Editing Modern paganism (section)

===Racism and nationalism===
Generally, modern pagan currents in [[Western world|Western countries]] do not advocate [[Nationalism|nationalist]] or far-right [[Ideology|ideologies]]. Instead, they advocate [[Personal development|individual self-improvement]] and liberal values of [[Civil liberties|personal freedom]], [[gender equality]], and [[environmental protection]]. The nationalist sentiments expressed by modern pagans in Western countries are marginal, so the ideas of [[cosmopolitanism]] are prevalent. Faith and dogmas give way to active practices, including psychotechnics, which was extensively influenced by [[Neo-Vedanta|neo-Hinduism]]. In contrast, many areas of post-Soviet modern paganism, including Russian, are occupied not so much with individual self-improvement as they are occupied with social problems, and they also create nationalist ideologies based on the "invented past".{{sfn|Schnirelmann|2012|p=7-8}}

Modern paganism is one of the directions in the development of [[romantic nationalism]] with its components such as the idealization of a particular people's historical or mythological past, dissatisfaction with modernity, and the ease of transition to a radical stage with the postulation of national superiority.{{sfn|Schnirelmann|2015}}{{sfn|Gajda|2013|p=46-48}}

The "[[volksgeist]]", which is given great attention within the framework of [[ethnic nationalism]], is often identified with religion, so there is a desire to create or revive one's religion or nationalize one of the world's religions. [[Heinrich Heine]] linked nationalism with paganism. The philosopher [[Nikolai Berdyaev]], who shared Heine's opinion, noted the regularity of the tendency of the transition of German antisemitism into anti-Christianity.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the spiritual crisis in Russia led to a fascination with paganism, at first ancient and then Slavic "native gods," which was especially true for the [[Russian symbolism|symbolists]]. The publicist Daniil Pasmanik (1923) wrote that consistent antisemitism should reject Judaism and Christianity. He noted that this trend had already led Germany to worship [[Odin]] and, in the future, in his opinion, would inevitably lead Russia to worship [[Perun]].{{sfn|Schnirelmann|2015}}

German occultism and modern paganism arose in the early 20th century, and they became influential through teachings such as [[Ariosophy]], gaining adherents within the far-right [[Völkisch movement]], which eventually culminated in [[Nazism]]. The development of such ideas after [[World War II]] gave rise to [[Wotansvolk|Wotanism]], a [[white nationalist]] modern pagan movement at the end of the 20th century.<ref name="SPLCOdinist">{{Cite web |url=https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/1998/new-brand-racist-odinist-religion-march |title=New Brand of Racist Odinist Religion on the March |website=[[Southern Poverty Law Center]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200114075655/https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/1998/new-brand-racist-odinist-religion-march |archive-date=14 January 2020 |access-date=11 December 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Berlet|2006|p=11—48}}

[[File:Ludwig Fahrenkrog 1867-1952 DAS DEUTSCHE BUCH Germanische Glaubens-Gemeinschaft Berlin 1921 Neuheidnische Religion Germanic heathenism neopaganism Voelkisch ethno-nationalist Swastika Thors hammer No copyright theologie.geschichte Beih.jpg|left|thumb|200px|[[Heathenry (new religious movement)|Heathen]] organization "Germanic Faith Community" (Germanische Glaubens-Gemeinschaft, GGG), founded by the artist and poet [[Ludwig Fahrenkrog]], a representative of the [[Völkisch movement]]. Brochure, circa 1920.]]
In Germany in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Völkisch movement, characterized by a racist [[antisemitic]] ideology of radical ethnic nationalism of the dominant population, spread.{{sfn|Schnirelmann|2009|p=206}}{{sfn|Fischer|2002|p=41-54}} The central elements of the worldview were racism and [[elitism]].{{sfn|Goodrick-Clarke|1995}}{{sfn|Khryakov|2015|p=95}} The movement included a religious modern pagan component.{{sfn|Poewe|Hexham|2009|p=676-696}} The ideology developed out of German nationalist romanticism.{{sfn|Goodrick-Clarke|1995}} Nazism is considered one of the movements within the völkisch<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://old.bigenc.ru/world_history/text/2252826 |title=NATIONAL SOCIALISM • Great Russian encyclopedia – electronic version (in Russian) |access-date=8 March 2023 |archive-date=8 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230308221940/https://old.bigenc.ru/world_history/text/2252826 |url-status=live }}</ref> or as strongly influenced by the völkisch.{{sfn|Goodrick-Clarke|1995}} Völkisch consisted of many religiopolitical groups whose leaders and followers were closely associated with each other and the developing [[Nazi Party]].{{sfn|Poewe|Hexham|2009|p=676-696}} This ideology significantly impacted various aspects of German culture at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.{{sfn|Khryakov|2015|p=95}}

Liberalism and rationalism, which demystified the time-honored order that accepted authorities and prejudices, also caused an adverse reaction from supporters of the völkisch movement. A negative attitude towards modernity characterizes the writings of German nationalist "prophets" such as Paul Delagardie, Julius Lang, and [[Arthur Moeller van den Bruck]].{{sfn|Goodrick-Clarke|1995}} The movement combined a sentimental patriotic interest in [[German folklore]] and [[local history]] with anti-urban, back-to-the-earth populism.<ref>A. J. Nicholls, reviewing George L. Mosse, ''The Crisis in German Ideology: Intellectual Origins of the Third Reich'', in ''[[The English Historical Review]]'' '''82''' No. 325 (October 1967), p. 860.</ref> To overcome what they considered the ailment of scientific and rationalistic modernity, the authors of völkisch found a spiritual solution in the essence of the "people," perceived as genuine, intuitive, even "primitive," in the sense of the location of the "people" on the level with the original (primordial) cosmic order.{{sfn|Dohe|2016|p=36}}

Völkisch thinkers tended to idealize the myth of the "original nation", which they believed could still be found in rural Germany, a form of "primitive democracy freely subject to its natural elite".{{sfn|François|2009}} The idea of the "people" ({{langx|de|link=no|Volk}}) was subsequently transformed into the idea of "racial essence", and Völkisch thinkers understood this term as a life-giving and quasi-eternal essence and not as a sociological category, in the same way as they considered "Nature".{{sfn|Dupeux|1992|p=115-125}}

Modern pagan ideas were present in [[Ariosophy]], an [[esoteric]] teaching created by the Austrian occultists [[Guido von List]] and [[Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels]] in Austria between 1890 and 1930.{{sfn|Goodrick-Clarke|2004}} The term "ariosophy" can also be used generically to describe the "Aryan"/esoteric teachings of the völkisch subset.{{sfn|Goodrick-Clarke|1985|loc=note 1 to the Introduction|p=227}} The doctrine of Ariosophy was based on pseudoscientific ideas about "Aryan" purity and the mystical unity of spirit and body.<ref name="SPLCVolkisch">{{cite web |title=Neo-Volkisch |url=https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/ideology/neo-volkisch |website=[[Southern Poverty Law Center]] |access-date=28 October 2021 |archive-date=22 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180222001831/https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/ideology/neo-volkisch |url-status=live }}</ref> It was influenced by the German nationalist völkisch movement, the [[theosophy]] of [[Helena Blavatsky]], the Austrian [[pan-German]] movement, and [[social Darwinism]] and its racist conclusions.{{sfn|Goodrick-Clarke|1995}} Ariosophy influenced the ideology of Nazism.{{sfn|Goodrick-Clarke|2004}}

The works of the Ariosophists describe the prehistoric "Aryan" golden age when the wise keepers of knowledge learned and taught occult racial teachings and ruled over a "racially pure" society. It is alleged that there is an evil conspiracy of anti-German forces, including all "non-Aryan" races, Jews, and the Christian church, seeking to destroy the ideal "Aryan" German world by freeing the "non-Aryan" mob to establish a false equality of the illegitimate (representatives of "non-Aryan" races). History, including wars, economic crises, political uncertainty, and the weakening of the power of the German principle, is seen as the result of racial mixing.

The doctrine had followers in Austria and Germany. Occultism in the doctrines of the Ariosophists was of great importance as a sacral justification for an extreme political position and a fundamental rejection of reality, including socio-economic progress. The Ariosophists sought to predict and justify the "coming era" of the German world order. To counter the modern world, "corrupted" by racial mixing, the Ariosophists created many small circles and secret religious societies to revive the "lost" esoteric knowledge and racial virtues of the ancient Germans to create a new pan-German empire.{{sfn|Goodrick-Clarke|1995}}

To recreate the religion of the [[Germanic peoples|ancient Germans]], List used the Scandinavian epic and the work of contemporary theosophists, in particular Max Ferdinand Sebaldt von Werth, who described the [[eugenic]] practices of the "Aryans", as well as ''[[The Secret Doctrine]]'' by Helena Blavatsky and ''The Lost Lemuria'' by [[William Scott-Elliot]]. Influenced by these works, List used the terms "Ario-Germans" and "race" instead of "Germans" and "people", perhaps to emphasize the overlap with the fifth [[root race]] in Blavatsky's scheme.{{sfn|Goodrick-Clarke|2004}} List and Lanz developed ideas about the struggle between the "Aryan [[master race|race of masters]]" and the "race of slaves" and about the ancestral home of the "Aryans" on the sunken polar island of [[Hyperborea|Arctogea]].{{sfn|Goodrick-Clarke|1995|p=65-66}}

In Nazi Germany, Germanic pagan folklore, as a source of primordial moral standards, was revered higher than Christianity associated with Judaism. Many Nazis saw anti-Christianity as a deeper form of antisemitism.{{sfn|Poewe|2006|p=7, 148–149}} [[Heinrich Himmler]] spoke of the need to create a "neo-Germanic religion" capable of replacing Christianity.{{sfn|McCann|1990|p=75-79}} The Old Testament was especially repugnant to the Nazis. Adolf Hitler called it "Satan's Bible". Rosenberg demanded that it be banned as a "vehicle of Jewish influence" and replaced by the Nordic [[saga]]s.{{sfn|Schnirelmann|2015|loc=vol. 1|p=83}} The Nazi ideology combined the veneration of the "pagan heritage of the ancestors" with puritanical, Christian sexual morality, which the "Nordic" [[Apollo]] was supposed to personify.{{sfn|Gugenberger|Schweidlenka|1993|p=97-98, 142–143}}

[[White supremacist]] ideologies and [[neo-Nazism]], including ideas of racism, antisemitism, and [[Persecution of homosexuals in Nazi Germany|anti-LGBTQ]], have infiltrated or assimilated many Germanic modern pagan movements such as [[Odinism]] and some Ásatrú groups, including the [[Asatru Folk Assembly]]. These groups believe that the Germanic beliefs they hold constitute the true Caucasoid ethnic religion.<ref name="SPLCOdinist"/>{{sfn|Berlet|2006|p=11-48}}

The issue of race is a major source of contention among modern pagans, especially in the United States.{{sfn|Kaplan|1996|p=202}}{{sfn|Gardell|2003|p=153}}{{sfn|Strmiska|Sigurvinsson|2005|p=134}} In the modern pagan community, one view is that race is entirely a matter of biological [[heredity]], while the opposite position is that race is a [[social constructionism|social construct]] rooted in cultural heritage. In US modern pagan discourse, these views are described as völkische and universalist positions, respectively.{{sfn|Strmiska|Sigurvinsson|2005|p=134-135}}{{sfn|Adler|2006|p=29-294}}{{sfn|Schnurbein|2016|p=128}}{{sfn|Snook|Horrell|Horton|2017|p=43-64}} The two factions, which [[Jeffrey Kaplan (academic)|Jeffrey Kaplan]] has called the "[[scientific racism|racist]]" and "[[anti-racism|non-racist]]" camps, often clash, with Kaplan claiming that there is a "virtual civil war" between them within the American modern pagan community.{{sfn|Kaplan|1997|p=78}} The division into universalists and völkisch also spread to other countries,{{sfn|Schnurbein|2016|p=128}} but had less impact on the more ethnically homogeneous [[Iceland]].{{sfn|Strmiska|Sigurvinsson|2005|p=165}} A 2015 survey showed that more modern pagans adhere to universalist ideas than völkisch.{{sfn|Cragle|2017|p=89-90}}

Going beyond this binary classification, religious scholar [[Mattias Gardell]] divides modern paganism in the United States into three factions according to their racial stance:
* the "anti-racist" faction, which denounces any connection between religion and racial identity
* the "radical-racist" faction, which believes that members of other racial groups should not follow their religion because racial identity is the natural religion of the "Aryan race"
* an "ethnic" faction seeking to forge a middle path by recognizing their religion's roots in Northern Europe and its connection to people of Northern European origin{{sfn|Gardell|2003|p=153}}

Religious scholar [[Stephanie von Schnurbein]] accepted Gardell's tripartite division, and referred to these groups as the "aracist", "racial-religious", and "ethnic" factions, respectively.{{sfn|Schnurbein|2016|p=6-7}}

Supporters of the universalist and anti-racist approach believe that the deities of Germanic Europe can call anyone to worship them, regardless of ethnic origin.{{sfn|Strmiska|Sigurvinsson|2005|p=134-135}} This group rejects the völkisch focus on race, believing that even unintentionally, such an approach can lead to racist attitudes towards people of non-Northern European origin.{{sfn|Harvey|2007|p=67}} Practicing universalists such as [[Stephan Grundy]] emphasize that ancient northern Europeans married and had children with members of other ethnic groups, and in [[Norse mythology]], the [[Æsir]] did the same with the [[Vanir]], [[jötnar]], and humans, so these modern pagans criticize racist views.{{sfn|Kaplan|1997|p=77}}{{sfn|Gardell|2003|p=163}}

Universalists favorably accept practitioners of modern paganism who are not of Northern European origin; for example, [[The Troth]], based in the United States, has [[American Jews|Jewish]] and African American members, and many of its white members have spouses who belong to different racial groups.{{sfn|Kaplan|1996|p=224}}{{sfn|Gardell|2003|p=164}}{{sfn|Strmiska|Sigurvinsson|2005|p=128}} While some pagans continue to believe that Germanic paganism is an innate religion, universalists have sometimes argued that this paganism is an innate religion for the lands of Northern Europe and not for a particular race. Universalists often complain that some journalists portray modern paganism as an inherently racist movement,{{sfn|Cragle|2017|p=89-90}} so they use the Internet to highlight their opposition to [[far-right politics]].{{sfn|Doyle White|2017|p=257}}

In Heathenry, the terms "völkisch", "neo-völkisch", or the Anglicised "folkish" are used both as endonyms and exonyms for groups who believe that the religion is closely related to the claimed biological race.<ref name="SPLCVolkisch"/>{{sfn|Doyle White|2017|p=259-261}}{{sfn|Gardell|2003|p=17}} Völkisch practitioners consider paganism to be an indigenous religion of a biologically distinct race{{sfn|Harvey|2007|p=66}} that is conceptualized as "[[White people|White]]", "[[Nordic race|Nordic]]", "Aryan", "Northern European", or "English". Völkisch modern pagans generally regard these classifications as self-evident, despite the academic consensus that race is a cultural construct.

Völkisch groups often use ethnonationalist language and claim that only members of these racial groups are entitled to practice a given religion, taking the pseudoscientific view that "gods and goddesses are encoded in the DNA" of the members of a race.<ref name="SPLCVolkisch"/>{{sfn|Doyle White|2017|p=259-261}}{{sfn|Gardell|2003|p=17}} Some practitioners explain the idea of linking their race and religion by saying that religion is inextricably linked to the [[collective unconscious]] of that race.{{sfn|Kaplan|1997|p=81}}{{sfn|Harvey|2007|p=66-67}} The American modern pagan [[Stephen McNallen]] developed these ideas into a concept he called "metagenetics".{{sfn|Kaplan|1997|p=80-82}}{{sfn|Gardell|2003|p=269-273}}{{sfn|Schnurbein|2016|p=130}} McNallen and many other members of the modern pagan "ethnic" faction explicitly state that they are not racist, although Gardell has noted that their views may be considered racist under specific definitions of the term.{{sfn|Gardell|2003|p=271}} Gardell considered many "ethnic" modern pagans to be [[ethnic nationalist]]s.{{sfn|Gardell|2003|p=278}}

Many völkisch practitioners disapprove of [[multiculturalism]] and [[miscegenation|racial mixing]] in modern Europe, advocating [[White separatism|racial separatism]].{{sfn|Harvey|2007|p=66}} In online media, modern pagan völkische often express a belief in the threat of racial miscegenation, which they blame on the social and political establishment, sometimes claiming that their ideas of racial exclusivity are the result of the threat that other ethnic groups pose to "white" people.{{sfn|Doyle White|2017|p=261-262}}<ref name="SPLCVolkisch"/> While these groups generally claim to be aiming to revive [[Germanic paganism]], their race-centric views have their origins in 19th-century culture, not antiquity.<ref name="SPLCVolkisch"/> This group's discourse contains the concepts of "ancestors" and "homeland", which are understood very vaguely.{{sfn|Strmiska|Sigurvinsson|2005|p=137}} Researcher Ethan Doyle White characterizes the position of the [[Odinic Rite]] and the [[Odin Brotherhood]] as "far right".{{sfn|Doyle White|2017|p=242}}

Ethnocentric modern pagans are highly critical of their universalist counterparts, often claiming that the latter have been misled by [[New Age]] literature and [[political correctness]].{{sfn|Gardell|2003|p=165}} Members of the universalist and ethnocentric factions criticize those who adopt an "ethnic" stance. The former view "ethnic" modern paganism as a cover for racism, while the latter view its adherents as [[race traitor]]s for their refusal to fully accept the superiority of the "white race".{{sfn|Gardell|2003|p=273-274}}

Some modern pagans of the völkisch movement are white supremacists and outright racists{{sfn|Strmiska|Sigurvinsson|2005|p=136}}{{sfn|Schnurbein|2016|p=129}} representing a "radical racist" faction that uses the names ''Odinism'', ''Wotanism'', and ''Wodenism''.{{sfn|Gardell|2003|p=165}}{{sfn|Doyle White|2017|p=254}} According to Kaplan, these adepts occupy the "most remote corners" of modern paganism.{{sfn|Kaplan|1997|p=69-70}} The lines between this form of modern paganism and Nazism are "extremely thin"{{sfn|Kaplan|1997|p=85}} because its adherents praise [[Adolf Hitler]] and [[Nazi Germany]],{{sfn|Kaplan|1997|p=85}} claim that the "white race" is [[White genocide conspiracy theory|threatened with extinction]] by the efforts of a [[Judeo-Masonic conspiracy theory|Jewish world conspiracy]],{{sfn|Kaplan|1997|p=86}} and dismiss Christianity as a work of the Jews.{{sfn|Goodrick-Clarke|2003|p=257}}

Many in the inner circle of the terrorist organization [[The Order (white supremacist group)|The Order]], a white supremacist militia operating in the US in the 1980s, called themselves Odinists.{{sfn|Gardell|2003|p=196-197}} Various racist modern pagans supported the [[Fourteen Words]] slogan, which was developed by The Order member [[David Lane (white supremacist)|David Lane]].{{sfn|Kaplan|1997|p=94}} Some racist organizations, such as the [[Order of Nine Angles]] and the [[Black Order (Satanist group)|Black Order]], combine elements of modern paganism with [[Satanism]],{{sfn|Gardell|2003|p=292-293}} while other racist modern pagans, such as Wotanist Ron McVan, reject the syncretism of the two religions.{{sfn|Gardell|2003|p=320-321}}

American neo-Nazi [[William Luther Pierce]], the founder of the [[National Alliance (United States)|National Alliance]], whose ideas stimulated [[Right-wing terrorism|neo-Nazi terrorism]], also created the Cosmotheistic Community Church in 1978. He considered the teaching he created within the framework of this church to be [[pantheism]] and leaned towards the "Panaryan" Nordic cults. These cults emphasized the idea of a unique closeness of "white people" with nature and the natural "spiritual essence", which was influenced by the ideas of [[Savitri Devi]]. According to the doctrine, each race has its predestined role: "whites" are predisposed to strive for God, blacks strive for laziness, and Jews strive for corruption.

In 1985, Pierce purchased a large piece of land at Mill Point in West Virginia, fenced it in with barbed wire, and began selling books on Western culture and Western "pagan traditions" there. He aimed to save the "white race" away from the federal government. In part, he also drew on [[British Israelism]] and the racist religion of [[Christian Identity|Identity Christianity]]. The "National Alliance" met regularly to discuss the ideas of "cosmotheism". Pierce dismissed Christianity as "one of the chief mental illnesses of our people" through which "Jewish influence" spreads. Pierce saw the proposed government after the "racial revolution" as religious, which would be "more like a holy order." He considered the future religion of the "white race" the "Aryan religion" – the "cosmotheism" that he created.{{sfn|Schnirelmann|2010|loc=Chapter 9. "The Turner Diaries"|p=273-285}}

Sociologist [[Marlène Laruelle]] notes the activation of "Aryan" modern paganism in the West and Russia. For example, social movements are thus developing that appeal to the Celtic past and call for a return to the "[[Druidry (modern)|druidic]] religions" of pre-Christian Europe. For the most part, the French and German ''Nouvelle Droite'' share the common idea of a pan-European unity based on an "Aryan" identity and the desire to part with Christianity, the period of domination of which is seen as two thousand years of "wandering in darkness."{{sfn|Laruelle|2010}}

[[Slavic Native Faith|Slavic neopaganism (Rodnoverie)]] has a close connection with [[Nazism]], reproducing its main ideas: the "Aryan" idea, including the idea of the [[Hyperborea|northern ancestral home]] (in Rodnoverie, it is in the Russian North, the Northern Urals, or beyond the Arctic Circle); the connection of their people with the "Aryans" or complete identification with them (in Rodnovery, "Slavic-Aryans"); the antiquity of one's people and its racial or cultural superiority over others; their people (or the ancient "Aryans" identified with them) are regarded as cultural traegers, distributors of high culture, founders of great civilizations of antiquity, (in Rodnoverie, Slavic or "Slavic-Aryan" "Vedic" technological precivilization, "taught" all other peoples), and creators of ancient writing (in Rodnoverie, [[Slavic runes]]); "Aryan" proto-language (in Rodnoverie, "Slavic-Aryan" or Old Slavic), from which all or many other languages of the world originated; reliance on [[Western esotericism|esotericism]]; orientation to the faith of ancestors (hence paganism); anti-Christianity (the idea that Christians seek to enslave the people) and antisemitism (Jews as "racial enemies"); "Aryan" socialism (an integral part of the ideology of Nazism) as the most natural for its people (in Rodnoverie, the "original tribal system" of the Slavs, which is thought of as a kind of "Aryan" socialism); symbols and gestures close to or derived from Nazism, etc.{{sfn|Schnirelmann|2015}}

One of the main starting points for the formation of Slavic neopaganism was the search for a rationale for the national idea. Hence follows an increased interest in the origins of national self-consciousness and the national type of religiosity.{{sfn|Prokofiev|Filatov|Koskello|2006|p=179}} In the post-Soviet period, in the conditions of the loss of the great "empire" (USSR), land, and influence and in search of internal and external enemies, neopaganism became widespread among nationalist ideologues, just like in Germany in the 1930s. In Rodnoverie, the unity of the Russian people was undergoing a new re-mythologization with an appeal for support to the ideas of the "[[golden age]]", the primordial untainted tradition, and the native land.{{sfn|Gaidukov|2016}}

Historian Dmitry Shlapentokh wrote that, as in Europe, neopaganism in Russia pushes some of its adherents to antisemitism. This antisemitism is closely related to negative attitudes towards Asians, and this emphasis on racial factors can lead neopagans to neo-Nazism. The tendency of neopagans to antisemitism is a logical development of the ideas of neopaganism and imitation of the Nazis and is also a consequence of some specific conditions of modern Russian politics.

Unlike previous regimes, the current Russian political regime and the ideology of the middle class combine support for Orthodoxy with [[philosemitism]] and a positive attitude towards Muslims. These features of the regime contributed to the formation of specific views of neo-Nazi neopagans, which are represented to a large extent among the socially unprotected and marginalized Russian youth. In their opinion, power in Russia was usurped by a cabal of conspirators, including hierarchs of the Orthodox Church, Jews, and Muslims. Contrary to external differences, these forces are believed to have united in their desire to maintain power over the Russian "Aryans".{{sfn|Shlapentokh|2014|p=77-78}}

Some associations of neopaganism, in particular Slavic, are evaluated by researchers as extremist, radical nationalists.{{sfn|Verkhovsky|Pribylovsky|Mikhailovskaya|1998|p=39-41}}{{sfn|Moroz|2005|p=196-225}}{{sfn|Yashin|2014|p=37-40}} In Russia, individual neopagan organizations and essays were included in the [[List of organisations banned in Russia|list of extremist organizations of the Ministry of Justice of Russia]] and the [[Federal List of Extremist Materials]], respectively.<ref>[http://www.sova-center.ru/racism-xenophobia/docs/2007/11/d11927/ List of organizations recognized by Russian courts as extremist (in Russian)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210127173311/http://www.sova-center.ru/racism-xenophobia/docs/2007/11/d11927/ |date=27 January 2021 }} // [[SOVA Center]], 28 January 2015.</ref>

The historian and ethnologist [[Victor Schnirelmann]] considers Russian neopaganism as a direction of [[Russian nationalism]] that denies [[Russian Orthodox Church|Russian Orthodoxy]] as an enduring national value and distinguishes two cardinal tasks that Russian neopaganism sets for itself: the salvation of Russian national culture from the leveling influence of modernization and the protection of the natural environment from the impact of modern civilization.{{sfn|Schnirelmann|1998}} According to Schnirelmann, "Russian neopaganism is a radical variety of conservative ideology, which is distinguished by frank [[anti-intellectualism]] and [[populism]]."{{sfn|Schnirelmann|2015}}

Religious scholar [[Alexei Gaidukov]] considers it wrong to reduce the diversity of native faith groups to nationalism only – he views the ecological direction of Rodnovery as no less significant.{{sfn|Gaidukov|2000}} Historian and religious scholar Roman Shizhensky believes Rodnovery poses little danger and law enforcement agencies should deal with radical groups.{{sfn|Shizhensky|2021}}

The Austrian occultist [[Guido von List]], who created the doctrine of [[Ariosophy]], argued that an ancient developed "Ario-Germanic" culture reached its dawn several millennia before Roman colonization and Christianity. According to him, before [[Charlemagne]]'s forced introduction of Christianity, Wotanism was practiced in what is now the Danubian territory of Germany. List considered Charlemagne the killer of the Saxons in memory of the bloody baptism of the pagans of Northern Germany by him. List considered the entire Christian period as an era of cultural decline, oblivion of the true faith, and unnatural racial mixing, when the "Aryan" ruling caste of priest-kings was forced to hide, secretly saving their sacred knowledge, which now became available to List as a full-fledged aristocratic descendant of this caste.{{sfn|Goodrick-Clarke|1995}}

In Slavic neopaganism, there is the idea of an ancient multi-thousand-year-old and developed civilization of the "Slavs-Aryans", while the entire Christian period seems to be an era of regression and decline,{{sfn|Prokofiev|Filatov|Koskello|2006|p=187-188}} the enslavement of the "Aryans" by foreign missionaries who imposed on them a "slave" (Christian) ideology. Rodnovers often regard these missionaries as Jews, "[[Judeo-Masonic conspiracy theory|Judeo-Masons]]", or their accomplices. At the same time, the Slavic "Aryan" [[volkhv]]s or priests had to hide in secret places, preserving the knowledge that was now passed onto their direct descendants, Rodnovers.{{sfn|Schnirelmann|2015}}

The idea of the Jewish-Khazar origin of Prince [[Vladimir the Great]] is popular, explaining why he [[Christianization of Kievan Rusʹ|introduced Christianity]], an instrument for the enslavement of the "Aryans" by Jews, and staged the genocide of the pagan Slavs. Roman Shizhensky singles out the neopagan myth about Vladimir and characterizes it as one of the most "odious" neopagan [[pseudohistory|historical myths]] and one of the leading Russian neopagan myths in terms of worldview significance.

The author of this myth is [[Valery Yemelyanov]], one of the founders of Russian neopaganism, who expounded it in his book ''Dezionization'' (1970s). Shizhensky notes that the neopagan myth about Vladimir contradicts scientific work on the issue and the totality of historical sources.{{sfn|Shizhensky|2009|p=250-256}}

Concerning the trend of convergence of neopagan associations from different countries, Andrey Beskov notes that neopagan nationalism is not an obstacle to "neopagan [[Internationalism (politics)|internationalism]]", and [[Anti-globalization movement|anti-globalism]], one of the manifestations of which was the popularity of ethnic religions, itself acquires a global character.{{sfn|Beskov|2014|p=19}}