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Neoshamanism, National Identity and the Holy Crown of Hungary
ARTICLE in JOURNAL OF RELIGION IN EUROPE • OCTOBER 2015
DOI: 10.1163/18748929-00802001
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Laszlo Kurti <^L.    University of Miskolc
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Neoshamanism, National Identity and the Holy Crown of Hungary
Ldszlo Kiirtl
Professor, Institute of Political Science, University of Miskolc, Hungary kurtug53@gmail. com
Abstract
This article analyzes state, national identity and religious revivalism by focusing on Hungarian neoshamanism and its connection to Hungary's prized national symbol, the Holy Crown. In contrast to neoshamanic practices in the 1990s, the newly emergent forms of neoshamanism in Hungary have been incorporated into mainstream celebrations and major national holidays. How this happened and the underlying causes deserve serious scholarly scrutiny. By analyzing recent trends, new forms of state and alternative religious spheres are identified as coalescing into a new neosha-manistic religion in Hungary.
Keywords
neoshamanism - The Holy Crown of Hungary - Tuva - Siberian connection -nationalism
In this article, I argue that an analysis of neoshamanism in Hungary sheds light on important aspects of the interconnectedness of the Hungarian state, national identity, and religious revivalism.11 show how neoshamanism surprisingly took center stage in Hungary since I analyzed this form of alternative
1 On the various forms of neoshamanism see Tatiana Buzekova, "The shaman's journey between emic and etic: representations of the shaman in neoshamanism," Anthropological Journal of European Cultures, 19/1 (2010), 116-130; Sanson Dawne, "New/Old spiritualities in the West: Neo-shamans and neoshamanism," in James R. Lewis and Murphy Pizza (eds.), Handbook of contemporary paganism (Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff, 2009), 433-462; Galina Lindquist, Shamanic Performances on the Urban Scene: Neoshamanism in Contemporary Sweden
©   KONINKLIJKE BRILL NV, LEIDEN, 2015   |   DOI 10.1163/18748929-00802001
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religious practice in the 1990s.2 At the outset I must declare that in no way do I wish either to romanticize or denounce neoshamanic practitioners, and their art and belief. Rather, I aim to call attention to the latest diverse developments.3 The statement by Robert J. Wallis in his book, Shamans/Neo -shamans, "neoshamanism is largely misunderstood," is echoed by anthropologist Jenny Blain, who uses the phrase "neo-shamanphobia."4 This attitude is apparent in the current Hungarian context. However, there is a major difference that I see between the ways in which neoshamanism exists in Hungary at present and its practice elsewhere, especially in North America, with which it does have close New Age connections. By a surprising turn of events, Hungarian neoshamanism has been elevated into mainstream political-cultural spheres, a situation not present in the 1990s, although the phenomenon was on the rise in several newly independent Soviet successor states.5
I will first briefly inquire about the nature of neoshamanism and what it entails in Hungarian cultural settings by exploring its most fundamental
(Stockholm: Stockholm University Press, 1997); and Patrick Plattet, "Sick of shamanizing: In search of healing on the Kamchatkan Roads of World-Jesus," Civilisations 61/2, (2013), 69-88.
2 Laszlo Kiirti, "Psychic phenomena, neoshamanism, and the cultic milieu in Hungary," Nova Religio 4/2 (2001), 322-350. For other analyses of the Hungarian scene see, Imre Lazar, "Taltos healers, neoshamans, and multiple medical realities in postsocialist Hungary", in Helle Johanessen & Imre Lazar (eds.), Multiple medical realities (Oxford: Berghahn, 2006), 35-53; Gabor Attila Feleky "The vague borders of New Age. Methodological comparisons of studies concerning New Age in Central and Easton Europe," in Mate Toth Andras & Cosima Rughinis (eds.), Spaces and borders (De Gruyter, 2011), 7-22. The review by Stuckrad on neoshamanic literature is also extremely useful, see Kocku von Stuckrad, "Constructions, normativities, identities. Recent studies on shamanism and neoshamanism," Religious Studies Review 31/3-4 (2005), 123-128, and Schamanismus und Esoterik: Kultur- und wissenschaftsgeschichtliche Betrachtungen (Leuven: Peeters, 2003).
3 For those not familiar with Hungarian history, religion and neoshamanism, I tried to include works mostly in English. For a Hungarian language summary see, Agnes Kertesz and Andras Takacs, "Istvan utan 1000 ewel: ujtaltossag Magyarorszagon az ezredfordulon," Korunk, January 2006. http://www.korunk.org/?q=node/8&ev=20o6&honap=i&cikk=8o8s (accessed September 2, 2014).
4 Robert J. Wallis, Shamans/neo-shamans (London: Routledge, 2003) xiii; Jenny Blain, Nine worlds of Seid-magic (London: Routledge, 2002), 49. However, Andrei A. Znameski is more critical of both Wallis' and Blain's view of neoshamanism in Andrei A. Znameski, The beauty of the primitive: Shamanism and the Western imagination (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007), 262,311.
5 The interrelation of politics and shamanism can be seen for example in the Sakha (Yakut) Republic during the years of independence as described by Marjorie Balzer, "Two urban shamans: unmasking leadership in Fin-de-Soviet Siberia," in George E. Marcus (ed.), Perilous states: Conversations on culture, politics, and nation (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1993), 131-164.
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symbolic elements that connect it to nationalist mythology, Siberian neosha-manic practices, and mainstream Hungarian politics. I will pay particular attention to the mythicizing element of Hungarian neoshamanism, which explains its specificity as well as current elevation into the political realm by neoshamanism's association with the Holy Crown of Saint Stephen now housed in the Hungarian Parliament.6 At the center of this discussion is a neoshamanic performance that took place on 21 March 2012, when the folk-singer Eva Kanalas and a Siberian (Tuvan) neoshaman were allowed to perform a purification ceremony to safeguard the Holy Crown and bring positive energy to it and thereby to the Hungarian nation. It is my belief that Hungarian neoshamanism has been able to leave the cultic milieu7 I described in the 1990s for two reasons. First, its elevation is to a large extent due to its forging a close alliance with Christianity in Hungary, specifically Roman Catholicism. Second, by striking nationalistic chords, it has since 2010 found support in high political circles of the ruling parties. In several significant instances, politicians and public figures have used neoshamanic rituals and stories to re-narrate Hungarian national identity. Therefore, my aim in this essay is to analyze the components of this high political usage of neoshamanism and its influences on the rhetorics of nationalism.
Neoshamanism, Tdltos Belief and Nationalist Renewal
To understand how a Hungarian folksinger and a neoshaman from the Tyva Republic (Tuva) managed to perform a cleansing ritual in front of the Holy
6 Only receiving its holy epithet in the thirteenth century, the royal Hungarian crown and regalia, known also as the Holy Crown Jewellery, or simply as the Holy Crown, has a curious and debated history. See for example, Josef Deér, Die heilige Krone Ungarns (Vienna: Osterreichichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1966); Jánoš M. Bak, "Holy Lance, Holy Crown, Holy Dexter: sanctity of insignia in medieval East-Central Europe," in Jánoš M. Bak, Balázs Nagy, & Gábor Klaniczay (eds.), Studying Medieval Rulers and their Subjects: Central Europe and Beyond (Farnham: Ashgate Variorum, 2010), 56-65. For another balanced analysis see, Nora Berend, Przemyslaw Urbaňczyk, & Przemyslaw Wiszewski, Central Europe in the High Middle Ages: Bohemia, Hungary and Poland, c. 900-0.1300 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013), 150-152.
7 The term "cultic milieu" has been introduced by Colin Campbell in his, "The Cult, the Cultic Milieu and Secularization," in Michael Hill (ed.) A Sociological Yearbook of Religion in Britain, 5th ed. (London: scm Press, 1972), 119-36. For scholarly applications of Campbell's ideas, see Jeffrey Kaplan and Heléne Loow (eds.), Cultic Milieu: Oppositional subcultures in an age of globalization (Walnut Creek: AltaMira Press), 2002.
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Crown in the Hungarian Parliament it is crucial to see the interconnectedness of Christian fundamentalist revivalism, revitalization of the Holy Crown theory, and rejuvenated neoshamanic and mythical Paganism in Hungary8 Despite the fact that 'neoshamanism' is a contentious term, it is safe to suggest that its worldview borrows elements from European folkways, mysticism, Neopaganism, the occult, and major monotheistic and polytheistic religions, a symbiosis that can be best summarized by the words of Dennis D. Carpenter as "a synthesis of historical inspiration and present-day creativity"9 Common to most European neoshamanism are traditional folkways that have often been utilized to establish cultural continuity and national preeminence.10 Although specific aspects of neoshamanism vary from country to country, there are similarities of outlook and symbolism among its New Age practitioners.11 Often, late 19th and early 20th century folkloric elements (songs, dance steps, pieces
8 An uncle of Stephen, Koppany wanted to preserve old pagan religion and nomadic traditions by claming the chieftainship for himself based on traditional agnatic seniority He rebelled against his pagan relative Vajk but a battle in which a considerable numer of foreign (mostly German) troops participated, decided the outcome and Koppany lost his life. On becoming king of Hungary in 1001 and and taking up Christianity, Vajk was renamed Stephen. Koppany has been reinvented as a political figure recently by the Koppany Group, a grassroots protest organization opposing the eviction of debt-ridden homeowners. Interestingly, the Koppany Group is not only anti-European Union but criticizes the imf for facilitating Hungary's growing foreign debt. On the activities of this group see http://www.koppanycsoport.com/ (accessed 2 September 2, 2014). Koppany's name is also mentioned with regard to the Holy Crown neoshamanic ritual by Eva Kanalas, "The Tuva shaman payed reverence with his drum to St. Istvan's Hungary and also remembering Koppany," see http://kanalas.freeweb.hu/ (accessed September 3, 2014).
9 Dennis D. Carpenter, "Emergent Nature Spirituality: An Examination of the Major Spiritual Contours of the Contemporary Pagan Worldview," in James R. Lewis (ed.), Magical Religion and Modern Witchcraft (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1996), 47. For the debates about Neopaganism and its scholarly study see for example, Marcus Altena Davidsen, "Review essay: What is wrong with pagan studies?" Method and Theory in the Study of Religion, 24 (2012), 183-199; Ethan Doyle White, "In defense of pagan studies: A response to Davidsen's critique," Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies, 14/1 (2012), 5-21.
i o     On Baltic New Age religiosity see Vytis Ciubrinskas, "Identity and the Revival of Tradition
in Lithuania: An Insider's View," Folk 42 (2000), 19-40; Solveiga Krumina-Konkova, "New Religious Minorities in the Baltic States," NovaReligio 4/2 (2001), 289-297.
ii See, for example, the American version of shamanism written by Jack Montgomery even though the author refrains from using neoshamanism as a term to describe practitioners working in South Carolina, Jack Montgomery, American shamans: Journeys with traditional healers (Hector, ny: Busca Inc, 2008).
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of clothing) are utilized to create local versions of native shamanistic performances. The core doctrine holds that nature is sacred and that shamanism must create harmony between people, nature, and the universe.12 As I explained earlier, there are certain differences between neoshamanism as practiced in various cultural settings in Europe as part of the New Age phenomena.13 In Hungary, it is mildly anarchist for it is predicated upon the belief that the post-communist and postmodern era is fraught with increasing injustices and inequalities. Its worldview is both liberal and conservatively communitarian for it places the individual—the shaman with powers—at the center to assist the community and work for its welfare. Believers claim that the present world—ruled as it were by the European Union, the United States, and international corporations—is out of balance; there is no central harmony anymore, and political regimes and states are natural enemies of groups with alternative views. Neoshamanic ideology is based also on Utopian consciousness for it argues that the present-day circumstances are harsher than ever before, and that paradise on Earth can only be experienced or achieved in a magical world of our own creation. Consequently, neoshamanism constitutes a cultic milieu that readily accepts magic, science, and half-belief at its base.14 As a form of syncretic religiosity building upon nostalgic national folkloric traditions, New Age spirituality, and Neopaganism, neoshamanism in Hungary has some parallels with other neoshamanic practices around the world but draws its main tenets from Central Asia and Siberia.15 Important are its cultural specificities of which at least four areas can be identified as forming the basic pillars: 1) the revitalization and reconceptualization of Hungarian folkloric fd/fos-belief; 2) a much sought after Siberian and Central
12 In Lithuania, for instance, the remaking of Lithuanian identity is oriented toward Neopaganism—Romuva as it is called—with its re-creation of pre-Christian rituals and faith. See Kocku von Stuckrad, "Reenchanting nature: modern Western shamanism and nineteenth-century thought," Journal of the American Academy of Religion 70/4 (2002), 771-799, also Kathryn Rountree, "Neopaganism, animism and kinship with nature," Journal of Contemporary Religion 27J2, (2012), 305-320. There are several important Hungarian sources on neopaganism, see for example Tamas Szilagyi - Reka Szilardi, Istenek ebredese Az ujpogdnysdg valldstudomdnyi vizsgdlata (Szeged: jate Press, 2007); Attila Laszlo Hubbes (ed.), Etno-pogdnyok (Kolozsvar: Erdelyi Miizeum Egyesiilet, 2012).
13 Kiirti, "Psychic phenomena, neoshamanism, and the cultic milieu in Hungary," 322-323.
14 Colin Campbell introduced the term "half-belief" for modern beliefs to replace the term "superstition." See Colin Campbell, "Half-belief and the paradox of ritual instrumental activism: a theory of modern superstition," The British Journal of Sociology 47/1 (1996). 151-166.
15 Kiirti, "Psychic phenomena," 322-350.
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Asian connection; 3) reliance on Hungarian medieval tribal and royal symbolism, connected especially to the Holy Crown, exuding a sense of nationalistic Paganism with its popular but highly contested theory; and 4) incorporation of elements borrowed from Christianity, Hinduism, and other world religions, including Native American beliefs. The Hungarian taltos was a magical specialist whose qualities resemble shamans in various Eurasian cultural settings.16 Concerning knowledge of the actual practices of tdltoses, historical sources are mainly 16th century through 18th century witch trials and diverse folklore collections from the past 150 years.17 Tdltoses stopped practicing in Hungarian villages by the 19th century, resulting in hotly debated controversies as to their actual origin and work.18
Perhaps this is why there has been such an enormous interest in shamanism since the 18th century when scholars first called attention to the connection of Hungarians and Siberians based on linguistic analysis. Ever since, Hungarian linguists, musicologists and ethnographers have been flocking either to the Siberian north, where most of the Khanty and Mansy tribes live, whose language is closest to Hungarian, or to Southern and Central Asia, where Turkic-speaking tribes reside.19 Collecting objects, songs, tales and myths in Siberia received the blessing of the various governments (right and left) and research institutions, and academic departments were created as bastions of scholarly pursuit in search for these origins. Since the knowledge of tdltoses was deemed
16 Many non-Hungarian readers were probably introduced to the word taltos by the American fiction writer Anne Rice whose book Taltos: lives of the Mayfair witches was published in 1994. Rice, who returned to the Catholic Church in 1998, wrote three books dealing with vampires, witches and shamans. Taltos was the third installment in the series. The word is pronounced as taal-tosh with stress placed on the first syllable.
17 A good short summary of Hungarian research on the tdltos-belief and shamanic research can be found in Jeroen W. Boekhoven, Genealogies of shamanism: Struggles for power, charisma, and authority (Eelde: Barkhuis, 2011), 117-120.
18 In contrast to the generally jubilant Hungarian view about traces of shamanism in Hungarian peasant art and folklore, I have been more skeptical, a point I have made earlier in Kiirti, Laszlo, "Language, Symbol and Dance: An Analysis of Historicity in Movement and Meaning," Shaman: Journal of the International Society for Shamanistic Research 2/1 (1994), 3-60 and Kiirti, Laszlo, "Hungarian shamanism: History vs ethography" Studia Mythologica Slavica 3 (2000), 89-114. For a balanced and critical view, see Eva Pocs, "Hungarian taltos and his European parallels," in Mihaly Hoppal and Juha Pentikainen, (ed.), Uralic mythology and folklore (Budapest-Helsinki: Ethnographic Institute of has-Finnish Literature Society, 1989), 251-276.
19 A recent issue of the Hungarian-language religious periodical edited by Mihaly Hoppal is entirely devoted to classic Siberian and Central Asian shamanism, see Valldstudomdnyi Szemle 8,/i (2012).
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"archaic techniques of ecstasy" by Mircea Eliade, shamanism was on the agenda of most Hungarian ethnographers who visited Siberia.20
In Hungary, just as in most of Eastern Europe, the upsurge of interest in neoshamanism may be connected to the collapse of the Iron Curtain after 1989, and with it, the dismantling of Soviet domination throughout the Soviet bloc. It should be mentioned, however, that in certain instances rural practices, with some shamanistic elements, managed to survive Soviet domination, a reason why scholarly research on shamanism was so fashionable earlier. The pioneer of Siberian and Hungarian shamanistic research, Vilmos Diószegi (1923-1972), and several of his Russian colleagues were able to witness sha-manic performances and interviewed many practicing shamans in the late 1950s.21 Yet, it cannot be doubted that in the vacuum created by the dismantled state institutions in countries formerly part of the Soviet Empire, religiosity emerged with vehemence with many new churches and civil faith institutions. Hungarian neoshamanism in fact may be dated to the late 1980s, but its full bloom occurred after 1990.22
Several neoshamanic groups emerged in Hungary, most led by well-known male neoshamans, or better, táltoses, initiated by either elder or influential international neoshamans (Michael Harner being one of the most well-known). The Church of Ancient Hungarian Táltos (Ósmagyar Táltos Egyház)
20 This has been described aptly many times before, and I do not need to deal with it here, see for example the works of the Hungarian specialists Vilmos Dioszegi and Mihaly Hoppal; cf. also Jeno Fazekas, "Hungarian shamanism, material and history of research," in Carl-Martin Edsman (ed.), Studies in shamanism (Stockholm: Almqvist and Wiksell, 1967), 97-U9-
21 Vilmos Dioszegi's four classic books are: A sdmdnhit emlekei a magyar nepi muveltsegben (Budapest: Akademiai Kiado, 1958); Sdmdnok nyomdban Sziberia foldjen (Budapest: Magveto, i960); Samanizmus (Budapest: Gondolat, 1962); A pogdny magyarok hitvildga{ Budapest: Akademaiai Kiado, 1967). His description of his pioneering fieldtrips to Siberia in 1959 can be read in his i960 monograph. Dioszegi's international standing can be seen by the fact that he wrote the entry on shamanism in the 15th edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica. Incidentally, the late 1950s was also the time when the Russian scientist V. Vainshtein collected his materials among the Tuva as well. For an English language version of his analysis, see V. Vainshtein, "The Tuva (Soyot) shaman's drum and the ceremony of its 'enlivening'," in Vilmos Dioszegi (ed.), Popular beliefs and folklore tradition in Siberia (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1968), 331-338.
22 Earlier, I have discussed some of the elements of the emergent neoshamanic scene in Hungary, see Kurti, Laszlo, "Neoshamanism, psychic phenomena and media trickery: Cultic differences in Hungary," in Jeffrey Kaplan & Helen Loow (eds.), The cultic milieu: Oppositional subcultures in an age of globalization (Lanham, Md.: Rowman and Littlefield, 2003), 110-138; see also, Lazar, Taltos Healers, 35-53.
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was an organization formed at that time with the leadership of the self-titled neoshaman and chiropractor András Kovács-Magyar.23 The former electronics engineer has registered his own shamanic church and school, an educational camp where one can gain first-hand knowledge of holistic healing, fortune telling, and supernatural phenomena. Such formal schooling is also coupled with the explanation of an alternative national history not readily taught in state schools. For instance, the Scythian and Hunnish archaeological remains in Hungary and historical sources are viewed as direct evidence of Hungarian connections to Siberia. Novices are required to pass through several levels of study to advance in their spiritual training. Folklore, songs, and knowledge of Hungarian peasant art, runic writing, and history are essential constituents of the shamanic training.
One group and orientation is Yotengrit, originally developed by Imre Máte (1934-2012), an expatriate from Germany who settled in Hungary after !993-24 A well-known artist-neoshaman was Jóska Soós (1921-2008), who was born in a Hungarian village but lived his life in the West from 1946. Soós' motto was "I do not heal, I restore harmony."25 Another táltos, Zoltán Nagy-Sólyomfi, learned movement therapy in Germany, American Indian sun dancing and sweatlodge ceremonies in the United States, and neoshaman-ism in Denmark from Jonathan Horwitz, a former partner of Michael Harner.26 Other táltoses celebrate fire-walking, sun rituals, purification, moon-blessing, name-day and marriage ceremonies. What is remarkable, however, is the fact that all see a close connection to Roman Catholicism with one important proviso: Jesus in fact was a Hungarian shaman!27 There
23 Since writing my first article on Hungarian neoshamanism in Nova Religio, things have changed drastically with András Kovács-Magyar. His persona as a Hungarian táltos has been transformed into a spiritual healer; his Táltos School is also gone, he continues his practice within his Szellem Iskola (Spiritual School). Currently, he is marketing his won-derdrug known as the Matrix Drops. On Kovács's current, more Jesus-centered image, see http://www.szellemvilag.hu/ (accessed June 13, 2014).
24 Mate's books—written down by others—were published in Hungarian in four volumes, see Imre Máte, Yotengrit i-iv (Budapest: Puski: 2008).
25 The trilingual home-page dedicated to Jóska Soós can be visited at http://www.joskasoos .be/index2.php?page=en/home (accessed June 18, 2014). Mihály Hoppál directed a 36-minute documentary on Soós' life and worldview, Soós Jósa a sámánfestó, in 1995. In Antwerp, Soós paintings were exhibited, see Tamara Ingels, "Contemporary city shaman Jóska Soós included in the new Antwerp mas Museum", Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies, 13/ 2 (2011), 257-273.
26 See his own webpage: http://www.tengrikozosseg.com/solyomfi-nagy-zoltan/ (accessed 18 June 18, 2014).
27 This theory, which has gained popularity among Hungary's neoshamanists, is explicated by Lajos Biro in several of his books, see for example Lajos Bíró, A magyar Jézus avagy
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are other lesser known groups and individuals who emphasize one or another aspect of Hungarian prehistory, but they are all equally nationalistic, New Age and Neopagan in their outlook.28
One celebrated neoshamanic figure is Eva Kanalas (b. 1970), who became a recognized singer of folk songs of the tdnchdz-style.29 In the 1990s she turned to studying folk songs not only in Hungary and the Transylvanian part of Romania where Hungarian minorities live, but also in Siberia where she traveled to search for more authentic expressions of traditional musical culture.30 Her worldview and the mission of music in neoshamanism are best summarized by her own words:
I began to use my voice as an instrument and singing in a language that knows no linguistic barriers, that everyone can as well understand in this world, since the ancient knowledge, the ancient language, the communication through sounds is concealed in every person.31
Being one of the many female researchers interested in Siberian shamanism, her role cannot be underestimated. Balancing the somewhat male-centered neoshamanic world in Hungary, Kanalas has taken an active role in bringing Siberian neoshamans to Hungary after she witnessed shamanic performances in the Tyva Republic. The Tuvans, because of their mixture of Christian, Lamaist/Buddhist, and shamanistic religious traditions, have been well researched since the late lgthcentury and especially in the 1950s by Soviet
Izrael etveszett torzsel 11 (Budapest: Frig, 2006). An excerpt can be read on http://www .kincseslada.hu/magyarsag/content.php?article.i47 ( accessed 18 June 18, 2014). The Jesus/ shaman connection is also at the heart of Norwegian neoshamanism as well as earlier Russian heterodoxy, see the objection raised by Egil Asprem, "Jesus was a shaman (heterodox Christologies 11)," http://heterodoxology.com/2012/10/12/jesus-was-a-shaman-heterodox-christologies-ii/ ( accessed September 3, 2014).
28 See the home-page, http://www.nimrod-nepe.eoldal.hu/ (accessed September 3, 2014).
29 On the revivalist folk music fashionable since the mid-1970s see Laszlo Kurti, The Remote Borderland: Transylvania In the Hungarian Imagination (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2001)
30 Just how music is used for example in Baltic Neopaganism is well-described by Michael Strmiska, "The Music of the Past in Modern Baltic Paganism," Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions 8/3 (2005), 39-58.
31 See her home-page, http://kanalas.freeweb.hu/kanalas_eng.htm (accessed September 3, 2014).
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scholars.32 Exactly how the revitalization of Tuvan shamanism took place and who was the central figure we can learn from Philip Walters:
In the 1960s and 1970s, under the guise of collecting folkloric traditions, the academic and writer Mongush Borakhovich Kenin-Lopsan (whose father was a narrator of folk tales and whose mother was a female shaman) travelled in the regions and sought out shamans.33
As a result of this renaissance, the Tyva Republic has been elevated into the international arena.34 The Hungarian folk singer Eva Kanalas met Oiun Adigzi See-Oglu in 2004 in Tuva. Though a descendant of shamans himself, Adigzi only began shamanizing in 2009, because "it was said that he could only practice the art at the age of 55."35 Adigzi told her that he saw his grandfather and father practicing during the 1960s; thus the art of performing was transferred to him naturally (six of his brothers are also shamans). A year later, Adigzi was in Hungary as a guest of Eva Kanalas giving performances in major theaters, museums, and at private functions. In fact, while in Hungary, Adigzi made
32 There are several chapters by V. P. Djanokonva, N. G, Kenin-Lopsan, and S. I. Vajnstein, on Tuva shamanism in Vilmos Diöszegi, (ed.), Popular beliefs and folklore tradition in Siberia (Bloomington: Indiana Univeristy Press, 1968); and Vilmos Dioszegi & Mihäly Hoppäl, (eds.), Shamanism in Siberia (Budapest: Akademiai Kiadö, 1978). For the connection between Tibetan Lamaism and Mongolian folk religion see Geoffrey Samuel, Civilized shamans. Buddhism in Tibetan societies (Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1993), especially Part Three; Andrei A. Znamenski, Shamanism and Christianity: Native Encounters with Russian Orthodox Missions in Siberia and Alaska, 1820-191/ (Westport: Greenwood, 1999).
33 Philip Walters, "Religion in Tuva: Restoration or Innovation?" Religion, State and Society, 29/1 (2001), 26. Kenin-Lopsan was part of the local intelligentsia, was educated in Moscow and wrote his dissertation on Tuva folk life. His advisors were S. I. Vainstein from Moscow, who worked in Tuva already in 1950, and V. P. Djakonova from Leningrad (Saint Petersburg). He is also listed as one of the "living treasures" on the Foundation for Shamanic Studies website, http://www.shamanism.org/fssinfo/livingtreasureKenin-Lopsan.html (accessed September 3, 2014). See also Olle Sundström, "Is the shaman indeed risen in post-Soviet Siberia?" in Tore Ahlbäck (ed.), Post-Secular Religious Practices Based on Papers read at the Symposium on Post-Secular Religious Practices (Äbo/Turku: Donner Institute for Research in Religious and Cultural History, 2012), 370.
34 The German connection has been well-documented in Heiko Grünwedel, Schamanismus zwischen Sibirien und Deutschland. Kulturelle Austauschprozesse in globalen religiösen Diskursfeldern (Bielefeld: Transcript Verlag, 2014).
35 From Eva Kanalas' description, http://www.tibet.hu/epocha-cikk/adigzsi-felfedezese (accessed June 10,2014).
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himself available for private aura cleansings and funeral services.36 The popularity of Adigzi in Hungary has been on the rise ever since.37
Shamanizing, the Holy Crown, and the Christian Hungarian State
Strange as it may sound at first, current neoshamanic ideology in Hungary is anchored to the symbols of the Christian Hungarian royal house and the jewelry known as the sacred crown of Saint Stephen (c. 969/975-1038), known in Hungary as the Holy Crown (Szentkorona). To reveal the intricacy of the connection between the sacred crown and religious revivalism, a brief detour is necessary to see why the Holy Crown is such an enduring symbol in Hungary today.
All historical discussions of the royal symbols connect Hungarian sovereignty and nationhood to the first saint-king, Stephen, the founder of the Hungarian state in 1000 c.e.38 The rise and life of Stephen, who was confirmed by Pope Clement xiii (r. 1758-1769) as Apostolic King' in 1758, remains obscure and the many legends surrounding him offer a great deal of material for subsequent intellectual exercises, some more realistic than others. The only materials that survived from Stephen, aside from a written letter to his son, Emerich (c. 1000/1007-1031), are the relic of his right hand, and a few bone fragments from his skull, which remain hotly debated as to their authenticity. The crown associated with Saint Stephen is not the only symbolic relic. The holy right hand (Szentjobb) purported to belong to Stephen and now housed at Saint Stephen's Basilika in Budapest is a similar though much less political mytho-moteur of Hungarian Catholicism and statehood.39 Since the 16th century, the coronation jewelry has been a symbol of the Hungarian state, the nation and
36 Eva Kanalas and the Tibet Support Association Sambhala Tibet Center in Hungary organized performances and private ceremonies for the Tuvan neo-shaman. On the Sambhala Center and its profile, see www.tibet.hu (accessed 3 September 3, 2014). The connection between the Hungarian Tibet organization and neoshamanism can be witnessed by the fact that Adigzi performed together with Ms. Kanalas again at the Association's premises on December 13,2013. http://www.tibet.hu/epocha/elmult (accessed June 23, 2014).
37 On the invitation of the Tibet Support Association Sambhala Tibet Center in Budapest, Adigzi also visited Hungary in 2013.
38 On Stephen and his rule, see the English translation of Gyorgy Gyorffy King Saint Stephen of Hungary (New York: Columbia University/Eastern European Monographs), 1994.
3 9 For an excellent English analysis of the cult of the right hand see Chris M. Hann, "Socialism and King Stephen's right hand," Religion in Communist Lands, 18/1 (1990), 4-24.
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Christianity.40 Strangely, none of the pieces of the Hungarian royal jewels— with the possible exception of the mantle that is of Byzantine origin—date to the time of Stephen, but are of much later vintage.41 Most scholars now see the Holy Crown as made of various objects and diadems, most likely assembled only in the 12th or 13th century, a period postdating the crowning of Saint Stephen 42 Disregarded during state socialism, the Holy Crown theory, however, holds that Hungarian land is the property of and for the Holy Crown (in original Latin Injurlsdlctlonem Sacrae Regnl Coronae).43
Equaling the colorful cults surrounding the Holy Crown, there is a similarly diverse history of it being lost, stolen, hidden, and in motion throughout the past centuries.44
Undoubtedly, while the holy right hand remained a religious historic icon, the Holy Crown was elevated as the paramount symbol of the Hungarian republic, a position that can be seen from the fact that it continues to be depicted on the official coat of arms of the country45 In Hungarian ecclesiastical and popular culture, the Holy Crown is perhaps the single most important historic symbol, an idea fostered by the overwhelming Roman Catholic influence in political life. In general, the crown jewels have much to do with Hungarian medieval history, but also with the modern historical period during and following the collapse of the Soviet bloc.46
Under the new democratic openness and liberalism in the air since the early 1990s, Hungarian governmental policy has been a wholehearted acceptance of mainstream religions and religious education in schools and in public life. The
40 The body of literature on the Holy Crown is vast, for an invaluable English treatment I recommed Laszlo Peter, "The Holy Crown of Hungary, visible and invisible," Slavonic and East European Review 81/3 (2003), 421-510.
41 American popular literature has it otherwise, see for example the statement about the crown and the "incorrupt right hand" of Saint Stephen in Joan Carroll Cruz, Relics (Huntington: Our Sunday Visitor, 1984), 292.
42 There are various theories about its fabrication from Latin and Greek halves, including enameled pictures on both, and hanging pendants on each of its sides.
43 Surfacing first in the sixteenth century but codified in the nineteenth century, this mystic theory holds that all lands belong to the Holy Crown. See, for example, Zsolt Zetenyi, A Szentkorona-eszme mai ertelme (Interpretation of the Holy Crown Theory) (Budapest: Piiski, 1997).
44 For the earlier fantastic historical trajectory of the coronation regalia, see Peter, "The Holy Crown," 433-438. For just how it was taken by the United States Seventh Army staff see Kenneth D. Alford, Allied looting in World War n. Thefts of art, manuscripts, stamps and jewelry in Europe (Jefferson: McFarland, 2011), 204-210.
45 See, Peter, "The Holy Crown of Hungary," 421-510.
46 Hann, "Socialism and King Stephen's right hand," 12-14.
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renewal of post-communist Catholicism was supported by the signing of an agreement between Hungary and the Vatican on June 27, 1997.47 During the conservative right governments in 1990-1994 and 1998-2002, there was a constant shift to give increasing weight to Christian values together with national traditions to counter the lingering socialist legacy.48 The executive branch proposed to place the Holy Crown of Saint Stephen in the central lobby of the Parliament, which instantaneously provoked debates. Historians and archaeologists argued that the crown—and the historic royal jewelry—had been in the Hungarian National Museum since 1978 when they were ceremonially returned to Hungary by the United States President Jimmy Carter.49 However, the government was not willing to compromise. It issued a decree that the crown should be placed back where it belonged and where it had been before World War II—the Parliament. Amid great pomp and ceremony, on 1 January 2000 the crown was removed from the National Museum and placed in the Parliament.
A long-standing symbol of Saint Stephen, the first saint-king of Hungary, the Holy Crown has remained a permanent fixture of Hungary's 1,000-year affiliation with Christianity. However, the mystical connection does not end with this: according to popular legend, fed by many in alternative circles as well as neoshamanic practitioners, Saint Stephen was born with six fingers, a proof
47 See, "Orszagot szolgalo egyhaz", Nepszabadsdg, 21 June 1997,1. The agreement, however, did not go smoothly. Opposition parties, and the governing Liberal Social Democratic Party, objected to the Government's preferential treatment of the Roman Catholic Church. This conflict was resolved when the Government immediately took the action of inviting Church leaders for a roundtable discussion to work out cooperative agreements between the state and the Churches. This treaty concerns the nationalized Church properties during the communist takeover, religious education and state subsidies to Churches and religious orders. The treaty was ratified by the Parliament on December 2, 1997. Concerning this see the debate in "Egyhaz - allam- emberi jogok" (Church - state - human rights) Fundamentum 1/2 (1998), 77-80.
48 On the development of new religiosity, see Miklos Tomka, Expanding religion. Religious revival in post-communist Eastern and Central Europe (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2011). Christian fundamentalism and its connection to anti-Semitism is analyzed by Andras Kovacs, The stranger at hand: Anti-semitic prejudices in post-communist Hungary (Leiden: Brill, 2011). On Hungarian nationalism see Laszlo Kurti, "The Wingless Eros of Socialism: Nationalism and Sexuality in Hungary," Anthropological Quarterly 64/2 (1991), 55-67; and The Remote Borderland, 2001.
49 The jewelry was taken to the West by the fascist government in 1945, where it ended up in the hands of the United States 86th Infantry Division in Wiesbaden, Germany, and was finally taken to Fort Knox, Kentucky. It was returned to Hungary by President Jimmy Carter (term 1977-1981) on January 6,1978.
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that he was a true shaman-king entrusted with phenomenal psychic power to lead his people to statehood.50 All this fits well with most of the Neopagan and neoshamanic believers for whom the Holy Crown is sacred for more than one reason. To most followers of the Turanian faith (as they call their orientation),51 the Holy Crown is a shamanic crown exuding a special high-level energy, an energy force responsible for the longevity of the Hungarian nation.52
With the placement of the Holy Crown in the Parliament, however, the rit-ualization process did not end. In 2001 the government decided that the August 15 Catholic holiday of the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary should be a special one. The Holy Crown was ceremonially removed from its secured place in the Parliament and transported on the Danube River to Esztergom, a symbolical gesture of faith to the Cardinal of Esztergom, who legally was always responsible for the coronation in medieval times even though the Holy Crown was never kept by him and the royal coronation always took place in another city, Szekesfehervar.53 On August 15, 2001 the
50 Popular legend has it that Saint Stephen was a chosen shaman king because on the coronation mantle he is depicted with six fingers. The legend received a great boost when the Protestant bishop, Laszlo Makkai (1890-1951) legitimated it by including it in his romantic novel The Tdltos King [A tdltoskirdly, 1934). There is common agreement among historians and art historians that one of the possible historical depictions of Stephen may be on the coronation mantle. Nobody, however, with the exception of those from the alternative circles, has proven this argument. Therefore, this should be counted as one of the many Hungarian legends, similar to an English one about Anne Boleyn, the wife of Henry vm, who is also believed to have possessed six fingers.
51 Turanism is a political and cultural movement for the union of people with Turanian (ancient or modern Turkic) background. Although it varies from country to country, Hungarian Turanism was developed in large part to counter the Finno-Ugric theory of the linguistic and cultural origin of Hungarians. For those not familiar with Hungarian Turanism the Wikipedia entry should serve as a good introduction with plenty of informative ideas and references, see Hungarian Turanism, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Hungarian_Turanism accessed September 3, 2014). The medieval Hungarian coronation jewelry now only includes the Holy Crown, the orb, the mantle, and the sceptre. For an analysis of medieval coronations, see Gabor Klaniczay, "From Sacral Kingship to Self-Representation. Hungarian and European Royal Saints in the nth-yth centuries," in E. Vestergaard (ed.), Continuity and Change (Odense: Odense University Press, 1986), 61-83.
52 For one of the most well-known alternative, unofficial analyses of the Holy Crown in Hungary see Gabor Papp, A SzentKoronaneveben (Budapest: mag, 2000). Many Hungarian newspapers and magazine also carried articles about the Holy Crown, for non-Hungarian readers see for example the special issue of The Hungarian Quarterly, V41 (2000).
53 I have described this quasi-religious and historical moment in more detail elsewhere, see Laszlo Kiirti, "Symbolism and drama within the ritualization of the Hungarian
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Hungarian government and the Roman Catholic clergy celebrated the national religious holiday together with the millennial spirit to remember Saint Stephen's 1,000-year-old empire. This one-day trip of the Holy Crown was quite expensive and amounted to nothing more than a ritualized crowning of the Young Democrats-led government and its mandate: to strengthen Hungarian national consciousness with the aid of a reinvigorated sense of Christian ideals. In fact, through such ritualization, the entire Parliament was placed at the center of a new mythology.54
After 2010, with the return of the right-wing government, the mystification of the Holy Crown was further reinforced when 47 Members of Parliament from the far-right Jobbik Party took an oath in front of the royal jewelry before taking the official oath.55 With such a conservative turn a new cultural policy has been implemented to give an impetus to furthering Hungarian studies of prehistory, folk traditions, and national reawakening. Government officials did not shy away from finding more sources of the Hungarian-Asian connection. In the summer of 2010, State Secretary for Culture Geza Szocs, who is credited with the cultural openness program with Asian and Siberian states, visited Kazakhstan saying, "we should not wish to be secondary in Europe, we should promote ourselves in Asia."56 In August the Speaker of the House became patron-in-charge for a historical pageant intended to reconstruct a Central Asian Kurultaj celebration in Bugac to which several distinguished groups from Siberia and Central Asia were invited.57 Despite all this, in 2011 the
parliament," in Emma Crewe and Marion G. Miiller (eds.), Rituals in Parliaments (Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2006), 41-64.
54 The connection between ritualization and mythology is made by Marc Auge, An anthropology for contemporaneous worlds (Stanford, Stanford University Press, 1999), 70. On the troubling issue of the Constitution and religion see, James T. Richardson and Marat E. Shterin, "Constitutional Courts in Postcommunist Russia and Hungary: How do they treat religion," Religion, State and Society 36/3 (2008), 251-267.
55 After the official oath-taking ceremony, Jobbik Members of Parliament sang the Transylvanian anthem. The unofficial oath-taking can be viewed at http://www.youtube xom/watch?v=Ei8tkyCTHz8 (accessed September 3, 2014).
56 In 2012 the former poet Geza Szocs resigned, and since then has been an adviser to the prime minister. See the interview with Szocs about his openness to Asia, Szocs Geza: nem a politikusok elfogultak, hanem a szakma, 23 February 2014, http://nol.hu/kultura/
szocs_geza_szerint_nem_a_politikusok_elfogultak_hanem_a_szakma-i446525 (accessed
August 17, 2014).
57 Historically the Kurultai (spelled variously in different tribal languages as Qurultay, Gurultay, etc) was a political and military chiefly council of medieval Mongol and Turkic tribes. Recently, it may also refer to general assemblies. In Hungarian, Kurultaj became a standardized spelling. The linguist Imre Baski has written a logical argument about the
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Fidesz-mled Parliament passed a restrictive new law on religion (Law on the Right to Freedom of Conscience and Religion, and on Churches, Religions and Religious Communities) legally recognizing historic denominations, but not for example Methodists or Neoshamanists, classifying them simply as cultural organizations who are not able to receive state funding.58
The cultic milieu, it seems, has generated its own momentum in Hungary, with a fresh incident, connecting the Holy Crown and high politics with neoshamanism. On March 21, 2012 Eva Kanalas and the Tuvan neoshaman Adigzi were admitted to the Parliament building where they performed a cleansing ceremony in front of the Holy Crown (this was Adigzi's second time in the Parliament).59 Watched by a few tourists and flabbergasted Holy Crown Guards, the performance, which lasted less than ten minutes, was filmed by a small crew from Hungary's private Holy Crown Radio (Szentkorona Radio). As the videotape shows, Adigzi started his trance-like moves by slowly and quietly beating his 'horse' (his drum, dilngilr) in order to invoke his spirit helper(s).60 Then he continued turning around, lowering his body, and bending forward somewhat while singing with his usual low murmuring voice. The many 'snake' pendants (mancaq) attached to his shamanic costume tinkled continuously while Adigzi was singing and reciting magic formulas.61 His Hungarian hostess, Eva, also began singing in her usual high-pitched
confusion concerning some of the Central Asian names and tribes as used currently in Hungary by various neopagan groups. Unfortunately, his short article can be read only in Hungarian, see Imre Baski, "A kurultaj margojara," nd. http://www.baski.hu/cikkek .php?szerzo=BaskiImre&oldal=4 (accessed September 3, 2014). The assemblies at Bugac, to which many Central Asian tribal delegates have been invited, aim at reinforcing the mythological claims for the Iranian and Scythian ancestry of the Hungarians. For more details see the movement's home-page http://kurultaj.hu/ (accessed September 3, 2014). A similar event was the Hungarian National Assembly, organized by the Association of Hungarians (Magyarok Szovetsege), held every summer at Apajpuszta, see http://mag-yarokszovetsege.hu/, (accessed September 3, 2014).
58 The law retained the earlier clause about size (at least 10,000 members, or at least 0.1 percent of Hungary's current population of 9.7 million as of 2012) and a 20-year presence in Hungary to be recognized.
59 The ceremony can be seen in its entirety on Youtube in two different versions, http:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqpMPdxGxdo and http://www.youtube.com/watch ?v= phqiGTkwosw (accessed September 3, 2014). The latter version has an interview and comments both by Adigzi and Ms. Kanalas.
60 Actually the officer in charge was only worried that the drumming should be quiet, a request Adigzi readily accepted.
61 Anybody can get a good sense of Tuvan shamanic poetry and singing from Kenin-Lopsan's own dissertation published in English, see M. B. Kenin-Lopsan, Shamanic myths and
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voice, sporadically clicking her finger-cymbals. Since shamanistic songs are not known in Hungary—only distant folkloristic fragments—the singer resorted to lines of Catholic songs of her own rendition. Adigzi made several circles around the glass case, turning, squatting, and sitting down while executing large sweeping motions with his right arm in which he was holding the drumstick (orba), which also functioned like a whip. The drumming was fairly even in quarter beats, never too loud or overbearing. Finally, the singing faded, the dancer kneeled and bowed his head touching the carpet, signaling the end of the ritual. At the end of the videotape a male reporter conducted a brief interview with the performers while Kanalas translated Adigzi's Russian words into Hungarian.62
Accomplishing the cleansing and blessing ritual of the Holy Crown was no small feat. It caught Catholic leaders by surprise, who had earlier voiced their negative opinion about Neopagan and neoshamanic revivalism. The Roman Catholic clergy in Hungary have been most hostile to Neopaganism and neoshamanism. For instance, on September 19, 2009, the conference of Hungarian Catholic bishops published a statement condemning Neopaganism and neoshamanism and "any form of occultism, spiritualism and idolatry."63 It specifically called attention to the falsification of Hungarian history and prehistory by making absurd claims about "Jesus' Parthian ancestry," the "rejuvenation of shamanist" tradition, or writing blasphemous "unscientific" studies about the Virgin Mary.64 However, with such a melange of ideas and a large number of 'spirits' as well as 'spiritual assistants' and believers emerging in Hungary, it is no surprise that to major religious leaders this form of New Age revival seems to be only a minor threat. Actually, there was no public response on the part of the Catholic high clergy concerning the neoshamanic
hymns from Tuva (Budapest: Akademaiai Kiado, 1996), and also "Tuvan shamanic folklore," in Marjorie Balzer, (ed.), Cultura incarnate (Armonk: M. E. Sharpe, 1993), 215-274.
62 The Holy Crown Radio is a right-wing station offering neoshamanic and Neopagan religious programs. Running under the title Napvagas (Suncutting), these can be heard at, http://szentkoronaradio.com/20131216/20131216-napvagas-regi-magyar-vallasossag (lac-cessed November 8, 2014).
63 See http://uj.katolikus.hu/cikk.php?h=i386 (accessed November 10, 2014).
64 The statement had to be read in every Roman Catholic Church in Hungary on the next day. See the circular on http://uj.katolikus.hu/cikk.php?h=i386 (accessed November 10, 2014). Of course we should remember that in January the same year Pope Benedict xvi raised his objections against Neopaganism in connection to James Cameron's highly successful Avatar film.
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performance in the Parliament.65 Nor did the Christian Democratic Party, which forms a coalition government with Fidesz, express concern about it. The government's silence about Kanalas and Adigzi's performance, in the context of some leaders' neoshamanic nationalist sympathies, could imply tacit approval. The relationship of alternative religious organizations to high-ranking members of the party holding governmental office is easy to trace, as I suggested above. Ruling party leaders regularly attend the largest gatherings of folkloric nationalist celebrations (Kurultaj, Magyarok Orszagos Gyulese).66 The Fidesz-monitored Echo-tv regularly features neoshamanic themes, topics frequently presented by other television channels as well (for example, Lelek-tv).67 References to 'chosen nation,' 'sacred land,' and 'ancient past,' proliferate in their programs, which is why a Hungarian scholar feels justified in writing, "Hungarian radical right-wing ideology, despite its heterogeneity, contains the seeds of 'political religion'."68 Furthermore, it is a well-known fact that Eva Kanalas' trip to Tuva in 2011 was financed with the help of the Minister of National Resources Miklos Rethelyi, who also obviously sanctioned the sha-manic performance in the Parliament building.69
What proves more than anything else the connection between Christianity, neoshamanism, and Hungarian mythology are the speeches of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, first in 2000 and then in 2012 and again in 2014.70 While in earlier speeches the Holy Crown was linked to Hungary's reentry into Europe and a renewed sense of Christianity, lately more esoteric connections have been suggested. For example, in a speech he gave to audiences at the erection of the
65 It is impossible to ascertain exactly what the popular appeal of the Tuvan shaman's performance was. The videoclip on Youtube was watched more than 44,000 times http:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqpMPdxGxdo (accessedNovembers, 2014).
66 At the 2012 Kurultáj, one of the featured politicians was Sándor Lezsák, Speaker of the House.
67 TeleMedia and Ezo.tv are both owned by Jenó Tôrôcsik, a former mathematician. On the connection between religion and right-wing radicalism, see Tamás Szilágyi, "Quasi-religious character of Hungarian right-wing radical ideology," in András Máté-Tóth and Cosima Rughinis (eds.), Spaces and borders. Current research on religion in Central and Eastern Eurpope (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2011). 251-264.
68 Szilágyi, "Quasi-religious character of Hungarian right-wing radical ideology," 261.
69 The physician Miklós Réthelyi handed in his resignation and was replaced by Zoltán Balogh, a former Protestant minister on May 12, 2010. However, on the National Ministry of Resources' website he is still the minister http://www.nefmi.gov.hu/miniszterium/ miniszter (accessed January 5, 2015).
70 For the speeches concerning the Holy Crown's symbolism, see Peter, "The Holy Crown," 423-424.
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Monument of National Unity at Ópusztaszer, a location where a thousand years ago the feudal tribal chieftains purportedly met to form the Hungarian state, the Prime Minister mixed mythological references to a falcon-like bird (turul in Hungarian), and quoted from the New Testament to connect prehistoric tribalism, Christianity, and Hungarian nationhood. Citing from the book of Revelation (12:7)—"And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels"—the Prime Minister showed not only religiosity but was equally millennial about a positive future for his version of the Hungarian state.71 Already in 2005, Orbán revealed a similar connection when he referred to a popular legend concerning the supernatural shamanistic power of the Hungarian kings of the Árpád dynasty, most notably the reference to the extra fingers of the first kings.72 With such a powerful political thinker as leader, the transmogrifying of the new state has been legitimized by the April 25, 2011 Constitution (called the Fundamental Law of Hungary), which states: "We honor the achievements of
71 The Prime Minister's speech can be read at http://www.miniszterelnok.hu/beszed/ az_eros_nemzetek_tagjai_osszefognak (accessed 3 November 3, 2014) on his own homepage. There is no English version on the page, but fortunately, there are several comments in English, see for example, "Fighting the Devil: Viktor Orban's speech on St. Michael's Day," http://hungarianspectrum.wordpress.com/2012/09/30/f1ghting-the-devil-viktor-orbans-speech-on-st-michaels-day/ (accessed November 10, 2014). Major newspapers in Europe also carried articles concerning the meaning and message of the Prime Minister's speech, see for example, the Austrian Der Standard, http://derstandard .at/1348284885395/Umstrittene-Blut-und-Boden-Rede-Orbans (accessed November 18, 2014); and Al-Jazeera's analysis, "Hungary: towards the abyss," http://www.aljazeera.com/ programmes/peopleandpower/20i3/o5/20i35i67485g6oo7ii.html (accessed November 18, 2014). On the homepage, filmmaker Glenn Ellis has a 25 minute film with the same title, a documentary that connects Hungarian extreme nationalism (which includes anti-Semitism, and anti-Roma attitudes), religious fundamentalism and historical myths. For more on this esoteric political oratory, see Gyorgy Gábor, "A torténelem kirúgra a hónunk alól az intellektuális mankót - avagy az arc és az ulep folcserélhetó voltának logikája," Mozgó Világ, 39/1 (2013), 17-28.
72 The speech by Viktor Orbán referring to the eleven fingers of the rulers of the Arpád dynasty can be read in Hungarian, "Nemzeti osszefogás Európában,": speech delivered at the conference in honor of Saint Stephen, Szabad Európa Kozpont, August 19 2005, http://200i-2006.orbanviktor.hu/hir.php?aktmenu=3_3&id=2227 (13 November 13, 2014). In his speech, Viktor Orbán is not quoting any scholarly references but cites the romantic novel by the Transylvanian author and Protestant bishop Sándor Makkai, who in his novel The Táltos King published first in 1934, promoted the legend about the sixth finger of King Béla iv. In folktales and legends, Hungarian táltoses are generally described as having six fingers, or an extra bone.
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our historical constitution and we honor the Holy Crown, which embodies the constitutional continuity of Hungary's statehood and the unity of the nation."73 Thus, as the historian Laszlo Peter has affirmed earlier, "the Holy Crown, like that fabled Egyptian bird, the phoenix, miraculously came forth with new life."74
Conclusion
Since 2000 neoshamanism in Hungary has reinvented itself by incorporating historical symbols, Siberian neoshamanism, and mainstream national-identity politics. What can be concluded from all this? What is certain is that an entirely novel development occurred in Hungary recently, which concerns the elevation of neoshamanism into high politics, a possibility achieved with the help of religious nationalism and a well-articulated and coherent ideology that is far from marginal. No one in Hungary could see this coming in the 1990s.
State leaders in diverse countries have been known for their involvement with esoteric practices through the ages.75 The neoshamanic ritual in the
73 See the English text on the homepage of the Office of the Presidency of the Republic, http://www.keh.hu/index_gy.php?submenu=the_fundamental_law&cat=g8&mcat=84& details=i&id=i536 (accessed November 19, 2014). For a critical reading of the new constitution see Kim Lane Scheppele, "Hungary's constitutional revolution." Paul Krugman's blog, The New York Times, 19 December 2011, http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/ 12/19/hungarys-constitutional-revolution/ (accessed September 3, 2014). There are many other readings of the new Fundamental Law (both pros and cons), but in English see for example Balazs Majtenyi's critical piece which points out several inconsistencies in the text. One such for instance concerns the Holy Crown and the Presidency, which—as Majtenyi suggests—is supposed to "embody" both state and nation, a reason why Majtenyi thinks that "legislative stupidity" is a legitimate phrase to refer to the new constitution; see "Legislative stupidities in the New Hungarian Constitution," Pace diritti umani 1 (2012), 105-110.
74 Peter, "The Holy Crown of Hungary," 422.
75 There is plenty of literature to support this statement and it would be superfluous to cite it all. It will suffice to mention the involvement of American politicians, as well as their wives, with the occult. The wives of Presidents Lincoln, Grant, Tyler, Wilson, and Harding tried to communicate with the dead. See Lawrence R. Samuel, Supernatural America: A Cultural History (Santa Barbara: abc-clio, 2011), 148. Despite the media depictions of President Ronald Reagan as an evangelical Christian, he and his wife Nancy consulted astrologers and were deeply influenced by the New Age movement in California. According to Mitch Horowitz, "Throughout his life he was at ease discussing premonitory dreams, astrology, number symbolism, out-of-the-body experiences, and his belief in
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Hungarian Parliament in 2012 should be seen in light of the specific socio-cultural and political milieu of that time in Hungary. Robert J. Wallis reminds us that "shamanisms, like all aspects of society, are inherently political from the outset: shamanisms do not begin in an apolitical vacuum and then become socially embedded—they are social and therefore political at the outset."76 With a majority in the Hungarian Parliament, the ruling conservative party has embraced not only religiosity and with it a cultic sense of Hungarian prehistory and mythology centered on the thousand-year-old empire of Saint Stephen together with the Holy Crown, it has wholeheartedly welcomed coeval neosha-manism as well. In 2010, the Holy Crown was moved twice and a few months later high-level government officials participated in a historic pageant with plenty of drumming to commemorate the Conquest of the Carpathian Basin. The climax came in 2012, when a Siberian neoshaman and a Hungarian folk singer jointly performed a consecration ceremony in front of the Holy Crown in the Hungarian Parliament.
In Hungary, as in most cultural settings, neoshamans today coexist peacefully with practitioners of other belief systems, including those of state-approved religions. In fact, what we are witnessing at the moment in Hungary is not only a process of secularization of the sacred, but—from the perspective of neoshamanic practitioners—the sacralization of the secular society.77 The anthropologist Chris Hann has noted with regard to such developments in Hungary in the 1980s, "it would seem more logical for the state to concentrate upon improving its performance in other dimensions—sponsoring fewer historical extravaganzas and turning instead to radical economic and political reforms."78 The involvement of the Hungarian government with Christian and Pagan symbolism does not simply mask the growing political and economic difficulties of the Hungarian state—it embodies a new civil religion79 with
ufos, including personal sightings in the 1950s and '7°s" See Mitch Horowitz, "The Aquarian: Ronald Reagan and the Positive Thinking Movement," Quest: Journal of the Theosophical Society in America 102/3 (2014,: 100-05, quote on 101. This article is an excerpt from Mitch Horowitz, How Positive Thinking Reshaped Modern Life (New York: Crown, 2014). These are just a few glaring examples in the twentieth century, but there were many more before that.
76 Wallis, Shamans/Neo-shamans, 57.
77 Richard K. Fenn, Beyond Idols: The Secularization of the Sacred (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), N. L. Zhukovskaya, "Neoshamanism in the context of contemporary ethno-cultural situation in the Republic of Buryatia," Inner Asia 2/1 (2000), 26-36.
78 Hann, "Socialism and King Stephen's right hand," 24.
79 Robert N. Bellah, "Civil Religion in America," Daedalus: journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 96/1 (1967), 1-21.
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neoshamanism at its core. At the moment, it seems that politics, religion, and neoshamanism are anchored to the very foundation of the new Christian Hungarian state.
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