Mother Deities across Eurasia : A Comparison of Latvian,
Vietnamese, and Mongolian Traditions

k 2022

Mother Deities across Eurasia : A Comparison of Latvian, Vietnamese, and Mongolian Traditions

KABELÁČOVÁ, Tereza, Ondřej SRBA and Michal SCHWARZ

Basic information

Original name

Mother Deities across Eurasia : A Comparison of Latvian, Vietnamese, and Mongolian Traditions

Authors

KABELÁČOVÁ, Tereza (203 Czech Republic, guarantor, belonging to the institution), Ondřej SRBA (203 Czech Republic, belonging to the institution) and Michal SCHWARZ (203 Czech Republic, belonging to the institution)

Edition

Fifteenth Annual International Conference on Comparative Mythology, 7.-11. 6. 2022, Belgrade - Serbian Academy of Sciences. 2022

Other information

Language

English

Type of outcome

Prezentace na konferencích

Field of Study

60206 Specific literatures

Country of publisher

Serbia

Confidentiality degree

není předmětem státního či obchodního tajemství

References:

Program and abstracts of the conference Conference website

RIV identification code

RIV/00216224:14210/22:00129082

Organization unit

Faculty of Arts

Keywords in English

mother deities; Latvia; Vietnam; Mongolia; comparisons

Abstract

V originále

An extraordinary rich tradition of mother goddesses (mātes) attested in the Latvian folklore calls for a direct comparison with its counterpart in the Vietnamese or Southeast Asian living cult of mother goddesses (thờ mẫu). Both geographically distant pantheons are characterized by a similarly universal coverage of all aspects of life and religiosity. Both systems are related to the economy relying on the importance of women. Modern densely populated Europe and Vietnam increased their social interactions and needs and enriched the systems by new strata where the already existing mother goddess became a general prototype for a new set of deities. We try to compare these two systems with a set of female deities in the less densely populated Mongolia with a rare continuity of spiritual approaches since the pre-collectivization period. With a highly syncretic and multilayered religion labelled as the Mongolian Buddhism and shamanic traditions, the Mongolian cultural area does not provide a selfstanding tradition of female deities, but many female deities can be found in local cults expressed through the Buddhism-shaped ritual texts and through the local oral tradition of extraordinary personal encounters with a deity, providing a structureless patchwork of deity-imageries, yet constantly reenchanted by personal experiences. On one side, the Mongolian oral tradition reveals spiritual concepts comparable to Latvia, where the pantheon of goddesses has rich structure and diversity of their specialized functional roles. On the other side, the role of mediums (with female shamans in Mongolia) is comparable to the practices in Vietnam (mostly lên đồng rituals). Our paper focused on the context, functions, similarities and differences in three distinct traditions.

Links

GA19-07619S, research and development project

Name: Mongolské rituální rukopisy v české sbírce: jejich edice, historie a středoasijské kořeny

Investor: Czech Science Foundation

Citovat

KABELÁČOVÁ, Tereza, Ondřej SRBA and Michal SCHWARZ. Mother Deities across Eurasia : A Comparison of Latvian, Vietnamese, and Mongolian Traditions. In Fifteenth Annual International Conference on Comparative Mythology, 7.-11. 6. 2022, Belgrade - Serbian Academy of Sciences. 2022.

@proceedings{1860019,
   author = {Kabeláčová, Tereza and Srba, Ondřej and Schwarz, Michal},
   booktitle = {Fifteenth Annual International Conference on Comparative Mythology, 7.-11. 6. 2022, Belgrade - Serbian Academy of Sciences.},
   keywords = {mother deities; Latvia; Vietnam; Mongolia; comparisons},
   language = {eng},
   title = {Mother Deities across Eurasia : A Comparison of Latvian, Vietnamese, and Mongolian Traditions},
   url = {https://www.compmyth.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/IACM_Belgrade-2022_program_online.pdf},
   year = {2022}
}

TY  - CONF
ID  - 1860019
AU  - Kabeláčová, Tereza - Srba, Ondřej - Schwarz, Michal
PY  - 2022
TI  - Mother Deities across Eurasia : A Comparison of Latvian, Vietnamese, and Mongolian Traditions
KW  - mother deities
KW  - Latvia
KW  - Vietnam
KW  - Mongolia
KW  - comparisons
UR  - https://www.compmyth.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/IACM_Belgrade-2022_program_online.pdf
N2  - An extraordinary rich tradition of mother goddesses (mātes) attested in the Latvian folklore calls for a direct comparison with its counterpart in the Vietnamese or Southeast Asian living cult of mother goddesses (thờ mẫu). Both geographically distant pantheons are characterized by a similarly universal coverage of all aspects of life and religiosity. Both systems are related to the economy relying on the importance of women. Modern densely populated Europe and Vietnam increased their social interactions and needs and enriched the systems by new strata where the already existing mother goddess became a general prototype for a new set of deities. We try to compare these two systems with a set of female deities in the less densely populated Mongolia with a rare continuity of spiritual approaches since the pre-collectivization period. With a highly syncretic and multilayered religion labelled as the Mongolian Buddhism and shamanic traditions, the Mongolian cultural area does not provide a selfstanding tradition of female deities, but many female deities can be found in local cults expressed through the Buddhism-shaped ritual texts and through the local oral tradition of extraordinary personal encounters with a deity, providing a structureless patchwork of deity-imageries, yet constantly reenchanted by personal experiences. On one side, the Mongolian oral tradition reveals spiritual concepts comparable to Latvia, where the pantheon of goddesses has rich structure and diversity of their specialized functional roles. On the other side, the role of mediums (with female shamans in Mongolia) is comparable to the practices in Vietnam (mostly lên đồng rituals). Our paper focused on the context, functions, similarities and differences in three distinct traditions.
ER  -

KABELÁČOVÁ, Tereza, Ondřej SRBA and Michal SCHWARZ. Mother Deities across Eurasia : A Comparison of Latvian, Vietnamese, and Mongolian Traditions. In \textit{Fifteenth Annual International Conference on Comparative Mythology, 7.-11. 6. 2022, Belgrade - Serbian Academy of Sciences.}. 2022.

Detailed Information on Publication Record