Nino Ghambashidze

Studying one of the West Georgian folk holidays-Tedoroba, we came to a certain point of view that its "strangeness" can be explained by the influence of Greek culture. Tedoroba was a famous West Georgian fertility festival. On this holiday, people especially prayed for the abundance of domestic animals. According to materials that have come down to us, this festival took place in a special form in Guria (one of the regions of western Georgia). This "strange" ritual was used to reproduce horses. Judging by the scientific literature available to us, this so-called "strange" ritual has not been studied before. The participants of this ritual were only mail. This folk festival in Svaneti, Guria, and Samegrelo was dedicated to the vigor and propagation of horses. The study of this so-called "strange" festival brought us to the colonization of the Black Sea by Greeks, and Greek mythology. In my opinion, this holiday may be connected with Poseidon who is believed to give birth to horses from water. Based on Georgian and foreign historical, archaeological, ethnological, religious, and mythological literature, we have come to a certain point of view that in the mentioned holiday there are traces of pagan Greek religious and mythological thinking associated with the sea, Poseidon, and related religious beliefs.

The paper focuses on two main issues: what psychological mechanism participated in the ritual of Batonebi performed to treat infectious diseases, and why the Georgian folk ritual of Batonebi has survived in fact to this day. In addition to the great mother Nana, St. Barbara and St. John the Baptist, Saints Marina and Tekla were supposed to be patrons and healers from infectious diseases. Accordingly, they turned for help mainly to female deities and saints.
This interdisciplinary study is based on ethnographic, folklore materials, ethnological, psychological and historical scientific literature.

The purpose of my article is to show, on the one hand, what kind of festivals Lipanaali and Jerusalemtoba-Sultakrepa are, and on the other hand, what were the traditional Georgia ways of dealing with the trauma of death. Study showed that both holidays are syncretic in nature. By their Christian stratum, they are associated with Easter and its theological meaning. As it is known, one of the main human feelings is the fear of death. Being in touch with departed souls, having a connection with them and feeling their presence has a deep psychological background. Traditions and religious structures in society enable individual control and manage anxiety through well-established mechanisms. When significant changes take place in society, these mechanisms begin to diminish and collapse. In my opinion, these changes often severely affect structures formed over the centuries, or severely damage them, so that they cannot positively affect the collective psychological balance. Therefore, the tradition should not be destroyed, but developed, adapted to the new requirements of society and transformed into something new that society needs. The strong instinct of birth-death-rebirth desperately pushes a person to reunite death with life and find life in death, conditioned by love. With the help of the holidays of "pilgrimage", the call of God and transcendental forces, with the help of mythical images, man tried to open the doors and destroy insurmountable, "delimited" threshold for creating a single entire space of eternal life. In my opinion, to create the third, as according to Jung, is a result of union of opposites. The study was conducted on the basis of ethnographic materials, ethnological and psychological scientific literature and is an interdisciplinary study.

The purpose of my article is to show, on the one hand, what kind of festivals Lipanaali and Jerusalemtoba-Sultakrepa are, and on the other hand, what were the traditional ways of dealing with the trauma of death. Study showed that both holidays are syncretic in nature. By their Christian stratum, they are associated with Easter and its theological meaning. As you know, one of the main human feelings is the fear of death. Being in touch with departed souls, having a connection with them and feeling their presence has a deep psychological beckground. Traditions and religious structures in society enable individual control and manage anxiety through well-established mechanisms. When significant changes take place in society, these mechanisms begin to diminish and collapse. In my opinion, these changes often severely affect structures formed over the centuries, or severely damage them, so that they cannot positively affect the collective psychological balance. Therefore, the tradition should not be destroyed, but developed, adapted to the new requirements of society and transformed into something new that society needs. The strong instinct of birth-death-rebirth desperately pushes a person to reunite death with life and find life in death, conditioned by love. With the help of the holidays of "pilgrimage", the call of God and transcendental forces, with the help of mythical images, man tried to open the doors and destroy insurmountable, "delimited" threshold for creating a single entire space of eternal life. In my opinion, to create the third, as according to Jung, is a result of union of opposites. The study was conducted on the basis of ethnographic materials, ethnological and psychological scientific literature and is an interdisciplinary study.

Door to door rituals that preserved in Georgian folk calendar from the very beginning drew an attention of scientists. It is well noticed that the rituals as well as music of Chona and Keenoba – Berikaoba are closely related with each other. It is also obvious that the rituals of Chona, Joyful Spring, Keenoba – Berikaoba, Alilo are alike.
Alilo and Chona with their close relation to Christianity are allocated. It must be mentioned that some Christmas and Easter hymns, texts and rituals of Alilo and Chona are alike. In our opinion, it might be due to the fact that Jesus Christ was conceived and crucified at one and the same day (March, 25) and thus, to the theological meaning of crucifixion and resurrection. If Alilo was performed on December 25, Chona was traditionally held from the Good Friday1 until Easter that is, in our opinion, activation of that very March, 25 when Jesus was crucified.
In this case, as well, folk and official Christianity share Christian outlook. This outlook is exposed in folk religion in a way peculiar to Georgian.
Old ritual scheme was filled up with new meaning and function. We also think that participants of Alilo, Keenoba – Berikaoba and Chona who wore sheepskin coats are as if one and the same
personages. In the ritual of Alilo they perform the Gospel story and are Gospel shepherds, heralds of Jesus’ birth. Their song was identified with chanting and significant gift. They additionally carried staffs like shepherds. At Keenoba-Berikaoba they were wearing not only
sheepskin coats, but masks and were becoming actors of the mystery of the pre-Christian deity’s death and resurrection and of the sacred marriage; they granted fertility and abundance. At Chona the same actors are heralds of the Easter. Egg, which is the main and devoted element of all these rituals (participants mainly ask for an egg) must have been an ancient symbol rooted beyond the centuries and connected with the creation myth, which later gained in the rituals of Alilo and Chona deeply Christian meaning.

At the center of one of the ancient Georgian mythological narratives, we find a figure of the great mother Nana in the land of Batonebi. It is one of the images of paradise, suffused with eternal light, ruby marani (location for storing wine in special pitchers), and a poplar growing nearby. This poplar is the tree of life, the tree of immortality on which, in some variants, vine is climbing up. In the fourth century, as the tradition and chronicle says, before coming to Georgia for preaching Christianity, St. Nino was given a vine cross by the Blessed Virgin. In the twelfth century, the Georgian king Demetre I wrote a hymn entitled "You Are the Vineyard" which is dedicated to Blessed Virgin, the patroness of Georgia. If we look at the way in which the religious mentality of Georgians developed, we can notice a line of symbols: the vine, representing the tree of life/cross, and the holy woman (the great mother Nana, the Holy Virgin, and St. Nino), who is connected with it. The vine cross, the "Georgian Cross" that Our Lady gave to St. Nino is one of the obvious images of Georgian identity containing pre-Christian worldviews as well.

The article is about the icon of the Mozdok Mother of God, which is the common sanctity of the Caucasus and not only Orthodox Christians worship it. The article puts forward the viewpoint that such common sanctities can reduce conflict situations or even might resolve them.

Khatis diasakhlisi was a shrine servant
together with mail ones. She belongs to the lowest rank of the shrine
servants. According to the ethnographically materials we possess khatis
diasakhlisi helped mail servants to perform rituals in the shrine, was
chosen according obligatory norms, observed in fact the same purity
prohibitions as mail servants, had a special building on the territory of
the shrine where she stayed or lived and baked ritual breads, one of
the main offerings together with animal sacrifice and beer, was blessed
together with other men shrine servants by khutsesi when he was
performing main rituals in the shrine, she together with other mail
servants was sharing all kinds of sacrifices. She had a certain part in
them. Khatis diasakhlisi was busily involved in festivity preparations
together with dasturies. Deaconate was her only obligation and nothing
more. Participation in main rituals of shrine or slaughter of sacrifice
was strictly forbidden for her. This office was habitual only for
some shrines of Pirikita Khevsureti.
Christianity, as it is well known, said no to pagan ministry of
women, established the institution of deaconesses and thus promoted
women’s activity in church. It also encouraged women to be the
teachers of the law and missioners. After establishing monasticism
and lately abolishing deaconesses’ service de facto, women were
involved in active monastic life and in every-day life of congregation.
On this stage of the study we also came to the conclusion that
the office of khatis diasakhlisi is very like and might be connected
with the activity of deaconesses, mainly with the baking of prosforion,
the occupation of specially chosen middle aged pious, honorable
women, widows or wives of priests. In our opinion the office of khatis
diasakhlisi is the same that of the women who were chosen among the
congregation for baking prosphorion but adapted to a local religious
environment.

The paper tries to show, on the example of Tbilisi, how places become sacred and the sights of pilgrimage;

what are the modern and traditional forms of pilgrimage in Georgia. The study showed that the grave

of the prominent people for their pure life and miraculous deeds, who lived during the Soviet and post-Soviet

periods until now are the places of veneration. These people before official canonization became saints for

people and as I call them, they became “folk Saints”, as the forms of their veneration are the same as

canonized ones. After post-Soviet revival of religiousness in the late 1970es, one form of pilgrimage became

especially popular in the Orthodox Church of Georgia. On the memorial days of Saints or just after Sunday

liturgy priest and congregation visit graves of these Saints or prominent churches dedicated to them, where

they pray and have small services. The study showed that this form was not traditional Georgian form of

pilgrimage, but Russian one. I also argue that there might have been five forms of traditional pilgrimage in

Georgia. The study was based on historical sources, published scientific works and the personal field

ethnographic materials.

Georgia is a country where women’s secular and religious activities would never be strange and unprecedented. But also this is a country where women are considered impure for ritual purposes, not allowed even to come too close to the shrines or conduct liturgy; where participation in main shrine rituals or slaughter of sacrifice was and is strictly forbidden. However, there are remarkable exceptions that are shown in the article.Women’s shrines are found almost in all regions of Georgia, but according to our field works and other ethnographic data their presence is remarkably obvious in Khevi, mountainous region of East Georgia. The study of the subject brought us to a conclusion that women in Khevi might have more rights in conducting religious rituals at shrines than in other Eastern Georgia’s highland regions. It may be conditioned by St. Nino’s strong connection with the region.

Three Shrines of the Village Gergeti
(Kvelatsminda, St. George and St. Nino)
In the archive of the Javakhishvili Institute of History and Ethnology graphical sketches are preserved. There are four sketches among them on which three sanctuaries of the village Gergeti are depicted. These are: Okhareshi St. George, Ninotsminda and Kvelatsminda/Women’s Shrine. Within the frames of the project “Unexplored Archive Materials and the Traditional Culture of the Eastern Georgia Highland (Ethnological studies)” funded by the Rustaveli foundation  the above mentioned sketches, among others, are worked out.
We also studied the above mentioned shrines in the context of the historical and ethnographic data. Village Gergeti and its shrines are forming one holy space together with the famous Gergeti Trinity church, which determined history, ethnography and spiritual meaning of the whole sacred site. According to folk and historical traditions St. Andrew the disciple erected cross and planted a tree on the mouth Golgotha, in front of Mtskheta, where now is Jvari (the Cross) Monastery. When this tree grew, it became miracle working. After preaching in Kakheti and the North Caucasus the disciple went to the mount Gergeti and there as well, where now is a famous Trinity church, erected a cross. The folk tradition says that St. Andrew erected cross in the village Gergeti as well.
If we fallow historical and folk traditions, later on in the 4th century St. Nino converts Georgians into Christianity. Georgians cut miracle working tree planted by St. Andrew and maid crosses out of it. One of them and most distinguished cross was erected on that very place where now is Jvari (the Cross) Monastery in Mtskheta, where St. Andrew planted the tree and erected a cross. After erecting of the Mtskheta cross, all idols in the Kingdom of Kartli fell down. King Mirian, who was converted by St. Nino destroyed all idols in his Kartli Kingdom and erected crosses instead. St. Nino continued her missionary activity in the mountain regions of Kartli. Historical chronicles tell us that she erected a cross on mount Gergeti, where now is the Trinity church. Thus, according to the chronicles and folk traditions both apostles - St. Andrew and St. Nino – erected crosses and thus sanctified Golgotha and Gergeti mountains. Both geographical points have the similar location. They are divided from the main residential place, spiritually devoted to the mountain, by river (Mtkvari/Kura and Tergi). Mtskheta is the centre of the Kingdom of Kartli and Stephantsminda, in fact, of the northern frontiers of this kingdom. We believe that these erected crosses and later on constructed churches were spiritual fortresses against enemies. They also show us spiritual boundaries of the kingdom of Kartli.
King Vakhtang Gorgasali (the 5th century) is a founder of the feast of Jvari (the Cross) of Mtskheta. He strengthened the northern border (Dariali, entrance of R. Tergi and R. Aragvi) of the kingdom. According to one of the folk traditions of Khevi, king Vakhtang had built St. Trinity Church.
In the 7th century Stephanoz II presiding prince of Kartli finally brings to an end building of the Jvari Monastery, enriches Georgian liturgical practice with three church festivals and together with other saints glorifies St. Stephan Protomartyer.
In the 8th century son of Stephanoz II, Archil, at one of the entrances of Mtskheta, at the R. Aragvi entrance, at the fortress, constructed a church of St. Stephan Protomartyer.
One of the main residential places in the northern boundaries of the kingdom was named after St. Stephan Protomartyer (Stephantsminda). Besides, in the 18th century, according to the chronicles, on the mount Gergeti, where the church of the Holy Trinity is, was St. Stephan Protomartyer’ monastery. We believe that at a certain period in the kingdom of Kartli St. Stephan should have been a patron saint of the entrances. As it is well known, he was stoned out of the gait of Jerusalem nearby an entrance of the town. As it is known this entrance is called Lion’s or St. Stephan’s gate. We also believe that not only Mtskheta, spiritual and cultural centre of the Kingdom of Kartli after spreading Christianity was designed after Jerusalem but the whole kingdom.
What was happening from the 5th -8th centuries till the 14th century, when the Gergeti Holy Trinity church was built, historical sources and tradition says nothing. We only can mention that folk tradition besides king Vakhtang attributes construction of the church to Queen Tamar. But it can be mentioned that for some period Khevi and the holy site of Gergeti was within the frames of the entire religious outlook of the country and besides served the security and defense problems of the country.
We share the opinion of A. Okropiridze and think that the Holy Trinity church initially was dedicated to the feast of Transfiguration. Supposedly, we may think that because the Holy Trinity strongly participates in the feast of Transfiguration, later the church might be renamed in the name of the Holy Trinity. We also think that this holy place before might be connected with the Holy Virgin. The Holy Cross and the Virgin are definitely linked as it has sound grounding in theology. This link is obvious in Georgian tradition as well. The feasts of the holy cross in Kartli were followed by weekly festival of the Holy Marry that was called Wardoba. It is worth of mentioning that there is a shrine of the Gergeti Trinity church in Sioni (Zion), village in Khevi, the feast of which is the same day as of Gergeti Trinity (August, 28, Dormition) but is called Wardoba (feast of rose). The Tuesday after Easter, one more feast day of Gergeti Trinity, which was dedicated to the Holy Trinity, by church calendar is a day of Holy Virgin and myrrhbearers. Maybe, later feast of the Holy Trinity of Gergeti moved to the Holy Virgin’s another feast day and became the feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God.

Georgian folk poem “Mze Shina da Mze Gareta” (“The Sun at Home and The Sun Out”) is also known as a song performed during the rituals dedicated to the newly born child. The text of the given poem is shortly discussed by Elene Virsaladze and Vakhtang Kotetishvili. Elene Virsaladze evaluates it from the viewpoint of the hunting rituals and hunting epic. Vakhtang Kotetishvili discusses gender of the Sun and the Moon in Georgian mythology and says that the text is ancient ritual one which is connected with childbirth.
The specialists of the folk music contributed mostly in studding “Mze Shina da Mze Gareta” (Grigol Chkhikvadze, Manana Shilakadze, Edisher Garayanidze, Nato Zumbadze, Ketevan Chitanava...). In this ritual dance, which also was performed as a round dance, scientists see the trace of the religious believes connected with celestial bodies. The Megrelian variant of this song is a representation of one of the ancient stages of the Georgian folk song harmonic-intonation development (K. Chitanava). The songs that now are kin to each other: “Mze Shina”, “Lazare”, “Nana” once were performed on different melodies. But because of their metric and musical mentality similarity and ritual function they became similar. The song “Mze Shina” once was performed in the rituals dedicated to the pagane deities and later it became a song performed for newly born child and thus came to our days (E. Garayanidze). “Mze Shina da Mze Gareta” (“Mze Shina”, “Mze Shinao”, “Zashinao”, “Zashinava”) and “Nai, Ninaia” or “Naina” is a ritual round dace performed for venerating the Sun and the Sun goddess Nana (Nato Zumbadze).
The given issue was not studied by ethnologists from the viewpoint of the history of religion. Our work is dedicated to this very issue.  In our research we tried to understand what kind of mytho - religious narrative is given in “Mze Shina” (“The Sun at Home”), “Mze Chaghma Chamavalia” (“The Sun is Setting Down”), “The Sun and The Moon”, “Was in the Haven and Saw the Haven” (“Zecas Viyav, Zeca Vnakhe”), Nana of the infectious diseases and their variants. Why “Mze Shina” was so popular song that its urban variant was created as well? Why was it in Samegrelo sung in Georgian language and in Svaneti with mixed Svan and Georgian words as well? Why it is one of the most significant, typical, popular and in many regions spreaded example of the Georgian folklore?