In the Shadow of the Antichrist: The Old Believers of Alberta

Abstract

This book and accompanying video provide an ethnographic study of a Russian Eastern Orthodox sect, the Old Believers, who live in isolated areas of Alberta. Based on Sheffel's Ph.D. dissertation at McMaster University, they offer a detailed examination of in a community whose explicit goal is to be isolated from Canadian society. Instead of accessing the media, Old Believers learn about their place in the world predominantly through history, and the past serves as the preferred method for reducing the burden of voluntary isolation (p. 3). Consequently, the author's aim is to lift the cloak of obscurity to which the Old Believers seem to have been condemned by history and modern scholarship ... [and to] provide inspiration and perhaps justification for the study of other seemingly insignificant societies and communities (p. 9). To that end, Sheffel offers thick ethnographic description of the culture of this small community, and makes explicit the significance of ritual and adherence to the past, which form the basis for the Old Believers' world view.A historical synopsis outlines Old Believers' Byzantine and Russian origins; the Raskol, or schism of the Russian Orthodox church in the mid-17th century; their persecution in the 18th century; and their subsequent migration to China and then to North America. This is followed by five ethnographic chapters on the community, Berezovka, detailing beliefs, community organization, economy, foodways and the symbols of orthodoxy in home and community. The final chapter addresses the relevancy of this ethnography for the study of society and culture, puritanism, tradition and modernity.Sheffel provides the reader with a sense of the significance of material culture and belief to the Old Believers. Every aspect of their material culture is suffused with spiritual meaning connecting this people to its past. Their icons, their clothing and their food utensils are imbued with meaning. Whenever a meal is prepared and eaten, the food, drink, plates and spoons are sanctified by ritual. Outsiders to the community are not permitted to sit at table and share food, since they are considered pagan and unclean. Old Believers situate their homes close to the source of spiritual purity, the river. Their sacred images are washed in river water, which is returned to the river, charged with the power of the icons. Before drinking, Old Believers make a sign of the cross to drive evil spirits out of the drink and swallow it in one gulp, before the spirits have a chance to slip back into it. As the narrator in the video states, for Old Believers life is a perpetual act of worship.Both book and video lead us to a better understanding of the significance of ritual in the transmission of culture. The many rituals of this people function not only as communication devices, but as links between them and their past, providing a dialogue between past and present Christians, between those who cannot interact directly (p. …