The Vös’as’, the Udmurt sacrificial priest: an old task for young men

Authors

  • Eva Toulouze Paris, INALCO, CREE Tartu University, Department of Ethnology
  • Liivo Niglas University of Tartu

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33356/temenos.55613

Keywords:

religious practice, ethnic religion, sacrificial priest

Abstract

In the Udmurt diaspora of Northern Bashkortostan, the Udmurt traditional religion is very much alive; it is part of the villagers’ everyday life. Rituals are regularly held both at the village level and at a wider community, composed of several villages, and they involve the whole population. This article focuses on the key character of Udmurt ritual: the sacrificial priest, called vös’as’, and attempts to sketch a pattern of function performing and transmission, taking into account the lightly different practice in two local groups of villages. Further on it reflects on its historical perspective, in a Finno-Ugric context in which often practice of ethnic religions is seen and/or used as a marker for ethnicity.

Author Biographies

Eva Toulouze, Paris, INALCO, CREE Tartu University, Department of Ethnology

Professor of Finno-Ugric studies

Researcher.

Liivo Niglas, University of Tartu

Department of Ethnology,

reasearcher

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Published

2017-07-06

How to Cite

Toulouze, E., & Niglas, L. (2017). The Vös’as’, the Udmurt sacrificial priest: an old task for young men. Temenos - Nordic Journal for the Study of Religion, 53(1), 9–39. https://doi.org/10.33356/temenos.55613

Issue

Vol. 53 No. 1 (2017)

Section

Articles

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Copyright (c) 2017 Temenos - Nordic Journal of Comparative Religion

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