Religious and mythological beliefs of the Mari priesthood. Gods, souls and other worlds
https://doi.org/10.28995/2658-5294-2025-8-2-10-30
Abstract
The article examines the mythological beliefs of the modern Mari priesthood – karts. Based on field materials, recorded in the Republic of Mari El and Bashkortostan, the author explores mythological worldview of the karts and the ways of transmitting mythological and ritual knowledge. Through the analysis of interviews, the author highlights the faith of ritual specialists in the afterlife and the posthumous existence of the soul, as well as their views on the organization of the mythological space and its inhabitants. According to the field data, among the group of informants the most common idea is division of gods into higher and lower. The higher gods are associated with celestial objects and cosmogony, while the lower ones are associated with nature, death and the everyday sphere. The most important deity is widely considered to be Osh Poro Kugu Yumo, the demiurge god. There is no consensus on the organization of the “other world”, it is described both as an abstract kingdom of Kiyamat and as a natural landscape. In the ritual texts there is category of patron deities of the dead. The concept of posthumous judgment and punishment of sinners is stable.
About the Author
H. Yu. Ustyantsev
Lomonosov Moscow State University; N.N. Miklukho-Maklai Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Herman Yu. Ustyantsev, Cand. of Sci. (History)
27/4, Lomonosovsky Av., Moscow, 119234
32а, Leninsky Av., Moscow, 119334
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Review
For citations:
Ustyantsev H.Yu. Religious and mythological beliefs of the Mari priesthood. Gods, souls and other worlds. Folklore: Structure, Typology, Semiotics. 2025;8(2):10-30. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.28995/2658-5294-2025-8-2-10-30
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