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«IZVESTIYA IRKUTSKOGO GOSUDARSTVENNOGO UNIVERSITETA». SERIYA «POLITOLOGIYA. RELIGIOVEDENIE»
«THE BULLETIN OF IRKUTSK STATE UNIVERSITY». SERIES «POLITICAL SCIENCE AND RELIGION STUDIES»
ISSN 2073-3380 (Print)

List of issues > Series «Political Science and Religion Studies». 2018. Vol. 23

“Fire that Connects the Worlds”: on the “Shamanic” Nature of Indo-European Peoples’ Worship of Fire

Author(s)
E. V. Nam
Abstract
This article explores cultural analogies in how peoples of Siberia and Indo-Europeans worshiped fire. It is claimed that rituals of fire worship are associated with the idea that fire is involved in the formation of cosmic order determined through the basic opposition of light and darkness. Fire was a mediator that delivered people’s sacrifices and wishes to gods and spirits it represented emergence and destruction of the world, and marked the initial or concluding phase of rituals. Many ritual figures saw their main function in maintaining the fire and thus they played a key role in ensuring well-being on a cosmic scale. They also acted as healers, soothsayers, and guardians protecting their fellow tribesmen from hostile otherworldly forces, in other words they performed the most important ‘shamanic’ functions. Furthermore, shamans were closely connected not only with fire but also with blacksmithing which can be firmly confirmed by both Siberian and Indo-European materials. It is concluded that Indo-Europeans’ worship of fire could be directly linked to the shamanic worldview which includes the whole spectrum of man’s ideas about the world and different ways of ritual interaction with it.
For citation:
Nam E.V. «Fire that Connects the Worlds»: on the «Shamanic» Nature of Indo-European Peoples’ Worship of Fire. The Bulletin of Irkutsk State University. Series Political Science and Religion Studies. 2018, vol. 23, pp. 127-136. https://doi.org/10.26516/2073-3380.2018.23.127 (in Russian)
Keywords
light-darkness, blacksmithing, shamanism, cosmogony, soothsaying, ecstasy
UDC
299.1

DOI

https://doi.org/10.26516/2073-3380.2018.23.127

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