Also, Saint Leontius of Rostov is appropriated as a native god. The moon was a symbol of masculinity in Slavic mythology and was venerated during lunar feasts as a symbol of health and prosperity. [247] In 2012, a number of Rodnover organisations in Russia made an agreement for the mutual recognition of their priesthood and for the uniformisation of ordination policies. Air. Alkonost, who gets her name from the Greek demigod Alyclone, is a creature with the body of a bird and the head of a woman. 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. [208] The vast majority of Russian Rodnovers were young and there were a greater proportion of men than women. Following the end of the war and the incorporation of Poland under the Stalinist regime, both Stachniuk and Koodziej were arrested, preventing the establishment of a Slavic Native Faith community. [401] The goal of this esoteric system goes beyond that of other left-hand path traditions which stop at the deification of the individual; the goal of Veleslav's way is to strip the individual of any identity constructions through images and dreams of death and destruction, to reveal the individual's true essence, ultimately sacrifying its individual divinity, its names and forms, into the utmost spring of all divinity, the transcendent, primordial, unborn, unthinkable supreme source. [361], In Ukraine, there are currents of Rodnovery which are peculiar to the Ukrainians. Equally far from stock images of witchcraft is a military recruit who, in the mid-eighteenth century, at the acme of the Enlightenment, offered to assist the Russian imperial authorities with a bit of herbal magic that would "cover the Prussian king and his entire army with fog and release water and capture the king alive." The earliest form of Cyrillic manuscript, known as Ustav, was based on Greek uncial script, augmented by ligatures and by letters from the Glagolitic alphabet for consonants not found in Greek. Lada is the Slavic goddess of beauty and fertility. Having colored animals on colored backgrounds that wouldn't have been "ok" by the Western rules. [193] Some Rodnovers consider the Slavs to have a messianic role in human history and eschatology, for instance believing that Ukraine and Russia will be the world's future geopolitical centre, or the cradle of a new civilisation which will survive the demise of the Western world. It is believed that, for this reason, Veles symbol has stylized horns. [338] In June 2017, during the celebrations of the nationwide holiday called Stado, a new religious organisation was created: the Religious Organisation of Polish Rodnovers "Kin" (Zwizek Wyznaniowy Rodzimowiercw Polskich "Rd"). [175] Western liberal ideas of freedom and democracy are traditionally perceived by Russian eyes as "outer" freedom, contrasting with Slavic "inner" freedom of the mind; in Rodnovers' view, Western liberal democracy is "destined to execute the primitive desires of the masses or to work as a tool in the hands of a ruthless elite", being therefore a mean-spirited "rule of demons". Rodnover ethical thinking emphasises the good of the collective over the rights of the individual. [163] The scholars Kaarina Aitamurto and Roman Shizhenskii found that expressions of extreme nationalism were considered socially unacceptable at one of the largest Rodnover events in Russia, the Kupala festival outside Maloyaroslavets. The Triquetra is a popular witchcraft symbol for those who walk a Celtic path and represents the power of land, sea and sky. In all traditions, circles can be made of with lighted candles, drawing circles in the soil, or with natural objects and tools. [130] Other Rodnovers are openly anti-Semite,[156] a category which for them means not only anti-Jewish but more broadly anti-Asian, anti-Christian and anti-Islamic, and anti-Byzantinist sentiment,[157] and espouse conspiracy theories claiming that Jews and Asians control the economic and political elite. [140], There are, nonetheless, recurrent themes within the various strains of Rodnovery. [166] Historiosophical narratives and interpretations vary between different currents of Rodnovery,[179] and accounts of the historical past are often intertwined with eschatological views about the future. [84] Similarly to the ancient Slavic religion, a common theological stance among Rodnovers is that of monism, by which the many different gods (polytheism) are seen as manifestations of the single, universal impersonal Godgenerally identified by the concept of Rod,[86] also known as Sud ("Judge") and Prabog ("Pre-God", "First God") among South Slavs. Gods may be subject to functional changes among modern Rodnovers; for instance, the traditional god of livestock and poetry Veles is called upon as the god of literature and communication. [99] This theological explanation is called "manifestationism" by some contemporary Rodnovers and implies the idea of a spiritmatter continuum; the different gods, who proceed from the supreme God, generate differing categories of things not as their external creations (as objects), but embodying themselves as these entities. This belief often manifests itself in forms of nationalism, opposition to miscegenation and the belief that fundamental differences exist between racial groups. [222], Rodnovery generally emphasises a healthy lifestyle of the individual, to be extended as a healthy lifestyle of the nation; restriction of food intake, avoidance of certain foods, and sport activities, timed to significant events or holidays, have acquired a ritual character for many Rodnover groups. For those who do wrong, Viy punishes them with nightmares and terrible visions. [176], Some Rodnovers interpret the veche in ethnic terms, thus as a form of "ethnic democracy", in the wake of similar concepts found in the French Nouvelle Droite. [254], Adherents of Slavic Native Faith often adopt elements from recorded folk culture, giving new meaning and purpose to Christianised or non-Pagan contents. [326] In 2011, the Circle of Svarog (Svaroi Krug) was founded in Bosnia. [146] In this vein, they often oppose what they regard as culturally destructive phenomena such as cosmopolitanism, liberalism and globalisation,[115] as well as Americanisation and consumerism. Many Rodnover groups organise formal ceremonies of renunciation of Christianity (raskrestitsia, literally "de-Christianisation"), and initiation into Rodnovery with the adoption of a Slavic name. Later, Avdeyev abandoned Eurasian ideas and came to racial doctrine. Polytheism is accepted for its ability to "account for the complexity of the world with its multiple good and evil forces", and particularly emphasised is the popular Russian belief in the great goddess of the Earth (Mokosh or Mat Syra Zemlya). [281] This text was brought to the public by the Russian Yury Petrovich Mirolyubov (18921970), who claimed that it had been discovered by a friend of his, Fodor Arturovich Isenbek, while serving as a White Army officer during the Russian Civil War. For this reason, the symbol represents wealth. [92] Many Rodnovers believe in casteism, the idea that people are born to fulfill a precise role and business in society; the Hindu varna system with its three castes priests, warriors and peasants-merchants is taken as a model, although in Rodnovery it is conceived as an open system rather than a hereditary one. Bog Hors is a god of the sun and the sunlight. Yes, it's a Slavic symbol. [70] Rodnovers often subscribe to the view that men and women are fundamentally different and thus their tasks also differ. [9], According to Schnirelmann, it was the Soviet Union's official scientific atheism, which severely weakened the infrastructure of universalist religions, combined with anti-Westernism and the research of intellectuals into an ancient "Vedic" religion of Russia, that paved the way for the rise of Rodnovery and other modern Paganisms in Eastern Europe. Her symbol, or star, serves as protection against negative energy or dark forces. 25.03.2010", " ( )", "Paganos de Rodnovery tambin participan en el conflicto ucraniano", "Locked up in the Donbas A look at the mass arrests and torture of civilians in Donetsk and Lugansk", "Some in Donbas who want to create a new 'Russian world' are reaching back to pre-Christian times", "Sprawozdanie z III Oglnopolskiego Zjazdu Rodzimowiercw", " : ", All-Russia Population Census 2010 ( 2010), " : ", "Eestis registreeritud usulised hendused", "Vernacular Beliefs and Official Traditional Religion", " ' ', " '': ' ', " ", "The Three-Headed One at the Crossroad: A Comparative Study of the Slavic God Triglav", "Scythian Neo-Paganism in the Caucasus: The Ossetian Uatsdin as a 'Nature Religion', "Olav's Rose, Perun's Mark, Taranis's Wheel", " ' ' ( )", "Saving the Native Faith: Religious Nationalism in Slavic Neo-paganism (Ancient Russian Yngling Church of Orthodox Old Believers-Ynglings and Svarozhichi)", " ", " Ultima Frontiera : ", Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University, "In Search of Deeper Identities: Neopaganism and 'Native Faith' in Contemporary Ukraine", " - ' ' ", " ", "A Preliminary Quantitative Study of the Mysticism and Religious Maturity of Contemporary Slavic Neopagans in Poland", " ", " ", " : ", "Alternative Identity, Alternative Religion? [57], Sometimes the term "Rodnovery" has also been interpreted as meaning "faith of Rod", a reference to an eponymous concept of supreme God, Rod, found in ancient Russian and Ukrainian sources. Yakutovsky is critical of the Soviet type of communism, and rather proposes "social communism" as the ideal form of government. [130], Within Rodnovery, gender roles are conservative. Rodnovery draws upon surviving historical and archaeological sources and folk religion, often integrating them with non-Slavic sources such as Hinduism (because they are believed to come from the same Proto-Indo-European source). [180] Many Rodnovers magnify the ancient Slavs by according to them great cultural achievements. He represents virility. The return to reflections on the "Aryan" theme takes many forms. [186] Some Rodnovers take their cosmology, ethical system, and ritual practices from the Book. [348], Koliada Viatichey (Russian: ) is a Rodnover faction that emerged in 1998 through the union of the group named "Viatiches", inspired to the homonymous early East Slavic tribe of the Viatiches, which comprised well-educated Moscow intellectuals and was founded by Nikolay Speransky (volkhv Velimir) in 1995, and the community named "Koliada". [196] In various Slavic countries, many archaeologists and historians have been hesitant about giving credence to Rodnover interpretations of history. [407], Aitamurto observed that a substantial number of adherentsand in particular those who had been among the earliestbelonged to the "technical intelligentsia". The original meaning of Dazhbog would thus, according to Dubenskij, Ognovskij and Niederle, be "giving god", "god-giver, "god-donor".. Morphologically this word is an old compound, that is particularly interesting because it retains the old . Rod is the original, supreme Slavic deity, who created the world and all that exists within it. [147], The political philosophy of Rodnovery can be defined as "nativism", "nationalism" and "populism", all of which render the Russian word narodnichestvo. [171] Also popular with Russian Rodnovers has been the martial arts movement of Slavyano-goritskaya bor'ba. [22] The magazine and its associated group embraced members with a wide variety of viewpoints, ranging from secularly humanistic to religiously Slavic Native Faith stances. [42], In Ukraine, the first practitioners of Slavic Native Faith appeared in the 1930s. [266] This organisation was a government-recognised entity until 2010, when it was unregistered and became an informal association due to disagreements between the Castists and other subgroups about whether Slavic religion was Indo-European hierarchic worship (supported by the Castists), Neolithic mother goddess worship, or neither. In 2013, Simpson noted that Slavic Native Faith remains a "very small religion" in Poland, which is otherwise dominated by Roman Catholicism. The Slavic mythology personified many aspects of the world, with worshipers believing that waters, forests, households and even illnesses were represented or governed by spirits. [68] They claim that the term, which refers to the "praise" or "glorification" (slava) of the universal order (Prav, cf. [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. He was associated with blacksmiths and the forging of iron. [26] Other leaders who emerged in this period were Aleksandr Asov, author of numerous books on Rodnover philosophy which have sold millions of copies, Aleksandr Belov, founder of the Slavic-Hill military type of Rodnovery integrating Rodnover philosophy and martial arts, and Viktor Kandyba, founder of Kandybaism. [38] Halyna Lozko of the Federation of Ukrainian Rodnovers, which directly inherits Volodymyr Shaian's orthodox doctrine, advanced vehement critiques of Sylenkoism, deeming Lev Sylenko a "false prophet" and accusing him of having tried to lead Ukrainians in the Abrahamic religions' "quagmire of cosmopolitan monotheism". [324] In Slovenia, a group called the Svetovid Parish of the Old Belief (Staroverska upa Svetovid) was established around 2005 through a union of an older group, Ajda, with the followers of the military historian Matja Vratislav Anur. [79] Many Rodnovers straightforwardly reject the designator "paganism", whether "neo-", "modern", "contemporary" or without prefixes and further qualificators, asserting that these are "poorly defined" concepts whose use by scholars leads to a situation in which Rodnovery is lumped together with "all kinds of cults and religions" which have nothing to do with it. Flat With Shadow Icon And Mobile . It is a symbol, also, of protection. [333] Rodnover themes entered the heavy metal subculture, particularly in bands like Sokyra Peruna ("Perun's Axe"), Whites Load, and Komu Vnyz ("Who Will Go Down"). [299], Anastasianism (Russian: , , ) or the Ringing Cedars ( ) is a spiritual movement that overlaps with Rodnovery. Volkhvs are the higher rank of the sacerdotal hierarchy, while zhrets are of a lower authority. [341] Because of its "open" nature, Rodnovery also hosts in itself denominations which have developed clear doctrines around an authoritarian charismatic leadership. [141] Kosnik and Hornowska observed that despite being young, Polish Rodnovers were spiritually mature and had joined the religion as it satisfied deep personal needs. It is also a symbol for those going through spiritual hardship or hard toil, offering strength and perseverance to those who need it. The Slavic Native Faith, commonly known as Rodnoverie and sometimes as Slavic Neopaganism, is a modern Pagan religion.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. Ynglists organise yearly gatherings (veche) in summer. [279], Wadysaw Koodziej (18971978) later claimed to have established, before the Second World War, the Holy Circle of the Worshippers of Svetovid (wite Koo Czcicieli wiatowida), although there is no evidence that they conducted regular meetings until many years later. [308] In this context, the growth of Rodnovery can be seen as part of the nationalistic drive to regain national pride. [83] Some practitioners describe themselves as atheists,[84] believing that gods are not real entities but rather ideal symbols. [448], In Australia there is Southern Cross Rodnovery, a Rodnover organisation that caters to Australians of Slavic ethnicity. She lives in the underworld with her counterpart, who is . [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". The symbol Chur represents the god of boundaries and property, and the delineation between that which belongs to one person, and that which belongs to another. But there's little reason to believe it is a universal Slavic symbol, or that it was particular to Slavic Pagans. Marija Gimbutas, instead, found Slavic religion to be a clear result of the overlap of Indo-European patriarchism and pre-Indo-European matrifocal beliefs. In this article he divides scholars between those who say that Russian Orthodoxy adapted to entrenched indigenous faith, continuing the Soviet idea of an "undefeated paganism", and those who say that Russian Orthodoxy is an out-and-out syncretic religion. 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. [311] In 2009, the Union of Slavic Native Belief Communities and the Circle of Pagan Tradition issued a joint statement against Ynglism (Aleksandr Khinevich and Aleksey Trekhlebov), Levashovism (Nikolay Levashov), as well as Valery Chudinov and Gennady Grinevich, disapproving what they reckoned as Ynglists', Levashovites' and the other authors' "pseudo-Pagan teachings, pseudo-linguistics, pseudo-science and outright fiction". Mokosh is associated with destiny and fate, particularly the destiny of women. [187] Other modern literary works that have influenced the movement, albeit on a smaller scale, include The Songs of the Bird Gamayon, Koliada's Book of Stars, The Song of the Victory on Jewish Khazaria by Svyatoslav the Brave or The Rigveda of Kiev. [290] Vedism was also explicitly espoused within more official Soviet circles; Apollon Kuzmin (19282004), leader of the neo-Slavophile historiography, did so in his 1988 book "The Fall of Perun" (Padenie Peruna), in which he supported indigenous Slavic religion while criticising Christianity as the cause of the Mongol yoke (which led to the incorporation of Kievan Rus' in the Golden Horde from 1237 to 1480). [79] They regard themselves as restoring the original belief system rather than creating something new. [253] The movement also involved a significant number of people who had a background in the Soviet or Russian Army,[409] or in policing and security. Sources that Rodnovers rely upon include valued scholars like Vladimir Dal and Boris Rybakov. [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. [351], Meryan Rodnovery is a movement present in the Russian regions of Ivanovo, Kostroma, Moscow, Vladimir, Vologda, Tver, and Yaroslavl. ), a variant of the swastika (Sanskrit: "wellbeing", "wellness"). He is a god of thunder, lightning, and war, and is often associated with the oak tree. Yes, our ancestors believed in these things but we should not any longer", as polytheism is regarded as obsolete within the religion. The book explores the pre-Christian Slavic customs, symbols and myths from the deepest parts of prehistory up to our contemporary folklore. [31], A different perspective is offered by the historian Svetlana M. Chervonnaya, who has seen the return to folk beliefs among Slavs as part of a broader phenomenon that is happening to "the mass religious mind" not merely of Slavic or Eastern European peoples, but to peoples all over Asia, and that expresses itself in new mythologemes endorsed by national elites. ), represent the thunder god Perun or the supreme God (Rod), expressing itself as power of birth and reproduction, in its various forms (whether Triglav, Svetovid, Perun and other gods) and were still carved in folk traditions of the Russian North up to the nineteenth century. [16] In the Russian intellectual milieu, Rodnovery usually presents itself as the ideology of "nativism" (narodnichestvo),[17] which in Rodnovers' own historical analysis is destined to supplant the mono-ideologies whose final bankruptcy the world is now witnessing. According to him, the "races" should be ready for this, so they need to study "the heroism of Emperor Titus, who destroyed Jerusalem." Black magic spells were also used for revenge, protection, and power. [61] By the early 2000s, the term was widespread across Slavic countries. In one gruesome instance near the Ukrainian border in 1997, a man and his nephew attacked a woman who they claimed used black magic to cast a spell on them. In 2014, the Russian government officially registered the Union of Slavic Native Belief Communities as an interregional public organisation for the promotion of Slavic culture. Air is associated with the colors yellow and white. Zhiva (or iva) is the goddess of life in the Slavic mythology. [97], When emphasising this monism, Rodnovers may define themselves as rodnianin, "believers in God" (or "in nativity", "in genuinity"). [133] Many groups in both Russia and Ukraine have demanded the prohibition of mixed-race unions,[134] while the doctrine of the Ynglist Church includes an articulate condemnation of race mixing as unhealthy. Veles is associated with creativity, honesty and determination, as well as common sense wisdom and personal responsibility. [344], Many of these movements share the assumption to represent expressions of "Vedism". [93] Mathieu-Colas defines Rod as the "primordial God", but the term also literally means the generative power of family and "kin", "birth", "origin" and "fate" as well. Other Slavic kingdoms took more liberties with color choices. In the modern day, some ancient Slavic rituals persist in Eastern and Northern Europe. Perun is the Slavic god of thunder, and of war. [306], The social context of Rodnovery's growth in Russia differed from that in other parts of Central and Eastern Europe. [29], Some Rodnovers do not acknowledge this practice of syncretism and instead profess an explicitly anti-syncretic attitude, emphasising the need to retain the "purity" of the religion and thus maintain its "authenticity". [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. The physical symbols that represented this deity were dolls made of natural materials such as wood (or straws) as well as water in the form of ice and snow. [302] The first Rodnover website on the Russian Internet (so-called Runet)was created by a Moscow-based believer in 1996. [325] As of 2013, it had between ten and fifteen members. Triskele. [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. [332], Russian Rodnovery also attracted the attention of Russian academics, many of whom focused on the political dimensions of the movement, thus neglecting other aspects of the community. Ivanov, who declared himself a Zoroastrian and subscribed to "Arism" or "Slavism", published a fervently anti-Christian pamphlet entitled "The Christian Plague" (Khristianskaya chuma). [286] There is overlap between Slavic Native Faith followers and other sectors of Ukrainian society, such as the folk and traditional music revival groups, Cossack associations, traditional martial arts groups, and nationalist and ultra-nationalist organisations. [181] Aitamurto observed that early Russian Rodnovery was characterised by "imaginative and exaggerated" narratives about history. and is used in modern neo-paganism (see " In modern countries "). [190] In claiming an Aryan ancestry, Rodnovers legitimise their cultural borrowing from other ethno-cultural groups whom they claim are also Aryan descendants, such as the Germanic peoples or those of the Indian subcontinent. [340] Eclecticism and syncretism are accepted by most believers, although there is a "minimal framework in which the idea of national [Slavic] tradition dominates". He is likely to have been the highest ranking god in the Slavic tradition, similar to Zeus in Ancient Greek mythology. [206], Christianity is denounced as an anthropocentric theology which distorts the role of mankind in the cosmos by claiming that God could have been incarnated as a single historical entity (Jesus), at the same time creating hierarchical and centralised powers that throughout history defended the rich, legitimised slave mentality,[207] and promoted humile behaviour, antithetical to the Rodnover ethical emphasis on courage and fighting spirit,[208] and to the theological emphasis on the ontological freedom of living beings. [289] Boris Rybakov (19082001), former head of the Institute of Archaeology, provided the first academic studies about ancient Slavic religion. Scholars of religion regard Slavic Native Faith as a modern Pagan religion. Pagans in general in CK3 use lots of different pagan symbols. [72] Another term employed by some Rodnovers has been "Slavianism" or "Slavism", which appears especially in Polish (Sowiastwo), in Russian (Slavianstvo), and in Slovak (Slovianstvo). He is associated with the oak tree, and is a god of war; in some respects, he's a lot like the Norse and Germanic Thor and Odin combined. The scholar of religion Scott Simpson has stated that Slavic Native Faith is "fundamentally concerned with questions of community and ethnic identity",[141] while the folklorist Nemanja Radulovic has described adherents of the movement as placing "great emphasis on their national or regional identity". In some cultures, an effigy of Mara is drowned (sometimes burned) to more quickly bring about the end of winter and the beginning of spring. [437] In Poland, the Slavic Native Faith outnumbers other Pagan religions, although both are represented in the Pagan Federation International's Polish branch. [303] It is within this broader milieu of cultural nationalism and interest in alternative spiritualities that Rodnovery re-emerged in Ukraine. [369], Peterburgian or Russian Vedism (Russian: / ) is one of the earliest Rodnover movements started by the philosopher Viktor Bezverkhy in Saint Petersburg, between the late 1980s and early 1990s, and primarily represented by the Society of the Mages ( ) founded in 1986 and the Union of the Veneds ( ) established in 1990, and their various offshoots,[299] including Skhoron ezh Sloven ( ), established in 1991 by Vladimir Y. Golyakov, which has branches across Russia, and in Belarus and Ukraine. In the 1960s, the renewal of militant atheism under Nikita Khrushchev also presupposed a recovering of pre-Christian and pre-Islamic traditions. [200], Many Rodnovers consciously and actively reject Christianity and the Abrahamic monotheisms,[201] regarded as destructive forces which erode organic communities,[16] with Christianity being perceived as a foreign entity within Slavic culture. [298] These organisations gave rise to the stream of Rodnovery known as Peterburgian Vedism. Most Slavic people worshipped in natural circles and groves; and it plays a large part in all kinds of magic. [71] When using English language terms to describe their religion, some Rodnovers favour "Heathen", in part due to a perceived affinity with the contemporary Germanic Heathens who also commonly use that term. [107] Rodnovers also worship tutelary deities of specific elements, lands and environments,[108] such as waters, forests and the household. [420] Established Ukrainian Orthodox and Roman Catholic groups have viewed it with alarm and hostility,[418] while the country's educated and intellectual classes tend to view it as a fringe part of the ultra-conservative movement which was tinged with anti-Semitism and xenophobia. It is likely that the English word calendar is derived from this symbol name. It was believed that dead ancestors existed within the same spiritual plane as the Slavic deities. [53] Rodnovers generally present their symbols in high-contrast colour combinations, usually red and black or red and yellow. [271] The adherents believe that the class of the warriors should have the superior and leading role in society (espousing the idea of a military state and rejecting communism and democracy), and should be always ready to sacrifice themselves for the community. [428] There are groups which focus on the traditions of the Kriviches, an early East Slavic tribe, and mix Slavic and Baltic practices. [132] Russian nationalists had welcomed the collapse of the Soviet system but were disappointed with the arrival of capitalism and the dramatic economic downturn that Russia faced in that decade. According to his followers, he acquired such knowledge through the "breath of his ancestors" being united with them "by divine holiness". The movement promotes traditional Russian healing methods, psychoanalysis and martial arts. [173], According to sociologist and political scientist Marlne Laruelle, the general public is often unable to see the ideological background of the Aryan myth and its historical links with Nazism.