Gushurun, Gaborah, Cow: A Study of the Transformation of the Concept and Existence of the Cow in the Culture, Folktales, and Beliefs of the Lur People
Document Type : پژوهشی اصیل
Author
Instructor of Persian Language and Literature, Farhangian University, Ahvaz, Iran.
Abstract
The cow, through its numerous functions—such as serving as a sacrificial animal, producing dairy products, and playing a role in agriculture—has been a significant factor in the course of human civilization. In the present study, using a fieldwork/documentary methodology, after explaining the dimensions of the presence of the cow in archaeological remains and findings as well as in the religious and mythological beliefs of Iranians, the status and role of the cow in folktales, culture, and popular beliefs, and of a being known as Gabureh among the Lur people—especially the Boyer-Ahmad tribe—are examined. It appears that with the adoption of Islam and due to religious and cultural changes and considerations in the beliefs of the people under discussion, although the cow has undergone a transformation in the historical process from a mythical and supernatural being such as the Primordial Cow (Gāv-e Yaktā-Āfarīd) and Gōšurūn, it is still remembered—based on the ancestral religious and mythological background—as a celestial and mythical element regarded as the origin of the initial life of plants and animals. In the collective unconscious, the contemporary cow is linked to the primordial cow through an intermediary being known as Gabureh. As a celestial cow, Gabureh shares with the mythical Primordial Cow (Yaktā-Āfarīd) and Gōšurūn functions such as increasing and promoting the reproduction of beneficial livestock and the growth and development of plants and farmlands, as well as external characteristics such as its distinctive color, its gender—neutral yet female-like—and its otherworldly nature.
Keywords
Subjects
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Interviewees
Bibi Keshvar Jalil, 71 years old, completed fifth grade of primary school, from Kheyrabad Jalil village, in Gachsaran County.
Bibi Khavar Arzhang, 68 years old, illiterate, from Kheyrabad Qal‘eh Madreseh, a locality of Gachsaran.
