TWO LETTERS BY V.V. ROZANOV TO B.A. TURAEV FROM THE ARCHIVES OF THE STATE HERMITAGE MUSEUM

The article publishes two letters of the Russian philosopher and writer V.V. Rozanov to the master of general history B.A. Turaev. The letters were found in the archives of the State Hermitage Museum in a folder of documents from unidentified correspondents of Turaev. One letter has no date, the second one is dated October 13, 1898. The data from the letters found allow dating Rozanov and Turaev's acquaintance to no earlier than May 9, 1898, when the debate on Turaev's master's thesis “God Thoth” took place. In the first letter Rozanov introduces himself to Turaev and asks permission to call at him to discuss topics on the history of ancient Egypt, which Rozanov was interested in. In the second letter, Rozanov thanks Turaev for reprints of articles and expresses his views on a number of issues related to these papers. Both letters are viewed against the background of Rozanov's Egyptian myth and Rozanov's controversial attitude toward professional Egyptologists.

DYNAMICS OF SOCIAL FUNCTIONS OF RELIGION AND RELIGIOSITY DURING THE PANDEMIC

The article examines the metamorphoses that occurred in the religious practices of various denominations during the pandemic. Through the strengthening, thanks to the pandemic, the dynamics of the social functions of religion (integrative, communicative, normative-regulatory, legitimizing), the author examines the changes in the structure of modern religiosity, highlighting and characterizing three main types: institutional, individual and individual-institutional religiosity. The author pays special attention to the individual-institutional type of religiosity, believing that the carriers of this particular type of religiosity experienced the least psychological problems in connection with the closure of churches, mosques, prayer houses. Analyzing the social functions of religion, and, in particular, the communicative function, the author examines in detail the process of virtualization of religion, which has significantly intensified in the last year and a half (“cyberreligion”, “online religion”), indicates a close relationship between the individual-institutional type of religiosity and the dynamics of communicative the functions of religion, reflected, in particular, in the strengthening of the virtualization of religion. The author sees the key tendency in the change in the structure of religiosity in the change in the ratio between its three main types towards the percentage increase in the carriers of individual-institutional religiosity.

CORRELATION OF MENTALITY WITH CULTS AND LIFE-SUPPORTING TECHNOLOGIES OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES OF THE AMUR-SAKHALIN REGION

The aim of the research is to search for the regularities of the mechanism of functioning of the mentality of the Tungus-Manchus and Paleoasiatics of the Amur-Sakhalin region in relation to their complexes of cults, beliefs, rituals, and life-supporting technologies. The Tungus-Manchu and Paleoasiatics mentality is understood as a way of thinking based on specific worldview archetypes, knowledge, life-supporting technologies, a complex of dominant needs, beliefs, cults, traditions, and values. The system of life activity is considered as a complex of historically formed and constantly evolving cultural, ideological, economic and household components that allow an ethnic group to be preserved and reproduced in a specific geoanthropogenic landscape, creatively develop and improve its basic ethno-cultural features as global values. According to the author, the interaction of the mentality and the system of life activity is a bi-directional process: on the one hand, the mentality determines the ways and forms of life activity, on the other - the elements of culture that form the basis of life activity, make up the patterns, patterns, models and results of thinking that characterize the features of the ethno-cultural mentality of the ethnic community...

FORMATION OF MENTALITY IN SHAMANISTIC SOCIETIES OF THE NANAI PEOPLE

The generalization of the field material collected by the author allowed to identify two groups of interrelated factors that form the mentality of those Nanai people who practice shamanism. There were two principles identified, the goal-setting and detecting the resources required to achieve the desired results. On the one hand, an irrational worldview, the idea of the accessibility of the space of the spiritual world and the characters inhabiting it (spirits), is specific to the mentality of shamanists. On the other hand, the basis of the mentality of shamanists is the priority of the principle of pragmatism (utility), that is, the desire to consider the spiritual invisible reality as a resource available for solving those problems that arise in the real physical world. The mentality formed at the intersection of the principles of irrationality and utility has a significant sociogenetic potential, its effect extends to those aspects of the socio-cultural reality that are outside of the actual shamanic practice...

THE INSTITUTION OF ZOROASTRIAN MARRIAGE XWēDōDAH: THE PROBLEMS OF GENESIS AND THE QUESTIONS OF TYPOLOGY

This paper deals with the famous Zoroastrian marriage xwēdōdah. This form of marriage refers to the conjugal union of father and daughter, mother and son, brother and sister. Zoroastrianism of the Sassanid era made this institution a key element of religion, along with offering meal (mēzd) and seasonal holidays (gāhānbār). The question of whether this institution is a part of ancient Iranian legacy or has emerged later, is still controversial among the scholars. Careful development of xwēdōdah in the late Pahlavi works after the Arab conquest in the 9th century could have been the propagation of the priesthood who tried to protect Zoroastrian society against infiltration and destruction or sticking to archaic norms in an effort to preserve their religion in the face of extinction. The paper gives an overview of the most relevant theories about xwēdōdah. The genesis of this institution probably traces to the pre-Indo-European cultural substrate. Some modern scholars, looking for an explanation, pay attention to the works of anthropologists. The rejection of incest in all societies with exogamic regulation led to a certain taboo. This taboo is often due to the birth defects of children born out of consanguineous marriages. In the author’s opinion, the hypothesis of “ritual value” by A.R. Radcliffe-Brown seems to be the most appropriate to this case.

BUDDHIST ELEMENTS OF THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL CONCEPTIONS OF THE RELIGIOUS TAOISM OF THE QUANZHEN SCHOOL (BASED ON LONG MEN XIN FA): PSYCHOLOGY AND SOMATOLOGY

The article deals with the analysis of anthropological concepts of one of the main schools of religious Taoism - Quanzhen / Longmen - in the aspect of identifying and considering the Buddhist elements of late Taoist anthropology. The main source for the analysis was the text of the 17th century Lun men xin fa (“The Law of the Heart-Consciousness [according to the Tradition] Longmen”), which outlined the views of Wang Changyue, master of the Taoist school Quanzhen / Longmen. The article examines the Buddhist elements of the late Taoist somatology and psychology: the concept of the heart-consciousness ( xin ), the concept of “vitality of wisdom” ( hui ming ), the doctrine of the “true spirit” ( zhen ling , yuan shen ). The central concept of the text - heart-consciousness - is interpreted by Wang Changyue to a large extent in a Buddhist way. Such concepts as the material body ( se shen ) and the Body of the Law ( fa shen ) are discussed in the text in the spirit of late Buddhist Mahayana psychology...

YUE FENG’S VIEW ON THE HISTORY OF THE ORTHODOX CHURCH

The essay focuses on the life and works of one of the most famous Chinese researchers of Orthodoxy after 1949, the translator and historian Yue Feng (September 1928 - February 22, 2017). His “A History of the Orthodox Church” was the first authoritative study of the history of the Orthodox Church, published in China since the beginning of the “reform and openness” period (Gǎigé kāifàng; 1978 - present days). The article focuses on Yue Feng’s understanding of the history of the Orthodox Church and the features of the doctrine inherent in Orthodoxy which he chose to highlight. The relevance of the research is determined by the fact that to this day there is a significant interest in the study of Orthodoxy in China itself: new research articles are published, dissertations are defended. Unfortunately, even today Yue Feng’s works, widely known in the Chinese-speaking academia, are known only to a small group of sinologists and students of the history of Orthodoxy in China in the Russian academic community...

EVOLUTION OF THE IMAGE OF THE SKY (“TENGER”) IN DAURIAN CULTURE

The article studies the historical transformation of the image of the sky in Daurian culture. The authors analyze the myths and shamanistic rituals of the Daur people. The concept of the sky - “tenger” - refers not only to the sky itself, but also to the tops of deer horns, tree tops, the upper part of human and horse’s heads. The authors compare the Daurian and Buryat shamanistic rituals and reveal many similar points. They come to the conclusion that the ancient people worshiped the image of “tenger” as the sun and the moon. After the Neolithic period, “tenger” worship was expressed in the totemistic cult of eagle. The cult of horse was also associated with the sky worship; Daurs sacrificed white horses and bulls to the sky. The authors find out the solar origin of the fairytale heroes of some Daurian myths as well. The sun also appeared as mother in mythical representation. Ancient people considered the sun and the moon as a man and a woman respectively. In the period of matriarchy, when paired marriages arose, there appeared the Daurian myth of marriage of two siblings to two celestial fairies (dakini)...

ALBAZIN SPASSKY MONASTERY: MAJOR MILESTONES IN HISTORY AND RESEARCH RESULTS

2021 marks 350 years since the founding of the Albazin Spassky Monastery, the first Orthodox monastery in the Far East. The emergence of the monastery was the result of the movement of Russians to the Amur River, as well as acute social and moral conflicts among the Russian population of Eastern Siberia. The activity of this monastery was an important stage in the spread of Orthodoxy on the eastern borders of Russia. Many aspects of the history of the monastery remain a subject of discussion. The purpose of the article is to systematize the most reliable information about the circumstances of the emergence and activities of the Albazin Spassky Monastery, as well as its use. Documents of the 17th century include a few information about the monastery. The most fully reflected activity in the documents is the economic one. The monastery conducted a successful economic activity, actively carried out the construction of religious and other structures (mills, smithy, etc.). Other aspects of the monastery's activities are hardly reflected in the documents. The location of the Spassky Monastery remains controversial. According to the written and cartographic sources, the most probable location of the monastery is 2 km from the fortress up the Amur River in the area of the ravine - the former stream course - and the adjoining upland.

“MESSAGE” BY I. GERASIMOV: PEASANT APOLOGY OF SPASOVO DENOMINATION IN THE MIDDLE OF THE 19TH CENTURY

The article presents a message of the Old Believers’ Spasovo denomination by a peasant Ivan Gerasimov from the Kazan Province. The document is introduced into scientific circulation for the first time. The approximate date of writing this text refers to the time interval between June 15, 1849 and June 10, 1850. The appearance of the “message” was caused by the reaction of I. Gerasimov to the initiation of an investigative case against him with apostasy of schism. Like most representatives of the Spasovo denomination (“glukhoy netovshchiny” or “starospasovtsev”), he was baptized in the Orthodox Church. However, like other old believers, I. Gerasimov denied the existence of the church, and thus did not perform the rites accepted in the Orthodox Church, which was a formal reason for accusing him of evading a split. It was in the process of investigation that he wrote this message, the recipient of which was the local Orthodox priesthood. The uniqueness of this source lies in the fact that the message is one of the rare written documents that emerged in the first half of the XIX century...