Are Magi the Priests of Ancient Russia?

Abstract

Based on the comparative and historical method, hermeneutics, anthropology and ethnography, and the principle of objectivity, the analysis of such social group of Ancient Russia as Magi was carried out. Historiography and source study of this issue allowed the author to determine the contribution of his predecessors who were interested in this issue and to identify main contradictions on the Magi phenomenon. The article provides a rationale for historical and ideological necessity of analyzing ideas about man and the world as a system that functioned in the ancient Russian state. The period before the Christianization of Rus’ is understudied, and, at the same time, paganism (including the institute of priesthood, to which many think Magi belong) was the official and predominant religion among the Eastern Slavs until the Christianization of Rus’ in 988. The author is of the view that there should be continuity of all periods of the national history of Rus’-Russia, and it is necessary to reflect both bright and heroic events, and those kept secret for ideological reasons.