The Mari, a people of roughly half a
million, are said to be Europe’s last pagans. They are considered to come in
Volga area from Eastern Europe some thousands years ago. The Mari faith
traditionally knows no written scriptures and no sacred edifices, “Nature is
our temple”. To get the gods help Mari people do their prayers in sacred
groves, where some feasts include the ritual slaughter of animals as sacrifice.
There are many disputes in our days about how this kind of life is justified. Why Mari could develop their culture without destroying the environment?
This question becomes very actual in our days.
Whether humanity cannot learn how to live in harmony with the environment as Mari and other peoples like them who are not involved in the race of conquest and transformation of nature do it. The era of industrialization has changed nature of the so that in many cases indigenous people cannot feed themselves, using the traditional methods they used during the ages. However they still focused on cooperation with nature but not on struggle with it. If people begin to take from nature more than necessary, they are sawing the bough on which one sitting, as it has repeatedly been in the history of vanished civilizations. Whether it is the time to remember something and touch the little-known or completely forgotten past life of The Human. Maybe we can find there some standard of the relationship between man and nature?
In Mari-El, the Mari Traditional Religion is recognized as one of three traditional faiths, along with Christianity and Islam. Indeed, unnoticed by much of the outside world, the Mari faith has made a remarkable recovery since the end of Soviet Union.
The Mari El Republic, 2011-2013
There are many disputes in our days about how this kind of life is justified. Why Mari could develop their culture without destroying the environment?
This question becomes very actual in our days.
Whether humanity cannot learn how to live in harmony with the environment as Mari and other peoples like them who are not involved in the race of conquest and transformation of nature do it. The era of industrialization has changed nature of the so that in many cases indigenous people cannot feed themselves, using the traditional methods they used during the ages. However they still focused on cooperation with nature but not on struggle with it. If people begin to take from nature more than necessary, they are sawing the bough on which one sitting, as it has repeatedly been in the history of vanished civilizations. Whether it is the time to remember something and touch the little-known or completely forgotten past life of The Human. Maybe we can find there some standard of the relationship between man and nature?
In Mari-El, the Mari Traditional Religion is recognized as one of three traditional faiths, along with Christianity and Islam. Indeed, unnoticed by much of the outside world, the Mari faith has made a remarkable recovery since the end of Soviet Union.
The Mari El Republic, 2011-2013
La
Repubblica di Mari El si trova a 800 chilometri da Mosca. La popolazione
locale, circa mezzo milione di persone di ceppo ugro-finnico, si divide in due
gruppi principali: gli abitanti degli altopiani e quelli delle pianure. Si
pensa che i Mari siano arrivati nell’area del Volga dall’Europa dell’Est alcune
migliaia di anni fa. Parlano lingue diverse e vivono in zone distinte del
territorio della Repubblica, ma c’è una cosa che unisce la gente di Mari El: la
fede. Le credenze Mari non hanno per tradizione scritture né edifici sacri e
invocano l’aiuto divino pregando nei boschi sacri, dove vengono celebrate feste
rituali con sacrifici animali.
“La Natura è il nostro tempio” è il credo dei Mari, gli ultimi pagani d’Europa.
“La Natura è il nostro tempio” è il credo dei Mari, gli ultimi pagani d’Europa.
All images © TATIANA PLOTNIKOVA
Born in Leningrad, Russia. Graduated
with a degree in Accounting and Audit from the St.Petersburg University of
Economics and in Graphic design from St.Petersburg Politechnical University. In
2008 studied at the St Petersburg Photojournalism Faculty in Sergey
Maximishin’s group.
At present – an independent documentary photographer, based in St Petersburg, Russia
Nessun commento:
Posta un commento