15 - Neopaganism in Hungary: Under the Spell of Roots

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Among the numerous Western and Eastern religions that have arrived in Eastern Europe after the fall of communism, we can find contemporary Pagan tendencies as well. Although Wicca, Ásatrú, and Celtic traditions have not yet struck significant roots in these societies, contemporary Pagan groups connected to local traditions have flourished. These Eastern European communities emphasize the need to return to pre-Christian national–tribal traditions, and many of their members are politically active and belong to radical right-wing parties.

This chapter examines the historical roots of Hungarian contemporary Paganism, its most important organizations and main ideas. The key features of these movements are discussed. There are also contemporary Hungarian groups which use Christian terminology, and mix Pagan and Christian religious elements together.

THE ROOTS OF HUNGARIAN NEOPAGANISM

If we want to understand the narratives of Hungarian contemporary Paganism, we first have to look back to eighteenth- and nineteenth-century studies that dealt with the origin of the Hungarian people and the Hungarian language.

Born between the Enlightenment and Romanticism, Herder's vision of the “death of the nation” encouraged a swift rescue effort and the early examinations of the Hungarian national tradition employed rather reckless methods. The Hungarian Scientific Society produced a number of Romantic theories about the affinity between Hungarian and Hebrew, Hungarian and Persian, or Hungarian and Ancient Egyptian. Connections with these ancient civilizations sounded more aristocratic than kinship with the Finno-Ugric peoples, and such glorious pedigrees were important to bolstering the identity of Hungarians under the rule of the Hapsburg Empire. From the second half of the seventeenth century onwards, connections were also suggested with languages like Turkish, Mongolian, Etruscan, Hittite, Basque, Greek, Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Japanese.