| Mythology |
|---|
Elements of a Proto-Uralic religion can be recovered from reconstructions of the Proto-Uralic language.
According to linguist Ante Aikio, although "evidence of immaterial culture is very limited" in the Proto-Uralic language, "a couple of lexical items can be seen as pointing to a shamanistic system of beliefs and practices." The concept of soul dualism, which is widely attested among Uralic-speaking peoples, probably dates back to the Proto-Uralic period: the word *wajŋi (‘breath-soul') designated the soul bound to the living body, which only left it at the moment of death, whereas *eśi (or *iśi, *ićći) referred to the 'shadow-soul', believed to be able to leave the body during lifetime, as when dreaming, in a state of unconsciousness or in a shaman's spirit journey.[1]
The Indo-Iranian loanword *pi̮ŋka designated a 'psychedelic mushroom', perhaps the one used by the shaman to enter altered states of consciousness. The verb *kixi- meant both 'to court [of birds]' and 'to sing a shamanistic song', suggesting that it referred to states of both sexual and spiritual excitement. If the etymology remains uncertain, the word 'shaman' itself may be rendered as *nojta, and the shamanic practice as *jada-, although semantic variations in the daughter languages make the reconstruction debatable (cf. Erzya Mordvin jɑdɑ- 'to conjure, do magic, bewitch', East Khanty jɔːl- 'to tell fortunes, shamanize', Ket Selkup tjɑːrә- 'to curse; quarrel').[1]
A common creation myth shared by many Finno-Ugric peoples is the earth-diver myth in which a diver, often a waterbird, dives into the sea to pick up earth from the bottom to form the lands. In the Mordvin variant, the diver is the Devil (sometimes in the form of a goose), in the Yenisey Khanty variant a red-throated loon,[2] and in at least one Finnish version a black-throated loon[3]
Several Finno-Ugric languages have a theonym that can be derived from the Proto-Finno-Ugric word *ilma meaning sky or weather. These include Udmurt Inmar, Komi-Zyrjan Jen, Khanty Num-Ilәm and Finnish Ilmarinen. These theonyms suggest an early central Proto-Finno-Ugric sky-god.[4]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
Citations[edit]
- ^ a b Aikio 2021, pp. 47–48.
- ^ Honko 2017.
- ^ Suomen Kansan Vanhat Runot VII Part 1: 11.
- ^ Frog 2012.
Bibliography[edit]
- Aikio, Ante (2021). "Proto-Uralic". The Oxford Guide to the Uralic Languages. Oxford University Press.
- Frog (2012). Evolution, Revolution and Ethnocultural Substrata: From Finno-Ugric Sky-God to the North Finnic God-Smith Ilmarinen. International Symposium on Finno-Ugric Languages in Groningen.
- Frog; Siikala, Anna-Leena; Stepanova, Eila (2012). Mythic Discourses: Studies in Uralic Traditions. Finnish Literature Society. ISBN 978-952-222-376-0.
- Konakov; Kulemzin; Gemuev; Tuchkova, eds. (2003–2009). "Komi Mythology, Khanty Mythology, Mansi Mythology, Selkup Mythology". Encyclopaedia of Uralic Mythologies. Akadémiai Kiadó.
- Pentikäinen, Juha (1989). Uralic Mythology and Folklore. Ethnographic Inst. of the HAS. ISBN 978-963-7762-64-2.
- Suomen Kansan Vanhat Runot VII Part 1: 11. Finnish Literature Society SKS. 1929–1933.
- Honko, Lauri, ed. (2017). "Finno-Ugric Religion". Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc.
Further reading[edit]
- Deviatkina, Tatiana (2011). "Images of Birds in Mordvinian Mythology". Electronic Journal of Folklore. 48: 143–152. doi:10.7592/FEJF2011.48.deviatkina.
- Hoppál, Mihály (2000). Studies on mythology and Uralic shamanism. Akadémiai Kiadó. ISBN 963-05-7741-0.
- Hajdú, Péter (ed.). Uráli népek: Nyelvrokonaink kultúrája és hagyományai [Uralic peoples: Culture and traditions of our linguistic relatives]. Budapest: Corvina Kiadó. 1975. ISBN 963-13-0900-2. (in Hungarian)
- Jauhiainen, Marjatta. The Type and Motif Index of Finnish Belief Legends and Memorates: Revised and enlarged edition of Lauri Simonsuuri’s Typen- und Motivverzeichnis der finnischen mythischen Sagen (FFC No. 182). FF Communications 267. Helsinki: Academia Scientiarum Fennica, 1998.
- Jones, Prudence; Pennick, Nigel (1995). A History of Pagan Europe. Routledge. pp. 178–183. ISBN 978-1-136-14172-0.
- Konakov, N. D.; Black, Lydia T. (1994). "Calendar Symbolism of Uralic Peoples of the Pre-Christian Era". Arctic Anthropology. 31 (1): 47–61. ISSN 0066-6939. JSTOR 40316348.
- Krupp E.C. (2000). "Sky Tales and Why We Tell Them". In: Selin H., Xiaochun S. (eds). Astronomy Across Cultures. Science Across Cultures: The History of Non-Western Science. Vol. 1. Springer, Dordrecht. pp. 20–21. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4179-6_1
- Kulmar, Tarmo (1997). "Conceptions of soul in old-Estonian religion". Electronic Journal of Folklore. 4: 27–33. doi:10.7592/FEJF1997.04.hing.
- Kulmar, Tarmo (2005). "On Supreme Sky God from the Aspect of Religious History and in Prehistoric Estonian Material". Electronic Journal of Folklore. 31: 15–30. doi:10.7592/FEJF2005.31.kulmar.
- Kuperjanov, Andres (2002). "Names in Estonian Folk Astronomy - from 'Bird's Way' to 'Milky Way'". Electronic Journal of Folklore. 22: 49–61. doi:10.7592/FEJF2002.22.milkyway.
- Leeming, David. From Olympus to Camelot: The World of European Mythology. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. 2003. pp. 134-138.
- Limerov, Pavel (2019). "Some Motifs in Komi Legends about the Creation of the World". Electronic Journal of Folklore. 76: 29–38. doi:10.7592/FEJF2019.76.limerov.
- Lintrop, Aado (2001). "The Great Oak and Brother-Sister". Electronic Journal of Folklore. 16: 34–58. doi:10.7592/FEJF2001.16.oak2.
- Siikala, Anna-Leena. "What Myths Tell about Past Finno-Ugric Modes of Thinking". In: Siikala, Anna-Leena (Ed.). Myths and Mentality: Studies in Folklore and Popular Thought. Studia Fennica Folkloristica 8. Helsinki: SKS, 2002. pp. 15–32.
- Uliashev, Oleg (2019). "Perm and Ob-Ugric Relations in Terms of Folklore Data". Electronic Journal of Folklore. 76: 15–28. doi:10.7592/FEJF2019.76.uliashev.
- Valk, Ülo (2000). "Ex Ovo Omnia: Where Does the Balto-Finnic Cosmogony Originate? The Etiology of an Etiology". In: Oral Tradition 15: 145–158.
- Vértes, Edit (1990). Szibériai nyelvrokonaink hitvilága [The belief systems of our linguistic relatives in Siberia]. Budapest: Tankönyvkiadó. ISBN 963-18-2603-1. (In Hungarian)
- Yurchenkova, Nina (2011). "About Female Deities in the Mythology of Finno-Ugric Peoples". Electronic Journal of Folklore. 47: 173–180. doi:10.7592/FEJF2011.47.yurchenkova.
Well, that’s interesting to know that Psilotum nudum are known as whisk ferns. Psilotum nudum is the commoner species of the two. While the P. flaccidum is a rare species and is found in the tropical islands. Both the species are usually epiphytic in habit and grow upon tree ferns. These species may also be terrestrial and grow in humus or in the crevices of the rocks.
View the detailed Guide of Psilotum nudum: Detailed Study Of Psilotum Nudum (Whisk Fern), Classification, Anatomy, Reproduction