Title: Soot

General Information about Item:

• Ritual, Superstition
• Language: Kazakh
• Culture of Origin: Kazakh
• Informant: AO
• Date Collected: 11-07-2021

Informant Data:

AO was born in the 1990s and grew up in Kazakhstan. She is a violinist and has studied music in Europe for more than 4 years. AO is ethnically Kazakh and is fluent in 3 languages: English, Russian, and Kazakh. In her free time, she enjoys reading books and practicing yoga.

Contextual Data

Cultural Context: Kazakhs are historically nomadic people, so nomadic practices related to livestock have been central to their culture for a long time. Islam arrived in Kazakhstan during the 8th century, and Islamic religious beliefs combined with the animistic beliefs of the local nomadic cultures and shamanic traditions. Kazakhstan was also part of the Soviet Union before gaining independence in 1991, so its culture has been greatly influenced by its neighbor, Russia, as well. Nowadays, Kazakhstan’s modern culture is influenced by the West and all of the above mentioned cultures. The devil, demons and evil spirits are the most popular supernatural creatures that are believed to bring distress in Kazakh culture. 

Social Context: AO’s mom is a religious woman, who believes in various supernatural creatures and the evil eye. The evil eye is a superstitious belief in curse that is cast by a malevolent glare. Young children, especially toddlers are susceptible to the attack of evil creatures and the curse. In order to protect young AO from evil supernatural creatures and the evil eye, her mom used to perform this ritual.

Item: 

In order to protect children from evil supernatural creatures and the evil eye, a tiny amount of soot is applied to a child’s face (often forehead). This is supposed to ward off demons, evil spirits and draw attention away from the curse cast by a malevolent glare and keep the child safe from the evil. 

Collector’s name: Amina O.