Echoes of the Sacred Meanings of the Coniferous Tree in Russian Traditional Culture
The article considers folk and ethnographic evidences of the sacred ritual and magical saturation of the image of a coniferous tree in the Russian traditional ritual culture. The core of the presented scientific materials is the information recorded by the author on the Tver land during a multi-year (2000-2019) expeditionary folk and ethnographic research. Among other scientific evidences, which are introduced in the article to understand the sacred role of the coniferous tree in folk culture, we should mention archival records and publications of previous years related to the dendro-latria in the ritual and ceremonial tradition of not only the Tver land, but also the territories close to it. Ethnographic samples of folk decorative and applied art, such as distaffs, wooden salt shakers, house frames, pottery, towels, etc., some of which are presented in the article, can tell a lot about the former sacred role of coniferous tree in the traditional worldview.