Semeiskie

The Semeiskije (Russian Семейские; translated as " the familial " or " living in the family unit ," семья of Russian, semja for 'family' ) are a community of faith of so-called priests lots of Old Believers in the Trans-Baikal, whose ancestors in the 17th century, the liturgical reforms of the Patriarch Nikon had not received, and had been banished out to Siberia. Your everyday and spiritual culture was in the 2001 recorded by UNESCO under the name " The Cultural Space and Oral Culture of Semeiskije " the UNESCO World Heritage complementary program " Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity ".

History and Cultural

After the recognition of the separation of the Russian Church of the Byzantine Orthodox Church by the Patriarch of Constantinople Opel in 1589, began in 1653 Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and the Archbishop of Novgorod, Patriarch Nikon enforce a reform of the Church, whose main concern was a correction of the liturgy. Although only formal ritual changes should be made, broad opposition emerged both among the clergy and among the faithful, led to a split of the Russian Church. The believers who rejected the reforms were Old Believers (or Raskolniki of raskol / раскол " schism " ) called. The emigration and exile of so-called " Raskolniki " to Siberia led to the Old Believers eventually accounted for ten percent of the population of Western Siberia. There they usually led a reclusive hermit life.

A small group of Old Believers, in Südburjatien, in the Rajons to the places Tarbagatai, Bitschura, Muchorschibir and Saigrajewo in the region of Transbaikalia is established today, probably originally lived in Poland before it was resettled in the 18th century to Siberia. In their language but also both Ukrainian and Belarusian influences are detectable. They preserved their village lifestyles in large families, built in Buryatia new settlements, where they received the nickname Semeiskije. The naturalist and geographer Peter Simon Pallas, and the explorers Alexei Ivanovich Martos and Matvei Matveyitch Gedenstrom described the Semeiskije as successful settlers who lived in clean, brightly painted and decorated with ornate carving houses in attractive villages.

In the 1930s, the Semeiskije were, like the other groups of Old Believers who lived in the Soviet Union, suppressed by the state. Their religious leaders were detained and expelled, destroyed their churches, icons and fonts. However, the traditional family lifestyle of Semeiskije also resulted in a relatively successful adaptation to collective farming and other requirements of Soviet life. In the 1990s, the Semeiskije had changed in some parts of Transbaikalia by a religious group to a predominantly ethnic group, the connection between the terms " Semeiskije " and " Old Believers " had been lost.

Oral culture of Semeiskije

The main features of the lifestyle of Semeiskije have been preserved in spite of the changes and upheavals of the last century. The actual semantic content of the spiritual life of Semeiskije is the preservation of the religious and social order in the compound of man with God, nature and the life of our ancestors.

The traditional, preserved over several centuries of folklore Semeiskije, their costumes, customs, tales, legends, prayers and especially the polyphonic spiritual songs are of special cultural value and interest. The elegant, unmistakable nature of their polyphonic singing is by the high artistic level of performance to a bright and colorful work of art. The songs express the passion and optimism of a group of people who have retained both their existence and their spiritual and cultural identity in hard times.

In every village and in every village there are still a group of older women who ensure that the most important Orthodox rituals, baptisms, funerals, prayers for the deceased parents and relatives and the blessings before significant events in the lives of believers be carried out according to the traditional old custom.