Ob-Ugric Institute of Applied Researches and Development, Khanty-Mansiysk, Russian Federation, vspodina@mail.ru
ABSTRACT
Introduction: wind / air, along with water, fire, and earth, is among the main natural phenomena underlying the universe. The element of wind is differentiated by its diverse natural characteristics, which finds differences in the specifics of beliefs, functional rules
of behavior, and economic norms of various local ethnic groups. The article defines the role of this atmospheric phenomenon in the domestication of space through the prism of the traditional worldview. The article highlights the peculiarities of the perception of wind
directions as a reflection of the specifics of the horizontal structuring of the surrounding world from the perspective of ethnology, cultural studies, and linguistics based on the theory of atmospheric neoclassical new aesthetics, which is characterized by a combination of
spatiality and sensuality.
Objective: to explicate aspects of the manifestation of the wind element in the practice of space exploration and in the ideological tradition of the Khanty, Mansi and Forest Nenets peoples.
Research materials: folklore texts, mythological and linguistic dictionaries, published works of domestic and foreign researchers, oral reports of informants.
Results and novelty of the research: for the first time, the article examines the role of the wind element in the ordering of space from the perspective of the atmospheric theory of the German philosopher G. Boehme. Based on ethnographic materials and folklore texts, 29
characteristics of the wind in terms of strength, speed and seasonal manifestations are systematized, its role in shaping the spatial experience of the Ob Ugrians and Samoyeds is revealed: the peculiarities of orientation, the participation of the wind in the creation of the cultural
landscape, the anthropomorphization of this meteorological phenomenon. The traditional ideas in which the element of wind received the most vivid interpretation are revealed. Dualistic ideas are emphasized, according to which the wind is characterized, on the one hand, as a
malicious force (strikes, destroys, brings diseases, bad news, awakens the spirit of hurricanes, etc.), and on the other – as a good one (disperses clouds, brings rain clouds, drives away insects, etc.). Schemes of centered-mythological orientation in the wind directions of the Khanty, Mansi and Forest Nenets peoples have been compiled, which make it possible to visualize the features of the local ethnocultural landscape.
Key words: atmospheric theory, element of wind, domestication of space, orientation in space, traditional worldview, Ob Ugrians, Samoyeds
For citation: Spodina V. I. The element of wind in the ideological tradition of the Ob-Ugric and Samoyed peoples: an interdisciplinary approach // Vestnik ugrovedenia = Bulletin of Ugric Studies. 2026; 16 (1/64): 139–153.