“THE SIGN OF THE COW”: LUNAR SYMBOLISM IN OLZHAS SULEIMENOV’S HISTORIOSOPHY AND WEST AFRICAN MYTHORITUAL PRACTICES

Abstract

This article examines a hypothesis put forward by Olzhas Suleimenov, a Kazakhstani poet, thinker, and researcher of ancient symbolic systems, regarding the primacy of lunar symbolism and its connection to early forms of sacred thought that originated in Africa and were expressed through the image of the crescent moon, the “sign of the cow.” The purpose of this article is to test this historiosophical hypothesis. The research material consists of published ethnographic, mythological, and religious studies sources on the peoples of West Africa (the Fon, Ewe, Ouatchi, Yoruba, Igbo, and others), as well as field data collected by the author during an expedition to the southern regions of Benin and Togo in 2025. The study is based on a comparative-mythological, structural-semiotic, and cross-cultural analysis of mythoritual complexes. Particular attention is paid to ethnoastronomical data, ritual practices, and narratives that reflect the rivalry between solar and lunar principles in local ontologies. The scientific novelty lies in the first systematic verification of O. Suleimenov’s hypothesis using material from West African religious traditions and drawing on contemporary field data. It has been established that direct mythologems identifying the crescent moon with animal horns are rare; however, there are consistent structural and functional parallels between lunar and bovine symbolism. At the same time, narratives of the mythoritual beneficence of the Moon – symbolizing life-giving and maternal forces – have been identified, as well as ambivalent and negative narratives in which the Sun is associated with antisocial behavior, cannibalism, witchcraft, and retribution for violating social norms. The conclusion is drawn that Suleimenov’s concept has partial heuristic value, provided that rigid climatic determinism is rejected and regional variability in African cosmologies is taken into account.