Repository logo
 

Dmitriy Mandzhiev, About the Ritual of Worshipping Fire


Change log

Authors

Terbish, Baasanjav 

Abstract

Dmitriy talks about the ritual of worshiping fire with the aim of appeasing local deities. We cut a sheep in a Kalmyk way (i.e. by cutting open its belly and tearing off its aorta), break its bones at the joints, and offer the meat to local deities so that they do not get angry with people who misbehave. To perform this ritual, people need to put on clean clothes. We have a special hill where this ritual has been performed from ancient times. We also make fire offerings at home, because of our nomadic lifestyle which entails killing animals, which is a sinful act after all. We have to kill animals because it’s our food. Every two or three years we invite a monk and carry out a cleansing ritual.

Description

Keywords

Fire, ritual, deities

Is Part Of

Publisher

Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Documentation Project, University of Cambridge

Publisher DOI

Publisher URL

Sponsorship
Sponsored by Arcadia Fund, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin

Collections