Әйелдік қасиеттілік философиялық категория ретінде: қазақ мәдениетіндегі киелілік феноменін түсіну

Abstract

The article conceptualizes the sacralization of female images in the traditional culture of Kazakhstan as aphilosophical mediating category between the bodily and the spiritual, the individual and the collective. Thephenomenon of holiness is analyzed through the dichotomy of the sacred and the profane (M. Eliade) and thenotion of ultimate concern (P. Tillich). It is shown that the cults of Domalaq Ana, Gauhar Ana, and AishaBibi embody the archetype of the Mother and function as lieux de mémoire that stabilize collective memoryand local solidarity. The analysis of Kazakh female cults covers four levels — ontological, psychological, socio-mnemonic, and normative-practical — thus ensuring a comprehensive approach. This four-level modelprovides a transition from description to explanation: it establishes the existence of female cults, demonstrateshow they produce and distribute holiness, explicates why they remain stable, and reveals how the “feminine”acts as a mediator. The article demonstrates that the sacred is sustained by a triple linkage: narrative sets behavioral patterns and the language of petition; sacred space disciplines attention through threshold, path, andcenter; and ritual translates inner intention into a publicly verifiable act (vow, offering, circumambulation,touch), ensuring the repetition and remembrance of communal life and the intergenerational transmission ofnorms and values. The manifestation of the “feminine” is described as a form of soft normativity that translates transcendent meanings into ritual and everyday practices. The conclusion emphasizes the role of femalecults as a semantic infrastructure within Kazakh cultural tradition.