Georgian mythology


Georgian mythology refers to the mythology of pre-Christian Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group native to Georgia and the South Caucasus. The mythology of the Kartvelian peoples is believed by many scholars to have formed part of the religions of the kingdoms of Diauehi, Colchis and Iberia.
Later influences include the mythologies of the Ancient Greeks, the Vainakh peoples and Iranians – the last-named comprising both the belief systems of the Northern Iranian nomad Scythians and Sarmatians and that of the Zoroastrian religion of the Ancient Persian empire, which has left an enduring legacy among the nations of the Caucasus.
Georgian myths and legends are preserved mainly as popular tales, many of them eventually fusing with Christian legends after the Christianization of Georgia seventeen centuries ago. The evangelizing of Georgia, however, was far from uniform. While the lowland populations embraced Christianity in the fifth century, the highlanders of the mountain valleys in the Greater Caucasus range were converted some ten centuries later – and only superficially. Survivals of pagan beliefs and practices in the Georgian plains are thus, understandably, heavily influenced by Christianity, lacking in mythological unity and essentially folkloric.

Khevsur/Pshav creation myth (northeastern Georgia)

In the beginning, there existed only the head god and his Sister. She made him unhappy, so he cursed her. The sister became a demon. For every good thing that the head god created, the Demon created an evil thing to mar it and oppose it. Women too was a creation of the Demon, as were the lesser demons, while men and the lesser gods were creations of Morige Ghmerti. The lesser gods grew weary in their unceasing fight with the demons and fled to the upper world of Zeskneli, leaving behind the men. The men however lacked the power to resist the demons, so the lesser gods hunted down the demons and drove them underground to the netherworld of Kveskneli. The demons left behind them the women who, like them, were part of the evil creation.
Men and women are thus only emanations of, or substitutes for, the gods above and the demons below, respectively. The same principle holds true for all created things: the entities and substances of the universe are divided into two antagonistic series, one wild and demonic, the other social and divine. The only entities or substances that are truly real are those of the upper world of Zeskneli and the lower world of Kveskneli. The middle world inhabited by humans is thus only a place of passage and meeting, and the beings who people it have no essence in themselves, being only emanations of the divine or subterranean worlds, or else their unions.

Cosmology

In pre-Christian Georgian mythology, the universe is perceived as a sphere. It comprises three worlds or levels, known as skneli :
  • Zeskneli – the highest world, and the home of the gods. White is the color of Zeskneli.
  • The Earth – the middle world, home of mortals. Its center is divided into two regions, anterior and posterior ; – beyond which the lands of Earth are divided by seven or nine mountains, which a hero can traverse only by first undergoing a spiritual transformation and seeking the help of magical animals, such as the Paskunji, the Rashi and others. Red is the colour of this world.
  • Kveskneli – the lowest world or underworld, inhabited by the ogres, serpents, and demons. Black is the colour of Kveskneli.

    Practices of Shamanic Type

The mountain Georgian equivalent of the shaman is the Kadagi, a person who has become permanently possessed by one of the class of minor divinities known most often by the name of Hat'i, but also by those of Dzhuar and Saghmto. The Hat'i numbered several hundred at the turn of the nineteenth century and the word Hat'i could designate not only a divinity of this class but also its manifestation and the place where it was worshipped. The Kadag would go into trance, both at religious rituals and at events important in individual or collective life, and his or her indwelling Hat'i would foretell the future in a special secret or sacred 'language of the Hat'i '.
A second type of practitioner of shamanic type was the Mesultane – the word deriving from Georgian suli 'soul'. A Mesultane – usually a woman, although sometimes as young as a girl of nine – was a female who possessed 'the faculty of visiting the beyond in spirit'. At certain times these females would plunge into 'a lethargy broken by mutterings', following which they would awaken and describe their 'journey', communicating the requests of the dead to particular individuals or to the community at large. From their ability to enter these trance states they would derive honours and prestige.

List of supernatural beings from Georgian myth

Pantheon

  • Bochi  - the Horned God of fertility and cattle breeding. The first written account of this deity comes from Euthymius of Athos. Bochi was typically depicted in the form of a goat, and his name literally translates as "male goat". According to Prince Teimuraz, Bochi was worshipped both in Colchis and in Iberia. He states that Bochi’s main temple was located in Colchis, on the site of what is now the Pitsunda Cathedral. After Christianity became the dominant religion, the temple was destroyed, and a church was built on its ruins.
  • Adgilis Deda – A goddess of fertility and livestock revered by the inhabitants of the mountainous areas of northeastern Georgia as the patroness of certain places and of travellers. She is portrayed as a beautiful lady with silver jewellery. She later became associated with the Virgin Mary when the area was converted to Christianity. Her name means "Mother of Locality".
  • Ainina and Danina – A pair of goddesses who are mentioned in The Conversion of Kartli and the mediaeval Georgian Chronicles.
  • Elia – The god of rain and thunder in Georgian mythology. His original name from the pre-Christian, pagan period is unknown. After the Christianization of Georgia, the pagan deity became identified with the biblical prophet Elijah. Despite efforts by the official Church, Christianity was unable to eradicate the cult of Elia, merely incorporating certain Christian elements into it.
  • Apsat – A male god of birds and animals in Svan mythology.
  • Shavkhan  – God of blacksmithing in Svan mythology.
  • Bedis Mtserlebi – Deities who write the fate of humans and all other spiritual beings with the help of their magic book.
  • Armazi – Chief of the gods; central figure in the official religion of Iberia established by King Pharnavaz I of Iberia. According to the Life of Saint Nino an immense statue of Armazi – along with images of other deities and the temple that housed them – was destroyed by a storm of giant hailstones raised by the prayers of Saint Nino. Armazi is also the name of an ancient fortress near Mtskheta that dates from the same period. Various complementary strands of research suggest that the origins of this deity lie in a syncretism between conceptions of the Zoroastrian supreme being Ahura Mazda and a native Georgian supreme lunar deity – a regional variant of the Hittite moon god Arma.
  • Barbale – The goddess of cattle and poultry fertility, the sun, women's fertility, and healing.
  • Batonebi – Spirits of disease. Their name means "the masters". In modern use "Batonebi" is used as a term to refer to a small set of infectious diseases, that are often prominent among children If anyone is infected by the Batonebi, following one tradition their family will prepare special food and candies, and place presents under trees to appease the Batonebi.
  • Beri Bera – An agricultural god of fertility, harvests, and animals who is worshipped in eastern Georgia. His festival is held at the end of the year.
  • Dali, Svanetian 'Dæl' – the goddess of the hunt. She was believed to have extraordinary beauty, with long golden hair and radiant white skin. She dwells high up in the mountains, in a shining golden cave where she watches over and protects wild animals. She sometimes shares animals with hunters, as long as they respect her rules by not hunting more than their needed amounts or taking aim at animals that are her manifestations. In some myths, she will enter into a sexual relationship with a hunter, while warning him not to reveal their liaison upon pain of death by causing him to fall to his death from a cliff, usually during a hunt – the fate also of those who break promises they have made her. She is the mother of the hero Amiran.
  • Gatsi and Gaim – Gods in the official Iberian pantheon according to the medieval annals.
  • Ghmerti – The supreme divinity and the head of the pantheon of gods. He is the all-powerful Lord of the Universe and its Creator. He lives in the ninth sky, where he rules from a golden throne. His children include the moon, the sun, and the Ghvtis Shvilni who protect people against evil. He is also addressed as Morige Ghmerti and Dambadebeli. His name is later used to refer to God the Father in Christian belief.
  • Kamar The daughter of the god of the sky. She is a symbol of divine fire. Her beautiful appearance caused Amiran to abduct her from heaven.
  • Lamaria, also Lamara – goddess of fertility, cattle, and the hearth
  • Mamber – The lord of wolves, who was worshiped in Svaneti and other mountainous regions.
  • Michpa – The patron god of cattle and other domestic animals who was worshiped in Svaneti during winter.
  • Mindort Batoni – The god of valleys, fields, and wild flowers. Humans have to ask his permission before exploring or attempting to cultivate the fruitful lands that make up his domain. His daughter, Mindort Brdzanebeli, is the beautiful goddess of flowers.
  • Mindort Brdzanebeli – The goddess of flowers. She is the daughter of the god Mindort Batoni. She flutters over plants, feeding on their pollen.
  • Ochopintre – A spirit of the forest and protector of wild animals. The first part of his name is connected to the ancient pagan god Bochi, the second part to the Greek god Pan. Born with the legs and horns of a goat, he assists the goddess Dali in herding the animals. Hunters usually made sacrifice in his name since no one could hunt the animals without his help. The fate of a person entering his forest was believed to be fully in his hands.
  • Samdzimari – demon-born goddess of fertility and oracles, seducer of men.
  • Tamar – Goddess who enslaved the Morning Star and controlled the weather patterns; was called "eye of the earth" and rode a serpent.
  • Tetri Giorgi, form of Saint George venerated in Kakheti, variously identified as a reflex of the ancient lunar god, and as a reflex of the ancient storm/weather god.
  • Tevdore – God of agriculture and horses. After Christianization, he became associated with St. Theodore. In feudal times the special festival of Tedoroba was organised to honor him and ensure a bountiful harvest.
  • Tskarishdida – A mermaid-like goddess of rivers, lakes and fish, in Mingrelian folklore. She uses magic powers against humans.
  • Zaden – God of fertility in the official pantheon established by Pharnavaz I. He was believed to be as powerful as Armazi. He was added into the official pantheon by Parnajom in the second century BC, and had a statue of him erected at a fortress near Mt. Zedazeni, near Mtskheta. His statue was said to have been destroyed with the statues of other gods through the prayers of St. Nino. The worship of him declined after Christianization.