How old is paganism as a religion? A pagan is a foreigner, a non-religious person. Magic and magical rituals

a set of popular ideas about supernatural forces that control the world and people. On their path to the true God, the Russian people steadily rejected the cruel cults and rituals of ancient beliefs, selecting among them only what was close to their soul. In their quest for light and goodness, the Russian people, even before accepting Christianity, came to the idea of ​​monotheism.

The first beginnings of national consciousness and philosophical understanding of the world (see: Philosophy) carry the idea that man is good by nature, and evil in the world is a deviation from the norm. In ancient Russian views, the idea of ​​improvement and transformation of the human soul on the principles of good and evil clearly emerges. In ancient Russian pagan cults, the moral side (the principle of goodness) prevailed over the magical one. The moral, poetic view of our ancient ancestors on nature was noted by A.N. Afanasiev. The pagan gods personified the moral foundations of existence. For our ancestors, paganism is more of a spiritual and moral culture than a religion. The basis of worship is the all-creating forces of nature, which for Russian people are good, good and beautiful. Everything related to kindness and goodness is deified.

Russian people felt a blood connection with pagan deities who personified good. He considered them his ancestors. As rightly noted by A.N. Afanasyev: “The Slav felt his kinship with the light, white deities, for from them are sent the gifts of fertility, which support the existence of all life on earth... “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” speaks of the Slavs as the grandchildren of the Sun - Dazhbog. Representatives of creativity and life , the gods of light, were personified by fantasy in beautiful and mostly youthful images; ideas about the highest justice and good were associated with them."

The leading expert on paganism B.A. Rybakov believes that initially the Slavs “put their demands on ghouls and beregins,” personifying two opposite principles - evil and good, hostile to man and protecting man.

Later, in the consciousness of ancient Russian people, higher (essentially moral) forces were expressed in the idea of ​​​​Roda. It was not just God, but rather the idea of ​​the Universe, which included all the highest and vitally important concepts of the existence of Russian man. B.A. Rybakov notes that the name Rod is associated with a wide range of concepts and words, in which the root is “genus”:

Clan (family, tribe, dynasty) Nature People Give birth, give birth Homeland Harvest

Thus, in the popular consciousness, family, people, homeland, nature, harvest are embodied in a single symbol. The idea of ​​the Family and its veneration persisted many centuries after the adoption of Christianity. It was only in vain that the Church persecuted its children when they filled their cups in honor of Rod. This was not the worship of a pagan deity, but the traditional veneration of the moral principle of the universe, which was embodied by the concept of Rod.

Having deciphered the reliefs of the ancient monument of Russian pagan culture, the Zbruch Idol (10th century), B.A. Rybakov represents the world of pagan beliefs of the Russian people in this way:

CELESTIAL SPHERE

Dazhbog is the deity of light, the Sun, the giver of blessings, the mythical ancestor of the Russian people - “Dazhbog’s grandchildren.”

Perun is the god of thunder and lightning, the patron saint of warriors. Earthly space.

Mokosh is the “mother of the harvest,” the mistress of the symbolic cornucopia. One of two women giving birth.

Lada is the second woman in labor, the patroness of the spring vegetative power and marriages.

People - a round dance of men and women placed at the foot of the deities.

UNDERWORLD

Veles (Volos) is the benevolent god of the Earth in which the ancestors rest. Carefully holds on his shoulders the plane of earthly space with people on it.

Considering the world of beliefs of pre-Christian Rus', one should once again emphasize its moral rather than religious character. The gods are ancestors who exercise constant moral guardianship over the living and demand the fulfillment of their covenants. Deities are reflections of the good principles of life that should be worshiped. The cult of goodness and the cult of ancestors are the main content of ancient Russian beliefs.

The most ancient layer of beliefs in Rus', after the period of “ghouls and beregins”, clearly gravitates towards monotheism. The pagan idea of ​​Rod as the creator of the universe, the creator of the entire visible and invisible world comes close to the Christian ideas about the God of Hosts - God the Father, Creator of all things. Slavs, wrote in mid. VI century Procopius of Caesarea believes that “God alone, the creator of lightning, is ruler over all.” There is a struggle between Light and Darkness, Good and Evil in the world. The main attributes of God are Light and Good. The creature closest to God is Light. It is symbolized by the Sun. The being Svetlo appeared on earth and incarnated in the Russian people, who, according to ancient beliefs, come from the Sun. B.A. Rybakov gives a very convincing diagram of the manifestations of the solar cult in Ancient Rus' and its connection with the fate and worldview of the Russian people.

1. Horse ("round") - the deity of the Sun as a luminary. In "The Tale of Igor's Campaign" he is called the "Great Horse". In all likelihood, a very ancient deity, ideas about which preceded the idea of ​​a luminous heavenly god like Apollo. The cult of the Sun-luminary was clearly manifested among Chalcolithic farmers, and already in the Bronze Age the idea of ​​the night sun making its underground journey along the “sea of ​​darkness” appeared. The name Khorsa was preserved in the ritual vocabulary of the 19th century. (“round dance”, “horoshul”, “horo”).

2. Kolaksai - the mythical king of the Skolots - the Proto-Slavs. Interpreted as the Sun-king (from “kolo” - circle, sun).

3. Skoloti - Dnieper Proto-Slav plowmen, named after their king Kolaksai. The self-name is based on the same root “kolo” - the sun, which is also in the name of the king. The legend recorded by Herodotus allows us to translate the word “chipped off” as “descendants of the Sun.”

4. Dazhbog. Divine mythical king, sometimes called the Sun. God is the giver of blessings. The change in name reflected the expansion of ideas about the solar deity.

5. “Dazhbozh’s grandson”, i.e. “grandson of the Sun”, a Russian prince from the Dnieper region is called, which makes it possible to bring together the echoes of pagan myths that survived until the 12th century. n. e., with ancient myths about the descendants of the Sun, which existed in the same places in the 5th century. BC.

In 980 books. Vladimir, having come to power, carried out a kind of reform of paganism and ordered the establishment of a new pantheon of the main pagan deities in Kyiv. It included Perun, Khors, Dazhbog, Stribog, Semaragl, Mokosh. B.A. Rybakov, who compared the composition of Vladimir’s pantheon and the lists of gods from other sources, established that the discrepancy between them concerns part of Rod and Svarog. In his opinion, these are not different deities, but only different names of one deity. The heavenly deity of the pagans could be called both Rod (the creative, birthing principle predominates), and Svarog ("heavenly"), and Stribog (heavenly father god). Perun, the god of thunder, was also a heavenly deity.

The high moral character of the pagan views of the Russian people spiritualized their life, creating the beginnings of a high spiritual culture. Myths and tales about gods and goddesses fostered an artistic, poetic, imaginative view of the world. In a cultural sense, ancient Russian pagan mythology was in no way inferior to ancient Greek pagan mythology, and in a spiritual and moral sense it was superior to it. In the myths of Ancient Greece, the main emphasis was on the worship of strength, the sexual side of life, and the equality of good and evil. In the myths of Ancient Rus', the emphasis was placed differently - the worship of light and goodness, the condemnation of evil, the cult of productive force as a function of fertility and prolongation of the family, and not the erotic savoring of sensual details.

The worship of the one God in the image of the sun, symbolizing light and goodness, Rod, Dazhbog, inspired the entire life of the ancestors of the Russian people. The motives for this worship can be traced back to the Skolot period, even in the very name Skolot - descendants of the Sun. Each week began with Sunday, which in ancient times was called the day of the Sun, and later Dazhbozh's day. In relation to God (Rod, Dazhbog), all other deities were derivatives of him and, perhaps, were even his different names and incarnations. At a time when Russian people considered themselves Dazhboz's grandchildren, Thursday was dedicated to Perun, Friday to Mokoshi, Saturday to Veles and the ancestors who rest in the earth.

The annual cycle of pagan rituals was correlated with the solar calendar, and the most significant ritual actions were performed on the days of the winter and summer solstice - at the junction of January and December and in June.

On December 26, the god Rod, the creator of all things, and the women in labor accompanying him were celebrated. For almost two weeks, until Veles Day (January 6), merry festivities took place, the so-called carols, or winter rusalia. For ritual purposes, they dressed up a sheaf or a straw doll, calling them Kolyada. He embodied the baby sun, the newborn young sun, i.e. the sun of next year. The image of Kolyada apparently implied the annually renewed god Rod and the inevitability of the victory of the bright and good principle over the evil. The evil deity of this time was considered Karachun, whose name the ancient Slavs named the day of the winter solstice. According to ancient beliefs, severe frosts and the revelry of evil spirits and witches can be overcome with cheerful festivities and joyful spells in honor of the solar god. Winter carols coincided with Great Friday in honor of the goddess Mokosha, to whom women especially prayed. On January 6, the pagans turned to the god of cattle and wealth, Veles, asking him for fertility, a good harvest and prosperity.

At the beginning of February, ancient Russian pagans celebrated Gromnitsa - a holiday in honor of the god Perun and the veneration of fire. On February 11, they turned to the god of livestock and wealth, Veles, begging him to save domestic animals in the last winter month. Together with Veles (Volos), Volosyn was celebrated on the same day, apparently his wives, who were represented to the Russians in the form of the Pleiades constellation. They performed a special ritual of calling out to the stars. There is information that it was on this day that a woman suspected of evil intentions and intercourse with evil spirits was buried in the ground.

In pagan Rus', the year began on March 1. On this day they celebrated Avsenya, the deity of the change of seasons, prosperity, fertility, as well as Pozvizda, the deity of winds, storms and bad weather.

In March, the so-called Dead Carols. To overcome the dead forces of winter and usher in spring, they baked larks from dough, climbed onto trees and roofs with them and asked for early warm weather. Twice this month - on March 9 and 25, the goddess of love Lada was celebrated. From the day of the vernal equinox (March 25), Komoeditsy was celebrated - a bear holiday (in Christian times called Maslenitsa). They performed a ritual of worship of Perun. They lit fires, jumped over the fire to cleanse themselves of evil spirits, and thanked Perun for the beginning of spring. At the end of the holiday, a straw doll was burned at the stake, symbolizing evil and death.

In April, pagans worshiped deities associated with love, procreation and family life - Lada, Yarila and Lelya. On April 22, everyone got up before dawn and climbed the high hills to see the sunrise from there. This was one of the rituals of the cult of Dazhbog.

On the first and second of May, the pagans again praised the goddess of love Lada. On May 10, they prayed for the fertility of the Earth, believing that on this day the Earth had a birthday. On May 11, Perun was worshiped - Tsar Fire, Tsar Thunder, Tsar Grad. On this day, as a rule, there were the first May thunderstorms.

In June, after completing heavy agricultural work, Russian pagans prayed to their deities for the preservation of seeds and crops, for warm rains and a good harvest. The fertility of the earth and the continuation of the human race in their minds were linked in a single image of a ritual character, and perhaps even a deity, Yarila, personifying fertility and sexual power. Rituals associated with Yarila began on June 4 and were repeated two more times this month. June 19-24 was Rusal Week, the culmination of which was the holiday of Kupala, the deity of summer, the patron of wild fruits and summer flowers. Bonfires were lit in the fields, and round dances and singing were held around them. To cleanse themselves of evil spirits, they jumped over fires and then drove their cattle between them. On June 29, the holiday of the Sun was celebrated - Dazhbog, Svarog, Horse and Lada were worshiped. Before the Kupala holiday (June 24), Mokoshi rituals were performed.

The pagan rituals of July and August were predominantly associated with prayers for rain, and after the start of the harvest (July 24) with prayers for the cessation of the rains. After the end of the harvest, August 7 is the festival of first fruits and harvest. On July 19, Mokosh was celebrated, and the next day - Perun himself. After the harvest was completed, a small piece of unharvested bread was left on the field - “For Veles on his beard.”

Seeing off summer in September began with rituals dedicated to Belbog, the deity of light, goodness, luck and happiness. On September 8, Rod and women in labor were venerated. On September 14, according to ancient beliefs, the pagans believed that birds and snakes went to Irie, a warm paradise country, where eternal summer reigns and the world tree grows.

October in pagan rituals was dedicated to Mokoshi (Mother of Cheese Earth), the deity of fertility, fate, and the feminine. With the onset of cold weather in November, Russian pagans turned to the god of fire Perun and the goddess Mokoshi, begging them to be warmed and preserved, and on November 26 they performed rituals to the lord of light and goodness - Dazhbog, while simultaneously praying to the evil god Karachun to save them from death and loss of livestock.

The Baptism of Rus' in 988 transformed the Russian people. The Philokalia, the spiritual and moral values ​​that our ancestors worshiped from ancient times, found an ideal embodiment in Russian Orthodoxy. Only in Christianity did the Russian people receive real religious consciousness. In turn, Russian saints and ascetics raised Christianity to enormous spiritual heights. No other country in the world had so many saints and ascetics who confirmed the triumph of Orthodoxy with their lives. While faith was dying in the West, a religious upsurge was taking place in Russia, in the 20th century. crowned with the crown of thorns of millions of martyrs for Orthodoxy. Against the backdrop of all this, the allegations about dual faith allegedly existing in Russia - the simultaneous confession of Christianity and paganism - are absurd. In fact, from the ancient pagan rituals, the Russian people retained only the musical song and dance element - round dances, songs, games. The rituals performed were not of a religious nature, but were only a continuation of the folk aesthetic tradition. The names of most of the pagan gods were forgotten, and the remaining ones - Kupala, Lada, Yarilo - were perceived as playable characters in folk rituals.

Some of the former pagan deities and evil spirits in the popular consciousness acquired the character of evil spirits and quite organically fit into Christian demonology, being considered as the embodiment of Satan. Communicating with the world of demons was considered a terrible crime among the Russian people. Witches and sorcerers caught in this were destroyed, the peasants burned them or drowned them in water by lynching.

Excellent definition

Incomplete definition ↓

What is paganism? What does the Church warn us against? What did the ancient Slavs believe in and what were the pagan gods? We will tell you why you should not get carried away by belief in the “magical” power of church rituals, whether pagans always believe in several gods, and what Scripture says about paganism.

Paganism: what is it?

In modern theology, paganism can be called any religion that professes polytheism. However, not all pagan beliefs are polytheistic (that is, they worship many gods). Pagan gods, as is correct, are more like humans. This is due to the fact that a person came up with them based on his own qualities. Many natural phenomena were previously explained by the anger or mercy of pagan gods. Paganism is the oldest “religion”, most people have become disillusioned with the beliefs of their ancestors, but pagans still exist.

Pagans deify the “created” world, that is, they worship what the Lord created. Idolatry and giving honor to stones, trees, water, the forces of nature, fire and other elements are paganism.

Pagan religions

The religious ideas of the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Celts and other peoples are in many ways similar, since with the help of divine intervention people tried to explain natural phenomena or their own feelings that were incomprehensible to them. That is why there were gods of anger or gods of love. People attributed human qualities to supernatural beings to explain the nature of strong feelings that they could not cope with.

In the modern understanding, paganism is:

1. For Christians - any religion that is not related to Christianity. From the point of view of a Christian, there is only one God - our Lord Jesus Christ and other “gods” do not exist, which means they cannot be worshiped. The Biblical commandment speaks about this.
2. All religions professing polytheism.
3. Ritualism is a belief in the mystical power of church rituals, divorced from the Holy Scriptures. Unfortunately, paganism is also found among those who sincerely consider themselves Christians, but at the same time do not know the basics of the doctrine, giving importance to external rituals - “light a candle”, “read a prayer for damage and good luck”. All this has nothing to do with Orthodoxy.

Paganism of the ancient Slavs

The word “paganism” comes from the word “language”, which used to mean “people”. Paganism is a folk belief and can be interpreted as a collection of ancient myths.

The gods of the Slavs are unsympathetic and vengeful characters. Fragments of Indo-European religions coalesced into the worship of mostly evil Slavic gods. The gods common to all Slavic tribes are Perun and Mother Earth. Perun is a formidable thunderer, commanding the elements. Mother-Raw Earth is rather a positive image of the nurse and protector of people.

The eastern and western Slavs had different pantheons of gods. This is largely due to the weather conditions in the area and what exactly people were doing. So Stribog, the god of the wind, was in the pantheon of Prince Vladimir. Mokosh, the patroness of weaving, was also there. There was a god-blacksmith Svarog.

Some deities belonged to calendar dates - Maslenitsa, Kupala were considered more like “people's favorites” and were mythical game characters.

The Western Slavs believed in Chernobog, who brought bad luck and sent misfortunes, in Svyatovit, the god of war, and Zhiva, a female deity who protected certain territories.

In addition, there were a huge number of spirits, brownies, forest inhabitants and other mythical creatures:

• Mermaid
• Ghoul
• Werewolf
• Kikimora
• Water
• Goblin
• Baba Yaga

We know many of them as fairy-tale characters.

Neopaganism

After the Baptism of Rus', a lot has changed. Paganism was exterminated by Prince Vladimir using rather harsh methods. However, new spiritual practices based on shamanism have also appeared, which theologians also refer to paganism.

These teachings can be considered syncretic, formed under the influence of various beliefs and. based on a common philosophy. The Russian Orthodox Church condemns paganism as a false faith. Patriarch Alexy II called neo-paganism “one of the main threats of the 21st century,” considering it as dangerous as terrorism and putting it on a par with “other destructive phenomena of our time.”

Many neo-pagans commit dangerous occult acts and are often aggressive towards representatives of monotheistic religions, condemning Prince Vladimir for his drastic inculcation of Christianity.

Despite the fact that pagans strive to understand the essence of things and surrounding phenomena, they move on the wrong path, deifying what the True Lord created. The New Testament speaks about “pagan” ritual belief in Christianity: “Not everyone who says to Me: “Lord! God!" He who does the will of My Father in heaven will enter the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 7:21).

Christians can pray for pagans to gain faith in the Lord. Infatuation with magism, the occult and other pagan trends can be dangerous to the soul, and sometimes to human life and health.

Paganism is a religion or complex of religions that are not Christian. However, they had nothing to do with Islam or Judaism. The term was simply coined by Christians. Typically, paganism refers to any polytheistic religion. The name “paganism” itself appeared much later. And the belief itself arose before the new era. Then man had no knowledge other than what he could observe in nature. All occurring phenomena were explained by divine forces. It is difficult to remember which peoples were not pagans. Almost the entire population living at that time went through this stage of development of beliefs and religious views. And only a few centuries after the beginning of the new era, paganism was replaced by modern world religions.

The question remains controversial and interesting whether paganism is a religion. Here opinions are divided. Some consider paganism to be a combination of many polytheistic religions. Some say this is the world's first religion. For others, paganism includes not only the concept of religion, but also other aspects of human life. This point of view is closer to us. But for simplicity, we will say that paganism is a religion.

Paganism, having common features and basic concepts, differed among different peoples. That’s why we talk about Slavic paganism, Roman paganism, Scandinavian paganism and others. What did they have in common?

Paganism is the ancient religion of the Slavs. However, religion is too narrow a concept, as has already been said. After all, paganism for our ancestors was a whole worldview system, a unique culture with its own characteristics. The religion of Slavic paganism appeared and achieved its development and independence at the dawn of the first millennium of the new era. Before this, there was a common religion for all Indo-European tribes.

Slavic religion (paganism) was a combination of the following main features:

Like all pagan religions, Slavic paganism was polytheistic. For whom the terms polytheism and paganism are the same thing, synonyms. However, this is not quite true. Paganism is a larger, more comprehensive concept. This is not only belief in many gods.

But let's return to Slavic polytheism. Each of the “participants” of the pagan pantheon was responsible for one or another natural phenomenon or aspect of human life. For example, Perun is the god of thunder, Lada is the goddess of love, and so on. Each god was represented in a certain image, with his characteristic appearance and attributes.

Why did the pagans need gods? They, in fact, were peculiar representatives of nature, higher powers. Gods were not worshiped, gods were glorified. The Slavs did not ask them for forgiveness. They were asked for a good harvest, health, success in war, in love. Moreover, you had to ask the corresponding deity. For the most revered and important, pagan temples were built - temples, sanctuaries. Some kind of worship services were held there. But the mediators between gods and people were magicians and priests. They had extraordinary wisdom. Also, sacrifices or demands were made to the gods. Do not think that the victims were human and bloody. Not at all. They brought food, grain, and flowers as gifts to the gods. Holidays were held in honor of the gods.

The Slavs had a unique idea of ​​the existing world. The god Rod was considered the One Creator. It was he who created the three worlds. Rule - the Higher world, the divine, the world of wisdom and laws. Nav is the world of the past, the world of fundamentals. Reality is the world in which people live, real, real, visible. They all pursue the goal of procreation and constant improvement.

The disappearance of paganism

At the very beginning of the new era, when global land development was taking place, all the tribes of modern Europe and Asia were pagan. However, some time later (around the eighth century), paganism began to be gradually supplanted. The peoples adhered to Christianity, Islam, and Judaism.

Why was paganism supplanted by world religions? There were several reasons for this:

• It was becoming too primitive for developing peoples. People began to understand many natural phenomena. That is, now it was impossible to explain the existence of the simplest natural phenomena by saying that “God got angry” or “the spirits wanted it.” After all, the real physical substrates of all occurring phenomena became known and understood.
• Tribes began to form states. And in any state there is always some kind of social stratification. For paganism, all people were equal before nature. This is how contradictions arose between reality and religion.
• Paganism as a religion was not suitable for state power. It did not submit to a single ruler, a monarch.
• A monotheistic religion was needed. And the world ones were just like that.

That is why the choice was made between paganism and world religions in favor of the latter. Christianity, of course, became the most widespread. Of course, the transition from paganism to other religions took quite a long time, sometimes very difficult. Particularly interesting is the phenomenon of dual faith that existed at the beginning of the second millennium in Kievan Rus.

However, we cannot say that paganism has completely disappeared from our lives. This is not true at all. Not many people know that even after the strengthening of the Christian religion in Rus', pagan traditions, customs, and signs continue to exist today. Therefore, it is sometimes said that the world religions that replaced the pagan ones were forced to partially unite with them.

We have a common word that unites us, which came from time immemorial. We are pagans. There is no other word like it. Another name, for example, “Natural Faith,” only clarifies this ancient word. Names like “Vedic religion” or “pre-Christian faith” are invented today and do not have the proper power. The bearers of the Vedic religion never called themselves that, and no one called them that during their historical life. By the way, the first Christians also did not call themselves “Christians” - this is what the pagans of ancient times called them - after the name of the Messiah revered by them (the “Christ-worshipers”).

The creators of new self-names do not want to soil themselves with the dirt that the world's mono-religions have inflicted on paganism. They are cunning or sincerely do not realize that if they “don’t get dirty”, then this means “don’t pick them up.” And if you “don’t take it into your hands,” then all these new “Vedic Orthodox believers” will be filled with content that is not related to our historical paganism. It will simply be Russian-Slavic rehashes of Indian religions, it will be a profanation of our national paganism, a remake, sewn from scraps of foreign traditions.

Among a certain part of modern pagans, there is an opinion that their pagan ancestors called themselves Orthodox because, they say, they “glorified the rulers.” It is possible that somewhere there were “Orthodox” pagans, but, in fairness, it should be noted that not a single historical evidence of such a self-name of the ancient pagan Slavs has been preserved.

Let us examine the essence of the word “rule” in order to understand whether pagans should be called “Orthodox”? Rule is included in such modern words as “truth”, “right” (in the sense of fair), “to manage”, “to rule” (a country or a boat), “ruler”. So, the word “rule” refers mainly not to driving a boat (for example, along the river of life), but to the ideological justification of rule, to the justification of the power of the prince. To his “just court”, which should always be in accordance with the will of the gods.

But some were satisfied with the prince’s power and his truth, while others were not. A thousand years ago, in the very depths of the forests, the freedom-loving tribes of the Drevlyans, Vyatichi and Radimichi lived, they did not allow anyone to come to them, so that their land would not be known and the princes from Kiev or Novgorod would not attack them with armies. With the expansion of the area of ​​princely power, the Vyatichi went to the northeast, and the independent land of the Drevlyans and Radimichi narrowed to Polesie. On this land, free people were called by a word opposite to “princely truth.” They were called “Krivichi” (by the way, Lithuanians to this day often call Russians “Krivi”). The Krivichi were a union of tribes, they were brothers by blood, and in their religious veneration they gave a special place to female deities and beregins.

Let us remember that the title of the Baltic high priest Krive-Kriveite is translated as Teacher of Teachers, and not at all as teacher of untruth. The self-name “Krivichi” and the title of the High Priest of the Balts become close if we pay attention to the fact that a significant part of the population of the Krivichi land was of Baltic origin, and that a significant part of the territory of the present Baltic states was inhabited by Slavic tribes. Over time, many Balts became Russified and began to consider themselves Slavs, and many geographical names of rivers and villages remained of Baltic origin. The same should have taken place for sacred concepts, including such as “curve”. This approach naturally forces one to change the flat idea of ​​the origin of the words truth and falsehood.

As is known, the Krivichi resisted the introduction of Christianity for a long time and stubbornly, holding on to the “old faith” and “old gods”. Perhaps this is also why the word “curve” has acquired a negative connotation. There were, of course, those Slavic tribes that did not actively oppose themselves to anyone - neither to the will of the prince, nor to his priests, who carried out their master’s task of mass baptism of the population. These tribes lived peacefully and quietly, but even they did not realize that they had to somehow identify themselves by faith. But their tongue worked for them. In Old Russian, “pagans” means “peoples”. Therefore, by the nature of language, pagan faith is the faith of the common people, who are naturally close to the earth.

As soon as the Christian priests realized that their task included not only the ideological suppression of the Krivichi (Krivi) who stubbornly clung to their faith, but also the general subordination of the “black people” (village residents) to the prince, then among the ministers of the new Christian cult the already existing in the language there is a general word: “paganism”. In general and initially, they did not put a negative meaning into it, as they did with the word “crookedness”, putting into it the meaning of falsehood - deception. By “paganism” they understood beliefs, as well as spiritual and legal institutions, that were outside the princely truth, beyond the limits of his power. Therefore, the word "paganism" gradually acquired the spirit of something suspicious, but has not yet received an accurate assessment. Christianity, which later strengthened, connected him directly with “demons and demons.”

The word “paganism” itself was not created or invented by priests - neither pagan nor Christian. It was already contained in the Slavic language before them as a generalizing concept (the word “paganism” comes from the root “language”, which in the Old Slavonic language means “people, tribe”). It should have been heard when the princes approved any new official deity and introduced his cult to the people. This was how it should have been when Vladimir approved Perun in Kyiv and Novgorod. This happened later, with the introduction of Christianity. The fact that Christianity is not just a cult of a new god, but carries a qualitatively different spiritual content, was still little understood by the Russian people in the time of Vladimir. The priests of the official cult called “pagans” the tribes that did not follow the princely cult with its new crucified god (Christianity), but believed in their own way, in the “old gods.” They were considered “black people” if they were submissive to the prince, and they also turned out to be “Krivichi” if they lived on the Lithuanian side and did not agree with the prince’s policies.

As already noted, the word “pagans” itself means, firstly, “peoples.” Secondly, it also meant a speaker, a person conveying a message. Thus, in Afanasyev’s fairy tale “Ivan the Fool,” published in 1855, we find: “Ilya Muromets killed everyone, leaving only the pagans for the king.” It follows that in addition to the concept of “people”, the word “pagan” also contains another concept - “messenger”, or the one who speaks (“speaker”, i.e. “knowing the word”). If we combine both of these ancient concepts, we can easily see that in a religious sense, a pagan is one who carries the message, knowledge, word about the religion and faith of his people. And if today we say that we are pagans, it means that we are messengers, we carry the message: “it’s time for our people to remember their primordial beginnings.”

In Latin countries, the word “paganism” was synonymous with paganism, derived from the word “paganus” - “farmer” (broader - “rural, country dweller”, “hillbilly”). For many modern Slavic pagans, being called a pagan or a vile does not seem very decent - here the pressure is on the language forms, cliches and templates developed over a thousand years, imposed by those who attacked and destroyed the ancient Natural faith. But Western European pagans freely call themselves “paganists.” For example, when the Lithuanian pagans learned that Russians were ashamed of their self-name (“pagans”), they were surprised: how can Russian pagans deny themselves? Indeed, to refuse such a high title as “pagans” is to humiliate yourself before the authorities and priests; before those who themselves (once upon a time) reinterpreted this word “in a crooked way” - just like many other words related to folk/natural faith. The same is true with other words, for example with the word “blaspheme.” In pagan terms, this means “to perform pagan hymns, songs or stories about the deeds of the gods and the afterlife.” In modern language, this means saying something that desecrates some kind of holiness. This is also the result of thousands of years of work by Christianity on our language.

The historical truth will be restored. We must return such necessary words as “paganism” or “blasphemous” to our everyday life, and not be ashamed of them just because mountains of lies were piled on them. After all, we are not afraid of this lie. Therefore, let's be honest and consistent.

The problem of somehow naming their faith, and even more so naming the type of their faith, could arise among the Slavs only with the beginning of the expansion of monotheistic religions. Before this, there was no need to assign a name to one’s faith, the faith of one’s ancestors - it was called that way: “faith”, “our faith”, “the faith of our ancestors” or “Slavic, Russian faith”. Actually, the faith was - in essence - one common to many peoples; the concept of faith was broader than the concept of tribe. The Slavs, the Germans, and the Scandinavians were all pagans and, in general terms, adhered to the same pantheon and belief system. Moreover, all sorts of more distant neighbors were all pagans.

The difference was only in the specific names of the same gods, or in which of them occupies the “main” place in the composition of a particular pantheon (and, consequently, the main, most noticeable from the outside, place in the cult), or in the composition itself pantheon. Hence the variant names for specific varieties of beliefs - either by the name of the tribe (the faith of the ancestors, the faith of the Slavs, the Busurman faith), or by the name of the “main” deity (fire worshipers, Jesus). There were simply no other names. There were not only “atheistic cults” around (such as “scientific atheism”), but also “author” religions (such as Mohammedanism, Judaism, Zoroastrianism), which claimed not just one individual tribe, but an alternative to the entire generally accepted system of beliefs (For example, The Khazars' neighbors called Judaism nothing more than the "Khazar faith").

Thus, the Slavs (like all neighboring tribes and peoples) did not and could not have had any special name for the faith of their ancestors, much less for the type of faith itself. Some conditionally generalizing names (for clarification in conversations with strangers) could be, but most often, of course, the name was used based on belonging to the tribe (depending on the context - more general or more specific) - Slavic faith, faith of the Polyans, faith of the Normans, etc. .

The need to determine the type of one’s faith in contrast with a faith of a fundamentally different type arose only in theological disputes during the period of dual faith - when it was necessary to contrast the collective faith of all peoples with monotheistic religions. This is how the concepts of “paganism” and “paganism” arose. According to the most linguistically substantiated versions, both of these words come (essentially) from the concept of “people” (respectively, in Slavic “language” - people, and in Latin “pagan” - rural, village, soil - in meaning these are synonyms for the word " people").

These words mean “folk faith”, as a type of traditional beliefs of all peoples. Therefore, in this context, it is more correct to speak not about paganism in general, but more specifically about Slavic paganism. There is no way to determine which side of the theological debate put it forward - this term is equally acceptable to both sides. To consider it invented by Christians to humiliate pagans is as stupid as considering the word “monotheism” to be offensive to Christians. This is a completely neutral scientific term that very clearly and correctly draws the line between natural beliefs and artificial monotheistic faiths such as Christianity, Judaism and Islam.

All the emotions [of some pagans who do not want to call themselves “pagans” and their faith “paganism”] regarding the name of our faith are absolutely understandable, but naturally we also have to take into account the surrounding reality. If there is a war between the “Whites” and the “Reds”, between the “Sharp Points” and the “Blunt Points” (the analogy, of course, does not relate to the essence of the process), then to say something like “I wear a green jacket and, therefore, that says it all” - it means not saying anything definite. In fact, you will still have to explain in a roundabout way that in fact you are “White”, “Red” or something else, but you don’t want to talk about it directly. This is exactly how any explanations for abstract self-definitions will be perceived by everyone.

Let us repeat once again - the emotions are understandable: the word “pagan” is not the most successful, but it is a very specific neutral scientific term. In any reference book, article, encyclopedia, everyday conversation, criminal case - we will still be called “pagans”. Until our complete victory and even further - already as a result of the tradition that has arisen. Remember - the name "Bolsheviks" remains with the communists to this day. What can you do if monotheists (and Christians in particular) have plowed through almost all the terms that related to the pagan religious sphere? But this does not mean that now you cannot use the words “treba”, “goblin”, “witch”, “nauznik”, “conspirator”, “high leader”, “sorcerer”, “blaspheme”, “knocking out”, etc. But, on the other hand, we must also take into account the reality of the consequences of [Christian] foreignness - calling our faith “Orthodoxy” (as some “Rule-glorifying” pagans do *) is also not very reasonable in this situation.

Finally, in order to finally resolve the question of the origin of the word “paganism,” let us turn to an academic scientific publication. So, "Old Slavonic Dictionary (based on manuscripts of the 10th-11th centuries): About 10,000 words; Moscow; Russian language; 1994; - 842 pp.". The article is in Old Church Slavonic and Ancient Greek, the following is written (4 recorded meanings):

"LANGUAGE" -
1. tongue (organ) ...
2. language (speech) ...
3. people, tribe... For example, “tongue will rise against tongue”; “let one person die for the people, and not the whole language perish”; "V'skuyu shatasha yazytsi"; “as if we put you in the heat of the moment”, etc. [it is characteristic that this word is used even in relation to Christians! ].
4. strangers, foreigners; pagans... For example: “the pagans will destroy all of them; the idols of the language (s) will be taken away with silver and gold”...

Here you can clearly see the original, most ancient meaning of the word “language” - “people” (speaking a certain language). Also here we can clearly see the beginning of the opposition between Christians and the meanings of the word in question: “folk, natural” & “Christian, divine”.

Thus, everyone can choose for themselves in what meaning to use the word “paganism” - either in the original 3rd meaning (that is, according to the ancient meaning), or in the 4th later meaning (that is, in the modified under the influence of Christianity ).

Also in V. Dahl’s explanatory dictionary you can find the meaning of the word “language”: “a people, a land, with a population of the same tribe, with the same speech.” Thus, “paganism” for the Slavs is, first of all, a folk, primordial, Native Tradition. Accordingly, paganism is tribal beliefs, and in this meaning it has long been used by our ancestors. So, pagans are people belonging to one clan-tribe, who honor its customs, love and protect their land, preserve tribal myths and reproduce these relationships in new generations. At the same time, the earth, the tribe inhabiting it, other forms of life and gods form a single tribal whole, which is reflected in tribal myths and rituals, in the way of life and management.

There is no need to be embarrassed by the name “pagan”. It is not necessary, if only for the reason that all Christians shudder at this one word: they fear it like fire, like excommunication from the parish humanitarian feeding trough; For them, the word “pagan” is more terrible than “Satanist”. Have you ever seen the pitiful white, frightened face of a Christian who accidentally wandered into the forest among the pagans and found out where he ended up? The phrase: “I am a pagan” sounds proud and militant; it strikes the enemy like lightning; it contains the power of a thousand years of spiritual confrontation with [Christian] foreignness.

There is nothing derogatory in the word “paganism” for the pagans themselves.

The fact that such words as “paganism” = “paganism” are almost swear words for some pagans today speaks only of the results of Christian propaganda, and nothing more (“propaganda” in Latin is ideological “work” among the pagans). What can we say, many centuries have passed, the language has changed, many concepts have undergone changes, and today almost all words that in one way or another relate to paganism and the pagan worldview have been turned into curses (see examples above). To engage in word creation (and essentially verbiage) on this basis and invent some new words for everyone and everything is at least stupid and too much honor for one-gods (monotheists). It is much more reasonable to direct the same efforts to ensure that completely different words that really deserve it become abusive.

It is also important that by the very fact of calling ourselves “pagans,” we select the very Bugbear with which some try to belittle those they do not like. We are not afraid to call ourselves “pagans” and even “pagans” - there is a Slavic pagan community in Belarus, whose representatives do not hesitate to call themselves just like that - but after that, all sorts of detractors simply have nothing to hide.

Analogy: at one time in the States the word “cop” was a dirty word (just like in our country the word “cop”), but time has passed, and now every American police officer can proudly say “yes, I’m a cop.” This positive image, as well as the word it denotes, was created over decades with the help of films and the daily work of law enforcement agencies themselves; the same process has begun here too - books are already being published with mention of the word “cop”, the television series “Cops” has been released, and in just a couple of decades no one will even remember that there was once a word for someone abusive or inelegant. This is approximately the same thing that can happen with the word “paganism” (as well as with any other word). Moreover, this has already happened in ancient times, when Christians took it into their arsenal and used it all as a “drive” - now all that remains is to return it to our arsenal.

And, what can we say, when the word “symposium”, commonly used even in high politics, comes from the Greek “bogey”; and the word "pluralism" among the ancient Greeks meant multiple copulations during an orgy. And the word “pagan” against this background looks much more decent: it’s just “soil-based, rural, rustic.” It’s just that in later times this word was used by Christians who contemptuously called adherents of the faith of their ancestors “hillbillies,” considering them unenlightened and dark, when they stubbornly refused to convert to the “true faith of Christ.” And such a word as “paganism” generally has the root “people” (“language”), that is, “pagans” are essentially “populists” - this translation is the most elegant, and therefore this translation option will be used from now on ( no matter what lovers of “originality” and other historical mothballs say, dreaming of “the harmony of a stagnant swamp” and not understanding that everything changes and must change - for Movement is Life).

In all official documents - charters, names of communities, etc. it is necessary to use the term “paganism” or the phrase “Slavic paganism”. Otherwise, we are closed to the creation of an all-Russian confession and the recognition of modern Slavic paganism as the historical successor to the pre-Christian beliefs of the Slavs. For any religious examination, appointed in such cases under the current legislation, recognizes our entire movement as just a collection of small, disparate sects belonging to various newly minted faiths that have no relation to the ancient Slavic faith (to Slavic paganism) and, therefore, fundamentally unable be considered to belong to traditional Russian confessions. Accordingly, the only acceptable name should be considered the official (registered with the authorities) name of the community as “pagan”. The sooner we can achieve universal acceptance of this term, which directly corresponds to the goals of our entire movement, the better.

In this regard, it should be especially noted that no one calls for calling themselves only “pagans” (or even, for example, “Pagans”). On the contrary, in parallel you can use any other identifiers, such as “Rodnovers”, “Rodolovy”, “Rodyan”, “Polytheists”, “Traditionalists”, “Pantheists”, etc. We are just talking about the fact that there is no need to be afraid and no need to be ashamed of other people’s (and indeed any) Labels and Bugs used by motley detractors - only then will they cease to be such. We have already selected them and, if necessary, we will select them again. You just need to not be afraid of anything and calmly do your job.

[ * calling paganism “Orthodoxy” (“Glorification of Rule”) is historically and linguistically illiterate. Nowhere and in any historical sources is it even hinted that the pagan Slavs, they say, “glorified the Rule” (moreover, why glorify it? Will it wither away without glorification, or what? Rule are the laws of the Universe, which work well and without human intervention). Being completely honest, we have to reckon with the facts. But the fact is that “Orthodoxy” is a literal copy of the Greek “orthodoxis”: from “orthos” - “correct” & “doxa” - “faith in”, “opinion about” (someone), “good name” ", "glory", "(glorification)"; i.e., the word “Orthodoxy” has the meaning of “correctly glorifying” (the Judeo-Christian god, respectively). The given etymology of the word “Orthodoxy” is officially scientific and is shared by all modern scientists, historians and linguists. Citizens who disagree with this can try to present evidence of their point of view in strict accordance with scientific methodology: 1) facts, 2) sources, 3) references, 4) reasoned justifications. Before all of the above is stated, any statement has no scientific value, but is only an opinion (which may well turn out to be erroneous; and that is why evidence and sufficient reasons are required).]