Infiltration of Illusory Ideas About Slavic Paganism into Modern Russian Scientific and Official Business Discourses: Sociocultural Risks

Beskov Andrey Anatol'evich ORCID: 0000-0003-4080-1614 PhD in Philosophy Associate Professor; Department of Philosophy and Social and Legal Sciences; Volga State University of Water Transport 603950, Russia, Nizhny Novgorod region, Nizhny Novgorod, Nesterova str., 5, room 377 beskov_aa@mail.ru Other publications by this author

Introduction

This work is a continuation of the previously published article "Simulation of Science and simulacra of culture: illusory ideas about Slavic paganism in modern Russian humanities" ^[1], published in "Questions of Philosophy" in 2022. It showed how Slavic myths invented within the framework of modern Russian mass culture go beyond the environment of adherents of neo-paganism and "alternative history" and begin to actively penetrate into scientific literature, thereby gaining the appearance of scientific recognition. Only narrow specialists in the field of Slavic paganism studies can distinguish scientific facts from fakes in this area. But it turns out that all sorts of (pseudo) scientific fantasies about Slavic paganism are in great demand in Russian humanities. They are a breeding ground for idle reflections on the uniqueness of Russian traditional culture. As a result, a very unpleasant situation is created when Russian cultural scientists and philosophers who reflect on cultural issues can easily get into trouble by borrowing unreliable or completely fantastic information about Slavic paganism as material for their arguments. Perhaps it is superfluous to say that philosophizing based on such an inherently low-quality foundation can only lead to a chain of erroneous conclusions. However, it is not only philosophers and cultural scientists who are at risk. The situation is much worse – Russian society as a whole is currently going through a stage of radical transformation of ideas about the original Slavic and ancient Russian culture. These ideas, even in their scientific version, are in themselves "flickering", unstable, due to the weak source base and the resulting complexity of interpreting the available archaeological data ^[2]. When it comes to interpreting the data known to science by non-professionals, especially by non-professionals who are biased, seeking to find in Slavic antiquities a justification for some kind of ideological speculation (in particular, neo-Nazis are looking for evidence in them that the Slavs are direct descendants of the Aryans, as in Nazi Germany they were looking for evidence that the descendants of the Aryans are Germans), it becomes a threat to the whole society (and here the sad experience of Hitler's Germany is a precedent).

But if the above-mentioned article deals with the mechanism of the emergence of illusory ideas about Slavic paganism and the reasons for their penetration into scientific publications, then this work will demonstrate the socio-cultural consequences that the functioning of this mechanism eventually leads to. This demonstration, in turn, serves as an argument in favor of the relevance of such work, since the spread of illusory ideas about Slavic paganism and the lack of understanding of the very existence of such a problem, and even more so, its depth, just leads to various aberrations in the cultural life of society, which can affect both the cultural policy of the state and law enforcement the sphere and even national security issues (when it comes to the spread of modern myths that directly contribute to the rehabilitation of various fragments of the ideology of Nazism, which is gaining strength again in the modern world).

So, the object of study here is the modern scientific and paranientific ideas of Russians about the paganism of the ancient Slavs, and the subject of study is the penetration of paranientific ideas about the paganism of the ancient Slavs into scientific and official business discourses in modern Russia.

The methodological basis of the study is a case study as a research strategy that allows us to consider individual notable "cases" as units of observation of an aspect of social reality of interest to the researcher. According to John Gerring's formulation ^{[3, p. 37]}, this approach involves "intensive study of a single unit or a small number of units (cases) in order to understand a broader class of similar units (a set of cases)." In other words, considering some isolated cases, we can see in them a reflection of some trends that, for various reasons, may be difficult to identify or study on a more extensive material.

The article also analyzes the texts of a number of articles published in some scientific publications in order to clarify the mechanism of penetration of false information about Slavic paganism into scientific discourse.

The science of myths and myths in science

Before proceeding to the description of specific socio-cultural cases, it is necessary to pay some attention to how they relate to modern Russian publications with the status of scientific ones. Once again (in addition to the mentioned article in "Questions of Philosophy"), let's see how annoying mistakes can creep into articles in respectable journals and how publications in less respectable publications become a peddler of extra-scientific fantasies.

Let's pay attention to the article "The Horse is the sun in Slavic pagan mythology" by Candidate of geological and mineralogical sciences T. P. Morozova ^[4]. It suggests a new way of reconstructing Slavic mythology – the gaps in our knowledge about it are simply proposed to fill in with details from Egyptian myths. Why it is from the Egyptian ones is not entirely clear (according to the author, other mythological systems are suitable for this, about which more is known than about the Slavic one), but apparently it is more convenient for the author. (The use of the comparative method (comparative studies) in mythological studies is a very old technique that was widely used in relation to Slavic mythology, for example, by such famous scientists as V. V. Ivanov and V. N. Toporov ^[5-6], but they attracted materials from culturally closer mythological systems of other Indo-European peoples. The ancient Egyptians do not belong to the Indo-Europeans.) Fortunately, it does not contain overtly fantastic information about Slavic paganism, but the author's reliance on outdated literature, including the 1930s and 40s, affects the content. Thus, without any hesitation, the Slavic gods declare Yarilo - a mythological character with an unclear status and Kolyada – a personified image of the caroling rite, and as for Yarila, the article twice contains a colorful description of his appearance, ultimately dating back to the article of 1846. "Belarusian Folk Legends", signed by the pseudonym P. Drevlyansky (the real name of the author is P. M. Shpilevsky). Shpilevsky allegedly managed to record miraculously preserved Slavic myths, which were then eagerly quoted by many researchers, even as authoritative as V. V. Ivanov and V. N. Toporov. But now the authority of these records has been hopelessly undermined, they are considered a hoax ^[7-8].

What are such reconstructions of Slavic mythology worth when Egyptian myths are added to domestic hoaxes? Nevertheless, such articles are published in a publication with a high scientific status. You can refer to them, you can look up to them – this is how precedents are created that allow you to shake the already not too strong structure of scientific knowledge about Slavic paganism. A modern apocryphal tradition is being created, incorporating a wide range of knowledge rejected by science, and it quite clearly and effectively affects modern Russian culture, evidence of which can be found in a variety of fields.

A real visual aid illustrating this process can be a collection of materials from the conference "Science. Culture. Art: actual problems of theory and practice", held in Belgorod on February 12, 2020. A whole cohort of teachers from the Belgorod State Institute of Arts and Culture noted there their articles on the need to study and popularize Slavic folk traditions. Several such articles are interesting within the framework of the topic under consideration here.

V. V. Livshits and E. A. Livshits emphasize the relevance of creating choreographic works based on Slavic mythology. At the same time, a curious observation is mentioned: "Taking part in many Russian and international choreographic competitions as members of the jury, the authors conclude that nowadays performances on Slavic themes are again popular in dance culture. (...) The rich "palette" of themes of Slavic mythology, which is used by many choreographers, generously endows Russian culture with new ideological choreographic productions and performances..." ^{[9, p. 178]}. Further, it is quite rightly noted that: "Various myths and stories about the life of the Slavs are not always true facts, therefore, from the abundance of material it is important to find something that does not carry false information, does not contradict the true nature of Slavs and does not refute historical facts..." ^{[9, p. 178]}. Alas, at the same time, the authors themselves draw information about the myths of the Slavs from popular literature, which obviously follows from the list of references. This naturally leads to the fact that the authors propose to take as a basis for choreographic works modern myths that are popular in the neo-pagan environment, but absolutely unknown to academic science ("Svyatogor and Van", "Creation of the World", "Horse and Dawn-Zaryanitsa", etc.). The authors specialize in choreographic art, and not history, religious studies, linguistics, folklore studies, so such blunders can be quite understandable. But what will this lead to in practice? To create some cultural products "on the theme of Slavs", which will participate in the further formation of generalized ideas of the Russian society about the ancient Slavic culture. As we can see, such ideas will be based on statements that are extremely far from science.

Another example. In the same collection, P. A. Danilov and O. B. Buksikova propose using the "traditional Russian verbohlest game" in the educational process of a children's choreographic group; as well as to create original children's stage dances, and an important task is to reveal its "sacred meaning" ^{[10, pp. 242, 244]}. On the one hand, you can rejoice at the presence of enthusiasts who support folk traditions, but the trouble is, there is no information about where the authors got information about this game, and why they call it either a game or the oldest and most important Slavic holiday. By writing: "The study of the genesis of this ancient holiday in Russia is of great interest," the authors gave a link to the well-known book by M. A. Vasiliev "Paganism of the Eastern Slavs on the eve of the baptism of Russia" ^[11]. However, neither on the specified 70th page of the book, nor on any other, there is not a word about this holiday or game. (Here is another touch to the way scientific papers are sometimes written – we are faced with a fictitious bibliographic reference.) Ethnographers and folklorists do not know this name, but an Internet search finds headlines like "Verbohlest is another holiday stolen by Judeo–Christians" (meaning that the Slavic pagan holiday was replaced by Palm Sunday) and numerous links to various blogs and some neo-pagan resources where this fake is replicated. Probably, the material for its construction was mentions in the literature of one of the verbal formulas, which in peasant families were accompanied by the custom, widespread not only in Slavic, but also in other European countries, of hitting household members (either only children or livestock) with willow rods on Palm Sunday. The sentence "Willow whip, beat to tears", along with other variants, is mentioned in the book by V. K. Sokolova ^{[12, pp. 99-100]}. It cannot be ruled out that after some time the children's dance "Verbohlest" will become a new argument in favor of antiquity and the exceptional importance of the eponymous "pagan holiday".

The third article from the same collection (as in the previous two, its authors represent the Belgorod State Institute of Arts and Culture) describes the restoration of old folk traditions in the Belgorod region ^[13]. It tells about the meaning of local dances, as if dedicated to the goddesses Leli and Lada. The existence of such goddesses in the ancient Russian pantheon is extremely doubtful. The idea of the existence of the cult of these goddesses among the Slavs in ancient times belongs to the Soviet archaeologist B. A. Rybakov ^{[14, pp. 393-416]}, but today it is not popular in science. The correlation of some dances or rituals with mythological characters, concerning which it is not even clear whether they were known to our ancestors or this is a product of "armchair mythology", looks extremely bold and, again, far from academic science.

The article also mentions Ekaterina Alikhanov, the organizer and inspirer of the Patterned Round Dance festival, who "has been studying patterned dances for 25 years and is constantly looking for and confirming their sacred meaning." According to her, such dances contribute to the evaporation of negative energy. The authors of the article quote the words of E. Alikhanov: "In addition, even doctors recognized the benefits of a dance step in a round dance, and our grandmothers believed that it was during such a dance that the earth gives us strength" ^{[13, p. 255]}. In this example, we see how a certain local enthusiast, engaged in the "revival" of folk culture, puts into it those meanings that were not originally in it, and these meanings are fixed in collections of scientific publications.

Slavic gods and secondary mythologization

We have seen above how false information about Slavic paganism and Slavic deities gets into scientific publications. This information becomes the material for further near-scientific reconstructions and new cultural practices, understood as the "revival of forgotten traditions."

In this regard, I recall an interesting article by K. A. Gavrilova ^[15], which describes the activities for the reconstruction and promotion of folk culture carried out in the Kirov region. The author, with good reason, fits the seminars held within the framework of this activity into the context of the practice of "those New Age groups whose identity is based on belonging to an imaginary ancient Slavic (Russian) culture" and rightly sees in this signs of "secondary folklorization" ^{[15, pp. 38, 40]}. This term refers to the process of importing into a conditional village "the image of the "Russian folk tradition" formed in the academic and/or near-academic environment", which changes the village's ideas about its own culture ^{[16, pp. 33-34]}. But in general, the understanding of this phenomenon can be supplemented – such an image is now increasingly being formed in a pseudoscientific environment and it affects not only the village, but also the urban population.

Here is a perfect example of how this happens in the city – employees of the Russian State Agrarian University propose a project for the improvement of the Tomilinsky Forest Park (Lytkarino, Moscow region), in which "One of the highlights of the project will be a time traveler trail, where young visitors to the park will be able to immerse themselves in the atmosphere of Ancient Russia. There will be sites with sculptural images of characters from Slavic mythology on this route." What kind of characters are these? "In each zone there will be sculptural images of Slavic gods of the corresponding theme: on playgrounds – Bereginya and Zhiva, on the horse trail – Veles and Perun, in the quiet recreation area – Lada, in the coastal zone – Kupalo and Horse" ^{[17, p. 24]}. The problem is not even that there is no iconography of Slavic deities and any sculptural image of them will initially be a complete fantasy – this is completely normal for an artistic work. The problem is that this list includes characters whose mythological status is not clear (Bereginya, Lada, Kupalo), or has nothing to do with the culture of the Eastern Slavs (Alive). Thus, the secondary folklorization mentioned above is only a special case of what could be called secondary mythologization or even oneolinguization of Russian culture (may the author forgive such a tricky, but essentially correct term reflecting the influence of various representations of varying degrees of fantasticism prevailing in the neo–pagan environment on the mass representations of the population Of Russia about the ancient Slavic culture).

Slavic paganism and mystical tourism

It is very likely (and even undoubtedly) that Slavic mythology (or, more precisely, what certain authors, officials, merchants or local enthusiasts who restore "ancestral traditions" give it away) will be increasingly in demand in the tourism industry. There is even a new term – "mystical tourism": "Mystical tourism is a fairly relevant topic in the modern world, it is a relatively new direction that contributes to a significant increase in the profits of travel companies and is the best option for the sophisticated traveler. This type of tourism requires constant work to find new ideas, legends and unusual objects, and knowledge of Slavic mythology will undoubtedly help in the development of new mystical routes" ^{[18, p. 17]}. Perhaps knowledge of Slavic mythology can help in the development of new mystical routes, but in this work, the amazing negligence in working with literature is again unpleasantly striking. Not only does its selection raise questions (for example, along with scientific literature, an article by A. I. Asov, the indefatigable popularizer of the "Vlasov Book", the infamous falsified source on the ancient history of the Slavs, got there), but a number of references, in particular, to the works of A. A. Beskov, have absolutely no logical relation to according to the materials of the publication, that is, we are again faced with fictitious links, and the description of the abstract of A. A. Beskov's PhD thesis was made with a gross error (it is indicated that it was published in Tambov in 2015, whereas in fact it was published in Nizhny Novgorod in 2008). With such an attitude to the case, one can hardly hope the fact that the grains of scientific knowledge about Slavic paganism will be carefully preserved as part of the development of new tourist routes.

Meanwhile, Slavic pagan exotics are actively used to attract tourists and without any methodological justification from the scientific community. For example, a private "antimuseum" of Slavic culture operates in the Gorodetsky district of the Nizhny Novgorod region. (The use of the word "antimuseum" is a marketing technique hinting that there are no usual museum restrictions here, that is, exhibits can be touched, used for their intended purpose, you can stay there overnight, hold weddings, etc.) "Antimuseum" attracted the attention of local journalists, as a result of which we can read in the local press the following: "Next to the house there is the ancient Russian temple of Lada, the statues for which Maria herself cut down with an axe on six-meter pine pillars. Here, lovers can undergo the ceremony of a Slavic Vedic wedding, when two clans unite" ^[19]. Science does not know information about the worship of Lada in Ancient Russia, and "Slavic Vedism" is one of the directions of Russian neo–paganism, where the reconstruction of the ancient Slavic religious and mythological complex is carried out through the hypertrophied use of the comparative method, so that the Slavic antiquities themselves are replaced by "Vedic" (Ancient Indian). Moreover, this trend has a completely distinct ideological background – the postulate of the "Vedic" Slavic culture allows us to declare the Slavs direct descendants of the Aryans, and here neo-paganism comes dangerously close to neo-Nazism, bringing far from harmless pseudoscientific myths to the masses.

The ghosts of Nazism and the problems of scientific expertise

In 2016, the case of local woodcarver Sergei Kamenev thundered in Perm, which was covered in some detail in the local press ^[20-22]. In the summer of that year, at the Kupala Nights festival, he exhibited his works – wooden amulets with symbols allegedly related to Slavic paganism. (For clarity, it should be immediately indicated – science does not know a single symbol, regarding which it would be reliably known that it had some kind of magical meaning for the Eastern Slavs of pagan times. There is no mention of such symbols in any historical source. Accordingly, any information of this kind is at best a scientific hypothesis, but most often just fiction. Such a fiction, for example, is the most recognizable symbol of Russian neo–paganism - the kolovrat, which is a double swastika.) Since the symbols on the carver's crafts somehow played the swastika motif, law enforcement officers had questions for the author of the works. He was charged under the article "propaganda or public display of Nazi paraphernalia or symbols, or paraphernalia or symbols of extremist organizations." The trial took place. As is customary in such cases, the court requested an expert opinion. The newspaper Argumenty I Fakty reports: "Teacher Alexey Antonov found that the artifacts made by Kamenev "are pagan swastika symbols similar to Nazi ones" ^[21]. The carver was found guilty and fined one thousand rubles. The court decided to confiscate three amulets seized from the carver, and destroy two.

However, the accused appealed and came to the next hearing with his own expertise. "Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Modern History of the PSNIU Galina Volgireva studied the works of Kamenev and found that all symbols are pan-European runes and have long been present in Russian art, plus they are "in no way connected with Nazi symbols." (...) "German symbolism could not absorb the sacred runes, which, as it turned out, are rich in all traditional Russian culture. And Hitler used only the reverse swastika and a limited number of runes," Volgireva stressed" ^[21]. The material in Kommersant complements the logic of this expert opinion: "As follows from the text of the conclusion, the material submitted for examination displays objects of runic art. And from historiography it is known that runes were the basis for the entire pan-European writing, their appearance dates back to the IV century BC. Runic symbols were used throughout Russia in folk weaving until the 20th century, and especially in the Urals. So, in the exposition of the Perm Art Gallery, belts with the image of a swastika have been preserved. Nazi symbols, on the other hand, are a secondary phenomenon of the 30s of the last century in relation to the oldest pan-European runic tradition" ^[20]. In general, when reading these articles in the press, a feeling of legal absurdity or even "police lawlessness" is created and it turns out to be unclear why, despite the seemingly convincing arguments of the expert, candidate of historical sciences, the court refused to reconsider the guilty verdict. In addition, the journalist reports that the first examination was prepared by a teacher of the Perm Pharmaceutical Academy (academic degree and scientific title are not mentioned), which seems to somewhat devalue the author's authority in the eyes of readers and against this background, the authority of the author of the second examination increases.

Indeed, on the website of the Perm State Pharmaceutical Academy, you can find information that the Department of Humanities and Socio-Economic Disciplines employs senior lecturer Alexei Borisovich Antonov, who teaches Russian history and philosophy. He was probably the author of the mentioned examination. Indeed, it is not clear whether he is an expert in the field of Slavic paganism or Nazi symbols. (No publications were found in the RSCI for the specified teacher.) It suggests that it would be highly desirable to invite people with more pronounced academic achievements, and in the relevant field, to the role of an expert on such issues. But what about the qualifications of the second expert?

At the RSCI, we can get acquainted with the profile of P. G. Volgireva, Associate Professor of the Department of Modern History of Russia at Perm State National Research University. In total, there are more than 60 of her works, of which 6 have been published in publications from the "core of the RSCI". The subject of these works is connected with the "peasant question" in Russia (and specifically in the Perm province) on the eve of the 1917 revolution. The topic of the PhD thesis: "Traditional bookishness of the Kama region of the XVI – early XX centuries. as a source for the study of spiritual culture." These works have no connection with the themes of Slavic paganism or (neo)Nazism. But one article by P. G. Volgireva stands out sharply from this series. We are talking about a work called "Runes in the folk weaving of the Urals" ^[23]. It can be assumed that the author's possession of this work served as the basis for his involvement as an expert in the case of extremist symbols on carved charms.

However, if you read this article, you can come to an absolutely stunning result. Despite the fact that it is published in a seemingly scientific publication, it does not even have such formal signs of scientific character as a bibliographic apparatus! All we have is just a mention by the author of such authoritative names for her as A. N. Platov and Guido von List. Who is it? Anton Platov, known in the neo-pagan environment as Iggvolod, is a Russian esoteric propagandist of "runic magic". Guido von List was an Austrian occultist of the XIX–XX centuries, whose ideas were in tune with the Nazi mythology that developed a little later ^[24]. At the same time, Platov is referred to in the article as "the most important researchers in the field of runology in Russian historiography." Apparently, other researchers were simply not known to Volgireva, otherwise it is difficult to explain how the works of such specialists in runic writing as E. A. Melnikova ^[25] and E. A. Makaev ^[26] could have been ignored. However, reading into the text of this strange article further, the reader can make sure that familiarity with the works of serious researchers would only hinder the author, since we are not dealing with scientific work, but with ... esoteric! In all seriousness, the author applies "comparative astrological methods of analyzing stellar aspects and configurations" (whatever that means) and writes that "each runic sign contains tremendous information and has such an energetic fullness that allows a person to live at the highest, and not just at a high level of spiritual development" ^{[23, pp. 190, 184]}. The text of the article also mentions Slavic runes, which are nothing more than a modern myth, a construct of the Russian neo-pagan subculture ^[27]. As a result, the author introduces the term "Permian runes" (by which she means various elements of ornament on the embroidered belts of Russian Old Believers) and these runes turn out to be related to both "Slavic runes" and Western European ones. (That is, the ornaments on Russian clothes are "deciphered" by comparing them with something similar letters of the German runic alphabet, and the symbolic meaning of the latter is drawn by G. P. Volgirev from the esoteric fantasies of Guido von Liszt through the mediation of A. Platov.) Having realized the peculiarities of this publication, it is no longer surprising that in the examination prepared by G. P. Volgireva and partially known to us thanks to the retelling made by journalists, such nightmarish lapses from the point of view of academic science are found, such as statements that runes were the basis for the entire pan-European writing, that their appearance dates back to the IV century BC., that runic symbols were used throughout Russia in folk weaving until the 20th century, that the swastika is a runic symbol.

The disassembled case clearly shows us how acutely the question may arise about where to find experts whose expertise would not cause complaints. Considering that the examinations submitted to the court can directly affect the fate of people, proving or refuting the existence of a crime and helping to determine the degree of guilt, one cannot but see in the described difficulties a serious socially significant problem.

Cultural policy and support for invented traditions

We see that scientific publications are not indestructible bastions protecting scientific knowledge. Various absurdities, fakes, even outright esotericism in one form or another and in various proportions can quite easily get on the pages of works claiming to be scientific. But at the same time, it is not so much science as society that is in danger. Indeed, science, the main forces of which are concentrated in academic institutions, the most powerful universities, and reputable journals capable of providing high-quality scientific review, can effectively (although not without difficulty) resist pseudoscience. Professional researchers understand which authors and scientific works are worth what. But people who are far from science do not understand this. Because of this, incidents are possible when some dubious or frankly pseudoscientific ideas gain the support of local authorities, politicians or government agencies.

Linguist E. L. Berezovich, in her reflections on the relationship between science and pseudoscience, noted an interesting and important detail: "As for my experience, I have to deal primarily with local historians who are interested in the geographical names of their region. They are often very interesting and knowledgeable people, real enthusiasts, whom, of course, I would like to support wholeheartedly. But there are also aggressively minded local historians who believe that since they "live here", then only they are subject to the secrets of local names that are older than Sanskrit and ancient Greek, have exclusively Slavic roots, and if the "letters" in Sanskrit and Northern Russian place names are "a little different", then this is fixable: according to the conclusions of the author A new table of "letter" correspondences is being drawn. Sometimes their activities are supported by the local administration, whose cultural policy is now aimed at "glorifying the small homeland" and creating local mythology. Previously, I encountered this mainly on expeditions to the Russian North, when we met with employees of departments and houses of culture, librarians, teachers of rural schools, who showed us books by local historians (often recommended for study in lessons and for use in various "cultural events")" ^{[28, p. 22]}.

And here is what the Doctor of Historical Sciences, director of the Tyulbersky Gorodok Ecomuseum-reserve (Kemerovo region) V. M. Kimeev writes: "... myth-making and the construction of a new ethno-cultural space, conventionally called secondary in philosophical circles, with the active support of regional authorities of various profiles, is becoming a common practice among modern aborigines of Siberia." "Secondary ... space is usually designed by leaders of folklore groups and professional designers of other nationalities with significant financial support from local authorities and often has a remote relationship to the primary space. Then, through "revived" folklore festivals and regional festivals, widely advertised in the press, elements of the secondary ethno-cultural space are legitimized and acquire traditional features in the minds of their creators. Since the 1990s, the process of forming such a secondary ethno-cultural space has sometimes been referred to in the press, administrative reports and scientific literature as the "national cultural renaissance" ^{[29, p. 96]}.

In his article, the scientist demonstrates how, as a result of these processes, ideas appear in the minds of the intelligentsia of some peoples of Siberia that, in fact, cultural features alien to them, inherent in the peoples around them, were an integral part of the traditional cultural complex.

Of course, similar processes are taking place not only in Siberia, but apparently everywhere. For example, in Tatarstan, with the active assistance of the republican authorities, regional history is mythologized, which is closely related to the development of such a tourist and "sacred" center as Bolgar ^[30]. The revival of national traditions with a clear admixture of neo-paganism with the support of the republican authorities is recorded in Yakutia ^[31]. But a separate study should be devoted to the consideration of such processes on the scale of Russia. Here we need to focus on examples related to Slavic paganism.

A curious example of how some kind of "legitimization" of neo-pagan constructs can occur is a welcome letter signed by the deputy of the State Duma of the seventh convocation, E. A. Primakov (by the way, a historian by education). It was sent to "participants of the event dedicated to the Winter Solstice Day – the Slavic holiday of Kolyado", the date on the document is December 21, 2018. The document says: "Our ancient traditions – carefully preserved, passed down from generation to generation – are a national treasure. (...) The ancient Kolyado Day – the Day of the winter solstice, followed by the longest night of the year, gives us confidence that the cold and darkness are not endless, that tomorrow there will be more sun in our lives, that spring will come, followed by summer, that death will be defeated again" ^[32].

A holiday with this name has not been recorded by ethnographers among the Eastern Slavs. Neither does any historical source mention him. Once again, we are dealing with a cultural simulacrum created by our contemporaries. Of course, a deputy is not obliged to know such details at all. He was just being polite to his potential voters, especially since it didn't cost him anything. But enthusiasts who "revive" supposedly ancient Slavic traditions can, on occasion, refer to such a document as confirmation of the "official recognition" of their rightness.

I will have to describe another interesting example without details, since I am bound by obligations not to disclose confidential data. Nevertheless, this is an extremely interesting case that it would be wrong to hide from the public. Some time ago, as an expert of a large foundation supporting socio-cultural projects, I received a grant application for evaluation. The aim of the project was to introduce the beneficiaries "to their historical cultural roots through physical exercises of native Russian bodily practices, folk dance and graphics, increasing ethnic identity, motivating people to correct their own physical and psychological state through folk traditions." The project was designed in patriotic tones, the notorious cultural code that needs to be maintained was mentioned, the authors of the application referred, among other things, to quotes from speeches by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The applicant had a very impressive list of partners – museums, public associations, including the regional Ministry of Culture, which submitted a benevolent letter of support. The application could have made a very impressive impression if I had not known that the "traditional Slavic wellness practices" mentioned there ("veiga", "zdrava", zhiva"), along with various "Slavic martial arts", were invented in the post-Perestroika period in the wake of the ardent interest of late Soviet society in mysticism, extrasensory perception, eastern spiritual and bodily practices (yoga, wushu, qigong, etc.) ^{[33, pp. 132-139]}. In addition to practicing these pseudo-Slavic wellness practices, the application also proposed to teach the target audience of the project how to draw ancient Slavic runes. All this in the complex was supposed to strengthen the cultural code and improve the well-being of the project's beneficiaries.

Here we see the same principle – officials, without understanding the essence of the matter, the specific content of the project, are ready to support the local socio-cultural initiative. The implementation of such projects with the involvement of external financing is an additional plus in the formation of ministerial reports on the work done. And if such a project is supported by a grant, it will acquire the aura of high–quality, approved and supported "at the top". After that, you can also think about "scaling" such a successful project, transferring valuable experience to colleagues in other regions, etc. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that such an application will not be submitted again and will not be supported someday, because as we already know, the problem of scientific expertise is very acute and far from every expert has such narrow knowledge to discern such a trick.

It is likely that these cases are just the tip of the iceberg. Since there are currently no tools to search for materials in some extensive databases indexing various documents of official origin, documents such as those discussed above can only come to the researcher's attention by accident. It seems that with a systematic search, the number of such examples could be significantly multiplied.

Conclusion

The modern Russian state has taken an official course to protect traditional values from destructive ideology, which is understood as "a system of ideas and values destructive to Russian society." This course is described in the well-known Decree of the President of the Russian Federation V. V. Putin No. 809 dated November 9, 2022 "On approval of the foundations of state policy for the preservation and strengthening of traditional Russian spiritual and moral values." Paragraph 7 of the Decree states that "The Russian Federation considers traditional values as the basis of Russian society, allowing to protect and strengthen the sovereignty of Russia to ensure the unity of our multinational and multi-confessional country, to preserve the people of Russia and develop human potential." Indeed, there is no doubt that a healthy, prosperous society should respect its traditions, history and culture. The problem is that under the guise of long-standing cultural traditions, we are increasingly faced with a cultural "new model". What many Russians consider to be ancient Slavic traditions turn out to be cultural simulacra that distort our authentic historical and cultural heritage and replace scientific facts with myths of mass culture. This in itself is alarming. But it is even worse when these myths turn out to be ideologically biased, which can lead, for example, to a hidden, "creeping" rehabilitation of Nazi symbols (runes, swastikas), which suddenly turns out to be "originally Slavic".

Baudrillard once made a curious observation that we live in a world where there is more and more information, but less and less meaning ^{[34, p. 79]}. The Internet age has made this observation even more relevant. And the widespread use of scientometry paradoxically stimulates this process again. Unfortunately, university professors are simply forced to produce a science-like product in the form of publications in scientific publications in order to achieve the indicators laid down in individual and collective work plans, actively involving graduate students and students in this as well. Of course, very often such works have no scientific value. At best, they "just" litter the information space, but do not distort scientific information. But, unfortunately, it is not uncommon for such works to directly contradict scientific data and turn from quasi-scientific into anti-scientific. As a result, returning to Baudrillard's consideration, an amendment should be made – it is no longer information (albeit low-value) that is growing, but misinformation. However, these weak or even anti–scientific works are enough for their authors to accumulate symbolic capital, which subsequently allows them to apply for some positions related to the production, evaluation and promotion of various cultural and/or educational projects. For officials who have introduced scientometric requirements in Russia, but have not learned how to analyze scientometric indicators, for journalists, law enforcement officers, and society as a whole, all authors of scientific publications "look the same." To prove this or that statement, you can always refer to some scientific publication, but the weight of this publication, its quality can only be assessed by a narrow stratum of scientists specializing in relevant issues (and we are talking here, of course, not just about holders of academic degrees, but about people engaged in science at a solid professional level). We have come to such a depressing situation where science is often driven forward by some people, while others are experts. The erosion of the institutions of scientific expertise is like the very dream of the mind that gives birth to monsters.

Is there any way to change the situation for the better? Probably yes, if you influence the processes described above and stop provoking this senseless production of texts that have no scientific value. If science becomes scientific again, and the state apparatus and business rely on it seriously in developing various management decisions, then the mass consciousness of Russians will be more protected from the influence of various pseudoscientific concepts on it. But in order to be convinced of the need for such changes and start acting in the right direction, we need to realize the harm that this situation causes to our society. This article is intended to make a modest contribution to this realization.