The dissertation considers the mythological semantics of medical-and-ritual texts. The first section is devoted to issues related to the history and source base of the study of orders, the methodological principles of the study are also defined.
The first section "Magical-and-Healing Practices and Mytho-Folklore Tradition" is devoted to the state of scientific study of the problem, analysis of information resources and source base, methodological principles of research are also defined. In the process of processing the factual material, it was found that there are several periods of study, which are compared with the functioning of scientific schools. Particular attention is paid to the recent period, which is identified with the assertion of Ukrainian statehood.
The second section "Semantic Ontology and Figurative System of Medical and Ritual Texts" explores some modifications of anthropy, described by the "body text", in particular: the formulaic properties of the body as a "mechanical" model of the universe; the semantics of the "corporeal soul" as the spiritual content of this model; as well as elements of the syncretic structure – the symbolism of the head and circulatory system, dual-oppositional loci of the lower body and the semantic codes of the human skeleton. Therapeutic and ritual texts have preserved the rudiments of archaic beliefs about the "cosmic" structure of the human body.
The implementation of the anthropic principle is also associated with arithmetic. Operations with numbers, in particular direct or inverse counting, enumeration, subtraction cause the emergence of detailed classifications that indicate the causes of disease, "areas" of their location, the place where they are sent. Ritual arithmetic also serves as a means of organizing and formulating a description of the structure of the mythological picture of the world; involves not only the ability to arrange visible and invisible objects in a logical sequence, asserting them as a set, but also the ability to abstract from this set, that is, purposefully separate each object. In the process of counting, each element is named, as a result of which its existence is confirmed or it is removed as redundant.
In the third section "Chronotop of the Medical Myth" the semantics of time and space are considered. In the mythological consciousness, the disease is regarded as a state of general instability, which threatens personally and indicates a problem in the social sphere or the natural environment. In traditional culture, the regulation of time is carried out through a system of permits and prohibitions, as well as by reproducing the first – sacred time. In this case, the medical text simulates a kind of patterns, the sounding of which balances the disturbed passage of time. An example is the days of the week, the descriptions of which are a system of binary coordinates "even-odd", "female-male".
