Baira Goryaeva, Kalmyk holidays, Zul and Tsagan Sar

Baira talks about Zul and Tsagan Sar:We always prepared for Zul in advance. We collected and dried the feather grass (tsagan ovsn), which is used for making candlewicks. We made candles in the shape of a boat from dough to perform a ritual of prolonging life. Each candlewick was made by wrapping 4 pieces of grass in cotton. The number of candlewicks was supposed to be equal to the age of the person for whom the candle was dedicated. Of course, in each locality, this was done differently. In our region, for example, people older than 60 put only 3 wicks in their candles. Those who were younger added from 1 to 3 candlewicks to their candles on top of the designated number of candlewicks that matched their age. This was done with a mentality of ‘just in case’. Old people always said that if a child was born before Zul, then he/she is not a year, but 2 years old. I have an uncle named Zula, because he was born during Zul. The name Tsagan could be given to those born during Tsagan Sar. So, when the first stars appeared in the sky, the boat-shaped candles, filled with butter, were lit. When the holiday was over, these candles, which were made from dough, were rolled and baked as cakes. My husband is Torghut, and his aunt makes an extra candle with 9 wicks on top of the required ones. Since it is their tradition, she taught me to do so. Now I do such extra candle myself. I do not know what this extra candle is for, but since I was told to do so, I just do. I do not know which bortsg varieties to make during Zul. But during Tsagan Sar we always divided the bortsg biscuits that we made among relatives i.e. one set for older relatives, another for younger. We, children, strung biscuits and carried them to relatives. I remember that the following varieties were not supposed to be offered to gods: khorkha (symbolizing insects), shovun (symbolizing birds) and galuna baasn (symbolizing goose’s excrements). For gods we offered the following biscuits: tselvg (symbolizing the sun), huts (symbolizing sheep or small cattle), togsh (symbolizing a pond or lake), zhola (reins), kit (symbolizing the edible guts of horses), moshkmr (symbolizing edible guts of cattle) and temyan (camel). These seven varieties were offered to gods during Tsagan Sar. Biscuits associated with birds such as shovun and galuna baasn, as I said, are not included in these offerings, but we made them anyway, since these biscuits symbolize the arrival of spring. I remember how everyone loved making galun baasn. In my childhood we went to visit each other all day. Today we do not celebrate this holiday as widely as we used to.Sponsored by Arcadia Fund, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwi