Uacilla
Hory-Uacilla ( Ossetian: ''Уацилла'', ''Wacilla''; Digorian: ''Елиа'', "Elijah") or Uacilla, Wacilla for short, is the name of Saint Elijah in Ossetian folklore. It is also the name of an agricultural holiday celebrated on the Monday of the third week after Pentecost. In Ossetian mythology Uacilla is the thunderer and lord of storms, the patron of agriculture and harvest. Several sanctuaries were dedicated to him, among which the most famous Tbau-Uacilla is located on mount Tbau in the Dargavs Gorge. Among the Ossetians, it is believed that Uacilla protected the fields from hail and showers, disposed of rain clouds and contributed to the growth of cereals and herbs. He was approached during a drought or prolonged bad weather. For this, rams and bulls were slaughtered in his honor and a public prayer was held. In folk songs, Uacilla was portrayed as a plowman, performing the functions of a plow in one case and a sower in another. As Georges Dumézil wrote, Ossetians h ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ossetian Mythology
Ossetian mythology is the collective term for the beliefs and practices of the Ossetian people of the Caucasus region, which contains several gods and supernatural beings. The religion itself is believed to be of Scythian origin, but contains many later elements from Christianity, like the Ossetian gods often being identified with Christian saints. The gods play a role in the famous stories about a race of semi-divine heroes called the Narts. Deities *Hutsau or Xucau ( os, Хуыцау). The chief of the gods. *Uastyrdzhi ( Ossetian: Уастырджи), also known as Lagtydzuar or Lagdzuar. Named after Saint George, he is the patron of males and travellers, and the guarantor of oaths. Main patron of North Ossetia–Alania. *Uacilla ( Ossetian: Уацилла). Named after Saint Elijah, also spelled ''Watsilla''. God of rain, thunder and lightning. As protector of the harvest he is known as ''Хоры Уацилла'' (''Hory Uacilla'', "Uacilla of the wheat"). Anyone struck by ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Folk Orthodoxy
Folk Orthodoxy (russian: народное православие; sr, народно православље; lv, narodno pravoslavlje) refers to the folk religion and syncretic elements present in the Eastern Orthodox communities. It is a subgroup of folk Christianity, similar to Folk Catholicism. Peasants incorporated many pre-Christian (pagan) beliefs and observances, including the coordination of feast days with agricultural life. Overview Folk Orthodoxy has developed an interpretation of rituals, sacred texts, and characters from biblical history. Religious syncretism coexists with Christian doctrine and elements of pre-Christian pagan beliefs. According to historian and ethnologist Sergei Anatolievich Shtyrkov, the boundary between canonical and folk Orthodoxy is not clear or constant and is drawn by religious institutions such as the Russian Orthodox Church (which often evaluate the latter as superstition or paganism).Shtyrkov, S. А. "After folk religiosity". ''Dre ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Elijah
Elijah ( ; he, אֵלִיָּהוּ, ʾĒlīyyāhū, meaning "My God is Yahweh/ YHWH"; Greek form: Elias, ''Elías''; syr, ܐܸܠܝܼܵܐ, ''Elyāe''; Arabic: إلياس or إليا, ''Ilyās'' or ''Ilyā''. ) was, according to the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible, a prophet and a miracle worker who lived in the northern kingdom of Israel during the reign of King Ahab (9th century BCE). In 1 Kings 18, Elijah defended the worship of the Hebrew God over that of the Canaanite deity Baal. God also performed many miracles through Elijah, including resurrection, bringing fire down from the sky, and entering heaven alive "by fire". 2 Kings 2:11 He is also portrayed as leading a school of prophets known as "the sons of the prophets". Following his ascension, Elisha, his disciple and most devoted assistant, took over his role as leader of this school. The Book of Malachi prophesies Elijah's return "before the coming of the great and terrible day of the ", making him a harbin ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Uastyrdzhi
Nykhas Uastyrdzhi ( os, Ныхас Уастырджи, ) is the name of Saint George in Ossetian folklore. Uastyrdzhi is the patron of the male sex and travellers as well as being a guarantor of oaths, like his Iranian counterpart Mithra with whom he shares a common origin. It is forbidden for women to pronounce his name; instead, they must refer to him as ''laegty dzuar'' (literally, "the saint of men"). Rural people have various other names for him such as ''Uastylag'' among others. Uastyrdzhi is invoked in the national anthems of both North Ossetia–Alania and South Ossetia. He is depicted as a horseman with a long beard, riding on a white horse. A large public ceremony devoted to him is held in early July at Khetag's Grove (), a wood situated three kilometres outside of Alagir, near Suadag village. According to legend, Khetag () was the son of an Alanian king who consecrated the grove to Uastyrdzhi. Another important ceremony in honour of Uastyrdzhi is held besi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Thunder Gods
Polytheistic peoples from many cultures have postulated a thunder god, the personification or source of the forces of thunder and lightning; a lightning god does not have a typical depiction, and will vary based on the culture. In Indo-European cultures, the thunder god is frequently known as the chief or King of the Gods, e.g. Indra in Hinduism, Zeus in Greek mythology, and Perun in ancient Slavic religion. Thunder gods Mediterranean * God in Abrahamic religions * Teshub ( Hurrian mythology) * Adad, Bel, Ishkur, Marduk ( Babylonian-Assyrian mythology) * Baʿal, Hadad ( Canaanite and Phoenician mythology) * Set (Egyptian mythology) * Aplu (Hurrian mythology) * Tarḫunna (Hittite mythology) * Tarḫunz ( Luwian mythology) * Vahagn (Armenian Mythology) * Zibelthiurdos ( Thracian mythology) * Zeus (Greek Mythology) * Jupiter (Roman Mythology) * Northwestern Eurasia * Armazi (god) Georgian Mythology * Afi ( Abkhaz Mythology) * Ambisagrus, Loucetios (Gaulish ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Supernatural Beings Identified With Christian Saints
Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings since the ancient world, the term "supernatural" emerged in the Middle Ages and did not exist in the ancient world. The supernatural is featured in folklore and religious contexts, but can also feature as an explanation in more secular contexts, as in the cases of superstitions or belief in the paranormal. The term is attributed to non-physical entities, such as angels, demons, gods, and spirits. It also includes claimed abilities embodied in or provided by such beings, including magic, telekinesis, levitation, precognition, and extrasensory perception. The philosophy of naturalism contends that nothing exists beyond the natural world, and as such approaches supernatural claims with skepticism. Etymology and history of the concept Occ ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Great Soviet Encyclopedia
The ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' (GSE; ) is one of the largest Russian-language encyclopedias, published in the Soviet Union from 1926 to 1990. After 2002, the encyclopedia's data was partially included into the later ''Bolshaya rossiyskaya entsiklopediya'' (or ''Great Russian Encyclopedia'') in an updated and revised form. The GSE claimed to be "the first Marxist–Leninist general-purpose encyclopedia". Origins The idea of the ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' emerged in 1923 on the initiative of Otto Schmidt, a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. In early 1924 Schmidt worked with a group which included Mikhail Pokrovsky, (rector of the Institute of Red Professors), Nikolai Meshcheryakov (Former head of the Glavit, the State Administration of Publishing Affairs), Valery Bryusov (poet), Veniamin Kagan (mathematician) and Konstantin Kuzminsky to draw up a proposal which was agreed to in April 1924. Also involved was Anatoly Lunacharsky, People's Commissar of Educatio ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Yeleazar Meletinsky
Eleazar Moiseevich Meletinskii (also ''Meletinsky'' or ''Meletinskij''; russian: Елеаза́р Моисе́евич Мелети́нский; 22 October 1918, Kharkiv – 17 December 2005, Moscow) was a Russian scholar famous for his seminal studies of folklore, literature, philology and the history and theory of narrative; he was one of the major figures of Russian academia in those fields. He was Director of the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities at Russian State University for the Humanities for several years until his death.mail from Seth Graham for decease announcement, retrieved on Google cache on June 2, 200/ref> His analysis of comic doublets The traditions of the mythological narration, dealt with the figures of the ancestors-heroes civilizers, and their comic-demoniac doublets. Mikhail Bakhtin, Bakhtin summarized Meletinsky's analysis in his work on Rabelais: This double aspect of the world and of human life he existence of a second world and life outsid ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Vladikavkaz
Vladikavkaz (russian: Владикавка́з, , os, Дзæуджыхъæу, translit=Dzæwdžyqæw, ;), formerly known as Ordzhonikidze () and Dzaudzhikau (), is the capital city of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, Russia. It is located in the southeast of the republic at the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains, situated on the Terek River. The city's population was 311,693 as of the 2010 Census. As a result, Vladikavkaz is one of the most populous cities in the North Caucasus region. The city is an industrial and transportation centre. Manufactured products include processed zinc and lead, machinery, chemicals, clothing and food products. Etymology From 1931 to 1944 and from 1954 to 1990, its name in both Russian and Ossetic languages was ''Ordzhonikidze'' () (after Sergo Ordzhonikidze, a Georgian Bolshevik), and from 1944 to 1954 it was officially called ''Dzaudzhikau'' () in Russian and () in Ossetic. ''Vladikavkaz'' resumed its old Russian name, in 1990, shortly bef ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Satanaya
Satanaya ( Adyghe Сэтэнай ; Kabardian Сэтэней ; Ubykh ; Ossetian Сатана Satana) is a mythological figure who appears in many cycles of the Nart sagas of the North Caucasus. Satanaya is the mother of the Narts, a fertility figure who is also an authority over her children. Satanaya is often cast in the light of a "wise woman" or matriarch, which mirrors the relative freedom of women in North Caucasian societies generally. Satanaya can be compared to the Greek Demeter, with whom she shares many traits. In Ossetian tradition, she is the daughter of Uastyrdzhi (St. George). The Chechen-Ingush version is somewhat different in that the counterpart of Satanaya, Sela-Sata, is primarily a goddess of crafts and women's work rather than a Nartic matriarch. However, many of her characteristics, including the story of her miraculous birth of a dead Nart mother and her involvement in the birth of chief hero Seska-Solsa (Sosruko Sosruko, Sosruquo, or Sosriqwa (; o ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sacrifice
Sacrifice is the offering of material possessions or the lives of animals or humans to a deity as an act of propitiation or worship. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks, and possibly existed before that. Evidence of ritual human sacrifice can also be found back to at least pre-Columbian civilizations of Mesoamerica as well as in European civilizations. Varieties of ritual non-human sacrifices are practiced by numerous religions today. Terminology The Latin term ''sacrificium'' (a sacrifice) derived from Latin ''sacrificus'' (performing priestly functions or sacrifices), which combined the concepts ''sacra'' (sacred things) and ''facere'' (to do or perform). The Latin word ''sacrificium'' came to apply to the Christian eucharist in particular, sometimes named a "bloodless sacrifice" to distinguish it from blood sacrifices. In individual non-Christian ethnic religions, terms translated as "sacrifice" include the Indic ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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List Of Thunder Gods
Polytheistic peoples from many cultures have postulated a thunder god, the personification or source of the forces of thunder and lightning; a lightning god does not have a typical depiction, and will vary based on the culture. In Indo-European cultures, the thunder god is frequently known as the chief or King of the Gods, e.g. Indra in Hinduism, Zeus in Greek mythology, and Perun in ancient Slavic religion. Thunder gods Mediterranean * God in Abrahamic religions * Teshub (Hurrian mythology) * Adad, Bel, Ishkur, Marduk ( Babylonian-Assyrian mythology) * Baʿal, Hadad ( Canaanite and Phoenician mythology) * Set (Egyptian mythology) * Aplu (Hurrian mythology) * Tarḫunna (Hittite mythology) * Tarḫunz (Luwian mythology) *Vahagn (Armenian Mythology) *Zibelthiurdos (Thracian mythology) * Zeus (Greek Mythology) * Jupiter (Roman Mythology) * Northwestern Eurasia * Armazi (god) Georgian Mythology * Afi ( Abkhaz Mythology) * Ambisagrus, Loucetios (Gaulish mythology) * A ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |