NEOPAGANISM

Neo-paganism: translation

Social movement. Although Russian neo-paganism functions as a quasi-religionand shares some traits with Western “New Age” movements, it is primarily an intellectually driven sociopolitical movement. Sometimes called Vedism, Slavic neo-paganism takes many of its popular rituals and beliefs from Hinduism. In terms of indigenous influences, the sacred text of the religion is the Book of Veles, a tome of questionable origins that recounts the preChristianhistory, morals, and social practices of the 7th- and 8thcentury Eastern Slavs.

Neo-pagans reject the imposition ofOrthodoxChristianity in 988 as a cataclysm that subjected the Slavs to a millennium ofJewishand “Western” domination. As such, neo-pagan publications and theories, in conjunction with the closely allied ideology ofAryanism, have served the interests of Russian ultranationalists andanti-Semiticmovements. Underglasnost, the neo-Pagans were most closely allied with the racistPamyatparty. However, in the mid-1990s, a significant portion of the neo-pagan community allied itself with the rebrandedCommunist Party of the Russian Federation(KPRF), clearly demonstrating its power as a political force in the country.GennadyZyuganov’s populist anti-Semitism meshes well with the neo-pagan worldview; however, the relationship with the KPRF is problematic given the strong pro-environment orientation of many neo-pagans.

In addition to Russian neo-paganism, there has been a resurgence of paganism,shamanism, and animism among many of the country’sethnic minorities.This is particularly true inSiberiaand the Volga regions where a certain percentage of Russia’s Turkic (Chuvash,Khakas,Altay, andTuvans), Mongolic (Buryats), and Finno-Ugrian (Mari,Khanty,Mansi,Mordvins,Udmurts, andKomi) peoples have begun to return to traditional religious practices, often in synthesis with RussianOrthodoxyorBuddhism. A significant portion of Russia’s Turkic and Mongolic peoples (as well asKazakhsand Kyrgyz) have also embraced a politicized form of Tengrism, or sky worship. To some, the religion presupposed and does not contradictIslam, while to other adherents it functions as an ethnic faith in opposition to the Semitic belief systems ofJudaism, Christianity, and Islam.