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«IZVESTIYA IRKUTSKOGO GOSUDARSTVENNOGO UNIVERSITETA». SERIYA «POLITOLOGIYA. RELIGIOVEDENIE»
«THE BULLETIN OF IRKUTSK STATE UNIVERSITY». SERIES «POLITICAL SCIENCE AND RELIGION STUDIES»
ISSN 2073-3380 (Print)

List of issues > Series «Political Science and Religion Studies». 2022. Vol 39

Are Magi the Priests of Ancient Russia?

Author(s)
V. V. Chernykh
Abstract
Based on the comparative and historical method, hermeneutics, anthropology and ethnography, and the principle of objectivity, the analysis of such social group of Ancient Russia as Magi was carried out. Historiography and source study of this issue allowed the author to determine the contribution of his predecessors who were interested in this issue and to identify main contradictions on the Magi phenomenon. The article provides a rationale for historical and ideological necessity of analyzing ideas about man and the world as a system that functioned in the ancient Russian state. The period before the Christianization of Rus’ is understudied, and, at the same time, paganism (including the institute of priesthood, to which many think Magi belong) was the official and predominant religion among the Eastern Slavs until the Christianization of Rus’ in 988. The author is of the view that there should be continuity of all periods of the national history of Rus’-Russia, and it is necessary to reflect both bright and heroic events, and those kept secret for ideological reasons.
About the Authors
Chernykh Vladimir Vasilyevich, Doctor of Sciences (History), Professor, Department of Philosophy and Socio-Humanitarian Disciplines, East Siberian Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, 110, Lermontov st., Irkutsk, 664071, Russian Federation, e-mail: tchernykhsa@mail.ru
For citation
Chernykh V.V. Are Magi the Priests of Ancient Russia? The Bulletin of Irkutsk State University. Series Political Science and Religion Studies, 2022, vol. 39, pp. 110-116. https://doi.org/10.26516/2073-3380.2022.39.110 (in Russian)
Keywords
paganism, Magi, sources, hierarchy of priests of Ancient Russia, worldview of the ancient Slavs.
UDC
271.2:141
DOI
https://doi.org/10.26516/2073-3380.2022.39.110
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