This article may be a rough translation from Russian. It may have been generated, in whole or in part, by a computer or by a translator without dual proficiency. Please help to enhance the translation. The original article is under "русский" in the "languages" menu in the upper right corner. If you have just labeled this article as needing attention, please add {{subst:Needtrans|pg=Veles circle|language=Russian|comments=}} ~~~~ to the bottom of the WP:PNTCU section on Wikipedia:Pages needing translation into English.(August 2022)
Commonwealth of Slavic Rodnovery communities
Total population
250
Founder
Russian-Slavic Rodoliubie (Veleslav and the Obninsk community Triglav (D. A. Gasanov - Bogumil Murin)
The Circle of Veles (Commonwealth of Slavic Rodnovery Communities) is an association of communities passionate about the development of Slavic native spirituality. Their patron is the god Veles, the Slavic god of wisdom. The supreme god is considered to be Rod, thus it is a Rodnovery (neo-pagan) association, common to Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.
The association emphasizes the veneration of deities of the earth, similar to Indian tantrism. It is not affiliated with political movements, and does not practice racial or religious discrimination. The leader of the association is Ilya Cherkasov (Veleslav).
History
In November 1993 as part of the Union of the Veneds[ru][1][2] was created by the Obninsk Vedic community "Traiana" (Obninsk, Kaluga region), headed by the magician Bogumil (D. A. Gasanov). Gasanov received "initiation" from the Nizhny Novgorod sorcerer Rodoliub (Rybin). In 1994–1997, he maintained close contacts with the "Union of Venedi". Community "Trajan" until the end of 1998 with close interaction with the Kaluga Slavic community of Vadim Kazakov (student of Alexey Dobrovolsky - Dobroslav). In 1997, Kazakov became the leader of the Union of Slavic Native Belief Communities (SSO SRV), which included the Bogumil community. In December 1998, this community was expelled from the SSO SRV and changed its name first to Obninsk Slavic Community "Triglav" and then to Obninsk Rodnovery Community "Triglav".
In February 1998, the Aryan Pagan community "Satya-Veda",[1] which included Veleslav,[3] began operations in Moscow. Satya-Veda was soon transformed into the Russian-Slavic Rodoliubie community. It developed close contacts with Velimir's group, which was the beginning of their merger into the Rodoliubie – Kolyada Vyatichi Community Accord in 2001. They soon split up.
In Moscow, until the mid-2000s, the "Moscow Velesov community" operated under the leadership of Volhv Velemir (A. Zhilko).[1]
"Velesov Circle" was formed in 1999 in Moscow. The first to join it were the Russian-Slavic Rodnovery community of Veleslav and the Obninsk Triglav community of D. A. Hasanov (Bogumil Murin).[1][4] Both communities later disintegrated.[5] Then they were joined by five more communities, including the "Veles community" of A. Zhilko (Velemir), which included Alexei Nagovitsyn (Velemudr)[1][6]
"The circle of Veles is governed by the Council of volhovs, the high priests and priests.[7][8] The leader of the association is Ilya Cherkasov (Veleslav).[1] There are communities in Moscow, Obninsk, Kostroma, Ryazan, Perm, Kazan, Komsomolsk-on-Amur and other Russian cities, in Ukraine and Belarus.[5] The main mass of the participants of the association are the Magi.[9]
The head of the association, Ilya Cherkasov, is one of the most famous representatives of Slavic neo-paganism in Russia. In particular, he has participated in several television programs.[10]
Ideology
Rite of initiation (Veleslav, Bogumil, etc.)
The Obninsk Vedic community of "Trajan" Volhvos was mainly engaged in "restoring Slavic ritualism". Kazakov and Bogumil made an attempt to streamline the "Slavic" (Rodnovery) pantheon of gods and rituals, publishing a book about it ("The World of Slavic Gods", 1997). They considered themselves the successors of Vyatichi, who resisted baptism longer than other Slavic tribes and now allegedly led the return to the "ancient primordial faith".
The Aryan pagan Satya Veda community chose the god Veles as its spiritual patron. The leaders and ordinary members of the community were young people not affiliated with political movements. They declared their openness and toleration and did not recognize racial, religious, or political discrimination. The community's program specifically stipulated distancing from extremist, in particular anti-Christian and anti-Jewish currents. However, members of the community (Veleslav, A. Arinushkin), along with other Rodnovers, wrote about the guilt of Christians in the inhuman treatment of pagans and the guilt of Prince Vladimir for his betrayal of his native culture. They associated the West with evil and the Kingdom of Death, but praised the "Reichsführer," who nevertheless "perverted the true Aryan Tradition".[1] Veleslav, being a sorcerer of the Satya-Veda community, became the author of the doctrine of the Rodoliubrium – "the original ancestral faith of the Russians". According to this doctrine, pantheistic belief in a single comprehensive god Rood must be based on the Vedic worldview, veneration of ancestors and the division of society into castes. The reconstruction of the original "One Tradition" is made on the basis of archetypes "Russian (Slavic and Aryan) spirit" and archetypes of "Traditional Paganism" as such taking into account all spiritual experience accumulated by humanity (Satya Sanatana Dharma – true eternal religion-law stemming from the nature of reality).[3] The publications of the Russian-Slavic Rodnovery community, formed from the Satya Veda community, emphasized patriotism and love for one's native land.[1]
The "Veles Circle" is an association of communities passionate about the development of Slavic spirituality and standing apart from politics. The patron of the association is the god Veles as the "Slavic god of wisdom",[1][5] and the supreme god is considered to be Rod.[1] The calendar dates from 2409 B.C., from the foundation of Slovensk the Great. The association emphasizes the veneration of deities of the earth and the underground (analog of Indian tantrism). There are joint celebrations of Kupala, Perunov's Day and Koliada[5] According to the "Word of the Veche Center and the Commonwealth of Pagan Associations" (2016), the representatives of the association consider the concepts of "Paganism", "Tradition", "Native Tradition" and "Native Faith" as identical.[11] Veleslav published The Ritebook (2003), which establishes a system of rituals.[12] Understanding Old Believerism as a commitment to tradition, Veleslav glorifies the spiritual leader of the Old Believers, Protopop Avvvakum, who "rebelled against Antichrist".[1]
On September 15, 2000 ("832 years from the fall of the Jaromarsburg") in Kolomenskoye (Moscow) seventeen communities (including such communities as the "Moscow Veles community", Obninsk community "Triglav", community "Kolyada Vyatichi", Kirov community "Svetoslavichi", Vladivostok community "Shield of Semargl" and others) signed the "Kolomna Appeal to all the Pagan communities of Russia and the near abroad, which established the status of the Pagan faith and regulated the relationships between the communities. The communities of the Kolomna Pagans and the near abroad signed the "Kolomna Appeal to all Pagan communities in Russia and abroad", which established the status of the Pagan faith and regulated the relationship between the communities. The appeal declared the veche principle of leadership. In the text, the Pagan community was called a religious organization rather than a political one, even though questions of an ideological nature remained under its control. Tolerance for diversity was emphasized. In particular, such terms as "paganism", "Rodnovery", "Rodnovery", "Vedism", "Ynglism", "Orthodoxy", etc. were allowed for the name of their faith. The appeal demonstrated a desire for unity, and proclaimed "the inadmissibility of mutual blasphemy. The wish was expressed for regular meetings during the Days of Slavonic Script or Svyatoslav's Day, as well as the exchange of information. As a sign of agreement, a joint ritual was performed at the Alatyr Stone in the Vlesov tract near the village of Kolomenskoye.[1]
In 2002, in memory of Academician B. A. Rybakov, whose controversial mythological constructions many Rodnovers use as a source, Veleslav published a brochure dedicated to "the revival of the original Russian-Slavic Rodnovery".[13][14]
In 2005 Veleslav created the youth-oriented doctrine of Navoslavism, "The Way of the Left Hand," or "Shuyny Way".[15]
In August 2008, after an act of vandalism at one of the temples, four associations, the "Union of Slavic Communities of Slavic Native Faith" (SSO SRV), "Circle of Pagan Tradition" (KJT), "Veles Circle" and "Schoron ezh Sloven[ru]" (Vladimir Golyakov - Bogumil II[ru]), began to unite by creating an advisory council of the four associations. It consisted of two representatives from each association, including Vadim Kazakov and Maxim Ionov (priest Beloyar) from SRV, Dmitry Gavrilov (sorcerer Iggeld) and Sergey Dorofeev (sorcerer Veledor) from KJT, and D. Hasanov (sorcerer Bogumil) from "Veles' circle". The ground for this was a joint statement against the desecration of sacred places revered by pagans, as well as a rejection of what they called "pseudo-paganism".[1] In 2011, the Schoron ezh Slovenes voluntarily left the council.
In May 2012, three neo-pagan associations in Russia (KNT, SSO SRV and "Velesov circle") entered into an agreement "On Slavic priests", in which, among other things, they recognized "pseudoscientific and harmful to Slavic faith" theories on the basis of mythology and folkloristics A. I. Asov (Busa Kresenya), V. Yu. Golyakov (Bogumil the Second), Yu. V. Gomonov, N. V. Levashov, A. V. Trekhlebov, V. A. Shemshuk; theories in the field of language, speech and traditional thinking by N. N. Vashkevich, G. S. Grinevich, M. N. Zadornov, A. Y. Khinevich, V. A. Chudinov; theories in the field of history – Yuri D. Petukhov, A. Tyunyaev, A. T. Fomenko, "as well as their successors, followers and their like".[16][17]
The first clause of the agreement states that only representatives of "Slavic people" can be Slavic priests and priestesses, and in exceptional cases other bearers of "Indo-European tribal heritage and custom" who have adopted Slavic language, culture and "Native Faith" and have proven to belong to "Slavicness".[18]
In December 2013, the SRV, Veles Circle, and KJT condemned Vladimir Kurovsky, leader of the "Ukrainian religious sect" Rodovoye Ognische Slavyanskoe Rodnoi Vera (Slavic Native Faith).[19]
On August 27, 2016, in Kolomenskoye (Moscow) there was a meeting of eighteen magi and priests – representatives of a number of neo-pagan associations – Slavic, "Hellenic", North German, and followers of "European Witchcraft". The meeting was preceded by a long preliminary discussion by a working group of the vital problems of the neo-pagan movement. Represented at the meeting were: "Pagan Federation International" (PFI), SSO SRV, KJT, "Veles Circle", "Moscow Wiccan House", the Olympic Religious League "Liberation of Mind", the almanac "Saga" ("project of the Union of Free Asatru"), "Assembly of Slavic Communities Native Land". A "Veche Center of Pagan Associations" was formed, and in the following months its conceptual documents were adopted. This collegial body consists of 24 neo-pagan figures. It is proposed "to create a Commonwealth of associations (followers of the Natural Faith) in Russia, Belarus and other countries, united by a common historical and cultural space".[20][21][22]
The sorcerer of the Moscow Veles community, Velemir (Zhilko), unlike many other Rodnovers, does not consider the term "paganism" offensive.[1]
Прокофьев А. В., Филатов С. Б., Коскелло А. С. (2006). "Славянское и скандинавское язычества. Викканство". Современная религиозная жизнь России. Опыт систематического описания. Vol.4 (2000 экзed.). М.: Логос. Отв. ред. М. Бурдо, С. Б. Филатов. pp.155–207. ISBN5-98704-057-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
Prav (Правь), Yav (Явь) and Nav (Навь) are the three dimensions or qualities of the cosmos as described in the first chapter of the Book of Light and in the Book of Veles of Slavic Native Faith (Rodnovery). Older sources mention only Nav and Yav concepts of ancient slavic cosmology, similar to Yin and Yang in Taoism, and Prav was not part of the concept. The literal meanings of the Prav, Yav, and Nav words, are, respectively, "Right", "actuality" and "probability". They are also symbolised as a unity by the god Triglav. Already Ebbo documented that the Triglav was seen as embodying the connection and mediation between Heaven, Earth and the underworld / humanity; these three dimensions were also respectively associated to the colours white, green and black as documented by Karel Jaromír Erben.
Slavic mythology or Slavic paganism is the religious beliefs, myths, and ritual practices of the Slavs before Christianisation, which occurred at various stages between the 8th and the 13th century. The South Slavs, who likely settled in the Balkan Peninsula during the 6th–7th centuries AD, bordering with the Byzantine Empire to the south, came under the sphere of influence of Eastern Christianity, beginning with the creation of writing systems for Slavic languages in 855 by the brothers Saints Cyril and Methodius and the adoption of Christianity in Bulgaria in 864 and 863 in Great Moravia. The East Slavs followed with the official adoption in 988 by Vladimir the Great of Kievan Rus'.
The Book of Veles is a literary forgery purporting to be a text of ancient Slavic religion and history supposedly written on wooden planks.
The Slavic Native Faith, commonly known as Rodnovery 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. "Rodnovery" is a widely accepted self-descriptor within the community, although there are Rodnover organisations which further characterise the religion as Vedism, Orthodoxy, and Old Belief.
Slavic fantasy is a sub-genre of contemporary art that developed in the late 90s and early 2000s. Slavic fantasy is distinguished by the incorporation of Slavic folklore, legends, bylinas, and myths into the general canons of fantasy literature. However, its genre boundaries remain indistinct.
Volhv Veleslav, also known as Влх. Велеслав and V.L.S.L.V., is a Russian Rodnover priest. He is also an author, artist, poet, teacher and lecturer. Veleslav is the founder of Rodolubie (Rodoljub) and the Veles circle. His early works form the basis of the Slavic neopaganism movement and its reconstruction. Veleslav is the author of several books on Russian and Slavic traditions, including The Doctrine/Teachings of the Magi: The White Book ; The Black Book of Mara (2008); Living Vedas of Russ: Revelations of Native Gods (2008); the Book of Veles's Tales (2005), and "The Book of the Great Nav" (2011), amongst many others. He has also contributed to the first magazine for Rodnovers, "Родноверие".
Uralic neopaganism encompasses contemporary movements which have been reviving or revitalising the ethnic religions of the various peoples who speak Uralic languages. The movement has taken place since the 1980s and 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union and alongside the ethnonational and cultural reawakening of the Finnic peoples of Russia, the Estonians and the Finns. In fact, Neopagan movements in Finland and Estonia have much older roots, dating from the early 20th century.
In Slavic Native Faith (Rodnovery) there are a number of shared holidays throughout the year, when important ritual activities are set according to shared calendars. Generally speaking, ritual activities may be distinguished into "external" (exoteric) and "internal" (esoteric) relatively to the different communities. External ceremonies are mass gatherings, usually held on important holidays dedicated to the worship of common gods, and involving large numbers of people. Internal ceremonies are those restricted to specific groups, and holding special meaning for such groups; they may comprise private rituals and worship of specific ancestors.
Slavic Native Faith or Slavic Neopaganism in Russia is widespread, according to some estimates from research organisations which put the number of Russian Rodnovers in the millions. The Rodnover population generally has a high education and many of its exponents are intellectuals, many of whom are politically engaged both in the right and the left wings of the political spectrum. Particular movements that have arisen within Russian Rodnovery include various doctrinal frameworks such as Anastasianism, Authentism, Bazhovism, Ivanovism, Kandybaism, Levashovism, Peterburgian Vedism, Slavic-Hill Rodnovery, Vseyasvetnaya Gramota, the Way of Great Perfection, the Way of Troyan, and Ynglism, as well as various attempts to construct specific ethnic Rodnoveries, such as Krivich Rodnovery, Meryan Rodnovery, Viatich Rodnovery. Rodnovery in Russia is also influenced by, and in turn influences, movements that have their roots in Russian cosmism and identify themselves as belonging to the same Vedic culture, such as Roerichism and Blagovery.
Slavic Native Faith and Christianity are mutually critical and often directly hostile to each other. Among the Slavic Native Faith critiques are a view of religious monotheism as the root of mono-ideologies, by which is meant all ideologies that promote "universal and one-dimensional truths", unable to grasp the complexity of reality and therefore doomed to failure one after the other. These mono-ideologies include Abrahamic religions in general, and all the systems of thought and practice that these religions spawned throughout history, including both Marxism and capitalism, the general Western rationalistic mode of thinking begotten by the Age of Enlightenment, and ultimately the technocratic civilisation based on the idea of possession, exploitation and consumption of the environment. They are regarded as having led the world and humanity to a dead-end, and as destined to disappear and to be supplanted by the values represented by Rodnovery itself. To the "unipolar" world created by the mono-ideologies, and led by the American-influenced West, the Rodnovers oppose their political philosophy of "nativism" and "multipolarism".
Slavic Native Faith (Rodnovery) has a theology that is generally monistic, consisting in the vision of a transcendental, supreme God which begets the universe and lives immanentised as the universe itself, present in decentralised and autonomous way in all its phenomena, generated by a multiplicity of deities which are independent hypostases, facets, particles or energies of the consciousness and will of the supreme God itself.
In the Russian intellectual milieu, Slavic Native Faith (Rodnovery) presents itself as a carrier of the political philosophy of nativism/nationalism/populism (narodnichestvo), intrinsically related to the identity of the Slavs and the broader group of populations with Indo-European speaking origins, and intertwined with historiosophical ideas about the past and the future of these populations and their role in eschatology.
The Union of Slavic Communities of the Slavic Native Faith is one of the largest Russian organisations of Slavic Native Faith (Rodnovery) groups, established in 1997, and officially recognised by the government in 2014.
Slavic-Hill Rodnovery is one of the earliest branches of Rodnovery that emerged in Russia in the 1980s founded by Aleksandr Konstantinovich Belov (1957–), and one of the largest Rodnover movements in terms of number of practitioners, counted in the many tens of thousands. The movement is characterised by a military orientation, combining Rodnover worldview with the practice of a martial arts style known as "Slavic-hill wrestling". The locution "Slavic hill" refers to the kurgan, Indo-European warrior mound burials of the Pontic–Caspian steppe.
Modern paganism, also known as contemporary paganism and neopaganism, is a collective term for new religious movements which are influenced by or derived from the various historical pagan beliefs of pre-modern peoples. Although they share similarities, contemporary pagan religious movements are diverse, and as a result, they do not share a single set of beliefs, practices, or texts.
The "Circle of Pagan Tradition" ("CPG") is one of the Russian Slavic Native Faith associations.
Mono-ideologies are a concept in Russian political and philosophical discourse.
Valery Nikolayevich Yemelyanov was a Soviet-Russian Arabist and public figure, teacher of Arabic and Hebrew, and candidate of economic sciences. One of the founders of Russian neo-paganism, a representative of the "first wave" of the Russian neo-pagan movement, the creator of a pseudo-historical concept of the ancient civilization of the "Aryans-Veneti", and an author of antisemitic ideas. He was the founder and chairman of World Anti-Zionist and Anti-Masonic Front (VASAMF) "Pamyat" and author of the books Dezionization and Jewish Nazism and the Asiatic Mode of Production.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
