Tamara Sadalova
Gorno-Altaisk

Triune View of the Universe Among Turko-Mongolians

47th Meeting of the PIAC, Cambridge 2004

This traditional view of the universe is common to a majority of the Turko-Mongolian people groups.

The texts of heroic epics reflect the traditional system of the universe classically consisting of three spiritual worlds: an upper world, a middle world, and an underworld. In this triad the middle world is also the functional center, which determines the relationships to the upper world and the under world. The attraction or repulsion of the upper and under worlds depends on the harmonious or disharmonious condition of the middle world. The inter-relationship and interdependency of the three worlds is almost completely projected throughout the ceremonies and rituals of today’s Turko-Mongolian people groups.

The research of the topic of the triune world system of the Turko-Mongolian people isn’t valuable just for scientific purposes, but also helps to explain the ethno-psychological points of unity of Central Asian peoples.