Māńśi māχum – lātəŋ os kuľtūra.

Elijah was a prophet in Israel in the 9th century BCE. He appears in the Hebrew Bible, Talmud, Mishnah, Christian Bible, and the Qur'an. As Elijah was described as ascending into heaven in a fiery chariot, the Christian missionaries who converted Slavic tribes likely found him an ideal analogy for Perun, the supreme Slavic god of storms, thunder and lightning bolts. In many Slavic countries Elijah is known as Elijah the Thunderer, who drives the heavens in a chariot and administers rain and snow, thus actually taking the place of Perun in popular beliefs. Afterwards the formally baptised Mansis converted their own feastdays into the official Russian holidays, though preserving the main pagan specialities.
The photos above has been taken at the celebration of St. Elijah at Najotyr Maa Outdoor Museum in Sos'va village, 31.07.2007. The guides of the celebration placed a glass of vodka on the oven for the Goddess of Fire, a second glass on the window-ledge for the spirits and a third glass on the table for the departed. All these places and the whole house has been sanctificated with the fume of tinder mushroom (Inonotus obliquus). Afterwards the participants (everyone claded in Mansi national costumes) settled down for the rich dinner.