Studia mythologica Slavica

Enhancing Oral Tradition in Fiji for the Study of Archaeological Remains. The Case of the Hillforts in the Nadroga-Navosa Province

2025-07-23T10:27:41+02:00

The Fiji Islands offer a compelling case for cross-cultural research integrating archaeology and oral tradition. Fijian society still practices oral transmission, preserving diverse stories with cultural significance. Many legends and beliefs are tied to past settlements, considered sacred due to their symbolic role. In June 2022, fieldwork in Nadroga-Navosa (Viti Levu) as part of the Environmental Changes and Heritage in the Fijian Islands project, explored hillforts and oral traditions through archaeological surveys. Findings from sites like Tabuqutu and Old Tau reveal that landscapes and remains are deeply embedded in local memory. Stories of origins, place names and beliefs about hillforts as ancestral homes highlight the enduring role of oral tradition in shaping historical knowledge. This paper presents these findings, emphasizing the value of oral tradition in interpreting archaeology within Fijian society.

The Moorish Tradition in Portuguese Archaeology

2025-07-23T11:29:52+02:00

This study aims to synthesize the multifaceted presence of the Moors in the Portuguese landscape by analysing archaeological remains, toponymy, legends and popular beliefs, all supported by historical documentation and studies on Portuguese oral tradition. By adopting an interdisciplinary approach, I seek to bridge the tangible aspects of material culture with the intangible heritage of oral narratives, exploring how these elements inform and reinforce one another. This involves establishing connections between archaeological evidence and the rich corpus of oral traditions and folklore, which often reinterpret or preserve the memory of these archaeological vestiges. Through this analysis, I aim to demonstrate how these pre-existing materialities can be understood as remnants of the past and as living elements of “our tradition”, continuing to shape identities and the collective memory. This synthesis offers new perspectives on the enduring legacy of Moorish influence in Portugal’s cultural landscapes.

Graves of Saints on the Mountains of the Southern Urals: Traditional Beliefs and Modern Perception

2025-07-23T11:42:08+02:00

This article examines the historical development of the cult of sacred mountains on the basis of field materials gathered by the authors during archaeological and ethnographic research on Mount Awliya Tau in Kugarchinsky District, Bashkortostan in 2023, and on the works of contemporary researchers devoted to orolatry (veneration of mountains) in the Southern Urals.
The research used a synergistic approach, integrating archaeological, ethnographic, and social media data with geoinformation mapping. The results reveal similar patterns and trends in the formation and development of sacred spaces associated with some mountain tops. Awliya Tau’s significance extends beyond traditional Muslim pilgrimage and tourism; it’s also integrated into contemporary religious and psychological practices, etc.

Gender Metamorphosis of Dives in the Qajar Era Illustrations: A Mythological and Sociological Analysis

2025-07-23T14:36:59+02:00

There have been extensive studies on the gender metamorphosis of divs, monstrous creatures of widespread presence in Persian lore. An interpretation of the evolution of nature, supernatural beings (including div), and the feminine presence within a historical backdrop indicate that humanity once perceived these as mysterious and menacing entities, believing their lives to be influenced by the will and intervention of sinister divs. However, over time, these entities have been emancipated from their ethereal, inscrutable realms and become subjected, instead, to the faculties of contemplation and judicious reasoning. Iranian society, as a longstanding part of the human tapestry, has also experienced this reassessment. The present study is an attempt to scrutinise the causality behind the manifestation of gender shifts in depictions of divs during the Qajar era. The Qajar era is widely regarded as the historical turning point in which the last remnants of Iran’s traditional societal structure began to fade, marking the dawn of a new world. Artworks from this key period attest to a profound transformation of the view toward nature, supernatural beings, and women. Div, as an epitome of the horrors of nature – and woman, as a symbol of the beauty and tenderness of nature, underwent a fusion. Divs, once petrifying entities, assumed more benign and distinctly feminine forms. We argue that this metamorphosis signifies a tendency to demythologise nature and the secularisation of feminine social life.

Balkan Wolf/Dog in Folklore Interpretations in the Mythology of Nature by N. Nodilo through T. R. Đorđević to Lj. Radenković and P. Plas

2025-07-23T14:48:19+02:00

This interpretive timeline presents (not necessarily in chronological order) the imaginary of the “Balkan” wolf/dog in South Slavic customs and beliefs from Natko Nodilo, through T. R. Đorđević and Lj. Radenković, all the way to contemporary cultural animal studies research by P. Plas (the author employs a methodology that integrates ethnolinguistic/semiotic and linguistic-anthropological and ethnopoetic approaches), contextually related to other Slavs and Indo-European comparative mythology in the framework of archetypal wolf/dog phobias (lupophobia, kinophobia). While Nodilo relies on A. de Gubernatis’ interpretation of nature mythology, T. R. Đorđević follows the ethnographic material of the South Slavs (as for Croatia, he carefully researched, among other things, the wolf/dog entries in the Collection of Folk Life and Customs of the South Slavs), and Lj. Radenković semiotically observes the wolf/dog in the symbolism of the world of the South Slavs, where he notes that the closest domestic animals to man are the horse, sheep, cow and ox, followed by the bull, goat, donkey, hen, pig, dog and cat. So-called wild animals are arranged in relation to the god-shepherd (God’s shepherd) – the bear is closest to him, and the wolf is the farthest.

Afterlife Beliefs and Dream Encounters with the Dead among Adherents of Alternative Spiritualities in Bosnia and Herzegovina

2025-07-23T14:54:58+02:00

This article examines the connection between the ideas adherents of alternative spiritualities in Bosnia and Herzegovina have about the afterlife and their understanding of dreams involving the dead. It explores how these ideas and interpretations are connected to the perceived agency of the dead, as experienced by my interlocutors in their dreams. Focusing on ideas about the afterlife within alternative spirituality, the article discusses why these beliefs have regained significance and how they have been reinterpreted in relation to modern/secular and religious explanations. By analysing the beliefs of individuals engaged in alternative spiritualities regarding the afterlife, it explores how these ideas shape their understanding of dreams featuring personally known deceased individuals. As beliefs about the afterlife influence how individuals perceive the state of the dead, it examines how these beliefs enable the dead to have agency upon the interlocutors in their dreams. The findings are based on ethnographic research conducted with spiritual individuals in Sarajevo and Banja Luka in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Forest Spirits and Their Functions in the Traditions of Estonians, Estonian Russians and Belarusians

2025-07-23T15:02:27+02:00

This article gives a comparative analysis of data on forest spirits, including their names (terminology), functions, interactions with humans and how they protect people and animals. It examines the similarities and differences in the mythological narratives and practices of Finno-Ugric peoples (Estonians) and Slavic groups (the Russian minority in Estonia and Belarusians in Belarus). The available data reveals a wide variety of terminology and appearances: anthropomorphic, zoomorphic, phytomorphic and fantastical beings. One of the main functions of forest spirits was to lead people astray. The explanations given by narrators remain cognitively interesting to this day: while the causes are attributed to mythical beings, they are mostly related to general oral norms and values.

If I Don’t Celebrate My Slava, Who Will?: The Meanings and Functions of Slava among Serbs in Nova Gorica in the Context of (Trans)migration Experiences and Identity Formation

2025-07-23T15:15:53+02:00

This article explores how Serbian minority in Nova Gorica perceive the meaning and function of slava, a central ritual in their homeland, and its implications for construction and strengthening identification practices in the context of migration. Based on field research conducted using anthropological methods – including interviews, participant observation, and autoethnography – this article highlights slava as a transnational practice that bridges individuals with their homeland while simultaneously shaping cultural identity within a diasporic context. The study concludes that slava plays a dual role: it fosters cultural cohesion and emotional ties with the homeland but also serves as a site of negotiation for personal and cultural identity in a multicultural environment. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the migration experience of Serbs in Slovenia, emphasizing the interplay between cultural preservation and identity transformation.

“Isn’t it a bit frightening?” – experiencing the contact with the dead

2025-07-23T15:22:56+02:00

This paper explores the personal experience of contact with the dead from an anthropological perspective, defining such contact as spontaneous interactions between living individuals and the dead. These encounters can manifest in various forms, ranging from meaningful dreams and mental communication with the dead to sensory and other perceptions of the deceased. The author challenges the prevalent notion that contact with the dead is inherently frightening and unwelcome, drawing on her own fieldwork as well as relevant studies on afterlife communication. Through the presentation of first-person testimonies, the paper highlights the wide range of reactions to such experiences and demonstrates that fear and rejection are, in fact, among the least common responses to encounters with the dead.

Šutnje straha

2025-07-23T15:30:40+02:00