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ABSTRACT
The ideologies, beliefs and practices associated with new cult places in post-Soviet Latvia are discussed. When social movement for the restoration of an independent nation state started at the end of the 1980s, new pantheistic cult sites gained a certain topicality. In relation to such sites esoteric New Age style ideologies and practices were constructed. Pokaini forest - a remote place in Latvia, abundant in stone piles and big stones, has been interpreted as an ancient sanctuary of global significance, as a cosmological and healing centre. Latvian scholars - archaeologists, geologists and folklorists - are treating Pokaini as a site with traces of ancient agricultural activity, and its popularity is attributed to the 'use of good management'. The historical perspective of the Pokaini phenomenon and modern interpretations of its perception are discussed in the context of revitalisation movements. The analysis of the complex socio-cultural situation of Latvia in the turn of the twentieth and the twenty-first century reveals the reasons, facilitating the emergence and significance of Pokaini and similar phenomena in post-Soviet Latvia.
KEYWORDS
Latvia, new religious movements, revitalisation, sacred sites
Pokaini forest, a remote place in the south west of Latvia, about 400 ha in size, has attracted the attention of different people for more than 20 years. What attracts people here is the large number of stones and stone piles, unusual for Latvian situation. There are no written sources providing clarity on the origin of these piles, and that is the reason for different speculations, hypotheses and theories about the origin of the Pokaini stone piles. Based on some vague analogies with the famous British site, it is frequently referred to as 'the Latvian Stonehenge'.
People inclined towards mysticism and paranormal experiences are actively participating in discussions and disputes, which are opposed by rationalists or sceptics, who regard the Pokaini phenomenon as a well-developed business plan or 'delirious talk'.
The Pokaini phenomenon is also present in numerous parodies and simulations of esoteric writings, of which 'Acta Pocainia' (Baltie tehvi 2002) is one of wittiest and smartest. The composition of these essays, as a rule, involves different Latvian literary and mythic characters, well-known to the population since the national romantic period; thus, on the one hand, the Pokaini discourse has adopted the...