Enarei

The ''Enarei'', singular Enaree ( grc, Ἐνάρεες , , derived from the Iranian term , meaning "unmanly"), were Scythian androgynous/effeminate priests and shamanistic soothsayers who played an important role in the Scythian religion.

Religious role

The Enarei performed Artimpasa's cult and played an important political role in Scythian society as they were believed to have received the gift of prophesy directly from the goddess Artimpasa (conflated by Herodotus with Aphrodite). The Enarei wore women's clothing, performed women's jobs and customs and spoke in a feminine manner. They were accepted and revered in Scythian society.

Scythian religion included shamanism and divination, both nature and deities worship and had no temples. Scythian shamanism involved religious ecstasy through the use of cannabis, with modern authors claiming that Enarei likely performed those rites, just like 'gender-crossing shamans' of other cultures.

Divination

Herodotus describes the Scythian divination practices: the method employed by the Enarei differed from that practised by traditional Scythian diviners: whereas the latter used a bundle of willow rods, the Enarei used strips cut from the bark of the linden tree (genus '' tilia'') to tell the future, which they did by splitting the bark and twining the strands among open fingers.

The Enarei were especially consulted when the king of the Scythians was ill, which was itself believed by the Scythians to be caused by a false oath being sworn upon the king's hearth.

Androgyny

Hippocrates wrote that Enarei would "play the part of women", which has been interpreted as referring to being the passive person in a homosexual intercourse. Aristotle described them with the word "malakia" (soft, effeminate), which also carried connotations of the sexually receptive homosexual party.

Herodotus, who uses the term "androgynos" (ἀνδρόγυνος), explains their effeminate condition with the story of the Scythians who pillaged the temple of Aphrodite Urania at Askelon, and all their descendants after them, afflicted by the goddess with the “female” sickness.Herodotus, ''The Histories'
I. 105. § 4
/ref> Hippocrates, who speaks about the Enarees in his work ''On Airs, Waters, Places'', theorized that they were impotent as a result of continuous horseback riding, and it was for this reason they have adopted feminine roles. Hippocrates also underlined that only the noble and powerful men (who got to ride horses) became Enarei.

See also

*Gala (priests)
*Galli

References

Scythian religion
Third gender
Transgender topics and religion
Ancient LGBT history

{{Sexual identities