Christianisation as Trauma Aspects of Ethnonationalist Identity Construction Amongst Slavic Neopagan Groups in Poland Philipp Schaab In Poland, where membership of the Catholic Church is seen as part of the national identity, it goes without saying that anyone and any movement that questions this particular status quo will find life somewhat difficult.1 Nevertheless, there have been growing signs – especially since the end of state socialism – of a Slavic Neopagan movement that claims to represent the true, identity-shaping religion of the country (fig. 1). A headline in the Polish edition of Newsweek a few years back claimed that Neopagan churches were “mushrooming”.2 However, the historical and religious roots of this movement stretch back into the 19th century when Poland was being partitioned and occupied by its neighbours. Although most Polish elites saw the Catholic Church as the protector of their national identity,3 a tiny minority thought differently and linked the struggle for renewed political sovereignty with a desire to return to a pre-Christian religion and culture.4 After the country regained its independence in the wake of the First World War, the first Neopagan Slavic communities emerged and began to formulate their own agendas. Amongst them was the group led by Jan Stachniuk, founder of the anti-Catholic Zadruga ideology.5 His teachings would go on to form the ideological foundation of ethnonationalist groups that, since the 1990s, have been campaigning for an ethnically homogeneous Poland and for its conversion to the pre-Christian beliefs of the Slavs.6 His legacy was taken up by communities such as Rodzima Wiara and Fundacja Watra. Fig. 1 Members of Polish Neopagan community Chram MIR celebrating Szczodre Gody, a winter holiday celebrated around Christmas.
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