The Native Ukrainian National Faith ( uk, Рі́дна Украї́нська Націона́льна Ві́ра, ; widely known by the acronym , RUNVira), also called Sylenkoism () or Sylenkianism (), and institutionally also known as the Church of Ukrainian Native Faith or Church of the Faithful of the Native Ukrainian National Faith, is a branch of
Ukrainians
Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian. The majority of Ukrainians are Eastern Ort ...
that was founded in the mid 1960s by Lev Sylenko (1921–2008) among the
Ukrainian diaspora
The Ukrainian diaspora comprises Ukrainians and their descendants who live outside Ukraine around the world, especially those who maintain some kind of connection, even if ephemeral, to the land of their ancestors and maintain their feeling of Uk ...
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
in 1991. Sylenkoite communities are also present in
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
and
Belarus
Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...
, as well as in
Western Europe
Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context.
The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...
and
Oceania
Oceania (, , ) is a geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern and Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of and a population of around 44.5 million ...
. The doctrine of this tradition is codified into a sacred book composed by Sylenko himself, the ''Maha Vira'' ("Great Faith"). Sylenkoite theology is characterised by a solar
monotheism
Monotheism is the belief that there is only one deity, an all-supreme being that is universally referred to as God. Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1974). "Monotheism". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2 ed.). Oxford: Oxfo ...
.
Overview
Lev Sylenko (1921–2008) was a disciple of the earliest ideologue of Ukrainian Rodnovery, Volodymyr Shaian (1908–1974), and was a member of the religio-political anti-Soviet "Order of the Knights of the Sun God" (''Orden Lytsariv Boha Sontsia'') founded by the same Shaian in the 1940s. Sylenko was initiated into the group with the name ''Orlyhora'' ("Eagle Mountain"). In the 1940s, Sylenko emigrated to
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, and then to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, where in the 1960s he founded the Native Ukrainian National Faith. By the 1970s, Shaian and Sylenko had parted and taken two different paths, as Sylenko had begun to elaborate a systematised doctrine of Rodnovery which was rejected by Shaian. After travels in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
and
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...
, Sylenko compiled the ''Maha Vira'', the holy book of his doctrine, and published it in 1979. The ''Maha Vira'' was preceded in 1969 by the poem ''The Mage's Gate'', in which Sylenko outlined in a nutshell the foundations of the doctrine.
The scholar Adrian Ivakhiv defined Sylenkoism as a "reformed" Rodnovery, a "comprehensive and systematic attempt to create an intellectually coherent synthetic new religion" based on Slavic heritage with elements of
Theosophy
Theosophy is a religion established in the United States during the late 19th century. It was founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and draws its teachings predominantly from Blavatsky's writings. Categorized by scholars of religion ...
messianism
Messianism is the belief in the advent of a messiah who acts as the savior of a group of people. Messianism originated as a Zoroastrianism religious belief and followed to Abrahamic religions, but other religions have messianism-related concepts ...
monotheism
Monotheism is the belief that there is only one deity, an all-supreme being that is universally referred to as God. Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1974). "Monotheism". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2 ed.). Oxford: Oxfo ...
based on Slavic heritage, and as such he compared it to the later " Russian Religion" developed in Russia by Viktor M. Kandyba. Due to its monotheism and its early emphasis on the charismatic figure of the founder, Sylenkoism has been deemed by other Ukrainian Rodnover movements as a not authentically "native" religion. Members of Sylenkoite churches, however, consider themselves Rodnovers in all respects. Halyna Lozko, the leader of the Federation of Ukrainian Rodnovers, which continues Volodymyr Shaian's orthodoxy, advanced vehement critiques of Sylenkoism, calling Lev Sylenko a "false prophet" and accusing him of having tried to lead the Ukrainians into the
Abrahamic religions
The Abrahamic religions are a group of religions centered around worship of the God of Abraham. Abraham, a Hebrew patriarch, is extensively mentioned throughout Abrahamic religious scriptures such as the Bible and the Quran.
Jewish tradition ...
' "quagmire of cosmopolitan monotheism". Lozko criticised Sylenko for "cancelling the ancestral gods, proclaiming absolute monotheism, and ..attaching his own characteristics to ..God". Despite this, Lev Sylenko himself rejected the Abrahamisms, and
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
in particular, deeming the latter a "nomadic
Judaism
Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in t ...
".
Beliefs
Historiosophy of the ''Maha Vira''
The ''Maha Vira'' (literally "Great Faith") is the holy writing used within the organisations of the Sylenkoite movement, published in 1979 and consisting in 1,427 pages. Its title blends the
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
term ''maha'', "great", and the
Ukrainian
Ukrainian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Ukraine
* Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe
* Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine
* So ...
term ''vira'', "faith". It was composed by Lev Sylenko himself as a synthesis of philosophical ideas relying upon historical and archaeological sources, presenting a historiosophical account of eleven thousand years, intertwined with theological and cosmological doctrines, and a prophetic message for the future. The book includes a comparative lexicon of Sanskrit, Ukrainian and
English language
English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the ...
.
The book tells the history of "Oryana" or "Orania", identified as the
Cucuteni–Trypillia culture
The Cucuteni–Trypillia culture, also known as the Tripolye culture, is a Neolithic–Chalcolithic archaeological culture ( 5500 to 2750 BCE) of Eastern Europe.
It extended from the Carpathian Mountains to the Dniester and Dnieper regions, cent ...
(3000–5000 BCE), assumed to have been the epicentre of the Indo-Europeans or Aryans, whom the book calls "Oryans", evoking a connection with the Ukrainian word for "plowing", ''oraty''. According to the book, the Oryans are the original progenitors of the
white race
White is a racialized classification of people and a skin color specifier, generally used for people of European origin, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, and point of view.
Description of populations as ...
, and the earliest European civilisation—corresponding to, or preceding, the Cucuteni-Trypillia complex—developed along the banks of the
Dnieper
}
The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and ...
. From the Oryans descended the
Scythians
The Scythians or Scyths, and sometimes also referred to as the Classical Scythians and the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern
* : "In modern scholarship the name 'Sakas' is reserved for the ancient tribes of northern and eastern Centra ...
, the
Russians
, native_name_lang = ru
, image =
, caption =
, population =
, popplace =
118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 '' Winkler Prins'' estimate)
, region1 =
, pop1 ...
and the
Ukrainians
Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian. The majority of Ukrainians are Eastern Ort ...
. The Ukrainians are regarded as the directest descendants of the Oryans, and therefore as superior to all Europeans.
Kyiv
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe.
Kyi ...
is described as the "most ancient city" of the white race. The Oryans are described in the book as the carriers of the philosophy later written down in the
Vedas
upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''.
The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute th ...
, developed as the Oryans migrated in different directions including the north of the
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...
.
The ''Maha Vira'' is described by Ivakhiv as a "systematic intellectual construct" grounded on the premise of Ukrainian ethnocultural primordialism or essentialism. The book explains that during its evolution, the human species has divided itself into many distinct ethnocultural groups, ''ethne'' or ''ethnoi'' (singular ''ethnos'', the Greek word for "ethnicity"), each of which undergoes its life cycle, flourishing and perishing according to its own development. Sylenko argues that without such division, the human species would be too fragile, as the division allows for a diversity of experiments, some successful and some others not, allowing for a continuation of evolution. The formation of an ''ethnos'' is always accompanied by the systematisation of originally unorganised beliefs into a coherent religious doctrine, representing a shared system of ideas unifying the ''ethnos''; the ''Maha Vira'' intends to represent such systematisation for the Ukrainians.
Theology and cosmology
According to the definition given by Sylenko himself, his doctrine is that of a solar "absolute
monotheism
Monotheism is the belief that there is only one deity, an all-supreme being that is universally referred to as God. Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1974). "Monotheism". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2 ed.). Oxford: Oxfo ...
". Sylenko proclaimed himself a
prophet
In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...
, bringing to the Slavs a new understanding of God that, according to him, corresponds to their own and original understanding of God. The Sylenkoites believe that he acquired this knowledge through the "breath of his ancestors" in his soul, being united with them "by divine holiness". According to Sylenko's own words:
Sylenkoite theology may be further defined as
pantheistic
Pantheism is the belief that reality, the universe and the cosmos are identical with divinity and a supreme supernatural being or entity, pointing to the universe as being an immanent creator deity still expanding and creating, which has ...
or
panentheistic
Panentheism ("all in God", from the Greek grc, πᾶν, pân, all, label=none, grc, ἐν, en, in, label=none and grc, Θεός, Theós, God, label=none) is the belief that the divine intersects every part of the universe and also extends bey ...
. In the ''Maha Vira'', the supreme God, identifying himself as ''
Dazhbog
Dazhbog (russian: Дажьбо́г, Дажбог), alternatively Daždźbok ( be, Даждзьбог), Dažbog, Dazhdbog, Dajbog, Daybog, Dabog, Dazibogu, or Dadzbóg, was one of the major gods of Slavic mythology, most likely a solar deity and ...
'' (Дажбог)—meaning "Giving God" or "Sun God" in the ancient Slavic tradition—proclaims through his prophet Lev Sylenko:
Dazhbog is described as the life-giving energy of the cosmos; in Sylenko's own words it is "light, endlessness, gravitation, eternity, movement, action, the energy of unconscious and conscious being". Sylenkoite cosmology conceives Dazhbog as containing the three worlds, ''Prav'', ''Yav'' and ''Nav''. As in broader Rodnovery, ''Prav'' is considered the right law of nature, ''Yav'' is the visible, manifested world, while ''Nav'' is the invisible, spiritual world.
Sylenko is seen by his followers as making the same operation that
Axial Age
Axial Age (also Axis Age, from german: Achsenzeit) is a term coined by German philosopher Karl Jaspers. It refers to broad changes in religious and philosophical thought that occurred in a variety of locations from about the 8th to the 3rd centu ...
thinkers made, in other parts of the world and among other peoples, by moving away from polytheism and affirming the concept of single God. Sylenkoite doctrine emphasises, in evolutionary terms, that monotheism is a higher level of spiritual development than
polytheism
Polytheism is the belief in multiple deities, which are usually assembled into a pantheon of gods and goddesses, along with their own religious sects and rituals. Polytheism is a type of theism. Within theism, it contrasts with monotheism, t ...
, and the latter should be rejected, since, by the words of Sylenko's writings: "Dazhbog ..has no need of any ambassadors in the form of higher or lower deities". Sylenko was profoundly influenced by the discourse about a European superiority communicated through the concept of monotheism, and he envisioned the Ukrainians as the superior people who will extend to all Europeans his operation of spiritual progress, spreading the "European understanding of God", implying a reformulation of local European ethnic polytheistic religions into Sylenkoite monotheism. In Sylenko's own words:
Sylenkoite cosmology also contains the discourse about a duality proceeding from the supreme God, represented by father ''Or'' (Орь) and mother ''Lel'' (Лель). ''Or'' is also called ''Oryi'' (Орій) or ''Aryi'' (Арій), ''Orya'' (Оря), and ''Yari'' or ''Yuri'', and identified as the solar deity '' Yarilo'', while ''Lel'' is also known as ''Lelyi'' (Лелій) and ''Lelya'' (Леля). ''Or'' and ''Lel'' are considered the progenitors of all the Oryans, and therefore of the Ukrainians. Despite their monotheism, some Sylenkoites take part in initiatives of non-Sylenkoite Rodnovers involving polytheistic worship, or listen to the music of Zhyvosyl Liutyi dedicated to multiple deities.
Practices
Priesthood
Sylenkoite communities are led by male and female priests, respectively called ''RUNtato''s ("Native Ukrainian National fathers") and ''RUNmama''s ("Native Ukrainian National mothers"). Not all the branches of Sylenkoism use the terms ''tato'' and ''mama'' to refer to the clergy; notably, OSID RUNVira, a branch of the original RUNVira church that further reworked Sylenko's original teachings, uses simply the term "priests". Male priests significantly outnumber their female counterparts. When Lev Sylenko was alive, until 2008, ordinations were conferred by him himself, as a candidate had to make an application to him supported by letters of recommendation from the same candidate's religious community.
Sylenkoite priests are expected to teach the congregation how to apply the religion's tenets in everyday life, and to give advice to the congregation's members on various matters regarding personal and social life. A good priest is required to show loyalty towards the religious doctrines, and to have some specific personality traits: he should be self-controlled, he should speak softly, and behave in a noble way; he should never judge, accuse or intimidate anybody, and he should never show anger. Priests are distinguished by wearing a ''sviadana'', that is to say a long narrow ribbon made of blue and yellow fabric, with black and red horizontal bands, draped around the neck. Male priests wear embroidered shirts, usually combined with European suits.
Rites and holidays
The ''Maha Vira'' contains descriptions of rituals and holidays, and a calendar which begins its chronology eleven thousand years ago, when the Paleolithic culture of
Mezine
Mezine is a place within the modern country of Ukraine which has the most artifact finds of Paleolithic culture origin. The Epigravettian site is located on a bank of the Desna River in Novhorod-Siverskyi Raion of Chernihiv Oblast, northern Ukrain ...
reached its apogee. Many of the rituals and holidays described in the book are derived from Ukrainian village folklore, interpreted and adjusted by Sylenko himself, while others are newly created. A detailed description of Sylenkoite practices is also given in Sylenko's ''Sacred Book of Rituals'', which was first published in the United States.
The holidays comprise the Great Day of Dazhbog's Light on 14 April, corresponding to the celebration of
Easter
Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...
in Ukrainian villages. Other holidays are dedicated to important figures of Ukrainian history, including Sviatoslav I (935–972), the last traditional religious prince of
Kievan Rus'
Kievan Rusʹ, also known as Kyivan Rusʹ ( orv, , Rusĭ, or , , ; Old Norse: ''Garðaríki''), was a state in Eastern and Northern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical Atlas of ...
and a great warrior who expanded the borders of his country, and
Taras Shevchenko
Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko ( uk, Тарас Григорович Шевченко , pronounced without the middle name; – ), also known as Kobzar Taras, or simply Kobzar (a kobzar is a bard in Ukrainian culture), was a Ukrainian poet, wr ...
(1814–1861), whom Sylenko regarded as a critic of Christianity and promoter of the ancestral faith. Other Sylenkoite holidays are dedicated to contemporary social and environmental issues, including the Day of Animal Protection on 28 April, and the Day of the People's Anger on 5 November, a day dedicated to indignation towards intruders and oppressors of the Ukrainian nation. 27 September is the Day of the Holy ''Maha Vira'' and the birthday of the "Native Prophet", Lev Sylenko.
Sylenkoite lifecycle rituals include the blessing of a newborn child, marriages, funerals, and the commemoration of the dead. Every new convert to the religion is also required to choose a native Slavic name, and goes through a ritual of name-giving or renaming. The latter is especially needed when the convert has a "foreign" given name, and even more so when such name is associated with Christianity. A weekly worship ceremony held on Sunday, called the Holy Hour of Self-Reflection, constitutes the main setting for most rites. Although Sylenko allows some flexibility in the ritual practice, he insists that the ''Maha Vira'' should be the main source for their preparation. The priest is supposed to choose lectures from the ''Maha Vira'' pertaining to the theme of the weekly Holy Hour; for example, on the Day of Taras Shevchenko the priest reads the passages of the book dedicated to Shevchenko's life and legacy, while on folk holidays the priest reads those passages of the book that describe how a particular holiday was celebrated in the past and how it should be observed today.
Despite Sylenko's efforts to establish a unified liturgy, later leaders and branches of the movement approached his teaching selectively. For instance, OSID RUNVira practises a Service of Honouring God (''Nabozhenstvo''), elaborated by Bohdan Ostrovskyi, that only vaguely resembles the Holy Hour of Self-Reflection, not containing much reading from the ''Maha Vira'' and focusing instead on colourful ritual action and singing. OSID RUNVira also recognises the holiday of
Kupala Night
Kupala Night ( be, Купалле, pl, Noc Kupały, russian: Иван-Купала, uk, Івана Купала, Купайла), also called Ivanа Kupala, is a traditional Slavic holiday that was originally celebrated on the shortest night of ...
as part of the Sylenkoite calendar, and celebrates it through a complex ritual recreated by the same Ostrovskyi. At the 2008 Triennial RUNVira Council held in Bohoyavlensky,
Mykolaiv
Mykolaiv ( uk, Миколаїв, ) is a city and municipality in Southern Ukraine, the administrative center of the Mykolaiv Oblast. Mykolaiv city, which provides Ukraine with access to the Black Sea, is the location of the most downriver brid ...
, one of the major issues addressed by the delegates was the growing diversification and inconsistency among the rituals performed by different Sylenkoite congregations across Ukraine, as different leaders were introducing too many innovations in their congregations' liturgy; most of the delegates agreed that standardisation was important and they called for a more strict following of Sylenko's liturgy book.
Like other Rodnovers, especially Cossack sorcerers, many Sylenkoites practise martial arts. The most widely known figure of Ukrainian martial arts in the 2010s is the Sylenkoite follower Volodymyr Pylat, the founder and teacher of ''Boiovyi Hopak'', a martial form of the traditional Cossack dance of ''
hopak
Hopak ( uk, гопа́к, ) is a Ukrainian folk dance originating as a male dance among the Zaporozhian Cossacks, but later danced by couples, male soloists, and mixed groups of dancers. It is performed most often as a solitary concert dance by a ...
'' combined with a philosophical worldview. Before turning to Slavic martial arts, Pylat was a ''
sensei
Sensei, Seonsaeng, Tiên sinh or Xiansheng, corresponding to Chinese characters , is an East Asian honorific term shared in Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese and Chinese; it is literally translated as "person born before another" or "one who c ...
'' in
Kyokushin
is a style of karate originating in Japan. It is a style of stand-up fighting and is rooted in a philosophy of self-improvement, discipline, and hard training.
Kyokushin Kaikan is the martial arts organization founded in 1964 by Korean-Jap ...
Karate and he studied other Eastern martial arts styles. His school is located in
Lviv
Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukrain ...
, and his work is appreciated both by Sylenkoites and by other Rodnovers. The basic philosophical tenets of the practice are expressed by Pylat himself in the following terms:
Temples and altars
Sylenkoite ceremonies are usually held inside temples and in front of altars. Two important temples include the Temple of the Nativity of Lev Sylenko, located in Bohoyavlensky, Mykolaiv, the village in southern Ukraine where Lev Sylenko was born, and the Temple of Oryana in Spring Glen, New York, in the United States. Stationary altars are located in temples or in people's homes, as domestic altars. They are set up on a table covered with four different embroidered cloths, of which the top and bottom pieces are decorated with
meandering
A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank (cut bank) and deposits sediments on an inner, convex bank ...
designs associated with the culture of
Mezine
Mezine is a place within the modern country of Ukraine which has the most artifact finds of Paleolithic culture origin. The Epigravettian site is located on a bank of the Desna River in Novhorod-Siverskyi Raion of Chernihiv Oblast, northern Ukrain ...
. In the middle of the altar is located a portable symbol of Dazhbog, a mandatory attribute for all Sylenkoite services. There are also two figurines representing ''Or'' and ''Lel'', two candles in candlesticks, a ''sviadana'', flowers, a container for holy soil, and another one for holy water. According to the instructions of Sylenko, ears of wheat should be placed on the altar to symbolise the agricultural origins of the Ukrainians, the holy soil should be from the fields of
Trypillia
Trypillia ( ua , Трипiлля) is a selo in Obukhiv Raion (district) of Kyiv Oblast in central Ukraine, with 2,800 inhabitants (as of 1 January 2005). It belongs to Ukrainka urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Trypillia lies abou ...
, and the holy water should be from the
Dnieper
}
The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine and ...
.
The altars of OSID RUNVira, the branch of the movement which further elaborated Sylenko's ideas and does not recognise him as the ultimate prophet but as the main ideologist of the religion, do not display many references to Sylenko himself apart from the ''Maha Vira'' and the ''Sacred Book of Rituals''. On the contrary, the altars of OSIDU RUNVira, the branch of the movement which recognises Sylenko as the ultimate prophet, apart from displaying the books, always also display a portrait of Sylenko himself whom is object of worship.
Organisations
The early church of the Native Ukrainian National Faith was founded by Lev Sylenko in 1966, in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, among the Ukrainian diaspora. The first congregation was established in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
, and later congregations were founded in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
. The headquarters of the church were set at the Temple of Oryana, located in Spring Glen, New York, in the region of the Catskill Mountains. The Sylenkoite movement was introduced in Ukraine in the early 1990s. The first congregation was registered by the government in
Kyiv
Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe.
Kyi ...
in 1991, less than a month after the collapse of the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
. By the end of the decade the number of registered communities had grown to fifty and other tens were active throughout the country without formal registration. The movement also spread to
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
and
Belarus
Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...
.
During the 1980s, Sylenkoism split into at least four major branches, and many other communities led by several individual ''tato''s, or male spiritual leaders. The contemporary four distinct Sylenkoite churches, which administer more than one hundred congregations spread throughout Ukraine, are: the "Association of Sons and Daughters of the Native Ukrainian National Faith" (OSID RUNVira), the "Association of Sons and Daughters of Ukraine of the Native Ukrainian National Faith" (OSIDU RUNVira), Volodymyr Chornyi's Lviv-based "western branch" of OSIDU RUNVira, and the "Union of Native Ukrainian Faith" (SRUV).
OSIDU RUNVira
Among Sylenkoite organisations, the "Associations of Sons and Daughters of Ukraine of the Native Ukrainian National Faith" (ОСІДУ РУНВіра, ''OSIDU RUNVira'') is that which has maintained direct relationship with Sylenko, fully accepting him as prophet. As of the mid-2000s the leader of the organisation was Bohdan Savchenko. The OSIDU Sylenkoites consider themselves a transformed and completed Rodnovery, focusing on the monotheistic belief in the impersonal Dazhbog, the energy of the cosmos.
Members of OSIDU RUNVira practise a weekly Holy Hour of Self-Reflection, which includes readings from the ''Maha Vira'', sermons, commentaries, ancestor worship, prayers and hymns, and ends with the singing of Ukraine's national anthem. Liturgical elements for the ceremony include the symbol of Dazhbog, a jar with water from a holy river, a box containing soil from a holy ground, two candles, wheat ears, flowers (poppies and cornflowers), a ''sviadana'', copies of the ''Maha Vira'' and the ''Sacred Book of Rituals'', and a portrait of Lev Sylenko. OSIDU Sylenkoites are open to the celebration of holidays together with non-Sylenkoite Rodnovers, with traditional folk singing, bonfire jumping, circle and spiral dancing, burning or drowning the effigies of the deities Kupalo and Marena, and meeting the Sun's first rays the next morning. Some OSIDU Sylenkoite congregations also organise projects for the wider public; a community in
Kharkiv
Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.
OSID RUNVira
The "Association of Sons and Daughters of the Native Ukrainian National Faith" (ОСІД РУНВіра, ''OSID RUNVira'') is the largest among Sylenkoite organisations. While recognising him as the founder of the movement, OSID RUNVira rejected Lev Sylenko's ultimate authority and sought a "more multilateral approach" to Rodnovery, remaining open to further developments independent from Sylenko. OSID RUNVira is currently led by a Holy Council presided by the folk musician Bohdan Ostrovskyi in Kyiv. Ostrovskyi was the founder of the first congregation of Sylenkoites in Ukraine in 1991. OSID RUNVira is the owner of the Temple of Oryana in Spring Glen which the organisation took over by legal means in the late 1990s, after a dispute over the ownership with OSIDU RUNVira and especially with Lev Sylenko's secretary and confidante Tetiana Lysenko (Svitoslava).
Like OSIDU Sylenkoites, OSID Sylenkoites too celebrate weekly Holy Hours, but the OSID ritual is eclectic in incorporating non-Sylenkoite elements such as readings of the ''
Book of Veles
The Book of Veles (also: Veles Book, Vles book, ''Vles kniga'', Vlesbook, Isenbeck's Planks, , , , , , ) is a literary forgery purporting to be a text of ancient Slavic religion and history supposedly written on wooden planks.
It contains reli ...
'' or of
Taras Shevchenko
Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko ( uk, Тарас Григорович Шевченко , pronounced without the middle name; – ), also known as Kobzar Taras, or simply Kobzar (a kobzar is a bard in Ukrainian culture), was a Ukrainian poet, wr ...
's poetry. As an alternative to the Holy Hour, Ostrovskyi has also elaborated a Service of Honouring God (''Nabozhenstvo''), which puts less focus on the ''Maha Vira'' and emphasises ritual action and singing instead. OSID liturgy includes items like the ''didukh'', that is a braided wheat sheaf, and an object representing fire besides water and earth, and besides all the other elements present in the shared Sylenkoite liturgy, like the symbol of Dazhbog, two candles, a ''sviadana'', and copies of the ''Maha Vira'' and the ''Sacred Book of Rites''. Ancestor worship is central to OSID Sylenkoism too, especially the celebration of heroes of Ukrainian and Slavic history, including the Oryans' supreme forefather ''Or'' and modern Ukrainian heroes, such as Taras Shevchenko,
Ivan Franko
Ivan Yakovych Franko (Ukrainian: Іван Якович Франко, pronounced ˈwɑn ˈjɑkowɪtʃ frɐnˈkɔ 27 August 1856 – 28 May 1916) was a Ukrainian poet, writer, social and literary critic, journalist, interpreter, economist, ...
, Bohdan Khmelnytsky, and Hryhory Skovoroda. However, compared to OSIDU RUNVira, OSID Sylenkoism puts more emphasis on traditional Slavic seasonal holidays in honour of the gods Kupala,
Perun
In Slavic mythology, Perun (Cyrillic: Перýн) is the highest god of the pantheon and the god of sky, thunder, lightning, storms, rain, law, war, fertility and oak trees. His other attributes were fire, mountains, wind, iris, eagle, f ...
, Lada, and Dana. OSID RUNVira also notably uses de-Christianised names for some of its holidays—such as "Christmas of Dazhbog's Light" and "Easter of the Eternal Resurrection".
Union of Native Ukrainian Faith
The "Union of Native Ukrainian Faith" (Собор Рідної Української Віри, ''Sobor Ridnoyi Ukrayins'koyi Viry''; SRUV) is another organisation of the Sylenkoite movement, more independent than the others from the original tradition, and more eclectic in its interpretation of the religion. It was founded in 1994 under the leadership of Oleh Bezverkhyi, author of several semi-scholarly pamphlets on Ukrainian Rodnovery and mysticism, raceology and related topics. The headquarters of SRUV Sylenkoism are in
Vinnytsia
Vinnytsia ( ; uk, Вінниця, ; yi, װיניצע) is a city in west-central Ukraine, located on the banks of the Southern Bug.
It is the administrative center of Vinnytsia Oblast and the largest city in the historic region of Podillia. ...
. The SRUV has been more open than the other Sylenkoite organisations to an ecumenical movement of conciliation between Sylenkoites and non-Sylenkoite Rodnovers, taking part in the organisation of some pan-Rodnover '' viche''s.
Besides the ''Maha Vira'' of Lev Sylenko, SRUV Sylenkoism also relies upon the writings of Shaian, Shkavrytko, Kokriatskyi, Orion, Lisovyi and others. While retaining Sylenkoite monotheism, the SRUV promotes what it considers a more authentically Ukrainian theology with an emphasis on
mysticism
Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in ...
. SRUV Sylenkoites consider
Podolia
Podolia or Podilia ( uk, Поділля, Podillia, ; russian: Подолье, Podolye; ro, Podolia; pl, Podole; german: Podolien; be, Падолле, Padollie; lt, Podolė), is a historic region in Eastern Europe, located in the west-central ...
to be the heart of the ancient Oryan civilisation, being the place where remains of a large
Scythian
The Scythians or Scyths, and sometimes also referred to as the Classical Scythians and the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern
* : "In modern scholarship the name 'Sakas' is reserved for the ancient tribes of northern and eastern Centra ...
temple and the
Zbruch Idol
The Zbruch Idol, Sviatovid (''Worldseer'', pl, Światowid ze Zbrucza, uk, Збручанський ідол) is a 9th-century sculpture, more precisely an example of a bałwan, and one of the few monuments of pre-Christian Slavic beliefs (acco ...
representing Svetovid were found, as well as the place where ancient Slavic religion was defended the longest and most strenuously by the Bolokhivsky princes, ostensibly as late as 1620.
Symbolism
Sylenkoite symbolism relies much upon historical and contemporary Ukrainian national symbolism. The main symbol of Sylenkoism features the colours blue and yellow, and includes the trident, one of the historical symbols of the Rurikids. The latter is called ''trysuttia'' in Sylenkoism, and is held to represent the three worlds ''Prav'', ''Yav'' and ''Nav''. The trident is encircled by a stylised Sun, symbol of
Dazhbog
Dazhbog (russian: Дажьбо́г, Дажбог), alternatively Daždźbok ( be, Даждзьбог), Dažbog, Dazhdbog, Dajbog, Daybog, Dabog, Dazibogu, or Dadzbóg, was one of the major gods of Slavic mythology, most likely a solar deity and ...
. Sylenkoism also draws from the Paleolithic culture of
Mezine
Mezine is a place within the modern country of Ukraine which has the most artifact finds of Paleolithic culture origin. The Epigravettian site is located on a bank of the Desna River in Novhorod-Siverskyi Raion of Chernihiv Oblast, northern Ukrain ...
for inspiration, and one of the most important symbols within the religion is the
meander
A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank ( cut bank) and deposits sediments on an inner, convex ba ...
(an ornamental design winding in and out), considered related to Mezine and perceived as the most archaic form of ancestral spiritual expression.
Sociology
Demographics
Writing in 2005, the scholar Adrian Ivakhiv observed that, compared to broader Rodnovery, Sylenkoism tended to attract a more mature segment of society, namely people of around 40 years of age or older, although sometimes younger members took leadership functions. The adherents of the movement overlapped with folk and traditional music revival groups, traditional martial arts groups, with nationalist and ultra-nationalist political groups such as the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists and the
(UNA-UNSO), with other cultural groups such as the
National Writers' Union of Ukraine
The National Writers' Union of Ukraine ( uk, Національна спілка письменників України) (''НСПУ'') is a voluntary social-creative association of professional writers, poets, prose writers, playwrights, criti ...
and the Traditional Association of Ukrainian Cossacks, a body founded in 2001 and having members in nineteen Ukrainian provinces. According to the scholar Alexey V. Gaidukov, in the 1990s the Sylenkoite doctrine was studied in university programs, and "the flower of the country's kraine'sintelligentsia", including writers (Serhiy Plachynda, Anatoliy Kachan, Mykola Luhovyk) and artists, joined the church. Volodymyr Pylat, a leader of OSIDU RUNVira, was involved in the rebirth in western Ukraine of a martial art version of the ''
hopak
Hopak ( uk, гопа́к, ) is a Ukrainian folk dance originating as a male dance among the Zaporozhian Cossacks, but later danced by couples, male soloists, and mixed groups of dancers. It is performed most often as a solitary concert dance by a ...
'', a traditional Cossack dance.
Despite an original animosity between Sylenkoites and non-Sylenkoite Ukrainian Rodnovers, since the early 2000s there has been an increasing movement of ecumenical cooperation between the two factions. In 2003, forty-one delegates from communities across Ukraine and thirty-eight registered guests gathered in Kyiv at the First Forum of Ukrainian Rodnovers, presided by Iurii Shilov, Oleh Bezverkhyi of SRUV Sylenkoism, and Petro Ruban. A Second Forum of Ukrainian Rodnovers followed ten months later, attended by fifty-one delegates, forty-six participants and twenty-six other guests. SRUV Sylenkoism has been more open than both OSIDU RUNVira and OSID RUNVira to this ecumenical movement of Ukrainian Rodnovery. Many Rodnover groups in contemporary Ukraine rely upon the teachings of both Shaian and Sylenko.
Political ideas
The scholar Mariya Lesiv noted that Sylenkoism is "the most politically charged" among Ukrainian Rodnover streams, and that, differently from other Rodnovers who put more emphasis on the shared identity of the Slavic peoples, the Sylenkoites tend to emphasise the unique characteristics of the Ukrainians and especially their distinction from the Russians. Some Sylenkoites consider the Ukrainians to be the true descendants of the early medieval Russes and of Kievan Rus', while the modern Russians to be for the most part Russified
Tatars
The Tatars ()Tatar in the Collins English Dictionary is an umbrella term for different
of late medieval
Muscovy Muscovy is an alternative name for the Grand Duchy of Moscow (1263–1547) and the Tsardom of Russia (1547–1721). It may also refer to:
*Muscovy Company, an English trading company chartered in 1555
* Muscovy duck (''Cairina moschata'') and Domes ...
(Muscovites). The latter are depicted in the ''Maha Vira'' as historic political enemies of the Ukrainians, and the religious calendar elaborated by Lev Sylenko includes a Day of the People's Anger meant to inspire indignation towards the oppression endured in the past by the Ukrainian people. Responding to both historical foreign oppression and the contemporary socio-political problems of Ukraine, some Sylenkoites have proposed projects to strengthen the identity of the Ukrainians; for instance, the Sylenkoite Bohdan Klymchak, from
Lviv
Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukrain ...
, a political prisoner during the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
, proposed the project of ''Oaza-Hora'', a massive multilayered, terraced, mountain-like shrine of national awareness, dedicated to Ukrainian historical heroes and political prisoners of the Soviet regime.
Ivakhiv observed that many Sylenkoites, like other Rodnovers, espouse political ideas very similar to those of the
European New Right
The European New Right (ENR) is a far-right movement which originated in France as the Nouvelle Droite in the late 1960s. Its proponents are involved in a global "anti-structural revolt" against modernity and post-modernity, largely in the form of ...
, with a focus on "lifestyle, family, community, and ritual practice", as well as "pronounced ethic of honour, continuity with and responsibility before one's ancestors, and a land-based work ethic", and an opposition to the Western world led by the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
and their liberal values. Many Sylenkoites think that the Ukrainians are threatened by modern influences that by destroying traditional morality would be meant to "destroy the white population". In 2001, on the tenth anniversary of the independence of Ukraine, the periodical of RUNVira, ''Slovo Oriyiv'', stated that "Today we've simply divided up our
ormer
Abalone ( or ; via Spanish , from Rumsen ''aulón'') is a common name for any of a group of small to very large marine gastropod molluscs in the family Haliotidae. Other common names are ear shells, sea ears, and, rarely, muttonfish or mutto ...
total dependence on Moscow among Moscow, Washington, Israel, Europe, and God knows who else". Sylenkoism found support from various political parties in Ukraine, including the
People's Democratic Party People's Democratic Party or ''variant thereof'', could refer to:
* People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan
*People's Democratic Party (Belize)
*People's Democratic Party (Bhutan)
*People's Democratic Party (Chile)
* People's Democratic Party (Dom ...
.
Relations with Christianity
Lev Sylenko described
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
as a "nomadic
Judaism
Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in t ...
" that was forcefully imposed on Kievan Rus' by
Vladimir the Great
Vladimir I Sviatoslavich or Volodymyr I Sviatoslavych ( orv, Володимѣръ Свѧтославичь, ''Volodiměrъ Svętoslavičь'';, ''Uladzimir'', russian: Владимир, ''Vladimir'', uk, Володимир, ''Volodymyr''. Se ...
(c. 958–1015). One of the goals of the Sylenkoite movement is specifically to "drive out f Ukrainethe predatory Muscovite Christian Church" (the
Russian Orthodox Church
, native_name_lang = ru
, image = Moscow July 2011-7a.jpg
, imagewidth =
, alt =
, caption = Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow, Russia
, abbreviation = ROC
, type ...
). Regarding the Christianisation of Kievan Rus', Sylenko commented:
Christianity is seen as an external foreign force which attempts to destroy indigenous cultures by blending them into a global cultural pattern in order to play down ethnic differences and to indoctrinate its followers with a cosmopolitan attitude. According to Sylenko, Christianity leads to the development of a false consciousness in people:
Kandybaism
The Russian Religion (Russian language, Russian: Русская Религия), also termed Russian Vedism (Русский Ведизм), is one of the earliest doctrines of Rodnovery (Slavic Neopaganism) in Russia, founded in 1992 in Saint Pe ...
*
Theosophy
Theosophy is a religion established in the United States during the late 19th century. It was founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and draws its teachings predominantly from Blavatsky's writings. Categorized by scholars of religion ...