Interrogative speech acts in the Rigveda, a corpus of ancient texts rooted in Proto-Indo-European tradition, are analyzed as manifestations of shamanic verbal practice within a developed priestly polytheistic cult. The study finds that questions in both shamanic rituals and Vedic hymns serve general communicative functions—message, interaction, and impact—while also fulfilling a magical and invocatory speech function specific to ceremonial contexts. Questions in cosmogonic hymns are shown to be late developments, transitioning from magical verbal acts to components of speculative thought. The research draws on linguistics, communication studies, pragmalinguistics, history, ethnography, and religious studies, comparing Rigvedic material with Siberian shamanic ceremonial data.
Russian mysticism is a distinct philosophical, spiritual, and civilizational phenomenon, not merely a variant of Western esotericism. Including Russian mystics such as H.P. Blavatsky, G.I. Gurdjieff, and P.D. Ouspensky unconditionally within Western esotericism is unjustified, as is diminishing the originality of V.S. Solovyov's mysticism, the founder of Russian mystical philosophy. The article argues for mutual recognition of Russian mysticism and Western esotericism as original but closely interacting forms of thinking, which can illuminate previously forbidden aspects of spiritual heritage and address problems of integrity in modern spiritual culture.