Dmitriy Mandzhiev, About the Ritual of Worshipping Fire

Dmitriy talks about the ritual of worshiping fire with the aim of appeasing local deities. We cut a sheep in a Kalmyk way (i.e. by cutting open its belly and tearing off its aorta), break its bones at the joints, and offer the meat to local deities so that they do not get angry with people who misbehave. To perform this ritual, people need to put on clean clothes. We have a special hill where this ritual has been performed from ancient times. We also make fire offerings at home, because of our nomadic lifestyle which entails killing animals, which is a sinful act after all. We have to kill animals because it’s our food. Every two or three years we invite a monk and carry out a cleansing ritual.Sponsored by Arcadia Fund, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwi