
Estonian Neopaganism, or the Estonian native faith (
Estonian
Estonian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe
* Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent
* Estonian language
* Estonian cuisine
* Estonian culture
See also ...
: ''maausk'', literally "Land faith"), is the name, in
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national id ...
, for a grouping of
contemporary revivals (often called "Neopagan", although adherents of Estonian native religion generally do not use the term
[Jüri Toomepuu. ]
Maausk, the belief system of indigenous Estonians
'. Presentation at KLENK 2011, published on January 7, 2012. St. Petersburg, Florida.) of the
indigenous
Indigenous may refer to:
*Indigenous peoples
*Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention
* Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band
* Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehor ...
Pagan religion
Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. I ...
of the
Estonian people
Estonians or Estonian people ( et, eestlased) are a Finnic ethnic group native to Estonia who speak the Estonian language.
The Estonian language is spoken as the first language by the vast majority of Estonians; it is closely related to other ...
.
It encompasses Taaraism (
Estonian
Estonian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe
* Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent
* Estonian language
* Estonian cuisine
* Estonian culture
See also ...
: ''taarausk'' literally "Taara Faith"),
[Ellen Barry for '']The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' .
Some Estonians return to pre-Christian animist traditions
'. Quote: «Craving an authentic national faith, Estonians have been drawn to the animistic religions that preceded Christianity: Taarausk, or Taaraism, whose god was worshiped in forest groves, and Maausk, which translates as "faith of the earth".» a
monistic
Monism attributes oneness or singleness (Greek: μόνος) to a concept e.g., existence. Various kinds of monism can be distinguished:
* Priority monism states that all existing things go back to a source that is distinct from them; e.g., i ...
religion centered on the god
Tharapita
Taara (variations of the name include Tooru, Tharapita and Tarapitha), also known as Uku or Jumal, is a prominent god in Estonian mythology, with a strong resemblance to the Finnish Ukko and the Germanic Thor.
History
The Chronicle of Henry o ...
founded in 1928 as a national religion; and ''maausk''
as a much broader definition of "Native Faith", encompassing
grassroots
A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...
movements devoted to the worship of local gods,
nature worship
Nature worship also called naturism or physiolatry is any of a variety of religious, spiritual and devotional practices that focus on the worship of the nature spirits considered to be behind the natural phenomena visible throughout nature. A ...
and
earth worship.
Both kinds of movements are administered by the
Maavalla Koda
Maavalla Koda (literally ''House of the Native Land'', short for Taarausuliste ja Maausuliste Maavalla Koda, ''Estonian House for Taaraist and Native Religion Followers'') is a religious organisation uniting adherents of the two kinds of Estonian ...
organization. According to Ahto Kaasik, an unspecified 2002 survey revealed that 11% of the population of
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and t ...
claimed that "out of all the religions they have the warmest feelings towards Taaraism and Maausk".
[Ahto Kaasik. ]
Old Estonian Religion
''. Maavalla Koda.
Religions
Taaraism
Taaraism was founded in 1928 by members of the intelligentsia, including soldier and writer
Marta Lepp
Marta Sophia Lepp Utuste (born Marta Kirschbaum; 12 November 1883 – 11 November 1940), also known as Sophia Vardi and Maarda Lepp-Utuste, was an Estonian writer, editor, educator, and political and religious leader.
Early life
Lepp was born ...
, with the aim of reaffirming traditional Estonian culture and identity. Viewing Christianity as a universal and foreign religion brought by the
Germans
, native_name_lang = de
, region1 =
, pop1 = 72,650,269
, region2 =
, pop2 = 534,000
, region3 =
, pop3 = 157,000
3,322,405
, region4 =
, pop4 = ...
, they turned to indigenous religion with its many
deities.
Taaraists hold a
monistic
Monism attributes oneness or singleness (Greek: μόνος) to a concept e.g., existence. Various kinds of monism can be distinguished:
* Priority monism states that all existing things go back to a source that is distinct from them; e.g., i ...
or
monotheistic
Monotheism is the belief that there is only one deity, an all-supreme being that is universally referred to as God. Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1974). "Monotheism". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2 ed.). Oxford: Oxfor ...
worldview in which all the gods are aspects of one only
pantheistic
Pantheism is the belief that reality, the universe and the cosmos are identical with divinity and a supreme supernatural being or entity, pointing to the universe as being an immanent creator deity still expanding and creating, which ha ...
reality, which they identify with the god
Tharapita
Taara (variations of the name include Tooru, Tharapita and Tarapitha), also known as Uku or Jumal, is a prominent god in Estonian mythology, with a strong resemblance to the Finnish Ukko and the Germanic Thor.
History
The Chronicle of Henry o ...
or Taara (a deity connected to
Indo-European
The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, ...
deities such as the
Germanic
Germanic may refer to:
* Germanic peoples, an ethno-linguistic group identified by their use of the Germanic languages
** List of ancient Germanic peoples and tribes
* Germanic languages
:* Proto-Germanic language, a reconstructed proto-language o ...
Thor
Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred groves and trees, strength, the protection of humankind, hallowing ...
or Thunor, the
Gallic
Gallic is an adjective that may describe:
* ancient Gaul (Latin: Gallia), roughly corresponding to the territory of modern France
**pertaining to the Gauls
** Roman Gaul (1st century BC to 5th century)
**Gallic Empire (260–273)
** Frankish ...
Taranis
In Celtic mythology, Taranis (Proto-Celtic: *''Toranos'', earlier ''*Tonaros''; Latin: Taranus, earlier Tanarus) is the god of thunder, who was worshipped primarily in Gaul, Hispania, Britain, and Ireland, but also in the Rhineland and Danube re ...
and the
Hittite
Hittite may refer to:
* Hittites, ancient Anatolian people
** Hittite language, the earliest-attested Indo-European language
** Hittite grammar
** Hittite phonology
** Hittite cuneiform
** Hittite inscriptions
** Hittite laws
** Hittite religion
* ...
Tarhunt).
They re-established the ''hiis'', sacred groves, and coined the term ''hiislar'' to denote their clergy. The first ''hiis'' was founded in 1933, it was ''Tallinna Hiis'' (Sacred Grove of
Tallinn
Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...
).
There were several thousand members by 1940, but later the movement was banned under the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
, and many members were killed.
Nowadays the foremost center of the Taaraists is in the city of
Tartu
Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast o ...
.
Maausk
''Maausk'' ("Native Religion") is an activist movement of
nature worship
Nature worship also called naturism or physiolatry is any of a variety of religious, spiritual and devotional practices that focus on the worship of the nature spirits considered to be behind the natural phenomena visible throughout nature. A ...
, the worship of local gods and ''hiis'' unrelated to the Taaraist movement. It stresses the claimedly non-Christian and non-European roots and tradition of Estonian culture. The Maausk movement emerged in the 1980s. It's mostly a
polytheistic
Polytheism is the belief in multiple deities, which are usually assembled into a pantheon of gods and goddesses, along with their own religious sects and rituals. Polytheism is a type of theism. Within theism, it contrasts with monotheism, th ...
-
pantheistic
Pantheism is the belief that reality, the universe and the cosmos are identical with divinity and a supreme supernatural being or entity, pointing to the universe as being an immanent creator deity still expanding and creating, which ha ...
faith identifying the divine with nature itself.
In their annual cyclic calendar the most important holy days are the ''Jõulud'' (
winter solstice
The winter solstice, also called the hibernal solstice, occurs when either of Earth's poles reaches its maximum tilt away from the Sun. This happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere (Northern and Southern). For that hemisphere, the winte ...
festival) and the ''Jõulukuu'' (new year festival) on 25 December, the
summer solstice (''Jaanipäev''), the ''Munadepühad'', the '' Leedopäev'', and the ''Kasupäev''.
[Jüri Toomepuu. p.5.]
Their shrines are ''hiis'' or other natural sites, preferably traditional sacrificial, healing and other sacred sites of the Estonian folk religion. A shrine is a location which may have ancient trees, glacial boulders, bodies of water or unique plants. There may be a swing, fireplace, sauna and a log storage shed at the shrine. People go to various shrines during important festivals or other important occasions, to establish harmony with nature, experience peace and gather strength. Before going to the shrine, body and mind must be purified. Their ethics emphasises ''mõnu'' or ''mõnus'', "enjoyment" or more accurately "harmonious life" or "balance".
[Jüri Toomepuu. p.7.]
See also
*
Estonian mythology
Estonian mythology is a complex of myths belonging to the Estonian folk heritage and literary mythology. Information about the pre-Christian and medieval Estonian mythology is scattered in historical chronicles, travellers' accounts and in eccles ...
*
Uralic neopaganism
*
Finnish Neopaganism
*
Mari Neopaganism
The Mari religion (Mari language, Mari: Чимарий йӱла, ''Čimarii jüla''), also known as Mari paganism, is the ethnic religion of the Mari people, a Volga Finns, Volga Finnic ethnic group based in the republic of Mari El, in Russia. The ...
*
Mordvin Neopaganism
Mordvin Neopaganism, or the Mordvin native religion or Erzyan native religion, is the modern revival of the ethnic religion of the Mordvins ( Erzya), peoples of Volga Finnic ethnic stock dwelling in the republic of Mordovia within Russia, or in ...
*
Udmurt Vos
Udmurt Vos ( Udmurt: Удмурт Вӧсь, literally "Udmurt Faith") is the ethnic religious revival of the Udmurts, a Finnic people inhabiting the republic of Udmurtia in Russia. Among the Udmurts, as in other Finnic republics in the Volga regi ...
Resources
*
Jüri Toomepuu
Jüri Toomepuu (born 27 June 1930, in Tõlliste Parish, Valga County) is an Estonian journalist and politician. He was a member of the seventh legislature of the Estonian Parliament.
Biography
He was born on 27 June 1930 in Tõlliste Parish, ...
.
Maausk, the belief system of indigenous Estonians'. Presentation at KLENK 2011, published on January 7, 2012. St. Petersburg, Florida.
References
External links
*
Maavalla Koda
{{Neopaganism
Modern pagan traditions
Uralic modern paganism
Modern paganism in Estonia
Estonian nationalism
Religious nationalism
Estonian mythology
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