DESTINY IN THE TRADITIONAL BELIEFS OF THE AGINSK BURYATS

The article addresses the role of destiny in the culture and beliefs of the Aginsk Buryats. The analysis of Buryat terminology suggests that destiny was viewed as a share allotted to man by supreme forces at birth. The arbiter of destinies was a heavenly deity, a demiurge, whose earthly abode was the hearth. Buryat rites were shaped by the idea that human life was a divine gift. This people's system of values, stemming from the parallel between destiny and one's allotted share, determined ethical norms and practices of social paternalism, which are still important for the Buryats.