Estonian neopaganism, or the Estonian native faith, spans various contemporary revivals of the

indigenous religion Indigenous religion or native religion is a category used in the study of religion to demarcate the religious belief systems of communities described as being " indigenous". This category is often juxtaposed against others such as the " world r ...

of the

Estonian people Estonians or Estonian people () are a Finnic ethnic group native to the Baltic Sea region in Northern Europe, primarily their nation state of Estonia. Estonians primarily speak the Estonian language, a language closely related to other Finnic ...

, adapted from their local myths and culture.Jüri Toomepuu.
Maausk, the belief system of indigenous Estonians
'. Presentation at KLENK 2011, published on January 7, 2012. St. Petersburg, Florida. Major branches include 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"), a

monistic Monism attributes oneness or singleness () to a concept, such as to 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., in Neoplatonis ...

faith based 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. Etymology The Livonian place nam ...

founded as a national religion in 1928; and Maausk (

...

: ''maausk'', literally "land faith"), a much broader umbrella 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 continent movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from volunteers at the local level to imp ...

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 a nature deity, considered to be behind the natural phenomena visible throughout nature. A n ...

, and

earth religion Earth-centered religion or nature worship is a system of religion based on the veneration of natural phenomena. It covers any religion that worships the earth, nature, or fertility deity, such as the various forms of goddess worship or matriarc ...

. Both movements are associated with 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 Estonia ...

. A 2002 survey suggested 11% of the population of

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

claimed having "the warmest feelings towards Taaraism and Maausk" among all religions.Ahto Kaasik.
Old Estonian Religion
''. Maavalla Koda. A 2021 survey found 3,860 self-declared adherents of Maausk and 1,770 adherents of Taarausk living in Estonia.

Branches

Taaraism

Taaraism was founded in 1928 by members of the intelligentsia, including soldier and writer Marta Lepp, with the aim of reaffirming traditional Estonian culture and identity. Viewing Christianity as a foreign religion brought by the

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

, they turned to indigenous religion with its many

deities A deity or god is a supernatural being considered to be sacred and worthy of worship due to having authority over some aspect of the universe and/or life. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines ''deity'' as a God (male deity), god or god ...

. Taaraists hold a

monotheistic Monotheism is the belief that one God is the only, or at least the dominant deity.F. L. Cross, Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1974). "Monotheism". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2 ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. A ...

worldview in which all the gods are aspects of one only

pantheistic Pantheism can refer to a number of Philosophy, philosophical and Religion, religious beliefs, such as the belief that the universe is God, or panentheism, the belief in a non-corporeal divine intelligence or God out of which the universe arise ...

reality, which they identify with the god

or Taara (a deity connected to

Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the northern Indian subcontinent, most of Europe, and the Iranian plateau with additional native branches found in regions such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, parts of Central Asia (e. ...

deities such as the Germanic

Thor Thor (from ) is a prominent list of thunder gods, god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred g ...

or Thunor, the Gallic

Taranis Taranis (sometimes Taranus or Tanarus) is a Celtic thunder god attested in literary and epigraphic sources. The Roman poet Lucan's epic ''Pharsalia'' mentions Taranis, Esus, and Teutates as gods to whom the Gauls sacrificed humans. This rare ...

and the Hittite 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 capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

). There were several thousand members by 1940, but later the movement was banned under the leadership of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, 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 Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 97,759 (as of 2024). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the ...

Maausk

''Maausk'' ("Native Religion") is an activist movement of

, 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 or worship of more than one Deity, god. According to Oxford Reference, it is not easy to count gods, and so not always obvious whether an apparently polytheistic religion, such as Chinese folk religions, is really so, ...

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, or hibernal solstice, occurs when either of Earth's geographical pole, poles reaches its maximum axial tilt, tilt away from the Sun. This happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere (Northern Hemisphere, Northern and So ...

festival) and the ''Jõulukuu'' (new year festival) on 25 December, the

summer solstice The summer solstice or estival solstice occurs when one of Earth's poles has its maximum tilt toward the Sun. It happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere ( Northern and Southern). The summer solstice is the day with the longest peri ...

(''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.

Resources

* Jüri Toomepuu.
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 de:Taarausk et:Taarausk ru:Таарауск fi:Taarausko