Világfa (world tree), Gödöllő, Budapest, Hungary

Neopaganism in

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

( Hungarian: ''Újpogányság'') is very diverse, with followers of the Hungarian Native Faith and of other religions, including

Wicca Wicca () is a modern Pagan religion. Scholars of religion categorise it as both a new religious movement and as part of the occultist stream of Western esotericism. It was developed in England during the first half of the 20th century and w ...

ns, Kemetics, Mithraics,

Druids A druid was a member of the high-ranking class in ancient Celtic cultures. Druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no written accounts. Whi ...

and Christopagans. Szilárdi (2006) describes the movement as a postmodern combination of

ethnocentric Ethnocentrism in social science and anthropology—as well as in colloquial English discourse—means to apply one's own culture or ethnicity as a frame of reference to judge other cultures, practices, behaviors, beliefs, and people, instead o ...

linguistic, national, religious and occasional political patterns of identity. Interest in the

reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *'' Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Unio ...

of an ethnic religion for the

Hungarians Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Urali ...

manifested for the first time in the early 20th century. A contribution to the popularisation of Pagan ideas in the Hungarian society was the tremendous success of the rock opera ''

István, a király ''István, a király'' ("Stephen, the King") is a Hungarian rock opera with music by Levente Szörényi, lyrics by János Bródy and book by Bródy and Miklós Boldizsár, based on the latter's play, ''Ezredforduló''. The musical is based on ...

'' in 1983.

Religions

Christopaganism

Many Pagan groups in

make use of Christian terminology and iconography re-interpreted in an ethnic Pagan way. This is the case of the "Church of Esoteric Beliefs — Church of the Holy Crown" ( Hungarian: ''Ezoterikus Tanok Egyháza — Szent Korona Egyház''), conceptualising a

Scythian The Scythians or Scyths, and sometimes also referred to as the Classical Scythians and the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern * : "In modern scholarship the name 'Sakas' is reserved for the ancient tribes of northern and eastern Centra ...

ancient religion with Christian character, worshiping the ''Fény Jézus'' ("Light Jesus") and the ''Boldogasszony'' ("Blessed Lady"), with the ''

táltos The táltos (; also "tátos") is a figure in Hungarian mythology, a person with supernatural power similar to a shaman. Description The most reliable account of the táltos is given by Roman Catholic priest Arnold Ipolyi in his collection of fo ...

'' as priests. The church has been establishing ''naptemplomok'' (singular: ''naptemplom''), "temples of the Sun", as its places of worship. Another organisation of this kind is the "Our Lady's Love Church" (''Nagyboldogasszony Szeretet Egyház'').

Hungarian Neopaganism

Hungarian Neopaganism, the Hungarian native faith, or ''Ősmagyar Vallás'' (meaning "Ancient Hungarian Religion" or more accurately "Arch-Hungarian Religion") as it is called in the local Neopagan discourse, defines the movements which seek to rebuild a purely Hungarian ethnic religion, inspired to

Hungarian mythology Hungarian mythology includes the myths, legends, folk tales, fairy tales and gods of the Hungarians, also known as the Magyarok. Sources of knowledge Much of Magyar mythology is believed to be lost. However, in the last hundred years scholars o ...

and

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

. This drift has roots in the ethnological studies of the early 20th century, while the elaboration of a national Hungarian religion was endorsed in the interwar

Turanist Turanism, also known as pan-Turanianism, pan-Turanism, or simply Turan, is a pseudoscientific pan-nationalist cultural and political movement proclaiming the need for close cooperation or political unification between people who are claimed by ...

circles (1930s-40s), finally blossoming alongside other Pagan religions since the fall of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

. The difference between Hungarian Neopagan groups is often determined by their differing ideas about the historical origins of the

. The development of the Hungarian Neopagan movements largely rely on the work of individual

shaman Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spir ...

s or neoshamans, the ''

'', who may organise themselves in associations, set up schools, or establish larger religious organisations. The shamans' movement started to come to light in the 1980s, organising cooperation with representatives of core shamanism from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

since 1986. Those ''táltos'' who espouse a Turanist ideology often choose to affiliate with

Tengrism Tengrism (also known as Tengriism, Tengerism, or Tengrianism) is an ethnic and old state Turko- Mongolic religion originating in the Eurasian steppes, based on folk shamanism, animism and generally centered around the titular sky god Tengri. ...

. The most important organisations of this kind are the ''Yotengrit'', and the ''Ősmagyar Táltos Egyház'' ("Arch-Hungarian Táltos Church") founded by András Kovács-Magyar, who later also founded the ''Táltos Iskola'' ("Táltos School"). Other groups of this stream are the ''Ősmagyar Egyház'' ("Arch-Hungarian Church") and the ''Magyar Vallás Közössége'' ("Community of Hungarian Religion"). Another church of the Hungarian native faith is the ''Árpád Rendjének Jogalapja Tradicionális Egyház'' ("Traditional Church of the Order of Árpád"), founded in 2009. It is inspired by the

Traditionalist School The Traditionalist or Perennialist School is a group of 20th- and 21st-century thinkers who believe in the existence of a perennial wisdom or perennial philosophy, primordial and universal truths which form the source for, and are shared by, al ...

, the

Nouvelle Droite The Nouvelle Droite (; en, "New Right"), sometimes shortened to the initialism ND, is a far-right political movement which emerged in France during the late 1960s. The Nouvelle Droite is at the origin of the wider European New Right (ENR). Vario ...

Alain de Benoist Alain de Benoist (; ; born 11 December 1943) – also known as Fabrice Laroche, Robert de Herte, David Barney, and other pen names – is a French journalist and political philosopher, a founding member of the Nouvelle Droite ("New Right"), and ...

, and to the concept of a common Indo-European paganism.

Kemetism

The "Ankh — Church of Eternal Life" ( Hungarian: ''Ankh — Az Örök Élet Egyháza'') is a Kemetic church in

, founded in 1999. They propose a theory that sees

God In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

as the source of the universe, himself being the universe, inclosing every conscious and unconscious being. The aim of the organisation is to cultivate and meet the gods, who are the powers acting in the creation.

Neo-Mithraism

The ''Sodalitas Mithraica'' (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

for "Mithraic Fellowship") is a Neo-

Mithraic Mithraism, also known as the Mithraic mysteries or the Cult of Mithras, was a Roman mystery religion centered on the god Mithras. Although inspired by Iranian worship of the Zoroastrian divinity (''yazata'') Mithra, the Roman Mithras is linke ...

group active in

.Kolozsi 2012, p. 57

Wicca and Witchcraft

''Magyar Boszorkányszövetség'' (meaning "Hungarian Witchcraft") is a

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

-based Neopagan organization formed in 1986.

, a religion of

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

origin, has spread to Hungary as in the other countries of

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

Zsuzsanna Budapest Zsuzsanna Emese Mokcsay (born 30 January 1940 in Budapest, Hungary) is a Hungarian author, activist, journalist, playwright and songwriter living in America who writes about feminist spirituality and Dianic Wicca under the pen name Zsuzsanna Bud ...

, a Hungarian who emigrated to the

, is the founder of the Wiccan denomination known as

Dianic Wicca Dianic Wicca, also known as Dianic Witchcraft, and, to some also as "Dianism," "Dianic Feminist Witchcraft," or simply "Feminist Witchcraft"' is a modern pagan, goddess tradition, focused on female experience and empowerment. Leadership is by w ...

, popular in North America. The Celtic Wiccan Tradition Church (''Kelta-Wicca Hagyományőrzők Egyháza'') is a Celtic Wiccan church in Hungary. The Berkano Tradition, founded in 2005, is a current with mostly traditional Wiccan roots.

References

Resources

*Ádám Kolozsi, ''Social Constructions of the Native Faith: Mytho-historical Narratives and Identity-discourse in Hungarian Neo-paganism'', Central European University – Nationalism Studies Program, 2012. *Réka Szilárdi, ''Awakening of Gods: Neopaganism in Hungary'', ’Civil Religion, Private Spirituality’ Conference, 25–27 October 2007, Szeged, Re-Dial Association for the Study of Religions & the Department for the Study of Religions (University of Szeged). *Shelley Rabinovitch, James Lewis, ''The Encyclopedia of Modern Witchcraft and Neo-Paganism'', Kensington Publishing Corporation (2004), .

Modern paganism in Europe