Historical roots of the folk holiday Kargatuy («Crow’s wedding») among the Bashkirs

There is a developed system of cult ideas about birds in the religious and mythological views of the Bashkirs. One of the birds revered by the Bashkirs is the crow. The most ancient roots of the holiday and rituals associated with this bird originate in totemic representations of the distant ancestors of the Bashkirs. The ancient historical roots of the worship of crows are evidenced, in particular, by the Bashkir folk holiday Kargatuy («Crow’s wedding»), which existed in the past and is being revived today (in some areas of the Republic of Bashkortostan called Karga butkahy («Crow’s Porridge»)). Kargatui was usually held in the spring and marked a revival of nature. On the basis of folklore and ethnographic sources, it seems possible to trace the evolution and subsequent transformation of this holiday and the rituals performed on them. In this Bashkir holiday, elements of totemic holidays have survived to our days, the main purpose of which was to honor the crow – a totem bird with invocations-requests addressed to the sacred bird, the performance of rituals, thematic songs and dances («Raven chick», the performance of rituals of reproduction of the totem bird a manifestation of care for it, communion with a totem and with rituals of initiation of girls into the category of full members of women collective.