СARVERS OF GINGERBREAD BOARDS: TRADITIONS OF THE PAST AND THE PRESENT

This article is devoted to the traditions and features of the craft of gingerbread boards' carvers of Tver. As known, the history of the emergence and the development of the printed gingerbread is inextricably linked with the folk cultural tradition. From the first steps, the gingerbread started to be actively introduced into the folk ritual practice, not only in the calendar agrarian ritual zone, but also in the family household ritual circle, often replacing other forms of ceremonial baking. The whole process of making gingerbread was sacred, including the manufacture of a carved board, the preparation of the gingerbread and its functioning in the ceremony. That is what explains the high status of the printed gingerbread, which it acquired in the social life of our compatriots, although its meanings have partly changed nowadays. The importance of making a gingerbread board was due not only to the sacred nature and patterns that the carver applied, but also to the price of work and material. However, the value of gingerbread was provided primarily by the magical role of dough ingredients, such as flour (obtained from grain), honey, floral spices, but at the same time it was largely determined by the cost of gingerbread. Unfortunately, the cultural zones of the folk gingerbread tradition are poorly and unevenly understood. One of the little-studied pages in the history of printed gingerbread is the work of masters-carvers of gingerbread boards, who largely determined the plan for expressing the mythological and poetic sacred meanings of the traditional gingerbread.

The Late Appearance of the Gṛhastha in the Vedic Domestic Ritual Codes as a Married Religious Professional

The Gṛhyasūtras (rulebooks of household ritual) might be expected to use the word gṛhastha, since it becomes the standard label for a married householder responsible for performing such rites. But in fact, when that role is mentioned, they employ older terms, suggesting that gṛhastha came into use only after the core works of the genre were composed, or that the ritualist authors were slow to accept it. The few occurrences we do find are in restricted contexts in supplementary chapters: in an appended list of penances (a penance for a gṛhastha vidyārthin, “a wisdom-seeker-who-stays-at-home,” Baudhāyana Gṛhyasūtra 4.12.1), and in two appendices that mention a gṛhastha alongside other individuals (including ascetics) worthy to be fed at rituals. This suggests that domestic ritual authorities in the era when the term was coming into use saw it as most applicable for depicting the married ritualist as a home-based religious professional comparable to an ascetic.

Mesoamerica—Aztec Figurines

Aztec ceramic figurines are ubiquitous small finds in central Mexican domestic contexts. As expressive miniature representations of humans, animals, and temples that were distributed through an extensive market system, they provide a window into Aztec worldviews, regional economies, and the household realm. Yet they have received relatively scant archaeological attention, likely because of disciplinary bias toward the monumental and imperial. This chapter reviews this small but compelling corpus of research, identifying a series of six approaches that are loosely chronologically arranged: (1) defining Aztec figurines, (2) figurines as types and as representations of deities, (3) figurines in household ritual, (4) figurine production and exchange, (5) figurines and social identity, and (6) figurine materialities. This analysis also identifies challenges that remain, including a lack of published catalogues of figurine collections, and insufficient detailed contextual excavations of houses where figurines were produced and consumed.

‘IF A STORY CAN SO MASTER THE CHILDREN’S SOUL’: CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURAL PEDAGOGY, ORALITY AND POWER IN THE WRITINGS OF JOHN CHRYSOSTOM

The aim of this study is to give account of the dynamics between Christian scriptural pedagogy, orality and power in the writings of John Chrysostom. The study firstly examines Chrysostom’s views on the discourse of reading scripture, with reference to his In Acta apostolorum homilia 19. Thereafter, the study investigates the practical application of this discourse in the household ritual of reading scripture, here with reference to Chrysostom’s In Genesim sermo 6. Finally, on an even higher level of abstraction, the study looks at scriptural pedagogy in the education of children as seen in Chrysostom’s De inani gloria.

SO THAT THE BABY NOT BE FORMED LIKE A POTTERY RATTLE: AZTEC RATTLE FIGURINES AND HOUSEHOLD SOCIAL REPRODUCTIVE PRACTICES

This paper examines the materiality—or the mutually constitutive relationships between people and things—of Aztec rattle figurines in order to shed light on household ritual life in Postclassic central Mexico. By examining iconographic, archaeological, and ethnohistoric evidence, I argue that these figurines were actively used in household healing rituals concerning successful biological and social reproduction, comprised of the work, relationships, and attitudes that perpetuate human life. I then consider the physical experience of that ritual use by exploring the visual, tactile, auditory, and physiological aspects of these figurines. I contend that their visibility in workshops, markets, and the home presented an image of the female body that reinforced women's important roles in the production and reproduction of the household and society. Finally, the material qualities of these figurines reveal ancient discourses on the human body and experimentation with bodily representation in terms of scale, form, and material.