Peasants, Pilgrims, and Sacred Promises — Ritual and the Supernatural in Orthodox Karelian Folk Religion

Stark, Laura
Title: Peasants, Pilgrims, and Sacred Promises — Ritual and the Supernatural in Orthodox Karelian Folk Religion
Authors: Stark, Laura (Author)
Product number: 9789517463669
Product form: Paperback
Availability: Delivery in 7-14 workdays
Price: 45,00 € (40,91 € vat 0 %)

Publ. product code: 1364492
Publisher: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura
Series: Studia Fennica Folkloristica 11
Edition: 2002
Publication year: 2002
Language: English
Pages: 229
Product family: Anthropology
Studia Fennica Folkloristica
Books in English
Finnish library classification: 86.14 Kansanrunouden historia ja tutkimus
YSO - General Finnish ontology: kansanusko, rituaalit, karjalaiset, kansanperinne, yliluonnolliset olennot, haltijat, tietäjät, parantajat, pyhä (uskonnolliset käsitteet), pyhimykset ja pyhät, pyhät paikat, pyhiinvaellukset, ortodoksisuus, ortodoksinen kirkko, sairaudet, kuolema, loitsut, hautausmaat, tsasounat, luostarit
Key words: pre-christian, pilgrimate, Folklore, death, religion studies
Lying on the border between eastern and western Christendom, Orthodox Karelia preserved its unique religious culture into the 19th and 20th centuries, when it was described and recorded by Finnish and Karelian folklore collectors. This colorful array of ritulas and beliefs involving nature spirits, saints, the dead, and pilgrimage to monasteries represented a unigue fusion of official Church ritual and doctrine and pre-Christian ethnic folk belief. This book undertakes a fascinating exploration into many aspects of Orthodox Karelian ritual life: beliefs in supernatural forces, folk models of illness, body concepts, divination, holy icons, the role of the ritual specialist and healer, the divide between nature and culture, images of forest, the cult of the dead, and the popular image of monasteries and holy hermits. It will appeal to anyone interested in popular religion, the cognitive study of religion, ritual studies, medical anthropology, and the folk traditions and symbolism of the Balto-Finnic peoples.