Mordovian gods. Religious representations of the ancient Mordovians. Representation of the world in Mordovian paganism

Andrey Alyoshkin

1. TOL-ATIA

With the weakening of the matriarchy, along with Tol-Ava, the Mother patroness of Fire, Tol-Atya, the Old Man-Fire, appeared. It is more associated with the “male” fire, bonfires at prayer houses, in the forest, with fires, initiation rites, spring games. The sacred fire was mined in a special way, using friction or ancient flint and flint. The same fire was needed when lighting the generic candle-Shtatol during home prayers. In case of burns, they asked for forgiveness for careless handling of fire, asked for a cure for the burn. A red rooster was sacrificed to Tol-Ata.

2. WEDDING CRY

In the past, a Mordovian wedding was a huge phenomenon in a person's life. Nobody remembers his birth, and he does not see his own death. And the girls prepared for the wedding from an early age, at the beginning playing out the entire wedding ceremony on home-made dolls, changing roles, trying either the ritual cry of the bride, or the maternal mourning of the daughter given to someone else's house. And they always carefully looked at the heroes of a real wedding. Preparing for their wedding, the girls had to learn a lot. And make fabric, and embroider shirts for all your future relatives.

3. PAKSYA-AVA

The patroness of the Field, Paksia-Ava, always took care of the diligent tiller. Wheat or rye under her patronage were fat, and the fields, as if, were combed. She was loved and revered. On the holiday of Tundon iltema (Seeing off the spring) on ​​the edge of the rye field they arranged a prayer and rejoiced her with songs and cheerful dances. With a rich harvest, it was customary to leave an uncompressed strip or sheaf, as a sign of respect and gratitude to Paksia-Ava.

4. NEShKEPIR-AVA

The kind patron spirit of the Neshkepir-Ava apiary appeared in the form of a dazzling white goose. The old people say that Neshkepir-Ava comes to the apiary to inspect the hives, whether there are any cracks in them, whether the bees feel good. For her, at the first pumping of honey, they put a little honey in a separate cup and, with a prayer of gratitude, asked for protection from the sorcerer, from the evil eye, for multiplying bee colonies and increasing the collection of honey.

5. PRINCE TYUSHTE

"Tyushtyan pinge" - "The Age of Tyushti", "The Golden Age of the reign of Tyushtyan - Plowman, Warrior, Fair and Wise Defender and Prince of all Mordovians." The image of Tyushti embodied the idea of ​​the Mordovian people about what the leader of the people should be like. His name in songs and legends still sounds like a symbol folk hero with love and respect. In memory of Tyushti, prayers were held, a huge shtatol candle was lit, which was cast from donated wax brought from each of the Mordovian clans.

6. THE LEGEND OF THE WOMAN WHO MARRIED A BEAR

This is a traditional plot for all Finno-Ugric peoples. The Mordovians revered the Bear. He personified the First Ancestor, Strength, Health, Power. A son born from such a marriage would certainly become a hero of legends and glorious deeds. At village weddings and now, the newlyweds are put on a bearskin, sprinkled with hops, millet, and they ask the Bear ancestor in a special wedding conspiracy to give the young the strength and health of the Bear, his power and connection with the First Ancestors!

7. KUYGOROZH (Moksh.), TRYAMKA (Erz.)

The Mordovian gnome Tryamka (erz.) or Kuygorozh (moksh.) was the patron of profit and enrichment. He needed to be given a task every day. Otherwise, all the wealth that the cunning Kuygorozh could steal from his neighbors will immediately disappear! It was not easy to get rid of the Shaker too! The old people said that in this case he had to be given an order to drag water from the well with a sieve or wash black footcloths to white! And only then, ashamed Kuygorozh, went to a new owner!

8. WHERE

Kudatya lived in every house. At night, one could hear his light steps, as if children's bare feet slap on the floor, and even sighs:
- Oh! Again, unwashed dishes were left overnight!
Sometimes an unwanted guest who spent the night in a hut is strangled and expelled from the house! And if something was lost in the house, then they tied a bow to the leg of the table and asked:
- “Kudatya, Father, the lapotok played, played, return it to us! And we have prepared a present for you!”
And, of course, the missing thing was right there!

9. KOV-ATYA

For knowledgeable people The old moon was a good adviser. And predict the weather, and the time of sowing. Knowing the features of the phases of the moon guaranteed a rich harvest. With a waning moon, it was possible to plant only what ripens underground, with a growing one - what is above the ground. The Old Man-Moon, Kov-Atya, will show the way to the wayfarer, late in the winter night, so that he does not get lost and does not die on the way.

10. KENKSH-ATIA and KENKSH-AVA

The Mordovian patron spirits of Entry and Exit - Kensh-Atya and Kenksh-Ava are very archaic. It was through them that Joy and Trouble entered and exited the house. They were a conditional border, a threshold, guardians of the TRANSITION to another world. Before the first entrance of the young to the wedding house, the friend made cross-shaped notches on the door jamb with a large ritual knife. It was impossible to say hello or take anything through the threshold. It was believed that this leads to discord, a quarrel. Stumbling over the threshold was considered a bad omen. Ease of overcoming the threshold promised good luck.

11. KELME-ATIA

On long frosty days, when the children do not even want to stick their nose out of the warm hut, the parents did not forget to please the children. They put a large cup of oatmeal jelly, sour cream or a pot of baked milk, with a thick tasty foam, on the windowsill. And they said: “Here you are, Kelme-Atya, a treat! Do not freeze the kids, noses and fingers! And they themselves left, giving the children the opportunity to feast on simple village delicacies!

12. KASHTOM-AVA

The Patroness of the Furnace Kashtom-Ava (erz.), Penyakud-Ava (moksh.) always had a lot of trouble. Soft bread, baked milk, cast iron with rich cabbage soup under her supervision were tasty and healthy. Grandmothers taught children to treat Kashtom-Ava with respect, not to burn garbage in the oven, to keep it clean. The young Daughter-in-law, immediately after the wedding, was sure to be introduced to Her. On holidays, the first piece of freshly baked bread was thrown on the coals, and a ladle of sacred beer was placed on the hearth!

13. INENARMUN

The Great Water Bird Inenarmun is an image from ancient Mordovian mythology, which speaks of the once common understanding of the Finno-Ugric peoples about the creation of the Universe from the egg of the Great Water Bird, when the yolk became Earth, the squirrel became Water and the upper part of the egg became Air. Later, Inenarmun began to serve the Demiurge in mythology, diving under the Water, taking out pieces of the Earth. And even later, this role began to be played by Shaityan, who came from the culture of the Iranian tribes, with whom the Mordovians in ancient times had quite close ties.

14. SACRIFICE

Sacrifice - it's always been sacred rite. A black bull with a white mark on his forehead was dedicated to Mastorava, the Protecting Mother of the Earth, and a red bull to Chi Paz, the God of the Sun. Before the sacrifice, the bull was decorated, its horns were tied with ribbons, wreaths. Having sacrificed it, the meat was consecrated, cooked and eaten together, offering prayers to the supreme deity, with requests for a rich harvest, livestock offspring and for the bestowal of happiness and justice.

15. WEREWOLF

The clan of werewolf sorcerers was revered by the Mordovians. They were afraid of them and attributed to them the troubles caused by the forest robbers-wolves. Many knew that in order to become a werewolf, you need to stick 12 knives into the ground behind the barn on a full moon and jump over them, but few dared to do this. After all, while the Werewolf roamed the fields, someone could pick up the knives and then he was doomed to remain in wolf form on long years. They say it happened so many times!

16. BECAUSE

Ved-Atya, unlike his wife Ved-Ava, the patroness of Water, communicated more with men. He could help with fishing, turned into Catfish, but he could also drag an unguarded fisherman who did not respect his orders underwater. Children were taught to treat Water with care, not to pollute it - “Otherwise, your eyes will hurt!” - the elders warned the kids. Turning into Catfish, After all, Atya sometimes swam up to the bathing girls and tried to drag the beauties under the water.

17. WARDA

Looking at the drunken peasants, the village women mournfully said: “That's right! The evil sorceress Varda has turned our men into pigs and is riding them!” And so that the children would believe that it is real, they showed a damn stone, which in Mordovian is called Vardon sur. When she does petty nasty things, the old people say that she has turned into a little mean girl, a naughty dirty girl.

18. BOBO

When the children were capricious or naughty, Grandmother or Mom could say: “Here, Bobo will come from the forest! Those who indulge will be put in a bag and carried away!”
And the kids showed up. Bobo as someone ugly, fluffy, on a bird's leg, with an old bag. But, of course, not very scary. After all, they know that Grandma or Mom still love the baby!

For hundreds of years, fairy tales, legends and stories about mermaids have been circulating in the Nizhny Novgorod land. However, the true mistresses of the waters in our region are not mermaids at all, because according to ancient mythology the indigenous population of the region, the Volga Finns - erzi, moksha and disappeared today teryukhan, in every reservoir of the south Nizhny Novgorod region lives Mordovian mistress of the waters - Vedyava.

Mermaid without a tail

This incident occurred in the Erzya village of Akuzovo, Sergach district. An elderly sorceress Zoya Semyonovna Sorokina told me about him. It was after the war. Her godmother was walking along the banks of the Piana. He looks, a naked woman sits on a high bank and combs her hair with a comb.

You can't see her face, and her hair is long, long. The curious godmother wanted to approach the woman, but she, seeing her, suddenly jumped up, laughed loudly and jumped off the high cliff into the pool. And the splash was such that the water overflowed the banks. Only then did the woman understand that it was not a mortal woman at all, but an Erzya goddess, the spirit of the waters - Vedyava.

And indeed, the Mordovian pagan deity - the spirit of the waters - Ved-ava ("after all" - water, "ava" - mother, woman) in the religious beliefs of the Mordovian people is presented as a tall, beautiful, naked woman sitting near a reservoir and combing long blond hair with a comb , white or green hair.

The neighboring Maris also have a similar character - Vud-ava. Unlike the Slavic drowned woman with a fish tail - a mermaid, Vedyava appears with legs and has a more privileged - divine status.

By the way, the gray-bearded male spirit Ved-atya lives with her in the legends - an old water man who is considered the husband of a female deity. Nevertheless, the dominant role in Mordovian mythology is given to female deities, and all because archaic beliefs in these deities arose in the era of matriarchy.

Extensive ethnographic materials of Erzi, Moksha and Teryukhan testify that a person identified gods and spirits with those natural objects, who, in the first place, enjoyed veneration from him. And one of the most necessary and at the same time dangerous environments in people's lives, of course, was water.

Since ancient times, this element has frightened people. In addition to the fact that they could drown every hour, floods washed away dams, demolished and flooded mills, houses, flooded crops of farmers with rain. And vice versa, water was necessary for a person for life, economy, agriculture and fishing: people fished, hunted beaver, waterfowl. That is why the cult of the spirit - the patroness of water - enjoyed special reverence.

Distinguished by a strict disposition ...

Often in the legends, fairy tales, songs, bylichkas of the Erzyans and Mokshans, Vedyava is described as a malicious, dangerous, evil spirit, chance meeting with which promises people great trouble, and often - a quick death. In these stories, the imperious patroness of water acts as an inevitable punishing force or as evil spirit prophesying great misfortunes to mortals.

According to the will of Vedyava, adults and children die, livestock, households and forestry are in decline. The inevitable punishments of the Mordovian water mistress extended to people who violated the ancient commandments.

So, according to the traditional religious beliefs of the Mordovians and other Volga Finns, people were forbidden to wash in ponds with stagnant water (in lakes and ponds), cut down trees close to water bodies, and allow dirt to enter sacred springs and street wells.

It was believed that Vedyava and her husband Vedyatya live in deep pools and can drown a person: according to Moksha, Erzya and Teryukhan beliefs, they take exactly as many people to the bottom as they need. More recently, children were frightened with the spirit of water: “Look, don’t go swimming, otherwise Vedyava will drag you to the bottom.”

True, sometimes water spirits allegedly spared people who were drowned, pushing the poor fellows ashore with their cold hands. Therefore, if a drowning person still remained alive, he was immediately obliged to bow to the water deities, and then thank them with money - 5 or 10 kopecks, as well as millet and hops for making "pure" - a Mordovian national alcoholic drink prepared on the basis of honey and bee bread.

"They (the spirits of water - Auth.) are too happy with the brew and the wine too," local old-timers say.

If somehow a drowning young girl swam ashore, she also thanked Vedyava - she threw either a ring, or a scarf, or earrings into the river or lake.

The same Zoya Sorokina told me about the miraculous rescue of a drowning man. According to her, one evening a guy from her countrymen went fishing on the Piana River. Yes, that's the trouble - he was drunk, and therefore stumbled, fell into a deep seething pool and began to sink.

As soon as the poor fellow begins to swim to the surface, he takes a little breath of air, but it wasn’t there, someone’s tenacious cold hands again pull him into the abyss of the river. When the unknown grip weakened, the guy pushed off the viscous bottom with all his strength and, having floated to the river surface, began to scold angrily. His curses were so terrible that the invisible creature got scared and swam away.

An unusual story was told to me by a Moksha woman from Saransk - Marina Ageeva - a correspondent for a national radio program. She was told about this by her uncle, Nikolai Syatkin from the Moksha village of Atyurievo.

"Drowned there, in the river, Small child. The men have gone all over the place. Well, no, they can't find the body anywhere. Then the mother of the drowned child came ashore with a cup containing sacrificial food - homemade rye bread and a candle stuck in it. Veden Kirdi - Vedyata (the holder, the owner of the water - the old water man) and Veden Kirdi - Vedyava (the mistress of the water) prayed.

And finally, the woman says: "Since you have already taken the soul of the child, then return us at least the body to bury it like a human being." And she put the bowl into the water. She swam, swam, circled, circled, and drowned near the shore. That's where the body was found."

... And did not spare water

There were other beliefs among the Mordovians. Like, Vedyava can not only drown a person, but also send him serious illnesses, any ailment. It was believed that no one would cure the illness and suffering sent to the people of Vedyavaya: a person bought out, fell into the water, fell through the ice, caught a cold ...

Or for a long time after the wedding, the young could not conceive a child, and then the poor women went to the banks of the springs and performed mysterious prayers there, turning to the water mistress with requests to send them "fertility".

And once Vedyava was considered the goddess of fertility. And with water taken from her chambers, the farmers irrigated the fields, which means that only she should have asked for rain in a drought. But if in the Russian villages of the Nizhny Novgorod Territory, a petition for rain took place with an obligatory procession around the village of the procession, at the head of which the villagers, and often the priests, carried Orthodox icons, then being Orthodox for a long time, the Mordvins preferred to conduct a "prayer for rain" in a completely different way. Although many Orthodox motifs were traced in her pagan prayers.

In dry years, Moksha and Erzya farmers, gardeners, gardeners, as in the old days, turned to water spirits asking them for rain.

Dmitry KARABELNIKOV, local historian.

Mordvins are the indigenous people of the Volga region, their number is more than a million people. Interestingly, only one third of the Mordovians live in the Republic of Mordovia. The rest spread throughout Tatarstan, Bashkiria, Chuvashia, Penza, Saratov and other regions of our vast country. The Mordovian people consists of two sub-ethnic groups. These are moksha (three-fourths) and erzya. They speak similar languages.

Before the arrival of Christianity in Rus', the religion of the Mordovian people was paganism. According to some sources, the Mordovians accepted Orthodox Christianity only in the eighteenth century. However, this people managed to preserve the original and unique features of paganism.

Features of Mordovian paganism

It is striking that the Mordovians had very, very many gods, about a hundred. There was probably not a single object of nature or life that did not have representation in the divine guise.

The pagan pantheon of the Mordovians was distinguished by an abundance of female gods:

Each of the goddesses had husbands, patrons of the same elements, natural objects or phenomena. But their role was much less important compared to the female deities. The latter often appear in myths, fairy tales, and legends. In general, the culture of the Mordovians was characterized by matriarchy. Goddesses can even send illness to people, as well as heal.

Gods and spirits in Mordovian paganism could be good or evil if not appeased. Therefore, in honor of their gods, the Mordovians held the so-called prayers (prayers). This is a kind of rite with the ritual of sacrifice, the reading of prayers. Grain, bread, coins, honey and more are brought as sacrifices. Moreover, prayers were arranged in the place where a particular deity “dwells”: in a field, in a communal house. In addition to prayers, they also organized holidays: family, community. All these events pursued similar goals: well-being in life, a good harvest, good luck in business.

Was in Mordovian paganism and chief god- Shkai. His name translates as creator. And the embodiment of evil among the Mordovians was shaitan, or the devil.

Representation of the world in Mordovian paganism

Initially, the world was a huge ocean. And the god, who had the appearance of a duck, dived into this ocean and took out the earth from it. According to the ideas of the Mordovians, there are three worlds (most likely, they are equivalent to Navi, Reveal and Rule). And the ancestors of man were half animals, half people, half birds, half people, half fish, half people. Man himself was created directly from wood (for the Moksha subethnos) or from clay (for the Erzya).

After death, the soul enters afterworld located underground. But there is no heaven and hell in it.

Today, the Mordovians still have so-called national minorities preaching paganism. Basically, these are elderly women, the true guardians of the religion of their ancestors. They have no animosity towards Christianity. Representatives of Mordovian paganism still hold prayers to their gods in the open air.

Pagan beliefs in ancient Rus'. Old Russian state in the IX-XIII centuries.

Now it is already impossible to determine exactly what the ancient Mordovian pantheon of gods was at the beginning of our era, since it has come down to us, having experienced, in addition to ancient Greek, the influence of the main world religions: Jewish, Muslim, Christian, as well as many pagan religions.

At the heart of any religion is belief in supernatural powers. Primitive man, unable to explain the menacing phenomena of nature that inspired fear in him, deified them. He also animated everything that surrounded him: trees, stones, rivers, lakes, etc. As he became aware of himself not only as part of nature, but also - most intelligent being on earth, the creator of tools, dwellings, household items, a person began to look for the creators of the world around him; invented gods, similar, of course, to people. Complication public life led to an increase in the number of gods and the division of their functions.

Now it is already impossible to determine exactly what the ancient Mordovian pantheon of gods was at the beginning of our era, since it has come down to us, having experienced, in addition to ancient Greek, the influence of the main world religions: Jewish, Muslim, Christian, as well as many pagan religions. But the names of some gods are still preserved:

god Shkai ruled the sky and time;

his wife was Ange - the goddess of life, goodness and love;

Chi-paz was the god of the sun;

Master groove - the god of the earth (terrestrial firmament);

Kov-paz - the god of the moon;

Purgine-paz - the god of thunder;

Goddess Shobdava appeared in the form of dawn;

Tolava in the form of fire;

land (soil) was in charge of Modava;

water - Vedyava;

forest - Viryava, etc.

Every river, every mountain or lake, and everything that surrounded the ancestors of the Mordovians had gods of a smaller rank. These gods were no different from people: they were just as upset and rejoiced, quarreled and reconciled, fought and feasted. They could be angry with their people, punish for sins, but at the same time they loved him and wished him well. And only the despicable god of evil, darkness and cold Anamaz did everything to destroy the Mordovians.

With the formation of the nobility on earth, the hierarchy in heaven also changed. Gradually, Ine Shkai-paz, the great god of Time, also called Menel-paz, that is, the heavenly god or Vere-paz, the supreme god, became the lord of all gods and people, the creator of all things.

The ancestors of the Mordovians believed that the gods could do a lot of trouble and trouble if they were not propitiated and appeased in time. People, naturally, wanted the deities to be kind and assist them in every possible way in economic activity and in general in life. It is for this reason that in honor of the deities in their supposed habitats, i.e. in forests, fields, near rivers, in dwellings, outbuildings, prayers (ozkst) were arranged, at which prayers (oznomat) were said and sacrifices were made.

As archaeological materials show, at the end of the 1st - beginning of the 2nd millennium AD. e. Mordva experienced the process of disintegration of the primitive communal system and the formation of class relations. The emerging concepts of property, inequality, domination and submission are transferred by people to the imaginary world of their gods.

Most likely, the appearance of the idea of ​​deities not just as holders (kirdi), patrons, but as owners, masters, possessors should be attributed to this time. Probably, it was at this time that the word azor (azoro) began to join the names of certain Mordovian deities, which means "master, mistress, owner, owner." Vir-ava became known as Vir-azor-ava, Ved-ava - Ved-azor-ava, Moda-ava - Moda-azor-ava, Kudo-ava - Kudo-azor-ava, etc. Similar changes were made and into terminology denoting male deities.

As shown by a comparative study of the pre-Christian beliefs of the Mordovians and another neighboring people - the Mari, there is much in common in the early forms of the religions of these peoples. This identity or similarity of theonyms of many Mordovian and Mari goddesses is evidence that in that remote period the ancestors of the Mordovians and Maris had not yet clearly separated into separate, independent ethnic communities, they constituted a single ethnic community or at least were closely related.

THEONIM OF THE SUPREME GOD OF MORDVA

The Mordovians called their pre-Christian supreme god Shkai, Nishke. It seems that this image was created by the Mordovians according to the type of words inyazor - for Erzi and otsya-zor - for Moksha. With the words inyazor (not “great”, azor “owner”, owner”), otsya-zor (otsyu “big, great”, azor “owner, owner”), before joining Russia, she called her rulers, and after - Russian tsars.

Some difference in the words Shkai and Nishke, despite the obvious commonality of their origin and the concept they designate, is explained by sub-ethnic differences between Mordvin-Erzei and Mordvin-Moksha. Theonym Nishke is formed from two words: ine "great"; shkai "creator, breadwinner, educator". In the works of Mordovian folklore, there are expressions shkams-tryams “to create, nurture; educate"; shkinekai-trinekay "creator, breadwinner, educator".

In addition to theonym Nishke, Mordva-Erzya also called the supreme god Nishke-paz (groove "god"), Vere-paz (vere "top, top"), and Mordva-Moksha - Shkai, Varde Shkai (varde "top, top") , Otsyu Shkai, Otsyu Shkai-bass. The last theonym consists of three words: otsyu-shkay + bass/paz "god". One of the first to record it in writing in his travel notebook while traveling in the wake of the Pugachev uprising, A.S. Pushkin: “Otsyush kaybas, god.” The inaccuracy of his record is only that the letter sh should have been attached not to “Otsyu”, but to “kaibas”.

Many oral works have survived to our time. folk art Mordovians, from which it is clear that the supreme god Shkai, Nishke was in a society divided into rich and poor, and paid little attention to the life of the poor. So, in the song "Big Field" it is said that in the middle of a large field, on a large hillock, there is an oak tree, on which Nishke-paz, Norov-paz and Mykola-pleaser sit. They decided to distribute happiness to people: "to a rich noble - a bowl, a poor meager - a glass, an orphan guy - a spoon, a sinful guy - the tip of a spoon ...". The orphan alone, as the song tells further, did not get anything, and wherever he goes, he cries everywhere. Nishke-paz saw him and asked: “Why is the young guy crying, why is the young guy sad?” The orphan told him that when the gods distributed happiness, he was bypassed. Nishke replied: “Don’t cry, young guy, don’t be sad, young guy, I myself will give you happiness, I myself will give you happiness. How will come autumn days, snow powder will begin, you will walk along long road and carry a heavy gun."

By this time, the origin of various myths of the Mordovians about the creation of the land, people, and customs by the supreme god Nishka dates back. They have come down to us mainly in song form.

So, in the song “Earth was born - a custom was born” it says: “Earth was born - a custom was born, green grass was born on the earth, as Nishke-groove looked, the earth - mother was decorated, another groove gave the earth a black forest, a dark forest, Nishke looks - a groove on the ground, the mother earth was decorated, then Nishke-paz thought and thought, there was no one to cut down the forest, there was no one to mow the meadows, the forest rots unharvested, the uncut grass falls; looks at Nishke-groove, he thinks, I will give it to the ground human soul, the human race, first I will release the Erzya people, first I will release the Erzya language, the Erzya custom. The Erzya people released Nishke-paz, this people grew a lot, increased, they multiplied into seven villages, lived and lived in seven villages, and the Erzyans began to fight, the Erzyans began to swear. What are they fighting for? Because of the land, they fight and swear, the Erzyans still fight because they cannot divide the forest among themselves, cannot mow the meadows ... ".

To Vere-paz, Nishka, as to the supreme god, the Mordovians addressed in every way, made sacrifices to him, asking for assistance in this or that matter. So, in the summer, after Peter's Day, the Mordovians held in the past the holiday "Baban porridge" - "Baby porridge", - on which, for example, the following prayer was said (translated from Mordovian-Erzya):

“Vere-Nishke, light breadwinner!

So they came to you with prayer-preparation, with bread and salt, with a bow.

We bow to you, we turn to you, we bow with a pure heart, we bow to you with a soft heart.

Give to mother earth a growing crop, with thick straw, with a large spike.

Here are eggs for you, let the grains fill up like the yolk in an egg!

Give, Nishke-groove, breadwinner, calm mother earth good rain, coolness to the roots of cereals, grain on their head.

Keep away from heavy rain, from dangerous thunderstorm, give, Nishke-groove, breadwinner, plowing-harrowing, working-working health.

Yes, look at our bows, hear the prayer.

We pray with the old, give the new!

Don't leave us unattended!

How much salt is in a saucer, give us so much good.

From above let it rain, from below it comes out like a spring.

What we spend, give a new one to this place.

Verde Vere-Nishke, light breadwinner, give the cattle health!

Let the heavy pass by, let the healthy come to the village.

With the accession of the Mordovians to Russia, its Christianization began, during which pre-Christian beliefs and rituals were not so much supplanted as mixed, syncretized with Christian ones. The Christian god received the theonym Nishke, Shkai, that is, he began to be called the name of the Mordovian pre-Christian god. He still bears this theonym.

This is how the well-known historian of the 19th century V. Klyuchevsky describes this process of mutual influence: “Mordovian holidays, big prayers, were timed to coincide with Russian folk or church festivities, Semik, Trinity Day, Christmas, New Year. In prayers addressed to the Mordovian gods, the supreme creator Champas , to the mother of the gods Ange-Patyai and her children, as they mastered the Russian language, Russian words were inserted: next to “take out mon” (have mercy on us), “give us good health” was heard. god”, Ange-Patyai “mother of the Mother of God”, her son Nishke-pas (pas-god) Ilya the Great; on New Year’s Day, turning to the god of pigs, they prayed: “Taunsyay Velky Vasyay (Basil the Great), let's black and white pigs whom you yourself love.” The pagan prayer, addressed to the elements, was clothed in the Russian-Christian form: “Mother water! Give good health to all baptized people. "At the same time, pagan symbols were replaced by Christian ones: instead of a birch broom hung with scarves and towels, they placed an icon in the front corner with a wax candle lit in front of it and on their knees they said prayers to their Champas and Ange-Patyay in Russian Seeing in Mordovian public prayers so much of their own, Russian and Christian, Russian neighbors began to attend them, and then participate in them and even repeat some of their rituals and sing the songs that accompanied them. All this led to that, finally, neither one nor the other side could realize whose customs and rituals it observes, Russian or Mordovian ... heaven and earth, gave the answer recorded by Olearius as follows: tzort sneit. The pagan laughed at the "Russian gods", and was afraid of the Russian devil. The Jesuit Avril, traveling in the 1680s from Saratov, in I saw how the pagan Mordovians got drunk on Nikolin's day, imitating the Russians.

But gradually, Christian values, concepts and rituals entered the worldview of the Mordovian people, which they now perceive as their original ones. Although in some Christian rites practiced, for example, in the Zubovo-Polyansky region, borrowings from the Mordovian culture are clearly traced, which makes them slightly different from the generally accepted ones.

Based on materials by N. Mokshin, V. Klyuchevsky

Mordva - the indigenous people of the Volga region (number 1,153,987 people). Its main part lives in the Penza, Saratov, Tambov, Ulyanovsk and Nizhny Novgorod regions. Russian Federation, Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Chuvashia. 29% of the total number of Mordovians (313,420 thousand people) live in the Mordovian Republic. This is 32.5% of the population of the republic, while the share of Russians exceeds 60%, Tatars - about 5%. More than 61% of Mordovians live in rural areas.

In the Mordovian ethnos, two sub-ethnoses are distinguished: Moksha (75%) and Erzya (25%), who speak closely related languages, and three ethnographic groups: Mordva-Teryukhan (the Russified part of the people, lives in the Nizhny Novgorod region), Mordva-Karatai (they have Tatar language of communication, but profess Orthodox faith, live in Tatarstan), Mordva-Moksha (they are close in language to the Erzyans and Mokshans).

Since the 18th century, the Mordovians have been considered Orthodox. Experiencing "great insults and ruin" from distributors new religion, the Mordovian people tried to preserve their pagan traditions. However, under the influence of fairly intense Russian-Mordovian ethno-cultural contacts, folk beliefs gradually lost their integrity and significantly transformed.

The traditional beliefs of the Mordovians developed in the conditions of a patriarchal-communal system. Family-tribal and communal agrarian cults played the dominant position in them. Religious people had a certain influence on the formation of Mordovian beliefs. representations of Iranians, Turkic peoples and tribes, Slavic pagan traditions.

In the pantheon of revered gods, like all the Volga Finno-Ugric peoples, images of foremothers (ava) stood out: mothers of dwellings, courtyards, outbuildings. The goddesses of the forest, water, wind, fire, the patroness of fields, fertility, etc. were revered. There were ideas about earthly spirits-masters - Azor, Azoro, holders - Kirdi, lords and kings - Inyazor, Otsyazor. Deities-patrons of the village, the rural community were distinguished (the order of the Kirdi azor-ava). The Mordovians-Erzyans know the image of the protector and patron chosen by God - the Erzya kirdi (Erzya holder), who helps people maintain good relations with the deities.

Among the heavenly gods - paz (a word of Iranian origin) - the deities of the sun (chi paz), thunder (purgine paz) and lightning (endol paz) were revered. supreme gods in the Mordovian pantheon, the heavenly principles involved in the creation of the world were considered - Shkai (among the Mordovians-Mokshans, the word is of ancient Iranian origin), Nishke (among the Mordovians-Erzyans, the word is of ancient Finno-Ugric origin). An important place in the beliefs of the Mordovians was occupied by the veneration of ancestors (pokshtyat babai). Deities and spirits could manifest themselves as both good and evil, depending on the actions of people. Satan was considered the bearer of evil.

Mordovian peasants attached great importance to family and village (communal) holidays with sacrifices in honor of the patrons of agriculture. Prayers took place in the field or in a house periodically appointed by the community. They were aimed at achieving prosperity in agriculture and animal husbandry, providing favorable conditions for the life of people, pacifying malevolent forces and familiarizing people with the principles of goodness in everyday affairs.

There were no professional ministers of the pre-Christian cult among the Mordovians in the 18-19 centuries. Prayers were led by elected men or women who were knowledgeable in traditional rites. Sometimes the leaders of prayers, as was the case with the Mordovians-Teryukhans in 1804, acted as the initiators of a movement for a return to paganism. The leader of the movement, Kuzma Alekseev, became widely known under the name "Kuzka - the Mordovian god."

In the 19th - early 20th century Orthodox Church found a fairly strong position in Mordovia. At the beginning of the century, there were more than 500 churches, prayer houses, monastic buildings. Mordovian parishioners regularly performed their religious duties, attended churches, were baptized, married, confessed, and buried the dead. In addition, they periodically pre-Christian rites and observed ancient customs.

Mordva, having adopted Christianity, significantly modified it in the spirit of traditional beliefs. Christian saints were endowed with features of ancient Mordovian deities. Nicholas the Pleasant, Elijah the Prophet, the Apostles Peter and Paul, St. Flor and Laurus, etc. During Easter, Trinity, Christmas, Epiphany, as well as on the days of patronal holidays, traditional prayers were held to pagan patrons, all kinds of magical rites. In the popular imagination, icons, crosses, Easter eggs, Trinity birches, etc. were endowed with supernatural properties. During illnesses, misfortunes, Mordovian peasants worshiped especially revered icons in monasteries and chapels.

The Old Believers had a certain influence on the consciousness of believers (see Old Believers). At the beginning of the 19th century, the teachings of the Molokans spread among part of the Mordovians. In the 1830s, they announced that the second coming of Christ would come in 1836, and urged them to go to the Caucasus to Mount Ararat in order to erect New Jerusalem there. Believing the sectarians, Mordvin-Molokans in 1836 left for permanent residence in Armenia.

During the Soviet period, many churches and monasteries were closed. By 1936, their number had decreased by 2 times (266 religious buildings remained), during the war years, the service was held only in a few churches. The number of the clergy was reduced. Nevertheless Orthodox traditions were preserved. Secretly held baptisms and funerals, celebrated Orthodox holidays. Believers continued to visit chapels. In the post-war years, it was allowed to restore some closed churches. In the 70s, most of the adult rural population observed religious traditions. Family and tribal customs were steadily preserved.

The Russian Orthodox Church plays a leading role in the religious life of the modern Mordovian people. For the revival of Orthodoxy in the Mordovian Republic, the Mordovian and Saransk dioceses were established in 1991. In a short time, many buildings were restored and equipped. closed churches. Currently church service regularly held in 132 Orthodox parishes and 9 monasteries (5 male and 4 female).

Protestant churches intensified their activity among the Mordovians. The number of supporters of the ECB, Pentecostals and other Protestant churches is growing. In 1991, thanks to the efforts of preachers from Finland, the Moksha-Erzya Lutheran Church was established. It brings together only a few dozen people. Some parts of the New Testament were prepared and published in the Mordovian language by the Stockholm Institute for Bible Translation.

The positions of Islam are also being strengthened. There are about 30 Islamic mosques for 47 thousand Tatars in the republic.

In the religious and mythological picture of the world of modern believers, ideas about underground, earthly and heavenly spirits and deities are preserved. There is a belief in many kinds of ghosts. The souls of the dead are revered, which are considered intermediaries in the relationship of people with the world of supernatural beings. The spirits of the localities differ, of all kinds of diseases, which in special occasions make bloodless sacrifices. Faith in the supernatural power of healing, harmful, love, economic magic is preserved. Periodically, family and family commemorations are held, at which a candle is lit in honor of the deceased patrons of the clan. At the commemoration, arranged on the fortieth day after the death of a person, sometimes, according to tradition, a person is specially appointed who plays the role of the deceased. In a traditional folk wedding, along with a church wedding, pre-Christian customs and rituals are observed.

Efforts are being made to revive traditional Mordovian holidays with sacrifices. In 1995, a prayer was held in the village of Staroe Kacheevo. Revival ideas are currently pagan traditions supported mainly by representatives of the artistic intelligentsia. They show an increased interest in preserving the original folk culture. The Mordovian intelligentsia is concerned about finding an idea that can unite the Mordovian ethnic group.

N. S. Popov

Quoted here from the edition: Religions of the peoples modern Russia. Dictionary. / editorial team: Mchedlov M.P., Averyanov Yu.I., Basilov V.N. and others - M., 1999, p. 246-250.