While Christian folks in Moscow gear up for the holidays with decorated trees, white beards and Mariah Carey on repeat, some traditions slip through the cracks of this community’s common knowledge.
The followers of the Baháʼí faith, Unitarian Universalist church, pagan belief systems and Buddhist traditions, while not commonplace in Moscow, still have small, dedicated communities looking forward to celebrating their respective winter holidays.
Those following the Baháʼí faith, an independent world religion, learn the teachings of Báb and Bahá’u’lláh. Dru Hanich, who used to live in Moscow, currently serves as the regional seeker response coordinator for the Baháʼí faith in Wyoming.
“The pivotal point of Bahá’u’lláh’s revelation is of unity: there is only one god, all the religions have the same divine source and humanity is one reality,” Hanich said.
The Baháʼí holidays, called holy days by those within the faith, are knit around the Badíʻ calendar, that consists of 19 months of 19 days, Hanich said.
This timeline does not equal the 365 days of the modern Gregorian calendar, so a special celebratory time of Ayyám-i-Há serves to balance the calendar, Hanich said.
The next Ayyám-i-Há will be at the end of February and beginning of March. It is celebrated in preparation for fasting and in the spirit of charity, getting together with family and giving gifts, Hanich said. It’s a very individualized holy day, so practices vary from place to place, but usually, Baháʼí communities host potlucks or, dances, and engage in community service.
According to the secretary of the local Baháʼí community, Karen Carbonneau, the local community has been able to hold virtual study groups and make donations to the local food bank and Interfaith Association throughout the pandemic. The community has not made any exact plans yet for Ayyám-i-Há, but celebrations will likely be virtual, Carbonneau said.
The Baháʼí holy days do not prevent those of the faith to celebrate other religions’ holidays, as they recognize other prophets, like Jesus, Muhammad, Buddha, Krishna, Moses and Abraham as divine, Hanich said.
The Unitarian Universalist covenantal church believes in the connectedness of people. Elizabeth Stevens is, the pastor of the Moscow Unitarian Universalist church.
“We focus not on what we believe, but how we treat one another, with kindness and compassion,” Stevens said.
Stevens said people in her congregation identify as Christian, atheist, Buddhist, pagan or not having a definitive religion.
This winter, the church will explore the themes of Hanukkah and observe Christmas Eve, Advent and the winter solstice. This ritual would usually entail a story, music, a spiral labyrinth which people walk through and a candle lighting ceremony, Stevens said.
“We’re calling it a safe and silent solstice (this year) — an outdoor, distanced, masked version of our usual solstice ritual,” Stevens said.
Some of the members of the Universalist church practice paganism, an umbrella term for a group of beliefs ranging from the belief in ancient Norse or Greek mythology to Wicca. Brandon Erickson, who used to live in Moscow, currently serves as an administrator for the Palouse “Pagans, Witches and other Earth-Bound Beliefs” Facebook page.
“Witchcraft is about balance, healing and being in harmony with the universe and nature,” Erikson said. “Within witchcraft, there are spells and energy work to push the universe in the direction you want it to go.”
Erikson wished to dispel the ideas that pagans and witches practiced evil or toxic things.
“We celebrate life,” Erickson said. “Life is sacred to us, and we want to enjoy the lives we have, just as anybody else does.”
Erikson celebrates Yule during the winter solstice as part of his belief system.
“(Yule) is a time when nothing is growing,” Erickson said. “It’s a time to give thanks for all that you have had throughout the year and a time to plan and think about the coming year, the seeds you want to plant for things to grow in your life.”
Some local meditation groups and churchgoers planned to celebrate Lama Tsongkhapa Day, a Buddhist holiday, on Dec. 12.
The Venerable Thubten Chonyi is a resident at the Buddhist monastery of Sravasti Abbey in Pend Oreille County, Washington. Chonyi said Buddhist beliefs focus on recognizing everything’s interdependence, doing no harm and developing compassion and kindness.
“In Buddhism, wisdom and compassion go side by side,” Chonyi said.
The style of teachings Chonyi’s monastery follows, Mahayana Buddhism, follows the teachings of Buddha and the Dalai Lama.
“At this monastery, his holiness the Dalai Lama is the principal teacher and guide, and the monastery’s founder was a direct student of his,” Chonyi said.
Lama Tsongkhapa, the person after which the holiday was named, was a significant scholar for Tibetan Buddhism.
“His holy day is celebrating his parinirvana, the time that he passed away and became holy, so we do this celebration with lots of lights,” Chonyi said.
Lama Tsongkhapa’s main trait was wisdom, so “we celebrate the light of wisdom, and make lots of light offerings, chant and sing,” Chonyi said.
Despite events being harder to put on for online audiences and the monastery being closed, the monastery has had hundreds of people from all over the world tuning into its events, Chonyi said.
“This is a really challenging time for us as human beings,” Stevens said. “Religious communities can be a source of support, care and resilience.”
Cody Roberts can be reached at arg-news@uidaho.edu or on Twitter @CodyRobReports.