ANIMALS IN FUNERAL AND MEMORIAL RITES OF THE MARI PEOPLE OF BASHKORTOSTAN
The Republic of Bashkortostan is home for representatives of the Eastern group of the Mari people. This ethnic group has preserved its spiritual culture of archaic beliefs and ideas about the world. Funeral and memorial rites as the most conservative part of the nation culture have preserved early pagan ideas of Mari and the cult of animals in it. This issue has not been studied in the scientific literature yet. Ancient people's ideas about the soul are reflected in respectful attitude to butterflies and cuckoos. Chicken (rooster) was sacrificed to the spirit of death to redeem the blood of a dead man. The image of a sheep in Mari culture is more complex. The slaying of a lamb was always present during the commemoration on the fortieth day after death. With the help of additional material the author reveals the semantics of the animal which was a symbol of resurgent producing forces of nature.