Abkhaz traditional religion

Abkhaz neopaganism, or the Abkhaz native religion, is the contemporary re-emergence of the ethnic religion of the Abkhaz people in unrecognized Abkhazia, a revitalisation which started in the 1980s.[1] The most important holy sites of the religion are the Seven Shrines of Abkhazia, each one having its own priestly clan, where rituals and prayers began to be restored in the 1990s.

According to the 2003 census, 8% of the population of Abkhazia adheres to Abkhaz neopaganism.[2] On 3 August 2012 the Council of Priests of Abkhazia was formally constituted in Sukhumi.[3] The possibility of making the Abkhaz native religion one of the state religions was discussed in the following months.[4][5]

  1. ^ Schnirelmann, p. 202.
  2. ^ Крылов [Krylov], Александр [Alexande] (17 March 2004), Единая Вера Абхазских "Христиан" и "Мусульман". Особенности религиозного сознания в современной Абхазии [Of United Vera Abhazskyh "Christians" & "Muslims." Features of religious consciousness in Modern Abkhazia] (in Russian), RU: Portal-credo, retrieved 30 May 2011.
  3. ^ В Абхазии создана религиозная организация "Совет жрецов Абхазии" [In Abkhazia creatures Religious Organization "Tip zhretsov Abkhazia"], Apsnypress, archived from the original on 25 November 2015.
  4. ^ Язычество в Абхазии не станет государственной религией [Paganism in Abkhazia will not be a state religion], RU: Newsland, 12 August 2012, retrieved 24 September 2012.
  5. ^ Religion of Abkhazians, RU: The Official Website of the Holy Metropolis of Abkhazia, retrieved 26 August 2020.