Lightning, Sacrifice, and Possession in the Traditional Religions of the Caucasus Author(S): Kevin Tuite Source: Anthropos, Bd

Lightning, Sacrifice, and Possession in the Traditional Religions of the Caucasus Author(s): Kevin Tuite Source: Anthropos, Bd. 99, H. 1. (2004), pp. 143-159 Published by: Anthropos Institute Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40466310 . Accessed: 18/08/2011 08:53

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http://www.jstor.org I Anthropos

jy 99.2004: 143-159 ^

Lightning,Sacrifice, and Possession in the TraditionalReligions of the Caucasus KevinTuite

Abstract. - In many communitiesof the West Caucasus, tainoverlooking the village Shuapxo in thehigh- lightning-strikevictims were regarded with particularawe, land provinceof Pshavi in northeastGeorgia. and a dance was performedaround their bodies duringwhich Those who attendthe annualsummer festival at the name of one or another is with the god uttered,along for the most members mysteriousvocable coppa. Data concerningthis ritualwill be Iremtk'alo, part of the framedin an analysis of the representationsof possession, Udzilaurtaclan, must hike uphill for at leastthree sacrifice, and, in general, the appropriationof people or hoursfrom the nearest village, if theygo on foot animals by divine beings in traditionalCaucasian religious (as mostdid until Iremtk'alois Certainfeatures of the of the Pshavs veryrecently). thought. religiousthought barrenof trees,and farfrom the nearest and Khevsurs of the northeastGeorgian highlands will be spring compared and contrastedwith those of the peoples of the or river.All waterand firewoodmust be hauled West Caucasus. [Caucasus, Fshav-Khevsureti,lightning-strike up by people or pack animals.The same goes victims,sacrifice, possession] for the food,except for thatwhich makes the ascent underits own dozens of in fromthe power: sheep Kevin T'iite, Ph.D. (Chicago 1988) Linguistics and several whichwill meettheir deaths Universityof Chicago; since 1991 Prof,of Ethnolinguisticsin bulls, theDepartment of Anthropologyof theUniversité de Montréal. at Ioseb K'oc'lisvili's handsin thecourse of the - Since 1985 linguisticand ethnographicfieldwork in theRepu- It was on the wherethe shrinenow - day. spot blic of Georgiaon numerousoccasions. Publicationsinclude: stands,K'oc'lisvili explains, that the hero K'op'ala KartvelianMorphosyntax (Munich 1998); Ethnolinguisticsand bestedthe of the in a AnthropologicalTheory (co-editor. Montréal: in press); Current strongest ogres (devebi) Trends in Caucasian, East European, and Inner Asian Lin- boulder-throwingcompetition. These ogreswere guistics(co-editor. Amsterdam: in press) and various articles huge,powerful, and terrifyingto behold.Some in Journalof Indo-EuropeanStudies, Lingua, Anthropological weresaid to havenine heads. When they walked, Linguistics,Historio graphia Linguistica (see also References theirfeet sank into the as Cited). ground thoughthey werewading through drifted snow. The champion amongthe ogres picked up a massiveboulder and threwit fromthe mountaintop. It sailed across the On a crispmorning in late July1996, the chief riverbelow, a branchof theAragvi, and landed priestIoseb K' oc'lis vili explainedto me how on theother side. K'oc'lisvili gestured to thespot the stone shrineto K' op'ala came to be built wherethe stonecame to earth,perhaps half a at Iremtk'alo.For thoseaccustomed to places of kilometredownward and overa kilometreto the worshiperected by central squares or otherconve- westof wherewe stood.K'op'ala pickedup an nientlocations, the choice of thissite would seem evenlarger rock, hefted it, and thought it toolight. perverse,if notmasochistic. The meadowknown So he tookanother boulder, pressed it againstthe as Iremtk'alo,"the deer's threshingground," is firstas thoughpacking two snowballs together, and situatedat 2225 metresaltitude, atop a moun- let it fly.The giantrock would have fallenshort 144 KevinTuite

Map: The Caucasus. of its mark,however, had not the deityK' viria the stanceof objectiveobservers are responsible intervened.He struckthe airbornrock withhis forthese designations. Charachidzé (1981b) refers whip,so thatit flewfurther than the rock thrown to K' op'ala as a "dieu,"employing the French bythe ogre, and it landed on a fortressbuilt by the lexemealso appliedto theSupreme Deity. I know ogresat Cixetgori. Ioseb K'oc'lisvili pointed to the of no instanceof a Georgianmountaineer utilising siteof Cixetgori,on themountainside across the theclosest Georgian equivalent {xmerti) with ref- river.The daybefore, he prayedthere and offered erenceto K' op'ala; theyprefer to qualifyhim as a sacrifices.The ogreswere defeated in combatby "hero"(gmiri) or "childof God" (xvtissvili).There K' op'ala and his companionIaqsar. Those that has been,to be sure,much speculation about what survivedtook refuge underground, leaving the land theseterms mean. How does a societyimagine freefor people to settlethere and live peacefully. its "god" or "gods?"With what classes of beings Thatis whyK'oc'lisvili's ancestors built the shrine are theyin contrast?How is theconcept of god at Iremtk'alo,and thatis whythe Udzilaurta clan employedas a tool of thought?What represen- gathersthere in midsummereach year,to offer tationsunderlie, or motivate,activities such as livestock,breads, and beer at thesite of K' op'ala' s prayerand sacrifice,which seem to be formsof victory. communicationor exchangewith god(s)? To what The readerwill doubtlesshave concludedby degreecan thegod(s) of one societybe usefully now thatK' op'ala, K' viriaand the ogres never comparedwith those of another,especially where actuallyexisted, at leastnot as described,and will thecommunities in questionparticipate in distinct perhapshave classified K'oc'lisvili's narrative as a culturalareas, or are characterizedby different legend,folktale, or myth.K' op'ala himselfmight politico-economicorders? For the purposes of this be labelleda "hero,"or perhaps- as theobject of paper,the term "god" will serve to index a modeof a cult- a "deity,"or "god."In thepages to follow, speakingabout (or to) individualsnamed in texts. - therewill be frequentmention of "gods," "deities," The textsmay be classified byoutside observers, - "divinities,"and "spirits."In some cases these notnecessarily by thosewho producethem as wordstranslate fairly precisely the terms chosen by songs,hymns, myths, ballads, and so forth.To thepriests, oracles, healers, and others, whose nar- the referentsI label "gods" are attributedways rativesconstitute much of theempirical basis for of manifestingtheir presence, communicating or thisstudy. Quite often, however, writers adopting interactingwith people, or influencingthe state of

Anthropos99.2004 Lightning,Sacrifice, and Possession in theTraditional Religions of theCaucasus 145 affairsin the experienced world which are depicted makespassing reference to the "royal graves of the as significantlydifferent from those of humans. In thunder-c'op'ayk'"as beingamong the idols and thecases to be studiedhere, "gods" are ascribed sacredobjects burnt by the so-called Huns {Honk' suchcharacteristics as invisibility (under ordinary or Honastank')of theNorth Caucasus upon their circumstances)and immortality.They residein conversionto Christianity,an eventsaid to have spaces separatefrom those inhabited by humans, takenplace in thelate 7thcentury.1 In his notes andordinarily off limits to the latter. Speech acts in to theEnglish translation of thispassage, Dowsett whichthey are attributed the role of addresseeare (165 f.) linksthe lexemec'op'ay to coppay,the qualitativelydifferent from communicative acts nameof an Ossetic"ceremonial dance arounda betweenhumans. One could say thatdiscursive victimstruck by lightning,a refrainsung at the genresdescribing gods or addressedto themplay burial of the same, and a rite at the time of a majorrole, in conjunctionwith ritual and the drought,"citing the Ossetic dictionaries of Miller uses of space,in constitutingthem as a cultural (1927-1934) and Abaev (1958-1989).Dowsett's category.I make no claims,though, that all mem- glossrefers to thedescription, a few pages earlier bersof a givensocial group talk about gods in the inDasxurancTs text, of some "satanically deluded sameway, to saynothing of how they might think errors"symptomatic of theHuns' alleged"north- aboutthem. (Indeed, there is abundantevidence ern dull-wittedstupidity," among which is the fromthe Caucasus that"god-related" discursive beliefthat "if flashes of thunderingfiery lightning practicesof men differin significantways from and etherealfire struck a man or some material thoseof women;likewise the practicesof ritual object,they considered him or it to be some specialistsdiffer from those of othermembers of sortof sacrificeto a god K'u(w)ar" (Dasxuranc'i thecommunity.) In certainrespects my usage of 1961:155 f.). Dowsett'sconjecture has recently theterms "god" and "deity" will parallel that of the been citedby Golden(1998) in thecontext of a ethnographerswhose works are citedthroughout study of thereligious beliefs of the medieval Qip- thepaper, in thatit will represent my interpretation chags. Golden points out supporting evidence from ofthe phenomena being described, rather than the ethnographicaccounts of ritualsand sacrificesin actuallabels used by nativespeakers. Where the honorof thelightning and fertilitydeity Choppa originaltexts contain a particularlexeme which (also knownas ElliriChoppa) among the Balkars servesto denotea unique,supreme deity (e.g., andKarachays of the northwest Caucasus, modern Georgianymerti, which is neverpluralized in descendentsof theQipchags. ordinaryusage), I will employ"God," withan Besides the Ossetes and Karachay-Balkars, initialcapital, as itsEnglish equivalent. otherpeoples of the WestCaucasus performed, The firstsection of the paper will consist up to thebeginning of thepast centuryat least, primarilyof thedescription of one suchgenre of rounddances aroundthe body of a personor discursivepractice, a songtraditionally performed animal struck by lightning,during which the vo- while dancingaround the body of a lightning-cable coppa or cop(p)ayis repeatedlysung. Such strikevictim, in which the name of one or ceremonieshave been describedfor the Abkha- anothergod is uttered,along with the mysterious zians (Akaba 1984) and Kabardians(Kantaria vocablecoppa or cop(p)ay.Data concerningthe 1964, 1982). In the song texts,coppa or its coppa ritualwill be framedin an analysisof variantis juxtaposedto thewords celdar (variants therepresentations of possession, sacrifice and, in elari, atlar) and Elia (var. Ilia), of whichthe general,the appropriationof people or animals in traditionalCaucasian bydivine beings religious 1 The Caucasian "Huns" were "most Turkic- returnto K' ala in probably" thought.We will op' subsequent speakingin the opinionof Golden(1980: 90-93, 259- sectionsof the paper, where certain features of the 261; 1992; pers. comm. 5 April 2000), althoughthe religiousthought of thePshavs and Khevsursof paucityof linguisticremnants militates against any firm thenortheast willbe conclusion.According to Fedorov(1972), the stateof Georgianhighlands compared tothe north withthose of the of the Suvar,which flourished in northeastDaghestan and contrasted peoples of Derbent,in the 6th-8thcenturies, was ruledby the WestCaucasus. "Huns."Archeological evidence indicates consolidation in Suvarbetween steppe Turkic and indigenouspopulations, a processalso attestedby the medievaldescriptions of Whereasthe cult of a chief named 1 Data on the Choppa Ritual "Hunnic"religion. deity Ethnographic Tengri-khanis clearly of Turkicorigin, the "tree worship" andcertain funerary observances described by Dasxuranc'i In his "Historyof theCaucasian Albanians," the are attributedby Fedorovto the Daghestaniantribes of Armenianhistorian Movses Dasxuranc'i(1961) highlandSuvar (1972: 23-24).

Anthropos99.2004 146 KevinTuite formermeans "lord" or "prince" in Ossetic(Abaev thenearest grass. Straightaway they laid outa rectangle 1949:63 f.),and thelatter derives from the name of stonesto a heightof a couple feet,set the coffin of the prophetElijah, whose associationswith on it, and placed stonesaround and upon it, making rainand lightningin East Europeanfolklore are a moundabout two metershigh. Next to thisheap of a withthe stretched skin of a well known(Ivanov and Toporov1974; Ivanov stonesthey set up pole goat andits head. it was a smaller on which 1991). Unlikethese two words,coppa and its Alongside pole variantsare an The accounts theyhung the best clothing of the deceased, then by the enigma. ethnographic offood that mentionthe semantic of the tombthey consumed together the gifts they invariably opacity had The livestockof thevictim were set free nameof theritual. In thissection I will examine gathered. on thesteppes. These animalswere marked, so thatif the ethnographicdata concerningthe Ossetic, one of them the it was driven and approached shepherds, Kabardian,Abkhaz, Karachay-Balkarcoppa awayagain (transi, fr. Russian version in Abaev 1958: rituals. 314f.). I have quotedthis passage in fullto introduce 1.1 OsseticCoppay thereader to theritual, and also becausethis text includesmost of the key details for which parallels The travellerStöder was in DigorOssetia in 1781 have been notedin otherdescriptions. Another when early attestation,published by Gatiev in 1876 and translated Dumézil also killeda woman.After by (1978:67-69), a powerfulthunderbolt young around the strikethose who came hercried out in mentionsthe practice of villagers gathering upon joy, the victimand "a and to and dance aroundthe dead body. singing nearlyincomprehen- began sing the whichall known All residentsof thevillage joined in thedancing circle, sible song, coppay,"during showingno concernthat the lightning continued to flash. lightning-strikevictims are commemorated.The Theirsingle, simple refrain was O, Elia, Elia! JEldari villagerskeep vigil for three days around the body, coppay.They danced a rounddance in synchronywith in hopes thatWacilla (= St. Ilia [Elijah]) will the words,sometimes in this,sometimes in reverse revivethe victim. The bodyis thenburied on the order,as one personsang out and thechorus took up spot,although the close relativesremain there for therefrain. They dressed the dead girlin new clothes, anotherthree days, to dig thevictim out in case laid her in the same spot and in the same position Wacilla bringshim or her back to life. Should as whenshe was killed,and sangwithout interruption the rainstormcontinue longer than expected, or until Her and husband night. parents,sisters, danced, anotherperson fall victimto a thunderbolt,the sang,and seemedas happyas if it weresome festival. is set on a cartdrawn faceswere considered a sin This body dug up, by unguided Grieving againstElijah. oxen, and reburiedat the spot wherethe oxen celebrationlasted 8 days.They had a youthwho had beenhit here.All thosestruck stop.On theanniversary of thedeath, the family by lightningbrought by of the deceasedoffers a communalfeast the lightningwho survived became servants and by messangers burial called kuvd of of Elijah.Even livestockthat was struckby lightning site, cervdzavdy "banquet was set free.The youngman sang and dancedin a thethunderstruck." Mention is also madeof two circle,then fell and began beating himself convulsively. poles fromwhich is hungthe head and skinof Betweenconvulsions he becamealert and withopen a sacrificedgoat, in the descriptionof theritual eyes recountedwhat he had seen in the companyof performedshould the victim survive. The poles are Elijah,and named previous lightning victims who were plantedon thespot where the bolt was believedto at Elijah's side. Then he transmittedElijah's orders havetouched ground, and the sacrifice is repeated concerningthe dead. The most significantwas the at the site each year by the family.Finally, commandto keep a fireburning 8 days aroundthe Abaev specifiesthat the coppay dance could andabstain from all workand The body industry. dead also be performedintimes of tocause rain was in a coffinset a for8 drought girl placed atop platform (1958:314). days. On the 8thday theyput her on a new oxcart, whicha pair of oxen withwhite spots were to pull. Youngpeople withthe relativesof the victim along 1.2 Kabardian wentin processionto neighboringvillages, singing and Cop'ay collectinggifts of livestockand otherfood products. The giftswere for the victim, or thefestivities, or for The Kabardiancop' ay ritualhas been described her relatives.The coffinwas finallyset on the cart, in detailby Medea Kantaria(1964: 87-89, 1982: to whichthe oxen wereharnessed, and theypulled it 208-220), a Georgianethnographer who has wherethey willed; the victim was to be buriedat the done fieldworkon Kabardianagricultural prac- spotwhere they stopped. This time the oxen stopped at tices. The ritualis directedto the traditional

Anthropos99.2004 Lightning,Sacrifice, and Possession in theTraditional Religions of theCaucasus 147 thunder-lightningdeity Shyble, sometimes repre- 1.3 AbkhazianAtlar-Chopa sentedin the formof a fieryserpent, who is invokedin prayersfor rain, prosperity, and a good In a briefreport of the resultsof a fieldtrip harvest.Should a personbe slainby a thunderbolt,to Abkhazia,Abaev (1949:316, 319) compared no signsof mourning were permitted; the survivors OsseticOEldary) Coppay to AbkhazAtlar-Chopa, "consoledthemselves with the knowledgethat a similarritual and song performedaround the Shyblehad broughtgood fortuneto theirfamily bodyof lightning-strike victims (human or animal) by his touch."2They poured milk on thespot of (Inal-Ipa1965: 531-533). As describedby Akaba theaccident; milk was also used to putout a fire (1984:74 f.),the ceremony is accompaniedby the causedby lightning.3The womenfolkperformed construction of a woodenplatform (as°dmk"át), a rounddance in honorof Shyble(Shyble wuz) on whichis placedthe meat of a sacrificedgoat. overseven days, while singing a songto thisdeity The unfinishedmeat was lefton theplatform, and (Shyblewe red) including the refrain: cop 'ai, elari nearbya pole was erectedon whichthe skin of the ilia (elari< OsseticiEldar, perhaps via Georgian; goatwas hung;both meat and skinremained until ilia = Elijah).4The menfolk,meanwhile, sacrificed theyrotted away. In some variantsof theritual, a greygoat and hungits skinon a pole,where it songs were sung in honorof the lightning-god - remainedthroughout the 7 daysof theceremony. Aid (af-r-ás°a)or Airg' (= St. George;ay erg' All presentmust partake of the meat fromthe ás°a).5 In one early-19th c. description,it was the sacrifice.Most of Kantaria'ssources could not victim'sbody which was leftatop theplatform, ascribeany meaning to thevocable cop 'ay in the untilcomplete decomposition. Should the person refrain.Some, however, equated it with the Khant- survive,he or shewas laidupon the platform, built seguashe(hancd-g°a:sa) "shovel-lady," a fetish to a heightof 1 to 1.5 metersfrom nut-tree wood. usedin rainmakingrituals. The objectin question Theparticipants wore white and danced around the is a sortof mannequinmade by affixingwomen's victimsinging the Atlar-Chopa, without showing clothingto a shovel.Women brought it to the signsof distress.6 A well-fedwhite goat was sacri- riverbank,planted it there, and splashed each other ficed.It was widelybelieved that the survivor of withwater; the menfolkmeanwhile slaughtered a thunderboltstrike received supernatural powers, a goat or sheepand prayedfor rain. Its efficacy andwas considereda prophet. In oneaccount from couldbe enhancedby hanging the hearth-chain of the 1870s,cited by Akaba,the Atlar-Chopa was a lightning-strikevictim around its "neck";rain sungin alternationbetween an elderlypriest and couldalso be provokedby pouring water over the theother participants. The priestsang thewords chain.In general,special powerswere ascribed Oy> atla copa, to whichthe chorusresponded to objectslinked to the lightning-strikevictim. Oy,ocou-para!. Then theelder sang Atla coupa Thiswas particularlythe case forstones from the Temurgvara,to which the responsewas Vosa gravesite,"to whichproperties of Shyblewere amara! (1984:75). Accordingto X. Xorosani,the transferred,"especially the propertyof making originalsource for this description, Temurgvara rain.In timesof drought, "they went to the victim's was the name of a deity,"represented by the gravereciting prayers," accompanied by members Abkhaziansin the formof a white-hairedold of thebereaved family. The gravestonewas pried man, ridinga wingedhorse, the thumpingof open and proppedup with a rock "while the whosepowerful hooves produced thunder, while victim'srelative prayed that the deceased would lightningflashed from the rider'sbared sword." intercedewith Shyble to bringrain." The originof the name is obscure;the description, however,fits Wacilla, the Ossetic Elijah, who likewise andthunder when to Jaimoukha the Circas- spreadslightning riding 2 According (2001: 142), among his steed 1971: sians"a personstruck by lightningwas thoughtto have mighty (Kaloev 245).7 been ordainedby an angelfor benediction and a solemn ceremonywas conductedin hishonour." 3 This parallelsthe practice,noted by etnnograpnersin 5 Accordingto M.Mak'alatia(1979: 65 f.), theayerg'-ás°a Ossetiaa centuryago, of washingthe legs of a lightning was also enactedby shepherdsaround a bonfireduring victimin milk,and then splashing milk on thespot where mountainrainstorms (perhaps to protecttheir flocks from thevictim was buried(Basilov and Kobychev1976: 152). lightning?). 4 Eachline of the text of a Bzedukh(West Circassian) round 6 The closely-relatedAbaza peoplelikewise did notmourn dance to the god of lightning,translated by Colarusso lightning-strikevictims (Pershits 1989:224). (2002:177) beginswith the words"Yeli, Yeli," almost 7 Anothervariant of thesong, performed when moving an certainlyderived from Elia/ Ilia. Colarusso(177) notesas animalstruck by lightning,includes the refrainVay et'- well thatMount Elbruz is knownto the Circassiansas lar!Aytar et'lar! Et'lar cophar (Javakhishvili 1960: 122 f.). "Elijah'splace" (yaXò-p'a). "Aytar"is the name of a sevenfoldagricultural deity,

Anthropos99.2004 148 KevinTuite

The Atlar-Chopaceremony was also perform-to "visits"by the lightning-godAfa to particu- ed as a cure for the mentalillness knownin lar households.In orderto know how to deal Abkhazas arsòsra"boiling," with symptoms si- withthe problem,recourse was had to a seer milarto St.-Vitus-Dance- fever,convulsions - (ac'aafiò), usuallyfemale, who had alreadybeen and affectingmostly women.8 The sick person visitedby Af9,and in whom"a higherpower was is treatedwith conciliation;in Akaba's words present."In thecase examinedby Inal-Ipa, the seer "everywhim and desireof the patientmust be recommendedthe sacrificeof a whitegoat. The satisfied"(1984:71). Familymembers, wearing ceremonytook place on a hilltop.The meatof the brightly-coloredclothing and avoiding all outward goat was cookedwhile a hymnto thedeity was displayof grief,maintain a day and nightvigil songthree times, then it was seton a sortof small at her bedside.Should therebe a deathin the platform,covered with alder branches, by the legs neighborhood,no mourningis performedand the ofthe patient. With the other participants in a half burialtakes place quickly.In orderto rid the circlearound her, the seer cried out: "Greatlord patientof theillness, a ceremonyis performedin Afa!Today, having slaughtered a spotless goat and theforest, in whichonly men participate (except done all thatis possible,we serveyou. And I, forthe sick person herself). The participantslight unworthyone, ask you to releaseher whom you wax candlesin honorof the chiefgod Antswa deignedto visit." (anc°drc°asizk?' anòxa), and performthe Atlar- Akabaclassifies the Atlar-Chopa with a hand- Chopa rounddance, accompanied by thesinging fulof seldom-performedAbkhazian rituals which of thatsong, or the "song of Antswa"{anc°9-r- likewisetook place by an as°9mk"at(platform) as°a).9 A platformis erected,upon which nut-tree erectedin theforest, far from the village. One of leavesare spread. A oneyear-old goat is sacrificed, theseis a ceremonyperformed every 3-5 yearsat andits meat set on theplatform, along with strips Eastertimein honorof the supremegod Antswa of whitefabric. The patient,dressed in white, (anc°drndxara). In additionto a sacrificedlamb kneelsbefore the platform while a celebrantprays or goateaten on thespot, the remaining meat of to thechief god to senddown health to her.The whichcould notbe broughtback to the village, patientis escortedback to the village,whereas otherlivestock was releasedinto the forest (Akaba theother participants remain at thesite, feast on 1967:40 f.; 1984:69-71).10 Only men fromthe the sacrificedmeat, bread, and polenta(they are local kingroupwere allowed to participate.Less forbiddento drinkwine, however). Any remaining is known,unfortunately, about another, more se- foodis leftin theforest; under no circumstancescret forest ritual performed but once every20- mustit be broughtback to the village.In some 30 yearsfor a supernaturalbeing known only by partsof Abzhui Abkhazia,the curingritual is thetantalizing description "the one whoknows us performedin the churchof St. Georgeat Ilor, butwhom we cannotknow" {tiara hazdarua, hara especiallyon thefeastday of its patronsaint (23 iahzdmddrua). April,O. S.). A sheep is sacrificedin lieu of a goat; it is also believedthat there should be lightning,thunder, and rain on thatday. According 1.4 KarachayChoppa to Inal-Ipa(1965: 532 f.),mental derangement and someother illnesses were attributed by Abkhazians In thetraditional religious system of theTurkic- speakingKarachays, Choppa "is the name of a fertilitydeity of thunderand lightning . . . Consid- comprisingthe divine patronsof bovines, caprids,horses, eredsecond to Teyriin importance,there was an dogs, millet, and the sun and moon (Bgazhba 1991). annual inhis honor and sacred rocks Abkhaz "Aytar"is probably related to the name of the springholiday Mingrelian livestock deity Zhini (= "upper, celestial") (coppanitasi) were associatedwith him. It has Antar,described further on. also beensuggested that the cult of Elijahbecame 8 This disorderis believed to have been sent as punishment identifiedwith him (Elliri choppa). The etymology for nonobservanceof the interdiction of work on certain of this termis unclear"(Golden 1998:210 f.). days of the week (such nonworkingdays are known elsewherein the Caucasus as well). Indeed, some Abkhaz The coppa ritual,featuring the sacrificeof a familiesbelieve thattheir nonworking days (amssar) were goat, the stretchingof its skin on a pole, and the days on which an ancestor was killed by lightning theperformance of a rounddance aroundstones (Akaba 1967: 34). upon whichthe meat was placed,was enacted 9 Like Afa, Antswa is portrayedas a makerof thunderand lightning,which he (she? they? - the gender, even the number,of this divine personage is a subject of debate 10 Akaba adds thatthis ceremony "is now onlyperformed for amongethnologists!) uses to pursuedemons (Akaba 1991). women afflictedwith chorea" (1967: 40 f.).

Anthropos99.2004 Lightning,Sacrifice, and Possession in theTraditional Religions of theCaucasus 149 on a numberof occasions relatedto weather and sacrificeswere performed;similar practices phenomena,agriculture, and an individual'slife weredescribed in Abkhazia(Inal-Ipa 1965:548; cycle(Karaketov 1995). It was performedaround 1971:32-34). victimsof lightning strike or mentalillness, on the (c) Bodyof deceased and sacrifice left in forest. occasionof the first thunder of the year, and before Amongthe Ossetes of the late 19th century "wher- beginningimportant agricultural tasks (harvest, evera mountaineermight die, he was buriedin the threshing,etc.). The ceremonycould also mark clan cemeteryor mausoleum;they would attempt childbirth,marriage, or funerals. The deity Choppa to obtainthe bodies of thosewho died away from was thesecond-in-command and activeprinciple theirhomeland or in captivity. . . eitherthrough in earthlyaffairs, representing the distantsky ransomor even the exchangeof livingpersons god Teyri(< Tengri,the name of theAltaic sky for them,in orderthat they mightbe buried god). in theirown cemeteries"(Kaloev 1989:146). A similarbelief in thecapital importance of burial in one's familyburial ground was sharedby the 1.5 The "Choppa Complex" Caucasianpeoples to theeast and west of Ossetia. It is all the morestriking then, that the Ossetes To concludethis opening section, I willsummarize expresslyforbade that the corpsesof lightning- theprincipal features of the"choppa complex" as strikevictims be buriedin the village cemetery, for presentedin theaccounts cited above: fearof offending Wacilla (Kaloev 1971:245). The (a) Lightningstrike as fortunateevent. Most victims'bodies were buried on the spotof their variantsmention that the lightning-strike victim's death,or at a place chosenby the deityacting familyregarded (or were expected to actas though throughunguided oxen yokedto a cartcarrying theyregarded) the event as fortunate,or as a sign thebody. This taboo on reenteringthe space of of divineelection. Mourning and displays of grief the villageextended to beastsas well. Animals wereforbidden, for fear of provokingthe anger struckby lightning,if theysurvived, were driven of the lightninggod. Whiteor brightly-coloredaway intothe wilderness. This was also done to clothingwas to be worn,rather than the black the herdsbelonging to a lightning-strikevictim, appropriateto a funeral.Thunderstruck victims whichin additionwere marked so thatshepherds who survivedwere consideredprophets in the wouldnot mistakenly incorporate them back into serviceof thedeity who struckthem. theirflocks. The meatof sacrificedanimals was (b) Platform.Most variants also specifythat a to be eatenon the spot;any leftovershad to be platformwas erectedon thespot of theaccident, leftbehind in the forest.In some cases it was madeof thewood of certaintrees (hazel, walnut, specifiedthat the uneatenmeat was lefton the alder)and covered with leaves and branches from woodenplatform, whereas the head and skinof thesame typeof tree.Inal-Ipa (1965: 547 f.) and the sacrificewas hungfrom a pole plantedin Charachidzé(1981a) conjecturethat the setting theground nearby. In somevariants, there is the of the victim'sbody on a platform"évoque additional"sacrifice" of livestock released into the les pratiquesfunéraires que plusieursauteurs de forest.Presumably these unfortunate beasts would l'Antiquitéont décriteschez les habitantsde la end up as dinnerfor wolves or otherpredators. Colchide[= modern-dayAbkhazia and Mingrelia, Severalethnographic descriptions emphasize the moreor less - KT] . . . D'après Apolloniosde interdictionon bringingthe sacrificed meat back Rhodes, au Hie siècle av. J.-C, les Colques intothe village. These practicesreveal, first, the tenaientpour impiede brûlerou d'inhumerles paralleltreatment of thevictims of a thunderbolt corpsdes défuntsmasculins. Ils les enveloppaientand the animals sacrificed subsequently; secondly, d'une peau de boeufnon tannéeet les fixaient the sharpdistinction between the domesticated en hautd'un arbreavec des cordes."Travellers spaceof the village and its immediate surroundings to Abkhaziaas recentlyas the 17thand 18th (fieldsand pastures),and thoseareas beyond it.11 centuriesnoted the practice of attaching the bodies ofmen to the branches of trees, whereas the bodies 11 Charachidzé1968; Tuite 1998, 2001; Tuiteand Bukhrash- of women were buried.(Even now, women's vili 1999. bodiesare buried several inches deeper than men's In someprovinces of theCaucasus (notably Pkhovi in 1974: A visitorto Circassiain the theeast, Abkhazia in thewest), the principal sanctuaries of [Benet 88].) clanicor tribaldeities are themselveslocated outside the notedthat victims of strike 15thcentury lightning village,which some Pkhovian informants attribute to the were consideredsacred, and theirbodies were deity'savoidance of thenumerous sources of impurityin hung fromtrees for threedays, while dances thehuman community (K'ik'nadze 1996, n. d.).

Anthropos99.2004 150 KevinTuite

The victimstouched by the lightninggod could onlyway to behavetoward an angrygod is sincere notbe broughtback into the profane space of the repentanceand sacrifice"(N. S. Janashia,cited by villagebecause theywere too "sacred"in both Gulia 1928:287). The sacrificecalled for in such ancientsenses of the word - consecratedto a circumstancesis a goat. deity,and chargedwith a dangerousforce which (e) Rounddance. In thetraditional cultures of putsthem off-limits to humans(Benveniste 1969: the peoples of the Caucasus,as in manyother 187-192). regionsof Eurasia,solemn occasions are marked (d) Goatsacrifice. In thoseaccounts specifying by rounddancing. The Circassiandance udz, per- thetype of animalto be sacrificed,either on the formedby Kabardian women on thespot of a light- occasionof a personor animal struck by a thunder- ningstrike, is describedas an "ancientround dance bolt,or in general to appease the anger of the storm withslow, solemn music," perfomed on suchocca- god,the preferred offering is a goat.In thecontext sionsas weddings,celebrations of victory in battle, of thosetraditional Caucasian religious systems andreligious ceremonies (Shu 1964).Much of the forwhich we have sufficientevidence concerning mythologicalpoetry of highlandGeorgia (Pkhovi the differentialuse of sacrificedanimals - most and Svanetiin particular)was sungwhile dancing notablythose of Abkhaziaand Ossetia12- the in a circle,or while circumambulatinga shrine goatis offeredto powerful,potentially dangerous (Charachidzé1968:703-712; Tuite 1994:140- supernaturalbeings. While the animal chosen for 144). Major "pagan"festivals are punctuatedby sacrificeat mostceremonial occasions is a sheep, rounddances, especially at theend of theday's cow, or bull, goats are offeredto those which festivities,when the participants leave theshrine are particularlyprone to punitiveaction, or who complex(usually situated some distance from the behavein unpredictableways. At thesame time, village),and begin to maketheir way homeward.14 Abkhazianand Ossetianevidence points to a de- (f) Rainmaking.The chopparitual and its vari- greeof extension of the high symbolic value attrib- antsmay also be performedin thehope of causing utedto wildcaprids - ibex and mountaingoats - rainin times of drought, or, conversely, to wardoff to theirdomestic cousins. The Ossetessacrificed damagefrom excessive rain or hail.This implies goatson suchsolemn occasions as theresolution an equationof the supernaturalbeing causing of a blood feudor a ceremonyatop one of their lightningwith that responsible for storms,rain, holy mountains(Basilov and Kobychev1976: andhail, and a representationofthe ritual as being 153f.). The Abkhazianwriter D. Gulia ascribeda intendedto inducea potentiallyharmful deity to veritable"goat cult" to his ancestors,noting the behavein wayshelpful to thecommunity.15 imageof a goaton themedieval Abkhazian flag (Inal-Ipa1965: 207), and thepractice of slaugh- teringa goat ratherthan a sheep or bull when 14 One well-knownexample from Georgian folklore where a an honored He also that rounddance is performedin commemorationof a person's receiving guest.13 specified deathis in theSvan-language ballad of Betgil, traditionally a castratedgoat (asiP'ä) was offered"to avoidthe sung while dancinga solemnround dance knownas angerof powerfulgods" (Gulia 1928:288). Goat the samtic'osxœs (Virsaladze 1976: 113 f.; Charachidzé sacrifices,often performed far from the village, 1986:159-163; Tuite2002). The balladtells the story of wereintended to suchredoubtable Betgil,a legendaryhunter, who chaseda whitedeer or appease super- it turnedinto naturalsas of ibexinto the mountains, whereupon suddenly S'as°9, god blacksmiths,"golden thegoddess Dael (Dali), divinepatroness of hornedgame Zasxan,"bringer of smallpox,the lightning-god animals.She accusedhim of violatinga promisehe had Afá,regarded by Gulia as "thehighest of all gods" made to her,and caused him to fall to his deathfrom (1928:287), and thesupreme deity Antswa. It is themountaintop. Each yearthe communes of Mulakhand to notethat the Abkhazians of a Muzhalperform the samti c'dsxces on thespot where Betgil important century is saidto have died, in order to bring rain. It may be possible ago believedthat "one and the same god might touncover deeper connections between the Betgil cycle and be good or evil in relationto a given person, thechoppa complex, but that attempt will not be undertaken dependingon whetherthat individual accurately here. 15 The ofthe of fulfilledhis or her obligationsto the god. The 18th-century"Description Kingdom Georgia" by Vaxusht'iBat'onishvili includes a briefaccount of the invocationof Wacilla(vacil) by the Duals, an Ossetic- speakingpopulation dwelling in north-centralGeorgia: 12 For reasonswhich become clear later, the sacrificai prac- "theysacrifice a goat and eat the meat themselves, whereas ticesof NortheastGeorgian traditional religion will not be theystretch the skin on a tallpole and worshipElia, that consideredat thisjuncture. Elia notsend hail uponthem and givethem the fruits of 13 Domesticgoats were by far the most numerous animals in theearth" (1973: 638 f.). Similarceremonies in honorof theherds of theAbkhazians up throughthe 19thcentury Elia, featuringa goat sacrifice and thehanging of itsskin (Inal-Ipa1965:206). froma pole,and performedto protectcrops from hail or

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(g) Illnessand prophecy.Several descriptions the "lords" would be persuadedto leave thechil- associatethe choppa complexwith the giftof drenunharmed (Charachidzé 1987: 48-60; Tuite prophecy,and withtemporary or chronicmental 1994:131 f.; Mindadze2000). As in the case of derangment.On the one hand, survivorsof a lightningstrike, the Ossetes did not mournfor lightningstrike are said to acquirethe capacity victimsof smallpox,for fear of antagonizing to conveymessages from the lightninggod to Alardy,their smallpox god, imaginedas a sky- the humancommunity. The last fortune-tellerdwelling deity who descendson a silverladder {dasni) of theOssetian village Lesgor, who died to scatterdeath and disfigurement.Alardy is in theearly 20th century, began his serviceafter associatedwith St. Johnthe Baptist (Oss. Fydwan, beingstruck by lightningno less thanthree times Fydlwan) (Kaloev 1971:254 f.; Testen1997), a and surviving(Basilov and Kobychev1976: 138). figurewho takes on manyof the same functions as Some of these messengers,such as the young Elijahin thefolk Christianity ofEastern Europe.17 mansummoned to thescene of a lightningdeath Representationsof smallpox in traditional in Stöder'saccount, undergo convulsions while Transcaucasianfolk medicinemanifest impor- prophesying.On theother hand, in Abkhaziaand tantparallels to those of lightningstrike. Ac- ChegemKarachaya, the choppa ritual is prescribed cordingto accountscited by Mindadzein her as a treatmentfor St. Vitus dance and similar recentPhD thesis(2000: 230-255), the disease- disorders,marked by compulsive,uncontrolled bringing bat'onebi were created by God (xmertis bodymovements (Karaketov 1995:45). gamosobilebi),dwell "in God's garden,"and Studiesof indigenous Caucasian ethnomedicine are sentdown to earthat his command.Death (Mindadze 1981) have pointedto a distinctionfrom smallpox was considereda blessedevent: betweenthose illnesses caused by physicalcauses the victimwas thoughtto have been "takenby or injuries,and thoseattributed to the actionof angels"(angelozebma c'aiq'vanes). Accordingto gods,spirits or demons. Among the latter are those one informantfrom the west Georgian province of disordersreflecting the possessionof the victim Lechxumi,a childtaken by the"lords" "goes to by a spirit,including certain psychic illnesses and paradise,is an angel(angelozia), and will be with also diseasessuch as smallpox.There is thusa theangels." The victim'scoffin is paintedred and fineline betweenthe appropriationof a human sprinkledwith roses; mourning is forbidden,and by a spiritin orderto exploitthe formeras a womenperform the "Iavnana," a lullaby-likesong mouthpiecefor the latter,and the possessionof believedto bringpleasure to thebat'onebi (for the thatperson as punishmentor sacrifice.Regardless textof one of thesesongs, see Tuite 1994:62- of thecause, the afflicted person - or ratherthe 65).18 spiritresiding within him or her- is treatedwith (h) Profileof deities invoked. When a deityis cautioussolicitude. It was mentionedearlier that invokedin theperformance of thechoppa ritual, no one was to show signs of distressin the it is in mostcases one of the local avatarsof presenceof a patientsuffering from arsdsra, and Elijah(Ilia, Elia, Wac-illa); other names mentioned thather desires were to be compliedwith. Young includeAbkhaz Afa and CircassianShyble, who victimsof smallpox, measles, and other contagious arelikewise gods of lightning, thunder and storms. childhooddiseases received similar treatment in Akabamentions similar rituals being performed in lowlandGeorgia and in Ossetia,since this disease honorof thechief Abkhaz deity Antswa, as well was attributedto possessionby spirits(referred as the shadowy"one who knowsus but whom to in Georgianby the euphemisticbat'onebi we cannotknow." These are powerful deities, who "thelords").16 The childrenand theirindwelling assurethe prosperity of thecommunity by sending tormentorswere entertained with songs, feasting, downlife-giving rain, but whose thunderbolts can brightcolors, and decorations,in the hope that

17 Alardyis fromGeorgian Alaverdi, the name of an important excessiverain, have been described for the west Georgian EastGeorgian cathedral dedicated to Johnthe Baptist. provincesof Rach'a, Guria, Imereti, and Mingrelia; and also 18 Thebelief that smallpox, unlike other diseases, was sentby forthe northeast province Khevsureti (Mak'alatia 1987: 83; God, and thatdeath from smallpox was in somerespect Ruxadze1999: 97-107). Noneof these accounts, however, a fortunateevent, has been notedin Russia and in the mention"choppa" or its variants,either as thename of a folk-medicaltraditions of manyother European countries. - rounddance or as a vocablein a song. Of particularinterest is theinvocation of St. Barbara in - 16 Accordingto themedical anthropologist Nunu Mindadze Georgia,Hungary, Greece, Austria, and elsewhere to (pers.comm. 7 July2001), in someparts of Georgia,the intercedewith God to curethe sick child(Bleichsteiner utterancesof feverishchildren afflicted by thebat'onebi 1954;Bardavelidze 1941b). I hopeto explorethe smallpox wereregarded as prophetic. complexin greaterdetail in futurework.

Anthropos99.2004 152 KevinTuite wreak death and destruction.Those struckby lightning"(with assimilative voicing of theinitial theirbolts, however, are not so muchpunished consonant).The etymologyof cœv- is difficult as appropriated:those who surviveenter the to establish,however, not for lack of possible god's serviceas prophets,those who succumb cognates,but ratherbecause thereappear to be are believedto be in thedeity's company in the too many,including a largenumber from outside afterlife.The tree-burialpracticed by theancient of the Indo-Europeanfamily. Numerous Turkic Colchiansand theirAbkhazian descendants, as languageshave verb roots descendedfrom an wellas thesetting of victims on woodenplatforms, antecedent *cap, denotingvarious sorts of "noisy appearsto have been a meansof separatingthe action"(Clauson 1972:394; Räsänen 1969:99), victimsfrom the earth and placingthem closer to mostcommonly involving striking or attacking. thesky, with the goal of enabling the celestial deity Abaev also mentionsMongolian cab "beat"and to appropriatetheir souls intohis servicein the Komi (Permicbranch of Finno-Ugric)cap-yny afterlife.19 "strike."Indo-European examples include Persian The Abkhazand Rach'an (Georgian)descrip- câpîdan"plunder" (a loanfrom Turkish, according tionsmention the invocationof two local "St. to Doerfer(1967/III: 15 f.)) and Russiancapat' Georges,"Airg' (a-jirg'< *a-g'erg'< **a-giorgi), "snatch,strike." Doerfer and Clauson regard these and Giorgi respectively.In MountainRach'a, rootsas onomatopoeticin origin.Of similarpho- peopleprayed to Elia forrain in timesof drought, neticform and meaningare theexpressive Indie whereasGiorgi was invokedto protectcrops from rootsgrouped by Turner(1966: 265, root#4863) hail. That is, the stormgod Elia was asked to underthe lemma *cupp-l co:pp-l cump- "strike," release one of the elementsunder his control e. g., Waigalichúp "wound," Bengali cop "blow," forthe benefitof the village,whereas Giorgi' s copara "slap";note also Bengalichop(a) "sudden functionwas conceivedas primarilydefensive: attack,"chopa- "to snatch"(Sen 1971). These wardingoff a naturalelement already released Indie lexemesare particularlyclose in form,in- by its patron.(Interestingly, Elia is sometimes cludingvocalism, to westCaucasian coppa. The representedby Georgiansas a well-intentionedIndo-European, Altaic, and Finno-Ugricexpres- but blind spiritincapable of seeing wherethe sive rootsdescribed here have geographicrather hail he scatterswill fall [Chikovani1972: 255].) thanfamily-specific distribution. They are attested The contrastbetween Elia and Giorgiis in fact withinand aroundthe great central-Eurasiatic lin- consistentwith the functionsof his equivalents guistic"spread zone" (Nichols 1992, 1997), which elsewherein traditionalGeorgian culture, a point has beenthe site of therelatively rapid westward to whichwe willreturn later. expansionsof theIndo-European, Iranian, Turkic, (i) Thevocable coppaZcoppa(y). The originsof and Mongolianlanguage groups. In one form thelexeme coppa and its variantsremain uncer- or another,perhaps as an epithetmeaning "the tain. Severalaccounts specify that the meaning striker,"a reflex of the onomatopoetic Wanderwort of thisvocable was unknownto thepeople per- cap-lcop(p)-came to be attachedto thelightning formingthe ritual, and Abaev qualifies the Ossetic god of one of the steppepeoples, even as the coppayas "of obscureorigin" in his etymological Indo-Europeanroot *per-(kw)-u- "strike" surfaced dictionary.Abaev conjectures that coppay contains in the namesof Baltic Perkunasand Slavic Pe- a final"vocative" -ay, an elementhe has also runt. In thisway, cop(p)- "strike" was linkedto isolatedin (w)onay,& vocable in the refrainof theWest Caucasian lightning deity, as is stillthe a women'scloth-fulling song, formed from (w)on, case amongthe Karachays, and thence to thesong thename of St. John,+ -ay (1958/11:228). This and rounddance performed around his victims.20 wouldlead one to supposethat copp- represents, or representedat one time,the name or epithetof 20 Possiblyrelated to coppa(y)is thename of a rounddance a divinebeing. David Testen(pers. comm., 8 May knownin westernIran and Kurdistanas (Persian)cupi 2000) wonderedif therecould be some connec- "tanecs platkami(rasprostranën v zapadnoj chasti Irana, tion between and the Ossetic verb root ispolnjaetsjamuzhchinami i zenshchinami,stavshimi v coppa tanec s strike" krug),"(Kurdish) çopî "(juzhno-kurdskoe) pod- cœv-yn"beat, (Abaev1958/1: 306 f.),which prygivaniem"(Miller 1960: 167; Kurdoev1960: 173). One appearsin thecompound œrv-dzav-d- "struck by intriguingclue is theuse of the latter word in the expression copicenter bestin "gather round corpse for mourning dance" (Wahbyand Edmonds1966), which suggests a linkto the 19 Whereasthe bodies of menwere suspended from trees in performanceof the coppa dance aroundthe body of a earliertimes, those of womenwere consigned to theearth, lightning-strikevictim. Little more can be saidconcerning andperhaps thereby into the possession of a chthonicgod such a link withoutmore detailed descriptions of these or goddess. dancesand their antecedent forms.

Anthropos99.2004 Lightning,Sacrifice, and Possession in theTraditional Religions of theCaucasus 153

2 LightningStrike, Sacrifice, and Possession. (EuripidesSuppliants, 935).22 The heroHerakles Some ComparativeEvidence was elevatedto the statusof an Olympianim- mortalafter a thunderboltthrown by his father As an unpredictable,dangerous, fire- and some- Zeus ontohis funeralpyre burnt away his mor- timesdeath-bringing bolt from the sky, lightning tal parts(Cook 1965:23-29; Nagy 1990:139- is featuredin the religious thought of many peoples 141). In formertimes Lithuanians believed that the worldover. In some cases, however,quite those struckby lightningfrom a thunderstorm similarclusters of beliefsappear to have arisen headingwest died as favoritesof God, whereas independentlyof the choppa complex, of whichI thosekilled by a thunderstormheading east died will cite one examplehere. The Nuerpeople of on accountof theirsins (Mannhardt1936: 538, the Sudan,according to the descriptionof their citedby Nagy 1990:197). Amongthe Slavs "a religioussystem by Evans-Pritchard(1956: 52- personor treestruck by lightningwas regardedas 62), believedthat the souls of personsstruck beingfilled with health-giving powers" (Gimbutas by lightningor lost in a whirlwindwere "taken 1971:166). by God intothe sky"(52) and transformedinto Let us considerthese facts in the contextof spiritsknown as colwic.Some lightningvictims anthropologicaltheories of sacrificeand posses- came to be regardedas tutelaryspirits of their sion. Accordingto one of themost widely-cited father'sor husband'slineages, and as suchwere definitions,proposed a centuryago by theFrench calledon foraid againstenemies. To be slainby sociologistsHubert and Mauss, sacrificeserves lightningwas a signof divineelection: "When a to establish"une communicationentre le monde personis killedby lightning,Nuer are resigned sacré et le monde profanepar l'intermédiaire . . . The deathis nota punishmentfor some fault d'une victimedétruite au coursd'une cérémonie" but a mysteriousact of divinewill ... In the (1968:302). Althoughmore recent investigations case of a colwic,however, God has chosen a of sacrificehave emphasizedother aspects of particularperson for himself, and takenhim with thepractice, such as the natureof the exchange his own hand.Nuer say thatthe chosenperson betweengods and humans,or have attemptedto has enteredinto kinship, or friendship,with God" elucidatethe meanings symbolized by the offering, (54).21As in the westernCaucasus, the victim the ritual,the contextof performance,and so does notreceive an ordinaryburial. He or she is forth,23I will focushere on someimplications of interredin a funeralmound with a shrine-stakethe sacrifice-as-communication view.In a studyof in middle,on whichthe head, hooves,entrails, possessioncults in Africa,Zempléni (1987) noted and someof theskin of a sacrificedblack ox are thatHubert and Mauss' definitioncould apply suspended.The sacrificeis said to assurethat the equally well to spiritpossession. Many studies soul of the colwicremains in the sky and does of the latterphenomenon have noted thatthe not returnbringing misfortune and deathto the possessedindividual is conceivedas a siteof con- survivors. tactbetween the supernatural and humanrealms, Closer to the Caucasus - sufficientlyclose whetheror nothe or she servesas a spokesperson andsufficiently connected by pathways of cultural forthe possessingspirit. Zempléni goes further, contactthat common origin cannot be ruledout - emphasizing,in his reviewof the ethnographic are Greeceand theBalto-Slavic region. There is evidencefrom ancient texts that the Greeks con- 22 Textualevidence indicates that in ancientGreece, as in the sideredthe spot where lightning struck (enedusion) WestCaucasus, the bodies of those killed by lightning were to be trodden buriedat theplace of death, or left on thespot uncremated, as ábaton"not (by profanefeet)" fencedoff Plutarchbelieved that and thevictim thearea being (indeed, or ápsausta"untouchable, sacred," theircorpses would not decay,nor woulddogs or birds killedby a thunderboltas "tabu,vom Gottaus- touch"the bodies of those who have been struck by Zeus") gezeichnet,dem normalenMenschendasein ent- (Cook 1965:22 f.). Somelightning victims may have sub- rückt" Cook 1965:21 f.). sequentlybeen accorded the status of heroes, as impliedby (Burkert1961:211; cp. a certain In other such a becamehierós - the inscriptionDii Katabáte.i hé:ro:i Epikrátei(to words, person Epikrates,"vom Blitz erschlagen und deshalb heroisiert") whichlike Latin sacer meansboth "holy"and (Nilsson1941: 63-65). Amongthe ancient Hittites, accor- "taboo"-, as was said of thebody of Kapaneus, dingto Haas (1994:183 f.), "durch Blitzschlag zu sterben struckdown by Zeus at the walls of Thebes galt als ein besonderer,vom Wettergottherbeigeführten Tod, der heiligeScheu hervorrief."The burialsof such victimswere handled by a special"Mann des Wettergottes," 21 Similarly,the neighboringShilluk and Dinka tribesdo whothen performed a propitiatory offering of a goat(Haas notmourn persons killed by lightning,as theirdeaths are 1994:217). consideredan honor. 23 Cp. Valeri(1985: 70 f.) on sacrificeas "symbolicaction."

Anthropos99.2004 154 KevinTuite data,the suppressionof the possessed's human furthermore,the animal victim is killed,yielding personalityin favorof thatof the spirit,which it (or a portionof it) definitivelyto thespirit. dwellswithin the victim's body, makes her physi- It is mybelief that the Caucasian ethnographic callyand/or mentally ill, feedsoff her blood and materialspresented above yield evidenceof a flesh,even rides her like a horse(1987: 285). The conceptionof sacrifice,possession, and lightning victimsbecome "des êtressacrificiels 'mis à mort' deathas fundamentallythe same order of phenom- répétitivementparleur invisible 'époux' ou 'cava- enon,that is, the total or partial appropriation ofan lier' auquelelles sontirrévocablement liées"; the animalor personby a supernaturalbeing, which possessedperson's trances, induced periodically mayuse theformer for his or herpurposes. Con- duringreligious ceremonies "sont des oblations siderfirst the numerous parallels in theconception rituelleset réitérées de sa personneau dieuauquel of the lightningvictim and thatof a sacrificed il a été voué" (312; italicsin original).Without animal.In one ofthe oldest sources quoted above, in any way denyingthe validityof Zempléni's MovsesDasxuranc'i attributed to theHuns the be- conclusions,I would like to pointout another liefthat if lightning "struck a manor some material characteristicshared by sacrificeand possession, object,they considered him or it to be somesort whichseems particularly useful for the Caucasian of sacrificeto a god K'u(w)ar" (1961: 155f.). In materialsexamined here. It is well knownthat the modernvariants of the choppaceremony as manydescriptions of sacrificerepresent it as a well, the victim'sbody and thatof the animal divisionof the victiminto two portions,one of slaughteredin the ritualare treatedin similar whichis appropriatedby thegod(s), the other of fashion.Both maybe placed upon theplatform, whichremains in the possessionof the human andboth must be leftbehind after the participants participants.Some such accounts,such as the returnhome: the uneaten goat meat is leftto rotor Hesiodicmyth of the institution ofsacrifice by Pro- be eatenby birds,the victim's body is buriedon metheus,specify the division of thevisible parts thespot or at a locationchosen at random.By no of theoffering between the two parties; that part meansmay the meat be broughtback to the village, givento thegods may be burnt,spilt (e. g.,blood), or the victim'scorpse be buriedin the village or leftuneaten. In somecultures, such as thatof cemetery.In otherwords, both the remains of the theNuers, it is primarilythe invisible portion of victimslain by lightningand the uneaten portions thesacrifice, the animal's life, which is believedto ofthe animal slaughtered by the participants in the be takenby thegod, whereas the carcass remains ritualwere regarded as havingbeen appropriated for the use of the sacrificers(Evans-Pritchard by the lightning god. As in ancientGreece, the fact 1956:214). Culturesalso differconcerning the of havingbeen appropriatedby a powerfuland imaginedrole of thetwo parties in theact of divi- potentiallydangerous deity rendered the victims sion.In Hesiod's account,the inaugural partition ápsausta"untouchable, sacred," off limits to the of thevictim is made beforethe gods taketheir humancommunity. It shouldalso be mentioned part;in traditionalHawaiian sacrifice, by contrast, thatthe Hunnicand modernchoppa ceremonies the god is thoughtto "devour"and incorporatewere performed for livestock and objects,as well the entireoffering, then return a portionto the as people,hit by lightning,implying that it was sacrificers(Valeri 1985: 71). In at leastsome folk theact of appropriationof thevictim by thegod theoriesof possession, I arguehere, the possessed whichwas the criterialfactor: it was as though is likewisedivided into two portions, one of which thegod tookthe initiative of seizingan offering, is appropriated- temporarily or permanently- by ratherthan waiting for the community to perform the spirit,whereas the restis consideredto be a sacrificein his honor. stillin the "ownership"of the personinvolved. The finalpiece of evidenceto be considered This appropriationcan takethe form of exploit- in thissection is chronologicallythe earliest.In ing thepossessed as a mouthpiece,or as mental a passage citedby Charachidzé(1981b: 455) as or physicalillness. Some of the Africancases proofthat possession was knownin some areas discussedby Zemplénidescribe the indwelling of theCaucasus 2000 yearsago, theGreek geog- spiritas a sortof parasite, consuming the victim's rapherStrabo {Geography XI, 4, 7) describesthe fleshand blood from within. In a Wolofceremony religiouspractices at one of thechief sanctuaries describedby the same author, a possessedwoman of theCaucasian Albanians (Albanoi, dwelling in holds a goat or cow againsther body,with the whatis nowAzerbaijan) as follows: intentionof inducingthe spiritto quit herbody andenter that of the animal, which is subsequentlyAs forgods, they adore the Sun, Zeus, and Selene killed. One victimis substitutedfor another; (= themoon), most of all,the moon. Its sanctuaryis

Anthropos99.2004 Lightning,Sacrifice, and Possession in theTraditional Religions of theCaucasus 155 locatednear Iberia [= a kingdomin easternGeorgia An earlier(and abridged)version of thisarticle was - KT]. The officiatingpriest is mostrevered after the presentedat the 10th Colloquium of the Societas Cauca- king.He has authorityover the sacred territory, which, sologicaEuropaea, at the University of Munich,5 August like thatof theking, is largeand well-populated,and 2000. I have profitedgreatly from the comments and also overthe servants of thetemple, of whommany go criticismsoffered by Pat'i Antadze-Malashkhia,Pilip'e intotrances and prophecy(kai tô:nhierodoúlo:n, hô:n Baghiauri,P'aat'a Bukhrashvili,Slava Chikiba,John enthousiô:sipolloì kaì prophe:teúousin). If one of these, Colarusso,Peter Golden, Michael Job, Mzia Mak'alatia, in a stateof powerfulpossession, wanders alone in the NunuMindadze, Tinatin Ochiauri, David Testen,Rémy forest(epi pléonkatáskhetos genómenos planâtai katà Viredaz,although I remain responsible for any errors of tàshúlas monos), the priest captures him, binds him with omissionor commission. a sacredchain, and feedshim generouslythroughout theyear. Then he leads himto thesacrifice celebrated in honorof the goddess{eis tè:n thusíantê:s theoû), where,having anointed him with perfumes, he sacrifices ReferencesCited himalong with the othervictims. The sacrificetakes placeas follows:bearing the sacred lance which custom Abaev,Vasili I. reservesonly for human sacrifices, a person comes out 1949 Osetinskijjazyk i fol'klor.Moscow: Izd. Akad.Nauka of thecrowd, advances toward the victimand strikes SSSR. himin theside through to theheart, not without having 1958-1989 Istoriko-etimologiceskijslovar' osetinskogoja- Vols. 1-5. Moscow:Izd. Akad.Nauka SSSR. learnedhow beforehand.When the victimfalls, they zyka. makepredictions by the manner in which he falls,which Abak'elia,Nino theyannounce publicly. Then the body is transportedto 1991 Mifi ritualv ZapadnojGruzii. Tbilisi: Mecniereba. a place whereall come to stepon it withtheir feet, whichserves as a riteof Akaba,Lili X. purification. 1967 O nekotoryxreligioznyx perezitkax u abxazov. In: L. X. Akaba and S.D. Inal-Ipa(eds.), Sovremennoe Thereis muchabout this passage which remains abxazskoeselo. Ètnograficeskieocherki; pp. 27-51. a puzzle forscholars of Caucasianethnohistory, Tbilisi.Mecniereba. noris it clear how the is to 1984 Istoriceskiekorni arxaicheskixritualov abxazov. literally description Alashara. interestto us here are four Suxumi, be interpreted.Of 1991 Ancva.In: MNM'vol. 1: p. 90. elementswhich can be comparedto the choppa attributedto a celestial Ardzinba,V. G. complex:(1) possession K istoriikulta zeleza i remesla - the of the the 1988 kuznecnogo (pocitanie deity here, goddess moon; (2) kuznicyu abxazov). In: G. M. Bongard-Levinand possessedgoing into a tranceand prophesying; (3) V. Ardzinba(eds.), Drevnij Vostok.Ètnokurturnye thepossessed wandering in theforest (i. e., outside svjazi;pp 263-306.Moscow: Nauka. of the the of thedomesticated space village);(4) Averincev,S. S. victimfinally being put to deathas a sacrifice 1991 IonnKrestitel'. In: MNM'vol. 1: pp. 551-553. to thesame forthe deityresponsible possession. Vaxusht'i does not a role,and the Bat'onishvili, Althoughlightning play 1973 Aghc'erasameposa Sakartvelosa [Description of the victimis killedby a fellowhuman and not by Kingdomof Georgia]. In: S. Q'auxchishvili(ed.), Kart- an act of God, theparallels are sufficientlyclose lis cxovreba.Vol. 4. Tbilisi:Sabch'ota Sakartvelo. to meritconsideration. In the particular, possessed Baliauri,M., andN. Mak'alatia prophetis equatedwith a sacrificialvictim in the 1940 Micvalebulisk'ult'i arxot'is temsi [The Cult of the Dead mostconcrete manner imaginable. The sacrifice in the Communeof Arkhot'i].Masalebi sakartvelos (or appropriation)takes place stepwise,however. etnograpiisatvis3: 1-64. At firstthe goddess takes partial possession of the Bardavelidze,Vera victim,making him her prophet. Then she draws 1941a Ivrispsavlebsi (dviuri). ENIMK'-is moambe 7: 67-182. himinto the forest, away from human society, and 1941b Kartveltaudzvelesi sarc'munoebis ist'oriidan: yvtaeba the of theMost Ancient thereforeeven further into her possession. Finally, barbar-babar[From History Beliefsof the Georgians.The Deity Barbar-Babar]. the priestwho acts in her servicecaptures the Tbilisi:Mecniereba. possessedperson, fattens hims up andthen brings 1957 Drevnejsiereligioznye verovanija i obrjadovoe grafice- himto be sacrificed,completing the process. It is skoeiskusstvo gruzinskix piemen. Tbilisi: Mecniereba. as thoughthe two possible outcomes of a lightning andV.P. - Basilov,V.N., Kobychev strike deathof the victim, or electionas prophet 1976 Nikolajikuvd (Osetinskoe prazdnicestvo v cest' patrona of thelightning god - arehere represented as two selenija).Kavkazskij ètnograficeskij sbornik 6: 131-154. in a thesame victim. stages processaffecting Benet,Sula 1974 Abkhasians.The Long-LivingPeople of theCaucasus. (To be continued) New York:Holt, Rinehart, and Wilson.

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