Relictele obiceiului „Săgeata” în satele ruseşti din Republica Moldova
Relicts of the ritual “Arrow” in Russian villages of the Republic of Moldova

Summary/Abstract: This article attempts to identify the place of the song “Arrow” and the little-known relicts (which can be found in the Old Believers, who live in Russian villages of the Republic of Moldova) and of the ritual with the same name and to carry out their analysis and draw some parallels with other regions. Also, a series of questions have been raised that can be answered in a separate, broader research specifically devoted to the study of this ancientrite. The driving of the arrow/“sula” (a kind of spear) (“to drive an arrow”, “to bury an arrow”) is a spring and summer ritual which “closes” the spring and “opens” the summer, timed to the Day of St. George, the Easter Week or Ascension Day. It includes a ritual burial of an arrow by women for protective and reproductive purposes. THe territory of the spread of “driving of arrow” is clearly limited to Eastern Polesye region, but the elements of this ritual were transferred from there to Moldovaand therefore they are also known in some local groups of Russian immigrants. The information presented in this article is related to a series of versions of the folk ritual song “Arrow” and the few remaining elements that accompany it. Of course, a further in-depth research and drawing parallels within the space of all-Russian song repertoire is required.

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