Recently a clear trend of growing interest in religion, and more than once we heard that on the territory of modern Russia still coexist Paganism and Christianity. Dvoeverie in Russia – a phenomenon that is widely discussed so far. We will try to understand details in this issue.
Dual faith stock in the conventional belief of signs of other beliefs.As for our country, at present, in Russia, Christianity coexists peacefully with the echoes of paganism. Orthodox Christians still celebrate pancake day, happy to burn an effigy and eat pancakes. It is worth noting that this first day of spring is celebrated before lent. In this sense, to speak of syncretism, that is, know and like the peaceful coexistence of beliefs. However, Christianity and pagan cults is not so easy to get along together.
FAnomen of dual faith has its origins in the middle Ages, the word displayed in the texts of the sermons written against the Orthodox, who continued to honor pagan gods.
It is Interesting to note that the concept of "folk religion" at first glance it seems identical to the definition of “dual faith”, but when looked at more closely it becomes clear that in the first case we are talking about a peaceful way of existence, and in the second – the presence of conflict. Dvoeverie – marking conflict between the old and new faith.
Now let's talk about this term. Before the baptism of Rus paganism was what replaced the religion of the ancient Slavs. After the adoption of Christianity, this term became more frequently used in order to denote a non-Christian, “foreign” (foreign, heretical) activities. The word “pagan” was considered a dirty word.
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As noted By Yu. Lotman, paganism (ancient culture), however, cannot be considered underdeveloped in comparison with the Christian religion, as it also satisfies the need to believe, and in the last stages of its existence is much closer to monotheism.
As mentioned earlier, Slavic paganism prior to Christianity there was a certain belief, but zealous defenders and opponents of the new faith in Russia was not. People, having been baptized did not understand that the adoption of Orthodoxy should mean the rejection of pagan rituals and beliefs.
Ancient Russians did not conduct active struggle against Christianity, just people in everyday life continued to adhere to the earlier rites, not forgetting the new religion.
Christianity was complemented by striking images that are characteristic of the old beliefs. Man could be a good Christian and remain a Gentile. For example, people could on Easter day a loud scream forest owners about Christ's resurrection. The family and the demon was also offered cakes and eggs.
Dual faith in Russia, however, were not always of the nature of peaceful coexistence. Sometimes people fought "for the return of the idols”.
In fact, this was expressed in setting up the wise men of the people against the new faith and power. Open conflict for all time was witnessed by only three. It is known that representatives of the princely power to use force only in those cases when defenders of paganism began to intimidate the people and to wreak havoc.
The Positive aspect of the new religion had a high tolerance for established traditions. Princely power wisely, adapting people to the new faith by soft. It is known that in the West, the authorities tried to get rid of established customs that provoked years of war.
The institution of the Orthodox Church in Russia was invested in the pagan beliefs of the idea of Christian content. The most famous echoes of paganism are, undoubtedly, such holidays as Christmas carols and Shrovetide.
The Phenomenon of dual faith in Russia could not be indifferent to the public and great minds from different generations.
In particular, N. M. [Russian philologist, pointed to the fact that the people accepted Orthodox Christianity, but not deeply knew that creed and, though not intentionally, did not abandon pagan beliefs.
Public figure D. Obolensky also noted that between Christianity and folk belief there was no animosity and identified 4 levels of interaction between them which reflect the different degrees of relationship of Christian ideas and pagan beliefs.
Scientists are Marxists in the Soviet Union protested the ignorance of the common people and argued that most of them consciously opposed to the Christian faith.
The Soviet archaeologist Boris Rybakov spoke openly about the hostility between Orthodoxy and folk beliefs.
During the public certain Soviet scientists, such as T. Pavlov and Yu. V. Kryanev, spoke about the lack of open hostility, but developed athe idea that Christian asceticism was not blitkotajiem spirit of the pagan culture.
Ideas Boris Uspensky and Yuri Lotman displays the concept of duality of Russian culture.
Feminists completely refutes the positive side of the Christian doctrine and defined it as “male” ideology, directed against the ancient “female” belief systems. According to M. Matosyan, the Church has not been able to completely get rid of the pagan culture due to the fact that women were able to modify and to balance Christianity with pagan rituals.
Well-Known figure of Eve. Levine indicates that most researchers have tried to differentiate the Orthodox from ancient beliefs, not assuming even the slightest correlation between them. In General, the author notes that the concept of the presence of dual faith must be devoid of derogatory sense.
An Iconic religious and political event was the Adoption of Christianity. Dvoeverie arose as a result of the imposition of the ideas of Orthodox Christianity on pagan traditions. This phenomenon is quite easy to understand, because acceptance of the faith – is a complex process for which had to undergo a century. To abandon the beliefs of the Slavic people could not, because it was a centuries-old culture.
Refer to the identity of the person who initiated the rite of baptism. Prince Vladimir was not inclined to Holiness by man. It is known that he killed his brother Yaropolk, publicly raped captured the Princess, and took the ritual sacrifice of people.
In this regard, reasonably to believe that the adoption of Christianity was a necessary political step, which allowed Vladimir to strengthen the status of the Prince and make trade relations with Byzantium more productive.
So The problem of dual faith arose after Christianity, but could Prince Vladimir to draw Russia into another faith? We will try to understand.
It is Known that the adoption of Islam to ancient Russia was impossible. In this religion there is a ban on the use of intoxicating drinks. This Prince could not afford, as a very important ritual was communication with the team. Sharing a meal was suggested, no doubt, the use of alcohol. The rejection of these libations could lead to disastrous consequences: the Prince could lose the support of the squad, which was impossible to avoid.
Catholics Vladimir refused to negotiate.
The Jews, the Prince refused, pointing out that they are scattered across the land and he does not want such a fate for the Russians.
So the Lord had a reason for the performance of the ritual of baptism, which gave rise to the Dual faith. This, rather, it was an event that bore a political character.
According to the extant historical records, the baptism of Rus began in Kiev.
According to the testimony, described N. S. Gordienko, we can conclude that Christianity was imposed by Prince Vladimir in the form of an order, in addition, it took close to him. Consequently, a significant proportion of ordinary people will have to see in this ritual an apostasy from the ancient faith that gave rise to the Dual faith. This manifestation of popular resistance clearly described in the book McGee “Secrets of Russia”, which says that the people of Novgorod waged a desperate battle for the beliefs of the Slavs, but after the resistance surrendered. It turns out that people had a spiritual need to accept the new faith, therefore, could have a negative attitude to Christian rites.
If you talk about how Christianity was adopted in Kiev, here is something quite different than in other cities. As pointed out by L. N. Gumilev in his book “the Ancient Rus and the Great steppe" everyone who came to Kiev and wanted to live there had to convert to Orthodoxy.
So, after adopting the faith, as it turned out, the Christian tradition and pagan rituals are closely penetrated each other. It is believed that the time Dual faith – 13-14 century.
However Stoglav (1551) it was noted that even the priests used the pagan rites, for example, when placed under the throne of salt for some time and then passed it to the people for healing ailments.
In addition, there are examples, when a bhikkhu who had great wealth, spent all the money not to improve people's lives and for the Church. After he lost all his wealth and became poor, people turned away from him, and he stopped to oblige about the life of a Saint. Therefore, he spent all their money not to save the soul, but out of a desire to get the reward.
As noted in their research Froyanov I. Ya., old Russian Orthodox Church was more of a slave link. The institution of the Church was concerned about the functions of the government and involved in public life, which gave the clergy the opportunity to engage in the spread of Christianity among the common people, so do not be surprised by the power of pagan beliefs during the pre-Mongol Russia.
Manifestations of dual faith, in addition to the carnival, today is the funeral at the cemetery, when people eat and “treat” of the dead.
Another famous holiday - the Day of Ivan Kupala, coinciding with the birth of John the Baptist.
Very interesting manifestation of pagan and Christian beliefs presented in the calendar, where the name of the Holy add any name, for example, Basil Drip, Ekaterina Sannita.
Therefore, it should be recognized that dual faith in Russia, formed without the involvement of ancient traditions, gave to Orthodoxy in our Land original features, not without its charm.
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Alin Trodden - author of the article, editor
"Hi, I'm Alin Trodden. I write texts, read books, and look for impressions. And I'm not bad at telling you about it. I am always happy to participate in interesting projects."
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