Below I quote from the book Old Thiess, a Livonian Werewolf: A Classic Case in Comparative Perspective, by Carlo Ginzburg and Bruce Lincoln, University of Chicago Press, 2020. The section was written by author Carlo Ginzburg in Chapter Three: Friulian Benandanti, Russian Werewolves, and Shamanic Others.
“[Orientalist Julius Klaproth] described their intense devotion to the prophet Elijah, whom they consider their supreme protector. Goats are sacrificed to him in caves, and they eat their meat: then they spread the skins under a large tree and worship them, particularly during the prophet's feast day [Jul 20], that he may deign to ward off hail and grant a rich harvest. The Ossetians often visit these caves to intoxicate themselves with the smoke from the rhododendron caucasicum which plunges them into sleep: the dreams that ensue are considered to be omens. However, they also have professional soothsayers who live on the sacred cliffs and predict the future in exchange for gifts. Among them; Klaproth observed,
there are also some old men and women who, on the eve of St. Sylvester [Dec 30], fall into a sort of ecstasy, remaining motionless on the ground as though asleep. When they awake, they say they've seen the souls of the dead, sometimes in a great swamp, alternatively, astride pigs, dogs, or rams…
…In the period between Christmas and New Year, the Ossetians affirm, some individuals, leaving their body fast asleep, go in spirit to the land of the dead... When they arrive at the great meadow, the inexperienced souls allow themselves to be attracted by the perfume of the flowers and fruits scattered upon it… By contrast, the more experienced souls catch the seeds of the wheat and of other fruits of the earth, pursued by the dead, who try to shoot them with arrows: the hunt ends only on the threshold of the village. The arrows do not cause wounds, but black spots which are incurable…; some from the world of the dead describe their feats to their fellow villagers, who then express their gratitude.”
Ossetian Shamanism Or Archaic Fertility Rite?
The Ossetians are the ethnic descendants of Scythian or Sarmatian populations who moved (or were pushed) from the Pontic Steppe and, giving up their nomadic way of life, settled in the mountainous regions of the Caucasus. Their language and culture give tantalizing glimpses of a possible earlier strata of Scythian culture, albeit many centuries and migrations removed.
That they should consider the prophet Elijah their “supreme protector” is telling, and makes me want to identify him with an archaic deity. But which one? The Slavic pantheon seems to have transferred worship of a Zeus/Thor-like god known as Perun to St. Elijah/Elias. This supreme deity was also known to be associated with goats. Whether this belief is the result of transmission or some common inheritance and recognition is up for debate. The passage makes no mention what type of tree the goat skins were spread under during these rites, but I would bet they were oaks.
Certain pollens, like certain plants, can be toxic. And the pollen of the rhododendron contains a neurotoxin. In small quantities is produces a mild confusion like drunkenness, but in larger quantities can be extremely debilitating (as an army marching through the region once discovered, much to their misfortune—a subject for a later post!) So, the fact that the Ossetians regularly visited sacrificial caves to smoke rhododendron leaves is fascinating. It should be recalled that their Scythian ancestors apparently did likewise with cannabis in purpose-made smoking tents.
While Elijah is invoked for protection during the midwinter rites, the imagery of the underworld is clearly pre-Christian. If we can compare Elijah to Slavic Perun, then perhaps the shadow of his rival Veles, lord of the underworld (or whatever his Iranian equivalent may be) hangs over these midwinter proceedings? I wonder also if the reference to the souls of the dead seen in a swamp is an ancestral memory of the swamps of Gerrhos mentioned by Herodotus as the burial ground of the Royal Scythians, or whether this is just a gloomy but apt image of liminality, or of primordial decay and renewal? That these old men and women fall into an ecstasy and see the souls of the dead suggests at least an ancestor cult and perhaps a form of shamanism, but details are scanty.
That the land of the dead is also conceived as a great meadow is not surprising for an Indo-European people descended from nomadic horsemen and herdsmen. As with the Elysian Fields, most IE cultures likewise conceived of the afterlife as a blissful meadow. And the time of year, midwinter, is significantly the moment when so many cultures believed the realms of living and dead were briefly intermingled and could be freely traversed.
Only a select few apparently made the journey to the underworld during this time and it is clear there are novices and seasoned travelers. Further, the rules are specific. Shamanic instruction, tales about fairy realms, and the well-known Persephone myth, speak of the dangers of eating or drinking in the otherworld, and a similar warning seems to be implied here, as even smelling the flowers carries the risk of illness, as does eating the apples. It goes on to say that “the more experienced souls catch” seeds of wheat and fruit, suggesting that rather than eating or enjoying the flowers and food in the meadow, they bring them back from their journey to the realm of the living. Subsequently, the dead hunt them with arrows. The nature of the “incurable” “black spots” caused by the arrows of the dead is curious, and I wonder if they are not initiatory marks like tattoos or similar, or if they are reference to something spiritual and unseen? Some of these travelers to the land of the dead are said to heal themselves, a common theme among shamanic initiates who undergo various forms of death or physical transformation before returning renewed among the living. Here, they are said to relate their exploits to grateful villagers.
There is a blurry line of commonality between the shaman’s journey and the mythic hero’s journey, and I’m often left thinking they might be variations on a theme, if not ultimately one and the same. While these rites contain ecstatic and otherworld travel—and even “battle” with spirits—elements common with shamanism, they lack many others. In addition, they are communal, seasonal, and seem to have a different purpose (e.g. an apparent Persephone-like focus on fertility and revitalization of the land and crops) which either force us to expand our understanding of shamanism or to exclude these from that category and acknowledge them as another form of similar religious activity. Much of ancient religion took the form of ritual, ecstatic experience, dream, divination, and mysticism, and shamans were just one type of specialist in this vast realm of experience. So, I’m personally less interested in strictly defined categories than I am in the broader picture of ancient practices, which are by their decentralized nature diverse and difficult to define.
At first glance, this short section of the book seemed almost irrelevant to the larger thesis about werewolves, but as evidence of the religious participation of archaic communities in the “rescue” of fertile material from the realm of the dead it is compelling. It also offers fascinating details of other more obscure beliefs and practices that could and should probably be explored in greater detail by someone with more background in these subjects than myself. You never know what gems you will find buried in unexpected places, and I’d love to come back to this again when I’ve gathered more information.