A special phenomenon of modern religious life is represented by various cults that identify their teachings with a supposedly ancient, pre-Christian tradition. These religious groups are becoming increasingly widespread both in our country and abroad.

We talk about the phenomenon of neo-paganism and the possibility of resisting it with a historian of religion, deputy editor of the journal “Science and Religion” Sergei Antonenko.

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Is the topic of neo-pagan cults touched upon in the pages of your magazine?

Our magazine " Science and religion» engages in comparative comparative study religions. One of the principles of the journal “Science and Religion” is the representation on its pages of all religions, confessions and confessions that exist, be it some ancient religions or relatively new ones. Therefore, stories related to the new religiosity appear here too. For me, of course, the comparison and comparison of the phenomenon of neo-paganism with traditional classical paganism has always been interesting; for our days this topic is relevant and interesting.

Today, neopaganism actively advertises itself using the latest information and communication technologies. This in itself is curious and suggests that people who consider themselves neo-pagans are involved in modern technologies, to the modern world. They love his style. There are no examples of technophobia among neopagans. Fear of electronic technology is more common among conservative Orthodox believers, both New Believers and Old Believers, as well as orthodox conservative Protestants. But, according to my observations, this cannot be found among neo-pagans.

What is known about ancient Russian paganism? Is there any documentary evidence preserved? historical sources) related to it?

If we keep in mind ancient Russian paganism as a kind of integral religious phenomenon, That historical evidence Not much has reached us about him. A certain amount of data has been preserved in chronicles and church texts. There, paganism is described exclusively from the Christian, church side. This is the most important point, which needs to be emphasized. There is not a single authentic written source of ancient Slavic pagan origin recognized by historians. The information that is available in Christian sources reflects the point of view of Christian authors, who, of course, were not too good-natured or too benevolent towards paganism. They denounced him and were not interested in scrupulously preserving any information about this “ trashy faith", which they perceived as a dark, dark past. We have evidence" Tales of Bygone Years”, testimonies, respectively, of ancient Russian chroniclers, testimonies of church preachers and denouncers of paganism. We have literary monuments in which pagan reminiscences can be traced, such as, for example, “ A Word about Igor's Campaign" But there is no systematic information in written sources.

How much folk beliefs and legendsXVII-XIXcenturies, which were collected by Russian ethnographers, are related to pre-Christian Rus'?

Probably, folklore can provide more material. But here you need to be very careful and attentive, because ethnography as a classical, academic discipline experiences its formation, its flowering as a science quite late. This is the first half of the 19th century. During these years in all European countries A movement such as romanticism is developing, including national romanticism, when different peoples are intensively searching for their ancient, national roots. If these roots do not exist (theoretically, it does not happen that a people does not have ancient roots) or little historical reliable data has been preserved about these roots, then these roots begin to be artificially constructed and recreated.

An example is the work of Shpilevsky ( Pavel Mikhailovich Shpilevsky (1823-1861), writer-ethnographer, publicist, literary and theater critic, popularizer of folk cultural heritage Belarusians - approx. ed.) He was a well-known author on the topic of ethnography, one might say, a pioneer in some areas of this science. His first publication was published in 1846, it was his study about the beliefs of the Belarusian people. It was published in the magazine Ministry of Public Education" Shpilevsky was actively quoted by later authors, such as Alexander Nikolaevich Afanasyev(1826-1871) - famous Russian collector of folklore, author of the famous study "". Then, often without mentioning Shpilevsky, many of his provisions were included in other ethnographic works. From a modern point of view, it must be said that many positions, many information reported by Shpilevsky are not confirmed. They are not confirmed by other ethnographic material, written sources, and especially archaeological data. Simple logic suggests that he imagined and fantasized about some things, sometimes constructing pagan gods from very vague folklore ideas, from folk rituals, from the texts of folk songs. Modern ethnographers believe that such a deity as Kupala or Kupala, which Shpilevsky mentions, most likely did not even exist. And there are many similar examples.

Interestingly, there have been cases when authors talking about paganism resorted to direct falsification in sources. But here our Czech friends became more famous for falsifying two manuscripts: the Kraledvor and Zelenogorsk. The Czech ethnographer, philologist and poet, figure in the national revival (1791-1861) and his friends did this. He created two ancient chronicles of the Czech people and presented them as originals, which were recognized in science for many decades. Thus, folklore material must be treated with great care. Of course, what was collected in the era of a more rigorous scientific and academic approach, in late XIX-XX centuries, more reliably.

The third circle of sources is archaeological data. Again, we do not have enough archaeological data to reconstruct a complete, holistic picture of ancient Russian paganism. We can conclude that the Eastern Slavs most likely did not have any architecturally designed temples; they most likely had open temples and places of worship dedicated to the gods. Some kind of idol figures existed. But then again, what did they look like? We can roughly judge from the famous Zbruch idol, but this is almost the only artifact from which we can reconstruct the cosmogonic ideas of the Slavs, in particular, ideas about the tripartite world.

From the editor: z here we're talking about about a Slavic stone idol found near the village Gusyatin(now Ternopil region, Ukraine) in the river Zbruch(tributary of the Dniester) in 1848. The idol is a tetrahedral pillar 2.67 m high, carved from gray limestone. The pillar is divided into three tiers, on each of which different images are carved. The lower tier depicts an underground deity, the middle one - the world of people, the upper one - the gods. The idol is crowned with a round cap. The date of creation of the idol is approximately the 10th century. Chronologically, the date of creation of the idol coincides with the period of existence of the Zbruch cult center. According to archaeological excavations, the idol was installed on the territory of the sanctuary located on the mountain Bohit. There is also a view that this idol is a late fake.

We have three groups of sources, each of which has fairly fragmented information. Only by adding up this information can we somehow reconstruct the picture of pagan beliefs with a certain degree of reliability. We can say that the paganism of the Eastern Slavs was not clearly defined, it was not systematized, there was no special institution of priesthood. This says a lot because we have an example of highly developed Lithuanian paganism, the paganism of the Pomeranian and Polabian Slavs who lived in eastern Germany. There we have information that also mainly and even almost completely comes from Christian chroniclers, there is information about the developed institution of priesthood, with fairly clear ideological ideas, with temples, with bloody, almost human sacrifices.

In Rus' the situation was different, and perhaps this provided Orthodoxy with a fairly easy and quick victory. As historians, we must state that the spiritual, cultural, ideological victory of Orthodoxy was fantastically fast in Rus'. Literally after one, two or three generations, paganism was perceived as hoary antiquity. In a matter of years, a very clear divide arose: on one side of the baptized world are Orthodox Christians, and on the other side are the filthy ones, this is from the Latin “filthy.” The filthy, that is, the pagans, is a term that comes from late Latin and means “hillbilly”, because it is in rural areas The Roman Empire preserved the last pockets of paganism. In Rus', “filthy” will become synonymous with “abomination,” any kind, including religious and cultic.

We see that the baptism of Rus' and the spread of Christianity during Yaroslav the Wise gives an already developed, mature, full-color Christian culture. This is amazing. And we see another interesting point: in Rus' there were no successful attempts to retreat from Christianity and restore paganism at the elite level. Although we know that it was the princely squad that held pagan beliefs quite firmly, but again before Epiphany. At the same time, in, say, the Czech Republic or Bulgaria there were attempts to restore paganism.

What is the phenomenon of modern neo-paganism? Who is behind these societies, what is the essence of their ideology? What rituals do they use and where do they get their knowledge about their tradition?

In the question “Who is worth?” we can go deeper into conspiracy theories, but I wouldn’t want to for the reason that in any negative phenomenon we can see someone’s conscious malicious intent and it is quite possible that it is present. Let us still stand on the basis of facts and try to analyze neo-paganism. Where do neopagans get their rituals and traditions from? Partially taken from folklore studies. The book became the “Bible” for neo-pagans A. N. Afanasyeva « Poetic views of the Slavs on nature", where many customs and rituals are described. But very quickly the neo-pagans themselves began to speculate and develop this cult baggage. In neopaganism there are different groups. I, as a researcher, can identify two main directions in neo-paganism: one we will call “ pochvennicheskoe", and the second - " fantasy».

Soil flow- these are those neo-pagans who are sincerely convinced that even if they speculate or reconstruct something, they are still making their way through the layers of time, the accumulation of some myths that Christians erected, making their way to genuine, pure paganism, to pure faith, Old Russian, which was in the old days.

Fantasy neo-paganism much freer, does not bind itself with the need to correlate very accurately with ancient Russian realities. A striking example of this is the so-called. " english church", a community of Ynglings who, by the way, also call themselves " Old Believers" And " Orthodox" They even have sign of the cross, which they commit, and two-fingered. This is such a parody of Christianity and at the same time, interestingly, it is a parody of the once genuine Scandinavian and Celtic paganism. It is also a parody of the Vedic tradition that survives in India. Ingliism is such an eclectic mixture of various teachings and beliefs, framed as such a religion of the New Age era.

Ynglings with amazing spontaneity accept a certain “ Holy Bible”, which their leader the sorcerer preaches Alexander Yurievich Khinevich. He reports that there is an original text " Slavic-Aryan Vedas", which, from the point of view of science and religion, is all extremely funny. But, on the other hand, it’s sad because people fall into the orbit of these movements and strange teachings. After some time, their perspective changes, their vision changes, they take seriously what they are told. And dialogue with them is already very difficult. I would not downplay the dangers of neo-paganism, despite the fact that for me, as a religious scholar, neo-paganism cannot be considered a full-fledged religious phenomenon. It is rather part of such an eclectic aesthetic space of the modern postmodern era.

Why is it difficult to talk about religiosity here? - Because almost none of the neo-pagans perceive their gods as living, real creatures. Even those of them who seriously enter some constructed pseudo-spiritual space are more associated with some kind of ritual, with some rites, magical actions, occult, in essence, practices, rather than with a real sincere belief that behind this or that natural phenomenon there is a divine personality. This is very important principle. Ancient paganism was personalistic. I think everyone will feel and understand this if they read ancient literary monuments, where we feel the presence of a personal principle behind certain phenomena. The Greeks and Romans had a clearly defined pantheon, they had initiation rituals, an exoteric and esoteric component, temples, and priesthood. Greek paganism was associated with a very powerful ancient culture, which is why it took so long to disappear.

Are there no such groups in Greece that are trying to revive paganism?

There are plenty of them. Neopaganism is a fashionable European trend. It is associated with disappointment in Christianity. The modern Western world is rapidly de-Christianizing. I sometimes read the works of our church publicists, priests, who strive to defend correct, harmonious communication in the triangle state - church - society, and at the same time they refer to modern Western experience and say:

Look how in Europe, like America, religion and churches are integrated into the life of society and the state.

But they were completely late with these statements, because before our eyes, religion and the church are being squeezed out of the life of Western society and the state. But neo-pagan movements are flourishing. Of course, postmodernism offers a slightly different scheme, it says that there is no need to isolate yourself within the framework of one doctrine, one teaching, even if it is the newest, most modern. The ideal of postmodernism is the free construction of one’s own spiritual program, into which one can include elements from different teachings: the newest and the most ancient.

Returning to the neo-pagans, we can say that some of their rituals are quite spectacular. I note that a lot creative people enters this movement, one way or another joins it, because creative people are attracted by the opportunity to freely express themselves, to express themselves also in such an interesting aesthetic sphere. I think this is also one of the objective strengths neopaganism.

From the editor: in modern Greece there is an informal pagan association, the so-called “ Supreme Council of the Hellenes" Its supporters have been seeking official recognition and state registration for many years. However, the Greek state, on the one hand, recognizing and protecting the monuments of ancient pagan culture, perceives the restored Greek paganism as an unknown religion, alien to the historical traditions of Greece.

Why is neo-paganism so popular, especially among young people and the middle generation? What can be opposed to this?

Paganism is popular largely due to its vivid imagery, bright and unusual rituals and festivals that go beyond everyday life. And for Christians, this means that Christian culture, the church, has lost a lot of the baggage that helped in its time to overcome ancient paganism. What our Russian theologians called “ sanctification of everyday life”, when people’s lives were imbued with the spiritual, church principle. This life was not boring, it was tasty, bright, full. Now most people have a perception of Orthodoxy, of Christianity in general, as a kind of conservative, inexpressive phenomenon, into which people go who avoid everything ringing, bright, juicy. This irritates them, they want something modest, restrained, and so they instinctively begin to join various kinds of conservative Christian trends. Of course, they do not understand what true Christianity is, they do not understand that Christianity was accepted in Rus', first of all, thanks to its powerful, victorious, backhanded aesthetics, filled with beauty as holiness. This is exactly how Christian beauty was perceived in Rus'. And now the neo-pagans are intercepting this and, I must say, quite successfully.

Of course, since 1988, when the persecution of religion began to subside, something has been done. But in fact this is very little. The expectations that many had of returning to the temple on an all-Russian scale were not realized. The search for faith, the search for something that goes beyond everyday life continues, including in neo-paganism. But I think that neo-paganism is not capable of satisfying a genuine religious feeling, which is why neo-pagan societies are unstable, they constantly fall apart, quarrel among themselves, and are at enmity. But, nevertheless, people come there. And spiritually dissatisfied youth will come there; I foresee the growth of this movement. On the other hand, I can say that neo-pagan cults are very harmful to science. In history, as in any science, there are little-studied phenomena, for example, the connection between Sanskrit and the Russian language. Pagans interpret these incompletely studied phenomena in their favor, thereby discrediting research activities in this direction.

What can Christian denominations, the same Old Believers, oppose to neo-paganism?

To contrast the genuine, the real, the true with what was. After all, neopagans begin by saying: “ We represent the true, authentic Ancient Rus' ", and the Old Believers here have every right to say:

No, guys, you are impostors. We represent the genuine, true Rus'.

After all, the Old Believers, unlike the New Believer Church, preserved, in addition to the liturgical heritage, also a significant layer of everyday culture. If for the overwhelming majority of New Believers the principles that were laid down in “ Domostroy"and other monuments, this is something long past, but for the Old Believers it is the basis of their worldview and even everyday life.

And, of course, the Old Believers, as the bearer of this wonderful, bright, rich tradition of life, way of life, positive perception of God’s world and rooting in it on Christian foundations, can be a powerful alternative to neo-paganism.

The regimental archives represent a source that is contemporary with the First World War; they do not bear the imprint of future events that shook Russia. Therefore, they give the reader a unique opportunity to familiarize themselves with the facts, and not with their later interpretations, to trace events day by day and form their own opinion about the most important period of Russian history.

The study reveals the features of the formation of the East Slavic ethnosphere in the Russian Caucasus. The impact of the demographic factor on the effectiveness of the integration process is highlighted. The religious aspects of the policy being pursued are also analyzed. For the first time, the author introduces information from various sources into scientific circulation, allowing us to restore the historical reality of the development of the region by settlers from the central and southwestern regions of the state, including representatives of Russian Protestantism (Dukhobors, Molokans, Old Believers). Designed for specialists who are all interested in the specifics of the southern areas of the country and the changes that occurred within their borders during the period of the revolutionary crisis and civil war 1917-1921

Krylov A.B. Armenia in modern world. Digest of articles. 2004

The book examines the demographic situation in the Republic of Azerbaijan (AR). The analysis is based not only on official Azerbaijani statistics, but also on data from authoritative international organizations. It is shown that in the AR the picture of migration flows, mortality and birth rate statistics, data on the annual growth rate and sex composition of the population are consistently distorted. These manipulations make it possible to artificially increase the population of the Republic of Azerbaijan by 2.0 2.2 million people.

Analysis of political decisions and projects regarding regional conflicts requires special consideration of their language. IN modern linguistics and philosophy, language is considered not so much as a tool for describing reality, but as a mechanism and form of its construction. Suitable for various social functions different modes of language use lead to the formation various types reality (or ideas about it). One of them is political reality - it, of course, cannot be reduced only to linguistic rules, but in principle it is inexpressible without them...

The monograph provides a comprehensive analysis of the historical circumstances and theories that contributed to the disunity of the East Slavic community and the establishment of the borders of the “Ukrainian state”, the conditionality of which manifested itself in the conditions of the modern crisis...

With the support of the British embassies in Armenia and Azerbaijan, the Region Research Center (Armenia) and the Institute for Peace and Democracy (Azerbaijan) are implementing the project “Expanding knowledge about the “other side” and promoting mutual understanding between Armenians and Azerbaijanis through first-hand information” ( April 2012 - April 2014). This is a new round of work aimed at expanding the knowledge of Armenians and Azerbaijanis about each other.

- CAUCASIAN WORLD - COSMOPOLITAN BELT - MANIFESTO OF IDENTITY - TRAPPLE OF THE NATIONAL - DISPLACEMENT FOLKLORE - ETHNOLOGICAL MEMORY - METACODE OF BEING

The collection analyzes various aspects of the external relations of the Caspian countries, which developed in the context of the global financial and economic crisis, as well as the actions of their most important foreign policy and economic partners - primarily the USA and China. Assessments of the impact of these processes on the interests of Russia are offered...

The yearbook traces the main trends, processes and most important events in the relations between the countries of the Center, the Semi-Periphery and the Periphery, as well as Russia’s position in this interaction.

...Until now, regimental archives are little known even to specialist historians and are used very limitedly... The archives of the regiments of the Russian army, which are stored in the Russian State Military Historical Archive, provide an opportunity to learn about events from a unique primary source...

The paper discussed the problem of the vision about the issues concerning the direction of development of Georgia’s economy after the restoration of the country’s independence and the model upon which it should be based. The victory of the Georgian Dream coalition in the Parliamentary elections of 1 October 2012 made the issue of choice topical again in Georgia as high priority was given to the subject of which vector of development needed to become determining after the nine-year governance of the United National Movement led by Mikheil Saakashvili.

The work presents the generalized alphabets of the Western and Eastern Caucasian languages ​​in the special font Aria Caucasica Unicode developed by us, based on the isometric principles of the Arial family, along with the phonetic transcription of letters in IPA notation.

...The stated facts, the number of which could be significantly increased, undoubtedly testify not only to the close socio-economic and political ties of the Ubykh people with their southwestern neighbors, but also to the fact that the Ubykhs, having an undeniable ethnic individuality, which is indicated, first of all, by their presence independent language, excluding their identification with the Abkhazian or Adyghe tribes found in the literature, at the same time showed great ethno-cultural closeness specifically to the Abkhazians in a single Abkhaz-Adyghe group of related peoples.

...It is natural that modern development science in the Soviet republics of Transcaucasia - Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan - and in the Caucasus has changed the traditional content of Caucasian studies as a historically established complex discipline... Individual problems of the history and culture of the Caucasus and Transcaucasia may still require their solution through a comprehensive consideration...

V.V. Latyshev is the author of classical works, highest value among them are: “A collection of ancient inscriptions found in the Northern Black Sea region” (in 2 volumes, in 4 issues, 1885-1901), “News of ancient writers, Greek and Latin, about Scythia and the Caucasus” (in 2 volumes, 5th issue, 1893-1906, originals and Russian translation; Russian translation republished in 1947-1949 in the journal “Bulletin of Ancient History”)...

The annual campaigns of the Ubykhs against Abkhazia deserve special attention due to many circumstances and especially due to the extraordinary difficulties with which they are carried out...

Scientific mission to the Caucasus by Mr. Ernest Chantre, Deputy Director of the Lyon Museum. 1881. Photo gallery.

The head of Lesnoy Ural Lobva LLC, Sergei Antonenko, is confident that the new enterprise has a good prospect, and Residents of the village of Lobva have a stable job with decent pay (!).

Opening the Fifth Regional Folk Song Festival “Lyalinsky Poreche-2017”, the head of the Novolyalinsky urban district Sergei Bondarenko heartily thanked everyone who helped in arranging the park. A large stage right on the river bank - the decoration of the square - appeared thanks to the help of the Lesnoy Ural Lobva enterprise, for which to CEO Sergei Antonenko was awarded Letter of thanks Head of the Novolyalinsky urban district.

This certificate gives me the right to call myself not only a Serov entrepreneur, but also a Lobvin entrepreneur. The stage needed strong timber and boards, we fulfilled this request from the administration, we hope to continue to cooperate with the district leadership and work in the village of Lobva. We opened a new production there and are ready to participate in all good endeavors in this territory,” Sergei Antonenko said then.

Head of LLC "Lesnoy Ural Lobva"

Sergey Antonenko

Serov residents have known this enterprise for more than ten years - it was the one that breathed new life and gave work to three hundred residents of the village of Krasnoyarka, and now it has opened its production site in another, almost abandoned village - Chernoyarka. We talked with Sergei Nikolaevich about why it was decided to develop a new production in Lobva on the eve of the start of the new logging season.

We started working on this territory in 2013, considering it as a platform for a large investment project in the field of forest development. It received the approval and support of the government of the Sverdlovsk region, as well as the Ministry of Industry and Trade Russian Federation. There is already an order classifying this project as a priority, which made it possible to allocate the logging fund for 49 years with payment of 50% per unit of standing resource.

This government decision not only makes it possible to work for the future, but also to direct serious investments in technology and the development of new capacities.

Without good modern technology there is nothing to do in the forest, but technology is powerless without skillful hands. It's no secret that in our villages people have worked in logging and woodworking for many decades. These people are close and understand the values ​​of both a logger and a forester; they are not afraid of working in difficult conditions. Often children and grandchildren continue the work of their fathers and grandfathers. This is exactly what the village of Lobva is like in the Novolyalinsky urban district. And the entire Novolyalinsky district can be considered forestry - after all, in one way or another, many enterprises from Soviet times to the present day are connected with the forestry business.

Any production begins with raw materials. A busy and responsible timber harvesting season lies ahead.

In the 2017/18 season, it is planned to master the estimated logging area and prepare an off-season supply of raw materials, so as not to be left without work in the summer and begin the construction of processing facilities, namely a modern sawmill, production of power line supports, wood drying, composition of the line of timber - lumber for house building. There are also projects for processing birch raw materials. Of course, we need specialist workers, first of all, for logging - operators for the harvester-forwarder complex, tractor drivers, receptionists, forest foremen, forestry department specialists. It’s good that Lobva is rich in such personnel; people constantly come up to us and are interested in opportunities and working conditions. According to the investment project, we should create 156 jobs, but I think that there will be from 250 to 300 (!).

The appearance of an enterprise with serious intentions and production volumes on the territory of the Novoyalinsky district means, first of all, an increase in tax revenues to the municipal budget.

I would also like to draw your attention to the fact that the company’s employees will have the entire social package - vacation pay, sick leave, length of service, timely and decent salary. We also have various ways to encourage and support people in difficult times, at the birth of a child, and even pay for the funeral of loved ones.

Particular attention in “Forest Urals” is to human health. Periodic medical examinations with visiting specialists, vaccination against tick-borne encephalitis and influenza at the expense of the enterprise has become common practice.

As a civilized enterprise, we work within the law and are obliged to take care of the health of our employees.

At a recent meeting of the Ural Union of Timber Industry, Deputy Minister of Industry and Science of the Sverdlovsk Region Igor Zelenkin said that the intensification of work in the forestry industry, as well as an increase in the volume of logging should go through 100% wood processing.

The Governor of the Sverdlovsk Region, Evgeny Kuyvashev, has identified such priorities for the five-year period as the creation of new modern high-tech production facilities and an increase in the volume of shipped products. The most important reserve for increasing the resources of wood raw materials in the forest industry is low-grade wood, logging waste and waste from primary wood processing. Comprehensive and complete use of wood allows us to consider waste as a secondary wood resource, the processing of which will significantly increase production efficiency, emphasized Igor Zelenkin.

By the way, Sergei Antonenko was re-elected vice-president of the timber industry union at this meeting.

Trade in round timber is a dead-end path for the development of an enterprise. If you chop one “needles”, it ends sooner or later. Only processing of all wood can make forest management truly profitable and inexhaustible.

The emergence of a new company on the territory of Novaya Lyalya did not go unnoticed by the district leadership; moreover, it was supported by the administration.

Together with Sergei Alexandrovich Bondarenko we worked on investment program since 2013. Together we went through this long journey of bureaucratic procedures. I am glad that we have developed a good business relationship and complete mutual understanding.

TAMARA ROMANOVA.