Konkka, A. P. NOTES ON KARELIAN FOLK ORTHODOXY: WORSHIP CROSSES OF THE WHITE SEA KARELIA. Proceedings of Petrozavodsk State University. 2026;48(6):73–82. DOI: 10.15393/uchz.art.2026.1353


Marking the 800th Anniversary of the Baptism of the Karelians

NOTES ON KARELIAN FOLK ORTHODOXY: WORSHIP CROSSES OF THE WHITE SEA KARELIA

Konkka
A. P. 		Karelian Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Keywords:
folk Orthodoxy
votive crosses
their topography and functions
donations
karsikko		 Summary: This article is devoted to one of the manifestations of Karelian folk Orthodoxy – crosses of worship, their topography and functions in the territory inhabited by Karelians in Segozerye and Belomorskaya Karelia. The choice of the region is determined by the availability of the author’s own materials and information on this topic in the published collections of texts on North Karelia. No special research has been conducted on Karelian crosses of worship, but the purpose of this work is to review (bring together) the scattered information and a preliminary analysis of the available materials. The issue of topography (location on the ground) is particularly prominent in the case of the construction of crosses at certain distances from each other at prominent points on the water path. Here, probably, the protective function of “sanctifying the way” is manifested, that is, protecting travelers from various kinds of natural forces. It is not for nothing that the crosses, in the weather that prevented the continuation of the path, prayed to the saint to whom the next cross was dedicated and brought him donations. Crosses could be votive (placed according to a promise in a difficult life situation), erected in gratitude for getting rid of an epidemic or epizootic, which, once placed, continued to protect the settlement from danger from the outside. Crosses stood at places where people died or were placed in memory of some extraordinary event (an informative function), but also played a communicative role as a place of assembly of a clan or community on a certain calendar holiday, and the tradition could go back to pagan times. Crosses in the north could stand on revered places associated with crafts, “combine” or “replace” pre-Christian trees- karsikko. However, crosses could also be carved on the karsikko themselves. In any case, initially the cross of worship marked a point on the terrain where communication with supranormal forces took place, regardless of whether it was peaceful or hostile to humans.



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