26.03.2026, Penza.
Neopaganism and occultism are now very widespread among the military due to a deeply rooted myth in people’s minds that there is no place in Orthodox Christianity for a strong hero or mysticism. Fyodor Kaufman, co-author of the multi-authored monograph Ukrainism and Essence of Time‘s member, expressed this opinion on March 19 at the plenary session of the IV All-Russian scientific and practical conference “National Security of Russia: Internal and External Threats,” held in Penza.
“The fact is that the problem of neopaganism and occultism in Russia is very serious. Every year, the growth in purchases of esoteric literature is approximately 50–70%. And if we talk about related goods, such as pagan and occult amulets, and so on, the increase is around 100–150% per year,” Kaufman said.
He is convinced that it is impossible to name the exact number of neopagans in Russia or those engaged in occult practices or inclined toward them. When figures of 300,000–500,000 are mentioned, they refer only to attempts to count those registered in some officially existing organizations.
“At the everyday level, this phenomenon is wide-spread. Anyone who communicates, for example, with representatives of the military or sports circles knows that they are practically all pagans. A great many people are interested in neopaganism. There is a huge number of youth communities, and many women are interested in this topic,” the expert explained.
He recalled that in 2018 Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus’ Kirill drew attention to this trend and pointed out that occultism and neopaganism are very prevalent in the sports and military circles. In 2024, the Patriarch returned to this issue and highlighted a very important point: the popularity of neopaganism and occultism in these environments is linked to a certain myth that strength and heroism are not associated with Christianity.
“Supposedly, there is no place for strength or heroism in Christianity. Such a myth does indeed exist. And this explains why military personnel and athletes are very much involved in practicing neopaganism, but it does not explain why this is so popular among young people and at the everyday level among women, or why the popularity of various occult and witchcraft cults is growing,” the co-author of the monograph added.
The researcher spoke about the existence of several other myths about Christianity that are widespread among laypeople, especially among those who are not churched, who have never engaged with Christian literature and have never discussed it in the family – that is, those completely detached from Orthodox culture, which is indigenous to Russia.
“There is also a myth that there is no place for mysticism in Orthodoxy. At the same time, it is clear that mysticism is understood in a particular way at the everyday level. And this is precisely why this myth is so widespread. That is why people turn toward esotericism,” Kaufman explained.
The expert drew attention to the fact that today, on almost any online platform, one can find neopagan and occult treatises. Sometimes these are not strictly occult but are related to various Eastern practices – Buddhist, Chinese, Tibetan, and others. They explain how to understand oneself, what happens to a person, and how to connect with something beyond the material world.
“And this need to connect with something beyond in our secularized world, in our consumer society, where higher meanings and values have been destroyed, and a person is often preoccupied with mundane, material concerns, still arises at some point in every person’s life. And a person seeks a way to connect with the transcendent, to find confirmation that we are not merely dust, not just matter. How can one confirm that something beyond this material world exists?” the researcher said.
He noted that the most popular discussions in occult and neopagan communities concern precisely acquiring certain energies.
“To find energy within oneself, to acquire it. And many of you probably know such concepts as ‘prana’ or ‘qi’ – these are Eastern concepts. They are now widely discussed not only by specialists. And again, there is a myth that this is discussed only in the East or within some occult esoteric circles. But that is actually a misconception,” the historian believes.
He explained that there is a concept that entered Christianity from Greek philosophy. This concept is “thymos” or “thymotic energy,” first introduced by Homer, who used it about 700 times in his Iliad and Odyssey. It denotes a certain energy of the soul, a feeling or force arising in the chest, which can be used for good or for evil.
“This energy appears in a person, it exists, and a person can use it. This concept was later developed by Plato and eventually entered Christian philosophy. In the early 20th century, the Russian-Soviet theologian and biblical scholar Sergey Zarin discussed this in great detail in his book on asceticism, referencing Basil the Great and other Church Fathers, emphasizing that this concept is very important for the Christian Church,” Kaufman explained.
The historian stressed that Zarin described this energy as a kind of divine gift, a force that can enable a person to distinguish between good and evil, to struggle with demons, and, in general, to find the strength to live and to establish a connection with the transcendent.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
