Mountain Mysteries in the Work of Vazha-Pshavela

Abstract

The paper demonstrates that the discovery and cognition of the supra conscious in the mountains remains possible, even now, out of the mythological world, and that Vazha himself draws sustenance from myth as one of his sources – rising, like an ancient shaman, from its deepest strata and bringing forth the mystery of the world›s primordial origins.
At the center of this mysterial cosmogony stands the kai q’ma („valiant youth/ hero“), both as a part of it and as its guiding force. Here the spring of wisdom flows forth; here alone does the serpent-eater appear; here alone is Aluda›s spiritual transfiguration possible; and it is here, atop the cliff, through the sacred bond of guest and host, that the shades of the sworn brothers meet one another to pronounce the toast of mutual trust.
As a result of the battle with Mutsal, the valiant youth – Aluda – has his inner eye, or attentiveness of heart, instinctively opened to him. From this moment on, he listens persistently to the voice of truths, still obscure to him, resounding in the deepest strata of his own being – truths whose revelation as a mystical secret, and whose fulfillment in real action, follow at the festival of the icon (khatoba). In fact, the words of the Gospel of John –„Ye must be born again“ – constitute precisely that mystical secret which was realized within Aluda›s soul and which brought about his spiritual transfiguration. The grace of healing granted by Kvira and Lukhum’s Saint George brings about precisely this mysterial connection – the personification of the saint›s countenance. Despite the physical destruction of the heroes, Vazha’s design is fulfilled: the valiant youths become part of the mystical secret. Vazha-Pshavela affirms for us that this mystical-supra conscious attainment brings divine wisdom, which liberates the hero and reveals to him peaks that had until then remained unseen.