GOAT, BILLY GOAT - AS A MANIFESTATION OF THE DEMONIC

IMAGE OF THE DAY - THE GOAT, THE BILLY GOAT, AND THE HORNED ONES

In Slavic folk beliefs and rituals, the goat and the billy goat are symbols and catalysts of fertility. At the same time, they are considered impure animals with a demonic nature, appearing both as an embodiment of evil forces and as a protective charm against them. In household management, qualities such as prolificacy and undemanding nature were valued; compare the Polish proverb: "The goat is the best little animal: it will sleep under the threshold, eat a dry broom, and still give a quart of milk."

In calendar rites associated with agricultural magic, the goat or its mask is a figure used in mumming. Yuletide and Maslenitsa processions with a mummers' goat are most common among Ukrainians and Belarusians, and to a lesser extent among Russians. The attributes of the mummied "goat" include a sheepskin coat turned inside out, a wooden head with horns and a beard made of straw or vines, and a moving lower jaw. Among Belarusians, the "goat" is known in the form of a large doll on a stick. Ukrainians in Bukovina carried a model of a "goat's" head on a long pole, over which a cloak was attached to hide the figure of the performer. In Greater Poland, during Maslenitsa processions, a live goat was sometimes led, attributing to it a magical effect on the harvest. A wooden horned figure of a goat was an attribute of the mummers' procession on the last Tuesday of the carnival. In Ukraine, the goat mask also figured in wedding and funeral rites (during "games for the deceased").

The rite of "leading the goat" is most vividly represented in Ukrainian and Belarusian traditions (Polesie constituted a sufficiently monolithic area for the rite at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries). The core of the rite was the singing of the song "Where the goat walks, there the rye grows..." with the refrain "Oh-ho-ho, goat," where a picture of the future harvest is painted in hyperbolic images ("where the goat's horn is — there the rye is in a stack," "where the goat's tail is — there the rye is in a bush," etc.). The song was accompanied by a pantomime dance, the central moment of which was the "dying" and "resurrection" of the goat, symbolizing the cycle of time and the rebirth of nature.

The "goat Maslenitsa" in the cycle of spring rites in the Nizhny Novgorod region is also likely connected to agricultural magic; it was timed to Clean Monday or the first Sunday of Great Lent and was marked by leading a billy goat decorated with a wreath and ribbons through the streets.

In harvest rituals, the goat or billy goat is a wreath made of rye, twisted at the end of the harvest, or a handful of ears of grain left standing during the reaping (Polish, Belarusian, Polesian). When it was necessary to reap the stalks missed by the harvesters, the Poles would say: "He is going to harvest the goat"; at the end of the harvest, while cutting the last ears, they would say: "He is riding the goat" (Kraków region). The goat is mentioned in Belarusian harvest songs. In Polesie, a reaper who lagged behind was teased as a "bearded billy goat" or told "the goat is bleating at you."

In animal husbandry magic, a billy goat is kept in the yard to ensure the reproduction of livestock (Russian). The fertility of the goat (billy goat) is linked to erotic motifs of the wolf’s amorous courtship of the goat and the marriage of the goat and the wolf in songs (Belarusian, Polish); a goat eaten by a wolf symbolizes a bride who has been claimed by a groom (Belarusian). In the Arzamas district of the Nizhny Novgorod province, at the end of the 19th century, during the spring send-off (celebration of "Yarilo"), a mummers' "billy goat" would chase girls and kick women.

The goat appears as a sacrificial animal in a peculiar performance held in various regions of the Czech Republic on St. James's Day (July 25), when a goat with gilded horns, decorated with ribbons and flowers, was thrown from a bell tower or other high place. The goat's blood was collected and kept as a remedy against fright. Related to the ritual slaughter of livestock is the rite of "goat-slaughtering" (kozomolie), performed on the eve of the Apostles' Fast. The Bulgarians would slaughter a goat at a wedding after the wedding night. Prohibitions on using a goat as a sacrifice (it is not slaughtered for the commemorative meal for the dead) are motivated by the fact that it is an impure, demonic animal.

In etiological legends, the goat appears as a creation of the devil. Ukrainians believe that the domestic goat was created by the devil, and if it is sprinkled with holy water, it will immediately "perish" (die). The goat is the devil's creation, and therefore looks like him (Belarusian). The goat has a short tail because the devil, while driving goats to pasture, tore off their tails. According to a Polish belief, the goat has all its strength in its tail; to keep goats from eating trees, one must stick a needle into their tail. Goats are always trying to climb trees because they have "devil's feet." Goats once had claws on their feet and climbed trees; the devil lost a bet to God regarding his goats, and God deprived them of their claws (Transcarpathia). There is yellow hair on a goat's knees because the devil, when driving them out of the Lord's yard, beat them on the legs, from which blood flowed and stained the hair. In legends, the goat as an impure animal is contrasted with the cow and the sheep, which are pure and "God-given" creatures (Ukrainian).

As an embodiment of evil forces, the devil appears in the form of a goat; compare the proverb: "A goat and a devil — they are one and the same" and the Polish word for devil, *koziel*. Goat legs (horns, ears, beard) are present in the appearance of the devil (Common Slavic), the forest spirit (Russian), the house spirit (Ukrainian), and the water spirit (Ukrainian, Serbian). The Poles believe that the reflection of a goat can always be seen in a witch's eyes. In the "other world," the spirits of those who died by hanging turn into a goat. The devil (Ukrainian, Bulgarian) rides on a goat, as does the spirit of a drowned person, appearing from the water at midnight and grabbing passersby. In the Kiev province, it was believed that on the eve of Easter, a treasure could appear in the form of a goat (compare the Polish omen: to see a goat in a dream means financial gain). Because the goat is a devilish creation, a witch cannot take milk from it. The goat is perceived as an animal especially close to "strangers" (foreigners), compare: Russian "Jewish cow," Polish "Jewish beast/goat."

In Belarus, it was believed that keeping "Jewish livestock"—that is, goats—not only harmed sheep farming but also served as a clear sign that the master of the house or one of his household members was inclined toward witchcraft. As an unclean animal, the goat itself could become the source of harmful creatures. According to a Ukrainian belief from Podolia, sparrows originated from goat droppings hidden by Jews in their down bedding.

A billy goat was often kept in the stable because, as it was said, the house spirit (in Kostroma, Russia) or the devil (in Zhytomyr, Ukraine) favored it and, consequently, would not harm the horses. The house spirit (in Ukraine) and the weasel (in Polesia) were thought to fear the goat, especially a white one. According to Ukrainian belief, if a goat is present in the stable, it will prevent a witch from stealing milk from the cow. Shepherds kept a goat in the pasture with the sheep, believing that it would prevent sorcerers from approaching the flock.

To ward off cattle plague, a goat's head was nailed up in the farmyard (Kostroma). If a cow had been struck by the evil eye and was producing little milk, one was advised to get a goat and mix the cow's milk with goat's milk; this was thought to repel the curse. Goat's milk was used to extinguish fires caused by lightning (in Poland). When casting a demon out of a possessed person, a small piece of goat meat was placed in their mouth.

O. Beregova

Symbols of the Slavs