Uacilla
Ossetian thunder god and patron of agriculture.
Uacilla, also known as Wacilla or Hory-Uacilla, is the Ossetian name for Saint Elijah, who in Ossetian folklore serves as the thunderer and lord of storms as well as the patron of agriculture and harvest. Several sanctuaries were dedicated to him, the most famous being Tbau-Uacilla on Mount Tbau in the Dargavs Gorge. He was believed to protect fields from hail, dispose of rain clouds, and promote the growth of cereals and herbs, and was approached during drought or prolonged bad weather with sacrifices of rams and bulls.
Quick Facts
- Also known as
- Wacilla
- Hory-Uacilla
- Uacilla
- Domain
- Thunderer
- lord of storms
- patron of agriculture and harvest
- Associated saint
- Saint Elijah
- Famous sanctuary
- Tbau-Uacilla on Mount Tbau in the Dargavs Gorge
- Holiday
- Monday of the third week after Pentecost
- Sacrificial animals
- Rams and bulls
Facts from the source article.
Celebration
The celebration of Uacilla had local variations. In South Ossetia, the village of Edisa held a week-long festival, where the saint was also called Tbau-Uatsilla, likely because settlers from the Dargavs Gorge brought the name with them. The observance included sacrifices, community feasts, and family repasts. After each family's meal, older men took the skin of a sacrificial goat—with head and legs still attached—and hung it on the first tree they encountered in the forest. In the first half of the 19th century, researcher A. Yanovsky noted that Ossetians slaughtered goats on this holiday, removed the skin without cutting off the head, and hung it on a high pole in honor of the prophet Elijah, asking for rain.
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