MATERNITY AND CHRISTENING RITUALS OF THE OLD BELIEVERS OF NORTH-WESTERN BELARUS (BASED ON THE MATERIALS OF FIELD RESEARCH OF THE BEGINNING OF THE XXI CENTURY)

The article deals with the maternity rituals of the Old Believers in north-western Belarus in the second half of the twentieth – early twentieth centuries. Materials recorded in the region in the course of field research. The structure of structure of maternity and baptismal rituals, the main stages and parts of the ritual complex are highlighted, the peculiarities of the ritual actions and the associated ritual actions and related representations are characterised. The evolution of Old Believers' maternity and baptismal rituals is traced. in the second half of the twentieth – beginning of the twentieth century.