The Volga's Mari people pray for peace

They gather in the woods to propitiate the end of the conflict in Ukraine. The authorities tighten controls on prayer meetings: they fear separatist drifts. For the Mari celebrants, "one can bless those who defend their land, not those who go out to kill the people of another people".

Moscow (AsiaNews) - In the Forest of Oaks, just outside of Joškar-Ola, capital of the Russian Republic of Mari in the Lower Volga, prayer assemblies have been held in recent days for an end to the war in Ukraine. Local representatives of the ancient religious tradition brought a number of lambs and ducks as offerings to the gods, asking them to stop the bloodshed and encourage the formation of a conflict-free society on earth.

Since the beginning of the invasion in Ukraine, an unspecified number of Mari soldiers have died in the clashes, although official figures state less than a hundred. Already in March, prayer meetings were held in the forest, but without sacrifices, which are reserved for autumn time; now the chairman of the Council of Elders, the 'kart' Vitalij Tanakov, has invited everyone to join in the intercessory prayer request.

"We immediately made a 'zarok', an oath not to participate in violence, as soon as the special operation began," Tanakov explains, "and today we want to fulfil the promise, bringing gifts to the god Kuryk Kugyza, so that he will help the peoples of the world find the way to peace. In particular, supplications are raised that 'the hand stretched out towards the charging buttons of atomic weapons be stopped'. The prayers are the fruit of long meditations and reflections shared during the winter and summer months.

The Mari are a Finno-Ugric population that 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 waterways, and the Mari's own religious tradition is called 'kiusoto', the 'prayer of the sacred woods' that rise in the middle of the rivers. The first assembly was held on 11 October 1991, after the end of anti-religious persecution, with a grandiose ceremony in the Olory forest, in the centre of the region, attended by over 2,000 people. In Soviet times, the faithful gathered in the trees in small groups, secretly meeting.

Since last year, the republican authorities, urged by Moscow, have tightened controls on prayer meetings to avoid separatist drifts. A provision banned meetings in city parks, and the Marists reverted to the Soviet custom of 'trips to the woods' in separate groups. In March, the groups finally got together for the peace prayer ('vucyktymaš-sorymaš'), last said during the Second World War, and then arranged to meet at the end of October/beginning of November.

Pets offered to the god of peace were prepared in separate portions, accompanied by soup and 'kaša', the typical cereal dish. The meat is then cooked in a large pot over a wood fire, after being separated and thrown partly directly into the fire by the kart, the celebrant of the ritual. The community consumes it all around the sacred bonfire, throwing the bones and remains of the meat into the fire.

The followers of the Marist religion have solemnly confirmed their oath: no kart can bless the war and mobilisation of the people. "One can bless the one who defends his own land, not the one who goes out to kill the people of another people," confirms Tanakov, who hopes to share this conviction not only with the representatives of Finno-Ugric paganism, but with the believers of all world religions.

• russia
• moscow
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• volga
• prayer
• war
• invasion
• ukraine