Eurovision 2012 Contenders "Buranova Babushkas" Come From a Shaman Culture!
2012-05-24
There was a clip on CBC Radio about the Eurovision 2012 music contenders "Buranova Babushkas" or The Buranova Grandmothers, who hail from a little village in the Udmurt Republic in the Ural Mountains in Russia. They started their ensemble 40 years ago to preserve the old songs and Udmurt language, and now are bringing these songs to the world. The eight Grandmothers' catchy entry, entitled "Party for Everybody", (chosen by the people of Russia to represent the country), was sung in their native Udmurt language, with the chorus in English. The lyrics in Udmurt apparently are about daily life in their village, kneading dough, lighting the oven. The Buranova Babushkas entered the Eurovision competition to raise awareness of their culture, and to build a new church for their village.
Intrigued, I checked Youtube for their song. Your toes will be tapping! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKNRGc71hjc
Some pictures of the Grandmothers at home: http://englishrussia.com/2012/03/22/babushkas-to-conquer-eurovision-2012/
Watching their faces, seeing their clothes and shoes, how they interacted, I became even more intrigued, that sense of...familiarity.
Digging deeper, Wikitravel says the Udmurts have lived along the Volga River since the days of ancient Greece. "The Udmurts are of especial interest to anyone interested in paganism—Udmurtia is one of Europes' last remaining strongholds of organized shamanism, despite its active repression under the Tsarist and Soviet governments. Travelers interested in Udmurtia's native religion should try to seek out a recent Udmurt film, "Shadow of Alangasar." Shamanist structures and sites persist to this day in isolated villages throughout the region."
From the 17th century till now, trees were/are very sacred to the Udmurts, "People hung or put offerings on branches and tied them to the trunks of sacred trees. They threw out coins and pieces of food near the tree on the earth or placed them in a pit near the roots of the tree." http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Trees+in+Udmurt+religion.-a0148277771
Knives and arrowheads were hammered into the wood, and archeologists have found piles of these metal objects at sacred sites. Firs, Beeches, Oaks were sacred, and Spruce were linked with the ancestors.
So, how cool is this! Udmurt Shaman Grandmothers reminding us right now on Eurovision that we are all original people of this wonderful Mother Earth! Party for Everybody!!!!
