Scythian Pagan Q&A

[Spragyria]

Alright, this little thread is for discussion of Scythian/Sarmatian Paganism.

For those of you who are not familiar with who the Scythians are, they are an ancient Iranian people from the steppes of what is now modern day Russian and Ukraine. The name is applied to a wide group of nomadic tribes that inhabited this region, some famous tribes are the Sakas, Roxolani, Alans, and Sarmatians.

Herodotus describes the Scythians in his Histories. This has been one of the only sources for Scythian culture and Religion. He also talks of the Sarmatians, a group claimed to be the descendants of Scythian men and Amazon Women. The Sarmatians are the westernmost Iranian people, and share a very similar culture as the Scythians. They were too horse based nomads known for their skill in war.

Scythian recon is almost Impossible due to a sheer lack of information on the religion (the only source is Herodotus, and we all know how trust worthy he is) however inferences can be made from other Indo-Iranian peoples and from practices that may have been lent to later peoples like the Slavs and Turks.

If you have any questions on Scythian Recon, do not hesitate to ask. I will try to answer as best as I can, but beware, the reconstruction is still in it's embryonic stages.

[Yazichestvo]

Re: Scythian Pagan Q&A

I would agree that the Slavs had some Eastern Iranic influence on their religion. Even their word for deity "Bog", is of Iranic etymology.

I suppose you also have a list of deities from Herodotus, which is good. I believe you can try and get those Gods to speak to you, as long as you have a list of names. Good luck with your extremely difficult reconstruction. It's rare that I see one that's even harder to piece together than Slavic tradition

[ConnollyCelt]

Re: Scythian Pagan Q&A

How far do you trust Herodotus as a source? His Histories are full of exaggeration and exotic touches, and I'm wondering how much that impacts your reconstruction.

What drew you to Scythian Recon?

What exactly are the rituals you use to venerate your deities?

In Heathenism, land spirits are very important. Did the Scythians venerate the spirits of the land, or were they seen as synonymous with their gods and goddesses?

Other than these elementary questions, I'd like to welcome you to the forum. It's great to see more and more gods being venerated. It's one thing to become a neo-pagan, but it's another thing entirely to reconstruct a religion almost lost to us. Your deities should be proud to have such a dedicated believer pioneering a new branch of Recon. I certainly hope you stick around the forum!

[Spragyria]

Re: Scythian Pagan Q&A

Thank you for your welcome. And I apologize for my absence, I have been very busy.

1. Herodotus may not be the best source, yet Unfortunatly he is the only source. His writing is exaggerated and biased towards Greek culture, but he does provide knowledge of the Scythian/Sarmatian religion. However, one can also find information by studying the Ossetic traditions and Slavic Folklore.

2. I've always had a love of the Scythians. Their culture fascinated me from the moment I discovered it.

3. At the moment, I use a type of prayer similar to other Indo-Iranians (I've been researching Zoroastrian and Vedic rituals), studying the methods of sacrifice in Herodotus's Histories and trying to make them doable in the modern age, an also looking into the Soma/Haoma ritual.

4. In my study of both this and the Proto-Indo-Iranian religion, I don't see any form of land spirits, however seeing as the Scythians/Sarmatians were pastoral nomads, it's not unlikely.

[Yazichestvo]

Re: Scythian Pagan Q&A

That would be the way to go. I've tried studying the Ossetians as well, in addition to the Hungarians. If you're interested in Indo-Iranians, I'd recommend looking at the Kalash people.

[Spragyria]

Re: Scythian Pagan Q&A

Thank you for that bit of information. That will help me immensely.