Personal Narratives and Pagan Consciousness Continuum

Kurovskyi has not only been sharply criticized by other Ukrainian Pagans for his cooperation with Russian Pagans, but this cooperation has even led to a major split within Ancestral Fire itself.¹² The present-day political crisis has markedly reinforced this hostility. Bohumyr, introduced above, calls Kurovskyi a prodazhnyi tarakan (mercenary cockroach) because, in his opinion, Kurovskyi is sponsored by Russia’s Federal Security Service (the current successors to the KGB). Olga (interview, 3 July 2015), a senior female who, although she does not formally belong to any Pagan group, leans toward Sylenko’s RUNVira, also states that Kurovskyi’s activities have been sponsored by money from Russia and that his main focus is business, not spirituality. In addition, Olga believes that Kurovskyi’s former wife, Lada, is half-Jewish, and therefore could not be fully devoted to Ukrainian causes.

Ohnedar, also introduced above, when asked if he believed Russia had acted correctly in its annexation of Crimea, was rather surprised by my question (our interview was conducted predominantly in Russian because this was the language that Ohnedar appeared to feel more comfortable speaking):

Of, course. What did you want!? Would you rather prefer Turkey to go to Crimea? [If it was not for Putin], Turkey would have been in Crimea. [...]. When the Crimean Tatars gathered to wave their flags there [in Crimea, opposing Russia’s annexation of the peninsula], there were not only Ukrainian flags there. There were red-colored flags with crescents on them.

[If it was not for Russia], [.] Turkey would have come. Well, it would have, in fact, been done by America [through Turkey].

Ohnedar concluded by emphasizing that if Russia had, in fact, taken Crimea away from anyone, it was from the USA. Ohnedar did not personally go to Crimea to witness the events he described, but, rather, referred to information he accessed via mass media, including Russian state-controlled TV channels and the Internet. In line with the main messages of the Russian channels as well as Kurovskyi’s convictions, Ohnedar is convinced that America organized and sponsored the Maidan against Yanukovych. In his opinion, Yanukovych was not an ideal president because he was not a vedaushchii (a Pagan possessing and carrying ancestral knowledge and traditions). However, despite this, Ohnedar felt that Yanukovych was generally a positive figure because he was a khazain (master) and a Slav. He believes that most of the people who came to power after Yanukovych are Jews who, in turn, are the enemies of the Slavs and are closely allied with the Americans.

These ideas are in line with Ohnedar’s preexisting understanding of spirituality, nation and state. Although there is no academic proof that old Slavs historically perceived themselves as a unified cultural and political entity (Ivakhiv 2005b: 209-11), Ohnedar provides his own interpretation of history. He distinguishes between the concepts of narod (a people) and the state/nation. According to him, “narod has one root, shared culture, everybody wears an embroidered shirt, everybody worships the sun because it is a god to them.” Ohnedar believes that the old Slavs were such a people, but were eventually “partitioned by borders and granted a citizenship [and] a passport.” In his opinion, a nation consisting of citizens of various ethnic backgrounds is very difficult to unite:

It is very difficult to unite a nation. They [citizens] go out on the street and begin to maidanit [to maidan: a derogatory Russian verb coming from the noun “Maidan” that is widely used by Russian state-sponsored media], while at home they pray to different gods. How is this possible? A person should have a faith, and when one has a faith, one has a path. If there is no faith, a discord comes. [...] We should unite narodami [as peoples] and live narodami [as peoples]. Because what does narod [a people] mean? The united rod [clan].

While developing his arguments, not only did Ohnedar recurrently refer to the teachings of bat’ko (father) Volodymyr, but also recited many pok- ony (an Ancestral Fire word that roughly means ancestral commandments, sing. pokon) developed and written by Kurovskyi. This kind of reasoning helps Ohnedar to establish boundaries between “brothers”—Russian “saviors”—and “enemies”—perceived potential “foreign invaders” in response to the present-day crisis.

The RUNVira followers I communicated with do not appear to see the United States as Ukraine’s enemy. This can at least partly be explained by the group’s history and experiences. The USA and Canada provided fertile ground for the development of alternative Pagan ideas at a time when they could not develop in Ukraine. Bohumyr recollects how happy he was to receive books from the diaspora, including those of Volodymyr Shaian and Lev Sylenko, shortly prior to the collapse of the Soviet Union, a time when he was seeking a true Ukrainian identity. Because of the positive experience associated with their leaders, RUNVira interpretations of the current turbulent events in Ukraine do not portray North America in an unfavorable light. However, Bohumyr idealizes neither the West nor the USA, as he is frustrated by their passive reaction to Russia’s actions. Rather, he considers potential allegiance with Western powers as the only way for Ukraine to resist its most evil enemy. In contrast, Lelia (interview, 6 July 2015), a senior female follower of RUNVira, sounded more positive. In response to my request to comment on the notion that the USA had fabricated the Ukraine-Russian crisis, she replied:

Let them [whoever said this] not lie that the Americans [had done this]! Our only support is from America [...]. Let them not try to trick you. The Americans have sent ten naval ships, ten aircraft carriers. Troops are already in the Baltics and Poland. Yes, there are already airforce weapons, some kind of planes or something. So it is only America. We thank America and Canada especially.

Like Bohumyr, Lelia is convinced that Ukraine’s main enemy is Russia and that it is the regular Russian army that is fighting in the Donbas. In her narrative, Lelia refers to information about NATO, including support from the USA, strengthening the borders of its East European members for protection from a potential Russian invasion. News about Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s openly anti-Putin statements and promises to provide military or humanitarian aid to Ukraine was also widespread.¹³ In addition, Lelia provided me with a RUNVira periodical that included a positive report (entitled “Thank you, our Ukrainians”) about several American and Canadian citizens who are long-time RUNVira followers and who continue to provide financial aid to the Ukrainian military (Shcherbyna 2014: 19).

Vohneslav (interview, 4 August 2015), a middle-aged male adherent of Ancestral Fire, addressed the ongoing unrest in Ukraine by sharing his recent experiences with representatives of RUNVira who defiantly refused to read the Ancestral Fire newspaper because it was in Russian. This kind of position does not fit Vohneslav’s worldview. For him, everything circulates within Rod and nothing exists beyond Rod (as stated by Kurovskyi in one of his pokony), so both languages, Ukrainian and Russian, are part of his cosmology. Although he follows his own path, he “look[s] at everybody else calmly and easily.” In Vohneslav’s opinion, “any path is a path to Rod the Almighty.” He has no problems communicating with anyone, including Russian Pagans. Vohneslav is convinced that if one understands that everything exists within Rod, then one accepts that good and evil are two normal stany (conditions) of existence:

What is better, day or night? What is better, man or woman? Nothing is better or worse and things work on the basis of either opposition or connection. If opposites connect, something new results. When a man and a woman unite, something greater results out of their love—a child. In a similar way, war and peace are inalienable things.

Although Vohneslav does not support the war, he understands that it is an inherent developmental process that will lead to the creation of something better. According to him, both Victor Yanukovych and Vladimir Putin play important roles in this process. Vohneslav portrays the two as negative heroes whose actions will eventually lead to positive changes for the Slavic world. While Yanukovych oppressed, humiliated and robbed the people of his country, they rose up in protest and he inadvertently united

Ukraine. Similarly, Putin is now uniting the Slavic people against perceived foreign invaders. This philosophy reassures Vohneslav that “everything will be alright.”

The personal narratives addressed above were developed in line with what I propose to call the Pagan consciousness continuum that provides room for personal interpretation within the boundaries of a leader’s teaching or a group’s doctrines. Imparted with individual reasoning and arguments, the narratives exemplify the complexity of religion as lived. For example, even though both Ohnedar and Vohneslav are very active adherents of Ancestral Fire, they have dissimilar views of Ukraine’s turbulent realities. Ohnedar appears to set sharp boundaries between who are, and who are not, his people while Vohneslav takes a more positive, inclusive approach. Despite these differences, Ohnedar and Vohneslav’s interpretative strategies lie within the teachings of Ancestral Fire and its leaders. (This, in turn, reemphasizes the importance of groups and leaders in Ukrainian Paganism.) They both argue for the unity of Slavs who all share the same ancestral spiritual wisdom. The Pagan consciousness continuum allows them to arrive at this conclusion in a variety of ways. Bohuslav and Lelia, who are both active adherents of RUNVira, display similar patterns in their narratives. Although imparted by different reasoning and sources of influence, they convey the same view of Russia as the main enemy of Ukraine.