The Revered Wellsprings of the Tyumen Region: Research Platform and Outcomes

Abstract

Taking the case of the Tyumen region of Russia, the article examines the issue of revered wellsprings or sacred water sources as it is studied and interpreted in scholarly literature. The issue is important, for today there may be observed an emergence of new sanctuaries built on water sources, and it is essential to understand the ways in which the symbolic construction of water as valuable and endowed with power occurs. I address the question of typology of sacred water sources and suggest a classification thereof, which adheres to the chronological and territorial principles, taking into account at the same time the degree of their “clericalization”. I further touch upon the problem of method in the study of such objects and pay special attention to the notion of the “sacred” as arguably the key term in research of the kind. There are a variety of approaches to the understanding of the “sacred”, which have been developed in different schools of thinking about religious objects and phenomena, and I attempt to discuss their particular advantages and shortcomings. I am grateful to the colleagues who have supplied thoughtful comments to the article and thus helped bringing to light the import and complexity of this topic.