The Native Ukrainian National Faith (, ; widely known by the acronym , RUNVira), also called Sylenkoism () or Sylenkianism (), and institutionally also known as the Church of Ukrainian Native Faith or Church of the Faithful of the Native Ukrainian National Faith, is a branch of Rodnovery (Slavic Native Faith) specifically linked to the Ukrainians that was founded in the mid 1960s by Lev Sylenko (1921–2008) among the Ukrainian diaspora in North America, and first introduced in Ukraine in 1991. Sylenkoite communities are also present in Russia and Belarus, as well as in Western Europe and Oceania. The doctrine of this tradition is codified into a sacred book composed by Sylenko himself, the Maha Vira ("Great Faith"). Sylenkoite theology is characterised by a solar monotheism.
Overview Lev Sylenko (1921–2008) was a disciple of the earliest ideologue of Ukrainian Rodnovery, Volodymyr Shaian (1908–1974), and was a member of the religio-political anti-Soviet "Order of the Knights of the Sun God" (Orden Lytsariv Boha Sontsia) founded by the same Shaian in the 1940s. Sylenko was initiated into the group with the name Orlyhora ("Eagle Mountain"). In the 1940s, Sylenko emigrated to Canada, and then to the United States, where in the 1960s he founded the Native Ukrainian National Faith. By the 1970s, Shaian and Sylenko had parted and taken two different paths, as Sylenko had begun to elaborate a systematised doctrine of Rodnovery which was rejected by Shaian. After travels in Europe and Asia, Sylenko compiled the Maha Vira, the holy book of his doctrine, and published it in 1979. The Maha Vira was preceded in 1969 by the poem The Mage's Gate, in which Sylenko outlined in a nutshell the foundations of the doctrine.
The scholar Adrian Ivakhiv defined Sylenkoism as a "reformed" Rodnovery, a "comprehensive and systematic attempt to create an intellectually coherent synthetic new religion" based on Slavic heritage with elements of Theosophy, deism and messianism. The scholar Victor Shnirelman defined Sylenkoism as a monotheism based on Slavic heritage, and as such he compared it to the later "Russian Religion" developed in Russia by Viktor M. Kandyba. Due to its monotheism and its early emphasis on the charismatic figure of the founder, Sylenkoism has been deemed by other Ukrainian Rodnover movements as a not authentically "native" religion. Members of Sylenkoite churches, however, consider themselves Rodnovers in all respects. Halyna Lozko, the leader of the Federation of Ukrainian Rodnovers, which continues Volodymyr Shaian's orthodoxy, advanced vehement critiques of Sylenkoism, calling Lev Sylenko a "false prophet" and accusing him of having tried to lead the Ukrainians into the Abrahamic religions' "quagmire of cosmopolitan monotheism". Lozko criticised Sylenko for "cancelling the ancestral gods, proclaiming absolute monotheism, and [...] attaching his own characteristics to [...] God". Despite this, Lev Sylenko himself rejected the Abrahamisms, and Christianity in particular, deeming the latter a "nomadic Judaism".
Beliefs Historiosophy of the Maha Vira The Maha Vira (literally "Great Faith") is the holy writing used within the organisations of the Sylenkoite movement, published in 1979 and consisting in 1,427 pages. Its title blends the Sanskrit term maha, "great", and the Ukrainian term vira, "faith". It was composed by Lev Sylenko himself as a synthesis of philosophical ideas relying upon historical and archaeological sources, presenting a historiosophical account of eleven thousand years, intertwined with theological and cosmological doctrines, and a prophetic message for the future. The book includes a comparative lexicon of Sanskrit, Ukrainian and English language.
The book tells the history of "Oriiana" or "Orania", identified as the Cucuteni–Trypillia culture (3000–5000 BCE), assumed to have been the epicentre of the Indo-Europeans or Aryans, whom the book calls "Oriians", evoking a connection with the Ukrainian word for "plowing", oraty. The progenitors of the Oriians, and therefore of Ukrainians, are Father Or (Орь) and Mother Lel (Лель), who are frequently depicted in RUNVira shrines and temples. Or is also called Orii (Орій) or Arii (Арій), Orya (Оря), and Yari or Yuri, and identified as the solar deity Yarilo, while Lel is also known as Lelii (Лелій) and Lelya (Леля).
According to the book, the Oriians are the original progenitors of the white race, and the earliest European civilisation—corresponding to, or preceding, the Cucuteni-Trypillia complex—developed along the banks of the Dnieper. From the Oriians descended the Scythians, the Russians and the Ukrainians. The Ukrainians are regarded as the most direct descendants of the Oriians, and therefore as superior to all Europeans. Kyiv is described as the "most ancient city" of the white race. The Oriians are described in the book as the carriers of the philosophy later written down in the Vedas, developed as the Oriians migrated in different directions including the north of the Indian subcontinent.
The Maha Vira is described by Ivakhiv as a "systematic intellectual construct" grounded on the premise of Ukrainian ethnocultural primordialism or essentialism. The book explains that during its evolution, the human species has divided itself into many distinct ethnocultural groups, ethne or ethnoi (singular ethnos, the Greek word for "ethnicity"), each of which undergoes its life cycle, flourishing and perishing according to its own development. Sylenko argues that without such division, the human species would be too fragile, as the division allows for a diversity of experiments, some successful and some others not, allowing for a continuation of evolution. The formation of an ethnos is always accompanied by the systematisation of originally unorganised beliefs into a coherent religious doctrine, representing a shared system of ideas unifying the ethnos; the Maha Vira intends to represent such systematisation for the Ukrainians.
Theology and cosmology
According to the definition given by Sylenko himself, his doctrine is that of a solar "absolute monotheism". Sylenko proclaimed himself a prophet, bringing to the Slavs a new understanding of God that, according to him, corresponds to their own and original understanding of God. The Sylenkoites believe that he acquired this knowledge through the "breath of his ancestors" in his soul, being united with them "by divine holiness". According to Sylenko's own words:
Sylenkoite theology may be further defined as pantheistic or panentheistic. In the Maha Vira, the supreme God, identifying himself as Dazhboh (Дажбог)—meaning "Giving God" or "Sun God" in the ancient Slavic tradition—proclaims through his prophet Lev Sylenko:
Dazhboh is described as the life-giving energy of the cosmos; in Sylenko's own words it is "light, endlessness, gravitation, eternity, movement, action, the energy of unconscious and conscious being". Sylenkoite cosmology conceives Dazhboh as containing the three worlds, Prav, Yav and Nav. As in broader Rodnovery, Prav is considered the right law of nature, Yav is the visible, manifested world, while Nav is the invisible, spiritual world.
Sylenko is seen by his followers as making the same operation that Axial Age thinkers made, in other parts of the world and among other peoples, by moving away from polytheism and affirming the concept of single God. Sylenkoite doctrine emphasises, in evolutionary terms, that monotheism is a higher level of spiritual development than polytheism, and the latter should be rejected, since, by the words of Sylenko's writings: "Dazhboh [...] has no need of any ambassadors in the form of higher or lower deities". Sylenko was profoundly influenced by the discourse about a European superiority communicated through the concept of monotheism, and he envisioned the Ukrainians as the superior people who will extend to all Europeans his operation of spiritual progress, spreading the "European understanding of God", implying a reformulation of local European ethnic polytheistic religions into Sylenkoite monotheism. In Sylenko's own words:
Despite their monotheism, some Sylenkoites take part in initiatives of non-Sylenkoite Rodnovers involving polytheistic worship, or listen to the music of Zhyvosyl Liutyi dedicated to multiple deities.
Practices Priesthood
Sylenkoite communities are led by male and female priests, respectively called RUNtatos ("Native Ukrainian National fathers") and RUNmamas ("Native Ukrainian National mothers"). Not all the branches of Sylenkoism use the terms tato and mama to refer to the clergy; notably, OSID RUNVira, a branch of the original RUNVira church that further reworked Sylenko's original teachings, uses simply the term "priests". Male priests significantly outnumber their female counterparts. When Lev Sylenko was alive, until 2008, ordinations were conferred by him himself, as a candidate had to make an application to him supported by letters of recommendation from the same candidate's religious community.
Sylenkoite priests are expected to teach the congregation how to apply the religion's tenets in everyday life, and to give advice to the congregation's members on various matters regarding personal and social life. A good priest is required to show loyalty towards the religious doctrines, and to have some specific personality traits: he should be self-controlled, he should speak softly, and behave in a noble way; he should never judge, accuse or intimidate anybody, and he should never show anger. Priests are distinguished by wearing a sviadana, that is to say a long narrow ribbon made of blue and yellow fabric, with black and red horizontal bands, draped around the neck. Male priests wear embroidered shirts, usually combined with European suits.
Rites and holidays
The Maha Vira contains descriptions of rituals and holidays, and a calendar which begins its chronology eleven thousand years ago, when the Paleolithic culture of Mezine reached its apogee. Many of the rituals and holidays described in the book are derived from Ukrainian village folklore, interpreted and adjusted by Sylenko himself, while others are newly created. A detailed description of Sylenkoite practices is also given in Sylenko's Sacred Book of Rituals, which was first published in the United States.
The holidays comprise the Great Day of Dazhboh's Light on 14 April, corresponding to the celebration of Easter in Ukrainian villages. Other holidays are dedicated to important figures of Ukrainian history, including Sviatoslav I (935–972), the last traditional religious prince of Kievan Rus' and a great warrior who expanded the borders of his country, and Taras Shevchenko (1814–1861), whom Sylenko regarded as a critic of Christianity and promoter of the ancestral faith. Other Sylenkoite holidays are dedicated to contemporary social and environmental issues, including the Day of Animal Protection on 28 April, and the Day of the People's Anger on 5 November, a day dedicated to indignation towards intruders and oppressors of the Ukrainian nation. 27 September is the Day of the Holy Maha Vira and the birthday of the "Native Prophet", Lev Sylenko.