Symbolism of the Color Blue in the Ob Komi Culture

Abstract

This article discusses the symbolism of the color blue in modern funerary rites practiced by Komi dwellers in the Ob River region. Findings of fi eld studies in several villages of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug (KhMAO) and the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug (YaNAO) suggest that the local Izhma Komi consider blue as a funerary color. According to a custom that appeared in the village of Ovgort (YaNAO) in the late 1900s, elderly people were buried in coffins painted with blue, light blue or, less often, black dye, whereas younger people were buried in red coffins. Since red was considered apotropaic, protecting from the harmful effect of death and from demonic beings, a red coffin was a barrier protecting a person who died of an unnatural cause. The red–blue opposition was semantically loaded in the Komi culture. In world culture, blue was associated with black, being viewed as dark, cold, sinister, as well as the color of death and the afterworld. In folk beliefs, blue marked the boundary between the worlds, and its shades were considered a typical attribute of demonic characters and an omen of impending death. Blue and light blue are colors of water and the sky, both being otherworldly realms. In Christian reinterpretation, azure and light blue are heavenly colors, associated with the Mother of God. Crosses and grave fences are often painted blue. In the Ob Komi tradition, shades of blue are considered proper for eggs eaten at funeral repasts, but not at Easter. By adding new elements to funerary ritualism, the Izhma Komi, purposefully or intuitively, employ ideological constructs with traditional sacral meanings.