In the traditional way of life of the Khakass people, a special place was occupied by the cult of fetishes — special objects which personified protector spirits. Their magical power was believed to protect the family, clan, herds and help in hunting. But most importantly, they were supposed to protect people from and fight against evil spirits that caused diseases. In the Khakass language, fetish objects were denoted by the word “tyos”.
Family and clan tyoses were kept in every Khakass yurt, each with its own, strictly defined place. The strongest and most revered was the aba tyos, a bear fetish that protected the dwelling. Aba tyos was placed at the threshold of the yurt, on the right, northern side of the entrance, and was dedicated to the door spirit-keeper. The fetish was made of copper or iron rings. According to legends, it contained the soul of the tyos.
Two fragments of skins were tied to the ring: from the right front paw of a bear (together with claws) and the right front shin of a black and bay horse. The black and bay horse was considered the riding animal of this fetish. It was called “mundyu.”
If a real bear’s paw was hard to get, it was carved out of wood. It was shaped like a human hand.
Every year — in spring and autumn during the last quarter of the moon, at sunset — the family arranged feeding of the aba tyos. Before the fetish, a flat stone was placed, a fire was made on it, and nine bundles of bird cherry bark, 9 pieces of horse fat and nine grains of barley, and the top of an umbrella plant, the hogweed, were burnt on the coals. In addition, the bear idol was fed with cinder from the head of a mottled pike and with ants. An old woman who knew the ancient customs to the finest detail headed the feeding. All present bowed to the fetish and repeated ‘yamy, yamy, yamy’ without making the sign of the cross over themselves.
Khakasses believed that the amulet took revenge on those who forgot to feed it — it affected the loins and the organs of the genitourinary system. Every nine years a black lamb — the right side of the sternum, head, and shin — was sacrificed to the aba tyos. The veneration of the bear tyos was associated with the cult of ancestors, as the bear was considered a distant brother of man.
Family and clan tyoses were kept in every Khakass yurt, each with its own, strictly defined place. The strongest and most revered was the aba tyos, a bear fetish that protected the dwelling. Aba tyos was placed at the threshold of the yurt, on the right, northern side of the entrance, and was dedicated to the door spirit-keeper. The fetish was made of copper or iron rings. According to legends, it contained the soul of the tyos.
Two fragments of skins were tied to the ring: from the right front paw of a bear (together with claws) and the right front shin of a black and bay horse. The black and bay horse was considered the riding animal of this fetish. It was called “mundyu.”
If a real bear’s paw was hard to get, it was carved out of wood. It was shaped like a human hand.
Every year — in spring and autumn during the last quarter of the moon, at sunset — the family arranged feeding of the aba tyos. Before the fetish, a flat stone was placed, a fire was made on it, and nine bundles of bird cherry bark, 9 pieces of horse fat and nine grains of barley, and the top of an umbrella plant, the hogweed, were burnt on the coals. In addition, the bear idol was fed with cinder from the head of a mottled pike and with ants. An old woman who knew the ancient customs to the finest detail headed the feeding. All present bowed to the fetish and repeated ‘yamy, yamy, yamy’ without making the sign of the cross over themselves.
Khakasses believed that the amulet took revenge on those who forgot to feed it — it affected the loins and the organs of the genitourinary system. Every nine years a black lamb — the right side of the sternum, head, and shin — was sacrificed to the aba tyos. The veneration of the bear tyos was associated with the cult of ancestors, as the bear was considered a distant brother of man.
