); panty hose = membrane that closes the entire lower half of a woman. Skirt = a cone connecting woman and earth – both with the function of creating; a woman in a skirt = a woman-mountain / Mother-Earth; mini skirt – distancing/emancipation of a woman from the earth/her macrocosmic archetype. The space between the female outstretched legs = the first outer space into which we pass from the uterus; ‘the lap of mother’s legs’, covered with a skirt = the archetype of a house. Covering and uncovering of waist and female belly: - emphasizing the volume of hips; - showing that the woman is not pregnant.
Key words: female body semiotics, genitals, sex/sexuality, mons pubis, legs, apron, panties, stockings, mesh, skirt, house
Poznańskie Studia Slawistyczne, 2, Poznań, 2012, 71-93
Abstract:: All of the elements present within the contemporary phenomenon known as ‘circus’ can... more Abstract::
All of the elements present within the contemporary phenomenon known as ‘circus’ can be found in the symbolic traditions of the ancient and archaic cultures, most often manifested as mythical pictures, ritual and magical acts, mythical stories and cult objects. In several previous researches we have tried to find the visual, the mythical and symbolic ancient models of some classical circus acts, such as the trapeze, the juggling and the fire eating. This paper discusses the act of tightrope walking. The introductory part presents the basic information regarding this circus act, along with the phrases, the elements and the skills it consists of. The text continues with the historical review of this circus skill which reaches as far as the great civilizations of the Old World. As a mythical paradigm of this act we took the mythical representations from all over the world regarding crossing the mythical bridge conceived in its cosmological dimension – as communication through the cosmic horizons (sky-earth-underworld). This paper reviews several variants of mythical representations of the narrow bridge between ‘this world’ and the ‘underworld’ registered in different parts of the planet originating from different ages: the log i.e. a tree trunk bridge, a snake bridge, a phallic bridge, the blade bridge, the hair i.e. the string bridge.
Key words:
Circus, tightrope walking, hair bridge, blade bridge, snake bridge"
Summary:
All of the elements present within the contemporary phenomenon known as ‘circus’ can be found in the symbolic traditions of the ancient and archaic cultures, most often manifested as mythical pictures, ritual and magical acts, mythical stories and cult objects. Herewith, we refer to the circus arena and the tent itself, the circus genres and acts as well as the main characters and props. Research has shown that all of them carry a primordial sense and some ancient desire to identify, reveal, explain, represent and to incite a certain cosmic or cultural phenomenon (especially important for the people) or some archetypal symbolic structure deeply ingrained in the human subconsciousness, through the picture represented or the act performed. In several previous researches we have tried to find the visual, the mythical and symbolic ancient models of some classical circus acts, such as the trapeze, the juggling and the fire eating. This paper discusses the act of tightrope walking.
The introductory part presents the basic information regarding this circus act, along with the phrases, the elements and the skills it consists of. Due to the relatedness, balance beam, the sport gymnastic discipline is also mentioned. The text continues with the historical review of this circus skill which reaches as far as the great civilizations of the Old World (Egypt, China and Rome), the Middle Age when it was present in the Middle East (Mid-Asia, Caucasus, Armenia) and in Europe (Byzantine Empire, Russia, France etc.). Because of its great popularity, it became an inevitable part of the first European stationary circuses established in the 18th century. Later on, it became more dramatic with ropes being tied across rivers or other dangerous places (for example, the Niagara Falls, between the two towers of the World Trade Centre in New York).
Furthermore, the text continues with an analysis of the semiotics and the symbolic of this circus act which even in the past ages carried certain magical and religious meanings, alluding to a dangerous motion, a metaphysical transit or a transition from one condition into another. The act was often performed through a sloped rope, which implies not only a dangerous horizontal motion (left-right), but also a vertical one (up-down), especially because of its possible cosmological associations. In practice, the meaning of this act grew stronger through the great height of the rope or the placement of dangerous elements beneath it (water, fire, scary animals, blades, spikes).
As a mythical paradigm of this act we took the mythical representations from all over the world regarding crossing the mythical bridge conceived in its cosmological dimension – as communication through the cosmic horizons (sky-earth-underworld). According to these traditions, such crossing was possible only in the first (the ideal) stadium of the cosmos when it was not dismembered or in circumstances when it is done by a special category of characters capable of transcending, i.e. of repealing the dismemberment. Those are the heroized people, gods and semi-gods, deceased, shamans and other devotees. In certain circumstances, it is done by ordinary people as well, such as the koledari (the Orthodox carollers who go for ritual visits of the houses), for they are a hypostasis of a certain mythical character and because the act itself is performed around New Year when the cosmos gets back to its ideal state.
This paper reviews several variants of mythical representations of the narrow bridge between ‘this world’ and the ‘underworld’ registered in different parts of the planet originating from different ages. The stump i.e. a tree trunk bridge has been registered in Serbia, in parts of Hungary and Romania, the Danube Valley in Bulgaria and in Polesia. It is preserved as a legend for the deceased who uses it as a passage to the underworld, or as a custom of placing a stump, a plank or a small bridge across a water surface in order to help his soul transit to the underworld easily. These representations have been related to the rainbow, conceived as a bridge between the worlds. Some acts refer to the inclusion of these mythologems also in the traditions of the transition of a girl into a bride. A snake bridge is registered in Eastern Africa, Caucasus, Asia Minor, Siberia, Melanesia and the American continent. It is presented with a real or mythologized snake (somewhere identified as a rainbow), which transforms into a bridge through which the souls of the deceased, the shamans and other category of people walk. Here, the snake represents the axis mundi (the liaison among the sky, the earth and the underworld), as a connection between the world of the living and the world of the dead as well as a link among the past, the present and the future. A phallic bridge was noticed in South Asia, Indochina, Taiwan, Southern Siberia and the American Continent. The character to whom the phallus belongs (a mythical character, human or animal) places it across some abyss or water, thus enabling a passage to the other side. As in the case with the snake bridge, the bridge changes (it moves, stiffens or relaxes) thus selecting which of the walkers will cross, and who won’t. This picture interferes with the presentations of the ‘macrocosmic phallus’ (conceived as a cosmic axis i.e. column) present in many cultures. It is based on the real functions of this organ which has a role of a mediator in joining, i.e. the coitus of the man and the woman. In this context, the named acts receive a meaning of hierogamy. The blade bridge could be confirmed in the Hindu culture, in the medieval European legends (Lancelot’s crossing of the sword bridge), the Finnish traditions (the legends of Väinämöinen), the Japanese shaman traditions and the Taoist rituals (Sai-Kong). In Islam, it is manifested through the Siraat Bridge, which is thinner than a hair and sharper than a sword and which will be placed across hell on Judgment day and will lead to heaven. Every man will be ordered to cross it, and the righteous ones will cross it easily, while the sinners will fall. Representations of such a bridge were kept in the folk tales of the Muslims in Serbia as well as in other non-Muslim environments (in Polesia for example). It is also manifested in the rite practice, through the act of standing barefoot on a sword blade, which is practised by the dervishes. In the ancient Iranian traditions, the Chinvat Bridge bears such features, as it is thinner than a hair and sharper than a razorblade. The hair i.e. the string bridge is present in Serbia and Montenegro in presentations of bridge leading to heaven. For the righteous soul it is wide, and for the sinner it narrows to the thickness of a hair which then tears and the sinner’s soul falls into hell. Moreover, folk songs have been preserved in which even St. Peter’s mother fails to cross such a bridge. According to the ancient Iranian traditions, the kingdom of Ahura Mazda, the supreme god, is separated from this world by an abyss where Ahriman, the god of darkness and evil rules. The Chinvat Bridge spans across this abyss and it is wide for the righteous souls, but for the sinners it is thinner than a hair and sharper than a razorblade. A bridge with identical marks can be found in the Islam (Siraat), but also in the Vision of St. Paul as well as in the Altai shamanism. In some cases (England, China) it is alternated with a narrow string bridge or a rope bridge.
In the line of interdisciplinary research of semiotic relations between prehistoric and the conte... more In the line of interdisciplinary research of semiotic relations between prehistoric and the contemporary settlement, this paper, based on the ethnological materials, tends to explain insufficiently stressed aspect of Neolithic buildings which refer to women’s biological functions (menstruation, delivery – after-delivery phase).
На линији низа интердисиплинарних истраживања семиотичких односа између праисторијског и савременог станишта, овај рад, са ослонцем на етнолошку грађу, настоји да проникне у један недовољно наглашен аспект неолитских грађевина који се односи на женске биолошке функције (менструацију – порођај – постпорођајну фазу).
Кључне речи: керамичке кућарице, менструација, неолит, жртвеници, Балкан.
Етнокултуролошки зборник, XIV, Сврљиг, 2010, 89-112
Production of bread in the Slav traditional cultures brings important myth character. Semiotics o... more Production of bread in the Slav traditional cultures brings important myth character. Semiotics of the ritual activities about the bread making is based on the symbolical relations of the three levels of the human body (biological and sociological aspect – micro cosmos), man’s cultural artificial area (mezzo cosmos) and the universe (macro cosmos).
Производња хлеба и друге форме његове обредно- утилитарне манипулације, у словенским традиционалним културама носи снажан митски карактер. Семиотика ових активности је базирана на симболичким релацијама међу трима наизглед сасвим различитим и неспојивим нивоима: – ниво људског тела у његовим биолошким и социолошким аспектима (микрокосмос); – ниво човековог, културног т.ј. артифициелног простора (мезокосмос); – ниво природе т.ј. васионе (макрокосмос). Сам хлеб припада другом од наведених нивоа (мезокосмос) у који уједно улазе и сви елементи и радње повезане с њим (тесто, квасац, суд за квасање, суд за печење, пећ, мешење, квасање, раст и печење, теста, ломљење и једење хлеба). Ниво микрокосмоса заступају елементи људског тела и аспекти полно-брачне сфере (мушкарац, жена, фетус, дете, фалус, вулва, материца, сперма, кревет, менструација, коитус, ејакулација, бременитост, рађање, брак, породица, болест, смрт). Ниво макрокосмоса је заступљен елементима и појавама човековог непосреднијег и даљег окружења (земља, подземље, воде земље, биљке, животње, небо, небеска тела и појаве, облаци, атмосферске воде, гром, муња, аспекти времена). Други од наведених нивоа коме припада хлеб, у релацији с осталим двама гради бројне симболичке релације које се могу категоризирати у две сфере – сферу мушког и сферу женског принципа. Сам наслов овог чланка јасно опредељује усмереност овде приказаних анализа ка сфери мушког принципа. Ово истраживање се може разумети као део једног обимнијег проучавања митологизације хлеба (и шире – сфере припреме хране) кроз систем полно-брачних кодова. У ранијим годинама је оно остварено у неколико посебних истраживања посвећених црепуљи и вршнику,2 пећи3 и наћвама.4 Она су недавно синтетизирана у раду посвећеном „мајци хлеба“, односно женским аспектима садржаним у поменутим предметима који су укључени у његову обредну производњу.5 Иако базу ових истраживања представљају словенске и балканске фолклорне традиције, у њима (па и у овом истраживању) укључене су у значајној мери и старије традиције из средњег века, антике и посебено праисторије, посебно заступљене у археолошким налазима неолитских и енеолитских култура Балкана, Медитерана
и источне Европе.
Кључне речи: производња хлеба, квасац, људско тело, културни простор, мушки принцип, жена.
The article applied the concept of semiotic analysis of the equipment for the traditional making ... more The article applied the concept of semiotic analysis of the equipment for the traditional making of bread, above all in relation with the female reproductive organs (womb, vulva and breasts), as well as with natural elements of similar shapes (a hole in the ground, furrow, cave, valley). Particular significance is attached to the kneading trough – a vessel in which dough is left to ferment and rise, primarily in the framework of Slavic ethnography. The mentioned female meanings are indicated through ritual-magical tradition and the semantics of lexemes related to this area. Taking these traditions as a base, an attempt is made to find these objects and their female meaning in several categories of prehistoric pottery and wooden vessels that have so far been defined in archaeological science as cult objects: - Neolithic wooden trays; - Cycladic anthropomorphic vessels; - so-called zoomorphic and anthropomorphic ritons; other zoomorphic and anthropomorphic tripod vessels; - massive hurdle structures in Neolithic houses. Then the oven is analyzed as the second object in which the transformation of dough continues after the fermentation (baking of bread in relation with maturation of the fetus in the womb). The results of earlier research are summarized, in which the author presented the meaning of oven as a woman, mother and womb in extensive Slavic folk traditions (rituals, traditions and lexical semantics). Then these meanings are identified in the framework of Balkan prehistoric cultures (homemade clay ovens for bread baking and their miniature models designed in the form of a woman or a womb). Finally, the mentioned female aspects are summarized for the „crepulja“ – a clay container for bread baking, which is typical in the South Slavic and Balkan folklore.
Key words: ritualized manufacture, bread, kneading trough, bowl,
„crepulja“ clay container, oven, womb, vulva, dough rising, conception, pregnancy, fetus, birth.
"This article is dedicated to the phenomenon known as "The transfer of libido" within the frames ... more "This article is dedicated to the phenomenon known as "The transfer of libido" within the frames of the ancient and modern traditional communities and especially its manifestations in material culture. In the introduction, there is a little elaboration about relation between archeology and physiology and the role of pictorial semiotic as their mediator. Afterwards there is a criticism of the concepts in which, after explanation of primary cultural's genesis and especially manufacture products, the active rationality of archaic man included during the explanation is baseless. Instead of this, we suggest another concept in which genesis of primary forms of productions are seeking in the spheres of "mutated" and "perverted" instinctive mechanisms of the humans. In addition, there is attempt for proving (based mostly on artistic illustrations) that human's libido is invested in the hunt during the time of the Paleolithic period and cult objects are included too. Also there are parallels with analogical phenomenon in the later cultures, in which those ones from Balkan's folklore also take part. Due to this, we are emphasizing symbolic identification of the weapon with phallus, of the hunted animal with women and of the hunt with coitus. With the same analogy is treated the investment of the libido in the spheres of agriculture, based upon the symbolic identification of the soil with the Women and of the agricultural tool with the phallus, where the act of cultivation of the soil is becoming act of coitus. This identification (presented above) is manifested through few traditions, beginning from late prehistory to the modern folk¬lore (artistic illustrations, traces in the languages, myths and rituals). At the end is presented the example of investment of the libido in production of the Bronze Age's stone ax (procedure of perforation of the hole for handle is identified as coitus).
N. Cambi, G. Koch (eds.) Funerary Sculpture of the Western Illyricum and Neighbouring Regions of the Roman Empire, Split: Književni krug Split, 2013, 641-678
This paper considers the iconography of the gravestones in the vicinity of Kavadarci and broader ... more This paper considers the iconography of the gravestones in the vicinity of Kavadarci and broader Tikveš region (Republic of Macedonia). It refers to roughly carved stone stelae (andesite) decorated with schematized patterns dated between the 3rd and 4th century. Their complex iconography is interpreted in the context of Manichaean doctrines regarding man’s afterlife i.e. the transition of its celestial soul from the material world into the Heaven, also known as the »Kingdom of Eternal Light«. The basic iconographic elements are identified in direction of the Manichean fundamental dogmatic postulates and the myth of the soul salvation: different arrows shapes – positive element of light; cross with arrow-shaped limbs – cross of light; conifers – man’s dual nature either Tree of Knowledge; stylized pomegranates – resurrection; circular rosettes – Sun, wheel for the souls extraction, circle of perpetual reincarnations, Bowl of Darkness; moon – carrier of celestial souls; sickle and ascia – the suffering of the divine celestial soul; writing tablets – negative or positive connotation; arch with human figures – the body as the prison of the soul, the symbol of Heaven or as an gate of salvation.
Patrimonium MK, 9, Скопје, 2011, 357-378
Текстот претставува одговор на написот на Н. Проева „Иконографија на тиквешкиот тип надгробни сте... more Текстот претставува одговор на написот на Н. Проева „Иконографија на тиквешкиот тип надгробни стели од римско време“ објавен во Патримониум.МК, 7-8 / 2010, 93-109.
В. Мартиновски, В. Томовска (ред.) Сите лица на смешното: од антиката до денес, Скопје: Друштво на класични филолози Антика; Друштво за компаративна книжевност на Македонија, 2013
"The article is a continuation of the previous researches of the author, targeted to the classica... more "The article is a continuation of the previous researches of the author, targeted to the classical circus performances and its archaic mytho-religious levels. This research is focused on the ambivalence of the clowns mouth which causes positive and negative emotions. Seeking the historical genesis of it, he first comes to the big, wide, gaping mouth of the mythical character Silenos and other chthonic gods, which indicate the regressive aspects of the universe - the principle of destruction and death. Since male chthonic gods do not possess organs of birth, such a mouth takes over their creative function, so the chthonic god, through vomiting, returns back to nature that which he had eaten or drank before (water, sun, fire, plants, etc.). This is why the use this type of mouth, in Greek theater masks, can be treated as residue of the presence of characters with such features in theatrical performances.
Female mythical characters of the type of the Greek Gorgon Medusa or the Indian goddess Kali were also depicted with a similar gaping mouth. Both are obviously goddesses of death and destruction, which is represented exactly by using this organ. But, if you take into consideration their female gender, accentuated often by their spread legs, (pose specific for coitus and childbirth) it leads to the conclusion that originally (in relation with the vulva) progressive aspects of existence, conception and birth, were also coded in them.
The concept of equalization between the organs of the upper and lower halves of the human body, and in this framework, of the mouth and the vulva, is inherent for all mankind. This relationship is the basis of the myth of Demeter and Baubo, whose core plot is the moment when Demeter who, after greaving for a long time because she lost her daughter Persephone, finally smiles when the old woman Baubo lifts her skirt and shows her her vulva. These actions cause the awakening of nature which suggests the basic logical structure of this myth: laughing = opening of the mouth = opening of the vulva = conception and birth = activation of the vegetative processes in nature. Taken generally, laughing (especially women`s) represents her spiritual opening which is proceeded by the opening of her body.
This meaning, but also laughing as compensation for traur, may be taken as the key to justify the ritual laughter presented in funeral rites and ritual human sacrifices. The smile on the faces of the deceased and the sacrificed or the laughing of their mourning relatives, were seen as an indicator of the resurrection of the deceased and the instigator of their successful transition to the world of the gods.
The mouth is an organ intended for grinding food and killing other creatures. Therefore, it symbolizes death and destruction. It is quite a small difference between the mouth open for laughing and the mouth gaping for devouring. In all its ambivalence, both meanings are present in the Balkan Gorgon Medusa, Demeter and Baubo, the Indian Kali, but at the same time in the typical European clown - "August the Stupid" and the unique "Joker" in the film "Batman."
"
Histria antiqua, 2013
The text begins with the defining of the circus exhibitions performed on a vertical pole and with... more The text begins with the defining of the circus exhibitions performed on a vertical pole and with the historical track¬ing of these traditions in ancient cultures. Following this introduction, the author defines the representations of the Cosmic Axis as an ancient mytho-religious paradigm universal for all mankind. Furthermore, he examines picto¬rial and ritualistic examples of poles i.e. columns with a circle or a wheel (Heaven or Sun), followed by traditions through which he discovers the character of the actors engaged in these rituals, more precisely, the holder of the pole and the acrobat balancing and rotating around its top. In addition, the author points to the sacrifice to which the pole i.e. the cosmic axis secures passing from one to another cosmic zone or to another state of existence as a key component. In this context he also refers to the execution columns (gallows, impaling pole, breaking wheel…) which originally functioned as instruments of sacrifice. The sacrificial aspects are also emphasized within the framework of Christian traditions (Christ`s Crucifixion; monks – stylites) as well as in modern times (striptease and pole dancing). Within these frameworks, he also examines the shamanistic aspects, as well as the notion of improvement of the performer accomplished by his climbing, staying or hanging on the cosmic axis, conceived as form of self-sacrifice, departure from this world and communication with the other world.
Key words: semiotics of the circus, mythologization of the cosmos, acrobatics, axis mundi, cosmic axis, cosmic tree, cosmic column, shamanism, executions, crucifixion
К. Рабаджиев и др. (ред.) Изкуство & идеология, София: Университетско Издателство „Св. Климент Охридски“, 2012, 100-116
Текстот претставува дел од едно пошироко истражување кое има за цел откривање на митолошките и об... more Текстот претставува дел од едно пошироко истражување кое има за цел откривање на митолошките и обредните аспекти на традиционалните циркусски точки. Во него се тргнува од тезата дека забавните и естетските аспекти на циркусот се секундарни и дека тие во минатото имале понагласен митски и обреден карактер. Зад необјаснивата впечатливост и моќ на циркуските настапи секогаш стојат одредени архетипски слики кои можат да се следат преку разни епохи и култури низ целата планета. Како аргументи во прилог на таквиот карактер на жонглирањето, во овој труд се приложува и елаборира граѓа која припаѓа на неколку различни категории. Првата ја претставуваат ликовните претстави и предмети пронајдени како археолошки наоди. Станува збор за слики или тродимензионални претстави на човечки фигури кои во своите раце држат мултиплицирани розети во јасна релација со соларниот диск. Сметаме дека се работи за ликовни манифестации на древни митови или прикази на обреди во кои претставениот лик со своите раце го движи сонцето, со тоа апострофирајќи на митскиот лик т.е. божеството кое е задолжено за осмислување и реализирање на оваа космичка појава. Наведените фигури се често претставени со расширени нозе, при што оваа поза и поставеноста на сонцето меѓу нив упатуваат на женскиот пол на прикажаните ликови и нивната функција на родилки кои него периодично го раѓаат т.е. воскреснуваат. Ваквите примери се застапени преку гравури вцртани во керамика, главно од западните делови на Балканот и централна Европа, датирани во железното време. Тука се и подоцнежните керамички садови од Италија и Грција на кои наведените претстави се насликани со фирнис. Следната категорија е претставена со предмети изработени од благородни метали кои носеле карактер на накит или апликации со култен карактер. Приложените примери припаѓаат на скитската и соседните на неа култури, а тука е и накитот кој се врзува за јужнословенските средновековни заедници. Примерите од средниот век се најмногу застапени преку релјефите од стеќците (надгробни споменици од регионот на Босна и Херцеговина) и преку импровизираните графити врежани во камен (Бугарија). Присутни се и христијански примери претставени со фреско-живописот од црквите и со илустрациите на разни книги со христијанска тематика. Студијата е дополнета и со неколку современи примери (графики и фотографии од 19. и 20. век) кои треба да помогнат во воспоставувањето на визуелната и семиотичка релација меѓу жонглирањето како циркуска точка и нејзините митски и обредни парадигми. Воедно, сметаме дека тие ја покажуваат и универзалноста, транс-историчноста и транс-кулутралноста на апострофираните претстави кои поради ваквиот свој архетипски карактер наоѓаат начин да се пројават дури и во современата, навидум целосно десакрализирана и демитологизирана урбана култура на Западот. Претставите за митскиот лик т.е. божеството коешто го движи сонцето и раководи со неговата правилна динамика се евоцирани и преку вербалните форми на митот. Наведени се неколку примери кои припаѓаат на хиндуистичките и античките традиции, како и неколку архаични приказни и преданија зачувани во словенскиот и балканскиот фолклор. Тука се и христијанските примери под чија канонска лушпа можат да се насетат постари пагански предлошки.
Д. Жунић (ed.), Традиционална естетска култура: Игра, Ниш: Центар за научна истраживања САНУ и Универзитета у Нишу, 2011, 35-63
The paper presents the analysis of the swinging semiotics, understood as transcultural and transh... more The paper presents the analysis of the swinging semiotics, understood as transcultural and transhistoric phenomenon, primarily at the level of traditional culture (rite, myth, visual representations), circus performances (trapeze) and sport skills (horizontal bar, rings). Ritual swinging is depicted with examples that mostly belong to Slovene and Balkan traditions (prehistory, the classical period, folklore). There are elaborated various motivations behind this phenomenon: marriage, the stimulus for the harvest of agriculture and live stock, the prosperity of individuals and community, the health of those who are swinging. In the paper there is the analysis of a few semiotic levels of ritual swinging. The vegetative swinging (the growth of plants, live stock, and children) is present through various aspects – marriage-sexual (immediate identification of swinging with sexual-erotic spheres and coitus, based on nerve-sense impulses present during swinging, the aspect of imitative, that is homeopathic magic (as high as we swing, that high the plants will grow), the concept of transposing of fertile powers from the one who is swinging towards nature (air, soil, plants) and vice versa, hierogamy (the union of the sky and the Earth via the swing). Within the lustrative aspect of swinging there are elaborations of the aspects of psychological catharsis, ‘ventilating’ the body, the wind as the sacralised destroyer of negative factors. Within the theme of ‘swinging as mythical paradigm’ the following aspects are considered: the swing as the ‘world axis’, as a ‘ship leading to the sky’, as a ‘dangerous swing’ that hurts, kills and thus takes to ‘that other world’ those who are swinging on it. There is a detailed analysis of solar-celestial aspect of the swing, primarily the swing as the most archaic paradigm of periodical movement of the sun across the sky (ascending and descending), even before the appearance of the concept of cyclical understanding of solar dynamics. In the end, there are presented the semiotic aspects of ritual hanging: hanging as scarifying, as a precondition for advancing, hanging as execution, the hung mythical characters.
Key words: ritual swinging, the swing, gallows, hanging, the hung
person, circus, trapeze, sacrificing, solar myths, cosmic axis, shamanism, ritual eroticism, hyerogamy.
Poznańskie Studia Slawistyczne, 2, Poznań, 2012, 71-93
Abstract:: All of the elements present within the contemporary phenomenon known as ‘circus’ can... more Abstract::
All of the elements present within the contemporary phenomenon known as ‘circus’ can be found in the symbolic traditions of the ancient and archaic cultures, most often manifested as mythical pictures, ritual and magical acts, mythical stories and cult objects. In several previous researches we have tried to find the visual, the mythical and symbolic ancient models of some classical circus acts, such as the trapeze, the juggling and the fire eating. This paper discusses the act of tightrope walking. The introductory part presents the basic information regarding this circus act, along with the phrases, the elements and the skills it consists of. The text continues with the historical review of this circus skill which reaches as far as the great civilizations of the Old World. As a mythical paradigm of this act we took the mythical representations from all over the world regarding crossing the mythical bridge conceived in its cosmological dimension – as communication through the cosmic horizons (sky-earth-underworld). This paper reviews several variants of mythical representations of the narrow bridge between ‘this world’ and the ‘underworld’ registered in different parts of the planet originating from different ages: the log i.e. a tree trunk bridge, a snake bridge, a phallic bridge, the blade bridge, the hair i.e. the string bridge.
Key words:
Circus, tightrope walking, hair bridge, blade bridge, snake bridge"
Summary:
All of the elements present within the contemporary phenomenon known as ‘circus’ can be found in the symbolic traditions of the ancient and archaic cultures, most often manifested as mythical pictures, ritual and magical acts, mythical stories and cult objects. Herewith, we refer to the circus arena and the tent itself, the circus genres and acts as well as the main characters and props. Research has shown that all of them carry a primordial sense and some ancient desire to identify, reveal, explain, represent and to incite a certain cosmic or cultural phenomenon (especially important for the people) or some archetypal symbolic structure deeply ingrained in the human subconsciousness, through the picture represented or the act performed. In several previous researches we have tried to find the visual, the mythical and symbolic ancient models of some classical circus acts, such as the trapeze, the juggling and the fire eating. This paper discusses the act of tightrope walking.
The introductory part presents the basic information regarding this circus act, along with the phrases, the elements and the skills it consists of. Due to the relatedness, balance beam, the sport gymnastic discipline is also mentioned. The text continues with the historical review of this circus skill which reaches as far as the great civilizations of the Old World (Egypt, China and Rome), the Middle Age when it was present in the Middle East (Mid-Asia, Caucasus, Armenia) and in Europe (Byzantine Empire, Russia, France etc.). Because of its great popularity, it became an inevitable part of the first European stationary circuses established in the 18th century. Later on, it became more dramatic with ropes being tied across rivers or other dangerous places (for example, the Niagara Falls, between the two towers of the World Trade Centre in New York).
Furthermore, the text continues with an analysis of the semiotics and the symbolic of this circus act which even in the past ages carried certain magical and religious meanings, alluding to a dangerous motion, a metaphysical transit or a transition from one condition into another. The act was often performed through a sloped rope, which implies not only a dangerous horizontal motion (left-right), but also a vertical one (up-down), especially because of its possible cosmological associations. In practice, the meaning of this act grew stronger through the great height of the rope or the placement of dangerous elements beneath it (water, fire, scary animals, blades, spikes).
As a mythical paradigm of this act we took the mythical representations from all over the world regarding crossing the mythical bridge conceived in its cosmological dimension – as communication through the cosmic horizons (sky-earth-underworld). According to these traditions, such crossing was possible only in the first (the ideal) stadium of the cosmos when it was not dismembered or in circumstances when it is done by a special category of characters capable of transcending, i.e. of repealing the dismemberment. Those are the heroized people, gods and semi-gods, deceased, shamans and other devotees. In certain circumstances, it is done by ordinary people as well, such as the koledari (the Orthodox carollers who go for ritual visits of the houses), for they are a hypostasis of a certain mythical character and because the act itself is performed around New Year when the cosmos gets back to its ideal state.
This paper reviews several variants of mythical representations of the narrow bridge between ‘this world’ and the ‘underworld’ registered in different parts of the planet originating from different ages. The stump i.e. a tree trunk bridge has been registered in Serbia, in parts of Hungary and Romania, the Danube Valley in Bulgaria and in Polesia. It is preserved as a legend for the deceased who uses it as a passage to the underworld, or as a custom of placing a stump, a plank or a small bridge across a water surface in order to help his soul transit to the underworld easily. These representations have been related to the rainbow, conceived as a bridge between the worlds. Some acts refer to the inclusion of these mythologems also in the traditions of the transition of a girl into a bride. A snake bridge is registered in Eastern Africa, Caucasus, Asia Minor, Siberia, Melanesia and the American continent. It is presented with a real or mythologized snake (somewhere identified as a rainbow), which transforms into a bridge through which the souls of the deceased, the shamans and other category of people walk. Here, the snake represents the axis mundi (the liaison among the sky, the earth and the underworld), as a connection between the world of the living and the world of the dead as well as a link among the past, the present and the future. A phallic bridge was noticed in South Asia, Indochina, Taiwan, Southern Siberia and the American Continent. The character to whom the phallus belongs (a mythical character, human or animal) places it across some abyss or water, thus enabling a passage to the other side. As in the case with the snake bridge, the bridge changes (it moves, stiffens or relaxes) thus selecting which of the walkers will cross, and who won’t. This picture interferes with the presentations of the ‘macrocosmic phallus’ (conceived as a cosmic axis i.e. column) present in many cultures. It is based on the real functions of this organ which has a role of a mediator in joining, i.e. the coitus of the man and the woman. In this context, the named acts receive a meaning of hierogamy. The blade bridge could be confirmed in the Hindu culture, in the medieval European legends (Lancelot’s crossing of the sword bridge), the Finnish traditions (the legends of Väinämöinen), the Japanese shaman traditions and the Taoist rituals (Sai-Kong). In Islam, it is manifested through the Siraat Bridge, which is thinner than a hair and sharper than a sword and which will be placed across hell on Judgment day and will lead to heaven. Every man will be ordered to cross it, and the righteous ones will cross it easily, while the sinners will fall. Representations of such a bridge were kept in the folk tales of the Muslims in Serbia as well as in other non-Muslim environments (in Polesia for example). It is also manifested in the rite practice, through the act of standing barefoot on a sword blade, which is practised by the dervishes. In the ancient Iranian traditions, the Chinvat Bridge bears such features, as it is thinner than a hair and sharper than a razorblade. The hair i.e. the string bridge is present in Serbia and Montenegro in presentations of bridge leading to heaven. For the righteous soul it is wide, and for the sinner it narrows to the thickness of a hair which then tears and the sinner’s soul falls into hell. Moreover, folk songs have been preserved in which even St. Peter’s mother fails to cross such a bridge. According to the ancient Iranian traditions, the kingdom of Ahura Mazda, the supreme god, is separated from this world by an abyss where Ahriman, the god of darkness and evil rules. The Chinvat Bridge spans across this abyss and it is wide for the righteous souls, but for the sinners it is thinner than a hair and sharper than a razorblade. A bridge with identical marks can be found in the Islam (Siraat), but also in the Vision of St. Paul as well as in the Altai shamanism. In some cases (England, China) it is alternated with a narrow string bridge or a rope bridge.
Video portal Univerziteta u Nišu
Dejan Ajdačić (ed.) The Magical and Aesthetic in the Folklore of Balkan Slavs, Belgade: Library Vuk Karadžić, 1994, 5-21
Наше писмо, 7, Скопје, 1996, 20-22
Поимник на книжевната теорија (прир. К. Ќулавкова), Скопје: МАНУ, 2007, 339-342
Етнокултуролошки зборник, књ. X, Сврљиг, 2004, 67-75
О редефинисању појма етнографског музејског предмета: зборник радова (Стручни скуп Етнолошке секције Музејског друштва Србије. Крушевац 9-10 новембар 2006), Крушевац: Народни музеј, 2007, 9-16.
Doprinos arheologije i arheoloških nalaza u istraživanju poganske mitologije i religije Slavena. ... more Doprinos arheologije i arheoloških nalaza u istraživanju poganske mitologije i religije Slavena. Predavanje profesora Nikosa Čausidisa (Filozofski fakultet u Skoplju), Tribina: Institut za etnologiju i folkloristiku, 28. lipnja 2022g.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcE4ML1W1Lc
Sažetak
Istraživanja poganske mitologije i religije Slavena danas se odvijaju uglavnom u području folklora, etnografije, usmene književnosti i povijesti. Doprinos arheologije još je uvijek mali, posebno među Južnim Slavenima. Razlog tome je visoki stupanj zatvorenosti arheologije same po sebi te nemogućnost stručnjaka iz drugih znanstvenih disciplina da se u njoj suvereno snalaze i u svojim interdisciplinarnim istraživanjima koriste arheološke podatke. Pokazalo se da taj jaz najbolje mogu premostiti upravo arheolozi, ali tu se javlja novi problem. U svojoj opsesivnoj želji da arheologiju pretvore u egzaktnu znanost, oni nisu osobito skloni baviti se tako spekulativnom temom za koju nema dovoljno egzaktnih (“pisanih”) činjenica. Autor ovog predavanja arheolog je koji se ovom temom bavi gotovo 40 godina. U svojim znanstvenim radovima razvija teorijske i metodološke koncepte za koje smatra da omogućuju otkrivanje mitologije i religije jedne drevne kulture – usprkos nedostatku značajnih pisanih izvora – na temelju njezinih likovnih prikaza.
“Macedonian Bronzes” and the Religious Traditions of Iron Age Cultures in the Middle Balkans. ... more “Macedonian Bronzes” and the Religious Traditions of Iron Age Cultures in the Middle Balkans.
The term “Macedonian bronzes” denotes different bronze objects from the Iron Age (8 – 6. century BC) found mainly in Macedonia and most commonly as funeral gifts. It is considered that most of them were carried on the body, like pendants, as part of their magical and religious use. So far, they have been investigated from the typological and chronological point of view. In this lecture, their most crucial aspect will be presented: their iconography, what is presented on them, the semiotics i.e. the symbolism, the meaning of the objects and their iconography, and their cult use, their place in the spiritual culture of the communities of that period.
„Македонските бронзи“ и религијата на железнодобните култури од Средниот Балкан
Терминот „македонски бронзи“ означува разни бронзени предмети од железното време (8 – 6 в. пред н.е.) пронајдени главно во Македонија, најчесто како гробни прилози. Се смета дека повеќето од нив се носени на телото како приврзоци и тоа поради нивната магиско-религиска функција. Досега се истражувани од типолошки и хронолошки аспект. Во овој реферат ќе биде претставен нивниот најсуштествен аспект – иконографијата (што е на нив претставено), семиотиката т.е. симболиката (значењето на предметите и нивната иконографија) и култната намена (нивното место во духовната култура на тогашните заедници).
To celebrate the International Day of Archaeology 2014, the Center for Scientific Research and Promotion of Culture “HAEMUS” – Skopje invites you to a series of lectures in the field of archaeology starting at 19:00, on December 23, 2014 (Tuesday), at the Museum of Macedonian Struggle.
The event is of promotional character and is organized in collaboration with the Archaeological Institute of America. Its primary goal is to popularize Macedonian archaeology and cultural heritage in general. The International Day of Archaeology is a world event that celebrates archaeology and raises awareness of archaeology as a science, at the same time providing an opportunity for public participation in archaeological activities and debates.
The speakers at the event will give 15 min. Presentations, followed by questions from the audience and a debate.
The event is organized by the UNESCO Club HAEMUS, under UNESCO motto “Open Educational Resources” (OER). The event is supported by the Alliance for OER Macedonia.
Official HAEMUS page on AIA web site: International Archaeology Day 2014 – Republic of Macedonia
http://haemus.org.mk/international-archaeology-day-2014/
Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/376475169174801/
"Reason: In the past few years, there have been many discussions about the identity of the contem... more "Reason: In the past few years, there have been many discussions about the identity of the contemporary Macedonian nation, especially about the question whether from a historical aspect, it begins in the Middle Ages with the immigration of the Slavs in the Balkans or it may or should be tied to the older ancient Balkan populations. Moreover, the arguments of these dilemmas are seeked in several areas i.e. levels: genetics, language, political history, etc. This lecture is not focused on the argumentation of none of these concepts, but tends to show the influence of the religions in the millennial constitution of the individual and collective identity of the residents of Macedonia. The author will try to demonstrate through several most illustrative examples that some mythical – religious structures can be monitored on this territory constantly, from ancient history to present day, sometimes lasting for 7000 years. These are archetypal phenomena that are not only trans-temporal, trans-cultural and trans-national, but trans-religious as well. They freely move from one culture to another, from one religion to another, changing only their formal features, and their substantial and lasting symbolical and semiotic strands can be traced from century to century and from millennium to millennium.
"
TEDX – Skopje, 30.10.2010
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gRTD-thcUc&feature=youtu.be „Човекот започнал да го користи огн... more https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gRTD-thcUc&feature=youtu.be
„Човекот започнал да го користи огнот за да се загрее, да се заштити и за да подготвува посовршена храна. Ги пронашол орудијата т.е. оружјето за поуспешно да се прехрани и да се одбрани од непријателите. Всушност сите оние безбројни предмети и дејности што денес ги нарекуваме материјална култура и технологија се создавани низ епохите за со своите утилитарни функции да задоволат одредени практични потреби на човекот. И на крајот - самиот труд односно постапките на откривање и создавање на сиве овие предмети е токму оној решавачки фактор кој од мајмунот создал човек, односно развивајќи го неговото тело и мозок ги извлекол животинските претци на човекот од сферите на анималното и ги вовел во сферите на културата.“
Овие „непобитни“ мисли се темелот на западната цивилизација. Ги слушаме низ целиот свој живот - од детство до пензија, од родителите и учителите до врвните мислители. Ги читаме во книгите и ги гледаме во документарните филмови. Никој „нормален“ не се сомнева во нивната вистинитост која впрочем е и апсолутно очевидна и логична.
Но ... дали е навистина така? Дали на сиве овие дејности може да им се припише интенционалноста, особено во почетоците на историјата кога прачовекот воопшто немал капацитет да ги проектира своите потреби и уште помалку да пронаоѓа концепти за нивна реализација.
Постојат историски показатели дека зад човековиот труд и пронаоѓањето на нови технички изуми стои друга мотивација која на прв поглед е потисната и скриена. Тоа е човековата потреба за спознавање - спознавање на универзумот околу себе и во себе и откривање на своето место и улога во него. Еден од овие показатели е фактот што во древните и архаични култури трудовите дејности и новите технички изуми секогаш произлегуваат од митот и религијата, односно долго време пред да станат работа и производство се практикуваат како обреди и магија. Од друга страна речиси сите концепти на спознавање на вселената се базираат врз оние стопански дејности кои се доминантни во дадената култура. Космосот на ловецот е полн со животни. Космосот на земјоделецот е осмислен според ритамот на земјоделските дејности. Во претставите на грнчарот и ковачот вселената и човекот се создадени од праисконскиот бог - грнчар и бог - ковач. Во една урбана градска култура космосот е град и држава, а во индустриското општество - машина. Оттука не е за изненадување што во едно информатичко општество универзумот е виртуелна компјутерска проекција.
Орудијата и технологиите постојат за да бидат симболи т.е. матрици за спознавање на вселената. Наспроти впечатокот, нивната утилитарна т.е. практична намена е секундарна - но не и ирелевантна.
Video portal Univeziteta u Nišu
Паралелна македонска и руска верзија на публикуваната статија: Н. Чаусидис, Сексуальные коннотаци... more Паралелна македонска и руска верзија на публикуваната статија: Н. Чаусидис, Сексуальные коннотации ДВЕРИ по материалам фольклора и доисторических находок в Балканском регионе: диахронный анализ // Балканские чьтения 10 „Переходы. Перемены. Превращения“. Москва: Институт славяноведения РАН, Москва, 2009, 97-105
Филозофски факултет Институт за историја на уметноста и археологија Предмет: Архетипски аспекти н... more Филозофски факултет Институт за историја на уметноста и археологија Предмет: Архетипски аспекти на христијанската симболика (изборен предмет на II циклус студии) Избор на теми со препорачана литература
Универзитет св. Кирил и Методиј - Скопје Филозофски факултет Институт за историја на уметноста и... more Универзитет св. Кирил и Методиј - Скопје
Филозофски факултет
Институт за историја на уметноста и археологија
Предмет: Ликовна семиотика / Семиотика на артефакти
Литература за наставните предмети со линкови за даунлодирање на документите
Presentation given at the International conference "Slavs and their Neighbors in the 1st Millenni... more Presentation given at the International conference "Slavs and their Neighbors in the 1st Millennium AD", held at the Museum of Vojvodina in Novi Sad (Serbia), from October 4 to 10, 2021.
Реферат презентиран на Меѓународната конференција „Словените и нивните соседи во 1 милениум н.е.“, одржана во Музејот на Војводина во Нови Сад (Србија), од 4 до 10 октомври 2021.
Studia mythologica Slavica, Oct 20, 2008
In this part special place is given to the “Myth of the Metallic (Copper / Bronze) Threshing Floo... more In this part special place is given to the “Myth of the Metallic (Copper / Bronze) Threshing Floor”, present in the toponyms, legends, magical stories and in the mediaeval apocryphal texts. It contains analyses of the next mythical elements: the metallic components (threshing floor, castle, field, plants, food …); the connection between the mythical threshing floor and the cosmological myths about the first mountain; the relation between the “metallic threshing floor” and the “metallic shrine”. The similarity between the threshing floor and one type of the Slavic pagan shrines with circular form, and the representation of the threshing floor on the ritual loaves from the 19th century are also discussed. Elaboration is given to the chthonic and “outer world” location of the metallic threshing floor, and the basic actions that take place on it: the fight between the hero and the dragon; the holy marriage between the hero (=sky / cosmic axis) and the Earth, (=ground upon which the threshing floor lies)
Studia mythologica Slavica, Jul 12, 2023
Studia mythologica Slavica, 2015
Studia mythologica Slavica, 2015
Studia mythologica Slavica, 2007
Studia mythologica Slavica, 2006
