[92], The root *rod is attested in sources about pre-Christian religion referring to divinity and ancestrality. Meryan Rodnovers also rely upon the uninterrupted traditions of the Mari Native Faith; on 27 September 2015, they organised a joint Mari-Merya prayer in the Moscow region. Perun is the Slavic god of thunder, and of war. [216] Some Russian Rodnovers have attempted themselves to improve relations with the Orthodox Church, arguing that Russian Orthodoxy had adopted many elements of historical Slavic belief and rites,[217] though for some by corrupting their original meaning. [297] In 1986, Viktor Bezverkhy (19302000) established the Saint Petersburg-based Society of the Mages (Obshchestvo Volkhvov), an explicitly white supremacist and anti-Semitic organisation; it was followed by the Union of the Veneds, founded in 1990. [208] The vast majority of Russian Rodnovers were young and there were a greater proportion of men than women. Classified as a new religious movement, its practitioners hearken back to the historical belief systems of the Slavic peoples of Central and Eastern Europe, though the movement is inclusive of external influences and hosts a variety of currents. [36], In crafting their beliefs and practices, Rodnovers adopt elements from recorded folk culture, including from the ethnographic record of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. [417] The religion's "main base" consisted of ethnic Ukrainians who were "nationally oriented" and who displayed higher than average levels of education. [302], After the fall of the Soviet Union, Ukraine became an independent republic, with many Ukrainians turning to strongly nationalistic agendas; among those to have done so are pseudo-archaeologists like Yury Shylov, who posits Ukraine as the "cradle of civilisation". [299] Schnirelmann reported in 2008 that Ivanovism was estimated to have "a few dozen thousand followers". [299] Ivanovite teachings are incorporated by Peterburgian Vedism. [370] These books teach what the scholar Rasa Pranskeviit has defined as a "cosmological pantheism",[371] in which nature is the manifested "thought of God" and human intelligence has the power to commune with him and to actively participate to the creation of the world. Kupalo is the Slavic god of the summer solstice. There is some debate as to whether his name translates to Lord of Rugia/Rgen or Roaring/Howling Lord. Symbolically, Ruevit is associated with autumn and the east. [8] Sometimes, the meaning of the word is left deliberately obscure among Rodnovers, allowing for a variety of different interpretations. [164], Laruelle has observed that even in groups which reject extreme nationalism or are apolitical, ethnic identity is still important, and a good Rodnover is considered one who is conscious of ethnic identity, national traditions, and knows the history of the ancestors. [23], In developing Slavic Native Faith, practitioners draw upon the primary sources about the historical religion of Slavic peoples, as well as elements drawn from later Slavic folklore, official and popular Christian belief and from non-Slavic societies. [133] Aitamurto and Gaidukov noted that "hardly any women" in Russian Rodnovery would call themselves feminists, partly due to Rodnover beliefs on gender and partly due to the negative associations that the word "feminism" has in Russian culture. Koliada Viatichey is theologically dualistic, giving prominence to the complementary principles of Belobog and Chernobog, respectively governing spirit and matter, a polar duality which reflects itself in humanity as the soul and the body. Among the members are eleven organisations including the Gontyna Association, the ertwa Association, the Pomeranian Rodnovers (Rodzimowiercy Pomorscy), the Drzewo Przodkw Association, the Circle of Radegast (Krg Radogost), the Kadus Association, the Swarga Group (Gromada "Swarga"), the WiD Group, ZW Rodzima Wiara and the Watra Rodnover Community (Wsplnota Rodzimowiercw "Watra"). 20 Magical Pagan and Wiccan Symbols - Learn Religions Symbols of The Old Slavs - Slavic Mythology :: Serbianshop [286] Three years later he reported sociological researches suggesting Ukrainian Rodnovers to be 90,000 or 0.2% of the population. [142] They conceive ethnicity and culture as territorial, moulded by the surrounding natural environment (cf. [237] In another instance, Lesiv observed a Ukrainian Rodnover who legitimised the practice of yoga by claiming that this spiritual tradition had originally been developed by the ancestors of modern-day Ukrainians. [337], In August 2015, during the 3rd Polish Nationwide Rodnover Congress, the Rodnover Confederation (Konfederacja Rodzimowiercza) was formally established. [138] In doing so, they branched out into three sub-linguistic families: the Eastern Slavs (Ukrainians, Belarusians, Russians), the Western Slavs (Poles, Czechs, Slovaks) and the Southern Slavs (Slovenes, Serbs, Croats, Bosniaks, Macedonians and Bulgarians). She was also exquisitely honored through numerous rituals and ceremonies. She is the Slavic god of female endeavours, such as spinning, weaving, and shearing. [110] Sylenko characterised Dazhbog as "light, endlessness, gravitation, eternity, movement, action, the energy of unconscious and conscious being". [50] The contemporary design of the kolovrat as an eight-spoked wheel was already present in woodcuts produced in the 1920s by the Polish artist Stanisaw Jakubowski, under the name soneczko ("little sun"). [85], Monotheism and polytheism are not regarded as mutually exclusive. [275] Continuing on from Doga-Chodakowski, Stachniuk's own work criticised Catholicism in Poland, arguing that it had had a negative effect on the country's national character. [146] A number of youth subcultures have been identified as introducing people to Rodnovery, among them heavy metal, historical re-enactment, and the admirers of J. R. R. [327] These groups have strong political motivations, being extremely nationalistic, anti-Western, and anti-Semitic. [42] Since the collapse of the Soviet Union there has been a new wave of scholarly debate on the subject within Russia itself. [180] Archaic patterns of meaning re-emerge at different levels on the spiral of time. The Lunica is a symbol worn by Slavic and Viking women. [277] He was nevertheless labelled a neopoganin ("Neopagan") by the Polish popular press, a term that he embraced as a self-descriptor in later life. For instance, the Association of Sons and Daughters of Ukraine of the Native Ukrainian National Faith (OSIDU RUNVira), one of the churches of Ukrainian Sylenkoism, holds a weekly "Holy Hour of Self-Reflection", in which practitioners read from Sylenko's Maha Vira, sermons are given, the ancestors are commemorated, and prayers and hymns are given, and the meeting ends with the singing of the national anthem of Ukraine. [411], Marlne Laruelle similarly noted that Rodnovery in Russia has spread mostly among the young people and the cultivated middle classes, that portion of Russian society interested in the post-Soviet revival of faith but turned off by Orthodox Christianity, "which is very institutionalized" and "out of tune with the modern world", and "is not appealing [to these people] because it expects its faithful to comply with normative beliefs without room for interpretation". The cultural center "Vyatichi" in the "Russian Pagan Manifesto" of 1997 (Nikolai Speransky - Velimir and others) on the threshold of the third millennium announced the end of the "night of Svarog" and "the morning of the new great day of the gods. He also espouses a form of elitism, by recognising shamans (poets and mystics) as people characterised by greater intelligence and power devoted to the realisation of a better future for mankind. Aitamurto summarised Rodnover ethics in the concepts of patriarchy, solidarity and homogeneity, with the latter two seen as intrinsically related. The symbols in this category predominantly originate from the pre-Christian period and are related to the gods (bogs) of the Pagan Slavic mythology. ", " '', " ( )", " : XXI ", " : ", "Neo-paganism and Ethnic Nationalism in Eastern Europe", "Ancestral Wisdom and Ethnic Nationalism: A View from Eastern Europe", "Strategies for Constructing Religious Practice in Polish Rodzimowierstwo", " : Merjamaa ", N.N. [269] The Ukrainian literary magazine Dazhboh, published in 19311935, was imbued with Neopagan ideas (Bohdan Ihor Antonych and others). Huge collection, amazing choice, 100+ million high quality, affordable RF and RM images. [70] Some groups have a more accommodating attitude about the coexistence of different lifestyles, holding that tolerance should be a key value. [415] A number of popular celebrities, including the singer Maria Arkhipova, the professional boxer Aleksandr Povetkin,[215] and the comedian Mikhail Nikolayevich Zadornov (19482017),[416] have publicly embraced Rodnovery. : Monotheism and Polytheism in Contemporary Ukrainian Paganism", "The Rerikh Movement: A Homegrown Russian 'New Religious Movement', " ' ' ", " 19982005 : ? [9], The scholar of religion Alexey Gaidukov has described "Slavic Neopaganism" as a term pertaining to "all quasi-religious, political, ideological and philosophical systems which are based on the reconstruction and construction of pre-Christian Slavic traditions". [339], There are many denominations of Rodnovery as it is in general a democratic, free, or "open-source religion", that emphasises the "equality of men in their access to the divine" from different perspectives. The symbol grants the wearer good fortune and a plentiful harvest. Nemiza is the Slavic god of death, in that he or she would cut the thread of life. The god was depicted, at different times, as both male and female. [323] During the 1990s and 2000s, a number of groups were established in Bulgaria, namely the Dulo Alliance, the Warriors of Tangra, and the Bulgarian Horde 1938. [26] Tengrist-influenced Rodnovery is practised by Bulgarian groups who identify as descendants of the ancient Turkic Bulgars. [82] Belief in these deities varied according to location and through time, and it was common for the Slavs to adopt deities from neighbouring cultures. [300] The collapse of the Soviet Union and its official policy of state atheism resulted in a resurgence of open religious adherence across the region. [266] Another precursor in Poland was Jan Sas Zubrzycki (18601935), who elaborated the doctrine of "God-Knowing" (Bogoznawstwo). [402], According to Laruelle, the most politicised current of Rodnovery has given rise to organisations in Russia including the Church of the Nav ( ), founded by Ilya Lazarenko and inspired by German Ariosophy; the Dead Water movement and its parties which participated to the State Duma elections in 2003; Aleksandr Sevastianov's National Party of the Russian Great Power, which has had links with politicians close to the former mayor of Moscow Yury Luzhkov (19362019); and the Party of Aryan Socialism led by Vladimir Danilov. [64] Many Rodnovers have adopted terms that are already used to refer to other religions, namely "Vedism", referring to the historical Vedic religion and the ancient Iranian religion, and "Orthodoxy", commonly associated to Orthodox Christianity. Dobroslav's follower A. M. Aratov, director of the Russkaya Pravda publishing house, wrote about the onset of the Russian Era and the imminent end of Christianity and Judaism. The religion is patriarchal, and attitudes towards sex and gender are generally conservative. The Slavic Kremlin Vitaly Sundakov is one of such centres, located in the Podolsky District of Moscow Oblast. Vasilyev's art is widely celebrated within the Rodnover community. [253] A questionnaire distributed at the Kupala festival in Maloyaroslavets suggested that Rodnovers typically had above-average levels of education, with a substantial portion working as business owners or managers. [440], The leader since 2007 is Richard Bigl (Khotebud), and the organisation is today devoted to the celebration of annual holidays and individual rites of passage, to the restoration of sacred sites associated with Slavic deities, and to the dissemination of knowledge about Slavic spirituality in Czech society. Volkhvs are the higher rank of the sacerdotal hierarchy, while zhrets are of a lower authority. [117] Rodnover ethics consist in following Prav, that is "seeking, finding and following the natural laws", which results in strengthening and being aware of the principle of retribution (actionreaction; or karma). Slavs belong to the group of Indo-European peoples, also called Aryan peoples (do not confuse this term with the term 'Aryan race'). In their view, beings are the progeny of gods; even phenomena such as the thunder are conceived in this way as embodiments of these gods (in this case, Perun). In Slavic mythology, Rod separated the physical world from the spiritual world. Her symbol, or star, serves as protection against negative energy or dark forces. They hold that the Saga ob Ynglingakh, their Russian version of the Germanic Ynglinga saga (itself composed by Snorri Sturluson on the basis of an older Ynglingatal), proves their ideas about the origins of the Ynglings in Omsk, and that the Germanic Eddas are ultimately a more recent, western European and Latinised version of their own sacred books, the Slavo-Aryan Vedas. "shaman", or "mage") and zhrets ("sacrificers"). [109] In keeping with the pre-Christian belief systems of the region, the groups who inherit Volodymyr Shaian's tradition, among others, espouse polytheism. The movement has its headquarters in eastern Ukraine,[377] the region of origin of Ivanov himself, and it is widespread in Russia. [181] Aitamurto observed that early Russian Rodnovery was characterised by "imaginative and exaggerated" narratives about history. [205] As an alternative to the "mono-ideologies" and the world of "unipolarity" that they created, Rodnovers suggest their idea of "multipolarism". Only the new people, the sun-worshippers, will be able to survive. [96] Triglav and Svetovid ("Worldseer") are concepts representing the axis mundi and, respectively, the three qualities of reality and their realisation in the four dimensions of space. [301] That same year, a group called Ancestral Fire of the Native Orthodox Faith was established; in contrast to the anti-Russian slant taken by Sylenkoism, it embraced a pan-Slavic perspective. [357] Another organisation is the "All-Russian Movement of the Scythians". [290], Russian Rodnovery originated in the Soviet dissidents' circles of the 1970s,[291] as intellectuals became concerned for the eradication of traditional Russian culture and identity. [393] The original federation of Belov splintered many times over the years giving rise to other distinct groups of military Rodnovery; Belov, however, continued to remain a central figure for the movement as a whole. [389], Many Rodnovers are influenced by Siberian shamanism, which has become widespread in easternmost regions of Russia, as well as Tengrism. Rod is often depicted as a man, holding a fish, wheel, flowers and wearing a linen belt which moves in the wind. [381], Ynglism (Russian: ), institutionally known as the Ancient Russian Ynglist Church of the Orthodox Old BelieversYnglings, was established in the early 1990s by the charismatic leader Aleksandr Khinevich from Omsk, in Siberia.