This timeline was created as a University assignment
Introduction
In this essay, I discuss the impact of migration and historical timelines upon two key figures within the Ukrainian Pagan world: Lev Sylenko and Volodymyr Shaian. Born in Ukrainian territories under different occupiers, these two figures both emigrated from Ukraine and wrote extensively about Ukrainian histories. These texts formed the basis of the RUNVira faith within the diaspora, with the faith eventually migrating back into Ukraine after the country regained its independence. From here, the writings of both were interpreted by Halyna Lozko, who became a major figurehead in the Ukrainian Pagan faith.
I have chosen this subject due to spending a significant portion of the last few years volunteering in Ukraine. The national identity of Ukraine is constantly changing due to external forces, the most recent being Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Historically, Ukraine has been occupied by many different aggressors. Migration of people into and out of the country, the active suppression of local histories and cultures, and the destruction brought by war has sought many people to turn to the past in attempts to reconnect with their sense of national identity. As religion is an important facet of life within Ukraine, I am taking the opportunity of this assignment to develop my understanding of it.
The international nature of this project makes it difficult to find concrete evidence of facts and dates. The two main scholars of Ukrainian native Pagan religions writing in English are Lesiv and Ivakhiv. These two writers at times contradict each other. The sources cited by both are often either no longer available, are in Russian/Ukrainian, or both. From experience automated translation tools struggle with Cyrillic languages, and so cannot be trusted to accurately translate scholarly documents.
Official websites of the religions do not seem to be actively maintained, or have security issues which prevent me from accessing them directly. The Ukrainian-language Wikipedia articles the discussed religious figureheads provide some context, but do not detail their sources. Whilst these claims of course must be taken with a pinch of salt, unfortunately they are at times the only source of information available to me.
Key events in the timeline
1908
Shaian is born in Lviv. At the time, the city is part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (Ukr Wikipedia).
1917
October Revolution, Bolsheviks set up the first Soviet government to rule Russia, starting civil war (Luukkanen, 1994, p. 68). Persecution of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) begins. Despite the destruction of their economic base, the ROC still maintains strong connections with rural populations (Luukkanen, 1994, pp. 69, 102-103). New laws are published secularising marriage, divorce, and birth registrations (Luukkanen, 1994, p. 69).
1919
After the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Ukrainian residents of Lviv attempt to fight for independence. They are defeated by Polish forces, resulting in the city (then known as Lwów) becoming part of Poland (Snyder, 2003, p. 138). Shaian would have been ~11 years old at the time, and likely witnessed Polish forces killing both Ukrainians and Jews.
1921
Sylenko is born in the Kirovohrad Oblast of Ukraine. At the time, this area was ruled by the Bolshevik’s Soviet government (Ukr Wikipedia).
1922
The Russian civil war ends, and the Soviet Union of Socialist Republics (USSR) is formed as the intended successor to the Russian Empire, led by Vladimir Lenin (Dyachenko, 2022, p. 4)
1924
The death of Vladimir Lenin, leading to a power struggle ultimately won by Joseph Stalin (Dyachenko, 2022, p. 27).
1928
The first Five Year Plan to industrialise USSR begins, including the introduction of collectivism to ensure the nation’s food supply can support the growing population (Byers, 2019). It is used by the government to target richer and influential rural peasants (Luukkanen, 1994, pp. 213-216). These peasants were traditionally the main powerbase of the ROC (and other traditional religions). Their removal devastates the remnants of the ROC (Dyachenko, 2022, p. 30).
1932
In 1932-1933 the Holodomor took place, in part due to the policies of the Five Year Plan. 13% of the Ukrainian population starve to death due to Stalin’s policies (Kiger, 2019). Sylenko would have been 11-12 years old at this time, living in rural Ukraine. Allegedly, his father died during the Holodomor (Ukr Wikipedia).
1934
Volodymyr Shaian has a spiritual revelation atop Mount Grekhit in the Ukrainian Carpathians (Ivakhiv, 2005, p. 11) By participating in local village traditions, he is said to have gained a feeling of connection to the past and to ancestral wisdoms (Lesiv, 2013, p. 49).
1937
Shaian presents a paper on the possibility of “pan-Aryan renaissance” in contrast to Hitler’s Germanocentric one (Ivakhiv, 2005, p. 11). He later mentions that although he has read Mein Kampf and uses the term “Aryan”, he sees his interpretations as opposite those of Hitler (Society of The Ukrainian Native Faith, 1987, p. 70). He later describes his faith as being Ukrainian and generally Aryan (Society of The Ukrainian Native Faith, 1987, p. 140).
The Catholic Church denounces both Nazi “paganism” and “atheistic Communism” (Dyachenko, 2022, pp. 38-39).
1939
Soviet forces capture Lwów (Smith, 2023, p. 324), with Shaian assumedly living through this occupation.
1941
Germany attacks the Soviet Union and captures Lwów (Smith, 2023, p. 324). Nazis reopen churches in captured Soviet Union regions in an attempt to build goodwill (Harrisville, 2019, p. 620).
Sylenko, serving in the Red Army, is said to have been captured by German forces and have spent time in a concentration camp (Ukr Wikipedia).
1943
In 1943 or 1944, Shaian establishes first group of the Order of the Knights of the Solar God in Lviv. He urges members to join the Ukrainian Insurgent Army against the Soviet forces (Ivakhiv, 2005, p. 11) (Lesiv, 2013, p. 50).
In 1943 Stalin meets personally with heads of ROC and formally allows the ROC to have property again (Dyachenko, 2022, pp. 52-53). Efforts to counter religion within the USSR are stepped down (Dyachenko, 2022, p. 26). After churches within captured USSR territories were re-opened by Nazis, perhaps Stalin did not want to further stoke anti-Soviet sentiments by implementing greater restrictions than the Nazis had done. Or perhaps he simply sees the benefit in being able to control the majority-religion of the people.
1944
Soviet forces re-capture Lwów (Amar, 2015, p. 143). There are conflicting reports on if Shaian fled the city in 1943 or 1944 (Ivakhiv, 2005, p. 11) (Lesiv, 2013, p. 50) but due to his staunch anti-Soviet stance, advancing Soviet forces likely prompted his departure.
After arriving in Germany, Shaian creates second group of Order of the Knights of the Solar God. In the following years members largely move to Canada and the United States. He also begins to publish a periodical called “Svitannia” (Lesiv, 2013, p. 50).
1945
Shaian and Sylenko allegedly meet in Germany. Some claim that Sylenko was a member of Shaian’s Order of the Knights, others claim that this was not the case and that Sylenko had no need for Shaian’s teachings (RUNVIR). 1945 would have been an interesting time for the two to have been socialising in Germany; Shaian was staunchly anti-Soviet, whereas Sylenko was a soldier of the Red Army who was captured by German forces. With the first Order of the Knights having been explicitly anti-Soviet, it seems unlikely that Sylenko would have so quickly abandoned his beliefs.
It is unclear at which point Sylenko became more Ukrainian-nationalistic. In later years he lauded famous Ukrainian historical figures who he referred to as the “Spiritual Giants of the Ukrainian nation”. He would also come to claim Ukrainians as descendants of ancient Aryans (Lesiv, 2013, pp. 45-46). As Shaian was already publicly discussing his beliefs around Aryans by this time, perhaps this would have been a topic of discussion between the two.
Regardless both men had a vision for an autonomous Ukraine, held racist and anti-Semitic views, and rejected Christianity (Lesiv, 2013, p. 41). It is claimed that the two remained in contact until the 1970s, at which point they parted ways due to Shaian’s rejection of Sylenko’s desires to reform the Native Faith (Ivakhiv, 2005, p. 11).
1948
Shaian moves to London. Many of the Knights that moved to North America become inactive (Lesiv, 2013, p. 50).
1950
In the 1950s, segments of the “Book of Veles” appear in Russian and Ukrainian publications. The legend of its writing holds that in 1919 a soldier named Fedir Izenbek discovered a collection of wooden boards covered in a strange, ancient text. Izenbek took these texts with him to Brussels in the 1920s, where he met a Russian-Ukrainian man named Iurii Miroliubov. Miroliubov was able to decipher these texts and record them into a book which he called the “Book of Veles”. The original texts supposedly disappeared with Izenbek’s death (Ivakhiv, 2005, p. 12).
This tale is somewhat reminiscent of that of Joseph Smith. Smith published the Book of Mormon based on the ancient texts of golden plates he discovered following the guidance of an angel. The angel forbade him from letting anyone else see the plates, and the plates disappeared after he completed his transcriptions (Persuitte, 2000). The Mormon church was very active in Belgium during the 1920s (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints). It is not inconceivable that Miroliubov may have encountered the story of Joseph Smith, and taken some inspiration.
The transcribed texts are also said to have been created under the guidance of Pagan priests in the 9th or 10th century containing “hymns and prayers, myths and legends, sermons, theological tracts, political invectives, and fragments of historical narrative” (Ivakhiv, 2005, p. 13). The writings were popular amongst Ukrainian and Russian Ariosophists[1], but the original scripts are generally accepted to be forgeries. Still, Miroliubox intended to use the wisdoms of the texts to fight the “demonic and antichristian” Soviet empire. Attempts to dismiss the Book of Veles are said to add to the alure of the text, allowing it to be labelled as “supressed knowledge”. It is also common to write-off detractors as Russian imperialists who wish to protect their version of history (Ivakhiv, 2005, p. 13).
A key message of the Book of Veles is that the Ukrainian people are the children of the Slavic gods Dazhboh and Svaroh, and of the forefather Or. It rallies the reader to maintain their identity, and fight against foreign invaders who would take their lands. It provides a definition of Ukrainian identity, as well as providing a set of ethics and religious practices. To Ukrainian Neopagans, it is seen as evidence that Christianity was responsible for destroying historical Ukrainian culture (Ivakhiv, 2005, p. 14).
1952
Lozko is born in the Mykolaiv Oblast in Ukraine, at the time part of the USSR (Ukr Wikipedia).
1962
Sylenko begins to promote his beliefs in the USA and Canada (RUNVIR).
1963
Petro Shelest made Chairman of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. He lobbied Moscow successfully for investment into Ukraine, and was seen as essential for the success of Ukrainization during the period (Cook, 2001, p. 1280).
1964
Brezhnev becomes the leader of the Soviet Union. During his rule it is said that a small resurgence of Paganism and Native Faith (or ridnovira) began within Ukraine (Ivakhiv, 2005, p. 8). Whilst Ivakhiv does not provide evidence for this claim, it is possible that this is due to Shelest’s efforts in promoting Ukrainian culture during their overlapping rules. Lozko is ~12 years old at this time, growing up in a time where Ukrainian culture and native religions are starting to become more prominent.
1966
Sylenko organises first RUNVira community in Chicago (Ivakhiv, 2005, p. 12), founding the monotheistic religion (Ivakhiv, 2005, p. 17).
1971
Shaian attempts to call on members of his Order living abroad to restart activities. He writes of a “squabble” that has arisen, which he asks his friends not to become involved with (Society of The Ukrainian Native Faith, 1987). Based on the date, this likely refers to the alleged break from Sylenko over his attempts at reforming Native Faith.
1972
Shaian’s followers in Ontario, Canada form the “Institute of Volodymyr Shaian” based upon his Svitannia publications (Lesiv, 2013, p. 50).
Back in Ukraine, Political dissidents and protesters are arrested. Shelest is removed from power (Cook, 2001), and Volodymyr Shcherbytsky takes his place. He enforces Russification, oppressing Ukrainian-language scholarly and cultural organisations (Cook, 2001, p. 1280). Lozko is aged ~20 and living in Kyiv, studying Ukrainian language and literature (Ukr Wikipedia). Shcherbytsky’s oppression of the Ukrainian language is likely to have impacted her work.
1979
Sylenko publishes Maha Vira (Ivakhiv, 2005, p. 32). The 1,427 page book claims to provide an 11,000 year history of Ukraine, and gives prophetic messages; it is the Bible of RUNVira (Ivakhiv, 2005, p. 17). His works speak of Ukraine as the homeland of the “true” Aryans (Ivakhiv, 2005, p. 12). Distinctive for its monotheism and orientation around a charismatic leader, other Neopagan groups now reject RUNVira as not being authentically “native” or “pagan” (Ivakhiv, 2005, p. 10).
1980
Pagan ideas begin to travel from the diaspora back into Ukraine, although intense growth did not begin until the collapse of the Soviet Union (Lesiv, 2013, p. 42).
During the 1980s the Oriiana Holy Temple of Mother Ukraine is founded in Spring Glen, New York where Sylenko resides (Lesiv, 2013, p. 44). The RUNVira in the diaspora splits into two groups: One who are loyal to Sylenko (OSIDU), and one who whilst recognising Sylenko as the founder of their religion, reject his ultimate political power (OSID) (Lesiv, 2013, p. 44).
1981
A group of Shaian-following Pagans in Hamilton, Canada led by Muroslav Sytnyk form the Ukrainian Native Faith Church. Sytnyk works to ensure that Shaian’s writings remain in print, including correspondences and original manuscripts (Lesiv, 2013, p. 50).
1986
Chernobyl nuclear plant accident (Dawson, 1996, p. 2). Even prior to this, anti-nuclear sentiments were used as a vehicle to build support for independence in other Soviet Union nations. This movement was more successful in countries which had a large proportion of ethnically native people; Ukrainian identity had become so intertwined with Russian identity that people did not similarly mobilise (Dawson, 1996, pp. 64-66). After the accident, Ukrainian press and media sparked national debates around the ecological damage being done to Ukraine by Soviet economic planners (Cook, 2001, p. 1281)
1987
Shaian followers in Canada publish Faith of Our Ancestors. It includes Shaian’s analysis of the Book of Veles, and a translation of The Lay of Ihor’s Campaign (Lesiv, 2013, p. 51). The origins of The Lay are mysterious, with some claiming that it was written in the 14th century. No original copies of the poem remain, and it is widely held to be a forgery. Despite this, it is popular in Pagan circles due to its references to the old Slavic pantheon (Lesiv, 2013, p. 32). The concept of Veles as a patron of arts and creativity, commonly held by contemporary Ukrainian Pagans, also stems from interpretations of The Lay (Lesiv, 2013, p. 101).
1989
Hard-line communist Shcherbitsky resigns (Cook, 2001, p. 1281), and a Ukrainian cultural revolution takes place. Ukrainian becomes the official language (Cook, 2001, p. 1281). Ukrainian history experiences a revival, details of events including the Holodomor become widely read (Cook, 2001, p. 1281). The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church is granted official recognition (Cook, 2001, p. 1281).
1991
In 1991 the Act of Declaration of Independence of Ukraine adopted, reestablishing Ukraine’s independence from the Soviet Union (Magocsi, 2010, pp. 722-723). The RUNVira community officially establishes itself in Kyiv a month later (Lesiv, 2013, p. 44), led by Bohdan Ostrovs’kyi. He calls his congregation the Dazhbozha (Ivakhiv, 2005, p. 20). A similar split can be seen in the RUNVira community within Ukraine as previously occurred in the diaspora (Ivakhiv, 2005, p. 17). Sylenko does not visit the Ukrainian branch of RUNVira, allegedly to Ostrovs’kyi’s puzzlement (Kyiv Post, 1998).
The new president, Leonid Kravchuk, works to bring Ukrainian identity into legislation and institutions (Kravchenko, 2016).
1993
The first group within Ukraine to explicitly embrace the term “yazychnyk” (Pagan) is formed, the Ukrainian Pagan Community “Pravoslavia”. This community sits under the umbrella of Native Faith. The group sees Shaian as its founder (despite him having passed away), the Book of Veles as its holy writ, and is led by Halyna Lozko (Ivakhiv, 2005, pp. 21-22).
The initiation of Lozko has conflicting reports. Ivakhiv states that she was initiated by the Sylenko-supporting Myroslav Sytnyk in 1993, implying that this took place in Canada (Ivakhiv, 2005, p. 22). Lesiv states the Sytnyk initiated her into the Native Faith in Kyiv in 1994, implying that he was a follower of Shaian (Lesiv, 2013, p. 51). As Lozko would go on to call Sylenko a “false prophet” and denounce his monotheistic ideas as being “the fruit of Judaic religions which aim for global world domination” (Ivakhiv, 2005, p. 22), it seems more likely that the Shaian initiation is true. Regardless of the source, her ultimate belief systems come to more closely resemble Sylenko’s than Shaian’s. Perhaps this stems from Sylenko and Lozko’s shared experience of growing up in Soviet-occupied Ukraine, where Ukrainian culture and language was actively supressed.
1995
Lozko founds a journal centralised around Ukrainian Native Faith. She also founds the Svitovyd Center for the Rebirth of Ukrainian Culture, the School of the Native Faith and the Museum of the Book of Veles (Ivakhiv, 2005, p. 22).
By the mid-1990s, RUNVira in the diaspora has expanded from North America into Australia, England, Germany, and New Zealand (Lesiv, 2013, p. 44). In the late 90s, OSID RunVira takes over the Spring Glen temple using legal means after a perceived hostile takeover attempt by Sylenko’s secretary (Ivakhiv, 2005, p. 20).
1997
The OSIDU RUNVira group in Ontario recognise Kyiv as their spiritual centre, and the authority of Lozko’s Pravoslavia group (Ivakhiv, 2005, p. 22).
1998
Lozko and others found the Native Faith Association of Ukraine (ORU) to better coordinate Native Faith activities (Ivakhiv, 2005, p. 22). The ORU denounces the “mixing of ethnic cultures” as the source of all the world’s problems, and the cause of the “ruination of the ethnosphere[2], which is part of the biosphere of planet Earth” (Ivakhiv, 2005, p. 22). By connecting the problem of globalism with concerns for the biosphere, perhaps Lozko had hoped to draw the interest of parties within Ukraine who had already conflated environmentalism as being a nationalism problem in the wake of the Chornobyl disaster.
Following in the footsteps of Sylenko and Shaian, Lozko leans heavily into racist ideology in her writings. Her promotion of ethnicity-oriented religions serves as a vehicle to promote the “white race” (Lesiv, 2013, p. 52). Despite denouncing Sylenko, her decrying of mixing ethnic cultures was also a key tenant of Sylenko’s RUNVira; Sylenko believed that humans have naturally been divided into ethno-cultural groups via evolving in the context of their environments. He saw this divide as beneficial, and was staunchly against foreign interference between divisions (Lesiv, 2013, p. 45). Conversely, Shaian advocated for the creation of a faith that was both Ukrainian and at the same time generally Aryan, advocating for connecting with Aryans in other nations (Society of The Ukrainian Native Faith, 1987, p. 140).
Given this belief, it is interesting that the Shaian-following community in Canada granted ultimate authority to Lozko (Lesiv, 2013, p. 51). Shaian’s writings suggest that one should be connecting with non-Ukrainian Aryans and learning from each-other, which seems diametrically opposed to Lozko’s teachings.
2001
The ORU is officially registered as a Pagan religious organisation. It becomes actively involved in pan-ethnic Pagan activities such as attending the World Congress of Ethnic Religions, despite their stated distaste for the mixing of ethnic cultures (Ivakhiv, 2005, p. 22).
2005
By 2005, Native Faith has grown to include 5 registered communities (including Pravoslavia) and numerous unregistered ones under Lozko’s leadership (Lesiv, 2013, p. 51).
2010 Onwards
Despite Pagan faiths becoming more popular in Ukraine, the Orthodox Church pushes back. A statue of Dazhboh was installed in the Kherson Oblast for Kupala celebrations, but dismantled a week later due to protests by members of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate clergy (Telegraf.by, 2011).
A religious survey in Ukraine in 2018 noted a decrease in self-reported followers of the Orthodox church- from 70.6% in 2017 down to 67.3% in 2018. The number of Pagans (0.1%) did not change between the two years (Slovo i Dilo, 2018).
Despite Paganism very much still being a minority religion in Ukraine, it appears to be a sore point for Russia. It was reported in 2017 that Russian forces in occupied areas would try and scare the locals with stories of how Ukrainian Pagans conduct human sacrifices (Slovo i Dilo, 2017). In 2023, RT released a documentary about how Sylenko created RUNVira as a neo-Nazi cult at the behest of the CIA (RT, 2023). Perhaps this is due to how Ukrainian Paganism is so heavily intertwined with Ukrainian nationalism and anti-Russian sentiment.
Conclusions
The two founders of the Ukrainian Paganism revival, Shaian and Sylenko, both wrote from the perspective of Ukrainian nationalism. Each has different interpretations of what this means, likely stemming from their differing experiences growing up. Shaian grew up in a territory which changed hands several times. He lived through Nazi occupation, and dedicated time to studying their views. He was staunchly anti-Soviet. Sylenko grew up in the USSR and lived through a genocide orchestrated by its leader, yet he joined the Red Army to fight for its cause against the Nazis. Their differing experiences shaped their interpretations of Ukrainian independence, and in turn guided their opinions on Ukrainian nationalism.
Shaian and Sylenko were likely only able to develop their theories thanks to having left Ukraine. If they had remained, the oppression of the Ukrainian people and their culture would likely have stymied their efforts. Even though the USSR reduced its anti-religious activities in 1943, Ukraine was not truly in a position for a nationalistic-religious revolution until it gained independence in 1991. Their respective times abroad allowed the two the luxury of the freedom to develop their theories, which were then ready to be reimported into Ukraine via Lozko.
Perhaps in part because of how extensive the theories of Shaian and Sylenko are, it is easy for religious revolutionaries such as Lozko to pick and choose components to build their faiths based upon these works, lending legitimacy to emergent faiths by providing them with historical pretexts.
The Russian response to the (albeit minor) increase in Ukrainian paganism is of interest. The USSR understood the need to oppress religions as a way of regaining control of the people; perhaps the fear of a nationalistic religion which is actively hostile to Russian influences is a continuation of this dichotomy.
[1] Followers of Ariosophy, a set of occult theories based on the “wisdom of the Aryans”
[2] A term coined by Wade Davis to refer to “the sum total of all thoughts, dreams, ideas, beliefs, myths, intuitions, and inspirations brought into being by the human imagination since the dawn of consciousness [..] The ethnosphere is humanity’s great legacy.” (Glass, 2004)
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