Results 1 to 5 of 5

Thread: Caucasian paganism

  1. #1
    Banned
    Join Date
    Oct 2016
    Last Online
    07-18-2020 @ 08:01 PM
    Ethnicity
    prehistoric peoples
    Country
    Kyrgyzstan
    Gender
    Posts
    3,322
    Thumbs Up
    Received: 2,839
    Given: 341

    5 Not allowed!

    Post Caucasian paganism







    Uatsdin


    extendedly Ætsæg Din (Æцæг Дин), literally "True Faith" (both mean the same, as "Uatsdin" is a contraction of the latter)




    Statue of Æfsati, the Ossetian god of wild animals and patron of hunters, in the Ossetian mountains.





    The symbol of Uatsdin, of the Atsætæ Church. It represents traditional Indo-European theological trifunctionalism.





    Rekom Temple in the Tsey area, Alagirsky District, North Ossetia-Alania.







    A shrine dedicated to Uastyrdzhi.


    Etymology

    Ætsæg or uats literally means "right", "true" in the Ossetian language, and is a cognate of Avestan haiθiia, it itself meaning "true". Din is a cognate of the Avestan daena (whence din in Persian), which represents "insight" and "revelation", and from this "observance" and "religion", but also "consciousness".


    Theology

    Uatsdin contemplates the worship of a supreme God, Xwytsau (Хуыцау), meaning "Heaven" or "Sky", who is the creator of the universe and of all beings. The supreme God may be called upon by a multiplicity of epithets, including simply "Yštyr Xwytsau" (Ыштыр Хуыцау), meaning "Great Heaven", but also "Duneskænæg" (Дунескæнæг), "Creator of the Universe", "Meskænæg Xwytsau" (Мескаенаег Хуыцау) and "Styr Xwytsau" (Стыр Хуыцау), meaning "God of the Gods". Uatsdin's theology affirms that God is within every creature, and in men he manifests as consciousness and worthy action. A variety of other beings, lesser gods, ancestors and heroes such as Uastyrdzhi, are worshipped as intermediaries with Xwytsau.


    State recognition

    There are attempts to turn local traditional gods into objects of national worship in North Ossetia–Alania. For example, in former times, a grove was devoted to the local communal god/saint Khetag. After the clashes between Ossetians and Georgians in 1991-92, a glade near the wood was turned into a place for pan-Ossetian worship, including religious and political rituals, with activities supervised by the Great Council of Ossetian Priests (Styr-nykhas), a non-governmental committee established in 1993.

    The Khetag celebration was approved by the 1990s president of North Ossetia–Alania as a national holiday. A special foundation was established in order to raise funds for the reconstruction of the site, and since 1994 a big annual sacrifice is arranged at the Khetag shrine







    Circassian Habzism




    "Hammer Cross", Symbol of Adyghe Habze.


    Adyghe Habze, also Circassian Habze or "Habza" (Adyghe: Адыгэ Хабзэ; derived from хы khy, meaning "order", plus бзэ bze, meaning "speech"), also spelled "Khabze" or "Khabza", also called Habzism,[6] defines[7] the Pagan ethnic religion, philosophy and worldview of the Adyghe or Circassians, an ethnic group of North Caucasian stock inhabiting areas of Caucasia: the republic of Adygea, and the bordering republics of Karachay-Cherkessia and Kabardino-Balkaria (the Kabard subgroup), all three within the domains of Russia. The Adyghe native religion was influenced by Hellenic religion and philosophy at the time of Greek colonisation in the Caucasus.

    The belief system takes its name from the homonymous Circassian epic Adyghe Habze, originally orally transmitted, which has heavily contributed to the shaping of Adyghe values over the centuries. Although historically Islamised, the period of the Soviet Union contributed to a severe weakening of Islam in the area, and especially among the Adyghe-Circassians. With the fall of the Soviet regime, the revival of Habzism as a Neopagan phenomenon was supported by Adyghe intellectuals as part of a rise in nationalism and cultural identity in the 1990s,[8] and more recently as a thwarting force against Wahhabism and Islamic fundamentalism.[9]

    The movement has developed a following especially in Karachay-Cherkessia (12%) and Kabardino-Balkaria (3%), according to 2012 statistics.[10] On the 29th of December 2010 a prominent Kabard-Circassian ethnographer and Habze advocate, Arsen Tsipinov,[11] was killed by radical Muslims, who warned him months earlier to stop publicizing the rituals of the original Circassian Pagan faith.




    Abkhaz native religion





    The Abkhaz native religion, or Abkhaz Neopaganism, is the contemporary Neopagan re-emergence of the ethnic religion of the Abkhaz people in Abkhazia, a revitalisation which started in the 1980s.The most important holy sites of the religion are the Seven Shrines of Abkhazia, each one having its own priestly clan, where rituals and prayers began to be solemnly restored from the 1990s onward.

    According to the 2003 census, 8% of the population of Abkhazia adheres to Abkhaz Paganism. On the 3rd of August 2012 the Council of Priests of Abkhazia was formally constituted in Sukhumi. The possibility to make the Abkhaz native religion one of the state religions was discussed in the following months







    Seven Shrines of Abkhazia


    The Seven Shrines of the Abkhaz in Abkhazia are considered holy in the Abkhaz traditional religion and are known and respected by most Abkhaz.

    Dydrypsh mountain near Achandara village Gudauta
    Lykhnashta - Lykhny square Lykhny Gudauta
    Ldzaa-nykha grove near Ldzaa and Pitsunda Gagra
    Inal-kuba mountain near Pskhu village Sukhumi
    Adagua mountain shrine near Tsabal village Gulripshi
    Lashkendar mountain near Tkvarcheli Tkvarcheli
    Elyr-nykha shrine Ilori village Ochamchira




    Ruins of the Lashkendar shrine.






    Vainakh mythology and paganism







    Tkhaba-Erdy Temple in Ingushetia.





    The Vainakh symbol of Dela-Malx





    An ancient Chechen pagan temple


    The Vainakh people of the North Caucasus (Chechens and Ingush) were Islamised comparatively late, during the early modern period, and Amjad Jaimoukha (2005) proposes to reconstruct some elements of their pre-Islamic religion and mythology, including traces of ancestor worship and funerary cults. The Nakh peoples, like many other peoples of the Caucasus such as especially Circassians and Ossetians, had been practising tree worship, and believed that trees were the abodes of spirits. Vainakh peoples developed many rituals to serve particular kinds of trees. The pear tree held a special place in the faith of Vainakhs.K. Sikhuralidze proposed that the people of the Caucasus region shared a single, regional culture in ancient times. Careful study of the Nakh and Kartvelian mythologies reveals many similarities.

    Jaimoukha (2005) adduces comparison with the Circassians, but also more generally with Iron Age mythology western Indo-European cultures, especially emphasizing parallels to Celtic polytheism. such as the worship of certain trees (including, notably, a pine tree on the winter solstice, supposedly related to the modern Christmas tree, reconstructed calendar festivals such as Halloween and Beltane, veneration of fire, and certain ghost related superstitions.Pantheon



    • Deela or Dela - The supreme god
    • Hela - God of darkness
    • Seela or Sela - God of stars, thunder and lightning. Sela is often told as an evil and cruel god. His skein (a loose bag made of animal skin) held the "night" (stars, lightning and thunder). He lives on the top of Mount Kazbek with his fire chariot. He was the one who chained Pkharmat to a mountain for stealing fire, and for this reason, on the Wednesday of his month in the old Vainakh calendar, it was forbidden to carry embers or ashes. During the era of Christianization in Chechnya and Ingushetia, he was identified with Elijah, thus keeping his status. He is also, like the Greek Zeus, unable to control his desires for human women (much to the dismay of his wife, Furki), and one episode with mortal maiden resulted in the birth of a daughter goddess, Sela Sata.
    • Sata or Sela Sata - either wife or daughter of Seela, according to different versions; a goddess of artisanship and especially female crafts, corresponding to Northwest Caucasian Satanaya. Her face is described as shining like the sun with beauty. She helps Pkharmat steal Sela's fire for the Earth's inhabitants by guiding him on the peak of Mount Kazbek.
    • Maetsill - God of agriculture and the harvest and protector of the weak.
    • Ishtar-Deela - Lord of life and death and ruler of the underworld ("Deeli-Malkhi"), responsible for punishing the wicked.
    • Molyz-Yerdi - The war god who brought the Waynakh victory.
    • Elta - God of the hunt and animals and - before Maetsill took over his role - the harvest. He was blinded in one eye for disobedience by his father, Deela.
    • Amgali(-Yerdi) - A minor deity.
    • Taamash(-Yerdi) - ("lord of wonder") Lord of fate. Usually tiny in size but becomes gigantic when angered.
    • Tusholi - Goddess of fertility, protector of the people in front of his father Deela. She lives in sacred Lake Galain-Am. According to scholars, in earlier beliefs Tusholi was the dominant deity. People asked from her for a healthy offspring of a rich harvest and growth of cattle. Later Tusholi was mainly the object of worship of childless women. She had a day of the year, Tusholi's Day, where women would bring horns of red deer, bullets and candles to her sanctuary on Mount Deela T'e, where non-priests could enter only with explicit permission and where trees could not be cut down. Nowadays her day is considered "Children and Women's day". The hoopoe, known as "Tusholi's hen" was considered "her" bird and could not be hunted except with permission from the high priest and for strictly medicinal purposes.
    • Dartsa-Naana ("Blizzard mother") - Goddess of blizzards and avalanches. She lives on the top of Mount Kazbek. Dartsa-Naana inscribed on a snow cone a Kazbek magic circle, through which no mortal dares to cross. The ones who stepped this circle Dartsa-Naana drops into the abyss or floods the ice mountain.
    • Mokh-Naana - Goddess of the winds.
    • Seelasat ("Oriole"). Protectress of virgins(possibly identical to Sata / Sela Sata, see above).
    • Meler Yerdi - God of plants and cereal beverages.
    • Gal-Yerdi - Patron of cattle breeders. Worshipped on the Nakh New Year's Day, and offered metal orbs and candles, as well as animal sacrifices at times.
    • Aira - Patron of eternal timeline.
    • Mozh - Evil sister of the sun and moon. Mozh ate all their relatives in the sky, and now constantly chases the sun and the moon. When she catches up with them and obscured, the eclipse occurs. Mozh releases the sun and the moon only after it has been so requested by the innocent first-born girl.
    • Bolam-Deela - Not much is known about him/her. He/she may or may not have been equivalent to Deela-Malkh.
    • Khagya-Yerdi or Maetskhali - Lord of the rocks.
    • Mattir-Deela - Another little known deity.
    • P'eerska - (Friday) The keeper of time.

    Supernatural creatures and heroes



    • Pkharmat, demi-god Nart who stole fire from the cruel god Sela. Equivalent of Greek Prometheus, and Georgian Amirani. He is also equivalent to the Circassian Pataraz.
    • Pkhagalberi tribe. Mythological dwarf race, Pkhagalberi translated as Haareriders. They were invulnerable to any kind of weapons their enemies the Narts had.
    • Turpal, a free-roaming horse who came to help Pkharmat in his journey when he called him. "Turpal always roamed free, grazing among seven mountains, and drinking sea-water."
    • Uja. A cyclops, faithful servant of Sela. He chained Pkharmat to the summit of Mount Kazbek.
    • Ida. King of birds, - a falcon who comes every morning to tear Pkharmat's liver.
    • Spirit of Galain-Am Lake- a mythologic bull protecting sacred Galain-Am Lake from pollution and from unfaithful acts.
    • Galain-Am

    • Melhun, the fallen angel.
    • Nart, a mythical race of giants. Separately from the mythology of other peoples of the Caucasus, in Waynakh mythology Narts could be both good and evil.
    • Almas, evil forest spirits. They can be both male and female almases. Almas-men covered with hair, a terrible kind, fierce and insidious; on the chest of them is a sharp axe. Female almases have an extraordinary beauty, but also evil, insidious and dangerous. Sometimes they seem terrifying creatures of enormous growth with huge breasts, thrown over his shoulders behind his back. Favorite theirs occupation - dance: throwing his chest behind his back, raising his hands up, they dance in the moonlight. Almases live in the woods, on the highlands. They are patronized by wild animals and sometimes come with a hunter in a love affair. Luck on hunting, according to legends, depends on the benevolence of an almas.
    • Ghamsilg (or Gham-stag) was a witch who could leave her body and enter into an animal. If in her absence to turn the body, then, on his return from travels, it will not be able to return to his body and dies.
    • Djinim (Genie). In perceptions of Chechens and Ingush good and evil spirits are between angels and devils. Good and evil djinim together are in the same hostility as angels with devils. Through deceit or eavesdropping, they steal the innermost secrets of the future of man and tell their friends of the earth. Falling star - a star angels cast during eavesdropping. Contact with a djinim leads to insanity.
    • Taram, invisible guardian spirits that protect his master from all sorts of disasters. On representations of the Nakhs, every person, every household (family), all natural objects had a Taram.
    • Uburs, the evil, bloodthirsty spirits, entered into any animal. Close to the vampire in Slavic mythology (cf. Polish: upiór, Ukrainian: upir).
    • Hunsag (or Hunstag), the patron spirit of the forest and forest animals. Hunsag seek to destroy every hunter, who met with him in the woods. From his breast sticks out the bone axe. The forest animals, birds, trees, grass rise to defend Hunsag.
    • Batiga-Shertko a special figure with the ability to cross over to the underworld to inform a client of how deceased loved ones were doing there, often with an animal sacrifice as payment. The animal was believed to come into the possession of the deceased loved one.








    Georgian mythology and paganism










    In pre-Christian Georgian mythology, the universe was viewed as being sphere-shaped. It has three worlds, known as skneli (სკნელი):


    • Zeskneli (ზესკნელი) - the highest world, and the home of the gods. White is the color of Zeskneli.
    • The Earth - the middle world, and the home of mortals. Its center is divided into two regions, anterior (tsina samkaro, წინა სამკარო; or tsinaskneli, წინასკნელი) and posterior (ukana samkaro, უკანა სამკარო; or ukana skneli, უკანასკნელი); and beyond it the Earth's lands are divided by seven or nine mountains or seas, which a hero must undergo a spiritual transformation (known as the gardats'valeba (გარდაცვალება), which is also the word for "death") and seek the help of magical animals such as the Rashi, the Pashkunji, and others. Red is the color of this world.
    • K'veskneli (ქვესკნელი) - the lowest world or underworld, inhabited by monsters, dragons, and demons. Black is the colour of K'veskneli.

    These three worlds were connected by a world tree (in some versions, a tower, a chain, or a pillar connects these three worlds) that grows on the edge of the universe, a common theme in various mythologies in many cultures. Beyond them and the universe is Gareskneli (გარესკნელი), "the world of oblivion", an endless void of darkness and eternity.

    There are also two bodies of water and fire, celestial and subterranean, which have unique properties that affect human lives. The moon (considered a brother) and the sun (considered a sister) cross these two realms regularly, but in opposite directions.
    After Christianization, Zeskneli became associated with Heaven, K'veskneli with Hell, and spiritual travel between these worlds became associated with death.



    Gods



    • Adgilis Deda (ადგილის დედა) - A fertility and livestock goddess who is revered by the people who live in the mountainous areas of northeastern Georgia, such as Khevsureti, as a patron of places and their travellers. She is portrayed as a beautiful lady with silver jewellery. She later became associated with the Virgin Mary when the area was converted to Christianity. Her name means "Mother of Locality".
    • Ainina and Danina (აინინა და დანინა) - A pair of goddesses who are mentioned in The Conversion of Kartli and the mediaeval Georgian Chronicles.
    • Apsat (აფსათ) - A male god of birds and animals in Svan mythology.
    • Armazi (არმაზი) - Chief of the gods; central figure in Kartli’s (Iberia) official religion established by King Pharnavaz of Iberia (4th century, BC). According to the legend, an immense statue of Armazi was destroyed by lightning after St. Nino’s prayer. Armazi is also the name of an ancient fortress near Mtskheta that dates from the same period.[citation needed]
    • Barbale (ბარბალე)- The goddess of cattle and poultry fertility, the sun, women's fertility, and healing. Worshippers honour her in the Barbalesadmi festival with solar symbols, which occurs at the winter solstice. Her name is similar to the Sumerian and Akkadian epithet "bibbiru", which means "shining, splendour".
    • Batonebi (ბატონები)- Spirits of disease. Also known as "batonebshi" (ბატონებში), their name means "the masters". If anyone is infected by a batonebi, their family will prepare special food and candies, and place presents under trees to appease the batonebi. In rural areas of Georgia, "batonebi" or "batonebshi" are used as a term to refer to infectious diseases.
    • Beri-Bera (ბერი ბერა) - An agricultural god of fertility, harvests, and animals who is worshipped in eastern Georgia. His festival is held at the end of the year.[1]
    • Bochi (ბოჩი) - Thought to be the patron saint of cattle. The first written documentation of this deity comes from Euthymius of Athos. According to historian Ivane Javakhishvili, the name "Bochi" is related to words for "male goat."
    • Dali (დალი) - The goddess of the hunt. She is also known as Dæl. She was believed to have extraordinary beauty, with long golden hair and radiant white skin. She dwells high up in the mountains where she watches over and protects wild animals. She sometimes shared animals with hunters, as long as they respect her rules by not hunting more than their needed amounts or taking aim at animals that are her manifestations. In some myths, she entered in intimate relations with a hunter, and warned him not to reveal their relationship at the risk of death from being turned to stone, like those who failed to keep their promises to her along with their hounds. Ochokochi (ოჭოკოჩი) was so infatuated with her, that he often tried to pursue her, but the mortal hunters who visit her forests often thwart his attempts to catch her. She is the mother of the hero Amirani. In Samegrelo, she is named as "Tkashi-Mapa", the Queen of the Forest.
    • Gatsi and Gaimi (გაცი და გაიმი) - Gods in the official Iberian pantheon according to the medieval annals.
    • Ghmerti (ღმერთი) - The supreme divinity and the head of the pantheon of gods. He is the all-powerful Lord of the Universe and its Creator. He lives in the ninth sky, where he rules from a golden throne. His children include the Sun (as his daughter), the Moon (as his son), and the khvitis-shvilni who protect people against evil. He is also addressed as Morige Ghmerti (მორიგე ღმერთი, "God the Director") and Dambadebeli (დამბადებელი, "The Creator"). His name is later used to refer to God the Father in Christian belief.
    • Kamar (კამარ) The daughter of the god of nature and the god of the sky. She is a symbol of divine fire. Her beautiful appearance caused Amirani to abduct her from heaven.
    • Lamara (ლამარა) - Goddess, was called ‘eye of the earth’.
    • Mamberi (მამბერი) - The lord of wolves who was worshiped in Svaneti and other mountainous regions.
    • Michpa (მიჭპა) - The patron god of cattle and other domestic animals who was worshiped in Svaneti during winter.
    • Mindort-batoni (მინდორთ ბატონი) - The god of valleys, fields, and wild flowers. Humans had to ask for his approval before they can explore or cultivate on his fields. His daughter, Mindort-brdzanebeli, is the beautiful goddess of flowers.
    • Mindort-brdzanebeli (მინდორთ ბრძანებელი) - The goddess of flowers. She is the daughter of the god Mindort-batoni. She flutters over plants and lived off their pollen.
    • Ochopintre (ოჭოპინტრე) - A spirit of the forest and protector of wild animals. The first part of his name (ocho, ოჭო) is connected to the ancient pagan god Bochi, the second part (pintre, პინტრე) to the Greek god Pan. Born with the legs and horns of a goat, he assists the goddess Dali in herding the animals. Hunters usually made sacrifice in his name since no one could hunt the animals without his help. The fate of a person entering his forest was believed to be fully in his hands.
    • Tamar (თამარ) - Goddess of the sky, riding on a snake; is identified with Lamara.
    • Tetri Giorgi (თეტრი გიორგი, White George) - Popular character in Georgian mythology; a warrior and a moon god. Later Tetri Giorgi became one of the names of St. George in eastern Georgia.[citation needed]
    • Tevdore (თევდორე) - God of agriculture and horses. After Christianization, he became associated with St. Theodore. In feudal times the special festival of Tedoroba was organised to honor him and ensure a bountiful harvest.
    • Tskarishdida (წკარიშდიდა) - A mermaid-like goddess of rivers, lakes and fish, in Mingrelian folklore. She uses magic powers against humans.
    • Zadeni (ზადენი) - God of fertility in the official pantheon established by Pharnavaz I. He was believed to be as powerful as Armazi. He was added into the official pantheon by Parnajom in the second century BC, and had a statue of him erected at a fortress near Mt. Zedazeni, near Mtskheta. His statue was said to have been destroyed with the statues of other gods through the prayers of St. Nino. The worship of him declined after Christianization.




    Demigods, heroes, and notable people



    • Amirani (ამირანი) - Mythic hero and titan, son of Dali. Equivalent of the Greek Prometheus.
    • Iakhsari (იახსარი) - A mythic hero who aided Kopala in his adventures to slay demons and monsters, and was deified and venerated as a popular deity.
    • Khvitis Shvilni (ხვითის შვილნი) - A group of demigods who protected humans, assured good crops and milk yields, fought against devis and kudiani witches. Amirani, Giorgi, Iakhsari, and Kopala were among them, and they fought alongside Iakhsari and Kopala to drive out the devis from the land, and to help Giorgi to raid the impregnable fortress of the Kajis to plunder their treasures, cattle, and women.
    • Kopala (კოპალა) - A mythic hero, mighty warrior, and a demon killer. He is a lightning god. He and Iakhsari led a campaign to drive out the devis who were persecuting humans on the land. His weapons include a mace and an iron bow made for him by the blacksmith god Pirkusha (პირქუშა). Only he can have to power to defeat the most stubborn demons, who were believed to seize anyone's soul and cause madness, and he cures the victim's insanity in the process. The locals of the mountainous areas of Khevsureti and Pshavi revere him.
    • Kviria (კვირია) - A hero and a son of the gods who served as a mediator between Ghmerti and humanity. He is invoked as the protector of human society and an instrument of divine justice. In some regions of Georgia, he was also believed to be a deity of fertility and the harvest, while in the mountains of western Georgia he was worshiped as the supreme deity. The festival of Kviritskholovba (კვირიწხოვლობა) was celebrated to honour him.
    • Natsiliani (ნაწილიანი) - Humans who received magic gifts or divine signs (natsili, ნაწილი) from the gods. Their signs are usually located on their shoulder-blades and glowed with magic light, empowering their bearers. These signs must be kept hidden, as their bearers will lose their powers if they revealed them. Certain signs can only be given by their respective gods.



    Spirits, creatures, and other beings

    Ali (ალი) - An evil soul that haunts pregnant women, the elderly, and infants who happen to stumble into remote woods, caves, and ruins. Alis can be male or female (who are known as alkali); male alis appear monstrous, while female alis are temptingly beautiful. Their name is related to the word for "flame" (ალი).

    • Devi (დევი) - Many-headed ogres whose heads can regenerate if any of them are cut off. These malevolent giants live in the underworld or in remote mountains, where they hoard treasure troves and keep their captives. In Georgian mythology, they live in a family, usually numbering in around nine brothers of devis. Bakbak-Devi (ბაკბაკ დევი) was the strongest and the most powerful of the devis. To defeat them, heroes tricked them into various tricks and games. Their name is related to that of the daevas of Zoroastrian and Persian mythology.
    • Doblini (დობლინი) - Spirits who usually appear as women, children, and animals to spread diseases. Doblini towers (დობილთ კოშკი, dobilt k'oshk'i) were built in Khevsurian shrines to keep them at bay. Some doblini are benevolent, such as Princess Samdzimari (სამძიმარი) of Khevsureti and Pshavi legend, who is invoked upon for the birth of healthy children, an easy childbirth, and women's health in general. Shrines' to benevolent doblini were also invoked to bless cattle and for the protection of travellers.
    • Gveleshapi (გველეშაპი) - Evil dragons that ruled and lived in lakes, rivers, and water sources. In folklore, they were associated with water-related disasters, and heroes fought against them.
    • Kaji (ქაჯი) - A race of spirits who are often portrayed as magic-wielding, demonic metal-workers. They lived in Kajeti (ქაჯეთი) or Kajaveti (ქაჯავეთი), and has magic powers that they used against humans. Land kajis were malevolent, while river and lake kajis were friendly to humans. Female kajis were beautiful, and they either seduced heroes or helped them in their quests. They appear prominently in Shota Rustaveli's Vepkhistkaosani, in which kajis abduct one of the main characters and fight the heroes at Kajeti fortress. Their name is related to the Armenian storm and wind spirits, the kaj (Armenian: քաջ, k'aǰ; plural: քաջք k'aǰk').
    • Kudiani (კუდიანი) - An hideous hunchbacked witch with large teeth and a tail, the latter of which her name is derived (kudi, კუდი, "tail"). Kudianis disguise themselves as humans to bewitch them. The leader of the kudianis, Rokapi (როკაპი), often summon them to a special mountain where they held a festival similar to the Walpurgis Night of Europe.
    • Matsili (მაცილი) - Evil spirits from the underworld that plagued travelers and hunters. Folk tales mention about Kopala's quests to defeat them.
    • Ocho-Kochi (ოჭოკოჩი) - A forest being in Mingrelian folklore who comes into conflict with hunters. Instead of hair on his chest, he has a protuberance in the form of a pointed bone or a stone-axe, which he uses to kill passersby by embracing them. He often chases Tkashi-Mapa, the beautiful Queen of the Forest, out of lust, but his advances were often thwarted by mortal hunters.
    • Paskunji (პასკუნჯი) - A phoenix-like being who helps heroes and humans. He lives in the underworld, and fights the gveleshapis there. Heroes summoned him by burning one of his feathers, and he could transport them to other places and heal wounds and illnesses. In some myths, paskunjis were also hostile to humans and persecuted them.
    • Rashi (რაში) - A magical winged horse. There are three types of rashis: land rashis are well disposed to heroes and humans and could perceive the future; sea rashis are more hostile, but can take humans to the bottom of the sea, while their milk was believed to cure many illnesses; and heavenly rashis have wings and can breathe fire, and are difficult to subdue yet loyal to their owners.
    • Rokapi (როკაპი) - An evil spirit who was the leader of the kudiani witches. Ghmerti punished him by chaining him to a column under the earth, where he devoured the hearts of humans that the kudiani brought to him. Every year, he tries to free himself, but he always fails

  2. #2
    завсегдатай black hole's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Last Online
    03-24-2024 @ 09:44 PM
    Meta-Ethnicity
    Balto-Slavic
    Ethnicity
    Russian
    Ancestry
    Eastern Europe
    Country
    Russia
    Taxonomy
    East Europid
    Religion
    Agnosticism
    Gender
    Posts
    2,874
    Thumbs Up
    Received: 2,002
    Given: 332

    1 Not allowed!

    Default


  3. #3
    завсегдатай black hole's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Last Online
    03-24-2024 @ 09:44 PM
    Meta-Ethnicity
    Balto-Slavic
    Ethnicity
    Russian
    Ancestry
    Eastern Europe
    Country
    Russia
    Taxonomy
    East Europid
    Religion
    Agnosticism
    Gender
    Posts
    2,874
    Thumbs Up
    Received: 2,002
    Given: 332

    0 Not allowed!

    Default


  4. #4
    Banned
    Join Date
    Oct 2016
    Last Online
    07-18-2020 @ 08:01 PM
    Ethnicity
    prehistoric peoples
    Country
    Kyrgyzstan
    Gender
    Posts
    3,322
    Thumbs Up
    Received: 2,839
    Given: 341

    0 Not allowed!

    Default

    Tkhaba-Yerdy









































  5. #5
    Banned
    Join Date
    Oct 2016
    Last Online
    07-18-2020 @ 08:01 PM
    Ethnicity
    prehistoric peoples
    Country
    Kyrgyzstan
    Gender
    Posts
    3,322
    Thumbs Up
    Received: 2,839
    Given: 341

    0 Not allowed!

    Default

    ancient mountain crypt Mizir-kort, Chechnya, 1977







Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads

  1. classify Caucasian boxer
    By Proto-Shaman in forum Taxonomy
    Replies: 21
    Last Post: 07-10-2017, 02:24 PM
  2. Circassian paganism
    By StonyArabia in forum Religion & Spirituality
    Replies: 9
    Last Post: 03-07-2017, 10:35 PM
  3. Question about Caucasian morphological variation
    By Útrám in forum Anthropology
    Replies: 15
    Last Post: 02-02-2017, 10:21 AM
  4. Dene-Caucasian family
    By Root in forum Ethno-Cultural Discussion
    Replies: 6
    Last Post: 11-19-2016, 03:20 PM

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •