Ringing Cedars' Anastasianism

Not to be confused with Peterburgian Vedism, Kandybaism and Russian Authentism, themselves — like Anastasianism — sometimes also termed "Russian Vedism".
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A view of some buildings of Korenskiye Rodniki ("Root Springs"), an Anastasian settlement in the Shebekinsky District, Belgorod Oblast, Russia.

Anastasianism (Russian: Анастасианство, Анастасийство, Анастасиизм) or the Ringing Cedars (Звенящие Кедры; also "Jingling Cedars"[1]) falls into the category of (right-wing) esotericism[2] and considers itself to be a new religious movement,[3] often classified as New Age,[4] that started in central Russia in 1997 and has since spread across the world.[5] Ringing Cedars' Anastasians are sometimes categorised by scholars as part of Rodnovery (Slavic Neopaganism),[6] and often as a modern Pagan movement of their own.[7] The Anastasians also define their life conception as Russian Vedism (Русский Ведизм) and themselves as Vedrussians (ведруссы), and Anastasianism has therefore often been classified among the various self-styled "Vedic" religions arising in post-Soviet Russia.[8] It conveys partly conspiracy ideological, racist and anti-Semitic content. The movement is closely linked to right-wing extremists and antisemitic conspiracy theorists in some countries: German constitutional protection authorities classify the movement as a right-wing extremist suspect; the State Security Service in Austria also observes it.[2][9]

The movement is based on the series of ten books entitled The Ringing Cedars of Russia written by Vladimir Megre.[5] The knowledge contained in the books is attributed to a beautiful woman named Anastasia, a remarkable woman embodying the natural qualities of mankind without technocratic influence,[10] who dwells in the Siberian taiga, whom Megre met during one of his trade expeditions.[11] The books have been translated in twenty languages and have sold millions of copies.[12] They offer a holistic worldview, teaching about humanity's relationship with nature, God and the universe, the creation of the world, the power of thought in modelling reality and the future, a cyclical eschatology, the relationship between men and women, and education.[5] Family, tradition and environmentalism are core values for the Anastasians.[13]

Anastasianism proposes a whole new model of social organisation, that of the "kinship homesteads", many of which constitute larger "kinship settlements".[14] The Anastasian movement has become one of the most successful new religious movements in Russia,[15] and from there it has then spread to other Slavic countries, broader Eastern Europe, and communities have also been established in the West.[16] In Russia, Anastasians have faced the hostility of the Russian Orthodox Church.[17]

  1. ^ Chernishkova 2014, p. 1161.
  2. ^ a b "Einordnung der Anastasia-Bewegung im rechtsesoterischen Spektrum" [Classification of the Anastasia movement in the right-wing esoteric spectrum] (pdf; 424 kB). InfoSekta.ch (in German). 10 November 2016.
  3. ^ Balagushkin & Shokhin 2006, passim; Andreeva 2012b, p. 101.
  4. ^ Chernishkova 2014, passim; Ozhiganova 2015, p. 262; Andreeva 2019, passim.
  5. ^ a b c Pranskevičiūtė 2015, p. 442.
  6. ^ Aitamurto 2016, pp. 52–53; Yashin & Kostin 2018, pp. 7–9.
  7. ^ Gaidukov 2015: "Под более узким термином Родноверие подразумевается религиозная, обрядовая система, которая придерживается исключительно славянских традиций (русской, украинской, белорусской). Этот термин не включает в себя некоторые проявления неоязычества, такие как, например Инглиизм или Анастасиизм. / Under the narrower term Rodnovery it is meant a religious, ritual system adhering exclusively to Slavic traditions (Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian). This term does not include other manifestations of Neopaganism, such as, for example, Ynglism or Anastasianism."; Yashin & Kostin 2018, pp. 7–9.
  8. ^ Andreeva 2012a, p. 236; Aitamurto 2016, pp. 52–53.
  9. ^ "Anastasia Movement: Neo-Religious Settlements & Organic Agriculture". Global Web Wire. 29 August 2023. Archived from the original on 21 September 2023.
  10. ^ Barchunova 2009, p. 63.
  11. ^ Barchunova 2009, p. 63; Aitamurto 2016, p. 52.
  12. ^ Ozhiganova 2015, p. 266.
  13. ^ Lunkin 2009, passim; Andreeva 2012a, pp. 231–232.
  14. ^ Andreeva 2012a, p. 233; Aitamurto 2016, pp. 52–53.
  15. ^ Yashin & Kostin 2018, p. 7.
  16. ^ Pranskevičiūtė 2015, p. 444; Ozhiganova 2015, p. 266.
  17. ^ Pranskevičiūtė 2015, p. 445; Yashin & Kostin 2018, p. 14.