«Pyramid» of Time: A Structural-Axiological Model of Synchronization of Natural-Cosmic Cycles (Based on the Mythopoetic Heritage of Belarusians and Kalmyks)
https://doi.org/10.53315/2782-3377-2026-6-1-81-101
Abstract
This article, for the first time, examines the axiological synchronization of cosmic cycles — specifically the movement of the Sun, the full cycle of lunar phases, and the Earth’s rotation on its axis — within the traditional culture of Belarusians and Kalmyks. The study employs a structural-axiological approach to demonstrate that within the “pyramid” of time, a distinct typology of evaluative determinants exists. It reveals that regardless of the scale of the cycle (annual, monthly, or daily), the temporal structure, marked by four key phases (origin, development, decline, completion), is consistently endowed with identical qualitative characteristics. The “pyramid” model serves to illustrate the initial, indivisible unity between the sacred Celestial Absolute and the sacralized time of the earthly world. Furthermore, the article demonstrates how this model extends beyond temporal organization to encompass spatial orientation, establishing a direct correlation between the four cardinal directions and the architectonics of the traditional Belarusian and Kalmyk dwelling. This integration ultimately reflects a unified worldview where cosmic rhythms, temporal values, and spatial order form a cohesive, harmonious system.
About the Authors
O. V. Kotovich
Belarusian State University of Culture and Arts
Belarus
Belarus
Oksana V. Kotovich, Candidate of Cultural Studies, Associate Professor, Associate Professor of the Directing Department
Minsk
E. U. Omakaeva
Kalmyk State University named after B.B. Gorodovikov
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Ellara U. Omakaeva, Candidate of Philological Sciences, Associate Professor
Elista
References
1. Bayburin, A. K. (1991). Zhilishche v obryadakh i predstavleniyakh vostochnykh slavyan [Dwelling in the Rituals and Beliefs of the Eastern Slavs]. Leningrad: Nauka.
2. Belarusian Land Calendar Paese (1992). / Acad. of Science of the BSSR, In-t mastatstvaznaўstva, etnagrafіі і fal’kloru; [uklad., sіstematsyzatsiya tekstaў, cess. art. і kament. A. S. Lіsa, folk calendar padrykhtavaў U. A. Vasilevіch; edited by A.S. Fyadosіk; edited by V. K. Bandarchyk [and in English]. Minsk: Science and Technology.
3. Bogdanovich, A. E. (2009). Perezhitki drevnego mirosozertsaniya u belorusov: ehtnogr. ocherk [Vestiges of the Ancient Worldview of the Belarusians: An Ethnographic Essay] [Fax reproduction of the 1925 edition]. Moscow: Slava.
4. Bulgakovsky, D. G. (1890). The Pinchuks: An Ethnographic Collection: Songs, Riddles, Proverbs, Rituals, Signs, Prejudices, Beliefs, Superstitions, and Local Vocabulary / Collected in the Pinsk District of the Minsk Province by D. G. Bulgakovsky; [edited by F. Istomin]. St. Petersburg: Printing House of V. Bezobrazov and Co.
5. Chalbanova K.V., Bicheev B.A. (2025). Relikty drevnego kul’ta Solntsa v fol’klornoi i obryadovoi traditsii kalmykov [Relics of the ancient cult of the Sun in the folklore and ritual traditions of the Kalmyks]. Nauchnyi dialog.14(1). 284–303.
6. Charadzeinyya kazkі [Charadzeinyya fairy tales] (1978) / Akad. navuk BSSR, Іn-t mastatstvaznaўstva, ehtnagrafіі і fal’kloru; [sklad.: K. P. Kabashnіkaў, G. A. Bartashehvіch; rehdkal.: V. K. Bandarchyk і іnsh.]. Mіnsk: Navuka і tehkhnіka. 2.
7. Eliade, M. (1999). Ocherki sravnitel’nogo religiovedeniya [Essays on Comparative Religion]: translated from English by M. Eliade; Responsible editor V. Ya. Petrukhin. Moscow: Ladomir.
8. Frolov, B. A. (1993). Proiskhozhdenie kalendarya [The Origin of the Calendar]. The Calendar in the Culture of the Peoples of the World. A Collection of Articles. Moscow: Nauka “Eastern Literature”. 7–36.
9. Kassirer, E. (2002). Filosofiya simvolicheskikh form [Philosophy of symbolic forms]: in 3 volumes. Moscow; St. Petersburg: University Book. 2: Mythological thinking.
10. Katovіch, A. V. (2020). Іerafanіya mesyatsa yak strukturaўtvaral’ny faktar paradkavannya chas [The epoch of the month as the structure of the creative factor of the hour]. Current trends in the development of information science: problems and prospects: collection. Sci. prats [goal. ed. Yu. I. Kolisnyk-Gumenyuk]. Kiev–Lviv–Berezhany–Gomel. 7. 188–197.
11. Klimishin, I. A. (1985). Kalendar’ i khronologiya [Calendar and chronology]. 2nd ed., revised and enlarged. Moscow: Nauka.
12. Kotovich, O. V. (2020). Kosmos i vremya kul’tury: garmoniya otnoshenii Solntsa i Luny (aksiologicheskii aspekt). [Cosmos and Time of Culture: Harmony of the Relationship between the Sun and the Moon (axiological aspect)]. Ethnic Culture in the Modern World: Proc. of the VI Int. Res. and Pract. Conf., dedicated to the 100th Anniversary of the Formation of the Chuvash Autonomous Region / Chuvash State Institute of Culture and Arts; ed. board L. P. Kurakov (ed.-in-chief) [et al.]. Issue 1. Cheboksary. 54–60.
13. Kotovich, O. V., Kruk, Ya. (2019). Sakral’nyi mir traditsii. 99 urokov narodnoi kul’tury [The Sacred World of Tradition. 99 Lessons of Folk Culture]. Minsk: Education and Learning.
14. Legendy і padannі [Legends and Fallacies] (1983). [compiled by: M. Ya. Grynblat, A. I. Gursky; editorial: V. K. Bandarchyk and others; volume editor A. S. Fyadosik; assignment by M. Ya. Grynblat]. Minsk: Science and Technology.
15. Mify narodov mira [Myths of the Peoples of the World]: Encyclopedia in 2 volumes (1987). Ed.-in-chief S. A. Tokarev. Moscow: Sovetskaya Entsiklopediya. 1: A–K.
16. Mify narodov mira [Myths of the Peoples of the World]: Encyclopedia in 2 volumes (1988). Ed.-in-chief S. A. Tokarev. Moscow: Sovetskaya Entsiklopediya. 2: K–Ya.
17. Nefed’ev, N. (1834). Podrobnye svedeniya o volzhskikh kalmykakh, sobrannye na meste [Detailed information about the Volga Kalmyks, collected on site]. SPb.: Tip. Karla Kraiya.
18. Prostonarodnye primety i pover’ya, suevernye obryady, legendarnye skazaniya o litsakh i mestakh Vitebskoi Belorussii [Popular beliefs and superstitious customs, legendary tales about the people and places of Vitebsk Belarus] (1897). Sobral v Vitebskoi Belorussii N. Ya. Nikiforovskii, deistvitel’nyi chlen Imperatorskogo obshchestva lyubitelei estestvoznaniya, antropologii i ehtnografii i deistvitel’nyi chlen Vitebskogo gubernskogo statisticheskogo komiteta [collected in Vitebsk Belarus by N. Ya. Nikiforovsky, full member of the Imperial Society of Lovers of Natural Science, Anthropology, and Ethnography and full member of the Vitebsk Provincial Statistical Committee]. Vitebsk: Gubernkaya Tipo-Litograf.
19. Omakaeva, E.U. (1993). Kul’t nebesnykh svetil u kalmykov [The cult of heavenly bodies among the Kalmyks]. Tez. dokl. I Mezhdunar. konf. «Traditsionnye kul’tury i sreda obitaniya» (g. Moskva, 15–19 maya 1993 g.). Moskva. 150–153.
20. Omakaeva, E.U. (1999). Vremya i kalendar’ v traditsionnoi kul’ture [Time and calendar in traditional culture]. Tez. dokl. Vseros. nauch. konf. «Mir kul’tury, istorii i filosofii» (g. Sankt-Peterburg, 30–31 oktyabrya 1999 g.). / Pod red. A.B. Ostrovskogo. SPb.: Lan’. 76–78.
21. Omakaeva, E. (2008). The Calendar Knowledge of Nomadic Peoples as Reflected in the Kalmyk Lexicon and Kalmyk Worldview. International Conference “Nomadic Society and Intercultural Dialogue”. Ulaanbaatar. 13
22. Omakaeva, E. U. (2017). Tibetan, Mongolian, and Kalmyk Buddhist Calendars: Commonalities and Local Characteristics (Based on Astrological Manuscripts from Museums, Archives, and Private Collections in Russia, Mongolia, and China). Historical and Cultural Connections between Mongolia and Tibet: First International Scientific Conference, Lanzhou, July 21–23, 2017 / Minzu University of China, Northwestern University of Nationalities. Lanzhou: Northwestern Minzu University. 240–241.
23. Omakaewa, E. U. (2025). Zeitcode im kalmückisch-buddhistischer Kalender: Zyklen und Zukunftsprognosen. Nomadic Civilization: Historical Research. Vol. 5, No. 4. 122–131. DOI 10.53315/2782-3377-2025-5-4-122-131.
24. Paehzіya belaruskaga zemlyarobchaga kalendara (1992) / Akad. navuk BSSR, Іn-t mastatstvaznaўstva, ehtnagrafіі і fal’kloru; [uklad., sіstehmatyzatsyya tehkstaў, ustup. art. і kament. A. S. Lіsa, narodny kalendar padrykhtavaў U. A. Vasіlevіch; rehd. A.S. Fyadosіk; rehdkal.: V. K. Bandarchyk і іnsh.]. Mіnsk: Navuka і tehkhnіka.
25. Shamyakіna, T. І. (2005). Slavyanskaya mіfalogіya: kurs lektsyi [Slavic Mythology: A Course of Lectures]. І. Mіnsk: RІVSh.
26. Shein, P. V. (1890). Materials for the Study of the Everyday Life and Language of the Russian Population of the North-Western Region: [in 3 volumes] / collected and organized by P. V. Shein. St. Petersburg, [1887–1902] (Printing House of the Imperial Academy of Sciences). 1. 2: Everyday and Family Life of a Belarusian in Rituals and Songs.
27. Slavyanskie drevnosti: ehtnolingvisticheskii slovar’ v 5 t. [Slavic Antiquities: An Ethnolinguistic Dictionary in 5 Volumes] (1995) / Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Slavic and Balkan Studies; edited by N. I. Tolstoy. Moscow: International Relations. Vol. 1: A — G.
28. Slavyanskie drevnosti: ehtnolingvisticheskii slovar’ v 5 t. [Slavic Antiquities: An Ethnolinguistic Dictionary in 5 Volumes] (2004) / Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Slavic and Balkan Studies; edited by N. I. Tolstoy. Moscow: International Relations. Vol. 3: K (Circle) — P (Quail).
29. Slavyanskie drevnosti: ehtnolingvisticheskii slovar’ v 5 t. [Slavic Antiquities: An Ethnolinguistic Dictionary in 5 Volumes] (2009) / Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Slavic and Balkan Studies; edited by General editor N. I. Tolstoy. Moscow: International Relations. 4: P (Crossing the Road). S (Sieve).
30. The Magical Tale (1978) / Academy of Science of the BSSR, Institute of Mathematics, Ethnography and Folklore; [compiled by: K. P. Kabashnikov, G. A. Bartashevich; edited by: [V. K. Bandarchyk and others]. Minsk: Science and Technology. 2.
31. Tolstaya, S. M. (2005). Polesskii narodnyi kalendar’ [Polesie Folk Calendar]. Moskva: Indrik.
32. Tolstoy, N. I. (2003). Ocherki slavyanskogo yazychestva [Essays on Slavic Paganism]. Moskva: Indrik.
33. Zyamlya staіts’ pasyarod svetu [The earth is a flock of the world] (1996). Uklad., pradm., peraklad, bіbl. U. Vasіlevіcha [styling, prud., translation, bib. U. Vasilevich]. Mіnsk: Mast. lіt. (Belaruskіya narodnyya prykmety і paver’і; kn.1.).
34. Zamovy (1992) / Academician Sciences of the BSSR, Institute of History, Ethnagraphy and Folklore; [editor: V. K. Bandarchyk, K. P. Kabashnika, A. S. Fyadosik; lay., ledge. art. G. A. Bartashevich]. Minsk: Science and technology.
35. Zapiski IRGO po Otdeleniyu ehtnografii. XIII, 3 (1890): Pinchuki: Ehtnograficheskii sbornik: pesni, zagadki, poslovitsy, obryady, primety, predrassudki, pover’ya, suever’ya i mestnyi slovar’ / sobral v Pinskom uezde Minskoi gubernii D.G. Bulgakovskii. SPb.: Tipografiya V. Bezobrazova i K°.
36. Zhytstsya advechny lad (1998) / uklad., pradm. і per. U. Vasіlevіcha. Mіnsk: Mast. Lіteratura. Belaruskіya narodnyya prykmety і paver’і. 2. [Literature. Belarusian folk traditions and beliefs]. 2.
Review
For citations:
Kotovich O.V., Omakaeva E.U. «Pyramid» of Time: A Structural-Axiological Model of Synchronization of Natural-Cosmic Cycles (Based on the Mythopoetic Heritage of Belarusians and Kalmyks). Nomadic civilization: historical research. 2026;6(1):81-101. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.53315/2782-3377-2026-6-1-81-101
Views:
23
JATS XML
Email this article 