Slavic Fantasy and the Russian Neopaganism
However, over time, formations and lifestyles had been changing, the regimes and society conditions were replacing each another, while traditions, though remained unchanged, still mutated imperceptibly. In the late postmodernity, where all the types of culture merged into the mass culture, and accepted divisions on "high", "low", "pop", etc. became only the nominal verges of one omnibus culture, the "traditional" one ceased to exist in its original sense. Moreover, the traditions themselves have died. Now traditional culture is an ephemeral part of modern "folk" culture which is the verge of the mass culture itself. In fact, it is a mere blurry view of ancestors' life, in other words, a simulacrum, an attempt to imitate the processes that were happening centuries and centuries ago. Nonetheless, that formed the new image of traditional culture in mass consciousness, with the fragments of mythology and folklore. In spite of that, nationalism has been on the rise, which leads to attemps of mixing this distorted chimera with the "traditional" lifestyle, reinventing and often revisioning their national cultures beyond recognition.
Slavophiles and paganists, trying to follow in their ancestors' footsteps have got to our days, mutating along with the "traditions" on which they had been relying. Thus, many neopaganistic movements, such as rodnovery, have appeared. Some even were influenced by the New Age, especially by its syncretism and eclecticism, rooted outgoing to Helena Blavatsky, a Russian occultist and theosophist who had anticipated the concept of Age of Aquarius. However, neither neopaganism nor rodnovery don't belong to the New Age movement, although they borrow ideas from there. Of course, these cultural mutations have been manifested most vividly after the dissolution of the USSR.
Against the background of ideological and cultural crisis of the 1990's, the influence had been gained by various religious and religiously political movements: destructive cults, totalitarian sects, and neopaganistic extremist organizations. The "Party of Vedic Socialism" was one of those organizations; in 1996, its leader Vladimir Danilov wrote a book "The Vedic Rus' in the Past and the Future (The Gospel from Aryans)". It was full of religious eclecticism, pseudohistorical studies, and political propaganda. According to the book, the Slavic people had drew wisdom from the Hindu Vedas until they were suppressed by the Christians. However, it wasn't the only example, as the organizations of this kind were spawning all across the country.
Main theses manifested by these neopaganistic movements are based on ambitions to revive the lost legacy of ancestors (which is obviously nothing but simple fiction) and follow the "right" path, developing spiritually by leading a "traditional" lifestyle. The concept of Vedic Rus' also implies the falsification of history which, of course, has affected such continents and countries like Atlantis, Hyperborea, and Tartary. The high technologies of the past lost to time also don't stand aside, as well as the secret of our ancestors' origin, often of esoteric or even alien (or both) nature. Actually, there is no clear Vedic Rus' "timeline" or (ironically as it sounds) the "bible"; rodnovery have only the blurred basis with theses mentioned above.
The subject of Vedic Rus' takes a special place in art, notably in painting. The most prominent artist of such a topic is probably Vsevolod Ivanov, a painter from Tver. From an early age he was interested in the history of Ancient Rus' and held an opinion on its falcification. In his adulthood, under the inspiration of literature mentioned above, Vsevolod began to work on the world of Vedic Rus'. He created over a hundred of paintings each of which one can gaze at for hours: all of them have a unique plot and are full of small details. Ivanov's style is truly can be called fairy. Most of his paintings in high resolution can be found here and here, as well as here (1, 2, 3, 4). I will limit myself to four paintings of every series of his art, even though it's not enough, and I highly reccomend you to see all of them by yourself.
Atlantis
The mythical country that sank millenia ago, has found its place in the art of Vsevolod Ivanov and Vedic Rus' mythology. Full of luxurious palaces and dazzling with the synthesis of Indian, Oriental, and Oceanic cultures, this is the homeland of high-minded giant Atlantians. In the 8th century BC, there was a war among them and the ancient Russians, after which the climate in Siberia changed for the worse, forcing Russians to find a new place to live.
"View of the central part of the Atlantis capital. Temple of Poseidon", 2012
"Boreas — the wind of retribution", 2006
"God of the village", 2009
"The last ship of Atlantis", 1997
Hyperborea
A far northern country, the homeland of Russians (or Russ) who used to be called Hyperboreans or Daaryans. Once it was a great civilization but after the Great Flood, the Russ had to massively migrate to the south, which took several centuries. Almost all Hyperborean buildings were made of stone, and the inhabitants tamed mammoths to use them as a means of transport.
"The Exodus of Hyperboreans", 2007
"Vision of the Hyperborea goddess to Pomors", 2005
"The Indriks of Volad", year unknown
"Survived the kingdom of Svyatogor", 2006
The Baltic Rus'
The shores of Baltic sea were the place of living of the Slavs named Rugii. These people worshiped their own gods, and the sea played a major role in their life, as all the rituals took place there. However, eventually all the Baltic Rus' cities have been seized, and historical data about those places was lost forever.
"Day of the Sea Goddess", 2007
"Rainbow over Arkona", 2007
"In the temple of warriors in Rethra. Ghost of Radogost", 2010
"Vestiges of the past", 2006
The Oldest Rus'
The traditional Kiev Rus', but in its absolute, with all its patterned-painted wooden houses and occult symbols, inhabited with mighty heroes, knyazi, astral and fairy entities, and other mythical creatures. This is a home for all the folkloric and epic characters, from Koschei to Leshy. According to Ivanov, the Russ (also called Aryans) came here after the flooding of Hyperborea.
"Upcoming conversation. Morning. Temple of Rod and Mokosh", year unknown
"Host of the lake", 2006
"Yogi the mother. The Flight", 2007
"In the Koschei's hall", 2009
The Wooden Rus'
The events of this series take place after 988, the year of baptism of Rus'. As one can note, there are no any fantasy elements. I believe that this is an allusion to the idea that Russians had lost their initial culture when adopted orthodoxy, thus drifting away from vedic paganism and their "true" nature. It's not confirmed by the artist himself, but considering Ivanov's attitude to the history and the theories of its falsification, the loss of traditions is exactly what Vsevolod is trying to tell us through his art. I would even assume that he considers that very eclectic "fairyness" as the basis of Slavs' identity.
"A street in a posad", 2004
"A monastery near the river", 2005
"In the Orthodox region", 2005
"An evening stroll", 2006
So, regarding all the history of aforementioned religious movements, and considreing a unique style and artistic value in combination with the ideas and author's views, we are brought up to the question: in what context these paintings could be studied, or mostly, enjoyed? Should we contemplate the ideological and worldview background of Ivanov's art, or perceive the Vedic Rus' as nothing but eclectic and somewhat naive Slavic fantasy? For sure, that is a part of a bigger picture. Does a viewer have the right to independently separate author and their ideas from the art itself? Is it possible to distinguish certain ideas of a composition apart, discarding "unnecessary" and even adverse thoughts? Can we separate the content itself from form? And how would it affect the original author's concept, their intentions, and what they actually wanted to express through their art? Obviously, there are no clear answers; this leads us to the eternal conflict of an author and their work once again. However, as an idea lies in the basis of all creativity, Ivanov would hardly have created such masterpieces without being influenced by rodnovery. On the other hand, you don't have to be a neopaganist yourself to appreciate this kind of art.
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