Russian pagans in special military operation (experience of individual interview)

Abstract

Introduction. The article is devoted to the study of one of the directions of modern paganism (Asatra/Odinism) through the prism of the philosophical features of the participant of special military operation (SVO). The purpose of this work is to analyze the source base (interview materials) of the carrier – the respondent to determine the specifics of religious nativism in the area of the special military operation.Materials and Methods. The research materials are in-depth interviews, narratives of ideologues of modern Russian paganism, containing information about the specifics of the Germanic-Scandinavian variation of the religious phenomenon of the XXIst century. The author used the following methods: cultural and anthropological methods (qualitative content analysis, analysis of a set of individual interviews), hermeneutic method, comparative analysis. The study pays considerable attention to the principle of objectivism. In particular, during his work on pagan narrative sources, the author adhered to the principle of non-supporting hermeneutics, a method of historical phenomenology.Results. As a result, some features of «vital activity» of the phenomenon of world view of Russian pagans in the zone of special military operation were considered. The interviewing of a representative of the Scandinavian paganism (loneliness) made it possible to form an opinion on the following problem fields connected with the entry of neophytes into the religious system: on ceremonial practices, places of worship during war, symbolism, attitude towards state power, future of religious nativists in the realities of the Russian Federation.Discussion and Conclusions. The author managed to reach the following conclusions: in the zone of special military operation, in addition to representatives of world religions, active adherents of modern variations of Slavic and Scandinavian «traditional» beliefs. Slavic-Scandinavian religious syncretism is observed in the military pagan environment. The micro-world of «combat paganism» is partly an ideological, structural tracing of the «peaceful pagan diaspora» existing in the religious space of the Russian Federation. In both cases, there is a choice in favor of individual reading of the constructed/reconstructed creed, an identical system of charms, a common opinion on issues related to the initial period of the ancient Russian state (the place of foreign elites in its genesis).