Uacilla

A LIGHTNING-STRIKE IS A CHOOSING, NOT AN ACCIDENT: anyone struck was considered chosen by the god, and a survivor had a sheep sacrificed in his honour. On his summer feast women baked bread in silence.

Domains

• thunder
• lightning
• rain and storm
• agriculture and harvest
• protection of fields from hail

Sources

• Reference treatment of Uacilla: named after Saint Elijah in Ossetian folklore, the god of rain, thunder and lightning, the thunderer and lord of storms and the patron of agriculture and harvest; as protector of the harvest he is Hory Uacilla, 'Uacilla of the wheat'; he was believed to protect the fields from hail and showers, to dispose of rain clouds and to make cereals and herbs grow; anyone struck by lightning was considered chosen by the god and, if they survived, a sheep was sacrificed in their honour, the strike itself being understood as Uacilla firing his shot at them; his festival was celebrated in summer with the sacrifice of a lamb and a bull and the drinking of specially brewed beer, and on that day women baked bread in silence as a mark of reverence.