And he said, Hear my words: If there is a prophet of the Lord among you, I will reveal it to him in a vision; I will speak to him in a dream

(Numbers. 12:6)

"God does not punish anyone without warning "

(Origen)

A person has always wanted to know what awaits him in the future, from which such a phenomenon as mantic divination was born. In ancient times, people looked for clues in the world around them - in the flight of birds (ornithomancy), in the behavior of animals (in particular hippomancy), in the movement of clouds (aeromancy, or nephelomancy), fire or smoke (pyromancy and libanomancy), in other natural phenomena or in dreams (oneiromancy; oniromancy). The person tried to use divinations in all spheres of life, from private life to collective fate. The mantle has always occupied a significant place in everyday life, rituals, religion, literature and philosophy. Since ancient times, information about it has come down to us in the works of Pythagoras, Epicurus, Socrates, Lucian, Plato, Seneca, Cicero and other not so famous figures. The Bible is full of examples of mysterious omens and prophetic dreams, the solution of which affects the fate of nations. The desire to look into the future has been preserved in people even today, only now complex astrological and mathematical calculations and computer programs are used for divination.

Keywords: fortune-telling, fate, Mongolian medieval culture, religion, literature, folklore.

MANTLE AS AN ELEMENT OF CULTURE

Almost all the peoples of the world turned to the mantle. It is another matter in what form this was done, what ideological, religious, philosophical or scientific justification was given for it. For example, in European astrology, this resulted in the theory of cosmic predestination of the fate of people and contributed to the development of astronomy. The philosophical basis of Mongolian astrology "Zurkhai" came from the Buddhist teaching of Kalachakra about the connection of the macrocosm with the microcosm, the universe with man. In ancient times, divinations were closely associated with religious cults - for example, the Delphic Oracle and the cult of Apollo. The mantle was a significant element of ancient and traditional culture. It is no accident that in China in the "ancient era "shaman", "chronicler" and "oracle" designated three hierarchical levels of the same profession "[Zhang Ya-chu, Liu Yu, 2007, p. 331]

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Subsequently, the world's religions sought to isolate themselves from divination, seeing in them a kind of magic. Indeed, in magical rituals, divination was used to obtain information about the future for the purpose of subsequent magical influence in order to change the intended course of events. But divination itself is not magic. "These are two completely different practices. Divination attempts to recognize the past, present, and future, while magic is an active process through which one hopes to change the future" (Cunningham, 1997, p. 12).

The simplest mantic techniques, such as casting lots, seem to anticipate some elements of probability theory. By other methods of divination, such as divination from the entrails of birds and animals, the flight of birds, etc., it is possible to reconstruct the mythological representations of a people or tribe. The theme of the mantle was widely used in literature and folklore, especially in antiquity and the Middle Ages. Divination is used as a separate motif in myths, fairy tales, and written works. Sometimes they become the mainspring of the plot, as it happens in numerous variations of the story of Oedipus the king. Often divinations were clothed in an independent genre, in particular collections of dream interpretations or miraculous stories of fulfilled predictions.

In short, the mantle is a widespread, if not universal, cultural phenomenon. It reflects the history of peoples, their psychology, religion, mythology, folklore, customs, rituals, cross-cultural communications, etc.

HOUSEHOLD SIGNS AND OMENS

The Mongolian peoples have dozens of different ways of divination. For example, the so-called shamanic-through the invocation of spirits, or astrological-through some methods of "Zurkhaya". Until now, fortune-telling is widely spread on the shoulder of a lamb, on coins, more often on nine, on dice (dice), on shagai (sheep's joint heads), on rosaries, stones, arrows, by casting lots, palmistry, solving dreams, and so on. Some of them, such as mutton shoulder divination, have long-standing national traditions, while others, in particular divination by means of coins, are clearly borrowed, in this case from the Chinese.

In many types of divination, objects that are widely used in everyday life (lamb shoulder blades, talus bones), birds and animals that are most often found (raven, magpie, horse, camel, dog, wolf, fox), and human physiological reactions are used. In particular, as D. writes: Ochirbat, shaking horse and yawning camel were understood as a good omen: the plan must be fulfilled. When traveling with a caravan or in search of something, meeting a wolf was considered a good omen, and meeting a fox was considered a bad omen. The first foreshadowed the fulfillment of the plan, and the second-obstacles on the way to it.

Omens were often timed to coincide with a particular time. The chirping of a magpie at a certain hour could mean the arrival of a distant relative, tinnitus - material losses, the noise of a fire in the hearth - the fact that a woman's heart does not belong to the house [Ochirbat, 1990, pp. 78-82]. Both objects and circumstances, as well as the semantics of divination, could have a specifically national character. For example, a meeting with a man with empty buckets, especially if they are carried by a woman, is interpreted by Russians as a bad omen, and by Mongols as a good omen, as an omen that the plan will be fulfilled. A meeting with a man carrying an empty dung basket was also considered successful by the Mongols [Ochirbat, 1990, p. 82].

Mongolian signs were determined by the traditional way of life - cattle breeding, hunting, and generally immersion in nature. Therefore, in divinations, there are often references to the behavior of birds and animals, both wild and domestic, and subtle observations of natural phenomena. A significant place is occupied by signs

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from everyday life of people. Divination covered the main aspects of human life. For example, in relation to everyday signs, D. Ochirbat identifies several main situations::

1. Arrival, arrival of relatives, guests, high-ranking officials, meeting with good, pleasant people-32 signs.

2. Food, drink, meeting at a feast, wedding - 28 days.

3. Loss, suffering, anxiety (in the same section, probably, there should also be diseases. - A. T.) - 30 signs.

4. Joy, good deed, happy outcome - 27%.

5. Increase in salary and income, purchase of things, material benefits-17%.

6. Slander, gossip, conflicts, and hurried work - 17 signs.

7. Your relatives remember you - 12 signs.

8. Departure for long-distance work - 2 signs [Ochirbat, 1990, p. 80].

Judging from ancient written sources, more than a hundred possible answers could be considered when guessing from the shoulder of mutton (Ochirbat, 1990, p. 58). Although in a number of types of divination, binary answers "yes-no"are provided. Divination is often accompanied by rituals, magical activities and religious rites.

DIVINATION IN THE MEDIEVAL LITERARY AND FOLKLORE TRADITION OF THE MONGOLS

The topic of divination among the ancient and medieval Mongols will be considered first on the basis of the main historical source of that time - the epic chronicle "Mongolyn nuuts Tovchoo"created in the first half of the XIII century (presumably in 1228 or 1240) .1 In Russian, the monument is known from the translation of Academician S. A. Kozin under the title " The Hidden Legend of the Mongols "(1941) [The Hidden legend..., 1989-1990]. In recent years, a different translation of the name has been more often used - "The Secret History of the Mongols", which does not negate the validity of the Kozin version, which has stood the test of time and has, in our opinion, a semantic justification. "Nuuts tovchoo" is not just a secret or secret document, but also a true, honest narrative about the deeds of Genghis Khan in memory and for the edification of his descendants. In terms of its frankness and confidence, this is a truly intimate story that relates both to the details of the life of Genghis Khan, his entourage, rivals and enemies, and to some details of the general way of life of ancient and medieval Mongols, including the spiritual and sacred sphere. All this is shown in the maximum approximation for medieval poetics to historical reality.

You can even talk about a certain documentality of the MNT. It captures the testimonies of contemporaries. Archimandrite Palladius (P. I. Kafarov), who had the honor of opening the monument for Russian and European readers in the middle of the 19th century, was sure of this fact. According to P. I. Kafarov, this work "is the work of more than one person; apparently, people who witnessed the events themselves or lived not far from the time of Genghis Khan, each compiled their own traditions into a total sum, which was systematically presented by the brush of some literate Mongol" [Kafarov, 1866, p. 16 - 17]. And the author (s) himself was undoubtedly also an eyewitness to the events. In our opinion, the information provided by the MNT as the source closest to the time of the described events in most cases deserves more confidence than other sources, if any discrepancies are found in the information. Striving for historical accuracy in the MNT

1 Later in the article, the abbreviated spelling "Nuuc tovchoo" or the abbreviation MNT will be used.

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it turned out to be a rare realism for medieval literature in the transmission of details of the life of the Mongols of the XII-XIII centuries. Moreover, here history was presented not as a chronicle-chronicle sample of events, but as a stream of life or, at least, as a collection of the most important details from the history of Mongolian society of the XII-XIII centuries, concentrating on the life and activities of the central figure - Genghis Khan. The previous epochs associated with the names of his ancestors are also not ignored.

Thus, the "Hidden Legend" is the earliest, most informative, and rather detailed record of various aspects of the life of ancient and medieval Mongols. A certain place is occupied there by stories dedicated to the mantle. However, they usually show only the result of divination or divination, without details of the process technology itself. We can say that here the ideological aspect of the problem of divination is confirmed. It is through divination that the historical mission of Temujin (Genghis Khan) is shown as a person called to put an end to the endless strife of the time of troubles and establish peace and tranquility through the unification of tribes and peoples.

The first prophecy proclaims Alan-gua many generations before the birth of Genghis Khan. She tells about a miraculous conception from a heavenly man: "Every night a light-yellow man descended into the yurt through the smoke hole and through the cracks under the lintel, emitting light. He stroked my belly, and his light penetrated my belly. And at the moment when the rising sun was about to replace the moon, it disappeared, wriggling like a yellow dog" [MNT, § 21] (hereafter translated by the author of the article, except for specially specified places. - A. T.). Details - "emitting light", "through a smoke hole and cracks under the lintel", "a light yellow man", "his light penetrated my womb", "disappeared, wriggling like a yellow dog" - emphasize the solar semantics of the episode. There are no accidents here, every detail is relevant, increases the unusual nature of what is happening. Turnover from the original ceügen sira gü'ün [Index..., 1972, § 21] - " light yellow man "-translated by S. A. Kozin sounds like" light brown man " [Hidden legend..., 1989, p.102]. Such a translation changes the unambiguous semantics of the solar celestial image, allowing for the possibility of incorrect interpretations, for example, in the form of racial and anthropological interpretations about the "Caucasian"," Dinli "or" Czech " origin of the children of Alan-gua and, accordingly, Genghis Khan as her distant descendant (see, for example: [Gumilev, 1970, pp. 98-100]). The night sky alien in the MNT is all "light yellow", and not just his hair is "light brown". He is all like the light (emphasis added. - A. T.).

The plot of the miraculous conception of Alan-gua plays an important semantic and compositional role in all these works, linking ancient history with the era of Genghis Khan. The main point of the plot is to predict the inevitability of the supreme power of the descendants of Alan-gua. She's prophesying herself: this "was a sign that they were heavenly children" who would "become the universal khans" (MNT, § 21). The connection between solar symbolism and the sacred right to power is more directly emphasized in the plot of Dai-setsen's dream in the "Secret Legend of the Mongols". Dai-setsen compares his dream of a falcon holding the sun and moon in its talons with the subsequent arrival of the boy Temujin and his father Yesugei Bator. The solar symbolism in this dream is repeated three times: first in the image of the falcon - the ancestral totem of Yesugei Bator and Genghis Khan, then in the image of the sun and moon in the talons of the falcon, and also in the color atmosphere of the dream- "White [light] descended" together with the falcon that landed on the hand of Dai Setsen (MNT, § 63). (for more information about the dream text in Russian and its analysis, see: [Tugutov, 2005(2), pp. 245-248]). The semantics of the image of a falcon holding the sun and moon in its claws seem to anticipate the future fate of the nine-year-old boy Temujin - the future ruler of the world of Genghis Khan.

The celestial and solar symbolism of the MNT goes back to the deepest antiquity. The solar images of the monument of the XIII century can easily be found in rock art.-

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They lived on the territory of Mongolia during the Bronze Age, or even earlier (Tugutov, 2005(1), p. 136). In other words, these images and related semantics have for many centuries occupied a strong place in the worldview of the Mongolian and, more broadly, other, primarily Turkic peoples of Central Asia. As is typical of mythological representations, the semantics of solar images are multi-valued and variable depending on time and national-cultural loci, but the power motif is, apparently, one of the most stable and universal meanings in solar myths. As a clear example of confirming the centuries-old continuity of such semantics, one can point, for example, to the symbol of supreme power in many peoples - the crown. The circle and crenellations around it reproduce the ancient solar image.

Several other MNT characters anticipate Genghis Khan's special mission in their prophetic visions. In the future, these predictions come true. Predictions and their confirmations in the life of Genghis Khan form a certain general plot of the fate of a person chosen by Heaven for great achievements.

It is necessary to emphasize the artistic skill with which this plot is built. This is similar to the architectonics of a musical work, where the theme is formed by the gradual growth and development of leitmotives. At first, there is a faint hint of a thematic motif in the plot of the immaculate conception of Alan-gua: before the fulfillment of this prophecy, there is an infinity of mythological time report. Then the image of a falcon with the sun and moon in its claws is associated with nine-year-old Temujin. Horchi's prophecies about the future global power of Temujin occur in the latter's youth, when he is just beginning independent political activity in the rank of leader of a small number of followers from several close clans and tribes. Horchi's predictions are clearly highlighted in a number of similar motives: they are both detailed and supplemented by his dialogue with Temujin, and are again recalled later in Genghis Khan's award decrees and in the story of Horchi's adventures while completing his harem [MNT, § 121, 202, 207, 241]. Horchi's prophecies become the culmination of a thematic line of premonitions of the great fate of Genghis Khan.

The theme of predictions is repeated in the predictions of other characters-companions of Genghis Khan. However, it sounds much more restrained, as if in passing, without special plot details. Genghis Khan recalls in the award list of people whose prophecies came true, singling out, in particular, the commander Mukhali. Then the motives of divination are dissolved in the details of Genghis Khan's real activities. The relegation of the mantic theme to the background of the general narrative is probably explained by the fact that the main prophecies about the fate of Genghis Khan have already come true, and also by the writer's tact of the author (s), who is focused on reliably reproducing the lives of his heroes.

In an attempt to understand the future, the medieval Mongols also turned their attention to omens. Moreover, some supernatural signs were not necessarily understood as signs. It was necessary to see the hidden meaning in everyday life, in some seemingly ordinary things and incidents. When the young Temujin, hiding from the Taichuud for three days in the mountain forest of Burhan Khalduna, decided to go down, leading a horse by the bridle, when suddenly the saddle fell from it, despite the strong, properly adjusted harness. Temujin returned to the thicket, seeing in the inexplicable incident some kind of warning from above: "Does not Heaven warn me? "(Tenger yatgan baynau?) [MNT, § 80]. After staying three more days, he tried again, but the mountain path in the forest was blocked by a large stone the size of a yurt. Temujin again sees this as a sign and continues to hide in the taiga. Only on the ninth day, a hungry young man gets out of the forest, bypassing a huge boulder and using an arrow knife to make his way into a dense thicket. However, it turns out that the Taichuud still did not lift the siege and captured the exhausted Temujin.

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In the episode from The Hidden Legend discussed above, the theme of unexpected, inexplicable obstacles varies three times. This emotional reinforcement of the image of signs underlines their significance in the sacred semantics of the MNT and, more importantly, in the spiritual and psychological evolution of the young Temujin. The lesson of omens on Burhan Khaldun revealed to Temujin the secret of his fate - confirmed in the favor of the Sky, strengthened his faith in himself, his destiny and taught him the need to look closely at the prophetic signs, whether it was the smallest details of the environment, the disposition of the battle, the nuances of political interactions among tribal leaders or the characters of people. It is known that Genghis Khan from a young age practically did not make mistakes in choosing his companions, many of whom later became outstanding generals. Attention to the world, to its various details, judging by the MNT, was peculiar to Temujin-Genghis Khan by his nature, from birth and throughout his life he improved in the art of understanding the hidden meaning of events, people's actions and the needs of time. This quality of character is especially enhanced after a dramatic sitting in the thicket of Burkhan-Khaldun.

In" Nuut tovchoo " signs are not presented as absolute phenomena of the sacred world. They are described through the consciousness of Temujin and interpreted by him. Therefore, for example, from the point of view of a modern reader who is used to a rational explanation of the phenomena of the world, it is possible to offer a completely ordinary interpretation of the events on Burkhan-Khaldun - to see, for example, here the manifestations of the psychological state of the hero. Perhaps, in the rush to escape from his enemies, the saddle was not properly adjusted, which Temujin does not notice in his agitated state. Because of the same stress, he could get lost in a dense forest and come out on an unfamiliar path, where a boulder lay blocking the path. Especially since the young man spent almost a week without food.

Similar motifs are found in the" Collection of Chronicles "of Rashid al-Din, a historical monument created in Persia, at the court of the Mongol Ilkhans, about a century after the "Hidden Legend". Only here the historical specifics inherent in the MNT are blurred: "Once Genghis Khan was riding on some important business; he reached a high hill and went to the top; the saddle with him separated from the horse's back without loosening the girth or loosening the chest straps; Genghis Khan fell. Greatly surprised by this circumstance, he said to himself:: "Perhaps the supreme truth does not want me to go on this road, and makes it difficult for me to do so." He thought about going back, but Satan got the upper hand again, and [Genghis Khan] went according to the desire of his heart. Suddenly, a number of Merkit people attacked him, captured him, took him away, and guarded him until, after some time, they sent them something from Genghis Khan's house and took it back " [Rashid al-din, 1952, vol. 1, book 1, p. 115].

The text of the "Hidden Legend" does not give an unambiguous assessment, in contrast to the "Collection of Chronicles", where the narrator does not doubt the supernatural nature of what is happening ("Satan again prevailed [over him]" [Rashid al-din, 1952, vol. 1, book 1, p.115]). Sometimes the signs themselves are described in a magical and fantastic way: on the way, Genghis Khan " noticed a stone that turned without anyone's help. When he reached it, he began to think: "This is something very strange and amazing! Perhaps I should not go on this road! "" [Rashid al-din, 1952, vol. 1, book 1, p. 172]. Nevertheless, he does not believe the warning from above, still being at the mercy of "Satan", and is captured by the Taichuud. Here you can find a modified version of the MNT episode, with the difference that there the boulder was not described as a supernatural object.: it did not rotate, but only blocked the path.

In the same vein, Rashid al-Din presents other signs. Ambagai Khan (Khambakai-kaan in the "Collection of Chronicles") goes to the Tatars to woo a bride for his son: "Suddenly the red horse of Khambakai-kaan fell. Chintai-Kiyan said Tudan-otchi-

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gina: "I consider the death of this horse as a warning of a favorable fate for us - and it is better [for us] not to go." [Tudan otchigin] passed on these words to Khambakai-kaan, but the latter ignored them and rode on. The next night they reached the Bayaut-Duklat tribe. They slaughtered a lean ram and cooked it. Suddenly, the cauldron cracked. Chintai-Kiyan repeated the same words to Tudan-otchigin and told him to tell Hambakai-kaan. When [Tudan otchigin] told [them] to him, Hambakai did not approve [of his speech] and said: "Why do you predict bad things every day, what kind of speech is this?!" - and went [further]" [Rashid al-din, vol. 1, book 2, p. 23]. Ignoring the warnings of fate, Ambagai Khan (Khambakai-kaan) is killed.

The signs of the Book of Chronicles certainly belong to the world of miracles, where "warnings of fate" are active and where "Satan" can "prevail over man." The mantle of the "Hidden Legend" is much more complex. The sacred theme does not break the general realistic tone of this art chronicle of the 13th century. This combination of natural, non-rational evidence-based religiosity with common sense and pragmatic realism in relation to everyday life was the dominant worldview of the ancient and medieval Mongols. It determined their thoughts and behavior at the current moment and when planning for the future. This dominant aspect of their worldview influenced not only the general structure and poetics of the "Hidden Legend", but also reflected in the transmission of features of the psychology and behavior of many of its characters.

DIVINERS, PRIESTS AND SHAMANS

We will again have to refer to the translation of the" Hidden Legend " made by S. A. Kozin. In this most famous and most complete translation into Russian, there are some inaccuracies. S. A. Kozin , one of the most prominent Russian Mongol scholars, was mainly engaged in translating works of the heroic epic, in particular the Kalmyk epic "Dzhangar". The attraction to vivid imagery and epic scope in the translation of MNT was probably preserved from his previous artistic practice. However, such a style does not always correspond to the style of the original MNT, with its precise conditionality of each stroke of the semantic and artistic task, historicism of reflected events and images. The apparent closeness of this historical and artistic narrative with the poetics of the heroic epic prompted the translator to search for tools from the arsenal of traditional epics.

Probably, for this reason, S. A. Kozin introduces details that are missing from the original MNT. Let's take an episode of a trip to China, when Ogedei Khan suddenly fell seriously ill, falling into unconsciousness and losing his speech-probably he was broken by a stroke. S. A. Kozin could not resist the temptation of his own additions: "they called the Kitad shamans", "they tried to question spirits by divination from the entrails of animals" [Innermost legend..., 1990, p. 140]. Meanwhile, in the original MNT it was: böes böes tölgečin-e tölgeleülüesü - "[arranged] divination of shamans and soothsayer shamans " [MNT, § 272, p. 204], i.e. nothing was said here about the nationality of shamans or the method of divination. This kind of deviation from the original is generally undesirable in the translation of historical and literary monuments. All the more so if this leads to such obvious mistakes as attributing the ancient Greek method of divination from the entrails of animals to the medieval Mongols. Although it is interesting to try to identify the nationality of shamans.

Unfortunately, during the siege of Leningrad, the manuscript of the second volume of S. A. Kozin's study "The Hidden Legend of the Mongols" was lost, which, according to the preliminary plan, should have included comments.

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One can only guess what Kozin meant by the term "Kitad shamans". Most likely, they did not mean the Chinese or Khitan, but the Jurchens-representatives of the Tungus-Manchu tribes that ruled in Northern China before the Mongol conquests.

As shamans, modern researchers often classify Horchi, who predicted Genghis Khan's ascension to the top of power, then Teb-Tengri, who claimed this power, then Usun-an elder, identified by Genghis Khan as a figure for veneration as an elder of related tribes, to one of which Genghis Khan himself belonged. But none of these characters are shown in Nuut Tovchoo performing the actual shamanic functions clearly outlined in the episode Ogedei's illness: healing and addressing the spirits of the area. In this episode, the soothsayer shamans are undoubtedly referring to the spirits of the area in China. Communication with them, according to shamanistic ideas, should be carried out by aboriginal mediums. Probably, this logic was guided by A. S. Kozin, identifying shamans as local residents.

Apart from the episode of Ogedei Khan's illness, there is no mention of the term "shaman"in the MNT. This circumstance is far from accidental. Shamans seem to occupy a peripheral position in the sacred area of the monument, although, as we know from the testimonies of historians and travelers of the XIII-XIV centuries, the role of shamans in the public life of Mongolia was quite noticeable. However, we cannot suspect any discrimination of shamans in the MNT. The author (s) of "Nuut tovchoo", contemporaries of the depicted era, understood the religious situation of the second half of the XII century - the first third of the XIII century, presumably, no worse than current researchers who attribute to shamanism all the manifestations of the sacred life of the medieval Mongols.

It can be assumed that divinations were selected in the "Hidden Legend", which can be interpreted as related to the cult of the Eternal Blue Sky, the level of high, from the point of view of medieval Mongols, spiritual practice. This practice was practiced by priests, including Horchi and Teb-tengri. Here we will not delve into the complex topic of the difference between shamans and priests, which requires separate consideration. We will limit ourselves to just one, but very important indicator-the source of divination.

For shamans, such a main source is usually considered to be spirits - spirits of dead people, spirits of nature, etc. [Eliade, 2000, pp. 21-22], which appear at their shamans ' call. In particular, in the episode of Ogedei Khan's illness, shamans repeatedly enter into a dialogue with the spirits of the masters of the earth and waters, conducting a real trade with them on how to heal the patient. Spirits do not agree to sacrifice material values-gold, silver, cattle-or even human sacrifices... They can only accept the soul of one of Ogedei Khan's relatives as a substitute for his life. The Khan's younger brother Tolui sacrifices himself (MNT, § 272).

The priests refer in their divinations to tengeriin zarin (heavenly sarin) (MNT, § 121, 244), who comes to them with some important message. Here only the Highest will of Heaven is declared, and bargaining, unlike the shaman's relationship with spirits, is not appropriate. Thus, the "heavenly sarin" in its functions and actions is similar to the Christian and Muslim angel, who appears as a messenger of God, a messenger who transmits his messages to people. In the Old Testament, God himself sometimes appears as an angel. For the Mongolian culture, a consonance to this can be found in the "Collection of Chronicles", which reports on Teb-Tengri. He "revealed secrets, predicted future events and said: "God speaks to me, and I visit heaven!" He always came to Genghis Khan and said: "God has commanded you to be the ruler of the world!""[Rashid al-din, 1952, vol. 1, book 1, p. 167].

If we qualify priests as shamans, then even more justifiably we should call shamanesses the ancient Greek pythias who prophesied in Eksta-

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the physical state they entered while inhaling the intoxicating vapor from the crevices in the Delphic sanctuary. The "Hidden Legend" does not mention ecstatic shamanic rituals in divination. Meanwhile, according to modern scientific concepts, the entry of a shaman into an ecstatic state during kamlania is one of the most important characteristics of this phenomenon: "shamanism is a technique of ecstasy" [Eliade, 2000, p.20].

There is no evidence of everyday-level divination or divination in the MNT. This was probably due to the special memorial and sacred significance of the monument. Its main content is the life of Genghis Khan and the creation of a centralized Mongolian state by him and his associates. The activity of Genghis Khan is interpreted as a feat of the world order. Strife and internecine wars destroyed human destinies and the harmony of the universe: "The starry sky unfolded / ...Этуген - мать-землю перевертывало" (Одтой тэнгэр / Орчиж этугэн (газар) / (МНТ, § 254). The emotionality of the original text is well conveyed by the fantastic stylization of S. A. Kozin's translation: "The starry sky used to happen / Turn / ...Mother-shirokaya zemlya / Sodrogalasya" [The hidden legend..., 1990, p. 133].

Similar in genre to the" Secret Legend of the Mongols " historical and artistic works of a later period - the XVII-XVIII centuries - retain many features of the first monument of national literature. Some of the motifs of divination are also repeated, although there is an obvious attempt to give them a different sacred interpretation - the Buddhist one. However, the new interpretation does not completely eliminate the autochthonous Mongolian representations. Many similar examples can be found in "Altan tovch" ("Golden Legend") Luvsandanzana (XVII century). The situation is illustrated by an episode of Ogedei-han's foot disease. Han enlists the help of a lama, who helps him with offerings to Mahagala, the guardian deity of Buddhist teachings. According to the lama's prophecy, Ogedei Khan's illness is karmic in nature: "In your previous rebirth, Khan, you were the son of an Indian king. You built a temple, but because you disturbed the earth and cut down the trees, you are now being harmed by the spirit of the earth. And because you built the temple, you were born the son of Genghis Khan" [Luvsandanzan, 2009, p. 320].

This episode is undoubtedly a reflection of the above-discussed plot of divination about Ogedei Khan's illness from the "Hidden Legend". This preserves the idea of the MNT of human responsibility to nature for damage caused to it. It seems to us that the pantheistic idea of the connection between man and nature is not shamanistic or Buddhist. It reflects the ancient ideas of the Mongols, expressed in the cult of Heaven and Earth.

MONGOLIAN MANTLE IN THE CONTEXT OF EURASIAN CULTURE

Methods and methods of divination used in medieval Mongolia and not specified in the "Hidden Legend" are recorded in the testimonies of non-Mongolian authors. In particular, the Men-da bei-lu, a Chinese source from the beginning of the 13th century, Chinese commentaries on it, and contemporary commentaries by N. Ts. Munkuyev speak of a purely Mongolian method of divination based on the shoulder of mutton: "When divining fortune and misfortune, advancing and retreating, massacring and marching, each time they take a shoulder of mutton, break it in the fire with an iron hammer and look at the cracks on it to solve an important case. [It] is similar to Chinese turtle shell divination" [Meng-da bei-lu, 1975, p. 79].

This information is confirmed by other sources: "In Hei-da shi-lu [it is said]: as for their divination, [the Tatars] burn a shoulder of mutton and, depending on the favorability of the patterns on it, determine happiness and disaster, Heaven refuses or grants.

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This solves everything. [They] believe it very sincerely. They call it "burning pi-pa"" [Meng-da bei-lu, 1975, p. 79].

Commenting on the expression "burn pi-pa", N. TS. Munkuev notes that this is "apparently an ironic name given by the Chinese to the Mongolian practice of divination on the burnt shoulder of mutton. Pi-pa is a Chinese stringed musical instrument that resembles a spatula in shape" [Meng-da bei-lu, commentary, 1975, p. 424].

The irony is indicative of the Chinese attitude to an alien cultural phenomenon. First, you can see here a certain manifestation of the traditional disregard for everything "barbaric", and hence, secondly, the desire to distance oneself from it. The nomad custom is too similar to the domestic one, to which Chinese authors have a reverent attitude. It is felt, for example, in Su Xun's Discourses on the Book of Changes (1009-1066): "Turtle shell divination and yarrow divination are the most wonderful things in the Middle Kingdom. But divination on the shell of a turtle listens to the Sky and is not prepared by man... The turtle's shell is smooth, and there are no regular lines on it. But when a thorn is burned, it pierces the carapace, and cracks are obtained.... All of them are made only by a thorn, and what is in them is prepared by a person?! And a perfectly wise person will say: "This art belongs exclusively to the Sky"... " [Yijing, 1993, p. 40].

It is clear that for the southern Chinese, who eat turtles, the use of sheep's shoulder blades for divination was as unusual as divination by turtle shells for the Mongols, whose daily diet is dominated by mutton, and not the meat of coastal or sea turtles, which were not found in Mongolia. Geography, the way of life and the way of management dictated for each of these peoples their own tools of divination, although its methodology was similar, dating back to ancient times.

The Indian method is very close to the same method. North American Indians "put a flat porcupine bone on the fire and judge by its color whether the hunt for it will be successful" (Tylor, 1989, p. 99). The English practice is even closer: in England, mutton shoulder was also used for divination, but in contrast to the Mongolian version, it was cooked [Tylor, 1989, p. 99]. E. Tylor believed that scapulimancy (or omoplatoscopy) - divination based on mutton shoulder, spread to other countries, possibly from Mongolia, where it was"it has existed since ancient times" (Tylor, 1989, p. 99). We can agree with E. Tylor is the author of a classic work on ethnology, which provides a broad overview of world folk culture, giving priority to the Mongols in Scapulimancy.

The writings of medieval Asian and European authors attest to the antiquity and prevalence of mutton shoulder divination in Mongolia. As a rule, for these authors, scapulimancy was an exotic form of divination peculiar only to the Mongols. Travelers admitted to the court of the Mongol khans noted that powerful rulers personally used scapulimancy. Sun Tzu-zhenya in his work" Zhong-shu lin Yelyu gong shen-dao bei "writes about the divination of Genghis Khan himself, who, using the traditional Mongolian method, "rechecked" the divination of Yelyu Chu-tsai: Genghis Khan " every time before going on a punitive campaign, he certainly ordered his Excellency (Yelyu Chu-tsai. - A. T.) to tell fortunes and disasters in advance. The emperor also burned a mutton femur to compare the results with it" (Meng-da bei-lu, 1975, p. 79). Yelyu Chu-tsai, a descendant of the royal Khitan family, was distinguished by his extensive encyclopedic knowledge, including in the field of astrology.

Information about the duplication of astrological forecasts by Genghis Khan himself is confirmed by N. Ts Munkuev, referring to other sources: "The Mongol Khans personally guessed about the outcome of their enterprises, although they always had shamans and Chinese astrologers with them" [Meng-da bei-lu, 1975, comment., p.424]. Remembering the lessons of " Hidden-

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Since not all soothsayers were shamans, it seems more correct to call these "shamans" priests. After the conquest of China by the Mongol Khans, the attraction of Chinese astrologers along with their own priests-soothsayers is natural in the conditions of the empire, when there is a mixture of different cultural traditions.

Guillaume de Rubroucq, who visited Mongolia in 1253, writes in detail about Munke Khan's regular divination sessions based on the burnt shoulder blades of mutton. At one of the audiences, the Khan told a Franciscan monk, a messenger of the French king, that "God gave you the scriptures, and you do not keep them; He gave us fortune tellers, and we do what they tell us, and we live in peace" [Rubruk, 1999, p. 169-170]. These words of Munke Khan clearly indicate the importance of the priests-soothsayers as intermediaries, interpreters of the will of God or, according to the religious ideas of the ancient and medieval Mongols, the Eternal Sky. Here the Mongol khan appears to be an expert in theology, interested in questions of differences and similarities of religions. The day before, a religious dispute was organized at the khan's court, where Rubruk's opponent was a Buddhist, and the Franciscan monk was supported by Nestorian Christians and Muslims. The audience was held as a continuation of a theological debate: Munke Khan, in all likelihood, wanted to clarify the position of the Franciscan. The Khan's awareness of Christianity is not in doubt, if only for the reason that his mother Sorgaktani-beki was a Nestorian Christian. However, he did not change the traditional Mongolian belief in an Eternal Sky.

At one of the meetings, Rubruk notes that Munke Khan picked up the cross brought by the Nestorians: "... I did not see him kiss it or bow to it, and the khan only looked at it, asking about something" [Rubruk, 1999, p.149]. It seems that Munke Khan does the same thing here as when divining from the shoulder of mutton: "holding it, he thinks about the enterprise about which he wants to seek advice, whether to start it or not" [Rubruk, 1999, p. 145]. The procedure of reflection is an integral stage of divination. Let us remind you that depending on the nature of cracks in the bone, there are about a hundred possible answers.

Interpretation plays an important role in the mantle. In the "Hidden Legend of the Mongols" mainly narrative forms of divination are presented, which are relatively easy to understand.

The ancient Greeks paid attention to the importance of correct interpretation of the oracle's words (Price, 1985, p. 148). They described many examples of misinterpretations of oracular prophecies, with dramatic consequences. Munke Khan's divination scenes show that medieval Mongols attached great importance to mantic analysis. One thing turns into another: the need for divination is realized by a preliminary understanding of the everyday or military-political situation, the results of divination are subjected to a new analysis. Divination, along with reflection, is one of the means of meaningful anticipation and planning for the future.

Through divination, through the reasons for turning to divination and through the consequences of divination, much can be understood in the worldview of people of different eras - to understand what occupied and worried the inhabitants of a particular era, what concerns, hopes and passions possessed them.

From the point of view of rational thinking, one can declare divination a superstition, but one cannot deny the fact that, especially in the past, they were used as one of the tools that help people to reveal the secrets of life, their relationships with the world, society and individuals. In other words, divination reflects the era, traditions, and culture in one form or another. What feeds them is man's eternal desire to tear the veil of mystery from the passage of Time.

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list of literature

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Yijing. Chinese classical "Book of Changes" / Research, translation of the text by Yu. K. Shchutsky. Moscow, 1993.

Cunningham S. Iskusstvo proritsaniya [The Art of Divination]. Kiev: Sofia; LTD. 1997.

Kafarov P. I. Starinoe Mongolskoe skazanie o Genghis Khan [The Ancient Mongolian Legend of Genghis Khan]. from Chinese, with notes. Archimandrite Palladius // Proceedings of the Members of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Peking, vol. IV. St. Petersburg: In the typogr. of V. Bezobrazov and Co. 1866.

Luvsandanzan. Алтан товч / Шинээр орчуулж, тайлбар хийж, оршил бичсэн Оюут овгийн Дамдин-базарын Пурэвдорж (Лувсанданзан. Zolotoe skazanie [The Golden Legend] / Novy per., comment. and a preface. Damdinbazaryn Purevdorzha of the Oyuut family). Улаанбаатар, 2009.

Монголын нууц товчоо / Галиглаж хэвлуулсэн Т. Дашцэдэн (Сокровенное сказание монголов / Транскрибированное издание Т. Дашцэдэна). Улаанбатар, 1985.

Meng-da bay-lu (Full description of the Mongol-Tatars) / Translated from Chinese, introduced, comment. and attached by N. C. Munkueva, Moscow, 1975.

Ochirbat D. Merge tolgo (Ochirbat D. Divination and predictions). Улаанбаатар, 1990.

Rashid al-din. Collection of Chronicles, Vol. 1. Kn. 1 / Translated from the Persian by L. A. Khetagurova; Ed. and notes by A. A. Semenov. Moscow: Izd. AN SSSR, 1952.

Rashid al-din. Collection of Chronicles, Vol. 1. Kn. 2 / Translated from the Persian by O. I. Smirnova; Notes by B. I. Pankratov and O. I. Smirnova; Edited by A. A. Semenov. Moscow-L.: Izd. AN SSSR, 1952.

Rubruk Guillaume de. Travel to the Eastern countries, Moscow: Mysl', 1999.
The hidden legend of the Mongols / Translated by S. A. Kozin / / Baikal. 1989. N 6; 1990. N 1.

Tylor E. B. Primeval Culture, Moscow, 1989.
Tugutov A. I. Proritsaniya budushchego v "Zashchennom skazanii mongolov" [Prophecies of the future in the "Hidden Legend of the Mongols"]. Altaica X. M.: IV RAN, 2005(2).

Tugutov A. I. Birds of petroglyphs and the "Hidden legend of the Mongols" / / Ancient nomads of Central Asia: history, culture, heritage. Proceedings of the International Scientific Conference. Ulan-Ude: BSC SB RAS Publishing House, 2005 (1).

Цэрэнсодном Д. Монголын нууц товчоо (МНТ) / Эрдэм шинжэлгээний орчуулга, тайлбар (Цэрэнсодном Д. Сокровенное сказание монголов / Научный пер., коммент.). Улаанбаатар, 2000.

Zhang Ya-chu, Liu Yu. Some questions of divination on yarrow stalks in the discussion of numerical symbols of the Ba Gua Shan and Zhou time / Translated by V. M. Yakovlev / / Miracles and Oracles in the era of antiquity and the Middle Ages / Ed. by S. V. Arkhipov, L. S. Selivanov. Moscow: Kraft+; IV RAS, 2007.

Eliade M. Shamanism: Archaic techniques of ecstasy. Kiev: Sofia, 2000.

Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron. P-G.: Joint-stock Publishing House. F. A. Brockhaus and I. A. Efron Society, 1890-1907.

Index to The Secret History of the Mongols / By I. de Rachewiltz. Bloomington: Published by Indiana University, 1972.

Price S. Delphi and Divination (Greek Religion and Society). Cambridge. 1985.

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