The Erzyan native religion (), also called Erzyan neopaganism, is the modern revival of the

ethnic religion In religious studies, an ethnic religion or ethnoreligion is a religion or belief associated with notions of heredity and a particular ethnicity. Ethnic religions are often distinguished from universal religions, such as Christianity or Islam ...

of the Erzya

Mordvins Mordvins (also Mordvinians, Mordovians; ; no equivalents in Moksha language, Moksha and Erzya language, Erzya) is an official term used in Russia and the Soviet Union to refer both to Erzyas and Mokshas since 1928. Names While Robert Gordon ...

, peoples of Volga Finnic ethnic stock dwelling in the

republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

Mordovia Mordovia ( ),; Moksha language, Moksha and officially the Republic of Mordovia,; ; is a republics of Russia, republic of Russia, situated in Eastern Europe. Its capital city, capital is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of S ...

within

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, or in bordering lands of Russia. The name of the originating god according to the Erzya tradition is (Nishke-Paz "god Nishke", Ineshkepaz). Most

historically practiced their indigenous religion and preserved their customs and folklore and a few villages completely preserved the native faith at least until the Mordvins were forcefully converted to Christianity by the

Russian Orthodox Church The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...

in the 17th century and in the early 20th century. The Neopagan revival was started in 1990,Schnirelmann, Victor:
“Christians! Go home”: A Revival of Neo-Paganism between the Baltic Sea and Transcaucasia
'. Journal of Contemporary Religion, Vol. 17, No. 2, 2002. p. 206.
archived
alongside that of many other native religions in Russia, as the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

was on the brink of dissolution. According to scholar Victor Schnirelmann, 2% of the Erzya adhere to the native faith and do not practice Christianity. Adherents of the ''Erzyan Mastor'' organisation organise the Ras'ken' Ozks (), a national Erzyan worship service held yearly, with participation also of members of the ''Mastorava'' organisation and other ones.

History

The revival of the Erzyan native religion has grown alongside, and with the support, of Mordvin

nationalism Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...

which started in the last years of the Soviet regime.Filatov, Shchipkov,
Religious Developments Amongst the Volga Nations
', p. 236. The revival of the national consciousness of the Mordvins was difficult at first, since they were a minority in their country and the press, which was very influential, took a tough

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

line. The Russian democrats and communists were hostile towards Mordvin nationalists. At the start of the ''

perestroika ''Perestroika'' ( ; rus, перестройка, r=perestrojka, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg, links=no) was a political reform movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s, widely associ ...

'' the Mordvin national intelligentsia waged a vigorous and successful campaign against

Russian Orthodoxy The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The primate of the ROC is the patriarch of Moscow and all Rus ...

, called "the religion of occupation", "the Russifying ideological force". Later the

Saransk Saransk (, ); ; is the capital city of Mordovia, Russia, as well as its financial and economic centre. It is located in the Volga River, Volga drainage basin, basin at the confluence of the Saranka and Insar Rivers, about east of Moscow. Sar ...

Ministry of Culture endorsed the revival of Mordvin culture and Paganism, arousing outcry from local Orthodox bishops. This was the circle that produced the first Neopagans, the ''Mastorava'' organisation led by the local poet Raisa Kemaikina, a group within the Saransk intelligentsia whose aim was the complete

reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...

of a Pagan worldview and religious services reworking folkloric, ethnographic and linguistic study.

Mastorava - Erzyan Society for National Rebirth

The ''Mastorava'' organisation was established in 1990 with the aim of "restoring the Erzyaethnic communities", also fostering a revival of Paganism. The association is officially registered in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

since 2002. The current president is Nikolay Vasilyevich Butilov.

Erzyan Mastor

The ''Erzyan Mastor'' ( Erzya for: "Erzyan Land") is a more recent organisation splintering from the ''Mastorava'' association. At first it was headed by Raisa Kemaykina (

Mariz Kemal Mariz Kemal (; born 1950) is an Erzya language The Erzya language (, , ), also Erzian or historically Arisa, is spoken by approximately 300,000 people in the northern, eastern and north-western parts of the Republic of Mordovia and adjacent r ...

; Маризь Кемаль). The group is focused on the Erzya, has political aims for the spread of Erzya Paganism, and is militant against Christianity.Erzyan Mastor website
Christianisation
. In 1992 Kemaykina released the following declarations to the Chuvash newspaper ''Atlas'', answering to a question about her attitude towards Christianity: In 1992 Kemaykina organised the first Pagan national ritual after decades or even centuries, sponsored by Erzyan businessmen.Filatov, Shchipkov. p. 237. Neighbouring villages learned long-forgotten Pagan prayers and Kemaikina was proclaimed the first priestess of the Erzya people. Television reports of that and following national worship ceremonies caused enthusiasm throughout the republic, and now the "Pagan question" is discussed from the remotest villages to university auditoria.

References

Bibliography

* Schnirelmann, Victor:
“Christians! Go home”: A Revival of Neo-Paganism between the Baltic Sea and Transcaucasia
'. Journal of Contemporary Religion, Vol. 17, No. 2, 2002. * Filatov, Sergei; Shchipkov, Aleksandr.
Religious Developments among the Volga Nations as a Model for the Russian Federation
'. Religion, State & Society, Vol. 23, No. 3, 1995. pp. 234–237

External links

Erzyan Mastor
official website {{Neopaganism Uralic modern paganism Modern paganism in Russia Mordvin people