RITUAL USE OF FLY AGARICS BY MODERN KORYAKS

The article discusses the current use of fly agaric mushrooms in rituals among the Koryaks, a native people of the Russian Far East. It provides a review of previous research on the subject, including the Second Kamchatka Expedition (1733–1743) and rock paintings found in the Pegtymel River region of Chukotka. The article also examines the role of fly agaric and other mushrooms in the cultures of Siberia and the Russian Far East. It describes the main occasions, both sacred and secular, in which fly agaric mushrooms are used, and presents new field material collected by the author during an expedition to the Olyutorsk region of the Koryak Autonomous Area in 2004. This material includes accounts from informants of their own experiences with fly agaric mushrooms and those of their friends and relatives, as well as folklore texts known as “fly agaric songs” and “fly agaric tales” that were recorded after the use of the mushrooms. The author concludes that there are two parallel traditions of fly agaric consumption in Kamchatka – sacral and ritualized on the one hand, and common drug addiction (mostly in the city) on the other hand. The article introduces a vast new field material and may be of interest to ethnologists and folklorists.

fly agarics, ritual use, ritual, the Koryaks, current state