Devī Māhātmya

The Sanskrit narrative text Devī Māhātmya—“The greatness of the Goddess” (also known as Durgā Saptaśatī and Caṇḍī Pāṭha, henceforth DM)—extols the tripartite triumphs of the all-powerful Goddess (Devī, Ambikā, Caṇḍikā, Durgā) over the universe-imperiling demons. Devī manifests for the protection of the gods, and cosmic order as a whole, in times of dire need. These exploits of this formidable feminine power constitute the first articulation of a Great Goddess within the Indian subcontinent. While the DM equates supreme reality with the feminine Hindu concepts of maya (illusion, magic), śakti (power, force, energy), and prakṛti (material nature), it posits no systematic theory. As only narrative can, the DM instead masterfully interweaves these philosophical strands, along with preexisting feminine faces within the Vedic fold, into the figure of a feminine divine whose greatness surpasses that of the Vedic pantheon, and even that of the cosmic Trimurti comprised of the “Great Gods” Brahma, Vishnu [Skt. Viṣṇu], and Shiva [Skt. Śiva]. The DM serves not only to exalt the Goddess as supreme, but also celebrates her paradoxical nature: she is both one and many, immanent and transcendent, liminal and central, gentle and fierce, motherly and martial. Yet there is no ambiguity in her status as all-powerful. She is utterly invincible. While power is something the gods possess, power is something the Goddess is. It is she, then, who ultimately creates, preserves, and destroys the universe and all beings within it. Variously dated between the 4th and 8th century ce, the DM finds a home as part of the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, comprising chapters 81–93 thereof. Far from a textual relic, the DM is recited as liturgy in goddess temples, during individual daily spiritual practice, and at temples and homes especially during the autumnal navaratra (“nine nights”) Hindu Goddess festival, commonly known as Durgā Pūjā. The DM independently circulates not only within this rich liturgic life, but as a standalone mythological, philosophical, and theological authority on the Hindu Goddess. In this respect, it is not dissimilar from the Bhagavad Gita’s circulation independent of the Mahābhārata in which it is couched. The DM’s recitation is considered beneficial for listeners and reciters alike. As exemplified and overtly stated in the DM, engaging the glories of the Goddess invariably secure her protection and benediction.

Kannimar Shrines and Iconography

The Kannimar are seven look-alike goddesses affiliated with the Pleiades. In local Tamil folk temples of Tamilnadu’s Kongu area they are worshipped in one cluster, as sisters. They are mediators who occupy a middle ground, both spatially and ritually. The seven are served together, soon after the most prominent gods and goddesses, but ahead of other deities, mainly devotees and service-providers whose shrines are found in the same broad compound. The seven Kannimar provide a key bridge linking local to pan-Indian belief traditions. Their role resembles that of certain women in the human sphere, where it is common for a mother to mediate between father and son, or for a sister to bridge the awkward gap between her family of birth and that of her in-laws. The Kannimar also operate as handmaidens dedicated to the service of the great goddess K?l?. They are her loyal communicators and errand runners. These seven females are youthful charmers, but they are also fierce womb-guardians who have nurturing powers and awesome resurrection abilities. The relative placement of the Kannimar within the local folk universe, can offer us multiple insights into a wide range of human and divine relationships expressed through the Hindu pantheon.

Reflexes of a Hurrian Word in Armenian: A Theonym, a Dendronym, an Anthroponym

In Old Armenian, saws means ‘proud, luxurious, great,’ ‘some (bright) color,’ and saws and sawsi mean ‘oriental plane tree’. The word has no etymology. Hurrian has the word šauša [sausa] ‘big, great’ and the theonym Šauša / Šauška for the local version of the great goddess Ištar. The article undertakes to find a single etymon looking for the clue in comparative mythology. It is known that Anušavan, one of the ancient Armenian mythical patriarchs, was referred to as Sawsanuēr which can be interpreted as “The gift of plane trees” (with a reference to the cult of the plane trees of Armawir, the earliest capital of Armenia). According to mythology, Anushavan’s father and grandfather were related to Šamiram (Greek Semiramis), the queen of the city of Nineveh (capital of Assyria) that is seen as a historicized version of the local goddess Šauš(k)a otherwise called “Ishtar of Nineveh.” The Armenian saws ‘great, magnificent’ quite correlates with this name as a loan from the Hurrian šauša ‘great,’ with a regular apocope. The plane trees were probably symbols of the goddess. Thus, it is natural to assume that the dendronym saws / sawsi (the second form with the Indo-European suffix *-iyā, characteristic of Armenian dendronyms, cf. the genitive plural form sawseac‘) is of Hurrian origin. The first meaning of the Hurrian word ‘great, magnificent’ subsequently turned into theonym and then to the Armenian dendronym, the name of the largest and most luxurious tree in the Armenian Highland and adjacent territories.

The Warrior on Claps from Tillya Tepe

Among the objects excavated in 1978 at the site of Tillya Tepe (Northern Afghanistan) by the Soviet-Afghan archaeological expedition led by Victor I. Sarianidi, the twin golden clasps from Burial III attract special and instant attention of any military historian or a researcher of ancient arms and armour. The identity of the personage(-s) on the Tillya Tepe clasps has quite rarely been studied. Scholars are usually satisfied with a generic term a “warrior”. Kazim Abdullaev has identified the personage as Ares-Alexander. Jeannine Davis-Kimball has identified the personage as Enaree, the castrated priest of one of the epiphanies of Great Goddess. Patryk Skupniewicz supported the latter identification associating the personages from Tillya Tepe clasps with the North Indian, mainly Gandharan iconography of Skanda Kartikeya who, as a war-god, was an Indian equivalent of Ares. This article establishes the correspondence between the images on Tillya Tepe clasps with the representations of enthroned and armed goddesses which are quite common in the iconography related to the discussed clasps. The armed and enthroned goddess has been identified as the Iranian goddess Arshtat on Kushan coins. The warrior depicted on the golden clasps from Tillya Tepe should be interpreted as a portrayal of Arshtat, whose image was borrowed from the iconography of Athena. The goddess is shown seated on the throne with griffin-shaped legs known already in the Achaemenid times in the pose developed in the images in the late Hellenistic period, which is in line with the date of the entire site.

Songs for the Goddess. Das popmusikalische Neo-Matriarchat zwischen Ethno-Beat, erfundenen Traditionen und kommerzieller Vermarktung

The musical neo-matriarchy is linked to the growing popularity of Neo-Paganism. This pseudo-religious scene is based on romantic heritage, real or invented folk traditions and more or less serious historical, theological and anthropological studies of neo-matriarchy. In the focus of the scene stands the veneration of the Great Goddess and its worshipers are exclusively women. The main ideas of this eco-feminist movement are being conveyed also through (popular) music. My contribution encompasses the origins of the musical neo-matriarchy, the mythology it is based on, the message of the songs for the Great Goddess, the musical characteristics of the material collected, the use of typical instruments, and the dissemination of (musical) knowledge as the rather ‘modern’ way of distribution and consumption of the allegedly ‘archaic’ issues.

Whom the Great Goddess Protects: Narratives and Practices of Neo-Traditionalism in Modern Religious Conceptions of South-Siberian Turks

The article considers the evolution of the traditional religion of South Siberian Turks influenced by modernisation. The author solves the problem of identification the prerequisites of gender asymmetry displacement in favour of feminisation of the religious beliefs of Khakass and Altai peoples. Methodological basis of the research is a conception of socio-cultural neo-traditionalism. Sacralisation of notable sites and related monuments of historical and cultural heritage is considered as one of the ways to overcome the collective memory trauma caused by modernisation. In order to substantiate her position, the author refers to the cases illustrating the desire to spot the source of sacred power of an ethnic community in archaeological artefacts. In collective memory of Khakass and Altai peoples, this power is embodied in the symbols associated with female reproductive and protective capacity. The author shows the specifics of narratives and practices of neo-traditionalism among the Turks of South Siberia on the example of nation-wide cults that have developed around their worship of Khurtuyakh-Tas and Ak-Kydyn. Particular attention is paid to the connection between the sacred and the secular in the formation of ethno-confessional narrative around the idea of female deity as a patron and guardian of life force of the people. The empirical basis of the research is the results of sociological expeditions carried out by the author from 2003 to 2018 in the Republic of Altai and Republic of Khakassia. The author analyses the cases of conflicting and conflict-free imposition of two hypostases of the same monument: a museum archaeological artefact and a sacred object of religious worship. The article substantiates the thesis that with the introduction of scientific rationality into public consciousness the religious discourse takes a new breath, becomes an element of social and political life of the national republics of South Siberia. The article concludes that patriarchal basis of traditional culture is eroded and its vanished elements are replaced by symbols associated with feminine strength.

Ricœur’s Historical Intentionality and the Great Goddess Freyja

The main question in this article concerns whether hermeneutic phenomenology as a methodology can address some of the problems and critiques raised in the study of religions. Inspired by Gilhus’s proposal in her article ‘The Phenomenology of Religion and Theories of Interpretation’, I investigate the possibilities in this strand of thought concerning interpretation and explanation from the perspective of Ricœur’s hermeneutic phenomenology and language theory, taking Norse mythology and the goddess Freyja as examples of how this method might work. I argue that Ricœur’s contribution to hermeneutic phenomenology is important to methodology in the study of religions, and that the historicity of the interpretation of religious phenomena is based on a lifeworldly intentionality. I also analyse the depth of understanding, the formation of ideas, and meaning in its historical context at the level of the historian’s process of interpretation, and I argue that the method may constitute a theoretical basis for an objective science.

Боспорские «Ники»

This article is devoted to refuting of an established concept according to which female winged anthropomorphic characters at monuments of ancient art found in Bosporan burial mounds depicted Nike. The presence of the goddess of victory on object from burial inventory has not been explained. The author assumes that a female role at iconography of Nike has been reconsidered. The images on important ritual objects allow suggesting that barbarian inhabitants of the Bosporus saw their own goddess in the image of the winged woman, one of incarnations of the Great goddess.