In addition to the seven holy sanctuaries, every village has their own sacred place where ceremonies are held annually with the relevant animal sacrifices and prayers. The animal should be male, flawless, well-fed, and healthy. The are a few important rules regarding the sacrifice. Sacrificial animals, as a rule, are white goats or goatlings, sheep, and less often, bulls. In the Abkhaz religion, the custom of animal sacrifices is widespread. Candles are often placed on the roots of a tree, alongside a small pile of stones that lean against the tree trunk, during ceremonies and festivals. Because God wanted to reward the Abkhazians for being so hospitable, God made the land of Abkhazia the most beautiful land on earth.įire, wood and stone have important symbolic value in the traditional religion of Abkhazians. All that God had left was a pile of rocks, which formed Abkhazia. It is believed that when God was handing out land on earth to all people, the Abkhazians were late to attend the ceremony because they were entertaining guests. It is also very important that all Abkhazians be buried in Abkhazia.
Then, the soul is reunited with the body and can move on to the next world. To do this, Abkhazians have a unique ritual called "catching souls." They place a wineskin on the spot of death of the deceased and transfer it to the grave. So, if a person is killed in the mountains or drowns in a river, and if his dead body is moved to be buried in the family cemetery, it is necessary to reunite the soul that has departed from the body.
The soul can’t wander far away from the body, and can not long be separated from the body. The soul needs the body everywhere, including in the other world after death. The literal translation of the Abkhazian word life is "contains the soul." Before death, the soul begins to depart from the body, and when the soul finally leaves, death will arrive. According to the beliefs of the Abkhazians, life is the carrier of the soul.
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