RUSSIA Volga Maris pray for peace

They meet in the forest to bring about the end of the conflict in Ukraine. The authorities reinforce the controls on these prayer meetings, as they fear separatist drifts. For the Mari, “you can bless those who defend their own land, not those who go out to kill people from another village.”

Moscow () – In the Oak Forest, on the outskirts of Joshkar-Ola, capital of the Russian Republic of Mari, on the Lower Volga, prayer assemblies have been held in recent days calling for an end to the war in Ukraine. Local representatives of the ancient religious tradition brought a series of lambs and ducks as offerings to the gods, asking them to stop the bloodshed and favor the formation of a society without land conflicts.

Since the beginning of the invasion in Ukraine, an unknown number of soldiers from the Mari people have been killed in the fighting – official figures put less than a hundred. Prayer meetings had already been held in the forest in March, but without sacrifices, which are reserved for the fall. Now the chairman of the Council of Elders, the “kart” Vitalij Tanakov, invited everyone to join the intercessory prayer.

“As soon as the special operation started, we made a ‘zarok’, an oath not to participate in violence,” explains Tanakov. “And today we want to fulfill the promise, bringing gifts to the god Kuryk Kugyza, so that he helps the peoples of the world to find the path of peace. In particular, they beg so that “the hand ready to press the button of the weapons be stopped Atomic”. The prayers are the fruit of long meditations and reflections in common during the winter and summer months.

The Maris are a Finno-Ugric people who settled in south-central Russia in ancient times, although it was not until 1936 that the Soviets established the autonomous republic of Mari-El. The area near the Volga is rich in tributaries and water courses, and the religious tradition of the Mari is called “kiusoto”, the “prayer of the sacred forests” that are born in the middle of the rivers. The first assembly was held on October 11, 1991, after the end of the anti-religious persecution, with a grand ceremony in the Olory forest, in the center of the region, which was attended by more than 2,000 people. In Soviet times, worshipers gathered among the trees in small groups, secretly.

Since last year, the central government in Moscow has urged the authorities of the Republic of Mari-El to tighten control over prayer meetings to prevent separatist drifts. A provision prohibited gatherings in city parks, and the Maris reverted to the Soviet custom of “walking in the woods” in separate groups. Finally, in March, the groups met to pray for peace (“vucyktymaš-sorymaš”) – the last time this prayer was said was during World War II – and then agreed to meet in late October or early November.

Domestic animals offered to the god of peace were prepared in separate portions, accompanied by soup and “kaša”, a typical grain-based dish. The meat was then cooked in a large pot over a wood fire, after being separated and partly thrown directly into the fire by the go-kart, the celebrant of the ritual. The community consumed everything around the sacred fire, throwing the bones and the remains of meat into the fire.

The followers of the Mari religion solemnly confirmed their oath: no go-kart can bless the war and the mobilization of the people. “You can bless the one who defends his own land from him, not the one who goes out to kill the people of another town,” Tanakov confirms. He hopes to share this conviction not only with representatives of Finno-Ugric paganism, but with believers of all world religions.