Eesti koolinoorte püha mõistest
Conceptions of the Sacred among Estonian Adolescents

Summary/Abstract: Estonian schoolchildren’s conceptions of the sacred were studied on the basis of qualitative content analysis. Between 1994 and 1995, 303 secondary school students (aged between 17 and 18) from sixteen Estonian urban schools were interviewed in their final year. The Estonian school students’ conception of the sacred could be divided into three groups: social definition of the sacred, religious definition of the sacred and individual definition of the sacred. Some of the respondents (35 % of boys and 26 % of girls) described the sacred as something that was defined by society as being sacred. The sacred was in their opinion something traditional, honoured, and respected. Such idea was named social definition of the sacred. Approximately 30 % of the adolescents (20 % of boys and 35 % of girls) described the sacred as something pure and intact. The sacred was in their opinion something that must not be profaned. The sacred must be guarded and it is unusual and special. It has supernatural powers. The sacred originates from God. This idea was labelled religious definition of the sacred. 37 % of the adolescents surveyed (37 % of boys and 37 % of girls) believed that the sacred held a different meaning for each individual. For instance, the following explanation was given: “Each person has something that is sacred to him”. This category included emotio¬nal statements like that the sacred was something elated, real, important, lovely, etc. Sacred are those things that hold sentimental value for a specific person. The sacred has come to denote something intimate and close (one’s mother, friends, boyfriend or girlfriend, etc could also be regarded as sacred). This idea was named individual definition of the sacred. The study reveals that Estonian adolescents largely do not use Christian notions and explanations in describing the sacred. Such a result was also quite expectable due to the recent socialist past and the strong secularism of Estonian society. Nevertheless, the themes of the sacred are important to many young people.

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