Bylichki about werewolves still exist in the Voronezh Region.

In mythology, shapeshifting is defined as " a magical change in the appearance of a character. Mainly-a temporary transformation with a subsequent return to the original (authentic) form" (Neklyudov XIU. Werewolfism / / Myths of the peoples of the world. Vol. 2. Moscow, 1988. pp. 234-235). The phenomenon of shapeshifting is associated with the vocabulary that names both the process and its subjects.

Reincarnation is referred to in Voronezh dialects by the procedural vocabulary: to wrap, to wrap (turn around), to turn (turn around), to turn around, to turn over (turn over), to turn over, to shift, to turn over, to transform (turn over). The verbs wrap, wrap, turn, turn in the meaning under consideration are not recorded in the Dictionary of Russian folk dialects. Wrap form-

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xia in the meaning of reincarnation has the litters Arch., Perm., KASSR., Olon., Novg., Sib. Turning over, shifting in the mythological meaning is accompanied by the litters Arch., Perm., Terek. Peremetyvatsya in the meaning of "reincarnate" is fixed without specifying the place, with reference to Dahl. As you can see, the vocabulary of reincarnation does not have the same name as Voronezh, while it is ubiquitous in Voronezh dialects. Here are some examples of recent entries: "Sorcerers turned over at night on knives and what they could do" (Third Alexandrovka village, Ternovsky district, Mishina Z. P., 72, malogramm., 1992); " Her mother was a sorceress. It was wrapped in animals" (Kriusha village, Paninsky district, Popovskaya A. S., 85 l., malogramm., 1999); " There were notes before. I didn't see them, I didn't happen to see them change, I don't know. They say she was a pig, they say" (Yarki village, Novokhopersky district, Grankina M. S., born in 1924, class 7, 1998).

Reincarnation occurs, according to the texts, in a cat, dog, horse, cow, pig, calf, foal, that is, in any pet; in a snake, toad; in a wheel, pumpkin, chain-not in strange, abnormal objects, but in the most ordinary ones. However, all these creatures and things that werewolves transform into acquire unusual properties: things move independently, animals move at high speed and behave unusually aggressively: they bite, throw themselves under their feet, chase their prey, break into doors, knock over objects, express milk from cows: "I've seen the reverse. We were at Marhuni's wedding. We went from there-lo and behold, the pig where the Klepovs lived, big and black, is catching up with us. Catching up and - on us: ho-ho-ho! We got scared and ran home, and the pig followed us. They ran into the house, then locked the door, and let the pig knock on the house" (Levashovka village, Anninsky district, Moshkina E. G., 73, malogramm., 2001); " Now there is no such thing, and before witches went to milk cows in the yards. We had a cow, so the mother, the yak will get tired of milking it, and vona wuxia is wet and empty. Nemae moloka, and then batko kazhe: who is tse take robe? As soon as it was light, Vin bache, yakas was beaten by a pig, came in the door with a bucket." Buturlinovka, Zheregelya T. I., born in 1915, malogramm., 1998).

The rite of reincarnation, for obvious reasons, cannot be described in detail. Informants report some of its details. These include such, obviously, the main action, which gave the name to the rite, as somersaulting, turning over your head. The second important detail of the rite is the twelve knives stuck in the ground: "They say we had a lot of sorcerers in those days. Now less. They gathered on a hillock on Livatarsky, turned into dogs, cats, horses. For all these cases, they had twelve knives" (Biryuch village, Talovsky district, Dobrynina R. S., born in 1935, 1999); " She will turn over through her legs... "(Rozhdestvensky village, Povorinsky district, Voronin I. V., 60 years old, malogramm., 1991).

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The vocabulary of reincarnation primarily emphasizes the change in the spatial position of the subject of the ritual action. It shows the following signs: circular motion, heavy traffic, and a space-time boundary.

Circular rotational motion leads, as it were, to a change in the physical shell of the werewolf, to its identification with some other thing in the broad sense of the word, to the transition to otherness (For the magical properties of the circle, see: Zhuikova M. V. The Enchanted Circle / / Living Antiquity. 2003. N 2. pp. 16-19.)

Let us turn to the second detail of the rite of reincarnation-the knives stuck in the ground. The knife, being an instrument of cutting, dismemberment, and mortification, obviously separates the physical shell, the flesh, and the inner self of the convert, killing the flesh that the mouth of the earth consumes. The liberated " I " is clothed with a new shell, a new skin, generated by the earth: the werewolf hero of fairy tales hits the ground to transform, to take on a new appearance. The earth acts here as absorbing, devouring the flesh and at the same time regenerating, transforming its elements. It is interesting that the lexeme peremetyvatsya by the Dictionary of Russian folk dialects is recorded in the meaning of "to die" with reference to Dahl and the mark Perm. Compare the interpretation of this rite as "skinning" by A. N. Afanasyev (Afanasyev A. N. Myths, beliefs and superstitions of Slavs, T. I. M., St. Petersburg, 2002).

Primary consideration of the semantics of vocabulary and structural elements of the rite of reincarnation allows us to interpret it using the opposition of the external, visible, visible appearance, image and internal, invisible, invisible, hidden under the mask of the visible shell. This opposition extends far beyond the rite discussed here. Here are just a few examples that indicate the validity of the stated position: stable expressions wolf in sheep's clothing, you can't fit into someone else's skin, there is no mind behind the skin - so you can't sew it to the skin; the image of a wise beauty in the guise of a nasty frog, etc.

The role of the knife as a cutting, dismembering tool is further developed in the motive of self-mutilation of the werewolf: as a rule, they beat him, cut off any organ (most often-an ear, paws), kill him, thus returning to a normal state: "A woman got married, and her mother - in-law turned out to be a witch. He gets up at twelve o'clock and leaves. Her father-in-law thinks, where does she go? I spied on her: she will go, pull knives out of the saws, stick them in the yard, turn over and go like a dog. He collected these knives and brings them to the hut. She comes - no knives. He goes into the hut. "Give me the knives, or it'll be dawn, and I'll be so-and-so. Give it back!" He gave her the knives. She stuck the knives in there again, rolled over, and came home all wet. He then and

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Wondering what I should do with it? Went to the priest. The priest told him: "Take a handkerchief that you don't own and give me a backhand on the nose to make the blood flow. Wipe it off with this handkerchief and light the stove and put it in the oven." That's what he did: he made this handkerchief fly. Tama and the cows roared, and the dogs, sheep, and horses neighed. And from that time on, she didn't go any further" (Vasilyevka village, Gribanovsky district, Ponomareva E. F., 85 years old, illiterate, 2003); "When I was a girl, a piglet chased me. I ran into the yard, and the boys caught him and cut off his front leg, and the next morning my grandmother's hand was cut off. So it was a coup. It turns the knife over and turns into a pig or a dog " (Troitskoe village, Novokhopersky district, Vasilyeva M. E., born in 1925, malogramm., 1997).

The external/internal opposition generates the normal/abnormal opposition. The parallel change in spatial orientation -change in consciousness can also be traced in conspiracies: a rite intended to cause love attraction is called a love spell (along with other names), a rite with the opposite purpose is called a lapel. Love - turn to yourself, turn away - turn away from yourself. Mentally ill people in Voronezh dialects are called circular. Dizzy - they say about someone who gave himself up to the power of love passion. Whirling, twirling, turning (cf. the twirling of the driver in children's games) contributes to a change in orientation, losing one's temper, "crossing spatial boundaries", as indicated in the Myths of the peoples of the world (p. 235), that is, a violation of the norm.

It is impossible not to give in connection with the described reflections on the myth of A. F. Losev: "The principle of relativity, speaking about inhomogeneous spaces and constructing formulas for the transition from one space to another, again makes werewolf thinking..." (Losev A. F. Philosophy. Mythology. Kul'tura, Moscow, 1991, p. 33).

The materials show that shapeshifting is characteristic of people with magical powers (sorcerers, witches), as well as transcendent beings (the dead, evil spirits). Some informants consider it as an independent phenomenon, not correlating it with witchcraft. In any case, it is thought of as an otherworldly existence: "There goes a man here vypimpshi", well, and:"Great!" [Great. Sit down, I'll give you a ride.” They go on, they go on, well, no one: no horse, no one. And he is sitting in the middle of the water, they say that this is an evil spirit, devils "(Brodovoe village, Anninsky district, Zhikhareva M. A., 76 years old, srednoe obraz., 2002); " He died, a boyfriend. We look, Dunya dries, dries. I ask: "Godfather, did you give something to the cattle?" And she said, " No, Vanya gives it to her." "He's dead." "He comes to see me, wears conchweats, helps me." There were no cookies. We looked, and this is a goat's cat" (S. Tretyakov. Borisoglebsky district, Temnova M. A., 80 years old, 1999); " Near Morozov Lane we were walking from the club. Here you have a huge pig running, who kuda escape, and on the second day the guys beat her, excised, and the next day Grandma Grushka

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Kudincheva, all beaten up, sat on the stove and did not come out. She was called peremetchitsa" (Alekseevka village, Gribanovsky district, Chelinina R. D., 66 years old).

The vocabulary that names the subject of the reincarnation rite corresponds to the procedural one: werewolf, obroten, werewolf, peremetchik, peremetka, peremetchitsa, peremetchikha. The word werewolf in the SRNG has the litters Tamb., Simb., werewolf-Perm. The lexemes peremetka and peremetchitsa in their mythological meaning are not registered in the dictionary. Peremetchikha is not given at all.

The fact that there is a special vocabulary that names the subject of the reincarnation rite emphasizes the opposition of being/otherness, generated, as can be seen from the context, by the opposition of life/death. The popular consciousness, faced with the phenomenon of death, could only come to terms with it as an existence with a minus sign, as an otherness. Thus, the ideas of reincarnation, metempsychosis are primarily associated with the idea of the transcendent existence of a person (see about this Golosovker Ya. E. Logic of Myth, Moscow, 1987; Canneti E. Transformations // Problema cheloveka v zapadnoi filosofii [The Human problem in Western Philosophy], Moscow, 1988, pp. 483-503) and the "mutual inversion" of all aspects and manifestations of reality.

Borisoglebsk

The research was supported by the Russian Humanitarian Science Foundation (RGNF). Grant N 02-04-00327a-C

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