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| Graffiti reads "Die Heathens" image courtesy of Cultus de Religion Romanum |
Alas, the Ukrainian pagans have not always been victims of mob violence. Several strains of Ukrainian neopaganism combine a virulent Ukrainian nationalism with an equally virulent hatred of Christianity, Judaism and any other "foreign" religion which has poisoned their Slavic holy land. These movements have become popular among some Ukrainian ultra-nationalists who see them as a way to strengthen and purify the Ukrainian identity and collective soul. In August 2007 a gang of these ultra-nationalist Pagans (along with some swastika-wearing skinheads) attacked a group of Orthodox worshippers near the ruins of a 13th century church in Desyatynna.
May all these insults be avenged, and may this land be blighted until its crimes have been expiated in blood. May those who have chosen ignorance be forever benighted; may those who have chosen hatred be eternally bound in their fury; may those who have made war against the innocent find that peace ever eludes them. May those who seek healing find solace; may those who seek wisdom find truth; may the prayers of those who love and honor their Gods ring eternally through the land and through the temples built atop the ashes of their enemies.
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3 comments:
I think any "blight on Ukraine" was well and truly provided for in 1986.
As for the idea of upholding Ukrainian racial purity, what utter stupidity -- and ignorance of Ukraine's own history.
It is the "purebred" (inbred) stock that sickens and weakens from reinforced recessives. It is the crossbred "mutt" that shows "hybrid vigor". Any breeder can tell you this. It is basic genetics. "Racial purity" is no strength.
The very name "Ukraine" means "Frontier" or "Border" -- the edge of a nation, the place it meets others, and people cross over. You'd expect many different people to have come and gone here, and they have. Some have stayed and joined the crowd, adding to the "hybrid vigor", the many fibers that strengthen the rope.
Norse Vikings of the Varangian Rus. Mongols of the Golden Horde. Slavs. Poles. Greeks. Turks. Romanians. Runaways and refugees from any other nation within riding distance, coming to this "Wild West" for a chance to start over. What was Ukrainian ethnicity? Example: a crazy-quilt of rebels who fought off even the mighty Ottoman Empire to keep their own freedom. [Full disclosure: my great^9 grandfather was Samiilo Bogdanovich Zarudny of the Zaporozhe Cossack Host. Minor support: mother's maiden name.] They were "ethnically pure" the way the French Foreign Legion is ethnically pure, which is to say, not. There were Tatar Cossacks. There were Jewish Cossacks. Will these "ultra-nationalists" now complain that Cossacks aren't Ukrainian enough for them?
Incidentally, Kenaz, a few little trivial Wikipedia articles related to the religion of which you are a devotee:
Lugus [teaser: Celtic deity, sometimes shown three-headed or referred to as a triune or triple god. Often armed with a spear, seen with ravens -- like Odin -- but the name sounds like a different Norse god.]
Loki / Theories [teaser: One of the four dominant scholarly theories about Loki since WWII has been that he is "a hypostasis of the god Odin." -- and that word means "one of three elements of a Holy Trinity." Hmmm. A triple god, like Lugus?]
Ukrainians / Symbols: The Coat of arms of Ukraine features... a blue shield with yellow trident -- the symbol of ancient Slavic tribes that once lived in Ukraine, later adopted by Ruthenian and Kievan Rus rulers. .... [C]oincidentally prior to Christianity the people of today's Ukraine believed in Triglav, with the similar concept of three.
Given your own reaction to bullying, Kenaz, I suspect you'd like the background of that painting of the laughing Cossacks.
The Ottoman Turkish Empire had been raiding its neighbors for slaves; it would venture as far as the gates of Vienna. But on its way north toward Russia, the Empire ran into some obstacles: those annoying nuisances the Zaporozhe Cossacks.
Therefore the Turkish Sultan sent them this grandiose and intimidating letter:
As the Sultan, son of Muhammad, brother of the Sun and the Moon, grandson and viceroy of God, ruler of the kingdoms of Macedonia, Babylon, Jerusalem, Egypt both Upper and Lower, emperor of emperors, sovereign of sovereigns, extraordinary knight, never defeated, guardian of the tomb of Jesus Christ, trustee chosen by God Himself, the hope and comfort of Muslims, confounder and great defender of Christians -- I command you Zaporozhe Cossacks to submit to me voluntarily and without any resistance, and to desist from troubling me with your attacks.
The Zaporozhe Cossacks gathered in open council to hear the Sultan's letter, then, as shown in Repin's painting, discussed their reply. They sent this diplomatic response, wrapped around a pig's ear:
Thou Turkish Satan, brother and companion to the accursed Devil, companion to Lucifer himself, greetings! What the hell kind of noble knight art thou? The Devil voids, and thy army devours. Never wilt thou be fit to have the sons of Christ under thee! Thy army we fear not, and by land and sea we will do battle against thee. Thou scullion of Babylon, thou wheelwright of Macedonia, thou beer-brewer of Jerusalem, thou goat-flayer of Alexandria, thou swineherd of Egypt both Upper and Lower, thou sow of Armenia, thou goat of Tartary, thou hangman of Kamenetz, thou evildoer of Podollansk, thou grandson of the Devil himself, thou great silly oaf of all the world and of the netherworld and, before our God, a blockhead, a swine's snout, a mare's rectum, a butcher's cur, an unbaptized brow, May the Devil take thee! That is what the Cossacks have to say to thee, thou basest-born of runts! Unfit art thou to lord it over true Christians! The date we write not, for no calendar have we got; the moon is in the sky, the year is in a book, and the day is the same with us here as with thee over there, and thou canst kiss us thou knowest where!
Copies of this reply can still be found posted on the walls of Ukrainian homes.
Notice the one visible non-warrior at the center, the scribe with his bowl-cut hair (rather than a shaved head with topknot like the four hatless Cossacks at the table). It's his moment of glory, too, and he knows it.
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