Vainakh mythology
Encyclopedia
The Vainakh people of the North Caucasus
include the modern Chechens and Ingush
, who are today predominantly Muslim
in religion. Nevertheless, their folklore has preserved a substantial amount of information about their pre-Islamic pagan
beliefs. Vainakh practiced their own pagan religion, which was a mixture of different cults, including animism
and polytheism
, familial-ancestral and agrarian and funereal cults. Nakh peoples worshiped trees and believed that those are the abode of invisible spirits. Vainakhs developed many rituals to serve particular trees. The pear tree held a special place in the faith of Vainakhs.
and Vainakh mythologies indicates this similarity implicit in the legends of the battles of titans and gods.
s (as the Circassian historian Amjad Jaimoukha notes frequently) but also those of the Greeks, the Italic, the Celtic (see respective subsection) and the Germanic peoples. There are many shared myths that all these peoples have.
North Caucasus
The North Caucasus is the northern part of the Caucasus region between the Black and Caspian Seas and within European Russia. The term is also used as a synonym for the North Caucasus economic region of Russia....
include the modern Chechens and Ingush
Ingush
Ingush may refer to:* The Ingush language* The Ingush people, an ethnic group of the North Caucasus...
, who are today predominantly Muslim
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
in religion. Nevertheless, their folklore has preserved a substantial amount of information about their pre-Islamic pagan
Paganism
Paganism is a blanket term, typically used to refer to non-Abrahamic, indigenous polytheistic religious traditions....
beliefs. Vainakh practiced their own pagan religion, which was a mixture of different cults, including animism
Animism
Animism refers to the belief that non-human entities are spiritual beings, or at least embody some kind of life-principle....
and polytheism
Polytheism
Polytheism is the belief of multiple deities also usually assembled into a pantheon of gods and goddesses, along with their own mythologies and rituals....
, familial-ancestral and agrarian and funereal cults. Nakh peoples worshiped trees and believed that those are the abode of invisible spirits. Vainakhs developed many rituals to serve particular trees. The pear tree held a special place in the faith of Vainakhs.
Georgians/Kartvelians
K. Sikhuralidze believed that perhaps in the distant past, there was a general culture of the Caucasus. Study of KartvelianGeorgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
and Vainakh mythologies indicates this similarity implicit in the legends of the battles of titans and gods.
Circassians and certain Indo-European groups
There were also many similarities that Vainakh mythologies shared with those of the CircassianAdyghe people
The Adyghe or Adygs , also often known as Circassians or Cherkess, are in origin a North Caucasian ethnic groupwho were displaced in the course of the Russian conquest of the Caucasus in the 19th century, especially after the Russian–Circassian War of 1862.Adyghe people mostly speak Adyghe and most...
s (as the Circassian historian Amjad Jaimoukha notes frequently) but also those of the Greeks, the Italic, the Celtic (see respective subsection) and the Germanic peoples. There are many shared myths that all these peoples have.
Celtic peoples
However, among all these, Amjad Jaimoukha argues in his book that Chechen traditions were especially similar to Celtic traditions, despite the difference in language and location. Both shared a number of elements, including veneration of certain trees (including, notoriously, a pine tree on the Winter Solstice; which later became adopted by the Catholic Church for Christmas) and lakes, festivals (Jaimoukha notes Halloween and Beltane), veneration of fire, and certain ghost related superstitions. Jaimoukha went further to state that there might (or might not) have even been a relationship between the Celts and the Vainakh, due to similarity of ancient mythology and ancient traditions. However, this latter hypothesis is not widely discussed.Divine Beings
- Deela or Dela. The supreme god. Creator of heaven and earth and man and woman.
- Hela God of darkness.
- Deela-Malkh. The sun god. In honor of this deity Vainakhs organized festivalsMalkh-FestivalMalkh is a festival gifted to the Deela-Malkh in Vainakh mythology. 25 December was the Birthday and the festival of the sun. During the ceremonies suppliants turned to the east. Also in Nakh Architecture temples and house façades were directed to east. Nakh people believed that Sun went to visit...
every year on December 25 - Mel-Deela The supreme goddess.
- Seela or Sela. The god of the stars, thunder and lightning. Sela has Night, Storm and Cold tied in his skeins. He lives on the top of Mount Kazbek. Rainbow conceived as huntingbow of Seela.
- 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 CaucasianNorthwest Caucasian languagesThe Northwest Caucasian languages, also called Abkhazo-Adyghean, or sometimes Pontic as opposed to Caspian for the Northeast Caucasian languages, are a group of languages spoken in the Caucasus region, chiefly in Russia , the disputed territory of Abkhazia, and Turkey, with smaller communities...
SatanayaSatanayaSatanaya is a mythological figure who appears in many cycles of the Nart sagas of the Caucasus....
. Her face is described as shining like the sun with beauty. She helps PkharmatPkharmatthumb|right|224px|Pkharmat bringing fire to mankind, guided by Goddess [[Satanaya|Sela Sata]]Pkharmat is a legendary hero of the Vainakh people who brought fire to mankind. This allowed them to forge metal, cook and illuminate their houses. As a result of this, the people united and became a nation...
steal Sela's fire for the Earth's inhabitants by guiding him to hell 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 Vainakh 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 is living in sacred Lake Galanchoge. According to scholars, in the 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.
- Dartsa-Naana ("Blizzard mother"). Goddess of blizzards and avalanches. She lives on the top of Mount Kazbek. Dartsa-Naana inscribed on a snow cone 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. It scares people with a cock.
- Mokha-Naana. Goddess of the winds.
- Seelasat ("OrioleOrioleOrioles are colourful Old World passerine birds in the genus Oriolus, the namesake of the corvoidean family Oriolidae. They are not related to the New World orioles, which are icterids and, belonging to the superfamily Passeroidea songbirds, are quite unrelated to the true orioles.The orioles are...
") 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.
- Aira Patron of eternal timeline.
- Mozh evil sister of the sun and moon. Mozh ate all their relatives in the sky, and now constantly chasing 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 another entity. 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 (literally-Friday) - The Keeper of Time.
- Baini The ancient god of agriculture. Later replased by Maetsill.
- Unu The goddess of contagious diseases
- Higiz or Hegiz the goddess of smallpoxSmallpoxSmallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
- Falkhan ancient god of magicMagic (paranormal)Magic is the claimed art of manipulating aspects of reality either by supernatural means or through knowledge of occult laws unknown to science. It is in contrast to science, in that science does not accept anything not subject to either direct or indirect observation, and subject to logical...
and wisdomWisdomWisdom is a deep understanding and realization of people, things, events or situations, resulting in the ability to apply perceptions, judgements and actions in keeping with this understanding. It often requires control of one's emotional reactions so that universal principles, reason and...
. - Susan Protectress of woman and of maternity
- Agoi the protector of girls
Supernatural creatures and heroes
- PkharmatPkharmatthumb|right|224px|Pkharmat bringing fire to mankind, guided by Goddess [[Satanaya|Sela Sata]]Pkharmat is a legendary hero of the Vainakh people who brought fire to mankind. This allowed them to forge metal, cook and illuminate their houses. As a result of this, the people united and became a nation...
. Demi-god Nart have stolen fire from cruel god Sela. Equivalent of Greek PrometheusPrometheusIn Greek mythology, Prometheus is a Titan, the son of Iapetus and Themis, and brother to Atlas, Epimetheus and Menoetius. He was a champion of mankind, known for his wily intelligence, who stole fire from Zeus and gave it to mortals...
, and Georgian AmiraniAmiraniAmirani is the name of a culture hero of a Georgian epic who resembles the Classical Prometheus. Various versions of the myth reveal a process through which the myth was transformed over time, but the legend itself is traced between 3,000 and 2,000 years BC at the beginning of the first Iron Age,...
He is also equivalent to the Circassian Pataraz. - Pkhagalberi tribe. Mythological dwarf race, Pkhagalberi translated as Haareriders. They were invulnerable for any kind of weapons their enemies the Narts had.
- Turpal. A free-roaming horse came to help Pkharmat in his journey when he called him. "Turpal always roamed free, grazing among seven mountains, and drinking sea-water."
- Uja. One eyed cyclops, faithful servant of Sela. He chained PkharmatPkharmatthumb|right|224px|Pkharmat bringing fire to mankind, guided by Goddess [[Satanaya|Sela Sata]]Pkharmat is a legendary hero of the Vainakh people who brought fire to mankind. This allowed them to forge metal, cook and illuminate their houses. As a result of this, the people united and became a nation...
to summit of Mount Kazbek - Ida. Falcon coming every morning to tear PkharmatPkharmatthumb|right|224px|Pkharmat bringing fire to mankind, guided by Goddess [[Satanaya|Sela Sata]]Pkharmat is a legendary hero of the Vainakh people who brought fire to mankind. This allowed them to forge metal, cook and illuminate their houses. As a result of this, the people united and became a nation...
s liver. - Spirit of Galanchoge Lake is a mythologic Bull protecting sacred Galanchozh Lake from being polluted and unfaithful acts. Once it was upset and flooded Akkhe settlement. In a sense the Bull is the Lake itself, because when he is upset lake is dewatering turning into a bull.
- Melhun, the fallen angel.
- NartNARTNART may refer to:*North American Racing Team*The National Adult Reading Test*Nart sagas, Caucasian myths...
. Mythical race of giants. Separately from the mythology of other peoples in Caucasus, in Vainakh mythology Narts can 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. 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) is witch in Vainakh mythology. Ghamsilg may 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 (GenieGenieJinn or genies are supernatural creatures in Arab folklore and Islamic teachings that occupy a parallel world to that of mankind. Together, jinn, humans and angels make up the three sentient creations of Allah. Religious sources say barely anything about them; however, the Qur'an mentions that...
) on perceptions of Chechens and Ingush good and evil spirits who are between angels and devils. Good and evil djinim together are in the same hostility as angels with devils. Deceit or overheard, 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 are evil, bloodthirsty spirits, entered into any animal. Close to the vampireVampireVampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
in Slavic mythologySlavic mythologySlavic mythology is the mythological aspect of the polytheistic religion that was practised by the Slavs before Christianisation.The religion possesses many common traits with other religions descended from the Proto-Indo-European religion....
(cf. ). - 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.
Sources
- Amjad Jaimoukha The Chechens: a Handbook (Routledge/Curzon, 2005) pp. 109–111 and appendix pp. 252–253