A preliminary quantitative study of the mysticism and religious maturity of contemporary Slavic Neopagans in Poland

Abstract

Slavic Neopaganism (Rodnovery) is a new religious movement that forms part of Neopaganism. This phenomenon is defined in scientific literature as "Neopaganism"; however, the term itself does not precisely account for the differences that can be observed between Slavic Neopaganism and other Neopagan groups. Additionally, it raises objections on the part of Rodnovers themselves who, due to the Christian origin of the term "(neo)Pagans", do not want to be identified with it. 1 Regardless of how this movement is called, it constitutes an attempt to rebuild the ethnic, pre-Christian religion of ancient (early medieval) Slavs, taking into consideration its polytheism and rites, as well as the way of perceiving reality. 2 In this paper both the terms Slavic Neopaganism and Rodnovery are treated as synonyms. Information about the beliefs of remote ancestors is drawn by Slavic Neopagans from historical, archeological, and ethnographic sources. A scarcity of data forces the followers of Rodnovery to conduct reconstructions of religious content and to make generalizations based on preserved information. The religious current that can be encountered in all Slavic countries, despite the relatively small numbers of adher