Rodnovery are representatives of a relatively new religious movement, which is a reconstruction of a neo-pagan persuasion. This is one of the directions of Slavic neo-paganism. Rodnovers proclaim the revival of pre-Christian beliefs and rituals as their goal. Some practice "naming" and "cleansing" rites, resulting in new pagan names.
History of origin
The first Rodnovers are representatives of Slavic neo-paganism, which appeared at the beginning of the 19th century. The program for them was the work of the Russian-Polish ethnographer Zorian Dolenga-Khodakovsky, who in his treatise "On the Slavs before Christianity" announced the fallacy of the Christianization of the Slavs, substantiating the need for the revival of paganism. His work was published in 1818.
In 1848, the book of the Polish teacher and philosopher Bronislaw Trentowski "Slavic Faith, or Ethics,the ruler of the Universe. "He writes that the Slavic gods are different hypostases of a single god, including the Christian one.
The mass movement of pagan Rodnovers began to take shape in the 20s and 30s of the 20th century among Ukrainians and Poles. In 1921, the Polish neo-pagan Wladyslaw Kolodzei created the "Holy Circle of the Followers of Svyatovit". Currently, representatives of the "Native Polish Church", registered in 1995, are considered to be his ideological followers.
In 1937, the Polish nationalist Jan Stachniuk, author of the book "Christianity and Humanity", organized a movement of the same name around the magazine "Community", published in Warsaw.
In Ukraine, Professor Vladimir Shayan, a researcher of Sanskrit, became the first ideologue of the Rodnovers. He collaborated with the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, which in 1936 even included a group named after Perun. In 1945, Shayan himself founded the "Order of the Knights of the Sun God".
The situation in modern Russia
In modern Russia, who the Old Believers-Rodnovers are, became known during perestroika. It was then that religious communities of this direction began to appear en masse. However, they did not have any official status, so today it is not possible to talk about their actual scale.
The first unofficial associations of Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian pagans included many representatives of the humanitarian, scientific, technical and creative intelligentsia. They refused to accept the changes that were taking place in the country, wereagainst strengthening the role of the Orthodox Church in society.
Leaders of direction
From the beginning of the 90s, the first leaders of the Slavs-Rodnovers appeared, rapidly gaining popularity. Among them, writer Alexander Belov, psychologist Grigory Yakutovsky, culturologist and philosopher Alexei Evgenievich Nagovitsyn stand out.
Authority in the circles of Rodnovers in Russia was enjoyed by the national anarchist Alexei Dobrovolsky. He became the author of the programmatic article for many neo-pagans "Arrows of Yarila", which was distributed in samizdat. A number of his brochures are now included in the list of extremist materials. Dobrovolsky was a dissident during the existence of the Soviet Union. After the collapse of the USSR, he left for the village of Vesenevo in the Kirov region, from where he carried out active propaganda work.
Another leader of the Rodnovers at that time was the philosopher Viktor Bezverkhy. Back in 1986, he founded the secret "Society of Magi" in Leningrad. Since 1990 it has been known as the Union of Veneds.
Active propaganda and journalistic work led to the emergence of dozens of such communities on the territory of the former Soviet republics. Then many learned that the Rodnovers were neo-pagans who were mainly engaged in spreading their ideas, organizing and preparing holidays traditional for the Slavs.
In June 1994, a rally took place on the border of the Smolensk and Kaluga regions, which today is presented as the first Kupala holiday in Russia for a long time. Only 19 took part.man.
Unifications and splits
The first officially registered neo-pagan religious organization was the Moscow Slavic pagan community. She received the relevant documents from the Ministry of Justice in early 1994. It has been operating unofficially since the late 1980s. Its leaders were the already mentioned Belov and the Arab scholar, one of the adherents of anti-Semitism, Valery Yemelyanov.
In 1989, this community held the first pagan service in the RSFSR. It took place near the Gorky railway. Its participants worshiped Khors, the Slavic god of the sun. There was also an "anti-baptism" ceremony for neophytes, demonstration fights of warriors.
Very soon, serious disagreements began among the neo-pagans. It becomes clear how to anger the Rodnover. Due to ideological differences, Belov excludes Yemelyanov from the community, and soon he himself leaves the ranks of the founders. The new leader, Sergei Ignatov, is reviewing most of the materials collected by his predecessors on customs, culture, and beliefs. He decides to focus on the "restoration" of holidays and rituals.
Thanks to its official legal status, the Moscow Slavic pagan community initiates the process of uniting all Rodnovers in the country. Relations are being established with like-minded people in the Czech Republic, Poland, and Ukraine. The idea of uniting Russian Rodnovers into one organization appears.
In 1997, the founding congress was held in Kaluga. Head of the founded UnionSlavic communities of native faith choose Vadim Kazakov. A few years later, dozens of small and larger communities from all over the country are included in the Union. Kazakov retired only in 2011.
In 1998, the Moscow Slavic pagan community and the Obninsk community "Triglav" left the Union due to disagreements with Kazakov. In 2002, the "Bitzev Appeal" appeared, the authors of which oppose chauvinism, which had become widespread by that time in neo-paganism. At that time, it was one of the most effective ways to piss off the Rodnover. The result is the creation of the Circle of Pagan Traditions. It unites the largest communities of Rodnovers that existed at that time in Russia.
Condemnation of pseudoscientific theories
In 2009, the Circle of Pagan Tradition and the Union of Slavic Communities find common ground. They issue a joint statement in which they condemn many popular authors at that time, accusing them of presenting their work as examples of pagan worldview and views. The leaders of these communities considered it necessary to warn all their supporters that when reading the books of these authors, they may be misled by their provocative theories, which are disguised as official science. These teachings in this appeal are called pseudolinguistics, outright speculation and pseudoscience.
The claims concerned several major specialists who were considered former Rodnovers. In particular, the works of Doctor of Philosophy Valery Chudinov, known asauthor of pseudoscientific theories and publications in the field of linguistics and ancient Russian history. Experts attribute his works to the genre of folk history. The author of the occult teachings Nikolai Levashov, whom journalists characterize as the creator of the totalitarian cult "Renaissance. Golden Age" in our country, also got it. He is the author of a book called "Russia in Crooked Mirrors", which is recognized as extremist. They also criticize the head of the new religious association "Old Russian Church of Orthodox Old Believers-Ynglings." The activity of his community was banned in 2004, as the court considered its ideas to be extremist.
In 2012, the works of a number of researchers, including the satirist Mikhail Zadornov, were recognized as pseudoscientific.
Basics of the Doctrine
Rodnoverie is a belief based on the worship of the pantheon of Slavic gods. It is based on the fundamental research of the Russian archaeologist, a specialist in the history of Ancient Russia and Slavic culture, Boris Aleksandrovich Rybakov.
Those who are close to the Circle of the pagan tradition do not have a unified view on many dogmatic issues, seeing this as a feature of current paganism. They agree that the pagan is the bearer of the natural faith and the pagan worldview, living in harmony and harmony with it. It is important at the same time to recognize the Earth as a living organism, which is considered tantamount to the recognition of its Divine principle.
Due to the disunity of Rodnovery, the pantheons of gods may differ, but the bulk of the Slavic deities remainsunchanged. These are Svarog, Perun, Kolyada, Veles, Makosh, Lada, Stribog, Yarila.
Symbolics
The acquaintance of Rodnovers with the basics of the pagan faith begins with a certain symbolism. Russian Rodnovers, as a rule, use a 6-ray or 8-ray swastika, which is directed clockwise. In this form, it symbolizes the rising sun.
Kolyadnik or 8-beam Kolovrat can be seen on the official emblem of the Union of Slavic Communities. It is present there along with the double Slavic rune "Strength", the historical existence of which can only be hypothetically.
Holidays
Rodnovery strive to observe Slavic traditions and rituals. There are external ceremonies with the involvement of a large number of people and internal ones, for which they gather exclusively in small groups. For example, the outcome of the first congress of the "Circle of Pagan Tradition" ended with ritual bonfires, the bringing of "requirements" to the deities. Their presence on holidays was marked by a large number of special idols.
The vast majority of pagan associations in modern Russia celebrate the four main solar holidays of the Rodnovers. These are Kolyada, Ivan Kupala, Komoyeditsa, Tausen. Let's take a look at all the holidays in a nutshell.
Kolyada is a holiday of the Rodnovers, which corresponds to the winter solstice, an analogue of the Slavic Christmas. His obligatory attributes are mummers, who use horns, skins and masks, as well ascarol songs, divination, youth games, obligatory encouragement of carolers.
Komoeditsa is the spring equinox. It is believed that it is dedicated to the awakening of the bear, the end of winter. Academician Rybakov noted that the name of this holiday comes from an Indo-European root, the same as the ancient Greek "comedy". At the same time, the scientist associated him with the hunting cult of the bear, attributed to the times of the Stone Age.
Ivan Kupala is the summer solstice. This is an ancient holiday for most Slavs, which is associated with the highest flowering of nature. It is noteworthy that the night before this day surpasses in its significance even the holiday itself.
Finally, this is Tausen, that is, the autumn equinox. By this time, the peasants managed to complete the main harvesting work, celebrated the successful end of the working year in the field. In the photo of the Rodnovers you can see how this and other events are celebrated today.
Scientific view of Rodnovery
From the position of ethnology, modern Rodnovery was carefully studied by Doctor of Historical Sciences Viktor Alexandrovich Shnirelman. In world neo-paganism, the expert singled out two main streams. It was a speculative neo-paganism that became widespread among the urban intelligentsia. This teaching is practically devoid of any connection with a truly folk culture. Also, folk religion is being revived in the countryside, where a line of succession can already be traced from the very depths of culture.
Neo-paganism is considered by most scientists from the standpoint of Russiannationalism, which denies Orthodoxy, not considering it a fundamental national value. At the same time, two main tasks are singled out, on the implementation of which Russian neo-paganism is working. This is the protection of the natural environment from the impact of modern civilization and the salvation of national culture from modernization. Particular attention is paid to nationalist, anti-Christian, anti-Semitic sentiments.
From this point of view, the position of Rodnovers is often considered by the courts, when they decide on the recognition of certain neo-pagan materials as extremist.
Attitude of the official church
In 2004, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Alexy II, said that the spread of neo-paganism is one of the main threats of the 21st century. He put it on a par with terrorism and other destructive phenomena of modern civilization.
In response, the Circle of Pagan Traditions sent an official letter to the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, in which it declared the inadmissibility of such statements that offend the dignity and honor of modern pagans, violating laws on freedom of conscience.
In 2014, the next Patriarch Kirill said that when trying to preserve the national memory, dangerous and painful phenomena arise, which include pseudo-Russian pagan beliefs. The head of the Russian Orthodox Church saw the roots of this in the revision of Russian history in 1990 and ignoring the significance of the Russian people. The result of this was the loss of faith among the people in their own country.
Attacks by Rodnovers on representatives of other faiths are extremely rare, but stillthere are precedents. In 2008, Rodnover nationalists Stanislav Lukhmyrin, David Bashelutskov and Yevgenia Zhikhareva built a bomb that was placed in a jar. The fuse was a firecracker. The terrorists left her in the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Biryulyovo, where an explosive device was discovered by a church attendant. She tried to put out the smoking bag. As a result, she lost an eye and received facial burns.
