Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths [1 ed.] 9781614706571, 9781614706083

Citation preview

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved. De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated, 2012.

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved. De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Religion and Spirituality

RITUALS

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

TYPES, EFFICACY AND MYTHS

No part of this digital document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means. The publisher has taken reasonable care in the preparation of this digital document, but makes no expressed or implied warranty of any kind and assumes no responsibility for any errors or omissions. No liability is assumed for incidental or consequential damages in connection with or arising out of information contained herein. This digital document is sold with the clear understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, medical or any other professional services. De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Religion and Spirituality Additional books in this series can be found on Nova‘s website under the Series tab.

Additional E-books in this series can be found on Nova‘s website under the E-book tab.

Social Issues, Justice and Status

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Additional books in this series can be found on Nova‘s website under the Series tab.

Additional E-books in this series can be found on Nova‘s website under the E-book tab.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Religion and Spirituality

RITUALS

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

TYPES, EFFICACY AND MYTHS

ETALON DE SMET AND FRÉDÉRIQUE BAUWENS EDITORS

Nova Science Publishers, Inc. New York

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means: electronic, electrostatic, magnetic, tape, mechanical photocopying, recording or otherwise without the written permission of the Publisher. For permission to use material from this book please contact us: Telephone 631-231-7269; Fax 631-231-8175 Web Site: http://www.novapublishers.com

NOTICE TO THE READER The Publisher has taken reasonable care in the preparation of this book, but makes no expressed or implied warranty of any kind and assumes no responsibility for any errors or omissions. No liability is assumed for incidental or consequential damages in connection with or arising out of information contained in this book. The Publisher shall not be liable for any special, consequential, or exemplary damages resulting, in whole or in part, from the readers‘ use of, or reliance upon, this material. Any parts of this book based on government reports are so indicated and copyright is claimed for those parts to the extent applicable to compilations of such works.

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Independent verification should be sought for any data, advice or recommendations contained in this book. In addition, no responsibility is assumed by the publisher for any injury and/or damage to persons or property arising from any methods, products, instructions, ideas or otherwise contained in this publication. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information with regard to the subject matter covered herein. It is sold with the clear understanding that the Publisher is not engaged in rendering legal or any other professional services. If legal or any other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent person should be sought. FROM A DECLARATION OF PARTICIPANTS JOINTLY ADOPTED BY A COMMITTEE OF THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION AND A COMMITTEE OF PUBLISHERS.

Additional color graphics may be available in the e-book version of this book.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Rituals : types, efficacy and myths / editors, Etalon De Smet and Fridirique Bauwens. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Rites and ceremonies. 2. Ritualism. 3. Ritual. ISBN:  (eBook) I. De Smet, Etalon. II. Bauwens, Fridirique. BL600.R587 2011 203'.8--dc23 2011024665

Published by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. † New York

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

CONTENTS Preface Chapter 1

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

vii Rituals in Greek Caves: From Modern Case Studies to Ancient Sources Evy Johanne Håland

1

Transition into an Age of Supported Independence: A Rite of Passage? Beatrice Hale, Patrick Barrett and Robin Gauld

53

Ritual Complexes of North-West Siberia in Xvii-Xviii Centuries (According to Archaeological Data) Oleg Kardash Ritual Healing: A History of its Development and Proliferation in Brazil Sidney M. Greenfield

Chapter 5

The Myth of Ayahuasca Janine Tatjana Schmid

Chapter 6

The Cult of the Horse in the Sakha Religious and Ritual Practice of the 19th Century Svetlana Ivanovna Petrova

Index

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

77

109 127

145 157

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved. De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

PREFACE This book presents current research in the study of the types, efficacy and myths of ritualistic behaviors. Topics gathered by the authors from across the globe include the modern case studies of parallels to ancient Greek cave rituals; rituals marking transitions between different life stages in the elderly; ritual complexes of North-West Siberia in the 17th-18th centuries; healing rituals of Brazil; the myth of the ayahuasca ritual in Europe and the cult of the horse in the Sakha religious and ritual practice of the 19th century. Chapter 1 - In Greece, springs in caves have traditionally shaped, and further featured prominently in religious beliefs and practices. In ancient times springs represented Water-Nymphs. Today springs are dedicated to the Panagia (the Virgin Mary), under her attribute of the ―Life-giving Spring‖. Both ancient and modern believers have expressed their beliefs in rituals connected to purity and water by fetching holy water from the caves dedicated to these female divinities. The water found in these caves is thought to be particularly healing and purifying during the festivals dedicated to the goddesses. This is reflected today in the modern festival dedicated to the ―Life-giving Spring‖, which is celebrated on the first Friday after the Resurrection of Christ on Easter Sunday. On this festival Athenians come to the Panagia‘s chapel inside a circular Spring House hewn in the rock on the Southern slope of the Acropolis to fetch Life-giving water. The Sacred Spring is situated inside a cave over which is constructed a church. The cult dedicated to the personified sacred and healing spring-water found in caves, has traditionally been important for political purposes as well. The chapter will compare the importance of the spring in the modern religious rituals in the Acropolis cave to the ancient cult of the spring in the

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

viii

Etalon De Smet and Frédérique Bauwens

actual cave. The comparison will also exploit the cult of springs in other Greek caves and draw on similar cult found in parallel non-Greek contexts. Chapter 2 - The passage into in-home care in old age is a major life transition for an increasing number of older people. Structural and numerical population ageing and the widespread adoption of policies of ageing in place mean many older people are reliant on formal care services within their own home in later life (Doyle and Timonen 2007). Laslett‘s (1996) characterisation of old age distinguished between the third age of fit and active living and the fourth age of ‗decrepitude‘. The authors‘ research (Hale, Barrett and Gauld 2010) has focussed on those older people who are neither active and fit nor ‗decrepit‘. They distinguish this as a group of older people who live in a state of ‗supported independence‘, and see those who receive care in their own home as exemplars of this state. The process of becoming frail and/or disabled such that formal care services are required to continue to live in one‘s own home, and the social and institutional exchanges that accompany this process, represent a transitionary phase. The authors employ the rites of passage analytical framework to tease apart this process and scrutinise closely the experience of the transition. Van Gennep‘s original concept of three stages, separation, liminality and reconnection, was developed to understand the changes in social status and roles, and the different religious rituals associated with these, in the cultures he studied. As Hockey and James (2003) suggest, though, the model has a much wider applicability, and can be used to understand changes in social role and identity in modern secular contexts. Chapter 3 - At the present time 112 archaeological sites are discovered in the Yamal Peninsula. Only five from them are now introduced in scientific use. The very few ritual objects of the late Middle Age (XVI-XVIII centuries) are studied on the territory of North-West Siberia. The ritual complex Khalyato I is situated in the Yamal Peninsula, at the Yuribey estuary. A station-keeping excavation was carried out in 1990 by the expedition of the Tobolsk State Pedagogical Institute under the command of A. Sokolkov, who handed the materials over to the author. The cultic complex of finds includes an anthropomorphic figurine that was found in between arrowheads forming a semicircle. Accumulation of bones and reindeer horns lay around the figurine and arrowheads. The cultic complex covered a burial one. The burial represented a rectangular pit grave, where several bones, arms, household equipment and finery were discovered. The entire ritual complex dates back to the turn of the XVIII century. The similar ritual complex of the XVII – the first third of the XVIII centuries was explored by the author in the process of diggings at the Nadym

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Preface

ix

Hillfort, which is considered to be a winter residence for a chieftain of a political and military group of native peoples‘ communities ―Bolshaya Karacheya‖. The ritual complex Khalyato I is interpreted as a tomb of a body part or a cenotaph for an aristocratic warrior, who may have been either a bodyguard of a chieftain and his relatives or a chieftain himself, the leader of a large armed group. The burial became a cultic place, primarily used for memorial ceremonies and later for bodyguard or community meetings. There are no similar ritual and burial structures in traditional culture of the Nenets, the present indigenous population of the Yamal Peninsula. As may be supposed, the Khalyato I complex belonged to an ancient autochthonous ethnos, subsequently assimilated by the Nenets. Chapter 4 - Healing rituals, in which spirits or deities from their respective supernatural pantheons are invoked to diagnose and treat the sick, are ubiquitous in Brazil. In this paper the author describes some of these rituals and their healing practices focusing on Kardecist-Spiritism. The origins of this belief system are traced to the writings of Allan Kardec in 19th century France and its diffusion to the Western Hemisphere and specifically Brazil. It was here that Kardec‘s philosophy encountered Amerindian and folk Catholic practices. Later the already syncretized Spiritist form was influenced and further modified through contact with traditions and practices brought by slaves from West Africa. In the resulting practices, followers believe that spirits of deceased doctors or healers from other cultures return to this world and, through mediums diagnose illnesses in living patients. They prescribe medications for them and, if necessary, perform surgeries. Neither anesthesia nor antisepsis is used, the patients report experiencing little if any pain or complications, and, moreover, they recover. As popular religions proliferated in the 20th century this practice of supernatural entities treating the sick and suffering became central to the continuously mixing and syncretizing ritual practices of a variety of religious groups in Brazil. Chapter 5 - Ayahuasca is a psychoactive substance from the Amazon where it is used traditionally for healing, divination and other shamanic purposes. Since 20 years ayahuasca rituals have spread around the globe attracting Western users, concurrent with religious churches (Santo Daime, Uniao do Vegetal, etc.) using ayahuasca as a sacrament in their ceremonies. Nearly all kinds of ayahuasca rituals were considered as 'healing rituals' by participants of ayahuasca ceremonies. 'Healing' is not limited to the cure of physical and mental diseases but expand to a lot of psychological and even

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

x

Etalon De Smet and Frédérique Bauwens

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

spiritual problems. This paper overviews the different kind of ayahuasca rituals in Europe and deals with four myths about this legendary vine. Chapter 6 - By its natural and climatic conditions, Sakha/Yakutia which belongs to the territory of Siberia in Russia is a most harsh territorial climatic zone for living. But, nevertheless, the peoples inhabited this vast territory, during their centuries-old period of history of living, were fruitfully engaged in all kinds of hunting, in economic activity. In the past, horse-breeding was traditional activity for the Sakha population as well as for all the cattlebreeding tribes on the whole. It is attested by the cliff drawings of horse on the Paleolithic rock paintings. The high-developed horse-breeding culture of the ancient nomads – ancestors of the Sakha – is attested by the ―Lenskie pisanitsï‖ (―The Lena letters‖) discovered by A.P.Okladnikov [vide Okladnikov, Taporoshevskaya, 1959, Table 52]. In his fundamental work ―Iakutï: opït ätnograficheskogo issledovania‖ [―The Sakha: an experience of ethnographic research‖], W.L.Sieroszewski, provided the interesting information about the appearance and important qualities of the Sakha horse, about using it in housekeeping and about how the Sakha treated horse. As he notes, the Sakha horse is notable for its indurance, its capability of surviving and reproducing its offspring almost without human support [Sieroszewski, 1993, p.156-169].

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

In: Rituals: Types, Efficacy and Myths Editors: E. De Smet et al.

ISBN 978-1-61470-608-3 ©2012 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Chapter 1

RITUALS IN GREEK CAVES: FROM MODERN CASE STUDIES TO ANCIENT SOURCES Evy Johanne Håland

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Marie Curie Intra-European Fellow, Department of Archaeology and History of Art, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece/Norway

ABSTRACT In Greece, springs in caves have traditionally shaped, and further featured prominently in religious beliefs and practices. In ancient times springs represented Water-Nymphs. Today springs are dedicated to the Panagia (the Virgin Mary), under her attribute of the ―Life-giving Spring‖. Both ancient and modern believers have expressed their beliefs in rituals connected to purity and water by fetching holy water from the caves dedicated to these female divinities. The water found in these caves is thought to be particularly healing and purifying during the festivals dedicated to the goddesses. This is reflected today in the modern festival dedicated to the ―Life-giving Spring‖, which is celebrated on the first Friday after the Resurrection of Christ on Easter Sunday. On this festival Athenians come to the Panagia‘s chapel inside a circular Spring House hewn in the rock on the Southern slope of the Acropolis to fetch Lifegiving water. The Sacred Spring is situated inside a cave over which is constructed a church. The cult dedicated to the personified sacred and

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

2

Evy Johanne Håland healing spring-water found in caves, has traditionally been important for political purposes as well. The chapter will compare the importance of the spring in the modern religious rituals in the Acropolis cave to the ancient cult of the spring in the actual cave. The comparison will also exploit the cult of springs in other Greek caves and draw on similar cult found in parallel non-Greek 1 contexts.

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

INTRODUCTION In J. Eade‘s and M. J. Sallhow‘s edited book, Contesting the sacred: the Anthropology of Christian Pilgrimage from 1991, they illustrate how the native Americans‘ earlier cult of the nature has been absorbed by Catholicism [6 f.]. Their study of the power of the place is highly relevant for explaining several cult practices in Greece, such as the Athenian Acropolis caves and elsewhere in the Greek setting, particularly on the island of Tinos. As will be illustrated in the following, in these locations we also see how the power of the place is illustrated by a sacred centre offering a direct contact with the divine, then relocating that centre in a human body making the divine even more accessible and responsive to human believes and aspirations.2 In the Greek environment, springs in caves have traditionally shaped, and further featured prominently in religious beliefs and practices. The way earlier cult places, i.e. natural phenomena are adapted to the Orthodox religion through the importance of the cave-shrines can be seen as emanating directly from the matrix of an animate landscape. In this connection springs in caves are and were particularly important and in ancient times springs represented 1

Parts of the following appeared in Proteus: A Journal of Ideas, Spring 2009, Shippensburg PA 17257-2299. © 2009 by Shippensburg University, and is included with permission. Since 1983, I have had several periods of fieldwork in the Mediterranean, mainly in Greece where I have also conducted research on religious festivals since 1990. A sixth months period of fieldwork was also conducted on religious festivals in Italy in 1987, cf. Håland 1990. The following is mainly based upon an extended fieldwork, which was carried out in Greece in 1991-1992, cf. Håland 2007. There, the topics discussed in the following article also are examined further. Also discussed are the problems and fruitfulness of working with anthropological comparative approaches (such as using material from Modern Greek civilisation as models) to Ancient Society, cf. further Winkler 1990. As an historian, then, comparing modern and ancient Greek sources, trying to shed new light on the latter, my material from the beginning of the 1990‘s is highly relevant, see also infra for return visits to the cave. 2 See also Håland 2008, concerning Ag. Nektarios on the island of Aegina, where the saint‘s body (literally) has absorbed much of the earlier cult. See also Dubisch 1995: 83 f. for a modern parallel for Mytilini. See also Morinis 1992 for sacred places/sacred spaces

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Rituals in Greek Caves: From Modern Case Studies to Ancient Sources

3

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Water-Nymphs. Today springs are dedicated to the Panagia under her attribute of Zōodochos Pēgē, i.e. the ―Life-giving Spring‖. Both ancient and modern believers have expressed their beliefs in rituals connected to purity and water by fetching holy water from the caves dedicated to these female divinities. The water found in these caves is thought to be particularly healing and purifying during the festivals dedicated to the goddesses. This is reflected today in the modern festival dedicated to the ―Life-giving Spring‖, which is celebrated on the first Friday after the Resurrection of Christ on Easter Sunday. Panagia‘s Athenian chapel is situated in the cave, which is dedicated to her, and on this festival Athenians come to this chapel inside a circular Spring House hewn in the rock on the Southern slope of the Acropolis to fetch Life-giving water. Over the cave in which the Sacred Spring is situated, a church is constructed (Figure 1). Through antiquity the cave and its spring was dedicated to different deities, until it became part of a Byzantine Church-complex. The wonderworking nature of the Sacred Spring continues, and the ancient Spring House is now a chapel which normally is kept locked (Figure 2). The cult dedicated to the personified sacred and healing spring-water found in caves, has traditionally been important for political purposes as well.

Figure 1. The church dedicated to the Life-giving Spring at Athens: Behind the low wall is the holy Spring, 1992 (Author‘s photograph).

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

4

Evy Johanne Håland

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

The significance of water is clearly demonstrated through the cult dedicated to the Panagia under her attribute of the Life-giving Spring, and the chapter will compare the importance of the spring in the modern religious rituals in the Acropolis cave to the ancient cult of the spring in the actual cave. The comparison will also exploit the cult of springs in other Greek caves and also tap into similar cult found in parallel non-Greek contexts in the Mediterranean area.

Figure 2. The entrance to the Sacred Spring, the Acropolis Cave at Athens, 2006 (Author‘s photograph).

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Rituals in Greek Caves: From Modern Case Studies to Ancient Sources

5

As will be illustrated in the chapter the rituals taking place at particular places in the modern context, such as cave-churches often are carried out by women in everyday contexts, and by participating in these rituals, we may also get new perspectives on the ancient Greek world where women also were the main protagonists in the rituals, although they most often are silent in the sources telling about the actual rituals. By comparing the modern setting with the ancient sources then, we may get new perspectives on the latter, thus trying to obtain a more comprehensive view of both ancient and modern Greek religion and society.

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

CLEANING THE ACROPOLIS CAVES On Saturday 4 April 1992, Eirinē Melas carries out the monthly cleaning of the Acropolis caves (Figure 3). At nine o‘clock in the morning, I arrive together with my visiting mother and Eirinē‘s daughter, Maria to the cave, which is also called Zōodochos Pēgē, the Life-giving Spring, due to the Sacred Spring.3 Eirinē says that it is dedicated to Agioi (cf. Agios, i.e. Saint) Anargyroi, the patron saints of healing.4 As usually, Eirinē is the only person who is cleaning, a task she has carried out since her deceased husband was working at the Acropolis.5 Today, two other women also arrive. In addition, a young man, Panagiotis, is present. As Eirinē, he is particularly religious, and during our stay, he presents several newspaper cuttings about the ―cavechurches‖.6 It should be mentioned that I always have regarded the two caves 3

I have not attempted to disguise the location of my field research, although I have used pseudonyms to protect the identities of the individuals. To do otherwise will, I think, be a weak attempt to thwart a dialogue between myself, and by extension the society of which I am a member, and my informants. This dialogue is a condition of fieldwork. I had several conversations with Maria Melas particularly in 1991-1992, and I would like to thank her, as well as my other informants for their openness, as will be made clear in the following. In connection with this Saturday-visit to the caves, this situation was, I think, further made particularly easy since my mother also was participating, and I would like to thank her as well. 4 See also Loukatos 1982: 153, cf. nevertheless infra and Håland 2003, 2005, 2007. It may be noted that Saint in Greek is Agios (m.) or Agia (f.), Agioi (pl.). Anargyroi, i.e. Gr. ―without money‖, epithet attributed to the ―penniless‖ healing saints such as Cosmas and Damianos, who treated the sich without taking payment. 5 He was working here for 31 years. 6 I am particularly grateful for this, because I would probably not have been able to track them down without his help. I learned this when talking with several other persons, who found the ritual quite uninteresting compared to the other materials found in the Acropolis-area. Certainly, the two other women may also have been present because of curiosity.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

6

Evy Johanne Håland

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

as caves, but my informants always refer to them as churches. Despite Panagiotis‘ participation, the main performers of the rituals in the caves are nevertheless women. They assert that, since childhood they have been brought to the Life-giving Spring to fetch holy water along with their mothers: ―It has always been like this‖. The first declaration is a clear instance of how Greek children are socialised. It is also worth mentioning that the comment about ―how it always has been‖ is a general remark that most informants give when a researcher asks how old a custom is. This may very often be a problem when conversing with Greek informants who do not necessarily always think, or ―see‖, in a ―European historical linear‖ way, but have their own, very often, local history.7

Figure 3. Eirinē Melas carries out the monthly cleaning of the Acropolis caves: starting in the church dedicated to the Life-giving Spring, 1992 (Author‘s photograph).

It was necessary to obtain a special permission from the ―Acropolisauthorities‖, i.e. the representatives of the Ministry of Culture, 1st Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities, represented by the Curator of antiquities (i.e. Ephoros archaiotētōn) of the Acropolis-area to do research in the two 7

For the problem with different histories, see Håland 2007: ch. 2 f., 6, cf. Hastrup 1992. See also infra for the problematical dating of a newspaper article.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Rituals in Greek Caves: From Modern Case Studies to Ancient Sources

7

caves situated on the Southern slope of the Acropolis, a task which was not very easy. Even if the representatives for the Acropolis-authorities were very helpful, it took some time before they understood my request. Several within the management found it quite incomprehensible that I was not interested in only talking with the archaeologists who work at the site, but also with the rather poor woman who regularly is cleaning the caves, and people who have been used to fetch water there during their whole lives. The fact that I was as interested in establishing contact with living people practising their religion in the same caves where particularly the Water-Nymphs once were worshipped, as in all the archaeological ruins around, which are, nevertheless, quite mute compared to the traditional cult practised in the cave with Life-giving water, was quite incomprehensible. One may add that, certainly, the archaeologists do unearth the Ancient Greatness, but I would claim that it also had a fundament, people‘s traditional rituals.8 According to Eirinē she is quite late today, because she has already been visiting a church in Monastiraki. While she lights candles and fetches water in the cave, we chat about the annual festival, dedicated to the ―Life-giving Spring‖, which will take place in the cave in approximately a month‘s time. However, it is not yet decided if the festival will be celebrated this year or not, due to two practical problems, one of them being the actual date of the festival in 1992.9 Another problem is the relationship between the new parish priest and the celebrants: According to Maria, the old priest in the Byzantine Church of Agios Nikolaos on Plaka always was officiating during the festival, but now he is very old, and his young successor resists participating at the festival, 8

In this instance, we meet an evidence of Edward Said‘s (1979) ―orientalism‖, which does not understand the point in examining rituals that may not be important for the ―Great History‖, but only connected with the daily tasks of women. The point in mentioning my meeting with the Acropolis-authorities here, is to show that even if folklorist studies and archaeology are subjects that enjoy a very great prestige within the Greek nation-state, it may lead to misunderstandings when a foreign female researcher wants to compare modern and ancient popular religious rituals, because it is uncommon. ―Only ‗survivalists‘ do that, and this is a research-area which is despised by foreign (i.e. non-Greek) researchers.‖ On another level, one may also observe the conduct, which is demonstrated when the guards at the Acropolis-area emphasize to tourists, ―this is our culture it is the other culture that we share with you‖, cf. infra. Based on the background to this view, it may be regarded as an answer to Western orientalism. Cf. Håland 2007: ch. 2 for the two Greek ideologies, the ―Romeic‖ and the ―Hellenic‖. See also ch. 3 and 6 for discussion. Cf. for example Stewart 1991; Herzfeld 1992; Dubisch 1995. 9 For several months, I was in conversations with the Acropolis-authorities, to find out if the festival was going to be celebrated. In 1992, it was a great problem for them, because 1st May or Workers Day, was coinciding with the festival dedicated to the Life-giving Spring, which is a very important celebration for Athenians in the actual area. As will be clear in the following, the celebrants also had to struggle with another obstacle.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

8

Evy Johanne Håland

claiming that it represents a pagan custom. During the conversation, I learn that last year, i.e. in 1991, he stated that he was ill, suffering from a heart disease. ―But, we don‘t believe that‖, according to Maria. Even if there is a very close relationship between the official Orthodox religion and popular religion, this problematic situation still is a general problem we also see during other Greek festivals.10 In 1991, the festival finally was successfully celebrated because Eirinē‘s son invited a priest from the University of Piraeus to officiate at the ceremony. However, they still do not know what will happen this year. The cave is situated within the archaeological quarter of the Sanctuary of Asklepios, the ancient healer of sickness, and today the entrance is locked up with bars and several padlocks. When they reach the cave this morning, everyone washes in the spring and drinks the water. The two women assert that the water is miracle-working and healing. They have been here regularly with their mothers since childhood. Further, they explain that among the many icons in the cave, the most holy represents the Panagia and the Child. In front of the icon, one of the women arranges a bunch of flowers (nasturtium). So, even if we have just learned that the cave still is dedicated to Agioi Anargyroi, in reality the Panagia is the one who gets the gifts. Further, it is interesting to note that the icons of the Panagia are mainly dedicated the tamata (i.e. metal plaques depicting a vow or request, votive offerings), even if the icon of Ag. Anargyroi still is in the cave. The most common offering is a silver- or goldplated ex-voto representing the person who has been miraculously cured by the icon in combination with the water, or the cured limb itself or the person or limb wanting to be cured. Before she leaves the cave, this (i.e. the flowerarranging) woman also fills holy water in a bottle, as being taught by her mother since she was five years old. The other woman also brings with her a bunch of flowers. She only ―gives half of it to the icon in this cave, because the other half is going to be offered to the icon of the Panagia in the other cave, where we will go when we have finished here.‖11 She tells that ―this is the oldest church in Greece, and Paul was preaching here.‖ She lights candles in front of the icon and they light the many olive-oil lamps. All the devotees fill water in bottles, while saying that, ―even if it is not raining, there will always be water in the cave.‖

10

Such as the Anastenaria, cf. Håland 2007: ch. 3 f., 6 for discussions of the practical problems that may arise, resulting from the (sometimes) difficult relations between the official Orthodox Church and popular religion, i.e. in practical life, we meet another reality than the official one given by Alexiou 1974. 11 She leaves the rest of the flowers in the other cave, and departs soon afterwards.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Rituals in Greek Caves: From Modern Case Studies to Ancient Sources

9

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

After a while, Eirinē fills holy water into a bucket, and along with a broom, soap, etc. and a candelabra for votive candles, we carry it with us while climbing further up the rock, to the other cave-church, which opens above the theatre of the ancient god, Dionysos. This is the cave dedicated to the Panagia Crysospēliōtissa, or Chapel of Our Lady of the Golden Cavern (Figure 4).12 Within, Eirinē or another lights every evening a lamp, but the cave was also important for the ancients.

Figure 4. The cave dedicated to the Panagia Crysospēliōtissa, or Chapel of Our Lady of the Golden Cavern at Athens, 1992 (Author‘s photograph). 12

Eirinē always finishes her cleaning of the church dedicated to the Life-giving Spring before she goes up to the Crysospēliōtissa. Cf. the ritual on Aegina, where they fetch the icon of the Panagia to get rain, Håland 2005.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

10

Evy Johanne Håland

On the walls of the church are faded Byzantine paintings. The two churches are from the 5th or the 6th century. In both churches we see a newspaper article framed and glazed. Panagiotis tells that he hang it up. He does not remember exactly when and where the article was published, only that he ―found (i.e. read) it some years ago‖, ―the year I was on Tinos during the Panagia‖ (i.e. 15.08.1989).13The article describes the legend behind the cult dedicated to the Panagia Crysospēliōtissa in this particular cave. Eirinē and Panagiotis recount the article in their own way: ―In the beginning of Christianity there was a miraculous icon in this cave. It was painted by Agios (i.e. the Evangelist) Luke (i.e. during Mary‘s lifetime). Roxane, the daughter of a pagan medical doctor, dreamt Panagia who asked her ―to set her free‖. ―She was imprisoned.‖ In other words, the icon was buried here.14 After three dreams, she asked the other Christians to go along with her, dug and found the icon. Then, the Panagia appeared to her in a vision. She promised to help Roxane to liberate Athens. When Alaric came, he wanted to destroy the city. But a light appeared before them15, Alaric saw the Panagia on the city-wall, and Alaric departed. According to the article he left, because he was a Christian and believed in the Panagia. The article also tells that many of the pagan Athenians interpreted the miracle in their own way, and they thought that the protecting city goddess on the Acropolis, Athena, had appeared on the city-wall. The miracle happened in August 395 and therefore 15 August is celebrated here in commemoration of the miracle.16 In addition to the aforementioned problematical dating of the article, we also meet the particular interpretation my informants put into the article, i.e. the relation between the pagans and the Christians and their emphasizing of the magical power of the icon. Accordingly, they also say that the icon was bought to the cave when people who did not believe in Christianity were present. The article does not say anything about that, but it tells how the icon was helping the Athenians to save the city against the assault of the Goths.17 13

So, when asking Panagiotis when and where the article was published, because as a researcher I have to produce documents in support of the information I give, the discouraging answer he gives is that, ―he does not remember where he found it, only that is some years old.‖ 14 Cf. Håland 2003, 2007 for the Tinos-legend, etc., see also infra. Cf. also Kephallēniadē 1990 and 1991. 15 Cf. Hdt. 8.65, 8.84; Xen. Hell. 2.4,14 f.; Diod. 14.32,2 f. and Clem. Al. Strom. 1.24,163,1-3 for other pre-Christian parallels. 16 So, in this instance another meaning is added to the celebration of the 15 August, the Dormition of the Panagia. 17 They also tell that today the icon is to be found in the church dedicated to the Panagia Crysospēliōtissa, in the neighbourhood of Omonia square. They also call it Eirinē (i.e. Peace) or the ―Sleep‖, i.e. the ―Death‖.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Rituals in Greek Caves: From Modern Case Studies to Ancient Sources 11 They say that earlier, they used to be in both churches during the festival dedicated to the Life-giving Spring. They always started in the Life-giving Spring, and sometimes they continued the celebration in the Crysospēliōtissa. In the cave dedicated to Panagia Crysospēliōtissa, they perform the memorial service called ―Nine days after the Dormition‖, i.e. on 23 August.18Earlier, there were two storeys separated by a wooden-floor in the chapel dedicated to Panagia Crysospēliōtissa. The upper-floor was situated where the ladder leading up to the icon of the ―Sleeping Panagia‖ (i.e. her Epitaphios) stops. While Eirinē is cleaning, she arranges the candelabra that she brought from the cave dedicated to the Life-giving Spring on a certain place, claiming that this is where the ―holy table‖ used to be, and ―there was a church above‖ (i.e. the 2nd floor).19 She continues explaining that this actual ―Upper‖ church ―is named after the death or ‗Dormition‘ of the Panagia, because the icon from 1894 depicts her death‖. They decorate the icon with olive-oil lamps and flowers. They also decorate the rest of the cave, but they leave all the lamps in front of the icon of the Panagia and the Child. When asking Eirinē if this is on purpose, she says no. One of the icons, i.e. the most important, is a copy of an icon, which was brought to Moscow. Many votive offerings have been dedicated to this copy in the cave. They also tell that the painter was from Konstantinople (i.e. Istanbul). The first time I was visiting the cave, 19 August 1990, I also saw icons dedicated to the Panagia Athiniotissa and Agios Attikos.20 The cave contains many icons of different saints, included are Agios Kōnstantinos and Agios Gregorios. Several icons hang over older Byzantine frescos, which are not restored (i.e. in 1992). We also see a picture of the Holy Ephraim. He suffered martyrdom by the Turkish, who burned him. His remains are in a Monastery, in the neighbourhood of Nea Makri, from the 11th century, and according to my informants many miracles have occurred here: Panagiotis‘ cousin Sophia, was barren, after a visit to the Monastery, she became pregnant.21 It is worth 18

In 1992 the ritual was not performed. Some days before the festival Eirinē and Panagiotis were cleaning and tidying up both churches, but Eirinē goes to the church in Monastiraki on the festival day. She does not tell why, but it might be that they have difficulties when trying to find a priest. Early in the morning, a woman reaches the entrance to the theatre of Dionysos, asking if the ceremony is going to be performed. But, she gets a negative answer. 19 Over the table is a Byzantine wall-painting representing Agios Athanasios from the 16th century. Several dates are also scratched on the rock. 20 So one may suggest that even if the cult dedicated to Athena on the top of the Acropolis was prohibited in the 5th century, when Athena‘s Parthenon was transformed into a church dedicated to the Panagia after the termination of the Panathenaia in 410 CE, it has continued in one of the cave-churches on the slope of the same rock. 21 I observe a cross, which looks like a phallus, and they tell that it is sewn.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

12

Evy Johanne Håland

noting that the religious symbols, miracles, etc. are extremely important to the believers, and in the very straightforward way they relate everything: it is selfevident. Hence, during my visit they tell several stories, and Panagiotis supplies me with several small pictures of different saints and other gifts, for instance a medallion of Agios Pandeleimon, the ―Healer‖, the patron-saint of invalids and cripples. I also get a picture representing a tree, which had a cross inside when it was cut.22 During the cleaning, they also tell that a miracle probably has occurred in the church at Kypseli dedicated to Agios Ephtimidios: Last week, they found blood on the icon of Jesus Christ. They summoned experts, but they still do not know the source-person of the blood. I also learn that some years ago, Eirinē found all the icons broken when she arrived to the cave-church, and the evildoer had left behind a certain number. This is why both churches are locked up with bars, and secured with chains and padlocks. By way of helpful people, Eirinē managed to repair some of the broken icons, and she received several new ones. Panagiotis lit the incense burner, and emphasises that the incense is from Athos and is called desertflower. Eirinē tells him to polish all the framed and glazed icons with Ajax and wash-leather.23 Meantime, Eirinē sweeps and dusts all the icons. In both churches she scrubs the candelabras for votive candles with steel wool and olive oil. When she has finished sweeping what remains in this cave, she sprinkles water from the Life-giving Spring all over. When the cleaning is completed, we return downhill to the first church. But, before we leave, we see to that all the lamps are lit. Down again in the first cave dedicated to the Life-giving Spring, they show me a hole in the ground close to the entrance sill. This is where they used to behead the priests, they explain. So, the priests used to hide behind the wall, i.e. in the water, on the right side of the icon. According to the two faithful, Eirinē and Panagiotis, being very pleased to be able to relate as much as possible about the caves, the earlier table, which served as the ―holy table‖, i.e. the ancient column, which is situated in the middle of the ground floor, has relics from saints inside!24 Panagiotis emphasises that formerly this church had

22

Cf. the story behind the ―split column‖, Economdes 1986: 22-24. It is worth mentioning that after a while the leader of the guards working at the Acropolis-area comes around. He got a copy of my permission-letter to do research in the caves, and one may wonder if it still seems strange that I am as interested in talking with the people performing their religious rituals as with the archaeologists. 24 Cf. ancient Greek death-cult and the belief that the power of the dead was most strongly experienced in the neighbourhood of the grave, cf. Garland 1985: 4 and fig.1 for a parallel 23

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Rituals in Greek Caves: From Modern Case Studies to Ancient Sources 13 a ―greater church above‖, and that (the emperor) Kōnstantinos built it. Accordingly, the church dedicated to the Life-giving Spring was part of the large Byzantine Church-complex covering an extended area. He shows another picture of Ephraim, the monk who was burned on 5 May 1426. Therefore, 5 May is an annual holiday, celebrating the saint in the Monastery, which is dedicated to him: ―There, he lays in a silver-coffin and over his relics is the Byzantine banner decorated with the two eagles.‖ In the cave are many icons as well as many votive offerings. While talking about icons, they tell, as many other Greeks have done, that the holy icon on Tinos is the work of the Evangelist Luke. They tell that the king‘s family bestowed all the gold and precious stones that cover the icon, when King Paul became ill. The icon in the cave dedicated to the Life-giving Spring was made in 1917, and shows ―how the water was turned on formerly, when there was a fountain here‖, according to Panagiotis.25 Before leaving the cave, we discuss the festival dedicated to the Lifegiving Spring, which will fall on 1st May or Workers (Labour) Day. They plan to talk with the priest from Piraeus this year as well due to the problems they have with the new priest in the Church of Agios Nikolaos on Plaka. Eirinē plans to be here during the afternoon on 1st May, but the service/mass will be in the morning, starting approximately at 8:30. When leaving Eirinē and Panagiotis, she wishes us ―Happy Easter‖ and adds, as most faithful Greeks do, and ―Kalē Anestasē‖, ―i.e. Happy Resurrection‖.

“NEW” FRIDAY IN THE “WHITE WEEK”: THE CELEBRATION OF THE LIFE-GIVING SPRING The Easter celebrations in Greece last throughout the week that follows Easter Sunday. The first week after the Resurrection of Christ on Easter Sunday is known as the ―White Week‖ or the ―Bright Week‖ (Lamprē, i.e. bright another word for Easter). On ―New‖ Friday in the ―White Week‖ the Greeks feast the Virgin Mary under her attribute of Zōodochos Pēgē, the Lifegiving Spring. The festival is a part of the spring festivals, which are celebrated during the first Week after Easter. In several places, on this day,

25

to the bones of the saints in the cave. See also Siotis 1993: 45 for the importance of the dead in the origin of Christianity. Panagiotis also tells that the best candles are made of honey, cf. the beeswax-candles on Aegina.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

14

Evy Johanne Håland

there are special services and processions, followed by folk dances.26 In the village of Diaphani27 on the island of Karpathos in Southern Greece, they have a special celebration, as well as in the main village on the island, Pēgadia, i.e. pēgadi, ―spring‖, where the festival starts already Thursday evening. In Athens, the festival is celebrated in a particular way, since the church dedicated to the Life-giving Spring is situated inside the archaeological site of the Athenian Acropolis. In 1992, Friday after Easter coincided with 1st May or the Workers Day.28 This is a general holiday also for the guards working at the Acropolis-area. In this particular connection this fact is quite important, as already indicated, because the cave dedicated to the Life-giving Spring is situated inside the Acropolis-area. Already, on 28 March 1992, I was at the site inquiring about the celebration of the festival dedicated to the Life-giving Spring. According to the guards I spoke with, the whole Acropolis-area would be closed for visitors on 1st May. It seemed that the Curator of antiquities of the Acropolisarea found it quite difficult to decide whether the area should be kept open for the pilgrims on this feast day or not. Before I left for Karphatos, where I visited the Orthodox Easter season celebrations in the village of Olympos, the authorities had not yet decided if the festival dedicated to the Life-giving Spring would be celebrated, i.e. if people would be allowed to come into the area and fetch holy water, since the Acropolis would be closed on this particular day in 1992. So, how will it turn out? Will the ideology related to the ―holiday of the workers‖, as it is adapted to the Modern Greek nation-state, submit to the popular religiosity, connected to deep-seated meanings, the lasting mentalities, related to the traditional customs of the common people, or will the new ideology related to Western Europe be the ―winner‖?29 Both festivals represent ―the people‖, but one is, as already indicated, related to a nationalist ideology conforming to Western ideology (alternatively, an ideology which in many instances is shared with the West), while the other represents the ―Greek Romeic thesis‖ [Herzfeld 1986, 1992], i.e. the inward-facing identity, the ―Romeic‖ image of Greece, an identity that ―echoes‖ the Byzantine Empire

26

See also Tsotakou-Karbelē 1991: 98 f.; Megas 1992: 184-187. I.e. the port of the village of Olympos, see infra. 28 May Day is also celebrated with other particular customs, i.e. people gather spring flowers. With these they make wreaths and hang them on their front door. 29 Cf. Håland 2007: particularly ch. 2, also for the following, see also 2005 for traditional Greek customs. 27

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Rituals in Greek Caves: From Modern Case Studies to Ancient Sources 15

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

and hence the Orthodox Christian tradition to which the overwhelming majority of Greeks still adhere. Finally the Acropolis-authorities decided to keep the area open for some hours, and the popular religiosity of the Greeks triumphed. The festival is celebrated from 8:30 until 11:00. The guards working at the Acropolis are on duty at the two entrances to the Acropolis-area, i.e. the actual upper entrance to the Acropolis and the entrance to the theatre of Dionysos. Here, the Greeks from the neighbourhood are ―filtered out‖, i.e. separated from the rest of the people outside the gates, and only the Greeks are admitted into the area. To the many frustrated tourists, waiting outside the gates, the message given is quite clear: ―only Greeks are admitted, since it is their festival‖ (i.e. ―the festival is for them‖).30 So, the ―Romeic‖ (―inside‖) tradition gains the victory over the ―Hellenic‖. As in other in-stances, the Romeic tradition is protected against the Europeans and other Western people, the inward-facing identity is not placed at the disposal of foreigners, as the Greeks do with the ―common Ancient heritage‖, which is ―outward-directed‖.31 Consequently, in this particular instance, one may claim that the actual ―ideology of the workers‖ became ―subjugated‖ by the traditional religious custom, which is connected with deep-seated values, the lasting mentalities: people‘s need to fetch water from the spring on this specific festival, when the water is thought to be particularly

30

Arriving directly with a delayed plane from Karpathos, I was late, and the guards would not let me enter: They take me for one of the other ordinary tourists who are persistent outside the entrance-gate, even thought most of them know why I am here. They say that, ―the festival is only celebrated for the Greeks.‖ Finally, they admit me into the area because I am able to present the letter I got from the Acropolis-authorities, giving me permission to visit the caves in connection with my researches. Nevertheless, they have difficulties in accepting the letter since it is dated several months earlier (when I started my researches/visits to the caves), and does not mention the festival explicit. I had, in fact, taken up/discussed this problem with the Acropolis-authorities during one of our meetings by the end of March, but I was assured that, ―it would not be a problem‖. Several of the younger guards may be quite difficult to cope with, in the same way as younger policemen, who are present in a considerably body, for example during the procession with the holy icon at the annual celebration of 15 August on the island of Tinos. They are particularly eager to manifest their power in front of a female researcher who, according to them, is not (?) present to do research on religious celebrations. Is this because they simply do not understand the point? Or because only men (particularly if they look like photographers, resulting from their carrying with them a greater camera) are able to do this kind of research? Another example of the same power-demonstration is when an old woman is not permitted to go under the icon during the same procession on Tinos, cf. infra. 31 Cf. Herzfeld 1992: for the term ―disemia‖, a two-way-facing system of meanings that can be part of a public discourse, cf. also Dubisch 1995: ch. 9 for the distinction between insider and outsider, dikoi (our own) and xenoi (strangers or foreigners). Cf. Håland 2007: ch. 2 f., 6, forthcoming b.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

16

Evy Johanne Håland

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

healing and purifying after the Resurrection of Christ.32 However, the faithful did not only have to compete with the political ideology, but also the religious, since the parish priest declined to officiate, claiming that the ritual is pagan. Accordingly he had to be replaced by another. During the particular ceremony, which takes place at this festival in the cave dedicated to the ―Life-giving Spring‖, Athenians fetch Life-giving holy water, and during the celebration many people are present, young and old, men, women and children. The service lasts two hours, and the officiating priest is the same as the year before.33 Outside the entrance to the cave-church several tables are set up. They are laid with a variety of special breads and cakes brought by the participants to offer, particularly the round holy bread, prosphoro, which always is offered to the church and blessed by the priest. In addition, we also find sweet bread or a kind of cakes sprinkled with icing sugar, which often are baked and offered at annual festivals dedicated to saints. Inside the church several candles are lit in the candelabras. The censer of the priest, supplied with little bells, is suspended on one of the candelabras near the altar. At the altar, in front of the wall behind which is the spring, the priest is officiating. When he concludes the mass, he starts to assemble the rests of the holy bread, which he has blessed and distributed to the participants. He also packs up his briefcase, which is situated in the middle of the altar (Figure 5).

32

This is not to deny that during the celebration, I also note that there are frictions between the Acropolis-guards and the religiosity of the devotees, first and foremost represented by Eirinē who is a very proud woman, see infra. 33 Cf. supra. When talking with him after the service, it appears that he belongs to the great group of Olympians (i.e. from the village of Olympos) from Karpathos living in the Piraeus‘ area. When he learns that I just arrived from Olympos, having celebrated Easter in his own church of childhood, he welcomes me enthusiastically. He takes me by the hands and wishes ―Many Years‖ (i.e. ―Chronia Polla‖), and he supplies me with a whole holy bread, prosphoro. The priest is in his late forties/beginning of his fifties. From childhood he has been used to celebrate ―water-festivals‖, since the festival dedicated to the Life-giving Spring is celebrated several places on Karpathos, cf. supra. In addition, the icon of the Panagia is immersed in the water during the procession on ―White‖ Tuesday in Olympos, cf. Håland 2005.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Rituals in Greek Caves: From Modern Case Studies to Ancient Sources 17

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Figure 5. The priest packs up his briefcase, which is situated in the middle of the altar in the church dedicated to the Life-giving Spring at Athens, 1992 (Author‘s photograph).

Figure 6. A man walking on crutches sits next to the spring and is occupied with drawing water, in the church dedicated to the Life-giving Spring at Athens, 1992 (Author‘s photograph).

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

18

Evy Johanne Håland

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

But, people are still flowing into the cave-church to fetch water, although most of the participants flow downhill from the cave carrying small bottles with holy water, holy breads and pieces of cakes sprinkled with icing sugar, as soon as the service is finished. An old priest leaves, carrying with him a bottle with holy water for the following year. People who flow into the cave-church are not only fetching holy water. They also wash in the spring and drink from the water. The water scoop is repeatedly used in the cave dedicated to the Panagia, the Life-giving Spring, during the festival: A man walking on crutches sits next to the spring occupied with drawing water (Figure 6).34 Supplied with the water scoop, he continually receives empty bottles, which he fills and returns to people who are queuing up to obtain holy water in small bottles. Other people drink from the spring, sprinkle their heads, or fill small bottles they have brought for just this purpose by putting the bottles directly into the spring. In the middle of the ground floor, a basket filled with pieces of bread is placed on the ancient column, i.e. the former ―holy table‖, containing the saints‘ bones. When the last slice of bread is taken, a faithful seizes the basket and pours the rest of the crumbs over him.

Figure 7. One of the impatient guards working at the Acropolis at Athens within the church dedicated to the Life-giving Spring, 1992 (Author‘s photograph).

34

See also Håland 2003: fig.3 and 2005: fig.8.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Rituals in Greek Caves: From Modern Case Studies to Ancient Sources 19

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

While people are occupied with their own water-fetching ritual, the guards working at the Acropolis become more and more impatient: They are shouting, arguing that we have to get out (Figure 7). But, people don‘t bother at all, they continue to fetch water and bread; they drink, eat, kiss the various icons and cross themselves (i.e. make the sign of the cross). It is worth noting that Eirinē becomes very angry, and argues ardently with the head of the guards. At 11 o‘clock, we are more or less thrown out. The evening-service is cancelled, but the Acropolis-authorities had to open up the church and let people in, and keep several guards on duty for more than three hours on 1st May 1992. By giving this detailed or ―thick‖ description of a contemporary Greek popular ritual, I hope I have managed to give some indications of the importance of water in Greek religion, seen from below or ―from the grassroots‖.35 Perhaps it may help illuminate similar ancient popular rituals, since our ancient source-material is very scattered, and most of it is produced by the male part of the culture, although men very often did not participate in the rituals performed by women.

THE CULTS IN THE ACROPOLIS CAVES AT ATHENS: CONTINUITY AND CHANGE In ancient Greece, in most of the grottoes, a cave or cavern full of water, or several droplets was thought to be manifestations of the divinity. Later, most of the caves were transformed into churches, as in Athens, where we find the church dedicated to the Life-giving Spring. Here, the Panagia has taken over the healing power of the ancient Water-Nymphs. So, as parallels to ancient votive reliefs and votive offerings (anathēmata) dedicated to the Water-Nymphs, today we find many icons with ex-votos attached to them or to the many embroideries placed under the icons. Behind the low wall is the holy Spring. In other words, the Athenian chapel dedicated to the Panagia under her attribute of the Life-giving Spring, is situated on a site already sacred to waterdivinities in antiquity: The spring and its surroundings were initially sacred to the Water-Nymphs. The Spring House built over it originally dates to the late sixth century BCE. That the area was sacred to the nymphs is shown by an 35

Cf. also the real meanings of the terms ―micro-society‖ as opposed to ―macro-society‖, the ―domestic‖ vs. the ―public spheres‖ in Greece, discussed in Håland 2007, 2008.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

20

Evy Johanne Håland

abundance of votive reliefs with nymphs and other offerings found in this area.36 Pan was also worshipped there from the 5th century BCE onward,37 and probably also Hermes, Aphrodite and the Egyptian import Isis, judging from the fact that near the Spring House there is a large altar or altar-table of Hymettian marble bearing the names of these gods who were jointly worshipped and to whom the altar was dedicated [IG II² 4994]. Sometimes before the middle of the first century, a modest shrine for Isis was established on the south slope just south of the Archaic Spring House, beside an even smaller Temple of the goddess Themis. So, the original cult of the spring, followed by the Archaic round Spring House, later situated within the Asklepieion, or sanctuary of Asklepios in the City, is very much older than the shrine of Asklepios, which was dedicated in 419/418 BCE by Telemakhos of Acharnai, a devout private donor.38 The sacred territory of the spring was not officially marked off, until this last quarter of the fifth century, the era of Telemakhos‘s beneficence, when a marble boundary stone inscribed with the words horos krenes (―boundary of the spring‖) was set up, establishing the limits of the Spring House terrace. Thus its construction, in fact, led to a clearer definition of the boundaries of the Spring House when the Asklepieion was founded. Asklepios owes his status and popularity to the healing of sickness. His daughter who simply is named Hygieia, Health, also illustrates the healing aspect. News of the miracle cures drew hordes of visitors to Epidauros, the ―home‖ or original cult centre of Asklepios [cf. Paus. 2.26,8], and gave rise to a regular health business. Nevertheless, at the time of the ―great plague‖, the god went from Epidauros to Athens: The worship of Asklepios, was introduced into Athens on the occasion of the plague of 429 BCE. The ―cure‖ followed a ritual, during which patients washed in the Sacred Spring, offered at an altar, and then retired to the stoa (a porch or portico not attached to a larger building) where the mysterious process of incubation (egkoimēsis) was assisted by incense from the altars [cf. Paus. 2.27,1 f.]. This and religious excitement produced dreams, through the medium of which Asklepios was supposed to effect his cure. Many ex-voto tablets to Asklepios and Hygieia have been found showing the portion of the 36

See also Håland 2003: fig.4; Travlos 1971: 127, 138, fig.178, cf. figs.192 f. Fig. 192 is also dedicated to Pan, cf. the following. For the Athenian Acropolis, see for example Hurwit 2004. 37 Hdt. 6.105, cf. Ar. Lys. 720-723; Eur. Ion. 492-502, see also Men. Dysk. 432-434. 38 Travlos 1971: 127. The ancient Athenian calendar year began in the summer of one of our years and ended in the summer of the next, accordingly ancient dates are often expressed in slashed terms.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Rituals in Greek Caves: From Modern Case Studies to Ancient Sources 21 anatomy treated. These were affixed to a wall or inlaid in the columns; larger votive stelai, some showing the god visiting sick patients in their sleep, were fixed to the stoa steps. The traveller and writer, Pausanias, living in the second century CE, tells about votive offerings he saw when he was visiting the Acropolis cave [1.21,4-7]. He specifies [1.21,4]: ―In (side) it there is a spring, by which they say that Poseidon‘s son Halirrhothios (―Seafoam‖) deflowered Alkippe the daughter of Ares, (…).‖39 In the 5th century or in the beginning of the 6th century CE all the buildings were demolished and on the foundations a large three-aisled Christian basilica was built to the memory of Ag. Anargyroi, the doctor saints or the patron saints of healing.40 Since an early Christian Church was built in the remains of the Asklepieion, the sanctuary dedicated to the ancient god of healing, became transformed into a Byzantine Church. Here, under the patronage of Ag. Kosmas and Ag. Damianos, the process of incubation assisted by incense along with the miracle-working nature of the Sacred Spring, continued under the Christian aegis. When the area around the Asklepieion was excavated in 1876, the cave with holy water also became dedicated to the Panagia.41 So, the cult in the cave dedicated to a female divinity (or Holy Person) and the cure in the spring, is not necessarily representing ―cult-continuity‖, but perhaps rather ―revival‖ of cult. According to the Greek scholar, D. Loukatos [1982: 153], who examines the cult-continuity from Asklepios to Agioi Anargyroi, the cave is still dedicated to the doctor saints. On the other hand, and as already specified, today, the tamata (ex-votos) are mainly dedicated to the Panagia, even though the icon of Agioi Anargyroi still is in the cave. Accordingly, it may be problematical if we only emphasize the cult dedicated to male divinities simultaneously as the practical cult clearly demonstrates the importance of female divinities.42 Thus, as already mentioned, according to some, the cave is still dedicated to Agioi Anargyroi, but to most people, at least through their practical rituals, the most important saint worshipped in the cave seems to be the Panagia. In antiquity the cave, which is dedicated to the Panagia Crysospēliōtissa today, was dedicated to Artemis and Apollo as well as Dionysos. Pausanias 39

In this connection one may also mention that Kreusa was also raped by Apollo in a cave of the Akropolis, Shapiro 2008: 172. 40 Travlos 1939/41: 35-68, cf. Travlos 1971: 128. 41 Travlos 1939/41: 68. 42 Cf. also supra. Håland 2007: ch. 6 discusses the problems we encounter when only emphasizing male gods/saints. Cf. also Tsotakou-Karbelē 1991: 99; Megas 1992: 187.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

22

Evy Johanne Håland

[1.21,3] mentions the cave: ―At the top of the theatre is a cave in the rocks under the Acropolis. This also has a tripod over it, wherein are Apollo and Artemis slaying the children of Niobe.‖ The entrance to the cave was masked, until Turkish gunfire destroyed it in 1827, by the Choregic Monument of Thrasyllos, erected in 320/319 BCE, by Thrasyllos, who dedicated the cavern to Dionysos.43 From a drawing we learn that around 1750 CE a visitor on his way up to the cave might meet people waiting the arrival of the priest, attended by a boy who carries a wax-candle, followed by a man and a woman leading a child, who, with those already mentioned, made his whole congregation. Higher up on the rock, next to the Monument, and just outside of the cave, some persons are sitting down to wait the coming of the priest.44 The scene is very similar to the modern cult. So, we have ancient pre-Christian documentation, the Christian legend from 395 CE, in addition to the drawing illustrating the account given by Western travellers to Athens around the middle of the 18th century.45In other words, the cult in the cave must have been very important for people in the neighbourhood. We also learn this when visiting the Christian holy cave, reading the pencilled grafitti on the gate ‖for the health of Markos‖, ―for Antonios who have gone to be a soldier‖. This have hardly changed for centuries: in fact the cave now has recovered something genuine which in Pausanias‘s time was smothered under art. So, in antiquity, the two Acropolis caves were dedicated to the WaterNymphs and Artemis46 respectively, and later they became churches where the Panagia is worshipped. In other words, in the two caves there have been cults dedicated to female fertility bestowing and healing divinities in ancient (i.e. archaic) and modern times, even if the names of the divinities have changed. The male elements in the Classical (Asklepios and Dionysos respectively, Asklepios nevertheless together with Hygieia) and the Byzantine periods were intermezzos.47Even if a social or ideological meaning changes, for example the ideological transition from paganism to Christianity, exemplified by Christian saints taking over the fields of responsibilities of the ancient gods, it seems that another unconscious or implied meaning is the same and continues across

43

Welter 1938: 33, cf. 47 f. See Revett/Stuart 1762-1816: 33, and pl.1; Travlos 1971: 565fig.707. 45 Revett/Stuart 1762-1816. Cf. supra for the newspaper cutting (80 f.) hanging in the cave. Cf. further the comment of Levi 1984: Vol 1: 59n.120, also for the following. 46 For Artemis‘ connection with springs, see Håland 2003. In the Acropolis cave, she is worshipped with her brother Apollo. 47 See infra for the cult dedicated to Agia Marina, cf. Håland 2005, 2007. 44

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Rituals in Greek Caves: From Modern Case Studies to Ancient Sources 23

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

different ideologies, such as the ritual fetching of holy water in the cave dedicated to the Life-giving Spring. For some years I did not have the possibility to visit Athens, and hence, the Acropolis caves. When I came back to Athens in 2004, I learned that restoration-work is being carried out in both caves. When asking what has happened to the churches, I was told that, ―they are still open on particular days during the year.‖ And so the traditional rituals continue (Figure 8).

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

24

Evy Johanne Håland

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Figure 8. The church dedicated to the Life-giving Spring at Athens: Behind the low wall is the holy Spring, and in front of the altar is the icon depicting the Life-giving Spring, 2006 (Author‘s photograph).

FROM THE LIFE-GIVING SPRING AT ATHENS TO OTHER CULTS OF THE LIFE-GIVING SPRING Taken together, the Acropolis caves represent similarities to the history of the Aegean island of Tinos, the greatest shrine of Greek Orthodoxy. Here, we encounter a similar account to the one told in the cave dedicated to the Panagia Crysospēliōtissa: In 1823, after several mystical visions of the pious nun named Pelagia, they found the Miraculous Icon of the Annunciation (Euangelismos) of the Panagia (Megalocharē, i.e. the Blessed Virgin). According to the tradition, the nun Pelagia saw repeatedly in her visions the Panagia, who ordered her to inform the elders to start excavations in order to find her icon, buried since many years ago in an uncultivated field, and to build her ―house‖ (i.e. her church) on that place. On 30 January 1823, the icon, said to be the work of Agios Luke, was unearthed in the field where it had remained for about 850 years, since the church built on the ruins of the pagan temple of Dionysos, was destroyed and burned down by the Saracenes in the 10th century CE. Two

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Rituals in Greek Caves: From Modern Case Studies to Ancient Sources 25 years before the icon was found, the great Greek War of Liberation (1821) broke out. The finding of the icon, the construction of the church of Panagia, Euangelistria, the enormous crowds of pilgrims and all the miracles contributed to the act that in 1971, the island was declared a sacred island by governmental decree. Pelagia also became sanctified. In addition to the thousands of pilgrims coming to Tinos on their own, several pilgrimages are organised by representatives of the Orthodox Church such as in Athens or Larissa, particularly in connection with the most important festival on 15 August. Below the main church at Tinos are several cave-shaped chapels, one of them is dedicated to the ―Life-giving Spring‖ and rituals connected with water are important as in all Greek churches: The first excavations on Tinos brought to light the ruins of the foundations of the Byzantine Church, first and foremost a deep but dry well. Some months later, in 1823, the corner stone of the church of the ―Life-giving Spring‖ was laid. Later, the icon was found approximately two meters from the well. After the finding of the icon, it was decided to build a big church above the church dedicated to the ―Life-giving Spring‖. So, the chapel or church dedicated to the ―Life-giving Spring‖, which is formed as a cave, is situated below the church of the Annunciation.48 As already mentioned, the mouth of a well was found during the excavations made in search for the icon, but the well was completely dry and useless. On the day of the laying of the cornerstone of the holy Church, however, the formerly dry well became filled to the brim with water. The source is seen as a miracle, and according to the tradition it is one of the most important miracles of the Panagia of Tinos.49 Since the discovery of water in this well, pilgrims regard it as sacred water. Accordingly, small or bigger bottles of this precious water are taken home by pilgrims from all over the world, and they keep it at home as a talisman.

48 49

See Håland 2003, 2007 forthcoming b for a more detailed account also for the following. Foskolos 1996 presents the most important miracles of the Megalocharē of Tinos.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

26

Evy Johanne Håland

Figure 9. Pilgrims fetch holy water from the Life-giving Spring on the Aegean island of Tinos, 2010 (Author‘s photograph).

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Rituals in Greek Caves: From Modern Case Studies to Ancient Sources 27 As soon as the pilgrims have performed the set of devotions a pilgrim does upon entering the church of the Annunciation, particularly the devotions in front of the miraculous icon, they search the chapel of holy water below the church. Here, they are queuing up to obtain holy water in small bottles (Figure 9) or they drink directly from the tap.50 Today, it is also important to be baptised in water from one of the many sacred springs, which are dedicated to the Panagia; and on Tinos baptisms are not performed in the church itself but in the baptistry, which is located off the chapel of the Life-giving Spring, and particularly during the Dormition of the Panagia, on 15 August, many children are baptised in the chapel, in holy water, fetched from the ―Life-giving Spring.‖51 To Western views of causality and of human nature, it may not be so remarkable that an icon should be buried in the ruins of a church, nor that a dry well, once excavated, might be unblocked and begin to flow again. Nor is it odd that in the difficult early days of the Greek War of Independence both priests and populace would be looking for reassurance and hope. On the other hand, this is not the view accounted when talking with people on Tinos, who believe in this as well as the other miracles in connection with the finding of the icon and the subsequent history of the sanctuary, and this has to do with Greece‘s particular and ambiguous position as both ―us‖ and ―them‖, i.e. their ―Romeic‖ and ―Hellenic‖ traditions.52 Other places in Greece, the story about the finding of the icon, may, nevertheless, be told in another way, the nun becomes a girl, and the need for water is not in connection with the laying of the cornerstone of the church, but the point about the miracle is the same: The girl directed them to the right place, ―and there they dug. Soon they found a small ikon of the Panagia. Where they had dug, water began to pour forth. It is a rich fountain now, and the water that comes from it is holy water. The reason the water came out was that when they unearthed the ikon it was covered with dirt, since they had no water to wash it with the Panagia worked a miracle, sending water so that she could be washed.‖53 Holy water, agiasma is found in most modern Greek sanctuaries, frequently located in natural or man-made caves, and some sanctuaries offer particularly miracle-working water with its own legend attached to it. Several 50

See Håland 2003: fig.1 and Håland 2005: fig.9. See Håland 2003: fig.2. Actually many of the baptisms take place in the second chapel which is dedicated to Agia Pelagia. 52 See also supra. Cf. Herzfeld 1992; Dubisch 1995; Håland 2007, forthcoming b. 53 Blum/Blum 1970: 59. 51

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

28

Evy Johanne Håland

caves with springs, which were dedicated to ancient gods and goddesses, particularly Water-Nymphs, are now transformed to chapels dedicated to the Panagia. A parallel is the cult dedicated to Agia Paraskeuē, a very popular saint in Greece, as in the Vale of Tempe in Northern Greece, where we also find the Spring of Aphrodite (Venus) and the Spring of Daphne. Agia Paraskeuē is feasted on 26 July, and she, or perhaps rather the holy water in her caves, is especially good at curing eye-diseases. Hundreds of silver exvotos representing a human eye can be seen adorning her icons. On the island of Mytilini/Lesbos (henceforward Mytilini) in the village named after this saint, Agia Paraskeuē is worshipped in a cave where cult is documented from antiquity.54 As in Athens, the wonder-working nature of the sacred spring inside the cave continues, and the ancient spring house is now a chapel dedicated to Agia Paraskeuē. Still, Panagia is the main goddess in connection with the festival dedicated to the ―Life-giving Spring‖, which is also celebrated in connection with the cave because of its spring with healing water. Rituals connected with water are very important, both in modern and ancient Greece, such as exemplified by the festival dedicated to the Panagia, under her attribute of the Life-giving Spring. In this connection it is important to mention the establishment of the festival dedicated to the Life-giving Spring in Konstantinople by the Patriarch in 1833.55 Through the significant blessing of the agiasma (―holy water‖), we meet holy water or a very old purification symbol, which, on one level, is ―reinvented‖ in the service of the national ideology, by the actual establishment in 1833, the same year as the Greek struggle for independence came to a successful conclusion, and the Kingdom was established. This may be regarded as an example of ideological reuse of old popular symbols in the service of the Greek nation-state. At intervals, this way of utilisation has burst open throughout Greek history (cf. the aforementioned happening in 395 CE), simultaneously as people have, on another level, carried out their own rituals in connection with life-cycle passages, as death, birth, baptism and weddings, as well as other celebrations of life-cycle passages, as the rituals in connection with the cycle of nature.56 We have for example been presented to how the same spring with holy water has been dedicated to ancient Water-Nymphs and the Christian Panagia in the same Acropolis cave despite of ideological (i.e. religious and political) 54

Makistou 1978, see also infra. Loukatos 1985: 165. 56 For the similarities between life-cycle passages and the rituals performed in connection with important passages during the cycle of nature, see Håland 2006a, 2007. 55

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Rituals in Greek Caves: From Modern Case Studies to Ancient Sources 29 changes, and how people always have fetched miracle-working water, and probably not been very affected by what has been introduced from ―above‖, by official authorities. So, one may suggest that even if the official Orthodox Church or the nation-state, the two institutions traditionally having a very close connection in Greece,57 sometimes tries to dictate to the people, the latter carries out their own rituals as they have always done. Hence the two sometimes contradictory views -, the official and the popular, are nevertheless both complementary and interdependent.

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

FROM THE GREEK CONTEXT TO OTHER MEDITERRANEAN CAVES AND HEALING SPRINGS The accounts from the Acropolis caves and Tinos represent similarities to a history, which is probably more famous, at least in the Western world, and certainly within the Catholic Church. This is the account from the French environment, i.e. the cave with wonder-working water in Lourdes in Southern France, visited by enormous crowds of pilgrims, and the story about how the water began to flow. From February 1858, Bernadette Soubirous (1844-1879), had several mystical visions, altogether eighteen times she saw the Virgin Mary appearing to her in a cave. During the ninth vision, in front of several spectators, Bernadette started to scratch the earth with her fingers, and a thin jet of water began to pour forth. In 1862 the bishop decided to build a sanctuary in connection with the cave. Later, Bernadette became a nun and in 1933 she became sanctified. This religious centre has been characterised as the greatest pilgrimage centre in the world. In addition to all the pilgrims coming on their own, from 1873 there also became ―National Pilgrimages‖ organised by the ―Assumption priests‖ in Paris. In 1963 the first organised pilgrimage for the poliomyelitis took place, later other seriously handicapped persons in wheeled chairs also participated, thus, paralleling the circumstances on modern Tinos. Today, the pilgrims also fetch holy water from the cave in small bottles paralleling the pilgrims on Tinos. Another counterpart is that the church sends small bottles of water all over the world on request from people who do not have the possibility to go to Lourdes as pilgrims.

57

I.e. in a patriotic sense, and this is probably also why the official and popular religion have a close relationship, despite some problematical incidents, cf. supra.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

30

Evy Johanne Håland

The main church built over the miraculous cave, where Bernadette had the visions, is dedicated to the ―immaculate Conception‖. In the cave, a marble Holy Virgin indicates the spot. It is worth mentioning, that this particular cave and the Holy Virgin appearing to the kneeling young Bernadette in a vision, also is copied or reproduced in other places within the Catholic world, such as on the backside of the church, dedicated to the Holy Virgin under her attribute of Saver of the port (Maria S.S. di Portosalvo) in the little South-Italian village of Villammare.58 Next to the cave with the marble Holy Virgin in Lourdes, are the fountains and the pools where the pilgrims take their baths. One may suggest that the health business on modern Tinos59 and in Lourdes, are probably not very different to the situation in ancient Epidauros, which as the other shrines of Asklepios also served as a sort of hospital. As an underground dweller, Asklepios is also connected with caves and oracles. In Lakonia, for example, was a sacred cave of Asklepios with a stone statue, and next to it a stream of cold water came running out of the rock [Paus. 3.24,2]. Springs and caves are important in connection with all the sanctuaries of Asklepios. But, long before he became famous, healing springs sacred to the Water-Nymphs and Artemis were widespread. The springs were also often connected with caves: According to Pausanias a ritual performed in a cave, containing sulphur springs, belonging to the Nymphs cured leprosy:60 A cave (containing sulphur springs) not far from the river Samikon belongs to Anigros‘s daughters, the nymphs. ―(…) anyone who enters it with any kind of leprosy, first prays to the nymphs and promises whatever sacrifice (…), and then wipes the diseased parts of his body, and when he swims across the river he leaves his disgrace in its water, and comes out healthy and clear-skinned‖ [Paus. 5.5,11, tr. Levi]. In the ancient world, the nymphs were closely connected with the land, and the various aspects of its nature, like mountains and caves, water, and vegetation. They were water-deities providing the water of springs, but also rivers [Od. 6.123 f.] and pools, hence they presided in general over the granting of water. All kinds of waters are in fact inhabited by nymphs, such as the Naiads, the Potameids (cf. potamos, river, stream), the Creneids, and the Hydriads (cf. hydria, water-pot). In the cave sacred to the nymphs called Naiads, are ever-flowing springs, and other important elements associated with maidens, such as bees, honey, and looms at which they weave webs of purple dye [Od. 13.102-112, 345-360, cf. Håland 2006b]. 58

Håland 1990: ch. 2. See Håland 2007: ch. 4, forthcoming b; Dubisch 1995. 60 Paus. 5.5,11, cf. 9.40,1 f., cf. Håland 2003: 8, 2005. See also Parker 1985: 212 f., 215. 59

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Rituals in Greek Caves: From Modern Case Studies to Ancient Sources 31 In connection with Mediterranean religious festivals races are and were often an important feature [cf. Håland 2011]. The race course of ancient Olympia, for example, probably had the same shape as the one within which the modern Palio (i.e. race) in Siena (Italy) takes place on 2 July and 16 August. According to psychoanalytic analysis the entrance is shaped as the neck of the womb and the course as a womb.61 A parallel is found outside of the aforementioned village of Agia Paraskeuē on Mytilini [cf. also Makistou 1978], where the prosperity-ensuring race dedicated to Ag. Charalampos takes place during his summer-festival. A parallel to the racing course is the relation between the life-giving cave and a mother‘s womb, manifested by the cult which takes place in the caves, for example the cave of Agia Paraskeuē and the Acropolis caves at Athens.

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

THE CAVE: THE MATERNAL WOMB, THE LOCATION FOR THE PERFORMANCE OF INITIATION RITUALS The cave has been seen as man‘s earliest habitation, then, it became a burial place and ended up as the house of the gods, according to W. Burkert [1985: 24], although today we know that all three ―phases‖ are still found several places around the world. It is important to emphasize the link between a cave, a tomb and resurrection, because the cave symbolizes the Earth‘s womb, whose moist surroundings promote new life. The cave is a chthonic and female symbol, and ancient cave cult is illustrated through the cult dedicated to the Mother Goddess, the Black Demeter in her Arkadian cave: the Cave of Demeter [Paus. 8.42, 8.5,8]. The sanctuaries dedicated to goddesses are situated in places where spring-water rises abundantly [Paus. 7.27,9 f.], and at the sanctuary dedicated to Demeter at Phigalia, there is a sacred grove of oaks around the cave, where cold water springs out of the ground [Paus. 8.42,12]. The nymph Kalypso in her womb-shaped cave [Od. 5.208 f.] recalls the setting around the aforementioned race course at Siena, also incarnating a woman, i.e. maiden, mother or reproduction and shelter, since a cave symbolizes the mother‘s nourishing womb. The cave then, is particularly connected with the female womb in ancient sources. The mythological identification of the life-giving cave with the maternal womb is also well established in Eastern Orthodox tradition [Meinardus 1974]. On modern Tinos 61

Dundes/Falassi 1975: chap. 9.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

32

Evy Johanne Håland

for example, we find the church dedicated to the Panagia Gastriōtissa (―Panagia who helps the women to be pregnant/conceive‖), which is built more or less above a cave (Figure 10). The caves are important in connection with initiation cult as well, such as in Eleusis in connection with the Eleusinian Mysteries and general passage rites in the human life. In the cave of the goddess of birth, Eileithyia [Od. 19.187 f., cf. Paus. 1.18,5] at Amnisos on Crete, are found particular rock formations: close to the entrance is an oval elevation like a belly with a navel, inside of the cave is a seated figure and a stalagmite resembling a female figure. At the back of the cave is water [Burkert 1985: 25 f.], where visitors, particularly women, evidently have fetched healing water when visiting the birth goddess. In Eleia the birth goddess Eileithyia was dedicated a ritual [Paus. 6.20,2 f.], when the women celebrated Sosipolis, the City Saviour [Paus. 6.20,2-5]. The women perform the crucial rituals in her shrine, perhaps paralleling the rituals in the ―Idaean cave‖, i.e. the Cretan cave in which the newborn Zeus child was found [Diod. 5.70]. The Hill of the Nymphs in Athens is named after an inscription discovered there. The hill is still ―dotted‖ with caves, and Miriam Ervin [1959: 154] has suggested that this hill was dedicated to the Hyakinthides, the daughters of Erekhtheus, who were known as Geraistai Nymphai, which is very likely, since the nymphs were protectors of the new born [cf. also Eur. El. 624 f.]. The Geraistai Nymphai Genethliai took care of the infant Zeus and the ―Kekropids‖ were given the care of the infant Erichthonios [Håland 2007: ch. 5]. According to Apollonius of Rhodes [4.1131-1140] Macris in her sacred cave (also connected with Medea) took the infant Dionysos to her bosom and moistened his parched lips with honey, while Ovid [Met. 3.310 ff.] claims that Ino brought him up, and later gave him to the nymphs of Nysa who hid him in their caves, and fed him with milk. The aforementioned cave dedicated to Agia Paraskeuē on Mytilini is shaped as a cervix of the womb and womb. According to the local tradition it is called ―Foetus‖ or ―Mum‖ (or ―Source‖).62 It has also been called the foetus in the womb, and connected with Dionysos in his mother‘s womb. The main reservoir of the village has its source in the cave. The cave may have been dedicated to the nymph Brisa (cf. Brysē i.e. spring, source) who nursed Dionysos, according to the local mythology. The cult connected with the spring of Agios Charalampos in the vicinity may be a modern survival of cult related to former nymphs, such as Arethousa and the goddess Artemis. It is connected with passage rites and fertility. 62

See also Makistou 1978 for the underground construction at Agia Paraskeuē.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Rituals in Greek Caves: From Modern Case Studies to Ancient Sources 33

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

In antiquity marriage was a prime target for girls‘ initiations, but almost an accessory for boys‘ initiations. But marriage leads to a more important target, the birth of a child. So in both cases the real target is the perpetuation of the household. The most important ideological goal for women was glorious motherhood, and the caves dedicated to Artemis were important at marriage and birth. Before marriage, a woman must descend into the cave and make sacrifice to Artemis. A woman‘s ritual obligations were: pre-marital, as a new bride, and as the expectant or new mother, and according to the Cyrene Cathartic Law from approximately 340 CE, ―A bride must go down to the bride-room to Artemis before marriage‖, and a pregnant woman shall go down and sacrifice to Artemis in the same way as a bride.63 An important part of the ritual was also to go to a Nympheion (sanctuary of the Nymphs) in the precinct of Artemis and make sacrifice to the nymphs.

63

LSS. 115.B.1-8, 9-14, 15-23, cf. Parker 1985: 344 f. Dowden 1989: 113 f.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

34

Evy Johanne Håland

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Figure 10. The cave in the vicinity of the church dedicated to the Panagia Gastriōtissa (―Panagia who helps the women to be pregnant/conceive‖), situated at Gastria Cape on Tinos, 2010 (Author‘s photograph).

Several streams were purifying maidens after a transitional condition before marriage. This is illustrated with many myths, such as the story about the daughters of Proitos, the Proitids: They were beautiful and had many suitors, but rendered the jealous Hera, the goddess of marriage, angry, by their devaluation of her. Accordingly they lost their beauty and became cows. Moreover, Hera poured down a dreadful skin-disease, alphos, over them [Hes. KG.18]. Their loosing of their hair is the mythical depiction of the ritual shearing before marriage. Following a period of wandering ―across the boundless earth‖, they came to a cave and the waters of Lousoi, and their sickness was healed at Lousoi Artemis shrine. The cave has probably housed a spring where the ritual dislocation or ―madness‖ of the girls were purged, leaving the spring with their sickness. This is a typical wilderness rite: time spent in a cave, the wild counterpart of the civilized precinct, and a usual place to find initiatory cult practices. The life-giving cave is linked to a mother‘s womb, manifested by the cult that takes place in the caves. The womb-shaped caves are particularly important in girl‘s passage-rites, such as in connection with the caves at Brauron, preparing them to marriage. Boys, however, also had to undergo a ritual in a cave, as the cave of Cheiron where select Thessalian youths performed an annual ceremony. For every one, the rebirth takes place in the life-giving womb.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Rituals in Greek Caves: From Modern Case Studies to Ancient Sources 35 In ancient Greek culture, the female sex organ is important to secure the continuity of society through the reproduction, for example as symbolic votive offerings dedicated to the sanctuaries of Mother Goddesses, and its apotropaic aspect for coping with war and to ward off other dangers. Greek mythology is haunted by the importance of the female body and the female sex organ, as when Zeus needs help from his mother to vanquish his father, and later ―swallows‖ the goddess Metis to be almighty, and subsequently gives birth to Athena from his own head. But, Athena also has another birthplace, at Lake Tritonis. This signifies that she is born from or at a meadow. A meadow (i.e. leimōn) symbolizes the female sex organ, and represents a parallel to the cult of the phallus.64 Several tales tell about brave women exposing their private parts to ward off enemies [Plut. Mor. 246a, 248b], and those who by other means (―cunning‖) solve crises in society, like a typical mother at home. This eventual ―vulva-envy‖ of woman‘s properties does not necessarily contradict that we most often meet a sort of ―vulva-fear‖, clearly symbolized by the importance of the head of Medusa, i.e. the apotropaic importance of the female sex organ on the walls of the Athenian Acropolis [Paus. 1.21,3] to ward off the enemy. One way of explaining what may seem to be a contradiction is the uncertainty, curiosity but also fear men have in front of the general invisibility around the female genital. It becomes an entity hidden for the male culture. In this mysterious cave, a place that is inaccessible to man‘s sight, life emerges. Accordingly, the enemy are frightened by the life they want to conquer. We find a physical, ritual counterpart to the secret place of women, from which their fertility secrets derive, in the underground ―rooms‖ (megara), the entrances to the womb of the earth, which are central in several particularly Demetrian festivals, but also in rituals dedicated to other Mother Goddesses. There is a correspondence between these grottos and a woman‘s sex organ. Women may be regarded as possessing the ―secret‖ of fertility, as they ―know how‖ to give birth, a process which man inevitably finds mysterious, because he cannot experience it. Feminine anatomy is more ―secret‖ than masculine. That women have knowledge of secrets derives from their anatomy, from the fact that they have a ―secret place‖, the womb, where miraculous things goes on, and of course it is assumed that women understand these miraculous events better than do men. This idea is still found in the cliché that ―a woman always knows‖, or ―woman‘s intuition‖. The ancients were not only concerned with, but in reality haunted by the importance of the womb and its relation to the female body, and the female 64

For meadow/marsh symbolizing the female sex organ, Motte 1973.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

36

Evy Johanne Håland

body symbolizes everything connected with conception, nourishment and birth. It is assumed as a container, but also as a microcosm. The so-called ―standard Greek representation of fertility‖ [Pl. Menex. 238a], puts fertility in the hands of woman or in her womb, according to the logic behind the ―Lifegiving Spring‖ (i.e. Zōodochos Pēgē), also one of Panagia‘s attributes. Cult dedicated to female healing, fertility-deities in womb-shaped caves containing water-springs, has always been important, and in antiquity, the term pēgē (spring/source) was connected with nourishing nymphs, but also used for goddesses as Hera and Magna Mater. It seems that the male writers need the female body to explain everything: Space is female [Pl. Ti. 52, 50d] connected with a nourishing receptacle, container, reservoir or womb. Woman is associated with a jar or terracotta vessels, womb and the earth,65 illustrating the continuous importance of the womb in Greek culture [cf. du Boulay 1984]. In modern Athens the church of Agia Marina is situated on the eastern slope of the aforementioned Hill of the Nymphs, just north of the Pnyx, where ancient Athenian women gathered during their Thesmophoria festival dedicated to Demeter. This festival was a gathering of women to ensure fertility: If an Assembly was to be held, during the days this female festival was celebrated, it was held not in Pnyx, its normal setting, but in the theatre.66 So, the men‘s political business was displayed by the women‘s higher duties to Demeter and her grain, to ensure the food. Women are and were the most competent performers of the rituals connected with the promotion of fertility in society. This is represented through many of the central rituals in the festivals: Goddesses are dedicated festivals in connection with important phases during the agricultural year. Women are the sole participants, using symbolic plants related to their own fecundity and the earth‘s. This demonstrates a religious belief in the identification of the fecundity of earth with that of women. Accordingly, they are given parallel expressions in the cults. In this connection, one may also mention the cult dedicated to Agia Marina in her church beneath the Hill of the Nymphs were modern people fetch holy water from the spring connected to the church sacred to Agia Marina, particularly during her festival on 17 July. During the festival the cave, which constitutes the oldest part of the church, is especially important: Until quite recently, mothers and children lined up waiting their turn to proceed to the cave of Agia Marina. As they reached the cave-church the mothers removed the black pilgrim-clothes of their children and discarded 65

Aesch. Eum. 658-666; Pl. Ti. 49a, 51a; Arist. GA. 716a6-24, cf. 765b10-26, 727b31-34; Plut. Mor. 366a, cf. 372e-f, 373f, 374b, 368b-d, discussed in Håland 2007, 2010. 66 See Winkler 1990: 194 for IG II² 1006.50-51, cf. Xen. Hell. 5.2,29; Håland 2007, 2010.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Rituals in Greek Caves: From Modern Case Studies to Ancient Sources 37

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

them and placed them on a pile next to the miraculous icon of the saint, before they redressed their children in new clothes. When I visited the festival in 1992 and again in 2011 they did not have access to the cave, because of Byzantine frescos, and therefore must leave their pilgrim candles and clothes at its entrance, but the ritual is very similar to the pilgrims‘ ritual on Tinos in the man-made cave next to the ―Life-giving Spring‖, where they leave the black pilgrim-clothes.67 In Agia Marina‘s cave then, symbolic, but also ―real‖ pilgrim-clothes are placed in the cave or (i.e. in 2011) hung at the fence leading into the cave along with the large votive candles offered by the pilgrims [Håland 2007: ch. 5-6]. The modern church is built above a smaller sanctuary (Figure 11), and the traces of Byzantine frescos in the cave-church testify to its antiquity, since the Grotto of Agia Marina was already a Christian church during the Justinian era. I have already suggested [Håland 2007, ch. 5 and 6] that the cave might be a modern survival of an ancient Demetrian megaron.

67

Their clothes are often left as dedications to the ruins of the foundations of the Byzantine Church, in the chapel dedicated to Agia Pelagia, which is situated next to the ―Life-giving Spring‖, cf. supra, see also Håland 2007, forthcoming b.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

38

Evy Johanne Håland

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Figure 11: The festival dedicated to Agia Marina, Athens 17 July 1992: Most people stay above the cave-church during the night (Author‘s photograph).

Accordingly, the ritual performed for Agia Marina during her festival, in which the cave is central, is highly relevant to compare with ancient rituals performed for Demeter in the vicinity: In ancient Greece, the central act of the rites during the festivals dedicated to Mother Goddesses, particularly Demeter during the Thesmophoria, was the descent of certain female participants into underground caverns or ―rooms‖ (megara), the entrances to the womb of the earth, or the womb of a fertility-goddess. They brought back fertility-symbols formed as female and male sex organs, secret objects that are made from wheat into representations of snakes and male shapes, which had been thrown or carried down into the chasms.68When they had absorbed the power of fertility from the womb of the earth, they were mixed on the altar with the seed corn to ensure an abundant crop. The ritual symbolizes a fertility rite: The act of bringing down and up indicate sowing and reaping, and the festivals were celebrated for the generation of crops and the procreation of men,69 aiming to promote good offspring generally, human, animal and vegetable. During the ritual, the women entered into contact with the subterranean, with death and 68 69

Cf. Paus. 1.27,3 and Schol. Luc. Dial. Meret. 2.1, Rabe 1906: 275.23-276.28. Schol. Luc. Dial. Meret. 2.1, Rabe 1906: 275.23-276.28. See also Paus. 1.27,3, these and other sources are further discussed in Håland 2007: ch. 5 f. See also 2006a and 2010.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Rituals in Greek Caves: From Modern Case Studies to Ancient Sources 39 decay, while at the same time phalloi, snakes, pinecones, and piglets (a common substitute for female genitals, sexuality and fertility) are present. These fertility symbols were placed in an underground cavern and left there for some time in contact with the forces of fertility which pervade these regions. Women‘s knowledge of fertility magic means that they also have the power to prevent fertility, through their knowledge of the uses of magical plants, and thus, paralleling their mythical model, the Mother Goddess, Demeter [HHD. 305-307] who controls agricultural fertility.

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

HOLY PERSONS, MALE DIVINITIES AND FEMALE CAVES The cult of the vegetation god Adonis in the cave at Bethlehem, which later became the birth church of Christ, illustrates the link between the resurrection of Adonis and Christ: ―Bethlehem, which is now ours, and the most venerable place in the whole world, was once overshadowed by the grove of Tammuz, that is to say, Adonis, and in the cave where once Christ whimpered as a little child, there sounded lamentations for the beloved of Venus.‖70 Today the head of Agios Andreas resides in his church in the town Patras in the Peloponnese, where he is patron saint. Beneath the church is a cave with holy water. The cave was dedicated to Demeter in antiquity. This combination of the grave dedicated to a Christian saint and a cave formerly dedicated to a pre-Christian divinity is a recurrent theme in Greece. Paralleling the former healing nymphs, the cult of Agia Marina is now widespread in the Eastern Mediterranean world and her relics are found several places. In her modern Athenian church situated above her older cave-church, one of her teeth is particularly venerated, and in northern Lebanon her tomb is venerated in a cave-church [Meinardus 1974]. The entry into the tomb is a kind of birth within several religions [Bloch 1982: 219]. The many tombs of the ancient fertility god Osiris are shaped as caves [Plut. Mor. 359a-b], as are also later burial places for saints, for example, the octagonal shape of Philip‘s tomb, St. Philip‘s Martyrion in Hierapolis, Turkey. On the southern shore of the Mediterranean area, the tombs of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebeccah, Jacob and Leah in the Cave of Machpelah in Hebron, the resting place of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs, have been important for Jewish women‘ magical rituals [cf. Cuffel 2008].

70

Hieron. Ep. 58.3, in Migne‘s Patrologia Latina, 22.581. Cf. Håland 2007: ch. 5.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

40

Evy Johanne Håland

Figure 12: Over the sanctuary at Tauros grows a tree and behind is a cave filled with icons, Mytilini, 1992 (Author‘s photograph).

In Greece many female saints with healing capacities are worshipped in caves, in addition to Panagia and Agia Paraskeuē, we also find Agia Barbara, who has been seen as the protector of small children against smallpox. On the island of Kephallonia she is worshipped in a cave outside of Argostoli, the capital of the island, thus paralleling other contemporary ―cave churches‖. On the other hand, it is also interesting to note that several male saints who are

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Rituals in Greek Caves: From Modern Case Studies to Ancient Sources 41 famous for their healing capabilities also have important caves in connection with their sanctuaries, healing water in or in the neighborhood of the caves is also a prominent feature. In other words this phenomenon in the Christian era is an interesting parallel to the ancient world in which we find the aforementioned connection between, for example, Asklepios and the nymphs or his daughter. I have already mentioned the cave dedicated to Agia Paraskeuē on Mytilini. However, there are, of course, other important caves on the island as well. The bull-sacrifice at Tauros, i.e. the mountain of the Bull, constitutes the climax of the festival dedicated to Agios Charalampos, famous for his healing capacities. His chapel is built on the summit of Tauros. On the backside of the chapel, is a cave over which grows a tree (Figure 12). Inside are many icons placed on a shelf. People light candles in front of the icons, and perform their devotions. The importance of the cave in connection with individual passage rites has already been illustrated. Another variant are the famous persons, many of them male, such as the ancient and mythical Epimenides of Knossos, or ―Ag. Gerasiomos of the Cave‖ who both lived as hermits in their caves and became holy, or St John who received his Revelation, and apparently wrote the Book of Revelations, in the Cave (of the Apocalypse) on the holy island of Patmos. Near the village of Spēlia (i.e. cave in modern Greek) outside of Argostoli on Kephallonia, they exhibit Ag. Gerasimos‘ cave, in which he lived as a hermit for a while, i.e. during the passage rite towards his new status as a holy person. In other words, and based on his hagiography [Gkelē 1991a og 1991b] combined with anthropological theory, we have cave cult dedicated to a shaman, i.e. Gerasimos: Hiera Monē Agiou Gerasimou ―Spēlaion‖ (the holy cave of Ag. Gerasimos of the ―Cave‖).71 A church is constructed above the saint‘s cave, paralleling the cave of Ag. Barbara on Kephallonia, the cave of Agia Paraskeuē on Mytilini and other places [Håland 2007: ch. 4, forthcoming a], i.e. saints who are particularly famous for their healing capacities. I visited the cave of Ag. Gerasimos the day after his main festival on 16 August, and found three vases with red roses in front of the iconostasis. To the right of the iconostasis is the entrance to the cave to which a small staircase ascends: Inside the cave candles are lighted. Here are also an old bigger icon and many smaller icons, paralleling the aforementioned cave on Tauros, Mytilini.72 A 71

72

Cf. Håland 2007: ch.6n.355. Cf. also Saint Domenico of Cocullo, Italy, see Håland 1990, 1993, 2011. Another parallel is the cave in the church of Agia Paraskeuē on Plaka, beneath Acropolis, Athens, Figure 13, see also Håland 2007: fig.94.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

42

Evy Johanne Håland

small elevation to the left makes a crevice or ―inroad‖ further into the cave. There might be water here, since water in a cave are essential elements in places where Ag. Gerasimos is worshipped all over Greece and the Middle East [cf. Gkelē 1991a and 1991b]. To the left of the iconostasis, i.e. in the chapel outside of the cave, is a ―copy‖ of the shrine or coffin in the big church dedicated to him at his monastery on the island, i.e. the shrine or coffin holding his body, and which is carried into his bigger church at his two festivals. Here in Spēlia, the body is a copy, or rather a figure sized icon and the ―box‖, shrine or coffin is locked up with bars and several padlocks. Two votive offerings depicting eyes hang at the top of the shrine. Inside the shrine is a cane which is covered with votive offerings at the lower part, i.e. ―on the feet‖, thus paralleling the string in the monastery church [see Håland forthcoming c]. Next to the shrine is a vase with fresh flowers. Votive offerings are also placed in front of his icon to the left on the iconostasis. Below is a vase with roses, another is below the icon depicting the Panagia and the Child, and a third under the icon depicting Christ and the Bible. The mythical Epimenides of Knossos was the son of a nymph, and according to the legend this famous prophet, excorcist and poet, who was known as one of the canonical Seven Sages, was said to have gained his superhuman wisdom when the gods visited him while he was sleeping in a cave. As recorded by Pausanias [1.14,4]: ―They say he was out in the country one day and went into a cave to sleep, and sleep kept him there until he had slumbered away forty years, and afterwards he wrote poems and purified cities, Athens with the others‖ [see also Plut. Sol. 12.4 f.; Ustinova 2009]. As these holy men are reborn in the cave or womb, the ill people are also reborn in caves, for example all the pilgrims arriving to various caves to fetch holy healing water, in Athens, on Tinos or in Lourdes. Water in caves then, are found in connection with similar cult places, such as ancient nymphs‘ caves or Christian saints‘ tombs in caves with water, which are connected with death and resurrection, or fertility and healing. As Victor Turner [1991] has illustrated from Mexico, we find similar elements as in the Greek context concerning the ritual process in connection with natural phenomena as mountains, caves and springs and we see how new religions have adapted to older beliefs, often in connection with a native person (Indian or Greek) getting a vision in a cave, simultaneously as the nationalistic struggle for independence started, i.e. in the official religion we see a mix of Christianity and liberating movement adapted to older preChristian religions. In this way, people make places by using old symbols in new political settings as they also did, for example, in the Byzantine period,

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Rituals in Greek Caves: From Modern Case Studies to Ancient Sources 43 and most probably also earlier when ―adapting‖ prehistoric ―natural religion‖ to the Olympian pantheon, whatever way this happened, since Greek religion seems to be a mix or a network of interrelations, then as now. However, and most important, the actual places, i.e. natural phenomena, also have more profound deep-seated meanings, connected with men and women,73 the latter most often being the ones who performed the everyday activities then as now, and by doing research in the modern context, we are able to get a clearer picture of the ancient, since the sources we possess most often were written by men who often despised the rituals performed by women. In this way we might also be able to supplement a male with a female perspective on ancient sources, perhaps complementing an Olympian Zeus with a Chthonic Mother Earth. By combining ethnography with historical sources to examine the relationship between modern Greek women‘s religious rituals and ancient sources, mostly written by men we learn that women‘s interpretations of religion and religious rituals differ from that of men and that by drawing from modern Greek women‘s ritual activity and interpretations, we can find clues to uncovering the meanings of ancient Greek women‘s roles from a womanist perspective rather than just the male one represented in the male-authored ancient texts. Of course, the contexts and many if the meanings of similar ceremonies have changed over time - the most obvious shift being from Paganism to Christianity - however, by looking to rituals that perform similar religious or sociological functions in both ancient and modern Greece, one may argue that by examining them simultaneously we may obtain a more fulsome comprehension of women‘s religious practice, and indeed, of religious culture as a whole, than would be possible if the two periods were studies separately. From this perspective, the material from the Acropolis caves at Athens and other caves in Greece is very useful to compare with ancient sources as suggested in this study [see Håland 2007 for a comprehensive discussion].

73

For mountains/stones as male symbols, see Håland 2007: ch. 6. A sort of Sacred Marriage, hieros gamos, also takes places in modern caves: In the former Bektashi Monastery east of Cairo there is a narrow path leading deeper and deeper into a cave. At the end of this path is situated the tomb of Shaikh ‗Abdallah al Magawiris. In the front of the tomb women desiring children move back and forth in the sitting position and with their dresses pulled up. So, by touching the holy and phallic stone with the respective part of their body, they expect that the fertility granting power is transferred through the immediate contact, Meinardus 1974: 273 f.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

44

Evy Johanne Håland

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Figure 13: The cave dedicated to Agia Paraskeuē in the little private church dedicated to her on Plaka, beneath Acropolis, Athens, at her festival 26 July 1992.

CONCLUSION The chapter has illustrated how it is possible to employ ethnographic methodologies interviewing and collecting stories from living people, particularly Greek women, and interweave the material with more historicallyor literally - oriented research. We see, for example, that a modern ritual might be opposed by the young, local priest, despite the (present) official view of the Church of Greece. This is important to keep in mind when working with ancient sources, in which we most often only have the view of the ancient equivalent of the modern priest. When carrying out fieldwork on religious festivals in contemporary Greece, we also learn that continuity and change, the concept and notion of history and uses of the past included, are important in several connections both concerning the official versus popular worldview and male versus female, they might interact but also diverge. When conversing with Greek informants one learn that they do not necessarily always think, or ―see‖, in a ―European historical linear‖ way, but have their own, very often, local history. It might be illustrated by social memory linked to a particular holy place, such as natural

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Rituals in Greek Caves: From Modern Case Studies to Ancient Sources 45 landscapes, as caves, where miracles have occurred and are likely to happen again. It concerns different forms of both conceptions of time and history, as we meet this in a Greek society versus north-European researchers, i.e. Eurocentric versus Greek perspectives which ultimately also concerns both our interpretation of ancient sources and Europe versus various parts of the world in the present age of globalization. When working on gendered values, we also learn about the interplay or combination of the Eurocentric male, linear history versus the Greek, cyclical or female time which has been regarded as history versus myth, since the women‘s time often contains miracles and visions, forces generally excluded from official Eurocentric male history, but which nevertheless are important in the Greek context. This has to do with Greece‘s particular and ambiguous position as both ―us‖ and ―them‖, i.e. their two, or double set of identities the ancient and the Byzantine, connected with the ―Romeic‖ or inward-facing and ―Hellenic‖ or outward-facing traditions. I have already discussed this topic in former studies [cf. Håland 2007], arguing that the ―Romeic‖ tradition might have more in common with the ancient world than the ―Hellenic‖, although the latter is more known in Western tradition. Today there is a growing body of scholarship and interest in life-cycle rituals in general, and in all cases an awareness that women‘s role in these rituals is a prominent one, and that they need to be understood and studied. My untraditional methodological approach to the study of women‘s ritual activities in modern Greece, in connection with religious festivals and life-cycle passages and their relation to ancient Greek ritual behavior, is not common among historians, since researchers who work on ancient sources and use anthropological approaches, generally do not carry out fieldwork themselves, but rely on the results from other researchers, mostly from ethnographers. By exploring how the study of oral culture can help fill out our knowledge and redress an imbalance in our view of the past, we can shed new light on both modern and ancient Greece, and this will enable us to see both from a fresh perspective. Multidisciplinary research is what is needed when we are dealing with such complex subjects as ritual behavior. This approach then, will contribute to the studies of Greek history, religion and society in general. Research on popular rituals is a subject of major importance for understanding the culture of Europe as a whole. I see the lack of attention to the oral culture of Europe as a major barrier to inter-cultural understanding. There has been a strong tendency to set Europe apart from the rest of the world and equate it with the literate stream; if we bring into consciousness the latent part of the European heritage, international communication with people from

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

46

Evy Johanne Håland

those parts of the world that have a stronger oral base will be much improved and I see this as being of the greatest social importance. Part of the European neglected latent heritage is the female component and this chapter has been concerned with bringing this into fuller awareness based on my fieldwork experiences in connection with rituals in Greek caves, particularly the Acropolis caves at Athens.

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

REFERENCES AND ABBREVIATIONS Aesch.=Aeschylus. Vol. 2: Agamemnon, Libation-Bearers, Eumenides (=Eum.), Fragments, tr. H. W. Smyth (1946 [1926]). The Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Alexiou, M. (1974). The Ritual Lament in Greek Tradition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Ar.=Aristophanes. Vol. 3: The Lysistrata (=Lys.), The Thesmophoriazusae, The Ecclesiazusae, The Plutus, tr. B. B. Rogers (1946 [1924]). The Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. Arist.=Aristotle, GA.=Generation of Animals, tr. A. L. Peck (1963 [1942]). The Loeb Classical Library. London: Heinemann. Bloch, M. (1982). Death, women and power. In M. Bloch, & J. Parry (Eds.), Death and the Regeneration of Life (211-230). Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press. Blum, E. & R. (1970). The Dangerous Hour. The Lore of Crisis and Mystery in Rural Greece. London: Chatto and Windus. Burkert, W. (1985). Greek Religion. Archaic and Classical. Basil Blackwell and Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts (or. German 1977, tr. J. Raffan). Clem. Al. Strom.=Clément d‘Alexandrie, Les Stromates. Vol. 1, tr. M. Gaster & C. Mondésert (1951). Sources Chrétiennes. Paris: Les Éditions du Cerf. Cuffel, A. (2008). Between Reverence and Fear: Jewish Women and Death in Medieval and Early Modern Ashkenaz. In E. J. Håland (Ed.), Women, Pain and Death: Rituals and Everyday-Life on the Margins of Europe and Beyond (143-169). Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Diod.=Diodorus of Sicily. Vols. 4 and 6, tr. C. H. Oldfather (1939, 1954). The Loeb Classical Library. London: Heinemann. Dowden, K. (1989). Death and the Maiden. Girls’ Initiantion Rites in Greek Mythology. London and New York: Routledge.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Rituals in Greek Caves: From Modern Case Studies to Ancient Sources 47 Dubisch, J. (1995). In a Different Place. Pilgrimage, Gender, and Politics at a Greek Island Shrine. Princeton: Princeton University Press. du Boulay, J. (1984). The blood: Symbolic relationships between descent marriage, incest prohibitions and spiritual kinship in Greece. Man, vol. 19: 533-556. Dundes, A. & Falassi, A. (1975). La Terra in Piazza: An interpretation of the Palio of Siena, Berkeley, Los Angeles and London: University of California Press. Eade, J. & Sallhow, M. J. (Eds.) (1991). Contesting the sacred: the Anthropology of Christian Pilgrimage. London: Routledge. Economides, I. (1986). Differeces between the ortodox church and roman catholicism. (2nd Editon). Athens. Ervin, M. (1959). Geraistai Nymphai Genethliai and The Hill of The Nymphs. Platōn, II: 146-159. Eur.=Euripides. Vol. 2: Electra (=El.), Orestes, Iphigeneia in Taurica, Andromache, Cyclops. Vol. 4: Ion, Hippolytus, Medea, Alcestis, tr. A. S. Way (1946, 1953 [1912]). The Loeb Classical Library. London: Heinemann. Foskolos, E. A. (1993, 1996 [1968]). Perigraphē tēs Eureseōs tēs Thaumatourgou Agias Eikonas tēs Euangelistrias stēn Tēno kata to etos 1823. Skopoi kai drastēriotētes tou Ierou Idrymatos. (English version from 1991, tr. C. Meihanetsidis). Tinos: Panellēniou Ierou Idrymatos Euangelistrias Tēnou. (Pamphlet distributed by the Church of the Annunciation of Tinos.) Garland, R. (1985). The Greek Way of Death. London: Duckwort. Gkelē, K. G. (1991a). O Agios Gerasimos Kephallēnias. Tōn orthodoxōn prostatēs. Athens: Ieras Monē Ag. Gerasimou. --- (1991b). Akolouthiai tou osiou patros ēmōn Gerasimou neou askētou tou en Kephallēnia. Athens: Ieras Monē Ag. Gerasimou. Hastrup, K. (Ed.) (1992). Other histories. London: Routledge. Hdt.=Herodotus. Vols. 3-4, tr. A. D. Godley (1946, 1950 [1922, 1925]). The Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. Herzfeld, M. (1986). Ours Once More. Folklore, Ideology, and the making of Modern Greece. New York: Pella. --- (1992 [1987]). Anthropology through the looking-glass. Critical ethnography in the margins of Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

48

Evy Johanne Håland

Hes. KG./HHD.=Hesiod, The Homeric Hymns and Homerica, tr. H. G. Evelyn-White (1950 [1914]). The Loeb Classical Library. London: Heinemann. Hieron. Ep.=Hieronymus (S. Hieronymi). Epistola 58. In Migne, J.-P. (1845). Patrologiæ Cursus Completus. Series Latina, Vol. 22, cols. 579-581. Hurwit, J. M. (2004). The Acropolis in the Age of Pericles. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (A longer version, The Athenian Acropolis. History, Mythology, and Archaeology from the Neolithic Era to the Present, was published in 1999.) Håland, E. J. (1990). Ideologies and Mentalities: A journey from Ancient Greece to Modern Mediterranean Society. M. A. dissertation, University of Bergen; in Norwegian: Unpublished. --- (1993). Imperial Cult: A Foreign Cult in Roman Society? Religionsvidenskapeligt Tidsskrift, vol. 22: 5-19 (Danish with English summary). --- (2003). Take Skamandros, my virginity: ―The Ideas of Water‖ in connection with rituals linked to life-cycle passages in Greece, modern and ancient. Paper presented at The Third International Water History Association (IWHA) Conference, Alexandria, Egypt, December, 2003. The paper is found on the CD-Rom from the conference, distributed by the IWHA secretariat ([email protected].) A later and somewhat different version: (2009). Take Skamandros, my virginity: Ideas of Water in Connection with Rites of Passage in Greece, Modern and Ancient. In Kosso, C. & Scott, A. (Eds.), The Nature and Function of Water, Baths, Bathing, and Hygiene from Antiquity through the Renaissance (109-148). ―Technology and Change in History‖, vol. 11. Leiden: Brill Publishers. --- (2005). Rituals of Magical Rain-Making in Modern and Ancient Greece: A Comparative Approach. Cosmos: The Journal of the Traditional Cosmology Society, vol. 17, 2: 197-251. --- (2006a). The ritual year as a woman‘s life: The festivals of the agricultural cycle, life-cycle passages of Mother Goddesses and fertility-cult. In G. Mifsud-Chircop (Ed.), ―Proceedings‖ from The First International Conference of the SIEF working group on The Ritual Year, in association with the Department of Maltese University of Malta, Junior College, Msida, Malta, 2005 (303-326). Malta: PEG Ltd. --- (2006b). Athena‘s Peplos: Weaving as a Core Female Activity in Ancient and Modern Greece. Cosmos: The journal of the Traditional Cosmology Society, vol. 20: 155-182.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Rituals in Greek Caves: From Modern Case Studies to Ancient Sources 49 --- (2007). Greek Festivals, Modern and Ancient: A Comparison of Female and MaleValues. PhD dissertation, University of Bergen, 2004; in Norwegian: Kristiansand: Norwegian Academic Press. An English version,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

tr. by M. Wells, is forthcoming: Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

--- (2008). Greek Women and Death, ancient and modern: A Comparative Analysis. In E. J. Håland (Ed.), Women, Pain and Death: Rituals and Everyday-Life on the Margins of Europe and Beyond (34-62). Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. --- (2010). Greek Women, Power and the Body: From Fieldwork on Cults Connected with the Female Sphere Towards a Deconstruction of Male Ideologies, Modern and Ancient. Mediterranean Review (South Korea), vol. 3, 1: 31-57. --- (2011). Saints and Snakes: Death, Fertility and Healing in Modern and Ancient Greece and Italy. Performance and Spirituality, vol. 2, 1: 111151. --- (forthcoming a). Festival of the Bull: Ox-offering, Summer- and Saint-feast on Mytilini/Lesbos: Agia Paraskeuē around the summer solstice 1992. Hellenic Folklore Research Centre series, Athens: approx. 20 pages. --- (forthcoming b). The Dormition of the Virgin Mary, on the island of Tinos: A performance of gendered values in Greece. The Journal of Religious History, vol. 1: approx. 20 pages. --- (forthcoming c). Greek Women and Death, ancient and modern: A Comparative Analysis, work in progress. (The final book is under contract for publishing at Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK). IG=Inscriptiones Graecae. Consilio et auctoritate. Academiae litterarum Borussicae editae. Inscriptiones Atticae Euclidis anno posteriores. Walteri de Gruyter et Soc. Berolini 1927-1977. Kephallēniadē, N. A. (1990 & 1991). Ē latreia tēs Panagias sta ellēnika nēsia. Vols. A-B. Laographia - Paradosē 11 & 12. Athens: Ekd. Philippotē. Loukatos, D. S. (1982). Ta Phthinopōrina. Laographia - Paradosē 4. Athens: Ekd. Philippotē. --- (1985). Symplērōmatika tou Cheimōna kai tēs Anoixēs. Laographia Paradosē 5. Athens: Ekd. Philippotē. LSS.=Sokolowski, F. (1962). Lois Sacrées des Cités Grecques. Supplement, École Française d‘Athènes. Fasc. XI. Paris: Boccard. Makistou, K. (1978). Ena Panarchaio Mnēmeio stēn Agia Paraskeuē Lesbou. ―T’ Tsyousiou ē Mana‖, Athens: Istoria.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

50

Evy Johanne Håland

Megas, G. A. (1992 [1956/1957]). Ellēnikes Giortes kai Ethima tēs Laïkēs Latreias. Athens: Odysseas (English edition: Greek Calendar Customs. Athens 1982). Meinardus, O. F. A. (1974). Fertility and Healing cult Survivals in Athens. Haghia Marina. Zeitschrift für Ethnologie 99: 270-276. Men.=Menander. Vol. 1: Dyskolos (=Dysk.), tr. W. G. Arnott (1979). The Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. Morinis, A. (Ed.) (1992). Sacred Journeys: The Anthropology of Pilgrimage. Westport Conn.: Greenwood Press. Motte, A. (1973). Prairies et Jardins de la Grèce Antique. De la Religion à la Philosophie, Bruxelles: Palais des Académies. Od. = Homer, The Odyssey. Vols 1-2, tr. A. T. Murray (1946 [1919]). The Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. Ovid. Met.=Ovid, Metamorphoses. Vol. 1, tr. F. J. Miller (1977 [1916]). The Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. Parker, R. (1985 [1983]). Miasma. Pollution and Purification in Early Greek Religion. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Paus.=Pausanias, Guide to Greece. Vols. 1-2, tr. P. Levi (1984, 1985 [1971]). London: Penguin. Pausanias, Description of Greece. Vols. 1, 2, 4, tr. W. H. S. Jones (19181935). The Loeb Classical Library. London: Heinemann. Pl.=Plato, Timaeus (=Ti.), Critias, Cleitophon, Menexenus (=Menex), Epistles, tr. R. G. Bury (1952 [1929]). The Loeb Classical Library. London: Heinemann. Plut. Mor.=Plutarch, Moralia. Vol. 5, tr. F. C. Babbit (1936). The Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. Plut. Sol. =Plutarch. Lives. Vol. 1, tr. B. Perrin (1948 [1914]). The Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. Revett, N. & Stuart, J. (1762-1816). On the Choragic Monument of Thrasyllus. In Revett, N. & Stuart, J. The Antiquities of Athens, Measured and delineated by J. Stuart and Nicholas Revett. Vol. 2: 29-36. London: Johan Haberkorn. Said, E. W. (1979 [1978]). Orientalism. New York: Vintage Books. Schol. Luc. Dial. Meret.=Rabe, Hugo (Ed.) (1906). Scholia in Lucianum. Leipzig. Shapiro, A. (2008). Heroines: Cults of Heroines in Ancient Athens. In Kaltsas, N./Shapiro, A. (Eds.), Worshiping Women: Ritual and Reality in Classical Athens (163-173). New York: Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Rituals in Greek Caves: From Modern Case Studies to Ancient Sources 51 Siotis, M. A. (1993). The Orthodox Church’s Teaching Concerning The Holy Icons. Panhellenic Sacred Foundation of the Virgin of the Annunciation of Tinos. Tr. by Stephen Avramides. Athens: Eptalofoss S.A. Stewart, C. (1991). Demons and the Devil: moral imagination in modern Greek culture. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Travlos, J. (1939/41). Ē palaiochristianikē basilikē tou Asklēpieiou tōn Athēnōn. Archaiologikē Ephēmeris (Athens): 35-68. --- (1971). Pictorial Dictionary of Ancient Athens. London: Thames and Hudson. Tsotakou-Karbelē, A. (1991 [1985]). Laographiko Ēmerologio: Oi dōdeka mēnes kai ta ethima tous. Athens: Patak. Turner, V. (1991 [1969]). The Ritual Process. Chicago: Aldine. Ustinova, Y. (2009). Caves and the Ancient Greek Mind. Descending Underground in the Search for Ultimate Truth. Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press. Welter, G. (1938). Das Choregische Denkmal des Thrasyllos. Archäologischer Anzeiger (Jahrbuch des Deutsches archäologischen Instituts mit dem Beiblatt Archäologischer Anzeiger): 33-68. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter & Co. Winkler, J. J. (1990). The Constraints of Desire: The Anthropology of Sex and Gender in Ancient Greece. New York and London: Routledge. Xen. Hell.= Xenophon, Hellenica. Vols. 1-2, tr. C. L. Brownson (1947, 1921 [1918]). The Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved. De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

In: Rituals: Types, Efficacy and Myths Editors: E. De Smet et al.

ISBN 978-1-61470-608-3 ©2012 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Chapter 2

TRANSITION INTO AN AGE OF SUPPORTED INDEPENDENCE: A RITE OF PASSAGE? Beatrice Hale1, Patrick Barrett2. Robin Gauld3 1

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

2

Independent researcher University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand 3 University of Otago, New Zealand

ABSTRACT The passage into in-home care in old age is a major life transition for an increasing number of older people. Structural and numerical population ageing and the widespread adoption of policies of ageing in place mean many older people are reliant on formal care services within their own home in later life (Doyle and Timonen 2007). Laslett‘s (1996) characterisation of old age distinguished between the third age of fit and active living and the fourth age of ‗decrepitude‘. Our research (Hale, Barrett and Gauld 2010) has focussed on those older people who are neither active and fit nor ‗decrepit‘. We distinguish this as a group of older people who live in a state of ‗supported independence‘, and see those who receive care in their own home as exemplars of this state. The process of becoming frail and/or disabled such that formal care services are required to continue to live in one‘s own home, and the social and institutional exchanges that accompany this process, represent a transitionary phase. We employ the rites of passage analytical framework to tease apart this process and scrutinise closely the experience of the transition. Van Gennep‘s original concept of three stages, separation,

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

54

Beatrice Hale, Patrick Barrett and Robin Gauld liminality and reconnection, was developed to understand the changes in social status and roles, and the different religious rituals associated with these, in the cultures he studied. As Hockey and James (2003) suggest, though, the model has a much wider applicability, and can be used to understand changes in social role and identity in modern secular contexts. They maintain that:

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

According to the analytic model, passage through each of the three phases of the ritual meant that individuals had been detached from their previous social position, processed through an intermediary state which shared the features of neither the previous nor the successive social position, and then had been incorporated into a new set of rules, roles and obligations (p. 25). The rites of passage framework is recognised also in the social gerontological work of Moore and Myerhoff (1977), Hazan (1984), and Hallmann (1999) in family caregiving, Hockey and James (1993, 2003) in considering passages through the lifecourse, Twigg (2000) in the area of personal care, Frank (2002) in her study of assisted living, and Parks (2003) with her focus on care at home. We employ the model to illuminate the experience of older people who make the transition into supported independence in their own home. The concept‘s value lies in its holistic focus on transition and its subdivision into three clear stages. The provision of formal in-home care services to support ageing in place, for example, is assumed to lead to continuity and stability. The rites of passage framework, however, allows us to uncover the discontinuities that are a part of that experience. We examine these in terms of the spatial discontinuities, temporal discontinuities and the implications of social relationships for those who make this transition. The framework allows attention to be given to the stage of liminality, an ‗in-between‘ stage characterised by an unsettled social status and identity. The third involves reincorporation and reconnection with the wider society, with a new set of rules, roles and responsibilities. By following this period of late life from the onset of frailty, through assessment to acceptance of care in the home and thence to a question of ‗reconnections‘, we have a closer view of some of the key issues with achieving ‗reconnection‘ with the wider society. We conclude by emphasizing the significance to older people, researchers, policy makers and practitioners of recognising what has hitherto been an unexamined part of the ageing process.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Transition into an Age of Supported Independence

55

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

1. INTRODUCTION Life transitions continue in old age. In fact, old age itself is a period of ongoing change. Rosow (1974, p.15) suggested people become 'socially old' in terms of a ‗drift‘ rather than through a ‗sharply punctuated event,‘ with subtle changes of relationships, group memberships and social participation, and equally subtle changes in the attitudes of others and their treatment of the older person. Hence, a formal rite de passage seldom occurs and, except for the funerals of widowhood, there are few public observances of a status change. This has tended to reinforce a view that stability and homogeneity characterises those classified as older people. In part this has been based on assumptions that there is considerable continuity in old age, particularly in terms of place of residence and family life. For our purposes, the significance of Rosow‘s (1974, p.14) comments, echoing those of Glaser and Strauss (1965), lies in the identification of different periods in old age as having distinctive patterns of ‗activities and responsibilities, of authority and privilege‘ which make them identifiable as discrete stages of life. Hockey and James (2003, p.25) refer to these in terms of distinctive ‗rules, roles and obligations‘ that accompany new stages in later life Change from living independently to living with formal care in one‘s home is a life transition which many older people make, and it is a transition many more older people will achieve given the widespread adoption of the policy of ageing-in-place (Doyle and Timonen 2007). In this chapter, we argue that it is important to have a sound understanding of the experience of such a change if we are to respond appropriately to the needs of this growing group within the population. We base our approach on research into the experience of becoming dependent on formal care in old age while still living within the community carried out by Hale (2006) and Barrett et al. (2005). The Hale (2006) study examined the experiences of 15 older people living in Dunedin, New Zealand, who were receiving formal and informal (primarily family) care, the caregiving experiences of 12 family carers, and the experiences of nine formal home care workers. The Barrett et al. (2005) study involved interviews with 41 community dwelling older people in Tauranga, New Zealand. The research examined the processes involved in becoming frail, the impact of various trigger events, and the role of formal and informal support networks in mediating the transition into frailty. Both studies suggested that making the transition into receiving care in the home was an increasingly significant late life experience which requires closer scrutiny if care services are to make appropriate responses. We suggest that a fuller understanding of

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

56

Beatrice Hale, Patrick Barrett and Robin Gauld

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

this transition can be achieved through an application of the rites of passage framework, reasoning that, in our researches, we have distinguished many ritualised procedures in the movement from independence to dependence. We therefore re-conceptualise the classic religious concept as a secular rite of passage, and consider the experience of older people making this transition in terms of the three stages of separation, liminality and reconnection. In this chapter we begin by providing a summary of the changes, and pay particular attention to the second stage, which we examine in closer detail in terms of spatial, temporal and relational changes. We conclude the chapter by asserting that the transition is completed when the older person is reconnected to the wider society in a new life stage of supported independence. By recognising this third stage, we demonstrate that there is, or should be, the possibility of reestablishing bonds with the wider society, however that is defined for the particular individual. In the absence of such reconnection, the individual continues in a liminal state,, of anxiety and confusion, and will lack the personal agency which comes with such reconnection. This situation, we emphasize, has been made visible by an application of the rites of passage concept, demarcating a separation from the independent identity, and the passage through an anxious period of questioning and confusion.

2. THE TRANSITION INTO SUPPORTED INDEPENDENCE AT HOME – A RITE OF PASSAGE With a growing appreciation of trends of population ageing from the late twentieth century and in the face of increasing costs of residential care, along with a growing awareness of preferences by older people to remain in their own homes, governments have increasingly supported programmes of in-home care to assist ageing-in-place (Doyle & Timonen, 2007). Becoming a home care recipient should, therefore, be considered as an important transition in late life and be set alongside other transitions such as change from employment to retirement, from marriage to widowhood, or from home to residential care (Shield 1988, 1997; Percival 1998; Frank 2002; Hyde and Higgs 2004). Such transitions can be defined as significant times of change during which major developmental, social or economic transformation takes place. The experience of living at home with formal care is recognised as having significant differences from living independently (Gubrium and Sankar 1990, Twigg, 2000, Frank 2002, Parks 2003, Hallman 1999). However, given current

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Transition into an Age of Supported Independence

57

assumptions that ageing-in-place with care implies continuity and stability, the change from independent living to dependence on in-home care has not been perceived as a major transition. Continuity of place tends to mask the changes. Increasingly, though, researchers recognise that it is a significant change and that the transition represents a major discontinuity (Hallmann 1999, Twigg 2000, Frank 2002, Parks 2003, Efraimsson et al., 2001, Olaison et al. 2006). We suggest the transition into becoming a home care recipient needs to be seen in relation to Laslett‘s (1969) distinction between the Third Age of ‗independence‘ and the Fourth Age of ‗decrepitude‘, a classification which has been widely adopted. Our analysis of demographic trends and our research (Hale, Barrett & Gauld 2010) leads us to conclude that Laslett‘s portrayal does not adequately take account of an increasing group who are neither ‗independent‘ not ‗decrepit‘. We propose there is a new stage in later life—the age of supported independence—which is an intermediate stage between the third and fourth ages. Our goal in this chapter is to understand this stage and the transition from the third age of independence in greater depth, and our initial observations suggested patterns of events similar to those of a secular rite of passage. Van Gennep (1909) developed his original concept to understand the different religious rituals in the cultures he studied, in particular the rituals which marked transitions between different life stages and movement from one role to another. However, we use the concept in a secular sense, and in doing so, follow Turner (1974, p.3) who observes in his first paragraph that ‗it is not a theorist‘s whole system which so illuminates but his scattered ideas, his flashes of insights taken out of systemic context.‘ Other theorists who have applied this concept to secular situations, are those involved with social gerontological work, such as Moore and Myerhoff (1977), Hazan (1984), Shield (1988, 1997) in terms of residential care, Teather (1999), Hugman (1999), Hallmann (1999) in family caregiving, Hockey and James (1993, 2003) in considering passages through the lifecourse, Twigg (2000) applying a rite of separation to bathing and baths, Frank (2002) observing an incomplete rite of passage in her study of assisted living, and Park (2003) with her focus on care at home. The potential of the rites of passage concept is its framing of the structure of social change, highlighting the changing social roles and obligations, and emphasizing the necessity of social recognition of the transforming and transformed identity. It also reveals the risk of failing to complete the passage and reach a stage of reconnection or reintegration. Consequently, the value of this framework lies in its recognition of a movement which ends in a different, transformed social status. Additionally,

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

58

Beatrice Hale, Patrick Barrett and Robin Gauld

by subdividing the transition into three stages—separation from the current identity; liminality, the uncertainty brought by change; and the third stage of ‗reconnection‘, the re-entering of the social world in a new life stage—allows for a more detailed examination of the change that occurs. On the face of it, the rites of passage framework has ready applicability to understanding change in old age. Janlov et al. (2006), for example, observed a number of similar phases in late life transitions, these being:

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

... marked by a starting point of change, through a period of instability, discontinuity, confusion and distress to a new beginning or period of stability that is likely to be at a lower level than before (p.334).

The rite of passage concept draws specific attention to these processes and, therefore, provides a framework for the analysis of the structure of social change and in so doing prompts the detailed examination of the ideas that create the shape of the particular passage. Applying the concept to the analysis of the process of becoming dependent on home care exposes the separation experiences, a subsequent period of liminality, with its confusion, anxiety and disconnectedness, this being followed by possibility of reconnection or reintegration. What follows is a review of the argument that the rites of passage framework is a useful analytical tool that allows for a better understanding of this life change. We draw on our (Hale 2006, Barrett et al. 2005) and other research which provides access to the voices of older people who have experienced the transition to illustrate its applicability. We suggest that separation experiences are centred on the formal assessment process to determine eligibility for home care. These are followed by experiences of liminality – and we examine these in terms of spatial, temporal and relational issues. Subsequently, we explore the third stage, of reconnection, leading us to consider the situation of frail and/or disabled older people in terms of the wider society. This, we suggest, is a stage of ageing that can be thought of as supported independence.

3. SEPARATION The first stage in the rite of passage is separation. Van Gennep (1909) identified separation rituals as those which detach the individual from his or her previous social status, and which initiate a process of change that results in

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Transition into an Age of Supported Independence

59

the position of the individual being redefined within that particular social and cultural context. In his work, he identified events of separation as rituals that divest earlier social identities, these including enforced relocation, or physical markings such as body modifications, head shaving, tattooing and scarification. Such events are conducted ceremonially and publicly, and are intended to be a visible stripping from the initiates of their identities to remove them from their previous social statuses. These rituals demarcate the line between the old life and the new. In the unceremonial transition of older people into supported independence, we suggest that the assessment to determine eligibility for formal home care is the defining separation experience. An assessment is an appraisal of the physical, emotional, mental and social functioning of the person to ascertain the individual‘s need for support: it is undertaken by an assessor who is part of a hospital or medical team, who is in contact with or who visits the person‘s home to ask a series of questions, make some observations, and involve where possible the opinions of the older person. This assessment contains many elements found in ritual practice: a clear sense of purpose; repeated activities in a set pattern; and the subordination of personal experience to pre-established practices. This occurs through the use of standardised criteria which structures experience into a set of needs to be met. The individual needs to pass through the routinised or ritualised procedure to establish eligibility to public support for care. The assessment is comprehensive and the assessed person‘s life is laid bare before the assessor. A typical assessment emphasises losses, be they in functional capacity and areas of domestic and personal hygiene, and it is used to structure assistance to compensate for those losses. It corresponds with Aronson‘s (2000) observation that in this process ‗[o] lder people are treated as bundles of expertly defined needs to be accorded priority in some standard process of resource rationing‘ (p. 60). The result is that the elderly person becomes a client and a care recipient, and a care plan is developed by the needs assessor based on their perception of the level of need. It has important existential implications and reinforces a particular social script of ageing: that older people with frailties or disabilities are a separate group with their own special services and personnel, and that society through government must provide care and protection for them. Trigger factors initiating assessment are numerous and can be both sudden, such as a stroke, with its resultant difficulties and disabilities, or chronic and ongoing, comprising the accumulation of physical problems and medical conditions such that there is an inevitable recognition of loss. The

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

60

Beatrice Hale, Patrick Barrett and Robin Gauld

result is a growing realisation of health and social needs. Janlov et al. (2006) quote one of their respondents describing this process: Well that‘s another step back, that‘s another thing I cannot do anymore (p.329).

The following comments by Barrett et al.’s (2005) respondents point to both sudden and cumulative triggers:

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

I‘ve had this last fall and have, sort of, passed from ‗before fall‘ to ‗after fall‘ (p. 29). All of these things just sort of dwindled away progressively. Not all of a sudden … it is a process of saying to yourself, there it goes, another bit. It just slowly, slowly gets less (p.32).

Being assessed to determine functional capacity, level of need and eligibility for assistance is the critical social interaction that initiates the rite of passage. Assessments tend to be systematically implemented as part of hospital discharge planning for older people deemed to be at risk of failing to recover, or by referral from the family doctor, community support groups (e.g., arthritis, asthma, or cardiovascular support groups), or adult children. Once the assessment has been triggered, the older person is caught up in a process of interaction which has the effect of challenging former social identities and roles. In accepting a needs assessment, the older person is forced to acknowledge that he or she may now belong to a particular category of older people, that sub-group that is in need of care at home. Janlov et al. (2006 p.334) observe that, ‗asking … for help seems to be a turning point, the start of a new phase in life marked by an awareness that life is nearing its end,‘ this point of change being captured by one of their research participants in the comment: The countdown has begun.

The acknowledgement of change requires the older person, albeit reluctantly, to begin to reframe or become conscious of a changing identity. I know there was no other choice but it‘s so hard to say, ―Well that‘s another step back, that‘s another thing I cannot do anymore.‖ (Barrett et al. 2005).

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Transition into an Age of Supported Independence

61

Olaison and Cedersund (2006) have described how the interactions between the older person and the assessor contribute to this. They suggest these interactions are a type of institutional conversation, a discursive practice, with the effect that the person being assessed learns the philosophy and rationale of home care and the terms of accepting care. The person being assessed becomes aware of the particular needs categories and begins to see his or her situation as falling within these. According to Gilleard and Higgs (2004, p. 19) the older person‘s damaged body ‗becomes the defining element‘ and this can lead them to construct a ‗category-based identity‘. One of Hale‘s (2006) respondents indicated this when she said: Who are you really? You become a set of ticks in boxes (p.96).

Hale‘s (2006) research participants described seeing their assessment as a type of test, one that they were worried they would not pass. Passing the assessment ‗test‘ involved fitting within the provisions of that identity. NOTE SPACING

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

It felt like an exam. [I was] worried in case I didn‘t qualify (p.96).

Such anxiety influenced how the older person positioned his or her situation and presented it within the context of the needs categories, and doing so reinforced an identity in terms of that need. Kingston (2000) observed that in this type of exchange: Individuals may overemphasise the degree of damage … [this being perhaps] more psychological than physical. This leads to the individual placing themselves in a lower status preferred identity, which is in effect, a reduced status identity not based on reality, but rather imposed by subtle negative societal portrayal (p.229).

This positioning is part of a subtle process of negotiation. The spectre of either residential care or of ‗failing the test‘ and being judged as ineligible to receive assistance in the home reinforces compliance. We argue that a simple focus on the onset of symptoms or behaviours leading to a needs assessment and the subsequent development of care plans does not represent fully the nature of the separation or loss that is experienced. The development of symptoms and behaviours and the assessment process needs to be seen in a wider context, that of a life stage transition process.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

62

Beatrice Hale, Patrick Barrett and Robin Gauld

That context is one characterised by the exercise of power by the assessors. Initiates in a rite of passage are typically powerless (Turner, 1967). Similarly, within the process of assessment to determine eligibility for home care, the older person has a relative lack of power. Within the assessment interview, it is clear that power to determine eligibility is in the hands of the assessors who are the gatekeepers of the care and of the information required to get the care. The dialogue is controlled by the assessor. She/he introduces and closes off the topics which are examined (Olaison and Cedersund, 2006). The experiences recounted by the various researchers show that having a voice in these exchanges is difficult, especially when the focus is on ‗embarrassing‘ questions such as incontinence, showering ability and personal hygiene. Such exchanges are accompanied by feelings of confusion, anxiety and anguish: I wasn‘t sure what was going on.

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

as well as appreciation and relief that some help would be available. Janlov et al. (2006, p.26) described it as ‗excruciating‘, and ‗marked by mental difficulties and strong resistance to accepting being in need of public home help.‘ Barrett et al.‘s (2005) participants commented on the way the determination of care supports was carried out be by the assessors alone. The hospital sends out assessors and they assessed me and said, ‗yes,‘ I need this, I need that, I need this, that, the other thing. They came from, well, I'm not sure where they came from but, they're government departments … they came and looked round the house and supplied me with a list of things that they thought I needed to have done (p. 93).

This is supported by the findings of Janlov et al. (2006) observed: ... older persons have difficulties coping and adapting to their new life situation and have no actual influence over the decisions about their home help. The officer told them what was available (p. 26).

The overt exercise of power by assessors is evident in practices such as that described in Hale‘s (2006) study. In one instance, a young occupational therapist asked an older woman to undress and dress again, to prove whether and how she could dress herself. The older woman commented:

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Transition into an Age of Supported Independence

63

Why couldn‘t she take my word for it? Why did I have to go through all that as well? I needed help—couldn‘t they just see that? (p.96).

As well as indicating that professionals do not believe people are the best judges of their own capabilities (Jerrome 1992), it demonstrates the subordinate position of the individuals, who must accept the power of the assessor if they are to receive help. As Van Gennep observed from his research, initiates are stripped of power, in a rite of passage.

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

They‘ve got to do it, that‘s what happens if you want help (Hale 2006, p.96).

While the experience and skills of the assessors allow them to see what is generally required, the implications of the process of assessment are underacknowledged. It is a significant time in the lives of older people as Richards (2000) and Olaison and Cedersund (2006) observe. Their work and that of Janlov et al. (2006) supports our observations that the assessment process signifies a point of separation from a former independent identity. In the analysis of rituals, the ‗separation‘ implied in the first step of the rite of passage is understood as involving the stripping of social status. We suggest a similar experience occurs for older people facing the assessment process. Turner (1969) claims that in a rite of transition, the material possessions which mark a social identity are often removed and that people become ‗invisible‘ as the people they used to be (p. 93). Equally, in the situation of older people with disabilities, new material possessions in the form of assistive devices and care support suggest that individuals are no longer the people they used to be. One of Barrett et al.’s respondents described the introduction of new physical markers of this life change (hand rails and boxes) as well as her lack of power in the assessment process and in the development of her care plan: Somebody came whilst I was in hospital and asked me what I had at home and so they bundled me up into an ambulance and took me home to see what I could do and what I couldn‘t do. … They put rails up for me and rails in the bathroom and in my bedroom beside my bed so that I could pull myself up. And they supplied me with boxes to put my chair up a bit higher. … I got terribly depressed, I‘m sorry I just -- I can‘t cry, I have no tears. And sometimes I wanted -- I felt if only I could have a damn good howl I‘d feel better, but I can‘t (Barrett et al. 2005).

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

64

Beatrice Hale, Patrick Barrett and Robin Gauld

The result was, as this quote indicates, a type of existential angst in the face of the symbols of loss. Such additions which occur through the process of assessment challenge the social identity of the assessed person. Conceptualising this onset as discontinuity shows that individuals move through a distinct separation process, to be labelled frail by a health-care assessment procedure, and thus eligible to receive a variety of government funded services. With the clear dominance of the health professionals and their control over the financing of home care arrangements, this first step in the passage into supported independence, therefore, involves the potential for the will of the older person to be overridden, their voices silenced and their preferences ignored (Janlov et al. 2006 p.27).

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

4. LIMINALITY The rites of passage framework suggests that separation experiences are followed by a period of liminality. According to Van Gennep‘s (1909) research, a liminar is on the threshold between two different states. Established structures and a sense of the normal order of things are overturned. Our analysis of the reported experiences of older people making the transition into receiving formal care at home as they age-in-place leads us to conclude that they too experience liminality following assessment. We identified these liminal experiences in our analyses of respondents‘ comments in terms of spatial, temporal and relational liminality.

4.1. Spatial Liminality By spatial liminality, we mean the ‗spatial disruption‘ that accompanies the transition into receiving care in the home. This may seem counterintuitive, as ageing-in-place with care is assumed to maintain continuity in place of residence and therefore avoid the disruption associated into moving into another care space. We found, however, that in the same way as residential living represents a new ‗landscape of care‘, so too does ageing-in-place with care (cf. Laws 1997 p. 25). To maintain the frail or disabled body within the home requires important spatial decisions and together these can lead to a reordering of space in such a way as to challenge former meanings associated with the home.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Transition into an Age of Supported Independence

65

Turner (1969) claims that in a rite of transition, the material possessions which mark a social identity are often changed or removed, and that insight has relevance to the experience of ageing-in-place with care. We suggest that the meaning of home changes from one of a place of independence to one of a place for the delivery of domestic and personal care as it becomes filled with new possessions, such as assistive devices, grab rails, wheelchairs or crutches. Rooms are given new functions—instead of a lounge, there can be a bedroom; instead of a double bed, there are two single beds; instead of a big house fully used, there is a reduction in the usable space to what is manageable with poor mobility, e.g. a track between the bedroom, bathroom and kitchen. A further example of disruption is the reorganisation of sleeping arrangements. One care recipient in Hale‘s (2006) study had a hospital bed with sides and a lifting frame installed, leaving space for only a small single bed for his wife in a corner; for another, the living room was turned into a bedroom, and other rooms were reorganised to accommodate overnight carers; often the spouse moved into another bedroom altogether; equipment to assist functioning—the presence of a walking frame, a ‗talking book‘, and a white stick; a wheelchair beside the bed, a bedpan on the seat—these are the types of concrete reorganizations of space and furniture, identified also by Saarenheimo et al. (2004), that fill and define the rooms of homes where frail or disabled older people live. Grab rails, ramps, raised toilet seats, and special grab poles for getting in and out of bed as well as aids for assistance to move around the home increase usable reachable space. The reorganisation and modification of space in the home at this stage is undoubtedly an adaptation strategy designed to compensate for loss and to maintain function, the basic purpose of this being to support the maintenance of autonomy and independence. On the surface, spatial reorganisation to create functional areas and to accommodate the introduction of formal care into the home appears straightforward. However, this deliberate reorganization of space which, while making living at home easier, also makes frailty and disability more visible, especially the reorganisation that occurs with the introduction of practical aids. Such reorganisation, we suggest, reframes the meaning of the space, from independent space to a space which indicates dependence on support and makes the disability more visible. It contributes towards reframing the identity of the resident, both to the individual concerned and to outsiders. According to Hale‘s (2006) participants, there is also a spatial ‗takeover‘. The acceptance of help, while usually greeted with relief, is also a profound disruption. Careworkers who assist with daily functions such as housework, move into

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

66

Beatrice Hale, Patrick Barrett and Robin Gauld

areas normally controlled by the older person, in particular women. Such handing over of spaces causes considerable mixed emotions. A major disruption occurs, therefore, with the entry of health officials and care workers. The ambivalent emotions associated with these disruptions point to a liminal experience. The unfamiliarity of the changes leads to uncertainties. While the improvement of the spatial environment to increase functionality is appreciated, such devices draw attention to the disability and are a constant reminder of change. The material possessions of disability devices mark the new social identity and make it visible. So while Turner comments that the removal of material markers of identity were an indication of the passage into a state of liminality, we suggest that the addition of disability aids are markers signal a similar passage.

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

4.2. Temporal Liminality A number of researchers have focused on the temporal challenges that arise with the introduction of formal home care to support ageing-in-place (e.g. Twigg, 2000). In this section, we consider these temporal disruptions and the various ‗multiplicities of time‘ which accompany the advent of government funded in-home care. Such disruptions can be thought of as ranging from the disordering of and loss of control over one‘s daily life, to longer term temporal questions related to old age and the loss ability to live an autonomous, independent life. Ageing slows people down, (Larsson et al. 2009, Haggblom-Kronlof et al. 2007) and late-life frailty and disability lead to a slower pace and interrupt established patterns of daily activities. Taken-for-granted movements, rarely recognized by non-disabled or frail individuals as part of their everyday living tasks, become more difficult as a consequence of the loss of function and take on a new temporal meaning. Irving (2004) has examined this process and explains how such tasks require a new concentrated attention: It becomes apparent that brushing-teeth involves animating-the-body, raising-one‘s-head-off-the-pillow, getting-out-of-bed, walking-to-the-bathroom, opening-the-door, standing, leaning-over-the-sink, administering toothpaste, brushing, and walking-back (p.328).

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Transition into an Age of Supported Independence

67

Breaking down the processes and time taken for simple, taken-for-granted tasks reveals facets and temporalities previously hidden in an embodied memory, and once performed effortlessly through practice, but now requiring concentrated attention. One of Barrett et al.‘s (2005) respondents commented:

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

People must think, whatever does she do all day, because I think that myself. But honestly … If you don‘t get up till late in the morning, and you‘re slow dressing, slow eating and I don‘t have a shower then because I can‘t stand solidly enough, I shake you know. So it‘s quite late by the time I‘m sort of finished that bit. And then there are the beds, the bed to make, and the washing to do and the ironing and this sort of thing (p. 20).

Hale (2006) observed a similar time issue with an eighty-eight year old woman managing a toilet routine in a small flat: she got up from her chair, manoeuvred on to her walking frame, twisted the frame round to where she needed to go, walked slowly to the toilet a matter of thirty paces or so, opened the door just beyond the frame. By reaching over the frame, she manoeuvred into the toilet, dealt with her clothing, performed on the toilet, and repeated the process in reverse. The whole operation took twenty minutes or more. A further indicator of temporal disruption in the life of the older person is related to their dependence of formal care services to remain in the home. This introduces a tension between the formal clock time of the home service agency and the personal daily rhythms of the older person that have been laid down over a lifetime. Like Twigg's (2000) participants, Hale‘s (2006) respondents had their preferred daily routines, of morning tasks and afternoon leisure. However, the choice of work time depends on the agency. Recipients are allocated times by provider agencies, because of the need to fit in as many hours of care as possible, and to try to fit the recipient with the most appropriate worker. While typically, older people receiving care are consulted on their time preferences, ultimately the power to make those decisions rests with the care assessors and service agencies and recipients‘ preferred routines become subordinate. We don‘t call the tune. It‘s them at the hospital [the needs assessors] they tell us what we can have, and the government pays the caseworker…well, through [the agency]. We don‘t pay and it‘s those who pay who‘re in charge (Hale, ibid, p.114).

Older people simply end up fitting their daily routines around the schedules of the workers.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

68

Beatrice Hale, Patrick Barrett and Robin Gauld

At a broader level, when references are made to disability, chronic illness and the associated suffering, there is often an implicit allusion to time. Grenier (2005) quotes such a reference to a question about the future: ‗Will I be able to do what I used to do?‘, and Morse and Penrod (1999) comment on how suffering tends to be seen by those with chronic illness as ‗enduring‘. Such references feature prominently in discussions of care at home, indicating a consciousness of time and process in disability, possibly intensified by the receipt of care.

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

4.3. Relational Liminality The onset of frailty and dependence on home care presents significant social challenges for the older person. Clare Wenger (2002) observed that the transition into frailty and disability at home involves a change in the older individual‘s social environment towards support networks that are characteristically family dependent or private and restricted. These networks tend to be smaller and have lower levels of community involvement. Our research leads to the same conclusions, finding that frail and disabled older people at home with care, experience their disability and care as a social dislocation. Their social lives are disrupted, requiring them to renegotiate their personal and social relationships. This change also requires that new relationships with assessors and care workers be developed and managed. We conclude our consideration of the liminal aspect of the rites of passage from independence to increasing dependence by examining such changes in relationships. A combination of difficulties contribute to the change in network size and density, and the feelings of the liminar, of anxiety and confusion. Such difficulties include: physical and related mobility problems and unstable and fluctuating health with the difficulty in keeping up with the pace of other people; a related unwillingness to inconvenience others; loss of confidence and fear of accidents or falls; an unwillingness to venture out at night; and shrinking social circles. These are all problems connected with a diminishing ability to sustain social networks, and they contribute to the serious problem in later life of social isolation. This challenges the stereotypical ‗ideal‘ situation of ageing-in-place as it leads to loneliness and depression, something which older people rarely acknowledge or mention. Liminal feelings become clear to the observer through descriptions of the assessment encounter. Janlov et al (2006) noted that the assessment

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Transition into an Age of Supported Independence

69

… evoked anxiety because it meant facing a new, unknown and potentially unpleasant situation and having to let strangers into their home and private life, all of which was experienced as threatening. This brought on the fear of losing self-determination and control over daily life and becoming increasingly helpless and vulnerable (Janlov et al 2006, p. 333).

Before assessment, people perceive themselves as independent, but with physical problems creating a need for help. Whereas after the assessment, people begin to perceive themselves as ‗dependent‘ on help to remain at home safely. Not only do older individuals perceive themselves differently, but family members begin to rethink their perceptions of the older member. Kaufman(1984) describes this process as one where physical symptoms and behaviours which result in more dependence that independence lead to changes which see families and individuals:

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

... reconsider and renegotiate the meanings of autonomy and freedom, risk and responsibility, choice and surveillance, and interdependence (p.49).

Beyond the assessment, other relationships are underpinned by prevailing stereotypes of the meaning of old age, frailty and disability, and expectations about how older people should behave. It is common for these to assume a lack of agency and perceptions of passivity and dependency. When such expectations underpin the actions of family, carers and health professionals, interactions with the older person are conducted in such a way so as to reinforce passivity and dependency and undermine autonomy and agency (Szebehely 1995, Olaison and Cedersund 2006). Aronson (1999) refers to this type of relationship as one that involves the ‗management‘ of the older person. The experience of being ‗managed‘ further reinforces the experience of relational liminality. The notion of relational liminality also captures the changing family roles that accompany increasing dependence on home care. Roles can change from spouse or parent to care recipient or care giver. For the family carers, like the cared-for person, role confusion can be a result. They are still a married couple - the roles have changed, but the roles are not the norm for marriage, despite the constant reminder, for this age group at this time, of ‗for better or worse, in sickness and in health‘ of the marriage vows.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

70

Beatrice Hale, Patrick Barrett and Robin Gauld

In this section we have reviewed the evidence for suggesting that many older people, after their assessment, enter a liminal stage in life, one of confusion, anxiety, depression and uncertainty. This can be either a fleeting or enduring aspect of the process of change. Our research does show, however, that for many people, this status passage is a difficult transition, moving from the stage of assessment, which officially gives them the description of ‗dependent‘ on care at home, to a transformed identity. Whether this is one of supported independence, or whether older people slump into continuing liminal experiences is something we consider in our final section.

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

5. RECONNECTIONS - TRANSFORMED IDENTITY Liminality is seen in the rites of passage framework as a temporary phase in the life stage transition process. It is followed by a phase of reconnection to the broader community with a new social standing. The older person who is supported through formal care to be independent at home is, we suggest, reincorporated in a new social role. The notion of a stage of supported independence into which older people move is a key premise of this argument. It is worth reflecting, first, then, on what is meant by supported independence. Promoting independent living has been a touchstone in international debates around ageing and aged care policy, and by contrast dependence has generally had negative connotations and has been seen as something to be avoided. In this situation, however, increases in dependency which are a consequence of decline or loss of physical or mental functioning can be thought of as a: ... positive adaptation strategy, if dependence in some areas is used to protect reduced resources in order to maintain independence in ‗key‘ areas for that individual. Certain levels of dependency can thus be seen as positive (and ‗normal‘) at latter stages of the life cycle (Gibson 1998, p.198).

The issue is not so much dependence on care, but the degree of autonomy and control over one‘s life. The need for care at this life stage can be seen as a type of positive dependency, and the challenge for service providers is to provide that care in a way that facilitates reconnections – with the self and with the broader community. Supported independence accepts positive dependence and promotes support to enable the pursuit of individually defined goals and activities. When we refer to ‗supported independence‘, we are

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Transition into an Age of Supported Independence

71

endeavouring to capture this notion of positive dependence—whereby frail or disabled older people are supported to maintain decisional autonomy, control over their lives, and a valued place in the community. In Van Gennep‘s model, reconnection was facilitated by the intervention of guides to assist completion of the passage and we too suggest that the formal care sector has a crucial role to play in assisting the older person to become reconnected. If this is a time of life recognised as supported independence, there needs to be a strong rehabilitative focus in supporting older people who age-in-place with care. Care workers should work to rehabilitate the power of the older person within the domain of their own home and emphasis should be given to supporting the choices made by older people themselves, beyond domestic and personal care, and in the area of social and recreational activities. It is well known that the importance of social participation is critical for the wellbeing of older people and care tasks should extend to cover this. This method of carework practice does demand a high skill level, not least in the relationship management skills. Home care, perceived in minimal terms as compensating for the loss of function in the older person, may have been intended as a basic domestic and personal care service, returning the cared for person to a hygienic state of living and positive routine, but reconnective care requires very much in terms of skills and knowledge. Caring is a complex phenomenon and it tends to be the concrete, observable tasks that are used to define and describe it. Our contention is that careworking involves emotional engagement and it is this which reinforces the identity of the older person. Managing the emotional dimension to the relationship - Hochschild‘s (1995) emotional work - requires workers to have an additional set of skills to allow them to deal with the emotional connection in a professional way. For the formal carer, it is important that they are trained in working alongside people, empowering the individuals to do what they are able to. It is also important to ensure this valuable work is well paid, so that workers can focus on the care to be provided, rather than be involved in the ‗factory‘ approach (Szebehely 1995) which tends to involve ensuring productivity in terms of number of clients seen and hours worked in order to make a good income. It could take the form of a careworker ensuring good socialising, by taking the older person out, ensuring good meals, taking them shopping, into the garden, and helping them to do whatever makes them feel like a person again - in terms of roles, this could be assisting to cope with grandchildren. In terms of friendship, it could be helping host friends.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

72

Beatrice Hale, Patrick Barrett and Robin Gauld

Reconnection should also be the goal of local and national policies and be thought of in terms of social inclusion: ensuring good transport, good lighting, and safe movement around the local streets; empowering communities to maintain social support groups which provide friendship networks; enabling local organisations to create and maintain programmes which address social isolation, such as volunteer visiting (e.g., Cattan 2002). A lack of reconnection to social networks and the wider society can result in isolation and poor mental health, as many researchers testify (e.g., Larsen and Lubkin 2009 and Gusmano and Scholar 2006).

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

6. SUMMARY We conclude this chapter by reiterating that an application of the rites of passage approach towards understanding the experiencing of becoming a frail or disabled elder at home with care can highlight the steps in the process of this status passage and the transformation to a new identity of ‗supported independence‘. According to the rites of passage framework, the first step in the status passage involves a ritualised process, albeit an uncelebrated one (Hallman 1999), by which an individual is separated from his or her former self through the social exchanges which accompany the assessments to establish eligibility for formal care services. This signals the start of the rite of passage, and is key to the social change in this process, of entering a new phase of life. The social exchange in the assessment dialogue contributes to the reframing of the older person‘s identity and the transmission of the philosophy and normative terms of receiving home care. For the older individual, this involves becoming a home care recipient, by accepting care and adjusting to the new rules and roles involved in such acceptance. There are many elements of ritual practice in the process—the clear sense of purpose, the repeated activities, the standardised criteria, and, in terms of the first step of the rite of passage, the stripping of former social status and the laying bare of the older person‘s life, leading to the erosion of the older person‘s authority over tasks at home and to the loss of autonomy and privacy. This experience, then, is a major biographical disruption, with experiences which we suggest lead to liminality in spatial, temporal and relational terms, and associated feelings of disconnection, anxiety and uncertainty. Our discussion of liminality leads to questions about how the experience can be resolved to achieve a degree of reconnection and the reclamation of a preferred identity. We emphasise that the home care sector has a critical role to play in reaching this.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Transition into an Age of Supported Independence

73

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

REFERENCES Aronson, J. 1999. Conflicting Images of Older People Receiving Care: Challenges for Reflexive Practice and Research. In Neysmith, S. M. (ed.), Critical Issues for Future Social Work Practice with Aging Persons. Columbia University Press, New York, 47-70. Aronson, J. (2000). Restructuring Older Women‘s Needs: Care Receiving as a Site of Struggle and Resistance. In S. M. Neysmith (Ed.), Restructuring Caring Labour: Discourse, State Practice and Everyday Life. Toronto, Oxford University Press, 52-72. Barrett, P, with Kletchko, S. Twitchin, S., Ryan, F. and Fowler, V. 2005. Transitions in Later life: A Qualitative Inquiry into the Experience of Resilience and Frailty. Tauranga, University of Waikato at Tauranga. Burns, J., Dwyer, M., Lambie, H. and Lynch, J. 1999. Homecare workers: A case study of a female occupation. Ministry of Women‘s Affairs; Wellington, New Zealand. Cattan, M. 2002. Supporting older people to overcome social isolation and loneliness. London, Help the Aged. Doyle, A. & Timonen, V. 2007. Home Care for Ageing Populations: a comparative analysis of domiciliary care in Denmark, the United States and Germany. Cheltenham, Edward Elgar. Efraimsson, E., Hoglund, I. and Sandman, P. 2001. The everlasting trial of strength and patience: transitions in home care nursing as narrated by patients and family members. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 10, 813-19. Frank, J. B. 2002. The Paradox of Aging in Place in Assisted Living. Bergin and Garvey, Westport, Connecticut. Gibson, D. 1998. Aged Care: Old Policies, New Solutions. Cambridge University Press, Melbourne. Gilleard, C., and Higgs, P. 2004. Cohorts and Generations in the Study of Social Change. Social Theory and Health, 2, 106-119. Glaser, B. and Strauss, A. 1965. Temporal Aspects of Dying as a NonScheduled Status Passage, American Journal of Sociology, 71, 48-59. Grenier, A. M. 2005. The contextual and social locations of older women‘s experiences of disability and decline. Journal of Aging Studies, 19(2), 131-146. Gubrium, J. and Sankar, A. 1990. The Home Care Experience. Sage, Newbury Park, California. Gusmano, M. and Scholar, L. 2006. The Elderly and Social Isolation. Testimony to Committee on Aging NYC Council, Feb. 13, 2006.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

74

Beatrice Hale, Patrick Barrett and Robin Gauld

Haggblom-Kronlof, G., Hultberg, J., Eriksson, B. and Sonn, U. 2007. Experiences of daily occupations at 99 years of age. Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 14, 3, 192-200. Hale, B. 2006. The meaning of home as it becomes a place for care: a study in the dynamics of home care for older people. Unpublished PhD thesis, University Of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. Hale, B., Barrett, P. and Gauld, R. 2010. The Age of Supported Independence: Voices of Home Care. Springer, Dordrecht. Hallman, B. 1999. The Transition into Eldercare - an Uncelebrated Passage. In Teather, E. K. (ed.), Embodied Geographies; Space, Bodies and Rites of Passage, Routledge ,London, 208-23. Hazan, H. 1984. Continuity and transformation among the aged: a study in the anthropology of time. Current Anthropology, 25, 5, 567-78. Hockey, J. and James, A. 1993. Growing up and Growing Old. Sage, London. Hockey, J. and James, A. 2003. Social Identities across the Life Course (1st Edn.). Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke. Hochschild, A. 1995. The Politics of Culture: Traditional, Cold Modern, and Warm Modern Ideals of Care. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State and Society, 2, 331-346. Hugman, R. 1999. Embodying Old Age. In Teather, E. K. (ed.), Embodied Geographies: Space, Bodies and Rites of Passage. Routledge, London, 193-207. Hyde, M. and Higgs, P. 2004. The shifting sands of time: results from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing on multiple transitions in later life. Ageing International, 29, 4, 317-32. Janlov, A., Hallberg, I. and Petersson, K. 2006. Older persons' experience of being assessed for and receiving public home help: do they have any influence over it? Health and Social Care in the Community, 14, 1, 26-36. Jerrome, D. 1992. Good Company. Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press. Kaufman, S. 1984. The social construction of frailty: an anthropological perspective. Journal of Aging Studies, 8, 1, 45-58. Kingston, P. 2000. Falls in Later Life: Status Passage and Preferred Identities as a New Orientation. Health, (London), 4, 216-233 Larsen, P. and Lubkin, I. 2009. Chronic illness: impact and intervention. Sudbury, Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Larsson, A., Haglund, L. and Hagberg, J. 2009. Doing everyday life— experiences of the oldest old. Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 16, 2, 99-109. Laslett, P. 1996. A Fresh Map of Life. London, Macmillan Press Ltd.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Transition into an Age of Supported Independence

75

Laws, G. 1997. Spatiality and age relations. In Jamieson, A., Harper, S. and Victor, C. (eds.), Critical Approaches to Ageing and Later Life. Open University Press, Buckingham, 90-100. Moore, S. F. and Myerhoff, B. G. 1977. Introduction: secular ritual: forms and meaning. In Moore, S. F. and Myerhoff, B. (eds.), Secular Ritual: Forms and Meanings. Van Gorcum, Assen, Netherlands, 3-24. Morse, J. and Penrod, J. 1999. Linking concepts of enduring, uncertainty, suffering and hope. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 31, 145-150. Olaison, A. and Cedersund, E. 2006. Assessment for home care: negotiating solutions for individual needs. Journal of Aging Studies, 20, 4, 367-80. Parks, J. A. 2003. No Place Like Home. Indiana University Press, Bloomington, Indiana. Percival, J. 1997. Problems and potentials of sheltered housing; balancing lives in sheltered housing. Ageing and Society, 17, 2, 209-14. Richards, S. 2000. Bridging the Divide: Elders and the Assessment Process. British Journal of Social Work, 30(1), 37-49. Rosow, I. 1974. Socialization to Old Age. London, University of California Press, Ltd. Saarenheimo, M., Nikula, S., and Eskola, P. 2004. Exploring the Cultural Borderlines of Family Caregiving. Paper presented at ISER, University of Essex, www.soc.surrey.ac.ukcragISA2004/symposia/symp_session1.htm. Shield, R. R. 1997. Liminality in an American nursing home: the endless transition. In Sokolovsky, J. (ed.), The Cultural Context of Aging: Worldwide Perspectives, 2nd Edn., Bergin and Harvey, London, 472-91. Szebehely, M. 1995. The organization of everyday life: on home helpers and elderly people in Sweden. Unpublished PhD thesis, Lund University, Sweden. Teather, E. K. (ed.). 1999. Embodied Geographies: Space, Bodies and Rites of Passage. Routledge, London. Turner, V. 1967 Betwixt and Between: The Liminal Period in Rites de Passage, in The Forest of Symbols: Aspects of Ndembu Ritual, Ithaca, Cornell University Press. Turner, V. 1969. The Ritual Process. Harmondsworth, Penguin. Turner, V. 1974. Variations on a theme of liminality In S. Moore and B. Myerhoff (Eds.), Secular Ritual: Forms and Meaning. Assen, Netherlands, Van Gorcum. Twigg, J. 2000. The Body and Community Care. Routledge, London. Van Gennep, A. 1909/1960. The Rites of Passage. Translated by Vizedom, M. B. and Caffeen G. L., University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

76

Beatrice Hale, Patrick Barrett and Robin Gauld

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Wenger, G. C. 2003. The Transformation of Support Networks into Care Networks. Presentation for Senior Victorians Melbourne, Australia. Ageing Well Symposium, Victoria University, Melbourne. Williams, S. 2000. Chronic illness as biographical disruption or biographical disruption as chronic illness? Reflections on a core concept. Sociology of Health and Illness, 22(1), 40-67. Young, M. and Willmott, P. 1962 rev‘d edn. Family and Kinship in East London, Harmondsworth, Middlesex, Pelican Books.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

In: Rituals: Types, Efficacy and Myths Editors: E. De Smet et al.

ISBN 978-1-61470-608-3 ©2012 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Chapter 3

RITUAL COMPLEXES OF NORTH-WEST SIBERIA IN XVII-XVIII CENTURIES (ACCORDING TO ARCHAEOLOGICAL DATA) Oleg Kardash

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

RPA Northern Archaeology Ltd, Belfast, Ireland

ABSTRACT At the present time 112 archaeological sites are discovered in the Yamal Peninsula. Only five from them are now introduced in scientific use. The very few ritual objects of the late Middle Age (XVI-XVIII centuries) are studied on the territory of North-West Siberia. The ritual complex Khalyato I is situated in the Yamal Peninsula, at the Yuribey estuary. A station-keeping excavation was carried out in 1990 by the expedition of the Tobolsk State Pedagogical Institute under the command of A. Sokolkov, who handed the materials over to the author. The cultic complex of finds includes an anthropomorphic figurine that was found in between arrowheads forming a semicircle. Accumulation of bones and reindeer horns lay around the figurine and arrowheads. The cultic complex covered a burial one. The burial represented a rectangular pit grave, where several bones, arms, household equipment and finery were discovered. The entire ritual complex dates back to the turn of the XVIII century. The similar ritual complex of the XVII – the first third of the XVIII centuries was explored by the author in the process of diggings at the

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

78

Oleg Kardash Nadym Hillfort, which is considered to be a winter residence for a chieftain of a political and military group of native peoples‘ communities ―Bolshaya Karacheya‖. The ritual complex Khalyato I is interpreted as a tomb of a body part or a cenotaph for an aristocratic warrior, who may have been either a bodyguard of a chieftain and his relatives or a chieftain himself, the leader of a large armed group. The burial became a cultic place, primarily used for memorial ceremonies and later for bodyguard or community meetings. There are no similar ritual and burial structures in traditional culture of the Nenets, the present indigenous population of the Yamal Peninsula. As may be supposed, the Khalyato I complex belonged to an ancient autochthonous ethnos, subsequently assimilated by the Nenets.

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

THE LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Д. – File ИА РАН – Institute for Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Science Изд-во – publishing house ИПОС СО РАН – The Institute for Development Matters in Siberia of the Russian Academy of Science Кн. - Volume Л. – Sheet Лен. - Leningrad М. – Moscow НИР – Scientific and Research Work Оп. – Inventory list Отд. - department РГАДА – The state Russian Archive for Ancient Documents Сб. - collection Сост. – compiler СПб – Saint-Petersburg Стб. – Column Т. - Volume ТГУ – The Tomsk State University УрО РАН – The Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Science Ун-та - University Ф. – Fund ЯНАО – The Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Ritual Complexes of North-West Siberia in Xvii-Xviii Centuries …

79

УНЦ РАН – The Ural scientific centre of the Russian Academy of Science

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

112 archaeological sites of different ages are presently known in the Yamal Peninsula. Only seven of them were permanent settlements, others were short-term encampments [Косинская, Федорова, 1994. P. 33—48, Кардаш, 2007. P. 98—100]. Only twelve sites were excavated, five of them were described in certain articles and hereby introduced into scientific use. Due to the paucity of researched sites on the Arctic peninsula any new object is of great value for exploration of the ancient history of the West-Siberian Subarctic. Ritual and cultic objects of the Late Middle Ages (XVI-XVIII century.) are of special interest as long as the very few of them were studied over the whole territory of West Siberia.

Figure 1. Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. The Yamal Peninsula. The ritual complex of Khalyato 1. The general map of the site location. Scale 1 : 5000 000.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

80

Oleg Kardash

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

The site Khalyato-1 was discovered in 1989 in the course of archaeological reconnaissance. Primarily, owing to several fragments of pottery it was identified as a medieval encampment [Соколков, 1989. P. 10]. The expedition of the Tobolsk State Pedagogical Institute under the command of A. Sokolkov carried out the excavation of the site in July, 1990 (Permit for archaeological excavations and surveys № 761 d/d 09.07.1991). Works were performed on request of the Order of the Red Labour Banner State Design and Survey Institute of Transport Construction in Leningrad (Lengiprotrans) with the reference of the Labytnangi - Bovanenkovo railway building in the zone of the site location [Соколков, 1992. P. 3]. The site is situated in the Yamal District of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, 308 km north-east of the town of Salekhard, 262 km north of the district centre, the settlement of Yar-Sale, and 18.4 km north from the Ust-Yuribey trading station (fig. 1). The ritual complex lies on the remnant of the Yasavey-Yakha left bedrock platform, 20.5 km north-east of the estuary and 1.5 km from the modern river bed, at the northern bank of a big meander lake Khalyato (fig. 2). The remnant is 100 m to the lakeshore and 1 km to the bedrock platform. It was a hemispheric hill with a flat foundation, surrounded with a floodplain swamp. The remnant‘s central part was eroded by wind, the rest of surface is covered with tundra plants (fig. 3, 4). The ambient floodplain swamp is overgrown with grass and bushes (fig. 3).

Figure 2. Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. The Yamal Peninsula. The ritual complex of Khalyato 1. The planimetric map of site location. Scale 1 : 200.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Ritual Complexes of North-West Siberia in Xvii-Xviii Centuries …

81

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

First stationary research of the site was carried out in 1990. A rectangular area stretched 10 m east-west and 6 m north-south was opened along the scarp at the remnant head. Coordinate grid of the pit is formed by 2 × 2 squares, marked with numbers 1-3 on the north-south axis and with letters А, Б, В, Г, Д on the east-west axis. The datum mark for the height fixation was defined at 1 the south-east corner of the area . It was supposed to explore the central and the highest part of the remnant and a small pit sized 1.5 × 0.5 m (fig. 3, 5). At the start of the excavation it emerged, that the top layer, which was 0.4 – 1.1 m thick and formed of grey sand (fig. 9, layer 2; 11), did not carry artefacts.

Figure 3. Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. The Yamal Peninsula. The ritual complex of Khalyato 1. The plot plan of the site. Scale 1 : 200.

1

Further in the text and planes level of artefacts and layers is determined in centimetres according to this arbitrary point.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

82

Oleg Kardash

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Figure 4. The ritual complex of Khalyato 1. General view from south.

Figure 5. The ritual complex of Khalyato 1. The excavation area of 1990. The levelling plan. Scale 1 : 100.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Ritual Complexes of North-West Siberia in Xvii-Xviii Centuries …

83

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Figure 6. The ritual complex of Khalyato 1. The excavation area of 1990. The plan for the level of - 80 cm. The cultic complex. Scale : 100.

Figure 7. The ritual complex of Khalyato 1. The excavation area of 1990. The plan for the level of -105 cm. The funeral complex. Scale 1 : 100.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

84

Oleg Kardash

Legend for figure 5, 6, and 7.

The early medieval encampment was identified upon several pottery fragments, found in the underlying layer of dark brown sand clay (fig. 9, layer 3). This layer is defined as the ancient buried surface. A fragment of a vessel, ornamented with denticulate corrugated stamp, was discovered at the square A/1, at the height of 80 cm. Two fragments of a bottom with an underbottom of a ceramic vessel, 1.5 cm high, were found at the square Г/3, at the height of

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Ritual Complexes of North-West Siberia in Xvii-Xviii Centuries …

85

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

105 cm. The lower edge is decorated with a line of parallel impressions of denticulate corrugated stamp (fig. 14, b). The stamp and the underbottom enable to refer the pottery to Zelenogorskaya archaeological culture and place it to VI-VII AD [Чемякин, Карачаров, 2002. P. 48-51, fig. 15]. The range and quantity of artefacts, found at elevated drained areas, are typical for shortterm encampments of the Early Middle Age. The late medieval cultic complex was discovered in the south-eastern part of the excavated field, at the area В – Д/2 – 3, at the height of 65 cm. A layer of dark brown sand clay (fig. 9, layer 3), containing fragments of deer bones, a stone and a piece of wood (fig. 6), was opened at the square Б – В/3. At the height of 80 cm the dark brown sand clay layer cropped out, marking the level of ancient matted surface of the remnant (fig. 6). At the area Г – Д/2 – 3, where a small pit was fixed at the modern surface, a blurred outline of an oval pit was opened. The pit sized 2 × 1 was filled with grey and brown sand clay. At the square Д/3, south-east of this pit and partly overlapping it, there was a complex of artefacts, clearly associated with cult practice (fig. 6).

Figure 8. The ritual complex of Khalyato 1. Reconstruction of the cultic place (sanctuary?). View from south.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

86

Oleg Kardash

Figure 9. The ritual complex of Khalyato 1. The excavation area of 1990. Stratigraphic sequence. Scale 1 : 100. Figure 10. The ritual complex of Khalyato 1. The funeral complex. The layout and stratigraphic sequence of the burial. Scale 1 : 25.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Ritual Complexes of North-West Siberia in Xvii-Xviii Centuries …

87

The cultic complex of finds included an anthropomorphous figurine with six arrowheads forming a semicircle behind it. Accumulation of bone and reindeer horns cinctured the figurine and the arrowheads with a ring open southerly (fig. 8). This part of the complex was damaged by a talus, nevertheless the dimensions of the complex are definable: the place of utmost concentration of artefacts and bone remains has 4 m in diameter, the total diameter is 6 m (fig. 6). The figurine, that marks the centre of the cultic complex, is made of mammoth tusk. It is 19.5 cm tall and 5.5cm in diameter (fig. 14, 1). The top of the sculpture, sized 5.5 × 5.5 cm and round-shaped, stands for the head and shoulders, formed with two transverse slots. On account of the artefact poor preservation, it is impossible to discern fine details on the top. Other parts of the torso are not featured. There are two hemispheric hollows carved at the forepart of the torso in 2.5 cm bellow shoulders, and a similar one is situated 7.5 cm underneath. The pairing hollows must probably signify a bust. This figurine may be tentatively considered feminine. The iconography of the sculpture has no direct analogies, though at large it is close to images of Nenets khe-khe [Иванов, 1970. P. 73—75, fig. 61, 63]. The arrowheads, surrounding the figurine, were vertically stuck into the earth. All 6 arrowheads refer to the type of Y-shaped flat broadheads. Dimensions of the arrowheads vary within 6 – 16 cm of length and 1.5 – 3.5 cm of width of striking edge. Analogous ones were in use among peoples of North-West Siberia from VI-VII to the mid-XX century [Карачаров, 1993. Fig. 1, 10; Мартин, 2004. P. 52—53, fig. 40—43, table 1, 9—11]. At the square A/3, 7.5 m west from cultic sculpture a burnt oval spot sized 0.7 x 0.5 m with poor marks of coaly soil was opened (fig. 6). Considering that the spot did not include fragments of early medieval pottery, its origin must have been associated with the cultic complex. The ritual complex carried 101 samples of animal bones or fragments. Bone remains were identified by A. Kosintsev, a staff member of the Institute for Animal and Plant Ecology (the Ural Branch of RAS) [Косинцев, 2006]. The results of this work were published, but it is pertinent to reproduce them within this work in order to introduce the author‘s own historical analysis. Among all the bone remains, found in the process of excavation, 96 belonged to reindeer, at least to 20 specimens. Three bones belonged to some mammals, two others belonged to some birds and they cannot be defined more exactly [Косинцев, 2006. P. 52—53, table. 29]. The range of reindeer bones includes a whole skull (1 item), fragments of brainpan (7 items), maxillas (10 items – 4 undamaged teeth and 6 pieces); 3

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

88

Oleg Kardash

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

fragmented bones of visceral cranium, mandibles (27 items – 15 undamaged teeth and 12 fragments), single teeth (5 items), fragments of horns (23 items), one spinal bone, one shoulder blade, astragali (2 items), shinbones (5 items), radii (2 items), carpal bones (3 items), one basidigital bone, metatarsal bones (2 items), phalanx I (2 items), one phalanx II. All the bones, except of a shinbone, carpals and phalanx II, are fragmented. Mandibles are represented by 14 right items and 13 left ones. They belong to at least 7 females and 8 males. Among postcranial bones there are fragments of left and right limbs and a cannon-bone of a newborn animal. Six pieces of frontal bones keep traces of horns cut off with an edgy tool. Nearly all the skulls and skeletons are damaged by reason of either butchering or natural force. Age of sacrificed reindeer was estimated according to mandible dental state. Herein the results are shown (number of mandibles / supposed number of animal specimens) [Косинцев, 2006. P. 52—53, table. 29]: 4 months old – 3/2 6 months old – 3/3 9 months old – 2/2 12 – 18 months old – 2/2 24-28 months old – 1/1 around 3 years old – 1/1 elder than 3 years old (adults) – 10/7 elder than 5 years old (aged) – 2/2. At the present stage the reindeer morphology study does not provide the opportunity of defining the kind (domestic or wild) of the found animals [Косинцев, 2004. С. 78]. However, so far as the sacrifice rite of native peoples in North-West Siberia involves killing of an animal and bloodletting, the most bone remains of the reindeer are likely to belong to domestic ones. Analysis of the skeleton elements displays, that whole heads were left at the cultic place more often after ceremonies than the parts of corpora. It is quite possible that after ceremonies there were skins with heads and outlimbs left. Some groups of the northern Khanty and the Nenets keep this form of sacred offerings up to the present day. This fact is established in ethnological literature and also by the author‘s research experience. We have seen several versions of location for such offerings. They differed in relation to deity‘s habitats. At the forest area the Khanty of the Pim and Trom Agan rivers string on branches of holy trees reindeer skins offered to Sky gods and earth those devoted to chthonic deities. In tundra the Yamal Nenets lay skins on pyramids

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Ritual Complexes of North-West Siberia in Xvii-Xviii Centuries …

89

of reindeer skulls that remained since previous immolations, or put them on poles for reindeer driving (khoreys). The sex of a sacrificed animal differs according to the status of a god. Though our archaeological data cannot elaborate this correlation, it should be mentioned, that females and males were sacrificed at the ritual place Khalyato – 1 equally. The analysis of the animals‘ age composition provides some interesting results. Judging by age of juveniles, animals were killed in different seasons. Three butchering seasons are marked: late autumn (October – November), when the most reindeer specimens were killed, late winter (February – March), early summer (June – July). On the back of ethnological evidence on economic cycle of the Yamal deer-herding Nenets, the first and the third periods are referred to the time of seasonal migration for reindeer grazing [Хомич, 1995. P. 52-53]. The fact of winter sacrifice indicates a special visit to the holy place in some particular case. The burial complex. At the area of Г – Д/2 – 3 squares, at the height of 60 cm an outline of a rectangular pit filled with grey sand clay (fig. 9, layer 2) covered the dark brown sand clay layer, that marks the old buried surface (fig. 9, layer 3). At the rest of digging area there was a layer of oatmeal sand clay without any artefacts opened. A strict contour of a rectangular pit 2 × 1 m sized, filled with oatmeal sand clay was disclosed at the height of 105 cm (fig. 8). Rufous round spots 8 × 8 cm in size and 3 cm deep were opened in the south-east of the pit. At the same place there were some pieces of birch bark found (fig. 8). In the north-east part of the pit two iron arrowheads and four 2 spinal bones were unearthed . At the height of 120-125 cm at the funeral layer a complex of artefacts was found (fig. 10, 12, 13, 14: 3–5, 7, 15). Objects were located along the walls in the layer of taupe sand clay. The layer includes plenty of hairs of deer fell and fragments of sponk. The latter obviously revealed a sepulchre construction and its ceiling. Decomposed fragments of some fabric (woollens is most probable) were found in the central part of the pit. They are very likely to be clothing remains, as well as hairs of deer fell. The bottom of the funeral fixed at the level of 125 cm was flat. Some birch bark sheets were found at the bottom. It might have been the underside of a birch bark sarcophagus, where artefacts were located. The complex of finds consists of 21 artefacts. A finial of white bronze was found at the south-east edge of the tomb (fig. 10, 14, 7). The object is made by lost-wax casting in the shape of an elongated 2

Unfortunately, they were lost. According to oral description and dimensions, they could belong either to a human, or to a mammal of proximate size, for instance, to a seal.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

90

Oleg Kardash

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

cone 8.5 cm long, with the outer diameter of 1.3 cm and inside one of 1 cm. Two rings side with the finial end. One ring is fragmented, the other one fixes a drop with helical ornament, 1.2 cm in diameter. The surface of the cone is decorated with four vertical lines of sculptured rings and spirals composed of thin threads. Threads were overlaid on the wax model, so the ornament was cast all in one with the finial. At the face and back of the object from bottom to top there are four ring-shaped elements and three spirals. At the lateral sides, in place of the lower decorative rings, there are two symmetrical loops, both with paired spherical pendants with spiral ornament.

Figure 11. The ritual complex of Khalyato 1. Stratigraphic sequence on the wall of the digging pit at the area of А – Б.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Ritual Complexes of North-West Siberia in Xvii-Xviii Centuries …

91

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Figure 12. The ritual complex of Khalyato 1. The funeral complex. Remains of a birch bark quiver (?). View from south-west.

Figure 13. The ritual complex of Khalyato 1. The funeral complex. Remains of arrows with iron heads inside the birch bark quiver (?). View from south-west.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

92

Oleg Kardash

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Figure 14. The ritual complex of Khalyato 1. Artefacts from cultic and funeral complexes: 1 – an anthropomorphous figurine of mammoth tusk, 2 – an iron axe with a fragment of a wooden handle, 3 – a stone hone, 4 – a sheath of calf, 5 – a blade of an iron knife, 6 – a fragment of a ceramic vessel, 7 – a finial of white bronze.

There are no direct analogies to the find among published materials of medieval sites of North-West Siberia and North-East Europe. As may be supposed, the finial was designed for sacrificer‘s rod. Rods found during excavations in the Nadym Hillfort have small midsection within the frame of 2.2 × 1.6 and 3.5 × 1.4 cm and differ only in the finial decoration [Кардаш, 2011, in print]. The manufacturing technology enables to define where the object was produced. Bronze finery made by lost-wax casting, ornamented with thin threads and different pendants, were widespread in X-XIV centuries in North-West Siberia and North-East Europe [Чемякин, Карачаров, 2002. P. 60-65, fig. 19—20, Семенова, 2001. P. 70—71, table. 47, Савельева 1987, fig. 31, 12, Голубева 1966, P. 98]. Similar subjects were in existence up to XV – the first third of XVIII century [Семенова, 2001. P. 73, table. 59, Кардаш, 2009. P. 144—146, fig. 3.13: 6—24]. Most researchers localise handicraft centres, which produced such finery with pagan symbolic, in North-East Europe. The Perm Transural region might have been such a producing centre [Оборин, 1976. P. 16]. An iron hacket with a wooden handle was found in the west corner of the pit. The blade was directed to the centre of the pit. The axe sized 20 × 14 × 6 cm is attributed to the type of axes with wide butt, extended along the handle (fig. 14, 2). The find corresponds to Russian axes of the XVII century, known

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Ritual Complexes of North-West Siberia in Xvii-Xviii Centuries …

93

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

due to excavations in Mangazeya [Белов и др., 1981. С. 81, табл. 72: 1-10]. Veliky Ustyug is considered to be one of the biggest producing centres of medium-scale axes [Белов и др., 1981. P. 82; Зиняков, 2005. P. 74]. The hacket dates back within the period of XVII – XVIII centuries. An iron rasp-file was discovered in the south-west of the burial ground, nearby the axe (fig. 15, 11). The overall length of the tool reaches 21 cm. The flat working unit is 16 cm long and 1.8 x 0.5 cm in section, with transverse cuts; the narrow shank is 5 cm long and 0.5 × 0.5 cm in section. Rasp-files are extremely rare finds at the sites of North-West Siberia. For instance, among one thousand and half iron artefacts of late XVI – first third of XVIII centuries, collected at the Nadym Hillfort, there are no such tools at all. Surviving of rasp-files at that time is proved only due to finding of four wooden toy models [Кардаш, 2009. P. 161—167, table 1, P.184—185, fig. 3.67, 10—13].

Figure15. The ritual complex of Khalyato 1. The funeral complex. Armament supplies: 1 – a spearhead, 2-12 – arrowheads from the quiver (1-9 – triangle arrowheads with pins, 10 – the head of a drill, 12-16 – Y-shaped arrowheads).

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

94

Oleg Kardash

A knife inside a leather sheath was located in the centre of the funeral complex, close to the north side. The handle is lost, so it must have been entirely wooden. The blade has dimensions of 19 × 2 cm, straight edge (13 cm long) and elongated shank (6 cm long) separated from the edge with distinct shoulders. Similar knives were found during excavations in Padrakursky Posad of XVII century in Kholmogory, which was one of the biggest northern Russian centres of metalworking in Muscovy, side by side with Veliky Ustyug, as early as the first half of XVI century [Ясински, Овсянников, 1998. С. 14, рис. 1—7]. This type of knives has patently wider prevalence and was not specific for a certain handicraft centre. Around 90% of knives imported to Siberia were produced by blacksmiths of Mezen, Sol‘ Vychegodskaya and Veliky Ustyug [Зиняков, 2005. P. 74]. The leather sheath has dimensions of 20 × 5 cm and a simple form with a small widening of the topping. It has analogies among Russian sheathes from Mangazeya and the wintering of the Faddey Island and the Sims Bay; such subjects date back to XVII century [Белов и др., 1981. P. 79—80; Окладников, 1951. P. 12—30; P. 232, table II, 10—12]. According to data, obtained during researches in the Nadym Hillfort, such knives and sheathes were used by native population of the region from the late XVI century to the first third of XVIII century. Given that similar blades were in wide use, leather sheathes were quite rare objects [Кардаш, 2009. P. 161— 163, fig. 3.31, 1—5]. A spearhead, found in the northern corner along the north-east wall, was directed to south-west and covered a quiver with arrows. A spearhead has 44 cm in total length and 4 cm in width; it is provided with a rod-like shank with flat end and a head in the shape of oblong rectangular with triangle cutting point. The length of the head works out 22 cm, its section is rhombic. The transition between the head and the shank is marked with a widening in the shape of small shoulders (fig.15, 1). This arms item is a rather rare find. At the territory of North-West Siberia (mostly in the middle and lower reach of the Ob River) there were only 14 shank spearheads discovered. Similar objects were present in the Saigatinsky IV burial ground, that falls into XIII–XV centuries, in the Ust-Balyk burial place, dated back to XV–XVI centuries, and in the Nadym Hillfort as a part of the armament hoard, that refers to the first third of XVIII century. [Чемякин, Карачаров, 2002. P. 63, fig. 20-17; Семенова, 2001. P. 45, fig. 12-7; Кардаш, 2009. P. 156, fig. 3.25: 1]. In the meantime, at other territories such items are known in complexes of XVI–XVII centuries. [Соловьев, 1987. P. 100]. The nearest analogy is represented by a spearhead sized 29 × 4.5 cm

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Ritual Complexes of North-West Siberia in Xvii-Xviii Centuries …

95

among materials of the Selkup burial place Pyl-Karamo I (the Tym River), that falls into XVII–XVIII centuries. [Кондрашев, 2002. P. 65—66, fig. 2, 3]. The spearhead from Khalyato I differs from this one in length: it is 13-16 cm longer. However, the close shape enables to refer the spearhead to XVII– XVIII centuries. A hone of close-grained slate was found in the northern corner of the sepulchre, near the spearhead (fig. 10). It has the shape of oblong rectangular 12.2 cm long and 2.2 × 1.2 cm in section. Such tools were used for deburring and polishing edges; they were widely spread. The collection of the Nadym Hillfort from the late XVI to the first third of XVIII century includes 88 similar hones [Кардаш, 2009. P. 163, fig. 3.31, 9—12]. Arrows with wooden shaft and iron heads lay along the north-east wall of the tomb (fig. 10). Seeing that they were found between birch bark sheets, arrows were suspected to be located inside a quiver. However, this presumption is unprovable (fig. 12, 13). Shafts had decayed, so their dimensions and tails are unable for credible reconstruction; still the shafts were 0.8–0.9 m long and 0.9–1.0 cm in diameter at most. The bevy of arrows included 13 objects (fig. 15, 2–10, 12–16). An iron hand brace bit was used in the quality of an arrowhead therefore this find is described in the framework of the present functional group (fig. 15, 10). All the other arrowheads are divided into two types. The first one includes small triangle arrowheads of rhombic section with pins and oblong and acute quadrangular shank. There were 8 items of such arrowheads found (fig. 15, 2–9). Total dimensions range from 11.5 × 1.1 to 14.5 × 1.1 cm. The blades‘ proportions vary from 2.5 × 1.1 × 0.3 to 4.5 × 1.3 × 0.4 cm. Such arrowheads were in wide use in North-West Siberia since III–IV to XVII–XVIII century. [Соловьев, 1987. P. 33—34, 39, 46; Семенова, 2001. P. 40, table 16]. Arrowheads of this type were included in the kit of Russian hunters, who suffered a shipwreck near the Faddey Island [Руденко, Станкевич, 1951. P. 98, fig. 3; P. 234, table IV, 17—18]. Arrowheads of different periods are distinguished by dimensions and proportions. Abovedescribed exemplars are close to the posterior ones. The second type is represented by flat Y-shaped arrowheads with sharp incurved edge (5 items). Size of such arrowheads ranges from 9.5 to 15.2 cm in length and from 1.8 to 3.5 cm in width. Y-shaped arrowheads prevailed at the territory of North-West Siberia for a long term – since VI–VII centuries up to the beginning of XX century. [Карачаров, 1993. Fig. 1, 10; Мартин, 2004. P. 52—53, fig. 40—43, table 1,

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

96

Oleg Kardash

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

9—11]. Arrowheads of this type were also in use of Russian hunters in XVII century. [Руденко, Станкевич, 1951. С. 97; С. 234, табл. IV, 13—16]. One arrowhead was made of a hand brace bit (fig. 15, 10). It is the first fixed experience of such an application of a drill. According to data of the Nadym and Voykar Hillforts, hand brace bits were out of use among indigenous population of the Ob downstream in XVII-XVIII centuries. In the meantime, single heads of drills were in service among the natives, but they were installed to usual wooden or bone handle in the manner of knives [Кардаш, 2009. P. 164, fig. 3.33: 12—14, Брусницина, 2005, P. 27-32, Фёдорова, 2006, P.11-17]. Wide-scale penetration of brace bits to aborigine sites refers to the XVIII century. and it is obviously connected with Russian colonisation and increase in imports of Russian blacksmith‘s production. Below the burial and the layer of dark brown sand clay there are two layers fixed: layer №4 filled with oatmeal sand clay and layer №6 of light brown sand clay. There were no artefacts at all in these layers. Originally these stratigraphic horizons were supposed to have been formed under the impact of wind erosion; present-day knowledge does not provide an opportunity to define if the colour of the layers is due to soil erosion or ferruginisation. By all means, the layers № 4 and 6 were formed under natural influence and may be considered native soil.

CULTURAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION The analysis of the forecited materials leads to several conclusions concerning chronology, typology, functioning and cultural attribution of the ritual complex Khalyato I, that includes the sepulchre and the sanctuary. Dimension and design of the burial ground on the top of natural tuffet corresponds to characteristics of a definite human one. Burial grounds with earthed wooden sepulchres were typical at the forest zone of North-West Siberia in XVII–XVIII century. [Семенова, 2001. P. 129-130]. According to the data obtained in the process of excavation of the Ust-Balyk burial place, at that time bodies and their posthumous gifts were laid in birch bark boxes (sarcophagi) or directly in burial pits and pits equipped with wooden sarcophagus and covering [Семенова, 2001. P. 129-130]. One or another way of burying apparently corresponded to different economic and probably social status of a buried person. Thus, the design of sepulchre construction in Khalyato is appropriate to the burial rite, which was specific for indigenous

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Ritual Complexes of North-West Siberia in Xvii-Xviii Centuries …

97

population of the middle and lower reach of the Ob River in XVII–XVIII centuries. Considering that no proved human bones were found, except of indefinable spondyles (see above), the diggings disclosed a burial of a body part or a cenotaph. The author has met such a form of tombs in the process of ethnological researches in the Kazym basin, specifically during a survey of burial grounds and sanctuaries which belonged to the population of AyKharsangkhum and Osyotnye Yurts [Кардаш, 1994. P. 15, 20, fig. 2, 55]. Ordinary funeral rite was performed for those whose body was not detected, in particular, for drowned ones. In the course of the ceremony a burial construction equal to a full-featured entombment was built; all grave items were put inside. It seems quite possible that the Khalyato 1 complex represents remains of a burial place for someone died under extraordinary circumstances whose body had not been found. Analysis of the funerary gifts throws light on other cultural and chronological aspects of the burial complex. Though most artefacts were in use within broad chronological framework, the spearhead and the hacket narrow the dating to XVII– XVIII centuries. The spearhead determines the warrior status of the buried person. Spears with shanks comprise a specific high-class type of arms at the territory of North-West Siberia in the Late Middle Age. It is most likely, that the spear belonged to a communal or tribal chieftain or to someone from immediate surround. Such a spear probably marked its owner as a community member who, among other things, performed important social and ritual functions [Кардаш, 2010. P. 363-371]. Another find, a bronze artware, can serve as a proof for that. Though its attribution as a finial for sacrificer‘s rod is hypothetic, at all accounts it indicates high social status of the buried one even as an element of his clothes. Another evidence for the extraordinary character of the burial ground is the emergence of the cultic complex that functioned at that place for some time. According to the range of bones, it differs from modern holy places of the Nenets, where only skulls and horns are left. The form of the sanctuary also differs from the present-day one. However, the analysis of age composition showed, that offerings were performed repeatedly; consequently the sanctuary cannot be considered a place of obituary rite. Limited number of bone remains and repeated sacrificing determine this sanctuary as honoured by small collectives. The cease of practice at the sanctuary might have been caused by disappearance of

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

98

Oleg Kardash

the community or by termination of the cycle of obituary rites. The latter seems to be most likely. At the present stage of researches over materials obtained during the excavation, the question over the origin of the upper layer of replaced grey sand clay remains unanswered. It is obscure, how a sand mound with diameter of 20–25 m, height of 1 m and proximate volume of 200-300 cu. m was formed at the top of the remnant. Primarily, at the stage of digging, it was supposed, that this layer had emerged recently, in the XX century as the result of wind erosion. Today another conjecture may be stated with a glance to all researched data. According to stratigraphic sequences, the interment was committed at the matted top of the hill. Later the ritual complex and cult practice that was performed there did not leave any signs of radical violation of top soil. Wind erosion, that generates moving bulk of sand, is not uncommon at the Yamal Peninsula, especially latterly, but blow-out of sand, forming a hill or a dune, is specific for vast areas of elevated banks. The remnant, where the site is located, is 1 km far from the nearest bank; it is surrounded with water and swamped floodplain. So, there are no sources of sand mass in close vicinity of the site. Consequently, the displaced sand could move to the top of the remnant only from its foot. A tomb pit at the top of the mould is another hallmark of the site. This pit marks approximate time of the layer forming. It emerged earlier than wooden constructions of the burial chamber were destroyed, in other words, soon after the funeral. Bones of sacrificed deer are of fine safety; that fact also indicates a small time gap between the termination of offering rites and forming of the upper layer of grey sand clay. Evenness of the layer on the digging area and the remnant top is also a feature that is not typical for natural erosion. All the remarks support an assumption of artificial origin of the sand mould above the ritual complex Khalyato 1. At all accounts, we have no sufficient ground to exclude the erecting of tumuli by late-medieval population of Yamal. All the more so as this form of funeral rite is known among the Selkups, whose ancestry settled in the Taz river basin in XVII–XVIII centuries. Armed conflicts between the Selkups and the northern Samoyeds who inhabited the Ob lower reach and the shore of Gulf of Ob, are well-known due to the numerous folkloric data [Пелих, 1981, P. 44, Головнёв, 1995, P. 118-119, 138-142]. In this connection, the typological affinity of the spearheads from the burial complex of Khalyato 1 and the Selkupian burial ground of Pyl-Karamo is not a mere coincidence [Кондрашев, 2002. P. 65— 66, fig. 2, 3].

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Ritual Complexes of North-West Siberia in Xvii-Xviii Centuries …

99

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

The body of data provides the attribution of the Khalyato 1 ritual complex as remains of a cenotaph, established in honour of a chieftain, died under extraordinary circumstances. The chieftain must have headed a big community or a tribe of Samoyeds, the ancestry of the present-day tundra Nenets, who settle in the territory from the Ob lower reach to Middle Yamal. Apparently, on the back of some outstanding intravital abilities and high status of the dead, there was a cultic place organised at the burial ground. The place was used for committing obituary rites and talking to supreme deities, probably by means of ―the dead‘s spirit‖. The configuration of the Khalyato 1 ritual complex and the range of sacral things, strangely enough, are very close to sacrificial places of the Lapps in XVII century. Their sanctuaries were described and drawn by West European authors, thus, some common features may be marked [Schefferus, 1674. P. 108.]. The cultic place was located at the top of an isolated mount. At the centre of the sanctuary there was a sculpture of a very conventional anthropomorphous design and small size, so prayers must have knelt down in front of it. Near the idol there were upper parts of deer skulls with horns (fig. 16).

Figure 16. The Lapps‘ ritual place – seidi – the illustration from the book by J. Schefferus, 1674.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

100

Oleg Kardash

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

RITUAL GROUND OF NADYM HILLFORT At the present day the ritual ground in the Nadym hillfort represents the only synchronous regional analogy to the cultic complex of Khalyato 1. The Nadym hillfort existed from the late XII to the first third of XVIII centuries. The site is located at an island in the Nadym River estuary, near the Ob mouth, that flows to the Gulf of Ob (the Kara Sea). From the beginning of XVII century to the first third of XVIII century the hillfort was an administrative, trading and religious centre of the Bolshaya (Big) Karacheya, a politicalmilitary alliance of territorial communities of the Ostyaks and Samoyeds. Its chieftains used the settlement as a winter residence [Кардаш, 2009. P. 284— 291]. The isolated ritual complex functioned at the area of non-natural terrace that girded the defensive and residential complex. This territory, adjacent southerly to the wall, 20 × 30 m sized, was named the ritual ground. At the centre of the ground there were remains of a fire-pit on a clay basement with a total dimension of 2 × 2 m [Кардаш, 2009. P. 59—60, fig. 2.98—2.100]. Red spots indicate high-temperature effect and give evidence of a big bale-fire, that had been burning there for a long time. The fire-pit was closely surrounded with remains of at least 15 skulls with horns of the reindeer. The skulls were mostly concentrated northerly. Besides, between the fire-pit and the southern corner of the residential zone there were remains of 11 skulls discovered and four of them were found in the direct proximity to the southern corner of the living complex. Thus, most skulls were located crescentrically to the north from the ritual fire-pit. Sacrificial character of the reindeer is determined by specific rectangular holes picked in sincipital parts of skulls. Such marks can be met at skulls of sacrificed deer at some modern Nenets sanctuaries, in particular at the Yamal Peninsula, near the Sidyapelyato lake. The body of artefacts, found directly at the ritual ground and its ruined part, speak for the focus of rites. Near the fire-pit there were single blades of backswords and fighting knives found, and nearby the residential construction there was a big accumulation of arms and luxury articles [Кардаш, 2009. P. 154, fig. 2.4; 3.22—3.28]. The arsenal included at least 60 blades and forging bars. In addition to ritual actions, the place was apparently used for arming the communal militia. Among luxuries there is an oriental bronze hemispheric cup with flower design, which was clearly used for rituals. Moreover, we cannot help mentioning a bronze sheet with holes and a disk of thin silver foil with an image of a rider, which might have been used as parts of clothes, namely mirrors, indicating the status of their wearers. [Кардаш, 2009. P. 143, 167, fig.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Ritual Complexes of North-West Siberia in Xvii-Xviii Centuries … 101 3.12, 16; 3.37, 1, 2]. Such articles mark heroes in Nenets epos and became constitutive for scientific reconstructions of a suit of the medieval warrior in northern Siberia [Куприянова 1965. P. 738, Соловьёв, 2003. P. 199, 207, fig. 47, 57]. Fragmented bones of bear‘s pad and skull were also discovered at the ritual ground. It should be mentioned, that among 124 000 bones of that period, collected from the occupation layer of the hillfort, only 6 ones belonged to the bear. In the first instance, they are associated with specifically cultic treatment to this specie that prevails among indigenous population up to the present moment. The bear‘s skull and pad were dowered with sacral sense and used during various rites, including swearing an oath. The high antiquity of this ritual is known through written sources of XV century. [Шашков, 2000. P. 95-96]. According to documental and ethnographical sources, in XVII–XVIII century the military-political alliance of Bolshaya Karacheya repeatedly made raids to neighbouring settlements, including Russian towns, Pustozyorsk in particular [Кардаш, 2009. P. 16—20]. Certainly, military actions were attended by religious practice. Ethnological descriptions of North-West Siberian aborigine culture of XIX–XX centuries show that any result-oriented action of community members was preceded by a shamanistic ritual, when a priest called for spirits‘ aid. A bale-fire was an obligatory element of the rite [Народы Западной Сибири, 2005. P. 475]. According to different data, military conflicts among neighbouring peoples of West Siberia had been taking place till the early XX century. [Абрамов, 1857. P.331. Головнев, 1995. P. 106—109, 155—165]. Thus, it is unlikely that the form of ritual practice dramatically transformed from the late Middle Age. Furthermore, legends that folk tales narrators refer to recent times, do not contain mentions of fire weapon. Considering that it is impossible to age-date legendary events, this fact appeals to data, known through epos, for analysing religious practice of late medieval population of the Ob downstream and the Yamal Peninsula. Glossary, associated with warlike preparations, is of especial interest. The Nenets used the word ―Mandalada‖ or ―gathering in a circle‖ for military musters, committed under the auspices of a war chieftain, so-called Sayu Yerv (―the head of the war‖) [Головнев, 1995. P. 119—120]. The term ―Mandalada‖ indicates the correlation of ringed structures of artefacts and military rites. Epic legends demonstrate that preparations for war began long before the war itself and had the form of rites and military games, that took place at special grounds near fortified settlements. The Ostyaks called such

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

102

Oleg Kardash

places Yantata Khar or Yakta Khar (―a ground for games‖ or ―a ground for dancing‖ [Патканов, 2003. P. 66]. Military dancing is vividly depicted by the following fragment from the legend of XIII–XIV century: ―They reached land. 3 Plenty of cold men brought cutting iron with sharp blade (i. e. an axe ) in their hands, started a fire (the multi-tongued mouth of the maiden Tarn) using wood. Plenty of hungry men brought a boiler with an iron handle in their hands, cooked ―dead‖ (?) grain and feeding grain, put dishes and birch bark boxes to call together forest spirits, who live at the hundreds of elevated capes, and to pray them for back forces and belly forces‖ [Патканов, 2003. P. 301]. This canvas of warlike preparations is filled up with a description of a ―dance with sabres‖, fixed in the middle of XIX century by N. Abramov. The ritual was performed at night, in the light of a bale-fire. Dancers ―rocked themselves from side to side and cried in different voices, seldom or often, straggling off. Then in the moment they repeated ―Hai!‖, they were raising arms up or putting them down… they roared and rocked again and again, getting delirious in some way‖ [Абрамов, 1851. P. 7]. Certainly, such ceremonies were performed not only for forming fighting spirit or whipping up hysteria. The Ostyaks sacrificed animals and prayed for fortunes of battle to a personified deity. In the ancient Ugrian pantheon this role was played by Tarn, ―an evil female deity that spreads dissensions and wars‖ [Патканов, 2003. P. 31]. Still, we cannot state, that all medieval population of the Subarctic worshipped this god. It seems to be quite reliable that, as A. Golovnev concluded, the maiden Tarn from heroic epos of the Irtysh Ostyaks incarnates Numi-Tarem, the supreme sky deity of Ob Ugrian peoples, that corresponds in name and status to the Germanic-Scandinavian god Thor and the Finnish god Tiere Taara [Головнев, 1995. P. 542—547]. Thus, one can reasonably suggest, that before the XVII century Ugrian and Samoyedic pantheons included a common supreme deity, patronising the war. It is possible that in medieval tradition the same personage gave hunting fortune as well. It seems scarcely probable that northern peoples with overall predominance of hunting and fishing oriented economy had a different attitude towards spoils of war and chase. In point of fact in present-day traditional religious practice the Khanty hunters pray to Numi-Torum (Numi-Tarem) for fortune in hunting that forms the basis of their economy. At the ritual ground of the Nadym hillfort offerings of deer were performed in the period of late autumn or early winter (November – December) [Бачура, Кардаш, 2011. In 3

It is the opinion of S. Patkanov. In this context sabres, backswards or spears could be meant just as likely.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Ritual Complexes of North-West Siberia in Xvii-Xviii Centuries … 103 print]. Most catch were hunted down precisely in winter, including the reindeer, the hare, the arctic partridge and tradable (furred) species, namely the sable, the polar fox, the beaver, the ermine, etc. At the same time of year the most significant military actions of the Bolshaya Karacheya that sometimes lasted for several months were stricken. According to documental sources, such were attacks on the town of Pustozyorsk, that took place three times in February of 1642, 1644 and 1668 [РГАДА Ф. 214, Ст. 425, Л. 110-114, Стб. 454. Л. 11-1, Дополнения к Актам историческим … Volume .5. СПб., 1855. № 68-I. P. 375—377].

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

CONCLUSION The materials of previous years and the results of researches at new sites, which were introduced to scientific use, provide the complex of archaeological sources on religion and ritual activity of peoples which inhabited the Ob downstream basin in XVII–XVIII century. That was the time of dynamic reclamation of the territory by Muscovy and then the Russian Empire. The integrated analysis of digging materials of the Khalyato 1 ritual complex in the context of researches of the synchronic settlement of the Nadym Hillfort and folkloric and ethnographic data provides a number of inferences over the development of religious culture of modern regional indigenous population. The range of sources, connected with medieval ritual sites in North-West Siberia, indicates the Khalyato 1 complex as a burial place for a part of body or a cenotaph for a community chieftain, a head of a powerful military group. At the burial ground there was a cultic place established, where initially memorial rites were practiced. Later this place might have been used for musters of military unit or communal militia in order to perform rituals preceding war actions, just as in the ritual ground of the Nadym Hillfort. Thus, it seems assignable that one of the sacrifices was offered at the cultic place of Khalyato 1 in winter, approximately in February. It was just that time, when a number of large-scale war actions were initiated by the Bolshaya Karacheya, who held on for Pustozyorsk beyond the northern end of the Polar Urals, relatively close to the Yuribey estuary. Though it is not proved, all similarity of cultic places in form as well, afford ground for some hypothetic conjunctions, for example, on probable correlation of the Khalyato 1 complex and the military-political alliance of the Bolshaya Karacheya. It is quite possible, that after obituary and other rites had been performed for several years, the complex was intentionally covered with sand to create a

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

104

Oleg Kardash

mould. It required high concentration of force, the task could be realised by the army. Analogous funeral and cultic constructions are unknown in the culture of the Nenets – present-day aborigine population of the Yamal Peninsula. In the meantime such complexes as the ritual ground of the Nadym Hillfort and Khalyato 1 have synchronic parallels, namely sanctuaries of the Norwegian Lapps. Apparently, they were spread among all the indigenous peoples of the Subarctic from Yamal to Scandinavia. It may be maintained, that the religious sphere of North-West Siberian tundra nomads had been undergone significant transformation during XVIII–XIX centuries. The type of burial had changed into above-ground one. Sanctuaries had acquired a form of distinctive pillars composed of sculls of sacrificed reindeer. As a consequence, the proportions of idols, so-called khe-khe, had lengthened. Several explanations may be invoked to account for these facts. The ritual complex Khalyato 1 and the Nadym Hillfort might have belonged to some ancient autochthonous population that had lost their original features, religious and funeral traditions in particular, and were merged in the Nenets ethnos. The most probable hypothesis is that changes of the ritual practice had morphological character and were caused by radical transformation of economic system of the ancient population and landscape and climatic movements. Some researchers consider that large-scale reindeer herding started in XVII century as a result of serious climatic changes and got established not earlier than in XVIII century. [Головнев, 2004. P. 88—89; Крупник, 1989. P. 146—163]. It is quite possible, that this process had lead to transformation of religious practice. In conclusion, we should mention that transformation of ritual traditions was not caused by ideological impact of the Russian state and the Orthodox Church, which launched in the first half of XVIII century. The transformation reflected some endogenous processes that were taking place in aboriginal environment. Attachment of the region to Muscovy and later to the Russian Empire asserted entirely indirect, economic influence on these processes.

REFERENCES Abramov, N. On the introduction of Christianity among the Ostyaks / / Journal of the Ministry of Education. Ch 72, № 10-12. Dep. V. St Petersburg., 1851. S. 1-22.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Ritual Complexes of North-West Siberia in Xvii-Xviii Centuries … 105 Abramov NA Description Berezovsky edge / / Proceedings of the RGO. St Petersburg., 1857. The book. XII. S. 327-448. Bachura OV, OV Kardash Reindeer in the sustenance of the population of the town of Nadym in XVII - per. third of the XVIII century. / Journal of Archaeology, Anthropology and Ethnography. Tyumen: Publishing House of SB RAS IFSP. 2011. (in press). Belov, MI, Ovsyannikov OV Starkov, VF Mangazeya: The material culture of Russian polar seafarers and explorers XVI-XVII centuries. C. 2. Moscow: Nauka, 1981. 147. Brusnitsina AG Voykarsky town in the XV - XIX centuries. (based on the results of excavations in 2003 and 2004) / / Yamal between past and future: development priorities. Proceedings of the Scientific Conference "Yamal: history, historiography, kravedenie." Salekhard, April 2005, Ekaterinburg, Salekhard: Vol. "RA Artmedia." 2005. S. 22-32. Golovnev AV Talking Culture: Traditions Samoyed and Ugrian. Ekaterinburg: Ural Branch of RAS, 1995. With 606. Golovnev A. Nomads of the tundra: the Nenets and their folklore. Ekaterinburg: Ural Branch of RAS, 2004. 344. Golubeva LA Skating pendants Upper Kama / / SA. -1966. - № 3. - S. 80-98. Additions to the Acts of the historical, collected and published by Archaeological Commission. St Petersburg., 1851. V. 4, 5, 1862. T. 8. Zinyakov NM Russian metal products on the Siberian market XVII.: Nomenclature and quality of the / / Problems of historical-cultural development of ancient and traditional societies of West Siberia and adjacent territories. Proceedings of XIII West Siberian archaeological and ethnographic conference. Tomsk: Publishing house of Tbilisi State University, 2005. S. 72-76. Ivanov SV sculpture of the North Siberia XIX - first half of XX century. Linen. Izd-vo "Nauka," Leningrad Branch, 1970. 296. Karacharov KG Timeline early medieval burial Surgut Ob / / The chronology of monuments Southern Urals. Ufa: Ufa Science, 1993. S. 110-118. Kardash O. Report on R & D "On examination of religious monuments in the middle reaches of the river. Kazim Beloyarsky area in the summer of 1994. Ekaterinburg. 1994. 107. Author's archive. Kardash O. Comprehensive study Nadym settlement. Results of studies in 1998-2003 / / Scientific Bulletin. No. 4 (35). Obdoriya: History, Culture, Modernity. Salekhard: Red North, 2005. S. 31-35.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

106

Oleg Kardash

Kardash O. Administrative Centers native "kingdoms" of the North-Western Siberia at the end of XVI - the first third of the XVIII century. (based on excavations and Nadym Obdorsk towns) / / Ural Historical Journal. № 13. Yekaterinburg: Izd UB RAS, 2006. S. 128-131. Kardash O. Nadymsky town at the end of XVI - the first third of the XVIII century. History and material culture. Ekaterinburg - Nefteyugansk: Magellan, 2009. 360. Kardash O. late medieval spears of the North-Western Siberia / / Cornerstone. Archaeology, history, art and culture of Russia and Neighboring Countries: in 2 vols 1 (80-th anniversary of Kirpichnikov). St. Petersburg, 2010. S. 363-371. Kardash O. Staves "priest" from the town of Nadym XVI-XVII centuries. / / Archaeology, Ethnology and Anthropology of Eurasia. Novosibirsk: Publishing House of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography, 2011. In press. KF Karjalainen Religion Ugra people / Trans. with it. NV Lukin: In 3 v. Tomsk: Tomsk State University, 1994 - 1996. 152, 284, 247. Krupnik, I. Arctic etnoekologiya. Moscow: Nauka, 1989. 272. Kondrashov A. The studies of soil dust Karama cemetery and a village of UstPoros in the north of Tomsk oblast / / Proceedings and research on the history of the North-Western Siberia. Yekaterinburg: Ural Univ. Press, 2002. S. 63-69. Kosinskaya L., Fedorova NV Archaeological map of the autonomous area. Preprint. Ekaterinburg: Ural Branch of RAS, 1994. 114. Kosintsev PA medieval population ecology in northern West Siberia. Sources. Yekaterinburg, Salekhard, Publishing House of Urals State University, 2006. 272. Kupriyanov ZN Epic Song Nenets. Moscow: Nauka. 1965. With 782. Martin FR Sibirika. Some information about the history and culture of primitive Siberian peoples. Yekaterinburg, Surgut: Ural worker, 2004. 144. The peoples of the West Siberian Khanty. Muncie. Selkups. Nenets. Enets. Nganasans. Chum salmon. / Dia. Ed. I. Gemuev, VI Molodin, ZP Sokolova. Moscow: Nauka, 2005. With 805. Oborin VA The ancient art of the peoples of Perm: Perm animal style. - Perm: Perm Book Publishers, 1976. - 192. Okladnikov AP Archaeological finds on the island and Thaddeus in the Gulf of Sims / / Historical monument of the Russian Arctic navigation of the

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Ritual Complexes of North-West Siberia in Xvii-Xviii Centuries … 107 XVII century. Archaeological finds on the island and Thaddeus in the Gulf of Sims. Linen., M.: in Northern Sea Route, 1951. S. 7-40. Patkanov SK Works: 5 TT 5: Type of Ostyak Ostyak hero epics and heroic tales. Irtysh Ostiaks and folk poetry. / Comp. Yu Mandrikov. Tyumen: Mandra and K, 2003. 416. Pelikh GI Selkup XVII century: Essays on the social and economic history. Novosibirsk: Publishing House of Science. 1981. - 177. RGADA F. 214, Art. 425, L. 110-114,, RGADA F. 214, 454. Л. 11-1, SI Rudenko, Stankiewicz H. I. Arrows and accessories for archery / / Historical monument of the Russian Arctic navigation of the XVII century. Archaeological finds on the island and Thaddeus in the Gulf of Sims. Linen., M.: in Northern Sea Route, 1951. S. 97-102. Saveliev EA Vym burial XI - XIV centuries. - Len.: Publishing House of Science, Leningrad Branch, 1987. - 200 seconds. Semenov VI settlement and burial ground Chastuhinsky Ury. Novosibirsk: Nauka, 2005. 164. Semenov VI Medieval burial Yugansk Ob. Novosibirsk: Nauka, 2001. 296. Sirelius WT trip to Khanty. Tomsk Univ. Press, 2001. 344. Sokolkov A. Report on archaeological excavations in the Yamal region of Yamal, Tyumen Region, Tobolsk, 1992 (Halyato 1). 33 l. Archive Agency RAS P-1. Number 16 663. Sokolkov A. Report on archaeological excavations, exploration in the Yamal, Tyumen Oblast Shuryshkar. Tobolsk, 1989. 62 l. Archive Agency RAS P1 15 942. Sokolkov AV monument of medieval culture in the Arctic Yamal / / Problems of historical-cultural environment of the Arctic. International Symposium (Syktyvkar, 16-18 May 1991). Abstracts. Syktyvkar, 1991. S. 124-125. Solovyov AI Military indigenous population of Western Siberia: the Middle Ages. Novosibirsk: Nauka, 1987. 193. Solovyov AI Arms and Armor: Siberian weapons from the Stone Age to the Middle Ages. Novosibirsk INFOLIO Press, 2003. 224. Khomich LV Nenets. Sketches of traditional culture. St. Petersburg: Publishing House "Russian Court." - 1995. 336. Chemyakin P., KG Karacharov Ancient History of the Surgut Ob / / Essays on the history of traditional use Khanty (Materials for the atlas). 2nd ed., Rev. and add. Yekaterinburg: Izd "Thesis", 2002. S. 5-65.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

108

Oleg Kardash

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Shashkov T. northern Urals and the Lower Ob 'region at the end of XV - XVI centuries. (in Russian and foreign sources) / / Historical Science at the turn of the eras. Yekaterinburg: Izd NPMT "Volot", 2000. S. 94-108. Jasinski, E. M., Ovsyannikov OV A look at the European Arctic: Arkhangelsk North: problems and sources. T. II. St Petersburg.: Orientalism Petersburg, 1998. 432. Jasinski, E. M., Ovsyannikov OV Pustozersk. Russian city in the Arctic. St Petersburg.: Orientalism Petersburg, 2003. 400. Schefferus J. Joannis argentoratensis Scheffer. Lapland, id est, et regionis Lapponum gentis et nova descriptio we become. In the fine side of origin, superftitione, facrismagicis, victu, cultural, negotiis Lapponum, item Animalium, metallorumque character, in quae terries eorum proveniunt, hactenus unknown. Produntur, eiconibus, adjectis, cum illustrantur care. Francofurti, former Christian Wolff Workshop. Joannis Typis Andreae, M. years DC. LXXIII (1674). 378 p.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

In: Rituals: Types, Efficacy and Myths Editors: E. De Smet et al.

ISBN 978-1-61470-608-3 ©2012 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Chapter 4

RITUAL HEALING: A HISTORY OF ITS DEVELOPMENT AND PROLIFERATION IN BRAZIL Sidney M. Greenfield

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, U. S.

ABSTRACT Healing rituals, in which spirits or deities from their respective supernatural pantheons are invoked to diagnose and treat the sick, are ubiquitous in Brazil. In this paper I describe some of these rituals and their healing practices focusing on Kardecist-Spiritism. The origins of this belief system are traced to the writings of Allan Kardec in 19 th century France and its diffusion to the Western Hemisphere and specifically Brazil. It was here that Kardec‘s philosophy encountered Amerindian and folk Catholic practices. Later the already syncretized Spiritist form was influenced and further modified through contact with traditions and practices brought by slaves from West Africa. In the resulting practices, followers believe that spirits of deceased doctors or healers from other cultures return to this world and, through mediums diagnose illnesses in living patients. They prescribe medications for them and, if necessary, perform surgeries. Neither anesthesia nor antisepsis is used, the patients report experiencing little if any pain or complications, and, moreover, they recover. As popular religions proliferated in the 20 th century this practice of supernatural entities treating the sick and

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

110

Sidney M. Greenfield suffering became central to the continuously mixing and syncretizing ritual practices of a variety of religious groups in Brazil.

Keywords: Alternative healing; Brazil; Healing Rituals; Kardecist-Spiritism; Religion and Healing; Syncretism; Umbanda.

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

CASE #1 Her doctor had just informed the 61-year old woman that the tumor in her breast was malignant. He advised an operation to remove the breast followed by radiation therapy. Mrs. Budazy knew she had a ―bad heart‖ and recalled how she had almost died during a previous surgery. She feared that she could not survive the recommended procedure. Shaken, and not sure what to do next, Osamarina Budazy decided to solicit the opinion of family members. A relative who resided in Recife, a city located approximately 800 miles from where Mrs. Budazy lived in São Paulo, told her about a Spiritist healermedium who operated without chemical or any other visible anesthesia. The widow, after listening to several alternative suggestions, accepted her cousin‘s invitation and prepared to fly to Recife to seek treatment from the healermedium. Her cousin had already completed the appropriate registration forms required by the officials at the Spiritist Center where the healer attended to his patients. When Mrs. Budzy arrived there on a rainy Monday evening, she was given a number and told to wait. Soon the large room in which she sat filled with dozens of others also seeking aid from the healer. A woman standing in the front, in a slow, monotonous tone, read passages from a book by Allan Kardec. She was followed by testimonials by other speakers recounting the benefits they had received from the spirits. Everyone praised the powerful abilities of these enlightened beings to alleviate the ills of those in pain. The dowager was ushered into another space in which a middle-aged man, surrounded by others who appeared to be assisting him, stood in front of what looked like a hospital bed. Though Mrs. Budazy attempted to explain the diagnosis and recommendations given by her doctor, the man now standing quite close to her seemed disinterested. His soft eyes hardened and his body stiffened. His voice, which was gentle and mellow when she entered the room, now was harsh and authoritative. His speech became gruff and he possessed an accent the widow found difficult to understand. It seemed to her as if he were a speaker of German attempting to make himself understood in Portuguese.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Ritual Healing

111

Later that night her cousin explained that she had witnessed the medium, Edson Querioz, enter into trance. During this transformation he had given his body over to the spirit of a German doctor who had been killed during the First World War. It was the spirit of Dr. Adolph Fritz, and not the Brazilian medium, who told the widow that he would operate on her on Wednesday and, furthermore, she would be well* (see Greenfield 2008, 2002, 1995).

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

CASE # 2 As she was preparing to leave for work, Celestina de Araujo Santos reached a decision. She resolved to accompany her cousin Neda to the Casa de Vovô Maria, an Umbanda center that very night. The excruciating pains in her back and neck that she had experienced over the past few weeks had so debilitated the young beautician that she was unable to perform her duties as a hairdresser in the Copacabana section of Rio de Janeiro. Celestina believed she had no other recourse than to do what her cousin recommended. The medications prescribed for her by the doctor at the public health clinic near the favela (squatter settlement) where she lived had not worked and she felt desperate. White clad mediums entered into trance as they swirled and danced to the driving rhythms beat on drums during the opening session at the Umbanda center. The mediums incorporated a series of African-derived, but syncretized* deities. Many hours later that night the young beautician was escorted into a small alcove off the main room to receive the consultation she had asked for when she arrived at the Casa de Vovô Maria. Seated on the floor, smoking a pipe, Celesina saw what appeared to be a frail, elderly woman dressed in old blue denim clothes with a red bandana on her head. It was Mãe Edna, the woman that led the initial part of the service. Incorporated by her pomba gira (spirit guide), she appeared to be many years older than she had earlier in the evening. In what sounded like garbled Portuguese, translated by an assistant, the figure greeted her and asked how she might help. The beautician explained at length about the pains in her back and neck and how they were incapacitating her by limiting her ability to work or perform other physical activities. She further told of the problems she was * For details on Mrs. Budazy‘s surgery her progress during the next 11 years see Greenfield 1995. * Syncretism is the process by means of which new practices emerge from the interactions of peoples from different cultural traditions (see Greenfield and Droogers 2001).

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

112

Sidney M. Greenfield

encountering with her boyfriend. After a pause, the incorporated entity instructed the nervous young woman as to how she should use several different plants she was instructed to obtain. Some of them to be made into teas drunk at different times of the day and the others sprinkled into baths. Celestina was informed that if she wished to be fully healed, she would have to eat a special diet and, most importantly, return to the center with specific animals and other items to sacrifice to the deities. Doing these things would result in a comprehensive cure (see Greenfield 2008:127-134).

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

INTRODUCTION Healing rituals, like the ones described, in which a suffering person is diagnosed and prescribed treatment by a spirit or deity from the pantheon of a religious group, are ubiquitous in Brazil. The sessions of these religious groups, some of West African provenience, having names such as Candomblé, Xangô, Batuque and Umbanda, to varying forms of Spiritism, folk or ―popular‖ Catholicism and Evangelical Protestantism, are held for the sick to obtain healing and additional assistance from acknowledged members of an otherworldly pantheon. Each ritual is an expression of a distinctive set of assumptions as to who or what has power and efficacy in the universe that is contained in the beliefs and view of the world of the religious group. The treatment provided by its spiritual beings may be viewed as an alternative form of healing and therapy to Western medicine. The sick also go to medical doctors, but when they do, and treatment does not help with their symptoms, they often turn to religious alternatives, and journey from one to another until they find relief (see Greenfield 2008). The form taken by the ritual encounters between a sick person and a spirit or deity that diagnoses and provides therapy appears similar to the doctorpatient interaction of Western therapeutic procedures. It was, in fact, taken from a series of syncretic mixings that took place in the later part of the 19th century that brought a variant of Christianity imported from France together with Pre-Reformation Roman Catholicism, the practices of Brazil‘s indigenous people and the medicine of the time. These customs became central aspects of the religious co-mingling that took place over the next century and continues to the present. This paper focuses on Brazil and specifically on Kardecist Spiritism, a little-known belief system that came to the Americas from France. Its treatment of the sick, by other worldly beings, developed out of a mixture of Folk Catholic and Amerindian practices. The new healing ritual was

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Ritual Healing

113

adopted and integrated with diverse elements in an ongoing syncretic process. It gave rise to a variety of practices by religious groups in which, though the details differ, a ritual in which a suffering patient is treated by a supernatural being, through a living intermediary, takes center stage.

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

KARDECIST-SPIRITISM Let‘s begin in the second half of the 19th century when a group of French immigrants and Brazilian elites in cities such as Rio de Janeiro, the then imperial capital, were studying the writings of a French intellectual who wrote under the name of Allan Kardec. Their learning was filtered through a Brazilian culture that previously had syncretized an indigenous Amerindian religious tradition with a mystical folk Catholicism. In Amerindian practice a shaman, often dancing in a whirl of smoke, offered help to members of the community, while in folk Catholicism the faithful regularly interacted with a world of saints and souls of the dead from whom they sought help. The early Brazilian students of Kardec combined these features of their traditions with the French intellectual‘s view of a world of spirits and then experimentally applied the mixture as some of them sought an alternative to the medicine then practiced. Allan Kardec was the pseudonym taken by Léon Dénizarth Hyppolyte Rivail (1804-1869), a scholar and educator from Lyon, who lived in Paris. There he codified what is referred to as ―Spiritism‖ in Brazil, Hispanic Latin America and the Caribbean. The revival of the belief that living human beings were able to communicate with the world of the dead had its modern origin in Hydesville, New York, in the 1840s (Weisberg 2004). From there it spread rapidly through North America and across the Atlantic Ocean. In England a vibrant movement known as Spiritualism developed from which psychic research and parapsychology later spun off. Rivail learned about the beliefs and organized his own séances. Through intermediaries he posed more than one thousand questions to what he refers to as ―enlightened‖ spirits (of the dead). Rival organized their responses in a series of books and articles that he offered as a third ―revelation‖ intended to explain and elaborate the prophecies brought to humanity by Moses and Christ.*

* Surprisingly, he made no mention of Mohammed although he certainly must have been aware of Islam.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

114

Sidney M. Greenfield

Rivail (Kardec) accepted the Judeo-Christian postulation of an allpowerful, supreme deity who created the cosmos. According to this new revelation, God created not one universe, but two interdependent and interconnected domains. The inhabitants of both are in potential communication and contact with those in the other. Human beings exist in what the Codifier, as his followers refer to Kardec, called the ―material world,‖ the place where they are born, live and eventually die. But it is spirits, created prior to humans, who are the ―intelligent principle of the universe.‖ They are the vital force that brings together the worlds of spirit and matter. Spirits come to earth periodically taking (incarnating in) material bodies. When they disincarnate (die), they discard the disposable container of a physical body and return to the spirit world. According to Kardec, spirits have an everlasting astral body that enables them to live in their ethereal, low-density world. Attached to this body is a permanent semi-material covering composed of a bioplasmic substance (ectoplasm), called the perispirit. The perispirit is fastened at birth to the somatic body selected for use in a particular incarnation. The coupling of the astral and the material bodies brings together the two domains, unifying them in a single interrelated system. Descartes had previously opposed them as body and mind (which included spirit) providing the imagery that is paradigmatic for modern medicine. The Codifier‘s post-Cartesian re-joining is the essence of Spiritism and the traditions it influenced, especially with respect to healing and therapy. The Codifier taught that when the world was formed, God placed each of the countless number of spirits on a course of development that was defined in moral terms. A spirit is not limited to a single birth to death experience. Repeated travels from its domain to the material plane and then back again are not aimless, but are part of a moral dynamic that provides meaning to life and the universe. The presence of any one in this plane at a particular time is part of its transcendental project to improve and advance ethically to a point at which it no longer is required to return to this sphere. The purpose of each incarnation is to learn lessons that contribute to long-term moral growth. Perfection is defined in Judeo-Christian terms. Jesus Christ, though not accepted as the the Son of God, is considered a prophet and the most advanced moral force ever to come into our world. His words and deeds, as interpreted by Kardec (1987), are taken by Kardec‘s followers to be the standard of virtue and righteousness. When death in this realm occurs, the spirit abandons its physical body and returns to the other domain where enlightened beings help it to evaluate the

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Ritual Healing

115

recently completed incarnation and offer advise in the selection of the next lesson(s) that would advance its transcendental development program. In this sense, the material world may be thought of as a schoolhouse that presents a series of obstacles each entity must master in order to advance along its developmental path. Since spirits are attributed free will, they may choose to disregard the lesson(s) they select for a given incarnation. For example, if one returns to earth to acquire the value of temperance, it may experience such pleasure drinking, taking drugs or engaging in other excesses that it may decide to disregard what it came to accomplish. Between when it selects what it is to learn in a specific lifetime and its death, a spirit could forget what it had come back to earth to accomplish. There is no punishment for this, but there are consequences that may manifest as personal problems, either here or in the other realm. The balance between good and bad (or right and wrong) choices made by a spirit over multiple incarnations in both worlds is conceptualized by the Sanskrit term karma, or fate. When a person does not learn what was intended in an incarnation there is no fall back along its developmental trajectory. Instead, tasks not learned in one lifetime must be repeated and mastered in future incarnations. It may take some spirits several rebirths to surmount certain obstacles. Consequently, the spirits on earth, and those in the other plane, are highly diverse in their degree of advancement along their respective paths to perfection. Kardec‘s writings arrived in Brazil in the second half of the 19th century and were initially read by French immigrants and urban intellectuals and elites in the fast growing and turbulent metropolitan centers. It was only later that they were translataed into Portuguese enabling the populace to learn about them. As in the United States and Europe, people in Brazil who adopted the belief that the living could communicate with the spirits of the dead met in small groups at which an operator attempted to communicate with a deceased person most often on behalf of a bereaved loved one. Some of Kardec‘s Brazilian followers changed the standard séance practice by asking not the spirit of a specific deceased person, but what he called ―enlightened beings‖ to explain why a distinct living person was experiencing symptoms of illness. When their answer contained a prescription for medications, future sessions became healing consultations in which the operator asked the spirits, on behalf of a patient -- who did not have to be present -- to provide therapy. The operator wrote down the prescription -- often automatically without being consciously aware of what he was doing -- and passed it along to the ailing party or his representative. The leader of the séance was believed to

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

.

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

116

Sidney M. Greenfield

have entered into a trance state, and thus served as a medium between the living and the dead. Questions from and about problems in this world were transmitted through the medium to the spirit world and responded to by beings in that dimension. A surprising number of patients began to recover. In what seems to be a parallel with the folk Catholic practice of fulfilling a vow by performing acts of worship in return or exchange for the successful intervention of a saint (see Greenfield and Cavalcante 2006), the parties that regained their health felt obligated to attend Spiritist meetings and participate in what was rapidly becoming Spiritism‘s primary mission in Brazil: doing charity. For Kardec, whose revised view of Christianity had dispensed with heaven and hell, charity was the way the wishes of God were satisfied. It was the highest moral value he distilled from the teachings of Christ. ―Without charity, he titled the widely quoted Chapter 15 of his interpretation of the Christian Gospel (Kardec 1987), ―there is no salvation.‖ Spiritism in Brazil developed into an ethic of practical charity (see Renshaw 1969:74). ―Spiritism without charity,‖ writes St. Clair (1971:115), ―is inconceivable: It just is not Spiritism.‖ Spiritist charity took two main forms in the largest country in Latin America: the giving of social assistance to the poor and healing (McGregor 1967:93). From the outset, Spiritist centers used donations by their elite and middleclass members to make allopathic drugs and a variety of plants and herbal remedies available to those for whom the spirits prescribed them. They also offered homeopathic drugs – that fought illnesses by introducing tiny doses of the disease into the patient.* Séances in which an operator asked the spirits to provide treatment for a patient became a centerpiece of the Brazilian reformulation of the Codifier‘s system. Members of the new category of healer-medium learned – from the spirits -- how fluids and energies could be transferred from the other world to this one in order to facilitate the recovery of patients. The spirits helped those experimenting with Kardecist practice understand the causes of the symptoms described leading to a distinctive type of therapy that differed from that offered by conventional medicine and specifically its developing field of psychiatry. Spirits who had left their material bodies after disincarnating, but had not returned to the spirit world immediately, they were told, were the cause of a number of behavioral disorders. Not aware that they *

The practice of homeopathy had been brought to Brazil in the mid to late 19th century by disciples of its creator, Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843), and gained popularity with early followers of Kardec.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Ritual Healing

117

no longer were in the body they had occupied during the lifetime just ended, these confused spirits occasionally moved into the (already taken) body of some other person and tried to continue to perform with it the activities to which they were accustomed in this world. If the souls of the dead in folkCatholicism could influence the lives and behaviors of the living, why, Kardecist intellectuals reasoned, couldn‘t the spirits (of the dead) do something similar? Behavioral disorders were just beginning to be addressed by psychiatry. When no physical evidence such as lesions on the brain could be found, Kardecist-Spiritists maintained that errant spirits were the cause of these behavioral anomalies. Patients, referred by family and friends because they acted inappropriately and contradictory to their previous social performances were diagnosed as being obsessed by a misbehaving spirit. Treatment was to ―disobsess‖ them by convincing the second spirit to vacate the body and return to the spirit world to plan its next incarnation. When this approach obtained positive results, Brazilian Kardecist-Spiritists began to treat patients that medical practitioners and psychiatrists designated as ―insane‖ with disobsessions. Brazilian Spiritism and its healing practices were transformed further as the result of contact with practitioners of African-derived religions whose terreiros (places of worship) often were located nearby the centers of the more affluent, mostly educated, followers of Kardec. West African religions differed from those of Europe (and North America) in that while in the latter the faithful communicated and interacted with their conceptualization of the supernatural almost exclusively through spoken words or in thought, African deities were believed by their adherents to ―come down‖ from another plane of reality and incorporate, taking possession of the bodies of specially trained devotees so that they, the deities, would be able to be and interact with their worshippers. Early followers of Kardec in Brazil at first communicated in words with spirits (through mediums at séances) asking them questions and receiving their replies. Exposure to the recently emancipated Afro-Brazilians practicing spirit possession led those adapting Kardec‘s reinterpretation of Christianity to conditions in Brazil to experiment with and eventually adopt this custom. Spirits of doctors or healers from other traditions soon were believed not just to be able to communicate with the living and provide them with prescriptions for medicines they now were incorporating in mediums and interacting directly with those in need of their services. The mediums appeared to be behaving like incarnate medical providers. It was believed that the spirits could bring the more advanced techniques known in their world that enabled them to do surgeries, for example, without sterilizing instruments or

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

118

Sidney M. Greenfield

anesticizing the recipients of their good works. Moreover, since healing by the spirits, like all aspects of Kardecist practice, is done as charity, neither the spirits nor their mediums charge a fee. The growing number of sick Brazilians availing themselves of these treatments, and foreigners who learn about it from friends or media reports, include not only the poor, who might be influenced by the lack of a fee, but also the affluent and educated such as Mrs. Budazy who sought the help of the spirit guide of the medium in Recife. Their level of satisfaction is shown in the results of a small sample of patients treated by the spirit of the same Dr. Fritz that treated Mrs. Budazy, but this time through a medium named Mauricio Magalhães, that I conducted several years ago (see Greenfield 1997). Eighty eight percent of the respondents claimed that they had been helped by the treatment provided by the spirit while 81 percent said that they felt better after receiving it. Moreover, 88 percent said that they would recommend the spirit and his medium to others while 91 percent said that should they take sick again they would prefer to seek help from a healermedium and the spirits rather than a doctor. Of those who previously had been prescribed medical treatment for the same symptoms, most no longer were following that regimen, but were replacing it with a new one sent from the ―other plane.‖ Why should the spirit of a person who had been trained in medicine in a previous lifetime (or as a healer in another tradition) and was preparing to continue its transcendental trajectory in pursuit of perfection by reincarnating be expected to stop what it is doing and treat patients using the body of an incarnate medium? The answer is to be found in Kardecism‘s interpretation of the concept of karma. As each spirit travels over time, incarnating, disincarnating and reincarnating across the millennia, it is constantly making choices. These decisions, made in both the material and spirit worlds, are evaluated morally in terms of good and bad. The positive or negative balance is conceptualized as the spirit‘s karma. Spirits with negative balances may correct them during succeeding incarnations. African derived spirit possession made it possible to improve a negative karmic balance much faster. A spirit trained in a previous lifetime as a healer in scientific medicine or another tradition could return temporarily, using the body of a living person willing to serve as its medium, and accumulate positive karmic value by treating the sick as charity. Other spirits with valued talents also are believed to return temporarily through mediums and, by performing charitable acts, counterbalance earlier poor choices.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Ritual Healing

119

Dr. Adolph Fritz‘ much-publicized surgeries – performed without anesthesia or antisepsis – brought Mrs. Budazy to see his medium Edson Queiroz in Recife. The mythology that has grown up around the spirit doctor is that he last lived on earth during World War I when he served as a doctor in the German army. It was rumored that his lavish lifestyle prior to joining the Kaiser‘s forces was made possible by the ill-gotten gains of his maternal grandparents and his father. After he was killed in the war and in the process of being counseled to prepare for his next incarnation by a spirit who had once been a priest in Brazil, they were interrupted by the spirit of a famous 18th century Brazilian sculptor who informed Dr. Fritz of the great need for medical care in that country (see Greenfield 2006b). In the 1950s the disincarnate doctor appeared in Zé Arigó, the first of a series of mediums in what is said to be his project to rebalance his karmic deficit preceding his return to his transcendental program. Other spirits that collectively have provided Spiritism with a surgical alternative to treatment with medications followed him. Since surgeons always work in teams, each of the spirits to gain popular renown was joined by the spirits of nurses, anesthesiologists, orderlies and others believed to be wishing to improve their karmas. If spirits are able return to the material world temporarily and improve their karma by doing charity, why, some followers of Kardec asked, could the movement from one plane to the other not work in the reverse? Could incarnate patients suffering from illnesses modern medicine is not yet able to heal be helped to travel to the spirit plane without disincarnating, to take advantage of the more advanced forms of treatment available there? Applying innovative forms of modern physics, one group of Brazilian Kardecists claims to be doing just that (see Greenfield 1992; 2006a). They contend that they are able to separate the astral body from the somatic one a spirit uses while in the material world and transport (or teleport) it to the other plane by concentrating intense amounts of energy. Through an arrangement with a hospital run by disincarnate spirit doctors – who customarily treat spirits for uncured illnesses carried over from previous lives on earth or contracted in the spirit world -- an operator is said to ―send‖ patients to the other world, accompanied by mediums. On a large television-like screen, past lives of the incarnate patient, both on earth and on the spirit plane are disclosed. The action is stopped to emphasize an incident in which the suffering party committed an offense, considered immoral, against another who has chosen to take revenge rather than reincarnate and pursue its transcendental development. At times the offended party is reported to have

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

120

Sidney M. Greenfield

enlisted the aid of a practitioner of black magic who may place an ―electrical device‖ in his victim‘s body that is the immediate cause of its suffering. Treatment is an elaboration of the disobsession procedure. The leader of the group on earth challenges the spirit responsible for the pain, reminding it that revenge is inappropriate and unacceptable. Instead it should move on by reincarnating and pursuing its own development. When its deed is placed in the context of the belief system‘s understanding of morality the offending party eventually is convinced by logic and reason to admit that seeking vengeance is wrong. It apologizes and asks the spirit whose pain it has caused for forgiveness. The practitioner of black magic is ordered to remove all of the devices. The spirit of the suffering patient apologizes for what it did that precipitated the desire for reprisal. Both reaffirm the moral principles of the belief system in a theatrical-like performance and agree on the importance of reincarnation and development (see Greenfield 2006a). Patients suffering from what have been diagnosed by medical professionals as schizophrenia, epilepsy, bipolar disorder and even autism to name a few, who have been teleported to the spirit world for treatment are reported to have benefited from this approach (see Hervé 2006; Hervé et al 2003; Greenfield 2009). Kardecist-Spiritism is not the only belief system in Brazil in which supernatural beings practice alternative forms of therapy through intermediaries based on an understanding of the relationship between humans and the cosmos and the causes of illness and its handling that differs from that of western science, medicine and everyday common sense. If one of Mrs. Budazy‘s relatives had a positive experience with any one of them, they might have recommended that form of treatment to the widow. If Mrs. Budazy believed it appropriate, she would have behaved differently and, perhaps, as did Celestina, visited an Umbanda center to obtain help (see Greenfield 2008:127ff).

PATIENT TREATMENT IN UMBANDA AND OTHER “POPULAR” RELIGIONS Umbanda is a syncretic religion that combines aspects of the beliefs and practices of Kardecist-Spiritism with those of the various African derived traditions brought to Brazil and reformulated there by slaves. According to its origin myth, Umbanda came into being at a KardecistSpiritist meeting in the city of Niteroi, across the bay from Rio de Janeiro,

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Ritual Healing

121

early in the second decade of the 20th century. It was there that the spirit of a Brazilian Indian (called a caboclo) incorporated in a medium and verbally outlined the basic features of a new faith (see Trinidade 1989). The spirit set forth ―a brand new set of rules, regulations, chants drumbeats, herbal cures, curses, dance steps, etc‖ (St. Clair 1971:136). The proposed creed combined representations and symbolic imageries taken from the three founding populations of Brazil and their cultures. In its attempt to resolve the dilemma of the nation‘s racial mixture, Umbanda was to be the religion for the multiracial and multicultural nation the mythmakers were attempting to create (see Brown 1994:ch. 3). Brazilian Kardecists, consistent with the racist beliefs then prevalent, did not accept the possibility that the enlightenment they sought in their communication with beings on the other plane could be obtained from spirits who had not been European in their previous incarnations. But the early years of the 20th century was a period of intellectual ferment in Brazil. An educated elite was struggling to provide the recently established Republican political regime with symbols and images of national unity and identity. The racist thinking then prevalent presented them with a dilemma. The non-white majority of the population was considered incapable of contributing to the development of the modern, economically advanced society Brazil aspired to become. To counter this, some intellectuals formulated the myth that their country was a racial democracy that had been established by the mixing, both physically and culturally – since biology and culture were fused in this thinking – of its founding populations of Amerindians, Europeans and Africans (see Maggie 1996). Moreover, they contended, the nonwhite population would mate and mix with the descendents of the early European settlers and new immigrants, to ―whiten‖ the future citizenry (Maio and Santos 1996:part I). Umbanda‘s cosmology was a mixture taken from aspects of the supernatural pantheons of the contributing belief systems. The Judeo-Christian Supreme Being and creator of the universe, is viewed in the positivist, scientific vision of Kardec. God is no longer involved in the day-to-day running of the universe which is assumed to have been left, not in the hands of humans as Enlightenment thinkers proposed, but with lesser deities such as the already syncretized Christian saints and African-derived orixás. To these were added four additional categories of uniquely Brazilian beings: 1) the Caboclos, or spirits of cooperative and helpful Amerindians; 2) the Pretos Velhos, subservient spirits of former slaves who were devoted to their masters; 3) Exus, or street people, who represented spirits that had incarnated previously

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

122

Sidney M. Greenfield

in the many diverse types of ordinary Brazilians including pimps, prostitutes, gamblers, con-men and other marginal types; and 4) Crianças, or children who were the racially mixed and unified Brazilians of the future. One or more of these entities are received by and incorporate in Umbanda mediums when they enter trance states as they sing and dance in the manner outlined in the instructions given by the spirits to the initial group in Niteroi and performed in public sessions throughout the country. Like the spirits of deceased doctors and healers in Kardecism, Pretos Velhos, Caboclos and Exus in Umbanda help those in need working through mediums with their medical, practical and spiritual problems. Doing this charity, along with reincarnation, provides the basis for Umbanda‘s view of spiritual evolution (see Brown 1994:62). Umbanda, like Kardecist-Spiritism and the African-derived groups, is organized in de-centralized centers large and small. Some are big enough to accommodate several hundred or more adherents and visitors at a time, although many, like the Casa de Vovô Maria, can host only a dozen or so individuals. Each group is semi-autonomous and while the members of the larger ones may be well educated and even affluent, most are small and attended by the poorest segment of the national population. The only relationship between one center and another is through the ritual initiation of their respective leaders. Public sessions, such as the one Celestina and her cousin attended, begin with a cleansing ceremony after which devotees dance in the characteristic circle (gira) to music provided by drums (atabaques). They sing special chants to invoke a variety of African deities whose individual characteristics have been syncretized with specific Catholic saints. This is followed by a second ritual segment during which the head of the center, the mother or father in sainthood (mãe or pae-de-santo) and her or his children (filhos) being taught the tradition receive one of the uniquely Umbanda spirits. These spirits provide the healing and aid with personal problems as charity to both members and visitors during individual consultations. In return for the assistance, the spirits inform those seeking help (in whatever ceremony they attend) that they have the ability to become mediums and are urged to return to the center to develop this talent. When the training is completed the new initiates will be able to receive their own spirits, create independent centers and expand the good works and charity of the religion. Celestina received treatment from a pomba gira, a spirit of a former prostitute that helped clients through Mãe Edna, her medium. The spirit already was incorporated in the mãe-de-santo when the young beautician entered the alcove at the Casa de Vovô Maria. After prescribing the teas and

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Ritual Healing

123

baths, Celestina was told that if she wished a total cure she would have to return to the center and make appropriate sacrifices to the spirits. When her discomfort persisted and the fights with her boyfriend escalated, the young woman purchased the specified items and returned with them to the Umbanda center. Had her pains not abated and she not recovered, Celestina might have returned to the medical clinic and, after further examination, been given another prescription. She could have been referred for diagnostic tests or perhaps sent to one of the growing number of psychiatric clinics opened under government auspices if the medical provider thought the problem was psychosomatic or mental. But, on hearing her story, which without doubt she would have continued relating, another friend or kinsperson might have recommended she turn to one of the ―more African‖ religious centers. There she would be directed to seek the aid of the orixá(s) ritually divined to be the ―owner(s) of her head‖ who would prescribe a course of treatment along with instructions for proper ritual behaviors. And had her symptoms disappeared following her fulfilling the instructions and participation in those rituals, she might have entered an initiatory training program during which she would learn to care for the orixás in a more ―traditionally African‖ way. Alternatively, had the pains still persisted, the young woman would have continued seeking help, perhaps next being directed by yet another member of her social network to the pastor of one of the many Evangelical churches. Her trajectory then might have been similar to one taken by Creuza, an informant of Cecília Mariz‘s (1994:38), who, when she became humiliated and desperate after her husband was unable to find work and she took sick leaving their children destitute, made a vow, not to a Roman Catholic saint, or a syncretized Afro-Brazilian orixá, but rather directly to the God of the Protestants. Creuza promised that if God gave a job to her husband, enabled her to get food for her family without begging and cured her, she would join the church and become a crente (a Protestant). In this situation, a pastor, as intermediary for the Holy Spirit, would have provided the aid and treatment.

CONCLUSION There are thousands of mostly small, semi-independent religious groups scattered throughout Brazil that represent the outcomes of the fusing and remixing of beliefs and practices that have their roots in diverse African, European and Amerindian traditions. Most of their members neither know nor

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

124

Sidney M. Greenfield

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

care from where what they hold dear and gives meaning to their lives came. What appears to be a constant in the great variety of beliefs and practices that has emerged from the continuing religious commingling that attracts new followers is the central place of a ritual in which healing is provided by a supernatural being. In the large urban centers, characterized by great disparities in wealth and excessive poverty, in which sanitation and health facilities are notoriously poor, the sick and suffering are attracted to religious meetings in which, through the leader who serves as a medium, in what bears a strong resemblance to a doctor caring for a patient, a supernatural being diagnoses and treats their infirmities and other problems. Whatever may be said about the efficacy of these procedures, as is the case with those provided by medical doctors, they do not always result in the disappearance of the symptoms. Nor do they always solve the other problems of the people in need. When this happens, an Osimarina Budazy or a Celestina de Araujo Santos will turn to another group, suggested by a friend or relative. There she will bring with her some of what she learned while participating in the previous group. As a result, Brazilians often pass through a series of religions over the course of their lifetime. As they do so they add to the syncretic mixture that results in the diversity of religious groups that characterize their society.

REFERENCES Brown, Diana DeG. 1994 [1986]. Umbanda: Religion and Politics in Urban Brazil. (New York: Columbia University Press). Greenfield, Sidney M. 2009. Our Science is Better than Yours: Two Decades of Data on Patients Treated by a Kardecist-Spiritist Healing Group in Rio Grande do Sul. Anthropology of Consciousness, 20(2):101–110. ---------. 2008. Spirits with Scalpels: The Culturalbiology of Spirit Healing in Brazil. (Walnut Creek, CA: Left Cost Press). ---------. 2006a. Treating the Sick with a Morality Play: The Kardecist-Spiritist Disobsession in Brazil. Social Analysis 48(2):174-94. ---------. 2006b. ―Dr. Fritz: Myth, Man and Spirit Guide.‖ A paper presented on the session ―The Social Lives of Spirits‖ at the 105th Annual Meetings of the American Anthropological Association, San Jose, CA, November 15-19, 2006. ---------. 2002. ―The Pragmatics of Conversion in the Brazilian Religious Marketplace.‖ In Dwight B. Heath, ed., Contemporary Cultures and Societies of Latin America: A Reader in the Social Anthropology of

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Ritual Healing

125

Middle and South America. Third Edition. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press, pp. 490-96. ---------. 1997. The Patients of Dr. Fritz: Assessments of Treatment by a Brazilian Soiritist Healer. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 61:372-83. ---------. 1995. Spirits, Medicine and Charity: A Brazilian Woman’s Cure for Cancer. Video Documentary. Milwaukee: Media Resource Department, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. ---------. 1992. Spirits and Spiritist Therapy in Southern Brazil: A Case Study of an Innovative, Syncretic Healing Group. Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry:16:23-51. Greenfield, Sidney M. & Cavalcante, Antonio Mourão. 2006. Pilgrimage and Patronage in Brazil: A Paradigm for Social Relations and Religious Diversity. Luso-Brazilian Review 43(2):63-89. Greenfield, Sidney M. & Droogers, André, Eds. 2001. Reinventing Religions: Syncretism and Transformation in Africa and the Americas. (Lanham, MD: Roman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc). Hervé, Ivan. 2006. Reencarnação: A Única Explicação. (Porto Alegre: Editora Age). Hervé, Ivan, Sele da Silva, Rogério, Borges, Volnei and Eva Isable Tejada. 2003. Apometria: A Conexão Entre a Ciência e o Espiritismo. Porto Alegre: Dacasa Editora/Livraria Palmarinca. Kardec, Allan. 1987 [1864]. The Gospel According to Spiritism. J. Duncan, trans. English translation from the 3rd edition of the original French, published in 1866. (London: Headquarters Publishing Co. Ltd.). ------------. n.d. [1857]. The Spirits Book. A. Blackwell, trans. (São Paulo: Lake – Livraria Alllan Kardek Editora Ltd.). Maggie, Yvonne. 1996. Aqueles a Quem foi Negado a Cor do Dia: As Categories Cor e Raça na Cultura Brasileira. In Raça Ciência e Sociedade. Marcos C. Maio and Ricardo V. Santos, eds., pp. 225-34. (Rio de Janeiro: Editora FIOCRUZ/CCBB). Maio, Marcos C. and Ricardo V. Santos.1996. Raça Ciência e Sociedade. (Rio de Janeiro: Editora FIOCRUZ/CCBB). Mariz, Cecília Loreto. 1994. Coping with Poverty: Pentecostals and Christian Based Communities in Brazil. (Philadelphia: Temple University Press). McGregor, Pedro. 1967. Jesus of the Spirits. (New York: Stein and Day). Renshaw, Park. 1969. A Sociological Analysis of Spiritism in Brazil. PhD dissertation, University of Florida, Gainesville. St. Clair, David. 1971. Drum and Candle. (Garden City, NY: Doubleday).

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

126

Sidney M. Greenfield

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Trinidade, D.F. 1989. Iniciação à Umbanda. 2nd Edition. (São Paulo: Triade Editora, Ltda). Weisberg, Barbara. 2004. Talking to the Dead: Kate and Maggie Fox and the Rise of Spiritism. (San Francisco: Harper San Francisco).

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

In: Rituals: Types, Efficacy and Myths Editors: E. De Smet et al.

ISBN 978-1-61470-608-3 ©2012 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Chapter 5

THE MYTH OF AYAHUASCA Janine Tatjana Schmid Institute of Medical Psychology, University of Heidelberg, Germany

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

ABSTRACT Ayahuasca is a psychoactive substance from the Amazon where it is used traditionally for healing, divination and other shamanic purposes. Since 20 years ayahuasca rituals have spread around the globe attracting Western users, concurrent with religious churches (Santo Daime, Uniao do Vegetal, etc.) using ayahuasca as a sacrament in their ceremonies. Nearly all kinds of ayahuasca rituals were considered as 'healing rituals' by participants of ayahuasca ceremonies. 'Healing' is not limited to the cure of physical and mental diseases but expand to a lot of psychological and even spiritual problems. This paper overviews the different kind of ayahuasca rituals in Europe and deals with four myths about this legendary vine.

INTRODUCTION „Shortly after having drunk the potion, a hyper-excitation is felt in the body, which produces a pleasant agitation in the epiderm and livens the kinesthetic sense, giving one the imagined state of being suspended in air. Once the narcotic is fully activated, various mental reactions and activities, or merely phantasmagoric, supervene.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

128

Janine Tatjana Schmid

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

One under the control of the narcotic sees unroll before him quite a spectacle: most lovely landscapes, monstrous animals, vipers which approach and wind down his body or are entwined like rolls of thick cable, at a few centimeters distance; as well, one sees who are true friends and those who betray him or who have done him ill; he observes the cause of the illness which he sustains, at the same time being presented with the most advantageous remedy; he takes part in fantastic hunts; the things which he most dearly loves or abhors acquire in these moments extraordinary vividness and color, and the scenes in which his life normally develop adopt the most beautiful and emotional expression ‖ (Villarejo 1953, p. 190-191).

Ayahuasca a Quechuan word meaning ―vine of the souls or spirits‖ or ―vine of the dead‖ is quite famous for its properties (medical and religious purposes, mind-altering effects or psychoactivity) and its use is accompanied by many myths. The myths about this unique substance are not only legendary to indigenous tribes in South America but also to people in North America or Europe. Ayahuasca is known under different names like yagé, caapi, natem, mihi, dapa, daime or hoasca. It is a psychoactive beverage from the Amazon and Orinoco basin of South America where it has been used by traditional indigenous cultures for divination, healing and other 'shamanic' purposes for at least a hundred years. Luna (1986) identified 72 indigenous groups of the Upper Amazon using ayahuasca for medico-religious purposes in shamanic rituals. From the beginning of the 20th century, a number of religious and other cultural groups (Santo Daime, União do Vegetal (UDV)) have integrated this potion into different cultural settings, including psychotherapeutic treatment. In these syncretistic rituals1 and religious contexts ayahuasca is used as a sacrament. The Brazilian Ayahuasca religions belong to a marginalized class of religions. They cultivate ecstatic behaviors and altered states of mind to develop their form of spirituality. A newer and presumably very rare form of consuming Ayahuasca or Ayahuasca analogues are do-it-yourself rituals, invented by Westerners. The ingredients of the Ayahuasca brew are often brought from (online) shops or mail orders specialized on the sale of (psychoactive) plants or herbals. These rituals can be very different: from hedonistic use out of individual curiosity to neo-shamanic rituals or religious use of various traditions (including Buddhism as well). The reputation of 1

I use the terms ‗ritual‘ and ‗ceremony‘ as synonyms in this paper to describe social settings that are more or less formalized and contain elements of religious and philosophical symbolization and repetition (Kreinath et al. 2006, Jungaberle 2006).

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

The Myth of Ayahuasca

129

Ayahuasca has become an attractor for very different individuals with different religious belief systems or different social networks. The myth of ayahuasca begins with the Yagé letters that mark the beginning of an 'ayahuasca tourism' – expeditions to South America in search for the legendary drink. Also Terence McKenna searching for 'true hallucinations' from psychoactive mushrooms in the Amazon contributes to this effect of a growing interest in indigenous rituals with psychoactive substances and the potion itself slowly became part of subcultural streams in Western society. Ayahuasca became famous for triggering fantastic visions (‗hallucinations‘) like the following:

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

„The scene was that of a grand Aztec ceremony. Human beings were being sacrificed and I was one of those thus designated. I first considered resisting, but soon I realized that this would be of no avail. Thus I altered my attitude und willingly let the priest in charge carry me to the top of the pyramid. There I was placed on the altar and the priests were above me, to take my heart. Without any coercion, I was offering myself. With this, my entire feeling changed radically. From a terrifying scenario of torture and death it all turned into a wonderful process of rebirth and salvation. 2 (Shanon 2002, p. 145) .

What we have to face now is not only a special substance with special properties but also its connection with religious or spiritual ideas and attitudes, certain forms of rituals and last but not least a challenge to international drug policy. Ayahuasca has become a highly symbolic identity good which for many signifies an alternative orientation towards the mind, particularly the mind-set of rationalism, towards society and nature. This process had strongly accelerated since the 1990ties, enthusing parts of the psychonautic, spiritual and scientific field. On the other hand academics, tourists and escapists have invaded indigenous and mestizo cultures of South America and contributed to a dramatic transformation of social structures, symbolic systems and shamanic techniques not only of indigenous peoples (Dobkin de Rios 1994; Ott 1994). Most interesting about Ayahuasca is, that it has largely remained to be embedded into distinct ritual forms. A ritual system is a network of social and symbolic relations and performances, philosophies, myths and narratives. This is both a chance and a problem: strong ritual forms seem to always create reformist and anti-ritualistic countermovements, to many they appear to be 2

Shanon is a cognitive psychologist from the Hebrew University. He examined the phenomenology of the ayahuasca experience in his book ‗The Antipodes of the Mind‘ (2002).

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

130

Janine Tatjana Schmid

anti-modern. Some people may be bewildered by the uniforms of Santo Daime compared to the individual clothing of self called Ayahuasceros or individualistic neoshamanic practitioners. So, with the slow expansion of the Brazilian Ayahuasca religions, individualistic and non-institutional forms are spreading, too. Ayahuasca use shows how different spiritual traditions may merge, how different kind of rituals develop or stabilize (see Jungaberle et al. 2006, 2008).

DIFFERENT FORMS OF AYAHUASCA RITUALS IN EUROPE In this paper I differentiate three major settings of Ayahuasca use – Santo Daime rituals, indigenous or (neo-) shamanic ceremonies and self-made rituals. These three are the most prominent Ayahuasca rituals in Europe. While Ayahuasca is explicitly legal for religious use in Brazil since 1986, the legal status of Ayahuasca generally remains in a grey area in most countries. Recent legal conflicts in Europe resulted in tolerating its use in the Netherlands and Spain but it is forbidden in France and Germany.

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

1.) Santo Daime Santo Daime was founded in the Brazilian Amazonian state of Acre in the 1930s and became a small but worldwide movement in the 1990s. Santo Daime is a syncretistic spiritual practice incorporating elements of several religious or spiritual traditions, strongly influenced by catholic services. (Labate et al. 2008). In Europe, Santo Daime rituals are held in churches3 or private rooms or houses. There are three main kinds of Santo Daime rituals: Hinários, concentrações and curas. Participants drink Daime, (as the members of the church call the brew), as a sacrament in all types of ritual. Ceremonies, which are called trabalhos, meaning "works", typically last for several hours. Hinários ("hymnals") involve dancing with a special formalized step called bailado and singing hymns. Those rituals may last up to twelve hours. Concentraçãos are silent, seated meditations, where sequences of hymns are sung without any dancing. Although it is proposed by the group itself that all 3

This depends on the legal situation. In the Netherlands, Santo Daime is tolerated and therefore the services can be held up in churches. In other countries, like France and Germany, Santo Daime rituals this would not be possible.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

The Myth of Ayahuasca

131

Santo Daime rituals to have healing effects, the curas are particularly created for healing. Participants are sitting on chairs while singing special hymns for healing. They sometimes include healing mediumship sessions or the use of special healing practices.

2.) Indigenous, Mestizo or Neo-Shamanic Healing Rituals Ayahuasca has probably been used in South American by indigenous cultures. It is one of the traditional tools of some shamans in South America, and in many regions it is still today a common medicine used for finding and treating various ailments as well as for its vision-inducing effects. It is also used for divination, finding lost objects and even sorcery. Those rituals in Europe usually take place either in a tent or in a (seminar-like) room. Participants are sitting in semi-darkness at night. At times they are allowed to rest on blankets or sleeping bags; sometimes they sit on the floor or on chairs depending on instructions of the guide and the location of the ritual.

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

3.) „Self-Made‟ Rituals ‗Self-made‘ rituals are considered all rituals that a selective, small group of users created by themselves. Such rituals often include elements from other cultural settings including the ones mentioned before. Sometimes they are called Do-it-yourself rituals - DIY rituals - (Adelaars 2000, Adelaars et al. 2006). Such rituals are very diversified (without a firm shape or delineated philosophical commitments). Some people ‗cook‘ their own brew and perform their own ritual, others initiate ceremonies that are supposed to imitate indigenous shamanic rituals. Often an experienced user facilitates these ceremonies. Sometimes these rituals resemble traditional rituals from South America, mixed with traditions from North American Indians (f.ex. sweat lodge). These can even be self created rituals like ‗nature works‘ which means that people take a small amount of ayahuasca and go for a walk in nature (f.ex. in the mountains or in the woods).

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

132

Janine Tatjana Schmid

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

1. MYTH: AYAHUASCA IS USED SAFELY BY MANKIND FOR CENTURIES The first myth I want to talk about ayahuasca refers to the time since when ayahuasca is traditionally used. Ayahuasca seems to be quite famous for its long term use- back to ancient time at least for hundreds or even thousands of years. This information can be found in many books and websites in the internet and this view is in some parts shared by some researches (Andritzky 1989, Luna 1986, Dobkin de Rios 1982/2001) more or less claiming a broad use of ayahuasca for centuries. Nowadays, some anthropologists (de Mori 2009) doubt this evidence showing that ayahuasca use might be a 'quite' new phenomenon of about a 100 years. One of earliest reference of ayahuasca use was in Richard Spruce's book of 1908 ‗Notes of a Botanist on the Amazon and Andes‘ (Stafford 1992, p. 334). It seems that not all tribes in the Amazon have used Ayahuasca for a long time, in fact, a few seem to use it just for about 20 years (Glenn Shepard, Amazon Conference Heidelberg 2010). Of course, there is more research needed to clear this. Even if we are not sure with the case of ayahuasca it seems to be quite clear that there are strong proofs (pictures, ceramics, reports etc.) showing that psychoactive substances in general are used for centuries. Nearly all psychoactive plants have been used within a culturally embedded positive and legal context at some times in history (Clottes 1997, Andritzky 1989, Furst 1982). Ancient wisdom („millennial indigenious knowledge―) is often taken for granted and sometimes used for legitimation and to deny negative effects or difficulties. As a result of this ayahuasca is often declared as safe with no ability to harm anyone (see myth 2) – justified that otherwise it would not have been used for centuries. Ayahuasca is made of a vine (Banisteriopsis caapi), a MAO (monoaminooxidase) inhibitor, to which usually a DMT (Dimethyltryptamine) containing plant is added (Psychotria viridis or Diplopterys caberena). Ayahuasca‘s active ingredients are the reversible monoamine-oxidase inhibitor harmine, the serotonin-reuptake inhibitor tetrahydroharmine which made the serotoninreceptor (5-HT2) agonist component N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) bioavailable for oral use, relatively potent and long-acting (Callaway et al. 1999). This is an interesting way of causing effects the human body but this process is not fully understood in all details (Callaway et al. 1988, 1994, 1998, 2005).

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

The Myth of Ayahuasca

133

In few cases (as observed in Europe) Ayahuasca is also available without a DMT-containing substance. This seems to be a kind of harm reduction to avoid negative reactions (f.ex. psychotic episodes, recall of traumata, ‗freak out‘ experience). This is another interesting factor for ritual dynamics. Rituals are changed and new elements are created and new safety aspects for European people are invented. In fact, this can be helpful to fit a ritual in existing structure and to make experiences more comfortable but such new forms of Ayahuasca rituals should not be mixed with ideas of ‗traditional use‘. Such developments must be analysed and discussed in further researches. From a psychologist point of view there are in fact vulnerable people who need – if they take part in such rituals at all – some more help to integrate these experiences and to be able to go back to daily life. This problem is solved very differently by the various facilitators of Ayahuasca rituals. It would be good if professional trained persons (trained in psychotherapy and with knowledge about these kind of rituals) could do such work to assist participants in coping with problems or with the intense experience itself. To integrate such experiences into daily life does not always occur as you would expect. Sometimes this can be hard work. Psychoactive plants are not ‗psychointegrators‘ (Winkelman 1995) by themselves, it is up to the participants to integrate their experiences into daily life (Jung 2006). Such safety aspects as mentioned above do not mean that the intense experience Ayahuasca could provide is dangerous or even poisonous (Riba et al. 1998, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006; Strassmann et al. 1994, Stuckey 2005). Despite the fact that ayahuasca tastes foul and frequently causes nausea and vomiting in people participants in ayahuasca rituals will not see this as a sign of being poisoned or that it is bad for their health. Instead they interpret vomiting as a sign of physic (cleansing the body) and psychic (emotional clearance) purge.

2. MYTH: AYAHUASCA IS A PANACEE, ABLE TO HEAL ALL KIND OF DISEASES „There is an interesting convergence that often happens between physical purging and psychic purging – what seems to be a kind of discharge of negatively toned psychic contents. People who do not have any appreciable physical toxicity in their system may find themselves throwing up and thereby releasing the toxic residues of past emotional entanglements, the guilt and shame loads of traumatic abuse, or the self-

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

134

Janine Tatjana Schmid limiting, self-defeating thought patterns of addictions, compulsions and other neurotic behaviors― (Metzner 1999, p. 278f).

Another example is from Shanon (2002, p.147) when he suffers from Malaria:

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

„I saw two snakes wrapped around each other. Seeing that, I realized that health and sickness are the two facets of one complex. Specifically, I reflected that if one engages with the snakes in one direction one is afflicted with disease, whereas in the other direction health and wellbeing are gained.―

Nearly all kinds of ayahuasca rituals were considered as 'healing rituals' by its participants (Winkelman 2005, Schmid et al. 2010). 'Healing'4 is not limited to the cure of physical and mental diseases but expand to a lot of psychological and even spiritual problems. In some ways it can be seen as exploration of our self, it can be a journey to our ‗inner worlds‘. Important is to note that our self is not one, we are many (Scharfetter 2002; 2008). The so called multiplicity of the self is particularly relevant to the exploration of Altered States. People explore into their shadows and sub-selves – into conflicting material which they have to live with. This raises a debate about different healing concepts reaching from the individual help of one's self or an 'inner healer' (a more or less psychological sight of view) to the help of otherworld spirits (a more indigenous or traditional sight of view). The vine offers spiritual powers by the way of establishing contact to normally hidden realms, powers or beings (‗outer world experiences‘). There are still many questions about the existence and various explanation and interpretations of ‗inner‘ and ‗outer worlds‘ which are unsolved or maybe unsolvable. In some ways these problems result in different cultural attributions (internal or external attributions) of effects from psychoactive plants. „In the tribal societies where these plants and plant preparations are used, they are regarded as embodiments of conscious intelligent beings that only become visible in special states of consciousness, and who can function as spiritual teachers and sources of healing power and 4

Healing is defined as a process that overlaps with being cured, yet is distinct. A cure is generally understood as an external medical intervention that eliminates the disease process in the patient. Healing by contrast is a process emerging from inner resources of the individual. It refers to a psychobiological process of becoming whole, which can take place at physical, mental, emotional and spiritual levels. There is a growing consensus that psychological healing may sometimes stimulate physical healing‖ (Kaplun 1992, p. 87).

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

The Myth of Ayahuasca

135

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

knowledge. The plants are referred to as ‚medicines‗, a term that means more than a drug: something like a healing power or energy that can be associated with a plant, a person, an animal, even a place. They are also referred to as ‚plant teachers‗ and there are still extant traditions of many -years-long initiations and trainings in the use of these medicines― (Metzner et al. 1999/2006, p. 3).

For a lot of people ayahuasca is such a kind of ‗medicine‘. For some it seems to be ‗the greatest medicine on earth‘ (Adelaars et al. 2006). In my study about the healing effects of ayahuasca (Schmid 2010) all 15 interviewed participants declared ayahuasca being a ‗medicine‘ in a broad sense. The term ‗medicine‘ usually has a spiritual or religious connotation. Adverse effects like intense vomiting and occasional diarrhoea – as mentioned before - were quite frequently reframed as perceptible signs of a ‗healing process‘ and were of great personal importance. It should be noted that subjective beliefs commonly are more essential for the individual than ‗objective‘ facts. The majority of participants belief in vomiting contributing to or initiating a ‗healing process‘ through ‗cleansing the body and soul‘ whilst supporting ‗physical, emotional or spiritual healing‘. Therefore, even in the diverse European contexts, dietary rules were almost always associated with the use of Ayahuasca. These ‗taboos‘ were not only perceived to help in avoiding harm, side-effects or other risks, but were also regarded as an intensification of the experience. Furthermore the concept of ayahuasca as medicine implies the idea of therapy. Some European participants see ayahuasca rituals as a kind of therapy. Not only in a medical sense but mainly as a kind of psychotherapeutic treatment, resembling psycholytic or psychedelic therapy (Sandison 1954/Leuner 1983, Jungaberle et al. 2008, Yensen 1996). But there is a principal difference between syncretistic or (neo)shamanic types of uses involving psychoactives and the (psycho)therapeutic use of psychoactive drugs. Psycholytic or psychedelic therapy is based on classical psychoanalytic theories. There psychoactives (LSD, MDMA) are used to assist the therapeutic process by activating subconscious memories, feelings and conflicts – reinforcing the importance of ‗inner work‘. Facilitators of a professional psychedelic session emphasize participants to report about their ‗inner work‘ during the session (‗talking‘) and would spent several sessions after the drug session to analyse and integrate the experience (‗discussing problems and analysing problems‘). He would obviously interfere with the ‗inner processes‘ of the patients by performing one or more ‗shamanic healing techniques‘ e.g. to blow smoke over the body or shake maracas or some leafs, Adler 1995 but not discussing personal problems like psychotherapist would do. In more

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

136

Janine Tatjana Schmid

religious rituals like Santo Daime participants are more focussed on singing hymes or dancing, not in personal talks. This can be a kind of therapy but the concept of therapy must be broadend. In the context of ‗healing‘ and ‗therapy‘ many aspects of the ayahuasca ritual, sometimes subsumed as placebo effects should be called ‗meaning response‘ emphasizing the fact that symbols and symbolic actions play an important role in healing effect in general (Moerman 2002).

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

„Meaning affects life, life affects meaning. (…). As people create stories from their lives, restructure the flow of life into meaningful objects, they are able to relieve much distress, suffering and many physical problems‖ (Moermann 2002, p. 150f).

Besides the fact of ‗getting cured‘ from a disease or not participants declare frequently that Ayahuasca has had positive effects on their well-being. Almost no one thinks that ayahuasca rituals as worthless or even negative in general. Instead participants declare that Ayahuasca use had overall positive effects on their conduct of life. These effects of ayahuasca were described as profound and life-changing. These include: 1) a change in health behaviours including diets, often participants gave up alcohol or cigarettes, 2) enhanced clarity, recognition and sensibility, 3) increased physical well-being, 4) energy, power and strength , 5) better coping with problems and daily hassles, 6) confidence and tranquillity, 7) a renewed sense of happiness, love and joy, 8) a change of life orientation sometimes including a strive for non materialistic values, 9) improved social competences (Schmid et al. 2010). Some participants report immediate, insight-like short-term effects of an Ayahuasca experience, they might have suddenly known how do decide a certain question: should I apply for another job or not? But this is rare. More frequently attributed to Ayahuasca experience are long-term effects on peoples‘ emotional attitude towards life as whole: they report the growing development of emotions like gratitude, forgiveness and humility (as described above).

3. MYTH: PARTICIPANTS IN AYAHUASCA RITUALS ARE WEIRD PERSONS Another myth is that the use of psychoactives is preferred by young people dropping out of society (like the cliché in the 1960s).

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

The Myth of Ayahuasca

137

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

The medium age of my participants is 44,5 years ranging from 26 to 61. Ayahuasca use is clearly not a youth phenomenon. The range of their profession includes cooks, social workers, dentists, psychotherapists and professors. These people are usually well-integrated into middle class society. My data can account for the fact that these people are not social drop-outs or anti-social persons. I created a typology of people that I met in the Ayahuasca field in Europe including Santo Daime, Neo-Shamanic, workshop-psychotherapy style (Schmid 2010). Based on the comparative analysis of field study notes (comprising the observation of several hundred persons), I was able to distinguish the following 7 characters within the European Ayahuasca field: 1) Event type: The event persons are drinking Ayahuasca at sporadic opportunities, are not integrated into a stable community. They may change different settings (f.ex. Santo Daime and neo-shamanic rituals) or they may move around in Europe or America for ‗special events‘. 2) Therapy type: The therapy type is looking for complementary treatment of physical or psychological diseases. He or she may have a psychotherapeutic mind-set and sometimes has undergone psychotherapeutic and even psycholytic treatment. 3) The Searcher: The Searcher is an individualist on his quest for philosophical understanding, He might be an open-minded sceptic or agnostic and is usually linked to other spiritual traditions like Buddhism. 4) The Healer: The Healer feels to have a mission of his own because of or before his Ayahuasca experience. He/She is convinced to have special shamanic or healing powers and wants to use Ayahuasca for his own purposes (f.ex. curing him/herself and other people) or providing ayahuasca rituals for others. 5) Spiritual or religious type: The spiritual type is on a quest for individual transpersonal experience, may or may not have a neoshamanic world view. The religious is much more linked to a community and its believe or faith system (especially Santo Daime). 6) Substance-User: The substance type is an experienced multi-substance user and keen to experiment with yet another psychoactive, usually hunting for his own individual experience and hardly interested in community building. He might have experienced periods of drug addiction in his life and he often is experienced in a lot of psychoactive substances.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

138

Janine Tatjana Schmid 7) The eccentric and alternative type: The eccentric demonstrates different forms of alternative orientations. Substance use is only one symbol of his life style. He may be ecologically engaged in projects like safeing the rain forest or fighting for the rights of indigenous peoples.

In the long run people might change their motivation and switch between the types.

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

4. MYTH: ABSTINENCE OF „DRUGS‟ There is another myth about ayahuasca concerning the change of behaviour and life-style (f. ex. by initiating abstinence in substances like drugs, alcohol and cigarettes). As it might became clear from the beginning of the paper (2. myth), for most participants in ayahuasca rituals the substance is not a ‗drug‘ but a medicine or a sacrament (as the substance is called in the religious groups like Santo Daime). Participants clearly would vote against ayahuasca being a ‗drug‘ because it seems not be addictive (in physical terms) and often people affirm ayahuasca having changed their life for the better. Several participants of ayahuasca rituals are experienced in the use of psychoactive substances. Besides ayahuasca there is a center of gravity in the use of Cannabis, other hallucinogens (LSD) and ecstasy (MDMA). The consumption of quite of lot of substances was indeed higher before participants started with ayahuasca. So there seems to be some evidence that at least ayahuasca use did not increase the use of other psychoactive substances. But more research is needed: to analyse drug consumption patterns we have look further than just counting numbers. There is a big difference in f. ex. in smoking a joint once at a party when someone was in 20ies or the daily consumption of cannabis. And even then there might be big differences in the amount of cannabis used. To show such differences drug consumption patterns must be quantitatively and qualitatively studied over a long period of time. Only few studies researched drug consumption patterns (Blätter 1990) or the long term use of psychoactive substances. What people think about drugs (drug concepts) is interesting subject for researchers. Mainstream still relies on an addiction pattern (high risk for health, leading to violations of norms and criminality) while in Ayahuasca rituals we are often confronted with concepts of healing and sacredness.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

139

The Myth of Ayahuasca

Jungaberle & DuBois (2006, p. 21) developed this frame for the common use of psychoactive substances: addiction death

criminality violations of norms

pleasure

forbiddance fun

social affliction

healing

sacredness

peers

selfspirituality treatment mediation

← „risk― framing7ritual― framing → Figure 1. Common Frames of psyochoactive substances.

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

This is a helpful model but we should not make the mistake that if ‗ritual‘ is involved in the consumption of psychoactive substances so much the better. Drug concepts must be analysed very carefully – not only these of policy makers but of ritual participants as well. „Another example for disadvantageous inconsistencies in drug use concepts that are enforced by the stereotypical institutional „risk― messages is found in the „sacredness― frame. This cultural frame is often present in traditional ethnic communities, the entheogen movement or other new religious associations. It is mostly applied with regard to drugs of the psychedelic type. Occasionally we have found examples of total exclusion of all risk related factors concomitant with extreme spiritual enthusiasm. The ―sacredness‖ frame establishes the greatest difference to common view framing of these psychoactives as intoxicants, but it can be accompanied with a very pronounced rejection of the Western medical model‖ (Jungaberle & DuBois 2006, p. 21).

Most Westerners employ ayahuasca almost exclusively for spiritual purposes, in line with both traditional usage in neo-shamanic ceremonies, organized churches or workshop-like settings. In both contexts, experiences were embedded in a meaningful symbolic structure being important for all persons who were searching for a convenient interpretation of life.

CONCLUSION We are only at the beginning of multidisciplinary research on the topics of ayahuasca. There are a lot of open pharmacological, psychological, social and legal questions.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

140

Janine Tatjana Schmid

There is growing evidence from natural science and psychology that drinking Ayahuasca is a very rewarding experience for some, but it becomes increasingly clear that – like with other psychedelics – for some people it is far from advisable (cave: heart attacs, strokes, psychic crisis and psychotic episodes). But my data and others draws an optimistic picture (Schmid 2010, Grob, McKenna und Callaway 1996). Ayahuasca is regarded as an important help in solving problems and in coping with ailments. For most of the participants such positive changes are just a sideline of the intended process of changing their self concepts and conduct of life. From a salutogenetic point of view (Antonovsky 1987), this may truly result in a better quality of life. Ingesting a psychedelic substance does always mean to investigate one‘s mind in culture and to investigate culture in general within one‘s own mind. It seems to be the cultural, the symbolic, the ritual systems that need further development. The paradox is that ritual needs to be both stable and flexible in order to be protective. Ritual studies have shown that ritual systems in general are dynamic, changes are the rule not an exception (Jungaberle & Weinhold 2006) – although the protagonists often believe that this is the way it has been done for hundreds of years. A lot of Santo Daime drinkers in Europe live somehow in-and-between the churches: they are not really accepting the religious dogmas, but somehow dealing with them and by this they are creating considerable cognitive incongruence. Although many want to drink Ayahuasca in a secure and trustworthy environment and are looking for supporting social networks, few of them experience disstress from struggling with the ritual system and its norms and taboos. Ayahuasca rituals demonstrate a great number of rules and norms (how to take it, how often, etc.) including safety aspects like the attempt to control set and setting (Zinberg 1984). Specific cautions were taken regarding diet and avoiding harmful combination of medications. But further studies are needed to define what would be considered ‗best practice‘ of Ayahuasca rituals within this social field: which aspects are relevant and which ones could be left out, which ones are essential for ‗healing effects‘ defined as positive changes for physical, mental, spiritual and social well-being and which ones may have negative effects or were harmful as in the case of psychotic reactions with psychopathologically vulnerable persons. More research in this field can contribute to new perspectives in medicine and psychotherapy and might contribute to new concepts and might develop new ideas for harm reduction and preventing drug misuse.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

The Myth of Ayahuasca

141

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

REFERENCES Adelaars, A. (2000). Psychedelic Rituals in the Netherlands. Jahrbuch für Ethnomedizin und Bewusstseinsforschung/Yearbook for Ethnomedicine and the Study of Consciousness. C. Rätsch, Müller-Ebeling, C. Berlin, VWB, p. 355-340. Adelaars, A., Rätsch, C., Müller-Ebeling, C. (2006). Ayahuasca Rituale, Zaubertränke und visionäre Kunst aus Amazonien. Baden u. München. AT Verlag. Adler, L. (1995). Spirit versus scalpel: traditional healing and modern psychotherapy. Westport, Conn: Bergin & Garvey. Antonovsky, A. (1987). Unravelling the mystery of health. How people manage stress and stay well. San Francisco: Jossey Bass. Blätter, A. (1990). Kulturelle Ausprägungen und die Funktion des Drogengebrauchs. Ein ethnologischer Beitrag zur Drogenforschung. Hamburg, Wayasbah. Brabec de Mori (2009) Tracing hallucinations: contributing to an ethnohistory of Ayawaska usage in the Peruvian Amazon. In: Jungaberle, H., Labate B. The globalization of the uses of Ayahuasca. Forthcoming publication. Burroughs, W. S. and Ginsberg, A. (1963). The Yage Letters. San Francisco: City Lights Books. Callaway, J. C. (1988). "A proposed mechanism for the visions of dream sleep." Medical Hypotheses 26: 119-124. Callaway, J., Airaksinen, M., McKenna, D. (1994). "Platelet serotonin uptake sites increased in drinkers of ayahuasca." Psychopharmacology 116(3), p. 385-387. Callaway, J., Grob. Ch. (1998). "Ayahuasca preparations and serotonin reuptake inhibitors: A potential combination for severe adverse interactions." Journal of Psychoactive Drugs 30(4), p. 367-369. Callaway, J. C., McKenna, D., Grob, C., Brito, G., Raymon, L., Poland, R., Andrade, E.N., Andrade, E.O. (1999). "Pharmacology of hoasca alkaloids in healty humans." Journal of Ethnopharmacology 65(3), p. 243-256. Callaway, J. C. (2005). "Fast and Slow Metabolizers of Hoasca." Journal of Psychoactive Drugs 37(2): 157-161. Clottes, J., Lewis-Williams, D. (1997). Schamanen. Trance und Magie in der Höhlenkunst der Steinzeit. Sigmaringen, Thorbecke. Dobkin de Rios, M. (1994). Drug Tourism in the Amazon. Anthropology of Consciousness, 5 (1), 16–19.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

142

Janine Tatjana Schmid

Grob, C., McKenna, D., Callaway, J. e. a. (1996). Human Psychopharmacology of Hoasca, A Plant Hallucinogen Used in Ritual Context in Brasil. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 184 (2), 86-94. Jung, B. (2006). Das Leben nach der Ekstase - die Suche nach Integration: Die Bewältigung von Erfahrungen mit psychoaktiven Substanzen. Diplomarbeit. Universität Heidelberg, Zentrum für Psychosoziale Medizin. Jungaberle, H., Weinhold, J. (2006). Rituale in Bewegung. Rahmungs- und Reflexivitätsprozesse in Kulturen der Gegenwart. Münster-HamburgBerlin: LIT-Verlag. Jungaberle, H., DuBois, F. (2006). The 'toxic sacraments' - The framing of drug use and its rituals. Rituale in Bewegung. Rahmungs- und Reflexivitätsprozesse in Kulturen der Gegenwart. H. Jungaberle, Snoek, J., Weinhold, J. Münster, LIT-Verlag. Jungaberle, H. & DuBois, F. (2006). ―Risk and ritual – two frames for drug use‖. In: Jungaberle, H. & Weinhold, J. (eds.): Rituale in Bewegung. Rahmungs- und Reflexivitätsprozesse in Kulturen der Gegenwart. Berlin, Münster, Wien, Zürich, London: LIT Jungaberle, H., Gasser, P., Weinhold, J., Verres, R. (Hg.). (2008). Therapie mit psychoaktiven Substanzen - Praxis und Kritik der Psychotherapie mit LSD, Psilocybin und MDMA. Bern: Verlag Hans Huber. Kreinath, J., Snoek, J., Stausberg, M. (2006). Theorizing rituals. Leiden. Boston: Brill. Labate, B., Goulart, S., Fiore, M., MacRae, E., Carneiro, H. (2008). Drugs and culture: new persprectives. EDUFBA. Leuner, H (1983): Psycholytic Therapy. Hallucinogenics as an Aid in Psychodynamically Oriented Psychotherapy. In: Grinspoon, J/Bakalar, JB (eds.): Psychedelic Reflections. New York: Human Sciences Press 1983, pp. 177-192. Luna, L. E. (1986). Vegetalismo: Shamanism among the Mestizo population of the Peruvian Amazon. Stockholm/Sweden, Almqvist & Wiksell International. McKenna, D., Callaway, J., Grob, C. (1998). "The scientific investigation of Ayahuasca: A review of past and current research." Heffter Review of Psychedelic Research 1, p. 65-77. Metzner, R. (1999). Ayahuasca. Hallucinogenes,consciousness and the spirit of nature. New York, Thunder's Mouth Press.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

The Myth of Ayahuasca

143

Metzner, R. (2006). Ayahuasca: Sacred vine of Spirits. Rochester, Park Street Press. Metzner, R. (2006). Varieties of Ritual Involving Altered States of Conscousness. Rituale erneuern. Soziale Formen im Wandel. Ritualdynamik, Transgression und Grenzerfahrung aus interdisziplinärer Perspektive. H. Jungaberle, Verres, R., DuBois, F. Göttingen, Psychosozial Verlag. McKenna, Terence (1993). True Hallucinations: Being an Account of the Author's Extraordinary Adventures in the Devil's Paradise. New York: HarperCollins. Moerman, D. (2002). Meaning, medicine and the 'placebo effect'. Cambridge, University press. Ott, J. (1994). Ayahuasca Analoge - Pangæische Entheogene: Natural Products Company. Reichel-Dolmatoff, G.. (1972). The Cultural Context of an Aboriginal Hallucinogen: Bansteriopsis caapi. Flesh of the Gods. The Ritual Use of Hallucinogens. P. Furst. New York, Praeger Publishers. Reichel-Dolmatoff, G. (1975). The Shaman and the Jaguar. A Study of Narcotic Drugs Among the Indians of Columbia. Philadelphia, Temple Univ. Press. Reichel-Dolmatoff, G. (1978). Beyond the Milky Way. Los Angeles, UCLA Latin American Center. Reichel-Dolmatoff, G. (1979). "Some Source Materials on Desana Shamanistic Initiation." Antropologica(51): 27-61. Reichel-Dolmatoff, G. (1981). "Brain and Mind in Desana Shamanism." Journal of Latin American Lore 7 (1), p. 73-98. Riba, J., Barbanoj, M. (1998). "A pharmacological study of ayahuasca in healty volunteers." Bulletin of Multidisziplinary Assocition for Psychedelic Studies 8(3), p. 12-15. Riba, J., Rodriguez-Fornells, A., Morte, A., Antonijoan, R., Montero, M., Callaway, J., Barbanoj, M. (2001). "Subjective effects and tolerability of the South American psychoactive beverage Ayahuasca in healty volunteers." Psychopharmacology 154/1. Riba, J., Anderer, P., Morte, A., Urbano, G., Jane, F., Saletu, B., Barbanoj, M. (2002). "Topographic pharmaco-EEG mapping of the effects of the South American psychoactie beverage ayahuasca in healthy volunteers." Clinical Pharmacology 53, p. 613-628. Riba, J., Barbanoj, M. (2005). "Bringing Ayahuasca to the Clinical Research Laboratory." Jounal of Psychoactive Drugs 37 (2): 219-230.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

144

Janine Tatjana Schmid

Riba, J., Romero, S., Grasa, E., Mena, E., Carrio, I., Barbanoj, M. (2006). "Increased frontal and paralimbic activation following ayahuasca, the panamazonian inebriant." Psychopharmacology 186, p. 93-98. Scharfetter, C. (2002). Allgemeine Psychopathologie. Stuttgart: Thieme Verlag. Scharfetter, C. (2008). Psychopathologie. Sternenfels: Verlag Wissenschaft & Praxis. Schmid, Janine (2010). Selbst-Behandlungsversuche mit der psychoaktiven Substanz Ayahuasca: Eine qualitative Studie über subjektive Theorien zu Krankheit, Gesundheit und Heilung. Südwestdeutscher Verlag für Hochschulschriften (SVH). Saarbrücken. Schmid, J. T., Jungaberle, H., Verres, R. (2010) Subjective Theories about (Self-)Treatment with Ayahuasca. Anthrophology of Consciousness. Volume 21, Issue 2, pp. 188 – 205 Shanon, B. (2002). The Antipodes of the Mind. Charting the Phenomenology of the Ayahuasca Experience. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Strassman, R., Qualls, C., Uhlenhuth, E., Kellner, R. (1994). "Dose-Response Study of N,N-Dimetyltryptamin in Humans II: Subjective Effects and Prelimary Results of a New Rating Scale." Archives of General Psychiatry 51(98-109). Stuckey, D., Lawson, R., Luna, L. (2005). "EEG Gamma Coherence and Other Correlates of Subjective Reports During Ayahuasca Experiences." Journal of Psychoactive Drugs 37(2): 163-178. Winkelman, M. (1995). Psychointegrator Plants: Their Roles in Human Culture, Consciousness and Health. In: Yearbook of Cross-cultural Medicine and Psychotherapy. Berlin: VWB-Verlag. Winkelman, M. (2005). "Drug Tourism or Spiritual Healing? Ayahuasca Seekers in Amazonia." Jounal of Psychoactive Drugs 37 (2): 209-218. Yensen, R. (1996). From Shamans and Mystics to Scientists and Psychotherapists: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Interaction of Psychedelic Drugs and Human Consciousness. In: Andritzky, W. (Hg.). Yearbook in Cross-Cultural Medicine and Psychotherapy. Berlin: VWBVerlag. Zinberg, N. E. (1984). Drug, Set and Setting: The basis for controlled intoxicant use. New Haven/London: Yale University Press.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

In: Rituals: Types, Efficacy and Myths Editors: E. De Smet et al.

ISBN 978-1-61470-608-3 ©2012 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Chapter 6

THE CULT OF THE HORSE IN THE SAKHA RELIGIOUS AND RITUAL PRACTICE TH OF THE 19 CENTURY Svetlana Ivanovna Petrova

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

M.K. Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University, Yakutsk, Russia

By its natural and climatic conditions, Sakha/Yakutia which belongs to the territory of Siberia in Russia is a most harsh territorial climatic zone for living. But, nevertheless, the peoples inhabited this vast territory, during their centuries-old period of history of living, were fruitfully engaged in all kinds of hunting, in economic activity. In the past, horse-breeding was traditional activity for the Sakha population as well as for all the cattle-breeding tribes on the whole. It is attested by the cliff drawings of horse on the Paleolithic rock paintings. The high-developed horse-breeding culture of the ancient nomads – ancestors of the Sakha – is attested by the ―Lenskie pisanitsï‖ (―The Lena letters‖) discovered by A.P.Okladnikov [vide Okladnikov, Taporoshevskaya, 1959, Table 52]. In his fundamental work ―Iakutï: opït ätnograficheskogo issledovania‖ [―The Sakha: an experience of ethnographic research‖], W.L.Sieroszewski, provided the interesting information about the appearance and important qualities of the Sakha horse, about using it in housekeeping and about how the Sakha treated horse. As he notes, the Sakha horse is notable for its indurance, its capability of surviving and reproducing its offspring almost without human support [Sieroszewski, 1993, p.156-169].

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

146

Svetlana Ivanovna Petrova

The aim of this paper is: to consider the cult of the horse in the traditional ritual culture of the Sakha – a most northern Turkic nation – who has a southern historic motherland. There are the very diverse views among many researchers of the 18th-20th centuries (F.Stralenberg, G.Miller, E.Fischer, Ya.I.Lindenau, W.L.Sieroszewski, E.K.Piekarski, S.A.Tokarev, G.V.Ksenofontov, A.P.Okladnikov, I.V.Konstantinov, A.I.Gogolev, etc.) concerning the period of, the Sakha migration and, formation of their culture. The horse for the Sakha is a cult and specially respected animal having the sacral meaning. The horse accompanied a Sakha person everywhere: in dayto-day life and during remote travel, in housekeeping. Its sacred image is seen in the oral folk and applied creativity. Its image as a symbol of traditional culture was a compulsory element in the ceremonial of the summer feast Ïhïakh, in family, hunting and special cattle-breeding ceremonies. As the culturological science notes, the symbol has a two-layer structure (Karmin, 2004, p.37). In our case, the visual image of horse is perceived as an outer, ―initial layer‖, and its symbolic images in ritual culture, in oral and applied creativity – as a ―secondary layer‖. The earlier data about the Sakha cult deities, ‗kind ones and ones doing good to mankind‖ were provided by the members of the North-Eastern geographical expedition 1785-1795 I.Billings and G.Sarïchev: ―… They have else the third particular divinity who gives them everything that they wish, for instance, children, cattle, wealth and other, and such like. It is called Shessugai-toion…‖ [―Ätnograficheskie materialï Severo-Vostochnoi geograficheskoi äkspeditsii‖ (―Ethnographic materials of the North-Eastern geographical expedition‖), 1978, p.29]. It is natural that here the question is about the deity of horses Djöhögöi noted by I.A.Khudyakov in the chapter ―Horses and cattle‖ of his work ―Kratkoe opisanie Verkhoianskogo okruga‖ [―Brief description of the Verkhoyansk region‖]. According to his data, Djöhögöi Toyon (Master Djöhögöi) was considered the younger brother of the Sakha highest deity Ürüng Ayïï Toyon [Khudyakov, 1969, p.84]. In some cases, he is called Kürüö Djöhögöi Toyon (Master Fence Djöhögöi) or Unaarïyan utuyar, uoluyan uhuktar Uordaakh Djöhögöi (the Severe Djöhögöi who is sleeping sweetly and is waking up scaredly). He lives on the northeastern heaven in the old hexagonal log house covered from outside with the white horse‘s skin where the horse‘s smell prevails – outside the places inhabited by human beings. Djöhögöi Toyon has the wife Djöhögöldjün Ayïï Khotun (Mistress Djöhögöldjün Ayïï) and is a creator of best horses, is a deity that gives a child‘s soul. There are also the data about Djöhögöi Ayïïhït (Mistress Djöhögöi Ayïïhït), Kün Djöhögöi Toyon (Master Sun Djöhögöi) who

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

The Cult of the Horse in the Sakha Religious and Ritual Practice … 147 are namely the deities patronizing the horses. As the researchers note, the interpretation of the epithet of first image is connected with the influence of the earlier cult of the deity Ayïïhït, and, of second image – with the sun cult [Sieroszewski, 1993, p.651; Popov A.A., p.268; Alekseev, 2008, p.86, 97; НБС, 1982, p.12]. Among the Sakha, there were the series of special family ceremonies which have a regulative sense concerning the norms of behaviour in the ritual culture, for instance, ―Ayïïhïtï ataarïï‖ – the ceremony of seeing off Ayïïhït – deity of fertility, or ―Djöhögöyü ataarïï‖ – the ceremony of seeing off the deity of horses. The first ceremony is held on the third day after the child‘s birth, and the second ceremony is held in springtime in March-April when mares foal. Not without reason, the Sakha called March a month when foal is born i.e. ―kulun tutar‖. The ceremony of seeing off Jöhögöi was described for the first time by Popov A.A. ―In springtime, when mares foaled, in olden times they stored up milk from which they prepared kïmïs. Milk was fermented during three days. On the third day, in the morning, the relatives and friends gathered. By the arrival of guests, a white horse skin rug with black edging (aas tälläkh) was laid in the middle of yurta. Cups of kïmïs were put on this rug. The guests took their seats, and the master of the house went all round the ends of tie-beams (öhüö baha), holding a cup of kïmïs in his hands raised high, lauding Uordaakh Djöhögöi – master of horses. After this ceremony, all the prepared kïmïs was drunk by the guests gathered‖ [Popov A.A., 1949, p. 268]. In this ceremony, horse‘s skin and kïmïs are not only a functional symbol of the deity Djöhögöi but are his iconic sign; using it, a human being is endowed with the divine force and might. The Sakha respect horse, and this is seen in their respectful attitude to the spirit of särgä (horse tethering-post) Khaan Tühümär Toyon (Master Honourable Tühümär) who was considered a celestial being. In chanting the blessing to the spirit of horse tethering-post, they asked to protect people and cattle from the evil spirits. Sieroshevski notes that one can see how they respect the spirit of horse tethering-post from the fact that one of parts of a bride‘s dowry was called särgä bäläğä i.e. a gift to horse tethering-post. They called so a mare that was to be tied to a horse tethering-post. A bride‘s well decorated horse itself was called kharamn’ï at. So is called the horse which is required by a bride‘s father to be given him after a bride‘s final departure to a bridegroom‘s house. ―They say that in olden times not less than three such horses were given, and even they put silver bracelets on their horses‘ legs‖ [Sieroszewski, 1993, p. 527].

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

148

Svetlana Ivanovna Petrova

In marriage settlements, horse was also a barter the quantity of which always depended on how the newly-weds‘ parents were well-to-do. One can see how the image of horse was sacral in the marriage and family relations in the fact that a bride should not be naked or stand without a head scarf near a horse (Khudyakov I.A., 1969, p. 273). The Sakha honored the so called sacrificial horse - ïtïk sïlgï - very much, they never cut its tail and mane. During the summer feast Ïhïakh they sprinkled such horse with the ritual drink – kïmïs. They didn‘t sell, milk, hit and even didn‘t slay it. If it became old and died, they dressed its carcass, without braking its bones and skin, buried, and they hung its head on a felled tree, with the shaman‘s parting words [Pekarskiy, STB 3847-3848]. N.A.Alekseev illustrates from V.M.Ionov‘s archive materials the survivals of the direct worshiping such the horse that were discovered in the archaic religious concepts and in the rites. Thus, for instance, in the rite of burying a respected stallion died a natural death, the master invites all his close neighbors and slays a three-years-old mare. Here, he separated a meat of this mare from its bones, without breaking them, and put its bones together with the stallion‘s bones into a pit, thus he ―provided‖ the stallion with a herd. He sticked a young birch-tree into the ground in front of a pit and put near it kïmïs and sour milk. Then, lighting a fire behind a pit, the master of the house chanted the blessing. In conclusion, he requested the stallion to return and bring the wealth. Nine youths on the right side and nine young girls on the left side joined in his singing. Further, Alekseev makes the conclusion that this rite is connected with the belief in the necessity of retaining the ―magic‖ safety and purity of the slain animal [Alekseev, 2008, p. 57]. This rite shows that the whole ceremony of rite has a complex structural content with various components: using a ritual food, worshiping a sacred fire, chanting a ritual monologue, making a donation of a slain mare and, a ceremonial breaking up of it, etc. … This emphasizes that the cult of the horse relates to the very ancient layer of the Sakha beliefs when such the ritual actions of an ancient man were of vital importance. As Gurvich notes, the respectful attitude towards animals and towards hunted wild beasts and the ritual burial of them were connected with the belief in their regeneration that goes back genetically to the common layer of the beliefs of the taiga-tundra hunters in Eastern Siberia [Gurvich, 1948, p.77]. ―Judging by the Sakha legends, - Alekseev notes further, - in the past, the Sakha sacrificed horses to Ürüng Ayïï Toyon. The rite is called ―kïydaa‖. Here, three youths were chosen. They were attired in all white, were mounted on the white horses and were given into their hands the white sticks (removed

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

The Cult of the Horse in the Sakha Religious and Ritual Practice … 149 from their bark). The youths drove away nine or twelve horses or mares with foals. They had to drive away these horses far as possible so that the horses would not be able to find their herd. The most prosperous Sakha performed the rite kïydaa three times in their life. Furthermore, there is the information that they sacrificed the best horse to Ürüng Ayïï Toyon, they burned that horse. If a smoke from a burnt horse rose straight, then Ürüng Ayïï Toyon was considered to designating the soul of that horse to the deities of the family (to the spirits patronizing the family) made a sacrifice. Their descendants should honour the soul of that horse as their deity. Otherwise the horse‘s soul that became a deity might punish, send a disease [Alekseev, 2008, p. 83]. There were the cases when a master died they slain one of his most favourite horses and honourably buried it near its master together with all the articles of harness that is attested by the earlier pre-Christian burials. Such a sacrificial horse was called hooldjuga at [Bravina, Popov, 2008, p.56-67]. Many tales about the maiden Bolugur Ayïïta contain the information that after her tragic death she was buried together with the four sacrificial horses with all their richly decorated attire (Bolo, 2002, p.21, 27, 40). In his dictionary, Piekarski notes that the skin of sacrificial horse with its head and hooves was hung on a tree on which they put a wooden ―indicator of way‖ i.e. kuochai (Piekarski, STB 1046). The North-Eastern geographical expedition members gave the detailed description how a skin of sacrificial cattle was hung in order to stimulate a sick man to recover: ―Then they hung this skin on a nearby tree while observing that its muzzle be turned towards the side from where the demons in that time came to people; and while observing that its muzzle be raised upwards when the animal was sacrificed to the air spirits or its muzzle be turned downwards when the animal was sacrificed to propitiate the spirits living in chasm‖ (―Ätnograficheskie materialï Severo-Vostochnoi geograficheskoi äkspeditsii‖ [―Ethnographic materials of the North-Eastern geographic expedition‖] , 1978, p.33, 43). All these rites emphasize that a horse for Sakha person was particular sacrificial animal which was endowed with the magic force of saving a human being from any attacks of evil demons and which accompanied him on his passing away to the other unknown world. The religious cult of the horse which is seen in performing the rite connected with causing a sexual passion seems very archaic. G.V. Ksenofontov recorded it in 1924 from his informant M.Govorov who called the rite as djalïn ïlïïta. It is described that in olden times the shamans conducted the particular praying to the spirit of the earth about sending djalïn (i.e. force of sexual attraction) to women. This rite has also a compound structural content: beforehand, they provided themselves with water, chose a

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

150

Svetlana Ivanovna Petrova

special place for the rite where they set three ritual posts with fretwork, sticked young birch-trees around the posts and hung the string – salama, set a summer birch-bark yurta – uraha near the posts, and all this was fenced. A shaman who had blood-thirsty or evil spirits could not perfrom this rite, therefore the White Shaman with his assistants – three times nine girls (27 – Svetlana Petrova) and with the same number of youths – requested the sexual passion – djalïn – from the spirit of the mother-goddess of the Earth. In the moment of taking the sexual passion djalïn, he started to whirl, neighing like horse, and let out the arousing cries similar to the stallion‘s neighing. At this moment, the gathered women, having suddenly let out a peals of laughter, started to neigh like horse – ―in’n’ä-hahakh‖ – and fell upon the shaman and made over him their erotic body movements [Ksenofontov, 1992, p.204]. In this case, the imitation of horse‘s neighing shows a conventional image of stallion; and in semiotic sense it is also an iconic code symbol – the system of signs plays a very important role in the ritual culture. For instance, as the conventional signs: the conventional drawing of eagle in the ancient costume, as a bundle of horsehair, as a verbal sign of oral folk creativity and ritual folklore, etc. The cult of the horse is brightly seen also at the summer festival Ïhïakh. Ärgis calls Ïhïakh a feast devoted to the coming of long-awaited summer and to the development of horse-breeding [Ärgis, 1961, p.75]. Most culmination moment of this feast is the rite of blessing of white shaman who was considered in this rite a mediator between human beings and the bright upper deities; the latters were to recognize him by his clothes. Thus, his clothes had to be a mediator in the ritual relations between human beings and the upper deities, simultaneously performing a ceremonial system of signs. According to the materials of Kulakovsky and Khudyakov, the white shaman‘s ceremonial clothes consisted of the headgear manufactured from the skin of white foal‘s leg (tïs); futhermore, known are also the headgear manufactured from the entire skin of horse‘s head with its manes and ears sticking up – kököyö khappït küös bärgähä – and the fur-coat manufactured from the skin of white horse. His suite consisting of seven virginal girls and nine virginal youths puts on the same clothes from white foal like shamans do [Khudyakov, 2002, p.21, Ksenofontov, 1992, p.204, Kulakovsky, 1923, p.98-99]. According to the Sakha mythological views, the deity Djöhögöi sends the light and the warmth to the earth and warms a human soul. Evidently therefore when they sewed the ritual and everyday clothes they used the horse‘s or the foal‘s skin. According to the earlier researchers‘ data, ―in former times, the Sakha had no other clothes except the horse‘s skin and the furs of various wild animals ...‖, ―... women‘s caftans used to be trimmed with the black foal‘s

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

The Cult of the Horse in the Sakha Religious and Ritual Practice … 151 skin‖ [Ätnograficheskie materialï (Ethnographic materials), p.41]. In ancient times, the coat sewn from a dun foal‘s skin, decorated with an ornament from black cow‘s skin, the sleeveless top trimmed with a grey foal‘s skin were considered bride‘s best costume. Her cap was sewn from the lynx skin‘s back part trimmed with a black foal‘s skin; the knee-pads were sewn from the chestnet foal‘s skin [Rasskaz o deve-bozhestve (The story about the deitymaiden). [Archive of the Institute of Oriental Studies (Leningrad Department), fund 22, list 22, file 11]. In the Sakha people‘s conception of life, the important role was given to continuing a mankind, to giving birth to a child into a family. Respecting and worshiping the deity of horse who gives a child‘s soul (kut-sür) are seen also in the semantics of ornaments in the traditional Sakha clothes. There are the decorations with original drawings on the back of the coat buuktaakh son. If one examines attentively these drawings, they are like the silouette image of the upper part of the ritual post – horse tethering-post särgä. These decorative signs are a symbol of worshiping Djöhögöi Ayïï – the deity patronizing horsebreeding (Petrova, 2006, p.26). According to Sieroszewski‘s materials, Djöhögöi was father of Ayïïhït - deity of fertility; she (Ayïïhït), having taken from him (Djöhögöi) a child‘s soul (child‘s iyä kut), brings it to the Middle World [Sieroszewski, 1993, p.651]. In the myths, she seems to be an anthromorphic creature but, in the ceremony of giving birth to a child, Ayïïhït came to people in the appearance of a white mare: ―Having the wavy tail, Having the black stripe along her back Having the design spots on her shoulder-blades ...‖ (Zaklinanie Ayïïsït // Obryadovaya poäzia ... [Ayïïhït‘s chanting the blessing. In Ritual poetry ...] 2003, p.277)

The deity Ayïïhït allows the mother-soul (iyä kut) penetrate into a woman or a man through the top of the cap djabaka. Many materials about Sakha religious beliefs give the information that Ayïïhït inserted a future child‘s kut into a concrete man. This information is attested also by Kulakovsky‘s materials where he writes that the child‘s soul is inserted through the top of the man‘s head, then during sexual intercourse the soul passes into a woman, and she becomes pregnant (Sleptsov, 1886, p.130; Kulakovsky, 1923, p.22). According to the latest researches, for these reasons namely, in various ceremonies, they archaically dress the shaman and his suite in women‘s clothes – in cap and fur coat. In this case, the ornamental motifs at the cap‘s top and the conventional decorative signs like a horse tethering-post are

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

152

Svetlana Ivanovna Petrova

conventional code signs – ―to give birth to a child, to become wealthy‖. These symbols were created by an ancient craftswoman specially in order to perform this symbolic function and not do anything else [Petrova, 2006, p.36 and 41]. In this context, it is confirmed that Djöhögöi Toyon is a deity who gives children. In the numerous materials on the Sakha ritual culture, one may find also the descriptions where they widely use the ritual rugs from horse‘s skin – kharalaakh aas tälläkh – which played in all ritual actions a producing role and were intended to protect [Sieroszewski, 1993, p.53; Khudyakov, 2002; p.18; Alekseev, 1984, p.182; Sleptsov, 1989]. Furthermore, the Sakha have been preserving such the ritual attributes as salama (the many-coloured string decorated with the bunch of white horsehair and with the miniature models of, muzzles for calf, birch-bark buckets, and hung up with bright many-coloured rags), the ritual wooden and leather utensils tied round with a bunch of white horsehair as well as däybiir (an object made from horsehair and used to drive away mosquito). There is the information that the horsehair was used also during burying ―a happy horse‖ [Alekseev, 1975, p.48]. In G.V.Ksenofontov‘s work, his informant H.U. Pavlov says that in these cases the horsehair reflects the horse‘s soul – kut – and on the whole it means the horse‘s plenty (sïlgï kutun illağa buoluo [apparently he has taken a horse‘s soul]). He also gives the explanation that a string woven of horsehair is called ayïï sitimä i.e. divine bonds [Ksenofontov, 1992, p.213, 104]. As the contemporary researcher of traditional culture Ye.N. Romanova asserts, the use of a set of horse‘s attributes at the summer feast Ïhïakh meant a new birth (Romanova, 1994, p.88). Thus, all these ritual attributes endowed with the magic signs of, reuniting the Upper and the Middle Worlds and, scaring away the evil spirits had a particular status in the Sakha ritual culture; there is a sacral sense in these rites. As the Sakha believe, the ritual attributes are sacred, one should not say bad words about them, trample and burn them. The articles from horse‘s skin and hair are extraordinarily practical in life and this is their most distinctive peculiarity. Therefore, the horse‘s skin goes to manufacturing household goods: travel bags, domestic utensils. They weaved from horsehair the various articles necessary in housekeeping: strings, reins, horse‘s decoration, fishing nets, mats, headgear, belts, charapchï (special glasses which protect from bright snow). Horsehair was also used in the decoration of clothes. Many researchers expressed their opinion that the cult of the horse is seen also on the decorative elements of folk architecture – on wall wooden clothespegs, on horse tethering-post and in the attire of horse harness – in the hook of

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

The Cult of the Horse in the Sakha Religious and Ritual Practice … 153 front pommel of horse‘s saddle. The very expressive stylized horse‘s heads are met in the hip jewellery decorations: in the round rings with horn-like branches. Thus, in the Sakha traditional ritual culture, the horse as a particular respected and cult animal having a high sacral meaning appears simultaneously as the iconic, conventional cult symbols that embody the firm tradition of ancient religious views. Still today, the cult of the horse is specially extolled in the ceremonial of the contemporary summer feast Ïhïakh. The article was approved at the Department of Folklore and Culture of the Institute of Languages and Culture of the M.K.Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University. It was reviewed by Professor Bravina, Rozalia Innokentievna, Doctor of History.

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

REFERENCES Alekseev N.A. 1975. Traditsionnïe religioznïe verovania iakutov v XIX – nachale XX v. [The Sakha traditional religious beliefs in the 19th – in the beginning of the 20th century]. Novosibirsk: Nauka. Alekseev N.A. 1984. Shamanizm tiurko-iazichnïkh narodov Sibiri [Shamanism of the Turkic-speaking nations of Siberia]. Novosibirsk: Nauka. Alekseev N.A. 2008. Ätnografia i fol’klor narodov Sibiri [Ethnography and folklore of the nations of Siberia]. Novosibirsk: Nauka. Ärgis G.U. 1961. ―Prazdnik ïsïakh vtoroi polovinï XIX v.‖ [The feast ïhïakh in the second half of the 19th century]. In Sbornik statei i materialov po ätnografii narodov Iakutii [Collected articles and materials on the ethnography of the nations of Yakutia]. Book 2. Yakutsk. 67-76. Ätnograficheskie materialï Severo-Vostochnoi äkspeditsii 1785-1795 gg. [Ethnographic materials of the North-Eastern expedition 1785-1795]. Compiled by Z.D. Titova. 1978. Magadan. Bolo S.I. 1994. Proshloe iakutov do prikhoda russkikh na Lenu: Po predaniam iakutov bïvshego Yakutskogo okruga [The past of the Sakha before the arrival of Russians to Lena: according to the legends of the Sakha of the former Yakutia region]. Yakutsk: Bichik. (in the Sakha language). Bolo S.I. 2002. Iz zhizni nashikh predkov [From the life of our ancestors]. Yakutsk: Bichik. (in the Sakha language). Bravina R.I., Popov V.V. 2008. Pogrebal’no-pominal’naia obryadnost’ iakutov: pamiatniki i traditsii (XV – XIX vv.) [The Sakha funeral rites: monuments and traditions]. Novosibirsk: Nauka.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

154

Svetlana Ivanovna Petrova

Gavrilieva R.S. 1998. Odezhda naroda sakha kontsa XVII – seredinï XVIII veka [The Sakha people‘s clothing in the end of the 17th – in the middle of the 18th century]. Novosibirsk: Nauka. Gurvich I.S. 1948. ―Ohotnichii obïchai i obryadï u naselenia Olenekskogo raiona‖ [Hunting customs and ceremonies of the population in the Olenek region]. In Sbornik materialov po etnografii iakutov [Collected materials on the Sakha ethnography]. Yakutsk: YaGIZ. 74-94. Karmin A.S. 2004. Kul’turologia: Uchebnik, 3-e izdanie [Culturology: Textbook, 3rd edition]. Saint-Petersburg: Lan‘. Khudyakov I.A. 1969. Kratkoe opisanie Verhoyanskogo okruga [Brief description of the Verkhoyank region]. Edited by the corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences Bazanov V.G.; introductory article by Bazanov V.G., Yemelyanov N.V. Leningrad: Nauka. Khudyakov I.A. 2002. Kratkoe opisanie Verkhoianskogo okruga: Otdel’nïe glavï [Brief description of the Verkhoyank region: separate chapters]. Compiled by Illarionov V.V. Yakutsk: Bichik. Ksenofontov G.V. 1992. Shamanizm. Izbrannïe trudï: (Publikatsii 1928-1929 gg.). [Shamanism. Selected works: (Publications 1928-1929)]. Yakutsk: Tvorchesko-proizvodstvennaia firma ―Sever-Iug‖. Kulakovsky A.Ye. 1923. ―Materialï dlia izuchenia verovania iakutov‖ [Materials for studying the Sakha beliefs]. In Zapiski Iakutskogo kraevogo geograficheskogo obtshestva [Records of the Yakutia Regional Geographical Society]. Book 1. Obriadovaia poäzia sakha (iakutov) [The Sakha (Yakut) ritual poetry]. Compiled by Alekseev N.A., Yefremov P.Ye., Illarionov V.V. 2003. Novosibirsk: Nauka. Okladnikov A.P., Zaporozhskaya V.D. 1959. Lenskie pisanitsï [The Lena letters]. Moscow-Leningrad: Nauka. Petrova S.I. 2006. Svadebnïi nariad iakutov: traditsii i rekonstruktsia [The Sakha wedding costume: traditions and reconstruction]. Novosibirsk: Nauka. Piekarski E.K. 1958. Slovar’ iakutskogo iazïka: v 3 tomakh [Dictionary of the Sakha language: in 3 volumes]. 2nd edition. Volume 1. Moscow; Leningrad: Izdatel‘stvo AN SSSR. Piekarski E.K. 1959. Slovar’ iakutskogo iazïka: v 3 tomakh [Dictionary of the Sakha language: in 3 volumes]. 2nd edition. Volume 2. Moscow; Leningrad: Izdatel‘stvo AN SSSR.

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

The Cult of the Horse in the Sakha Religious and Ritual Practice … 155

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Piekarski E.K. 1959. Slovar’ iakutskogo iazïka: v 3 tomakh [Dictionary of the Sakha language: in 3 volumes]. 2nd edition. Volume 3. Moscow; Leningrad: Izdatel‘stvo AN SSSR. Popov A.A. 1949. ―Materialï po istorii religii iakutov bïvshego Viliuskogo okruga‖ [Materials on the history of religion of the Sakha in the former Vilyuisk region]. In Sbornik MAE AN SSSR [Collected works of the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography of the USSR Academy of Sciences]. Volume II. Moscow, Leningrad: Izdatel‘stvo AN SSSR. 255323. Popov G.A. 1925. ―Iakutï v XVII veke. (Po opisaniam proizvedennïm v 1769 i 1785 g.g. v g. Iakutske)‖ [The Sakha in the 17th century. (According to the descriptions made in 1769 and 1785 in the city of Yakutsk]. In Sbornik trudov issledovatel’skogo obtshestva ―Sakha käskilä‖ [Collected works of the ―Sakha käskilä‖ research society]. Edition 1. Yakutsk. 5-13. Romanova Ye.N. 1994. Iakutskiy prazdnik ïsïakh. Istoki i predstavlenia [The Sakha feast Ïhïakh. Sources and conceptions]. Novosibirsk. Sleptsov A. 1886. ―O verovanii iakutov v Iakutskoi oblasti‖ [About the Sakha beliefs in the Yakutia region]. // In Izvestia VSORGO [Proceedings of the East-Siberian Department of the Russian Geographic Society]. Volume 17, edition 12. 119-136.

ARCHIVE MATERIALS Arkhiv AIV (LO), f. 22, op. 1, d. 11 [Archive of the Institute of Oriental Studies (Leningrad Department), fund 22, list 1, file 11]

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved. De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

INDEX

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

A abuse, 133 access, 37, 58 adaptation, 65, 70 adults, 88 advancement, 115 Africa, 125 age, viii, 45, 53, 55, 57, 64, 69, 71, 74, 75, 89, 97, 101, 137 agencies, 67 agonist, 132 alkaloids, 141 allocated time, 67 analytical framework, viii, 53 anatomy, 21, 35 ancestors, x, 145, 153 ancient world, 30, 41, 45 anthropologists, 132 anthropology, 74 anxiety, 56, 58, 61, 62, 68, 69, 70, 72 arthritis, 60 assault, 10 assessment, 54, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 68, 69, 70, 72 asthma, 60 attribution, 96, 97, 99 authorities, 6, 7, 14, 15, 19, 29 authority, 55, 72 autism, 120 autonomy, 65, 69, 70, 72

awareness, 45, 46, 56, 60

B banks, 98 barter, 148 base, 46, 55 baths, 30, 57, 112, 123 beams, 147 behavioral disorders, 116 behaviors, vii, 117, 123, 128, 134 belief systems, 121, 129 benefits, 110 bipolar disorder, 120 birds, 87 blood, 12, 47, 150 bonds, 56, 152 bone, 87, 88, 96, 97 bones, viii, 13, 18, 77, 85, 87, 89, 97, 101, 148 brain, 117 Brazil, vii, ix, 109, 110, 112, 113, 115, 116, 117, 119, 120, 121, 123, 124, 125, 130 breeding, x, 145, 146, 150, 151 burn, 152

C cannabis, 138 caregiving, 54, 55, 57 carpals, 88

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

158 case studies, vii case study, 73 casting, 89, 92 cattle, x, 145, 146, 147, 149 causality, 27 ceramic, 84, 92 cervix, 32 challenges, 66, 68, 120 chemical, 110 childhood, 6, 8, 16 children, 6, 16, 22, 27, 36, 40, 43, 60, 122, 123, 146, 152 chronic illness, 68, 76 cities, 42, 113 clarity, 136 classification, 57 cleaning, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 12 clients, 71, 122 clothing, 67, 89, 130, 154 coercion, 129 colonisation, 96 color, 128 common sense, 120 communication, 114, 121 communities, ix, 72, 78, 100, 139 community, ix, 55, 60, 68, 70, 78, 97, 98, 99, 101, 103, 113, 137 community support, 60 comparative analysis, 73, 137 compliance, 61 complications, ix, 109 composition, 89, 97 comprehension, 43 conception, 36, 151 conceptualization, 117 conference, 48 configuration, 99 consciousness, 45, 68, 134, 142 consensus, 134 construction, 20, 25, 32, 89, 96, 97, 100 consumption, 138, 139 consumption patterns, 138 contour, 89 contradiction, 35 convergence, 133

Index conversations, 5, 7 correlation, 89, 101, 103 cosmos, 114, 120 counterbalance, 118 covering, 13, 96, 114 cranium, 88 creativity, 146, 150 criminality, 138, 139 crises, 35 crop, 38 crops, 38 crowds, 25, 29 cultural tradition, 111 culture, ix, x, 7, 19, 35, 36, 43, 45, 51, 78, 85, 101, 103, 104, 113, 121, 140, 142, 145, 146, 147, 150, 152, 153 cure, ix, 20, 21, 112, 123, 127, 134, 121

D dance, 102, 121, 122 dances, 14 decay, 39 decoration, 92, 152 deficit, 119 democracy, 121 depression, 68, 70 depth, 57 devaluation, 34 diet, 112, 140 diffusion, ix, 109 disability, 65, 66, 68, 69, 73 discomfort, 123 discontinuity, 57, 58, 64 diseases, ix, 28, 127, 134, 137 dislocation, 34, 68 distress, 58, 136 diversity, 124 doctors, ix, 109, 112, 117, 119, 122, 124 dominance, 64 donations, 116 drawing, 17, 18, 22, 43, 150 dream, 141 drug consumption, 138 drugs, 115, 116, 138, 139

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

159

Index dusts, 12

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

E echoing, 55 economic activity, x, 145 economic cycle, 89 economic transformation, 56 ecstasy, 138 ectoplasm, 114 Egypt, 48 elaboration, 120 elders, 24 employment, 56 enemies, 35 energy, 119, 135, 136 England, 113 entanglements, 133 environment, 2, 29, 66, 104, 140 epilepsy, 120 equipment, viii, 65, 77 erosion, 72, 96, 98 ethnographers, 45 Europe, vii, x, 45, 46, 47, 49, 92, 115, 117, 127, 128, 130, 131, 133, 137, 140 everyday life, 74, 75 evidence, 7, 70, 89, 97, 100, 117, 132, 138, 140 evil, 102, 147, 149, 150, 152 evolution, 122 excavations, 24, 25, 80, 92, 93, 94 excitation, 127 exclusion, 139 exercise, 62

F facilitators, 133 faith, 121, 137 families, 69 family life, 55 family members, 69, 73, 110 fear, 35, 68, 69 feelings, 62, 68, 72, 135

fertility, 22, 32, 35, 36, 38, 39, 42, 43, 48, 147, 151 fights, 123 fishing, 102, 152 fixation, 81 flowers, 8, 11, 14, 42 foals, 149 folklore, 150, 153 food, 36, 123, 148 force, 88, 104, 114, 147, 149 formation, 146 foundations, 21, 25, 37 fragments, 80, 84, 85, 87, 89 framing, 57, 139, 142 France, ix, 29, 109, 112, 130 free will, 115 freedom, 69 friendship, 71, 72

G genitals, 39 Germany, 73, 127, 130 glasses, 152 globalization, 45, 141 governments, 56 grass, 80 grassroots, 19 gravity, 138 grazing, 89 Greece, vii, 1, 2, 8, 13, 14, 19, 27, 28, 38, 39, 40, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51 Greeks, 13, 15 group membership, 55 growth, 114 guilt, 133

H habitats, 88 hair, 34, 152 hallucinations, 129, 141 happiness, 136

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

160

Index

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

healing, vii, ix, 1, 3, 5, 8, 16, 19, 20, 21, 22, 28, 30, 32, 36, 39, 40, 41, 42, 109, 110, 112, 114, 115, 116, 117, 122, 124, 127, 128, 131, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141 health, 20, 22, 30, 60, 64, 66, 68, 69, 116, 124, 133, 134, 136, 138, 141 height, 81, 84, 85, 89, 98 history, x, 6, 24, 27, 28, 29, 44, 45, 79, 132, 145, 155 home care services, 54 homes, 56, 65 homogeneity, 55 horses, 146, 147, 148, 149 host, 71, 122 housing, 75 human, x, 2, 27, 28, 32, 38, 89, 96, 97, 113, 132, 145, 146, 147, 149, 150 human body, 2, 132 human nature, 27 hunting, x, 102, 137, 145, 146 husband, 5, 123 hypothesis, 104 hysteria, 102

I icon, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 21, 24, 25, 27, 37, 41 iconography, 87 ideal, 68 identification, 31, 36, 55 identity, viii, 14, 15, 54, 56, 57, 60, 61, 63, 65, 66, 70, 71, 72, 121, 129 ideology, 14, 15, 28 image, 14, 100, 146, 147, 148, 150, 151 imagery, 114 images, 87, 121, 146 imagination, 51 imitation, 150 immigrants, 113, 115, 121 imports, 96 income, 71 independence, viii, 28, 42, 53, 54, 56, 57, 58, 59, 64, 65, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72

independent living, 57, 70 Indians, 131, 143 indigenous peoples, 104, 129, 138 inferences, 103 ingredients, 128, 132 inhibitor, 132 initiation, 32, 122 injury, iv inner world, 134 insane, 117 institutions, 29 interdependence, 69 intermediaries, 113, 120 international communication, 45 interrelations, 43 intervention, 71, 74, 116, 134 iron, 89, 91, 92, 93, 95, 102 Islam, 113 isolation, 68, 72, 73 issues, 54, 58 Italy, 2, 31, 41, 49

L lead, 7, 54, 61, 64, 66, 69, 72, 104 learning, 113 legend, 10, 22, 27, 42, 102 legs, 147 leisure, 67 leprosy, 30 lesions, 117 life cycle, 70 lifetime, 10, 67, 115, 117, 118, 124 light, 2, 8, 10, 25, 41, 45, 96, 97, 102, 150 loneliness, 68, 73 love, 136

M majority, 15, 121, 135 man, 5, 17, 18, 22, 27, 31, 35, 37, 110, 148, 149, 151 management, 7, 69 mandible, 88

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

161

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Index manufacturing, 92, 152 mapping, 143 mares, 147, 149 marriage, 33, 34, 47, 56, 69, 148 marsh, 35 mass, 13, 16, 98 material bodies, 114, 116 materials, viii, 5, 77, 92, 95, 96, 98, 103, 146, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154 matrix, 2 matter, 67, 114 meat, 148 media, 118 mediation, 139 medical, 10, 59, 112, 117, 119, 120, 122, 123, 124, 128, 134, 135, 139 medicine, 112, 113, 114, 116, 118, 119, 120, 131, 135, 138, 140, 143 memory, 21, 44, 67 mental health, 72 messages, 139 metatarsal, 88 middle class, 137 migration, 89, 146 military, ix, 78, 100, 101, 103 militia, 100, 103 miniature, 152 mission, 116, 137 misuse, 140 mixing, ix, 110, 121 models, 2, 93, 152 modifications, 59 morality, 120 morphology, 88 motivation, 138 music, 122 mythology, 32, 35, 119

N narcotic, 127, 128 narratives, 129 native population, 94 natural science, 140 nausea, 133

negative effects, 132, 140 negotiating, 75 nurses, 119 nursing, 73, 75 nursing home, 75 nymph, 31, 32, 42

O obstacles, 115 officials, 66, 110 oil, 8, 11 old age, viii, 53, 55, 58, 66, 69 olive oil, 12 openness, 5 opportunities, 137 organ, 35, 38

P pain, ix, 109, 110, 120 pairing, 87 parallel, viii, 2, 4, 12, 28, 31, 35, 36, 41, 85, 116 parents, 148 participants, ix, 16, 18, 36, 38, 60, 61, 62, 65, 67, 127, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140 performers, 6, 36 permission, 2, 6, 12, 15 personal hygiene, 59, 62 personal problems, 115, 122, 135 phalanx, 88 phenomenology, 129 Philadelphia, 125, 143 photographers, 15 physical well-being, 136 physics, 119 placebo, 136, 143 plants, 36, 39, 80, 112, 116, 128, 132, 133, 134 platform, 80 pleasure, 115, 139 poetry, 151, 154

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

162

Index

polar, 103 policy, 54, 55, 70, 129, 139 pools, 30 population, viii, ix, x, 53, 55, 56, 78, 96, 97, 98, 101, 102, 103, 104, 121, 122, 142, 145, 154 poverty, 124 preservation, 87 prestige, 7 principles, 120 professionals, 63, 64, 69, 120 project, 114, 119 prosperity, 31 protection, 59 psychiatry, 116 public health, 111 public support, 59 publishing, 49, 78 punishment, 115 purification, 28 purity, vii, 1, 3, 148

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Q quality of life, 140 questioning, 56

R race, 31 racing, 31 radiation, 110 rain forest, 138 reactions, 127, 133, 140 reading, 22 reality, 8, 35, 61, 117 reasoning, 56 recall, 133 receptacle, 36 recognition, 57, 59, 136 recommendations, 110 reconstruction, 95, 154 recovery, 116 recreational, 71

regeneration, 148 regulations, 121 rejection, 139 relationship management, 71 relatives, ix, 78, 120, 147 relevance, 65 relief, 62, 65, 112 religion, 2, 5, 7, 8, 19, 29, 42, 45, 103, 120, 121, 122, 155 religiosity, 14, 15, 16 religious beliefs, vii, 1, 2, 151, 153 repair, 12 reproduction, 31, 35 reputation, 128 researchers, 7, 45, 54, 57, 62, 66, 72, 92, 104, 138, 146, 147, 150, 152 residues, 133 resistance, 62 resources, 70, 134 response, 136 restoration, 23 retirement, 56 rights, 138 rings, 90, 114, 153 risk, 57, 60, 69, 138, 139 risks, 135 roots, 123 routines, 67 rules, 54, 55, 72, 121, 135, 140

S safety, 98, 133, 140, 148 sanctuaries, 27, 30, 31, 35, 41, 97, 99, 100, 104 schizophrenia, 120 scholarship, 45 science, 120, 146 seed, 38 semantics, 151 semicircle, viii, 77, 87 serotonin, 132, 141 settlements, 79, 101, 148 shame, 133 shape, 31, 39, 58, 89, 94, 95, 131

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

163

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Index shelter, 31 showing, 20, 132 signals, 72 signs, 98, 135, 150, 151, 152 silver, 8, 13, 28, 100, 147 skeleton, 88 skin, 34, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 152 slaves, ix, 109, 120, 121 smallpox, 40 smoking, 111, 138 snakes, 38, 134 society, 5, 19, 35, 36, 45, 54, 56, 58, 59, 72, 121, 124, 129, 136, 137, 155 soil erosion, 96 sowing, 38 species, 103 speech, 110 spirituality, 128, 139 stability, 54, 55, 57, 58 stallion, 148, 150 state, viii, 7, 14, 28, 53, 54, 56, 66, 71, 78, 88, 102, 104, 116, 127, 130 states, 64, 122, 128, 134 steel, 12 stereotypes, 69 stress, 141 stroke, 59 structure, 57, 58, 59, 133, 139, 146 style, 137, 138 substance use, 137 sulphur, 30 supernatural, ix, 109, 113, 117, 120, 121, 124 surveillance, 69 survival, 32, 37 sweat, 131 symbolic systems, 129 symptoms, 61, 69, 112, 115, 116, 118, 123, 124

T

teachers, 134 teams, 119 techniques, 117, 129, 135 technology, 92 teeth, 39, 66, 87 temperature, 100 tension, 67 territorial, x, 100, 145 territory, viii, x, 20, 77, 79, 94, 95, 97, 99, 100, 103, 145 theatre, 9, 11, 15, 22, 36 therapeutic process, 135 therapeutic use, 135 therapist, 62 therapy, 112, 114, 115, 116, 120, 135, 136, 137 throws, 97 time preferences, 67 torture, 129 tourism, 129 toxicity, 133 traditions, ix, 27, 45, 104, 109, 113, 114, 117, 120, 123, 128, 130, 131, 135, 137, 153, 154 training, 122, 123 trajectory, 115, 118, 123 transformation, 72, 74, 104, 111, 129 translation, 125 transmission, 72 transport, 72, 119 treatment, 55, 101, 110, 112, 116, 118, 119, 120, 122, 123, 128, 135, 137, 139 trial, 73 triggers, 60 tumor, 110 tundra, 80, 88, 99, 104, 148

U universe, 112, 114, 121 urban, 115, 124

takeover, 65 talent, 122 target, 33

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,

164

Index

V vegetation, 30, 39 vessels, 36 vision, 10, 29, 30, 42, 121, 131 visions, 24, 29, 30, 45, 129, 141 vomiting, 133, 135 vote, 138 vulnerable people, 133 vulva, 35

W

Y young people, 136

Copyright © 2012. Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

waking, 146 walking, 17, 18, 65, 66, 67 war, 35, 101, 102, 103, 119

water, vii, 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 36, 39, 41, 42, 98, 149 wealth, 124, 146, 148 websites, 132 well-being, 134, 136, 140 wild animals, 150 wilderness, 34 wood, 85, 102 wool, 12 workers, 14, 15, 55, 66, 67, 68, 71, 73 worldview, 44 worldwide, 130

De, Smet, Etalon, and Frédérique Bauwens. Rituals : Types, Efficacy and Myths, Nova Science Publishers, Incorporated,