A Comparative Investigation of Romanian and Hungarian

Ethno-Pagan Blogs
Hubbes Lszl-Attila, PhD
Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania
E-mail: hubbeslaszlo@sapientia.siculorum.ro
Abstract
Postmodern sensitivity, together with globalization has brought about not only the revival of
religiosity, but also an intense process of creation and re-creation of spiritual movements and
organizations around the world. In the ideological void of post-totalitarian Central-Eastern
Europe religious streams sometimes intertwine with nationalist movements returning to preChristian Pagan roots. The comparative study of Romanian and Hungarian Neopagan
communities with an ethnocentric or Ethno-Pagan ideology is an exploratory research
aimed at mapping the similarities and the differences. It also look at their connections to
political movements, to radical right ideologies, and conspiracy theories as well as their
general suspicion towards official establishment discourses and their ambiguous relations to
mainline Christianity.
Keywords: Romanian and Hungarian Ethno-Pagans, web rhetoric, blogs

Introduction
The issue of Ethno-Paganism presented here constitutes the object of an ongoing
larger research project that explores the internet-rhetoric of Neopagan movements from
Romania and Hungary.1 The theme, curious as it is, has drawn our attention not because of its
isolated exotic character, on the contrary, an ever more prominent presence of pagan
narratives may be observed in the virtual space. The phenomenon, discernable in both
Hungarian and Romanian context with strong ethnic or nationalistic undertones, with loud
confrontative rhetoric, with various levels of organization, offered itself to serious scholar
investigation from several, interdisciplinary aspects. Thus we started an exploratory research
in February 2011, from which we published a study (Bak & Hubbes, 2011) with an emphasis
of the organizational rhetoric; and also three conference lectures were presented analyzing the
alternative self-images, respectively the extremist voices gaining strength in Hungarian
Neopagan online narratives (Hubbes 2011a, b, c), in which works we introduced the term
Ethno-Pagan.
For this conference concerning the role of new media in journalism we turned again to
a contrastive analysis of Romanian and Hungarian blogs and web-pages with pronounced
ethnic and pagan connotations, picking eight examples considered as representative for the
1

This project of the Semeistos Research Group for Web Semiotics and Online Communication based at the
Faculty of Technical and Social Sciences, Miercurea Ciuc of Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania is
supported through the research grant Web Rhetoric of Romanian and Hungarian Ethno-pagan Organisations of
the Institute for Research Programmes, Cuj-Napoca, Romania. For details, see:
http://semeistos.wordpress.com/projects/neopagans/

investigated phenomenon: the Romanian Gebeleisis Association, Dacia Liberation Front,

Dacia Revival International Society, and Kogaionon Info as well as the Hungarian Ancient
Hungarian Church, Tengri Babba Community and We Are Seeds. In this present study we will
try to offer an overview of the founding narratives and symbolism of various Romanian and
Hungarian Ethno-Paganisms as mirrored on the chosen websites, representing different stages
of more or less institutionalized virtual organizations (see Bak 2011).
For a better understanding of the discussed phenomenon, we shall describe and define
in relation to the wider terms of Neopaganism and ethnicity certain key notions, such as
Reconstructionism, Neo-Shamanism, protochronism, Zalmoxianism, and Ethno-Paganism.
After this conceptualization, the main research questions along with their implicit hypotheses
will be briefly presented, to be answered in the discussion of myths and symbols in the
argumentative part.
Conceptualization
Neopaganism, as perhaps the fastest growing marginal religious trend, infiltrating
from the fringes of socio-religious landscape into the colloquial normality, and in opposition
to historical Pagans of ancient cultures, may be defined as an umbrella-term covering a whole
range of syncretic this-worldly anti-authoritarian nature-oriented modern urban protest
religions, originating from old European Mysticism as well as 18-19 Centuries Romanticism
and reconstituted from ancient classical cults, Pre-Christian religions and non-European tribal
beliefs. They are generally polytheistic or conditionally monotheistic, privileging the
experience of personal ritual over belief, with some relevant common characteristics, such as
re-mythologizing, ecologism, or recognition of the female principle. (Grieve, 1995; KisHalas, 2005; also Szilrdi, 2007, 72)
Neopagan movements include eclecticist, syncretic bricolage-cults (like Wicca, NeoDruidism, /Urban/ Neo-Shamanism) on one extremity to culturally specific traditions, such as
the many experiments to reconstruct and revive monotheistic or polytheistic ancient pagan
religions at the other end. (cf. Adler, 1979, 436-437) For our present purposes we are
interested in the latter form, the reconstructionist Paganism or Reconstructionism, which
strives to rebuild meticulously a certain past religious tradition through a fairly scholarly
study of ancient texts, folklore, archaeology, and languages believed to contain highly
authoritative information regarding the creed to be revived, (Strmiska, 2005, 19) while strictly
rejecting eclectic practices and ideas, in order to keep the purity of the ancient religion.
Neo-Shamanism in general, in its various forms tends to incorporate both
reconstructionist and eclectic elements, but Hungarian (Neo-)Shamanist movements aimed
at recovering a supposedly lost spirituality, built-in into the deepest layers of Hungarian
language and cultural practices present a rather clear case of Reconstructionism. In our
earlier study (Bak & Hubbes, 2011) we named the Hungarian model Shamanist, since it is
the most common form of returning to the Asian ancestors cult whether they call themselves
Tltos-Shamans, or Tengriists, or Arch-Hungarians. However, there might be a slight
difference in the case of certain Hungarian Neo-Shamanist movements from the general
character of reconstructionist Paganism to which they undoubtedly belong. As a rule,
Reconstructionism turns to recorded mythology, history and living folkloric traditions while
the Hungarian followers of the Yotengrit (Mt, 2007) and the Arvisura [pronounced:
arvishura] (Pal, 1998) rely primarily onto fictional mythopoetic works (considered of
course by them the genuine tradition).
Romanian Reconstructionism labeled Zalmoxianism in our earlier study (Bak &
Hubbes, 2011) on the other hand, though certainly a religious phenomenon centered on

reviving an ancient Pagan cult of Zalmoxis (or Zamolxis) is rather concerned with history.
Zalmoxian movement in its all various forms at first glance looks like historicism, and is
closely attached to the phenomenon of protochronism. Protochronism, a term coined by
Romanian historians (Papu, 1974) goes hand in hand with some given continuity theory. It
promotes an idea of preceding others in time and an idealized heroic past. Here is how Ctlin
Borangic describes the term: [protochronism] is a cultural current that appeared in Romania
under this name at the mid-seventies of the past century; not a brand new idea, it revives a
certain type of nationalism; such a current may be easily identified in the cultures which claim
their right to a given identity. (Borangic 2008, 119-137).
Though protochronism is considered a specifically Romanian term, the phenomenon
itself is nonetheless present also in Hungarian variants (as it may be found in the thought of
other surrounding nations in this quarter of Europe). While original Romanian protochronism
starts off from historically grounded Dacian-Roman Romanian continuity theory, and
ventures into an imaginary Dacian, Thracian, Pelasgian cultural precedence, the Hungarian
counterpart rejects the official Finno-Ugrian discourse of Hungarian ethnic history, adopting
one or another variant of the Turanist idea, again bursting into protochronist fantasies of a
prehistoric world-civilizing Arch-Hungarian culture (e.g. Tamana-theory see Vmos-Tth,
2005, 2010). Protochronism then, in every manifestation of it is an exaggerated expression of
national, that is: ethnic identity, where the historical importance of the ethnos is unnaturally
swelled and sanctified, usually in the detriment of other entities. This is clearly the case of
both Romanian and Hungarian ethnic religious movements, in certain cases protochronic and
ethnic superiority ideas even might surpass the religious character of the given community.
The term ethnic religion might also be used for these Pagan movements, provided
the concept wouldnt have been booked for more classical ideas of ethnos-related religiosity.2
In lack of a concise term we saw it fit for our needs to blend the two concepts of
reconstructionist Paganism and ethnicity in a special brand: Ethno-Paganism. In earlier
studies and presentations we thus labeled Hungarian and Romanian ethnic Neopagan groups,
(Hubbes 2011c, Bak & Hubbes 2011) as Ethno-Pagans, which might be similarly
accurate for a wide range of neopagan movements quite typical for Europe, especially the
Eastern part of it, denoting different Slavic, Baltic or even Turkic pagan groups. (Ferlat, 2003;
Ivakhiv, 2005; Wiench, 1997)
Ethnicity at the same time, when joint with paganism, means an accentuated
ethnocentrism, even ideas of ethnic supremacy or primacy, often finding expression in
nationalistic political movements. As Schnirelman (2002, 198) observed for the post-Soviet
era and area, a fast development of Neopaganism was closely connected with a growth of
ethnic nationalism, with activists of the national movements persistently calling for a
restoration of the (ethnic, pre-Christian, pre-Muslim) folk religion. The same applies to the
larger Central-Eastern Europe after the fall of Communism.
Without being a necessary corollary, radical right-wing organizations are often
intertwined with Ethno-Pagan movements, a connection that involves political activism of
various intensities, turning ethnic Paganism a kind of political religion. This phenomenon has
been repeatedly investigated, we refer here to a recent study of Szilgyi: Sacred
Characteristics of the Nation (2008) where the author charts a comparison between political
religion and civil religion, rendering neopagan movements as expressions of Hungarianism,
interpreting radical right-wing movements as manifestations of a new religiosity. He also calls
the attention upon the fact that political religion, be it Christian-oriented or Neopaganist is
2

It refers to either ethnic churches within a main religious denomination (Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox) or
to contemporary indigenous traditional ethnic religions, that is: living (Asian, African, Pacific, Native American
animistic, totemistic, shamanistic, theistic) cults that do not need reconstruction or revitalization due to their
unbroken survival to our days.

inseparable from an alternative historicity and sacral geography a concept which is crucial
for our investigation. (Szilgyi, 2008, 3-5)
Research question and hypothesis
Since such liaisons between ethnic Neopaganism and politically active radical
nationalism are considerable, and in the case of Romanian and Hungarian Ethno-Pagans we
have found such correlations (see Bak & Hubbes, 2011) in various degrees, we now turn to a
closer investigation. In this comparative study we continue our exploratory research mapping
the similarities and the differences between Romanian and Hungarian Ethno-Pagan online
communities Zalmoxian groups promote the revival of Romanian spirituality through a
process of reconnection to its ancient, supposedly Dacian-Thracian (Pelasgian) roots;
similarly, Hungarian Shamanist movements are aimed at recovering a supposedly lost
spirituality, builtin into the deepest layers of Hungarian language and cultural practices, and
recoverable from the shared culture of all extinct and contemporary Turanic nations.
We restrict now to a single research question for this study: to what extent do these
groups differ in their discourses from mainline nationalist and religious entities? What are the
points in which they conform, and what alternatives do they adopt?
Our implicit hypothesis partially based on our previous investigations is that (Neo)
Shamanist / Zalmoxianist movements variously differ in their narratives from the more
traditional (more Christian) radical nationalism, mainly as regards their alternative selfimages, and use of alternative mythologies and symbolisms (Arvisura, Yotengrit, Testamentul
Zalmoxian and others).
For the purposes of this study we rely on contrastive web-content analysis both
visual semiotic and textual rhetoric; through the means of unobtrusive investigation that
gathers data solely from publicly available sources posted on the World Wide Web, without
contacting the actors themselves in this stage of the research.

The background mythic narratives

We described earlier Reconstructionist Paganism as a strive to rebuild a pure ancient
ethnic religion of the ancestors, exclusively from authentic sources such as living folkloric
traditions, folk legends and mythology from ethnographic collections, liable historical records
etc. which theoretically should be the case of Ethno-Pagans. Still, neither Romanian, nor
Hungarian Ethno-Pagan movements usually content themselves with that much. Actually, the
majority of the studied websites rely rather (or also) on alternative historical theories,
protochronist ideas and, even more importantly, mythopoetic works from the 19th and 20th
centuries that is: myths, legendaries, mythologies created by modern authors, combining
traditional mythic stories with fantastic history and poetic imaginary. Such works have
become holy scriptures for several Shamanist or Zalmoxian movements. In the following
paragraphs we will offer a brief review of such protochronist tendencies and mythopoetic
sources.
Several Romanian researchers (Boia, 1999, 86-90; Babe 2003; Tomi 2007; Manea
2011) have investigated the origins, early development, disgrace, revival, fade and postrevolution transformations of Romanian protochronism. The controversial history of an idea
of an idyllic Dacian past begins the romantic view of Nicolae Densuianu, (1913) who
advanced the idea of Pelasgianism. In both the far-right Legionary doctrines and several
decades later the enforced official National-Communist state ideology of the Ceauescu-era,
Dacianism played the role of a founding myth for the nation-state (Manea, 2011). Prominent
representatives range from Edgar Papu, or Iosif Constantin Drgan (a legionary migr!) to

the contemporary hard ideologists of dacology like Napoleon Svescu or Octavian Srbtoare.
In brief, protochronism may be presented as a mythic history of Romanians descending from
the pre-Indo-European Pelasgians inhabiting the Carpathian-Danubian-Pontic-Balcanic area,
who invented writing (Trtria-tablets), conquered and civilized Eurasia, reaching as far as
Mongolia or Japan, later as Dacians-Getae, a tribe of Thracians, gave the world the first
monotheistic religion of the god Zalmoxis, forerunner of Christ. These Dacians being partially
conquered by Rome in 106 AD lived through almost two centuries of Romanization and
while official history teaches this process of Romanization as the basis of Romanian
Continuity Theory, Dacologists declare that Romanization is a false doctrine and Romanians
are uninterrupted descendants of DaciansGetae, the latter being identified also with the
Goths, thus ultimately contributing to the Fall of Rome. Naturally, there are countless
variations in this plot, according to the personal convictions of each Dacologist author, but the
main lines unfold along this constellation of ideas.
This phenomenon is predominantly seriously discussed in the same medium and
context as it propagates: the internet. Though not taken from scholarly studies, but frum
discussion forums, we will refer here to some very helpful short definitions and explanations
of Romanian Ethno-Paganism which is named by the quoted commenters somewhat
pejoratively as Dacomania or Tracomania. Dacomania represents a heteroclite and
unarticulated set of pseudo-scientific theories, convictions and clichs of radical nationalist
character, born from an exaggerated admiration and an uncritical idealization of the Dacians
and their civilization, manifested in the tendency of considering the Dacians at the origin of
several planetary historical realities. (Olteanu, 2006) Also, another commenter, under the
ironic pseudonym plinul cel tanar [full the younger] considers that Tracomania in itself is a
religious creed, or more precisely a modern form of a cult of the ancestors and brings
consistent arguments to confirm his ascertainment, stating that 1. Tracomanians have got their
own myths, with the Dacian nation as the central collective personage of this mythology; 2.
Tracomanians have their religious elite, with Densuianu as a kind of founding prophet and
Napoleon Svescu as a contemporary spiritual leader followed by a range of adepts on the
web; and 3. Tracomanians produce religious art, virtual images, texts, clips and songs, even
sometimes valuable in their own kind. (2006)
The same principles described above regarding mythopoetic religiosity, ancestor cult
and protochronism apply to Hungarian Ethno-Paganism as well. However, it is worth
mentioning that while in Romania Protochronism was a tolerated and later, during the
totalitarianism a severely imposed national history, in Hungary protochronist-like doctrines
have never managed to enter officially state ideology. In the wake of nineteenth century
strives to reconstruct a presumably lost national mythology, and heavy linguistical-historical
debates over the origins and affiliation of Hungarian language and people (known as the
[academic] Ugrian-Turkish War), official academic doctrines definitely rejected the theory of
Scythian-Hun-Turkic-Hungarian continuity; a standpoint that left many adepts of this latter
view deeply frustrated. Turanism however is not quite the central idea of Hungarian
protochronism.3 Such thoughts emerged with the ideas of the Sumerian ancestry advanced by
such scholars as Badiny Js Ferenc, Bobula Ida. Sumerianism has come today to engulf
almost all anti-Finno-Ugrian trends, but most importantly a strong wave of religiousness
sprung from Badiny Jss work on he Parthian provenance of Jesus. (1998) Protochronism
has found expression in the religious primacy over Abrahamic monotheisms, with Jesus being
a Zarathustra-like prophet of Light (ironically, Zalmoxians also consider their religion as
being the first real Monotheism, and Jesus an initiate of Zalmoxis [Srbtoare, 2011]). Other
3

For the purposes of this study we will use the term protochronism for the Hungarian ideas of historical or
cultural primacy as well.

historical and cultural primacies include a linguistical and civilizing firstness of the Magyar
language and people, the invention of writing, invention of horse-riding and an interesting
recent idea of geographical first presence and continuity in the Carpathian-Danubian area,
competing and mutually excluding each other with the Romanian protochronist discourse.
For a comparison with Romanian protochronist ideas, we resume some variations4 that
converge into a Hungarian protochronist mythology. In regard to origins, as opposed to the
official Uralic, Finno-Ugric version, Hungarians descend either from Proto-Asian people(s)
and/or Sumerians, Huns, Scythians, Parthians, Sabirs (see Gtz, 1989; Bobula, 1961; Kiszely
2001; Padnyi, 1963; Pap, 1999) or according to some newer theories from primaeval
Proto-European (Carpathian-Danubian) populations. (Cser & Darai 2005) Further on, the
Hungarian or Magyar language preserves the most ancient form of the original protolanguage
in its perfection, (Kiss, 1999; Varga, 2005) and based upon the clear logical peculiarities of
this language the Hungarian runic rovs was the first form of writing ever, from which all
other alphabets later evolved (Varga, 2005; also Maxwell, 2004) consequently this nation is
the direct descendant of the prehistoric proto-culture, while other nations diverged and
degenerated from it. (Vmos-Tth, 2005, 2010) Following this logic it should be no surprise
that also the Hungarians were the originators and only perpetuators of the real (Parthian) PreChristian Christianity. Jesus himself would have been a Parthian prince bringing the message
of Light into the world, which was then spoiled by the Jewish Bible. (Badiny-Js, 1998)
Against all odds, and being Christianized by force, Hungarians still have succeeded to save
their creed by the mystical program of the Holy Crown and keep a sacral order in the
Carpathian-basin through the past millennium. (Pap, 1999) The sacral mission of Hungary
dedicated by its first king Saint Stephen to Mary the Virgin has always been to serve as
guardian of Light and Truth and to assure the spiritual bridge between East and West, at the
same time warding off from the crucially central Carpathian area both the eastern intruding
people and the western aggressive imperialist powers. (Balogh, s.a.) These ideas have never
been admitted into Hungarian official discourse, not even after the fall of the Communist
Regime however, recently seem to gain quasi-legitimacy through rightist political parties,
first with the Magyar Igazsg s let Prtja (Hungarian Justice and Life Party) and now with
the rise of the Jobbik Party (word-play: Righter = Better Party). (Szilgyi, 2008, 2)
It is not by coincidence that the Romanian and Hungarian founding myths,
protochronist theories of a mysterious prehistoric Carpathian culture show such striking
similarities. It is a shared idea of many nations in Eastern Europe, and in other parts of the
world, where some cultural or historical-political trauma has negatively affected the selfappreciation of a given nation (and this is pretty much the case of the entire eastern part of our
continent), adapted always and everywhere to the specific circumstances and traditions,
sacralising language, culture as well as geography.
Blogs and websites investigated

In this chapter we present in brief some of the more representative Ethno-Pagan blogs,
both Romanian and Hungarian, giving only a short description of each.

4 presented as well in an earlier study of Hubbes Lszl,Signs of Times A Semiotic Content-Analysis of

Visual Apocalyptic Rhetoric on Hungarian Conspiracist Websites (Acta Universitatis Sapientiae. Philologica.
ISSN: 20675151, 2(1), 2010, 176-192, also: www: acta.sapientia.ro

The RomaniaDacia Casa Noastr (RomaniaDacia Our Home) Casa Noastra

Blog central al Frontului de Eliberare a Daciei (Dacia Libera)5 is the central blog of an entire
network of blogs and websites, from all over Romania. (see 1. Screenshot) This organization:
RDCN: Dacia Liberation Front, run by a young sociologist working in media (see Bak
2011) is centered on the idea that contemporary Romania is the successor of Ancient Dacia,
and it needs to be freed from alien elements and influences. Focusing more on political and
social issues, the Liberation Front and its afferent blogs at first glance do not look like EthnoPagans proper however, all along the linked pages, videos as well as in the main body-texts
protochronist ideas are promoted, primarily of Dacianism and/or Pelasgianism, and strong
references to Zalmoxis as religious model, along with the usual conspiracy theories of the
stolen history of the nation. Though not univocally or overtly religious, the entire network is
nonetheless a clear example of Dacomania/Tracomania with explicit links to the radical right.
The central blog presented here has a puritan design, with white background; the
message is purported by the posts themselves, which are usually highly multimediatic, as well
as by the favorites, linked in the column to the right. The logo of the organization, a blackbrown wolf-headed draco (the war-standard of ancient Dacians) over the Romanian redyellow-blue tricolor, with the inscription RDCN also appears in the upper right corner with a
call to join the organization.
The Dacia Revival International Society6 (see 2. Screenshot) is an already established
organization. Presided by Napoleon Svescu, a Romanian physicist migr in the US, this
society functions as a pseudo-scientific, pseudo-historian academic organization, with
regularly organized international conferences (Congrese de Dacologie already at the 11th
edition), regularly published journal (Dacia Magazin) all built upon the protochronist
Dacian-Pelasgian ideas of Nicolae Densuianu. The aim of this society, with a very high level
of self-legitimation (see Bak 2011), is to study and promote the real history of the Dacians
as opposed to the official academic discourse, and to offer an institutional framework for all
who whish to join this noble case.
The societys web-page, though very traditional and static, is nonetheless visually
quite elaborated, with a grim black-and-gold elegance and kitschy tendencies. The logo is
written in golden traditionalizing letters along with a Thracian golden helmet over a black
background in flames, which is framing the greyish navigation surface as well.
The navigation surface is very tell-tale from start: the left column hosting the vertical
menu (articles, film, music, photos, maps, a virtual museum) has in its background the statue
of a Dacian (probably king Decebal); the horizontal menu-bar leads us to Dacology
Conferences, the Dacia Magazin journal, the forum and contact, while on the left there is a
poll inserted with the question whether visitors consider to change the name of the Romanian
country into Dacia7, under it other kin pages like Pelasgians, Dacologica, Enciclopedia
Dacica, Pelasgia.org etc. are linked in; and within this trilateral frame the greeting message
appears in a striking red over a black background, telling the visitor the main objectives of the
organization.
From among the numerous Hungarian blogs and web pages we have chosen some
representative examples. First we present the homepage of the smagyar Egyhz Ancient
Hungarian Church,8 (see 5. Screenshot) because it is the oldest surviving and officially
5

http://casanoastra-romania-dacia.blogspot.com/
http://www.dacia.org/dacia-rev/
7 From 492 voters 83,3%, that is 410 visitors voted for the change as of 16.12.2011.
8 http://www.osmagyaregyhaz.hu/nyitooldal (No. of visitors: 63,599)
6

registered Hungarian Ethno-Pagan organization of this kind on the net.9 The Church itself is
meant to be a return to the creed of the ancestors before they had been forced to Christianity,
but nevertheless it contains countless references and elements from the Christian Religion.
Along the religious aspect, protochronist ideas are also present.
The welcome page, just as the rest of the site, is very conservative in its design and
simple too. On a whitish-ros background it displays a light red menu with white titles, under
which a panorama-like photo of Budapest is stretched. The white and gold round logo on
which the name of the church smagyar Egyhz is written in Hungarian with Latin and
runic letters around the central rising sun that shines onto the triple hill and the double cross
taken from the official coat-of-arms of Hungary inserted repeatedly in both the photo and
the centre of the menu stresses the authentic Hungarian character of the community. The
menu titles (and under them the hyperlinked contents) include Our Land of Origin,
Tradition, Holidays, Way of Life, Mysteries, Living Wisdom, Research, Poetry,
Maps and The Krsi Csoma10 Society this by far non-exhaustive list makes visible
the orientation of the site. The greeting message is a short presentation of the Church,
presenting its aims and creed, telling us that God the Creator has created us Hungarians, and
since our souls, our thoughts are Hungarian, we confess and live our ancient Hungarian faith
in accordance to Gods will.
An important community of Ethno-Pagan orientation, formed around the idea of
organic culture, and specifically the doctrine of the Holy Crown as well as the thesis of Jesus,
the Parthian Prince is centred on the Dobog web-site11 (and journal see 6. Screenshot).
This movement, highly critical of other Hungarian Ethno-Pagan shamans and groups, is lead
by several respected prominent professors and scholars in art history, pedagogy, psychology,
ethnography and similar domains12, and it is aimed to a more nationalist young intellectual
elite. The movement has an ambiguous relation to (mainline) Christianity: on the one hand it
promotes scholarly reconstructed pre-Christian Pagan traditions (curiously resembling
Manichean ideas) and shows an overt aversion towards Christianity because of its JudeoRoman nature, on the other hand seeks justification within both Roman-Catholic and
Protestant Christianity13 and even makes proselytising among their rows, reaching up to the
cleric ranges.
The name of the site Dobog (literally meaning: beating) is evoking the the heartchakra of the Earth, which is commonly thought by the most Hungarian Neopagan
movements to be the Dobogk-peak (700 m) in the Pilis-mountain in Hungary. This name
appears written in golden historicizing letters on a logo representing the greenish-brown
physical map of Great Hungary, under which two slogans: Mythical Hungarian History and
God Fatherland Love, flanked to the left and right by the official red-white-green
tricolour and the rpd-striped red-and-white flags of Hungary remind us the nature of this
site. The logo itself is placed over a stripe of black and white archive photos with historical
connotations. The right column menu lists titles like: journal archive, bookshop, events in the
Carpathian basin, excursions, downloads, forum etc.; while the main body on the left always
presents the actualities: open courses, presentations held in various locations or the content of
the latest issue of the hard copy journal itself.
9

founded in 1972 in the United States in Los Angeles, California by a Hungarian migr Nimrd Lszl Hajd,
registered in Hungary in 1999 (see Szilgyi & Szilrdi, 2007, 74-75)
10 Sndor Csoma de Krs, a reputed 19th century Hungarian Linguist and Orientalist who started his
journey to Asia in order to find the Ancestors of Hungarians presumed to still live in Eastern Central Asia.
11 http://www.dobogommt.hu/dobogo/main.php - (No. of visitors 509,789 in 2011)
12 Personalities like Gbor Pap, Jzsef Vgvri, Lajos Szntai, Jzsef V. Molnr
13 One prominent example is the movements reliance on the presupposed secret tradition of the
Hungarian Monastic Order of the Pauline Fathers.

Conclusions
At the end of our review, after taking into account the main theories and some
exemplary blogs and websites, we are now able to formulate a summary answer to our
research question raised at the beginning of this study: to what extent do these groups differ in
their discourses from mainline nationalist and religious entities? What are the points in which
they conform, and what alternatives do they adopt? Our implicit hypothesis was that (Neo)
Shamanist / Zalmoxianist movements variously differed in their narratives from the more
traditional (more Christian) radical nationalism, mainly as regards their alternative selfimages, and use of alternative mythologies and symbolisms which has been clearly
confirmed.
An important observation was that Romanian and Hungarian founding myths,
protochronist theories of a mysterious prehistoric Carpathian culture presented some striking
similarities. The primacy and supremacy of ones own nation and culture and religion is
shared idea of many nations in Eastern Europe, and in other parts of the world, where some
cultural or historical-political trauma has negatively affected the self-appreciation of that
given nation, and such narratives adapted always and everywhere to the specific
circumstances and traditions, sacralising language, culture as well as geography.
Based on the above blogs and sites, Ethno-Paganism how ever diverse may it be in its
faces, still forms a unitary phenomenon. Whether Hungarian Neo-Shamanism or Romanian
Zalmoxianism, the trend is to question or refuse official history, anthropology and linguistics,
an overt aversion against current academic and political discourse, stressing upon
protochronist ideas and mythic fantasies. In this respect, they share their narratives with a
significant part of radical raight, ationalist movements. The same stands for the Pagans
relation towards the mainline denominations (Roman Catholic, Calvinist, Unitarian) or the
official (Orthodox) Christian Church of the state whether in Hungary or in Romania in the
latter case. Some communities are clearly opposing Christianity, much visible in their online
sites (Gebeleizis, ArvisuraVan); others show an ambiguous stance (RDCN, Kogaionon,
smagyar Egyhz, Yotengrit, Tengri-Babba) still others even make proselytizing in the rows
of Christianity (Dobog). In any case, the discourse of Ethno-Pagans is that Christianity is a
perversion of the ancestral pure faith, the monotheistic or polytheistic Paganism being
superior to the Judeo-Roman corrupt church(es), which distorted the real personality of Jesus
and his original message. These narratives seek to bring back a lost sacredness and selfesteem into the lives of many people in Romania and Hungary (and generally postCommunist Eastern Europe) through an exaggerated counterbalancing of the dehumanizing,
humiliating ideologies of the past half century.
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