Estonian Neopaganism, or the Estonian native faith (

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also

...

: ''maausk'', literally "Land faith"), is the name, in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, for a grouping of contemporary revivals (often called "Neopagan", although adherents of Estonian native religion generally do not use the termJüri Toomepuu.
Maausk, the belief system of indigenous Estonians
'. Presentation at KLENK 2011, published on January 7, 2012. St. Petersburg, Florida.) of the

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

Pagan religion Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Judaism. I ...

of the

Estonian people Estonians or Estonian people ( et, eestlased) are a Finnic ethnic group native to Estonia who speak the Estonian language. The Estonian language is spoken as the first language by the vast majority of Estonians; it is closely related to othe ...

. It encompasses Taaraism (

...

: ''taarausk'' literally "Taara Faith"),Ellen Barry for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' .
Some Estonians return to pre-Christian animist traditions
'. Quote: «Craving an authentic national faith, Estonians have been drawn to the animistic religions that preceded Christianity: Taarausk, or Taaraism, whose god was worshiped in forest groves, and Maausk, which translates as "faith of the earth".» a

monistic Monism attributes oneness or singleness (Greek: μόνος) to a concept e.g., existence. Various kinds of monism can be distinguished: * Priority monism states that all existing things go back to a source that is distinct from them; e.g., i ...

religion centered on the god

Tharapita Taara (variations of the name include Tooru, Tharapita and Tarapitha), also known as Uku or Jumal, is a prominent god in Estonian mythology, with a strong resemblance to the Finnish Ukko and the Germanic Thor. History The Chronicle of Henry of ...

founded in 1928 as a national religion; and ''maausk'' as a much broader definition of "Native Faith", encompassing

grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...

movements devoted to the worship of local gods,

nature worship Nature worship also called naturism or physiolatry is any of a variety of religious, spiritual and devotional practices that focus on the worship of the nature spirits considered to be behind the natural phenomena visible throughout nature. A nat ...

and earth worship. Both kinds of movements are administered by the

Maavalla Koda Maavalla Koda (literally ''House of the Native Land'', short for Taarausuliste ja Maausuliste Maavalla Koda, ''Estonian House for Taaraist and Native Religion Followers'') is a religious organisation uniting adherents of the two kinds of Estonia ...

organization. According to Ahto Kaasik, an unspecified 2002 survey revealed that 11% of the population of

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

claimed that "out of all the religions they have the warmest feelings towards Taaraism and Maausk".Ahto Kaasik.
Old Estonian Religion
''. Maavalla Koda.

Religions

Taaraism

Taaraism was founded in 1928 by members of the intelligentsia, including soldier and writer

Marta Lepp Marta Sophia Lepp Utuste (born Marta Kirschbaum; 12 November 1883 – 11 November 1940), also known as Sophia Vardi and Maarda Lepp-Utuste, was an Estonian writer, editor, educator, and political and religious leader. Early life Lepp was born ...

, with the aim of reaffirming traditional Estonian culture and identity. Viewing Christianity as a universal and foreign religion brought by the

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

, they turned to indigenous religion with its many

deities A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greate ...

. Taaraists hold a

monotheistic Monotheism is the belief that there is only one deity, an all-supreme being that is universally referred to as God. Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1974). "Monotheism". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2 ed.). Oxford: Oxford ...

worldview in which all the gods are aspects of one only

pantheistic Pantheism is the belief that reality, the universe and the cosmos are identical with divinity and a supreme supernatural being or entity, pointing to the universe as being an immanent creator deity still expanding and creating, which has ex ...

reality, which they identify with the god

or Taara (a deity connected to

Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutch ...

deities such as the Germanic

Thor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred groves ...

or Thunor, the Gallic

Taranis In Celtic mythology, Taranis (Proto-Celtic: *''Toranos'', earlier ''*Tonaros''; Latin: Taranus, earlier Tanarus) is the god of thunder, who was worshipped primarily in Gaul, Hispania, Britain, and Ireland, but also in the Rhineland and Danube r ...

and the Hittite Tarhunt). They re-established the ''hiis'', sacred groves, and coined the term ''hiislar'' to denote their clergy. The first ''hiis'' was founded in 1933, it was ''Tallinna Hiis'' (Sacred Grove of

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...

). There were several thousand members by 1940, but later the movement was banned under the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, and many members were killed. Nowadays the foremost center of the Taaraists is in the city of

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of ...

Maausk

''Maausk'' ("Native Religion") is an activist movement of

, the worship of local gods and ''hiis'' unrelated to the Taaraist movement. It stresses the claimedly non-Christian and non-European roots and tradition of Estonian culture. The Maausk movement emerged in the 1980s. It's mostly a

polytheistic Polytheism is the belief in multiple deities, which are usually assembled into a pantheon of gods and goddesses, along with their own religious sects and rituals. Polytheism is a type of theism. Within theism, it contrasts with monotheism, the ...

faith identifying the divine with nature itself. In their annual cyclic calendar the most important holy days are the ''Jõulud'' (

winter solstice The winter solstice, also called the hibernal solstice, occurs when either of Earth's poles reaches its maximum tilt away from the Sun. This happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere ( Northern and Southern). For that hemisphere, the winte ...

festival) and the ''Jõulukuu'' (new year festival) on 25 December, the

summer solstice The summer solstice, also called the estival solstice or midsummer, occurs when one of Earth's poles has its maximum tilt toward the Sun. It happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere ( Northern and Southern). For that hemisphere, the summer ...

(''Jaanipäev''), the ''Munadepühad'', the '' Leedopäev'', and the ''Kasupäev''.Jüri Toomepuu. p.5. Their shrines are ''hiis'' or other natural sites, preferably traditional sacrificial, healing and other sacred sites of the Estonian folk religion. A shrine is a location which may have ancient trees, glacial boulders, bodies of water or unique plants. There may be a swing, fireplace, sauna and a log storage shed at the shrine. People go to various shrines during important festivals or other important occasions, to establish harmony with nature, experience peace and gather strength. Before going to the shrine, body and mind must be purified. Their ethics emphasises ''mõnu'' or ''mõnus'', "enjoyment" or more accurately "harmonious life" or "balance".Jüri Toomepuu. p.7.

Resources

* Jüri Toomepuu.
Maausk, the belief system of indigenous Estonians
'. Presentation at KLENK 2011, published on January 7, 2012. St. Petersburg, Florida.

References

External links

*
Maavalla Koda
{{Neopaganism Modern pagan traditions Uralic modern paganism Modern paganism in Estonia Estonian nationalism Religious nationalism Estonian mythology de:Taarausk et:Taarausk ru:Таарауск fi:Taarausko