Semantics of symbols and signs in the ethno culture of Ajara (cross)

Abstract

The ancient way of thinking is symbolic. The archaic human worldview combines symbolic thinking and symbolic action, preserved in the mytho-ritual system, and the iconic face of the symbol, fixed in material culture. The symbol encodes the most important information from the sacred past of people. This knowledge, stored in the collective memory, was passed from generation to generation through a symbol. Therefore, a content with a certain meaning is transmitted through a symbol-sign, and the study of the semantics of a symbol is aimed at revealing this content. The symbolic thinking of people is most clearly reflected in material culture, in samples of traditional branches of art, from the interior to clothing decorations. At the same time, the study of the semantics of symbols and signs makes it possible to pose and solve many important problems of spiritual culture. A sign becomes a symbol when it is given a special sacred meaning. One of the most common astral symbol is the cross. It, as a sign-symbol, is well known from Christian iconography, but in the mythological and ritual consciousness of Georgians, the semantics of this symbol differs from the Christian context. In the article, on the example of the ethno-culture of Adjara, various aspects of the symbolic understanding of the cross in mythological and ritual models are considered.