Questions about Slavic Native Faith
Short answers, pulled from the story.
What is Slavic Native Faith (Rodnovery)?
Slavic Native Faith, commonly called Rodnovery, is a modern Pagan religion classified as a new religious movement. Its practitioners draw on the pre-Christian beliefs of the Slavic peoples of Central and Eastern Europe, combining historical and archaeological sources, folk religion, and elements from non-Slavic traditions. Sociologist Kaarina Aitamurto has described it as sufficiently diverse to be considered "an umbrella term that gathers together various forms of religiosity" rather than a single religion.
What does the word Rodnovery mean?
Rodnovery derives from two Proto-Slavic roots: rod, meaning "indigenous", "ancestral", "native", "kin", and "generation"; and vera, meaning "faith" or "religion". The term has been given an entry in the second edition (2019) of the academic Historical Dictionary of the Russian Federation. It is used in variations across Slavic languages, including Ridnovirstvo in Ukrainian, Rodnoverie in Russian, Rodzimowierstwo in Polish, and Rodnovert in Czech.
Who founded Rodnovery and when did it begin?
The contemporary organised Rodnovery movement arose from multiple charismatic leaders just before the collapse of the Soviet Union and spread rapidly during the mid-1990s and 2000s. The earliest known use of the term "Native Faith" was by Ukrainian emigree Lev Sylenko, who in 1964 established a mimeographed publication in Canada titled Ridna Vira. Active religious practitioners devoted to establishing a Slavic Native Faith appeared in Poland and Ukraine during the 1930s and 1940s.
What god do Rodnovers worship?
Most Rodnovers recognise a supreme principle named Rod, also known as Sud ("Judge") and Prabog ("Pre-God") among South Slavs. Rod is conceived as the absolute, primordial source from which all other deities emanate. Beneath Rod, a pantheon of gods reflects different aspects of existence, including Perun (thunder, warriors), Veles (mystical philosophy), Belobog (waxing forces), and Chernobog (waning forces). Some currents within the movement are monotheistic, while others are polytheistic.
What is the kolovrat symbol in Slavic Native Faith?
The kolovrat, meaning "spinning wheel", is the most commonly used religious symbol in Rodnovery. It is a variant of the swastika (Sanskrit: "wellbeing") and represents wholeness, cosmic order, and the four directions. The contemporary design as an eight-spoked wheel appeared in woodcuts produced in the 1920s by the Polish artist Stanislaw Jakubowski under the name sloneczko, meaning "little sun". Boris Rybakov's studies traced related wheel and whirl symbols in Russian folk traditions as late as the nineteenth century.
How does Rodnovery relate to nationalism and racism?
Rodnovery is a decentralised movement, and its political character ranges from pacifism and anarchism to extreme right-wing nationalism. Many Rodnover organisations characterise themselves as ethnic religions, restrict membership to Slavs, and espouse ideas of ethnic purity. Antisemitic and white-nationalist views are common in significant parts of the movement, with figures such as Valery Yemelyanov (author of Dezionization) widely influential. However, some groups, like the Russian Circle of Pagan Tradition, explicitly reject ethnic nationalism and recognise Russia as a multi-ethnic state.