RUNVira · Atlas

1. Introduction

Version followed: RUNVira (Ridna Ukrainska Natsionalna Vira, Native Ukrainian National Faith) as Lev Sylenko set it out in Maha Vira (1979) and as the Spring Glen, N.Y. organisation published its rites (Sviashchenna knyha obriadiv, 1991), described through the scholarship of Mariya Lesiv (2013) and Adrian Ivakhiv (2005); where branches differ, the Sylenko-loyal OSIDU branch and the larger OSID branch are named separately.

RUNVira is not a therapy. It is a religious organisation, one of the three largest currents of contemporary Ukrainian Paganism (alongside the polytheist Native Faith and the magic-oriented Ancestral Fire) [source: Rubchak 2017; Aitamurto 2015, both reviewing Lesiv 2013]. It was founded in the diaspora by Lev Sylenko and holds a solar monotheism centred on one God, Dazhboh, whose name followers gloss as "Giving God" or "Sun God" [source: Suspilne 2005; Kyiv Post 1998; Wikipedia, uncertain: secondary, unverified]. Its core religious idea, as its scholars summarise it, is that Ukrainians recover spiritual integrity by returning from imposed foreign religion to a native faith rooted in land, ancestors, nature and national history [source: Kyiv Post 1998; Suspilne 2005; Rubchak 2017]. Lesiv calls it the most politically charged stream of Ukrainian Paganism [source: Aitamurto 2015; Wikipedia, uncertain: secondary, unverified].

For the psychotherapist, "how change happens" means two things: (1) how the faith itself frames renewal (conversion to a native faith, a chosen Slavic name, regular self-reflection services, life-cycle rites) and (2) the clinician's work with a client for whom RUNVira is a source of meaning, identity, community, conflict or harm. Everything in sections 4 and 5 about clinical work is clinical practice applied to this setting [synthesis] unless a source is given.

Founder and history (as reported). Sylenko (born 1921 in southern Ukraine, died 2008 [uncertain: secondary, unverified]) was a disciple of the émigré scholar Volodymyr Shaian; the two developed their ideas in a post-war displaced-persons camp in Bavaria, arguing that Ukraine was the cradle of Indo-European civilisation [source: Kyiv Post 1998]. Founding place and date differ by source: Chicago, 1966 [source: Rubchak 2017, citing Lesiv 2013]; upstate New York, 1968 [source: Kyiv Post 1998]. Sylenko's books circulated in Soviet Ukraine in the 1970s; communities spread there in the 1980s and grew sharply after independence in 1991 [source: Kyiv Post 1998; Rubchak 2017]. First registration in Kyiv is dated 1991 [Wikipedia, uncertain: secondary, unverified] or 1992 [source: Kyiv Post 1998]; 32 affiliates were registered in Ukraine by 1996 [source: Kyiv Post 1998]. Sylenko returned to Ukraine in May 2008 after most of his life abroad [source: Radio Svoboda 2008]. Most RUNVira groups remain in North America [source: Aitamurto 2015].

Evidence status (one line). RUNVira's historical claims (an ancient Oriian homeland, a roughly 11,000-year national history, Ukrainian–Sanskrit kinship) are not accepted by historians; Lesiv characterises such narratives as "imagined achievements of their imagined ancestors" [source: Rubchak 2017, quoting Lesiv 2013, p. 99], and critics accuse Sylenko of anti-historicism [source: Radio Svoboda 2008]. These are attributed beliefs, not claims the therapist needs to adjudicate.

2. Framework

RUNVira has no therapeutic phases. The framework below has two layers: how the organisation is built (as published and reported) and a clinical frame for working with an adherent, former adherent or family member [synthesis].

A. The organisation as published and reported

Doctrine and texts. Maha Vira (1979; reported at 1,427 pages) is the canonical text, alongside The Mage's Gate (1969), a catechism (Mudrist ukrainskoi pravdy, Kyiv: Oberehy, 1996), Hist z Khramu Predkiv (Kyiv: Oberehy, 1996) and the Sacred Book of Rites (Spring Glen, N.Y.: RUNVira, 1991) [source: PhilArchive record; Pomegranate article reference list; Wikipedia, uncertain: secondary, unverified]. Sylenko's teaching reached its final form in the early 1980s and is the canonical basis of the OSIDU branch's doctrine and of organisations that grew out of RUNVira in Ukraine [source: Bednarchyk 2005, abstract].
Key concepts (as the faith holds them). Dazhboh as the one God (the faith's reform of older Slavic polytheism into monotheism) [source: Kyiv Post 1998]; reverence for nature, ancestors and national history [source: Suspilne 2005]; the three worlds Prav (natural law), Yav (visible world) and Nav (spiritual world); Oriiana as the ancestral homeland; a calendar dated from an ancient culture [Wikipedia, uncertain: secondary, unverified]; Christianity framed as a foreign imposition, with church, state and nation treated as one and defence of the nation as a core principle [source: Kyiv Post 1998]. The poet Taras Shevchenko is revered as a spiritual hero across Ukrainian Pagan currents [source: Rubchak 2017].
Monotheism versus polytheism. RUNVira's monotheism is a live dispute in Ukrainian Paganism: monotheists frame their view as "progress", polytheists stress "authenticity" [source: Pomegranate 11(2), abstract]. Other Native Faith leaders reject Sylenkoism as not authentically native [Wikipedia, uncertain: secondary, unverified].
Structure and branches. The movement split into at least four branches in the 1980s; reported bodies include OSIDU RUNVira (Association of Sons and Daughters of Ukraine, which accepts Sylenko fully as prophet), OSID RUNVira (the largest, recognising Sylenko as founder but not ultimate authority; reported to hold the Spring Glen temple; led by a Holy Council, with Bohdan Ostrovskyi named as its Kyiv head) and SRUV (Union of Native Ukrainian Faith, Vinnytsia, more eclectic) [Wikipedia, uncertain: secondary, unverified; Ostrovskyi as Ukrainian high priest: source: Kyiv Post 1998]. An OSIDU community in Cherkasy region runs a museum with a church [source: Suspilne 2005]. Congregations are reported in the USA, Canada, Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand [uncertain: secondary, unverified].
Clergy. Clergy are reported to be titled RUNtato (male) and RUNmama (female) in Sylenkoite branches and "priests" in OSID; Sylenko personally conferred ordinations until his death [uncertain: secondary, unverified]. A grade system, course fees and membership costs are [uncertain: not verified].
Worship and rites (public outline only). A weekly Sunday service, the Holy Hour of Self-Reflection (OSID also uses a Service of Honouring God); life-cycle rites (blessing of children, marriage, funerals, commemoration of the dead); converts take a Slavic name [uncertain: secondary, unverified]. Reported holy days include the Great Day of Dazhboh's Light in spring, a day of animal protection, the Day of the Holy Maha Vira (also Sylenko's birthday) and days honouring Prince Sviatoslav and Shevchenko [uncertain: secondary, unverified]. Community life in Kyiv in the late 1990s included services, sport and embroidery groups and martial-arts training [source: Kyiv Post 1998]. Rite texts are not reproduced here; the 1991 rite book is the organisation's own reference.

B. Clinical frame for working with RUNVira-related material [synthesis]

Engagement and mapping: goals are trust, the client's own vocabulary, which branch and community they belong to (or left), and what they want from therapy. Move on when the presenting problem is stated in the client's words and religion's role in it (resource, stressor, both, neither) is roughly clear.
Cultural formulation: goals are a structured picture of identity, explanatory models, supports and stressors, using the Cultural Formulation Interview. Move on when you and the client agree on a formulation that does not treat belief itself as the problem.
Focused work: goals depend on presentation (grief and war bereavement using the client's rites as resources; family or interfaith conflict; identity questions; group pressure; leaving; exposure to exclusionary ideology). Move on when the client reports change on their own goals.
Consolidation and ending: goals are a plan for supports (community, family, other services) and relapse warning signs.

Format: ordinary individual, couple or family sessions; Ukrainian or Russian language where the client prefers it, with interpreters who are not community members. No source gives a session count for this work, and none is stated here.

3. Guiding principles

Each principle is clinical practice applied to this setting [synthesis] unless a source is given.

Describe the faith as it describes itself. Use the client's terms (Dazhboh, Maha Vira, ridna vira) and ask for glosses; this keeps you from importing an outsider's frame.
Belief is not pathology. Doctrinal beliefs shared by a community, including disputed ancient-history narratives, are culturally sanctioned beliefs, not delusions; assess form, fixity, distress and function, not content.
Do not adjudicate history or theology. Scholars dispute RUNVira's historical claims [source: Rubchak 2017; Radio Svoboda 2008]; your task is meaning and functioning, not correction.
Know which RUNVira. Branches differ over Sylenko's authority and practice [uncertain: secondary, unverified]; ask rather than assume, and never treat one branch as speaking for all Ukrainian Pagans.
National identity is part of the religion. Scholars tie the faith closely to Ukrainian nationhood [source: Rubchak 2017; Aitamurto 2015]; expect themes of land, ancestors, war and colonisation, and treat them as central, not as digressions.
Separate national pride from exclusion of others. Some reporting links parts of the movement to racial theories and far-right symbols [source: Kyiv Post 1998]; explore values with curiosity, and act on risk to others if it arises, without assuming any individual holds such views.
Respect for leaders without deference to them. Prophet status of a founder is a religious claim; your concern is whether the client keeps their own judgement, relationships and choices.
The therapist is never priest, teacher or ritual leader. You do not perform rites, bless, interpret scripture authoritatively or advise on doctrine.
Consent before community contact. Involve RUNtato/RUNmama, priests or elders only when the client asks and consents.
Do not call the group a "cult". Use the organisation's names or neutral descriptions.
Children's welfare comes first. Religious upbringing is respected; safeguarding duties apply as for any family.
Mark the limits of your knowledge. English-language scholarship is small and mostly about Ukraine and North America [source: Ivakhiv, UVM page]; tell the client you are learning from them.

[source: section 2A as cited; framework B and principles: synthesis]

4. Intervention inventory

The organisation publishes religious practices, not clinical techniques. The first entry describes RUNVira's own practices as public outline only; the remaining entries are the psychotherapist's procedures with RUNVira clients. All clinical steps and wording are [synthesis] unless a source is given; example language is illustrative.

4.1 Understanding the client's own practice (public outline)

Purpose: know what the client does, so rites can be recognised as resources and not mistaken for symptoms.
Steps: (1) Ask which community or branch they belong to and how often they attend. (2) Ask about the weekly Holy Hour of Self-Reflection and what it means to them; reported as a Sunday service of reflection and reading (OSID also uses a Service of Honouring God) [uncertain: secondary, unverified]. (3) Ask about life-cycle rites already marked (naming of a child, marriage, funeral, commemoration of the dead) and holy days kept [uncertain: secondary, unverified]. (4) Ask whether they took a Slavic name and which name they want you to use. (5) Ask what texts they read (Maha Vira, the catechism, the rite book) and how they use them. Do not ask for rite wording; it belongs to the community.
Example language (illustrative): "What happens for you during the Holy Hour? What do you take away from it into the week?"
Watch for: practices that steady the client (reflection, community, commemoration) versus practices they feel obliged to keep under pressure. Working: the client describes practice freely and in their own words.

4.2 Client-led exploration of meaning

Purpose: understand what the faith does in the client's life (identity, belonging, protest, healing from colonial or Soviet history, family continuity).
Steps: (1) Invite the conversion or upbringing story. (2) Ask what Dazhboh, ancestors and land mean personally, not doctrinally. (3) Ask how the faith links to being Ukrainian, to Shevchenko, to the war. (4) Reflect back their terms; check you have them right. (5) Ask what they would lose if the faith were gone.
Example language (illustrative): "When you say the native faith gave you back your ancestors, what changed in you when that happened?"
Watch for: meaning that supports coping versus meaning carried mainly by obligation, fear or anger. Working: the client links faith themes to their presenting problem without being prompted.

4.3 Cultural Formulation Interview (CFI)

Purpose: structured cultural assessment; the DSM-5-TR CFI and its supplementary module on spirituality, religion and moral traditions [uncertain: not verified].
Steps: (1) Use the core CFI domains in your own words: cultural definition of the problem; cultural perceptions of cause, context and support; cultural factors in self-coping and past help-seeking; current help-seeking. (2) Add spirituality questions: religious identity and branch; role of community; conflicts between faith and family or society; how the faith views the problem (e.g. foreign religion, loss of ancestral strength, war). (3) Ask about migration and diaspora history, language, and Soviet-era experience of religion. (4) Ask what kind of help the community would support. (5) Write a brief formulation and share it.
Example language (illustrative): "How would people in your community explain what you are going through? And how do you explain it yourself?"
Watch for: a formulation the client recognises. Working: the client corrects and adds to it.

4.4 Differential assessment without pathologising belief

Purpose: distinguish shared religious belief from psychosis, mania, dissociation, OCD or complicated grief.
Steps: (1) Establish what the community holds (e.g. Dazhboh's oneness, the ancient Oriian history, Sylenko as prophet in OSIDU) [uncertain: secondary, unverified for details]. (2) Ask whether co-religionists would see the client's experience as normal; with consent, ask a family or community informant. (3) Assess form: novelty, idiosyncrasy, fixity, self-reference, voices or visions outside rite settings, sleep loss, pressured speech, functional decline. (4) Check for grandiose personal mission (e.g. the client believing they alone are chosen) that goes beyond doctrine. (5) Screen for scrupulosity about rites, intrusive fears of betraying ancestors, and ritual checking. (6) Where a religious or spiritual problem is the focus, DSM-5-TR "Religious or Spiritual Problem" is coded Z65.8 [source: ICD-10-CM Z65.8; DSM-5-TR wording uncertain: not verified].
Example language (illustrative): "Is this something others in your hromada would recognise, or is it something that has happened only to you?"
Watch for: do not treat disputed history or nationalism as delusion. Refer for psychiatric assessment if there are signs of psychosis or mania. Working: clear formulation agreed with the client.

4.5 Rites as resources in grief and war bereavement

Purpose: support grief using the client's own funeral and commemoration practices; Ukrainian Native Faith adherents have died in the war, and burial practice has been a matter of community decision [source: Smorzhevska 2023, pp. 27–29].
Steps: (1) Ask what rites were possible and which were missed (absent body, displacement, distance from community). (2) Ask what the faith teaches about the dead and ancestors, in the client's words. (3) Explore which rites the client can still mark, with the community leading the rite. (4) Work with ordinary grief and trauma processes alongside. (5) If burial or rite disputes with Christian relatives arise, use 4.9.
Example language (illustrative): "What would your community do to honour him? Which part of that can still happen?"
Watch for: guilt about rites not done; anger at religious conflict at funerals; complicated grief or PTSD needing specific treatment. Working: rites become a source of connection rather than distress.

4.6 Assessing group dynamics and the leader relationship

Purpose: check whether membership supports autonomy or involves pressure. The sources cited here do not describe RUNVira as coercive; this is general practice [synthesis].
Steps: (1) Ask how decisions are made in the community and who holds authority (Holy Council, RUNtato/RUNmama, the founder's writings). (2) Ask how disagreement and leaving are treated, and whether branch disputes affect the client. (3) Ask about time, money and work given, and whether giving is free. (4) Ask about friendships and family outside the community. (5) Look for general coercive-control indicators: fear of punishment for questions, isolation, control of information, demands for money, shame for doubts, threats about leaving.
Example language (illustrative): "What happens in your community when someone disagrees with the priest or with the teaching?"
Watch for: distinguish devotion (e.g. veneration of the founder's portrait in OSIDU [uncertain: secondary, unverified]) from control. Working: the client can name both what they value and what troubles them.

4.7 Exploring nationalist and exclusionary content

Purpose: work with national identity respectfully while noticing ideology that harms the client or others. Scholars link post-Soviet Paganism, including in Ukraine, to right-wing politics and describe a range from moderate patriotism to xenophobia [source: Smorzhevska 2023, pp. 11–12]; a 1998 report described racial theories voiced in a RUNVira-linked martial-arts group and symbols shared with Nazism, while a member interviewed rejected Nazism [source: Kyiv Post 1998]. None of this can be assumed of any individual.
Steps: (1) Let the client describe what being Ukrainian and native-faith means to them. (2) Ask how they see people of other faiths or ethnicities, including relatives. (3) Explore values (defence of homeland, dignity after colonisation) separately from any dehumanising beliefs. (4) If dehumanising talk appears, name it calmly and explore its function (fear, grievance, belonging). (5) If there is risk of violence to others, follow your duty-to-protect and risk procedures.
Example language (illustrative): "You care a great deal about protecting Ukraine. I'd like to understand where you see the line between protecting your people and shutting others out."
Watch for: the therapist's own political reactions; avoid both colluding and lecturing. Working: the client can hold pride and openness together, or names a concern of their own.

4.8 Leaving, branch conflict and religious trauma

Purpose: support clients leaving RUNVira, moving between branches, or harmed by community conflict. Splits over Sylenko's authority and property are reported [uncertain: secondary, unverified].
Steps: (1) Validate both loss (community, identity, ritual life) and relief. (2) Map supports outside the community. (3) Distinguish what the client wants to keep (e.g. Ukrainian identity, love of nature, chosen name) from what they want to leave. (4) Address shame, fear of ancestral or divine displeasure, or guilt toward family members still involved. (5) Treat trauma symptoms with standard evidence-based methods if present.
Example language (illustrative): "Leaving the community doesn't have to mean leaving everything it gave you. What do you want to keep?"
Watch for: isolation, depression, identity diffusion. Working: the client builds a coherent account of who they are now.

4.9 Family members' concerns and interfaith families

Purpose: help relatives (often Christian) and adherents manage conflict. The faith frames Christianity as foreign to Ukraine [source: Kyiv Post 1998], which can strain families.
Steps: (1) Hear each person's fears without taking a theological side. (2) Separate religious difference from concerns about wellbeing. (3) Agree on shared rituals or compromises for weddings, funerals, children's naming. (4) If relatives fear harm, assess concrete indicators (4.6) rather than labels. (5) Offer family sessions if wished.
Example language (illustrative): "Your mother worries you've lost your way; you feel you've found it. Can we look at what each of you is afraid of losing?"
Watch for: relatives using therapy to pressure a deconversion; the therapist's own religious bias. Working: less hostility, more specific requests.

4.10 Children and safeguarding

Purpose: respect religious upbringing while meeting safeguarding duties.
Steps: (1) Ask how children take part (rites, naming, camps, martial-arts or youth groups). (2) Assess ordinary welfare indicators. (3) Explore any exposure to violent or dehumanising teaching in youth activities. (4) Seek consent from parents and assent from the child for any contact with community groups. (5) Follow local child-protection law if there is concern.
Example language (illustrative): "What does your child enjoy most about the community? Is there anything they've told you that worried them?"
Watch for: children caught in parental religious conflicts. Never name minors in records shared with others.

4.11 Involving community leaders (with consent)

Purpose: mobilise religious support when the client wishes.
Steps: (1) Ask whether the client wants their RUNtato, RUNmama, priest or elder involved. (2) Agree what will be shared. (3) Get written consent. (4) Keep roles clear: the leader supports the client's faith life; you provide therapy.
Example language (illustrative): "Would it help if your priest knew some of what we're working on? What would you want them to know?"
Watch for: pressure from leaders to follow doctrine over clinical needs. Working: the client experiences coordinated support.

4.12 Therapist role, self-disclosure and boundaries

Purpose: keep the therapeutic frame intact.
Steps: (1) Do not perform rites, blessings or doctrinal readings. (2) Disclose your own faith only if it serves the client, briefly. (3) If you share the client's community, consider referral. (4) Build spiritual and religious competencies (Vieten et al. 2013) [uncertain: not verified]. (5) Follow your professional ethics code on multiple relationships and respect for cultural and religious difference [uncertain: not verified].
Example language (illustrative): "I'm not here to tell you what to believe. I'm here to help with what's hard right now."
Watch for: the client asking you to be their spiritual guide. Working: the client brings faith material without needing your endorsement.

4.13 Referral

Purpose: connect clients to further help.
Steps: (1) Psychiatric assessment for psychosis or mania. (2) Trauma specialists for war or abuse trauma. (3) Religious-trauma or exit-support services for leaving. (4) Community religious leaders if requested. (5) Child-protection services where required.
Example language (illustrative): "I'd like you to see someone who specialises in this, alongside our work."
Watch for: referral felt as rejection; explain why and keep continuity.

5. Handling problems

No source addresses therapy with RUNVira adherents; all guidance in this section is [synthesis] unless a source is given.

The client tests whether you respect the faith. They may present the ancient history or Christianity-as-imposition themes early. Respond with curiosity, not agreement or correction: "Tell me what that history means to you." Do not debate.
The client wants you to confirm historical claims. Say plainly that you are not a historian and that your focus is on what the history means for them and how it helps or hurts them now.
Stuck in grievance. Colonial, Soviet or war grievance can dominate sessions. Validate, then link to present goals: "What do you want your life to look like, given all this?"
Resistance to discussing doubts. Doubts may feel like betrayal of ancestors or nation. Normalise ambivalence; frame questioning as part of a mature faith in the client's terms, without pushing towards leaving.
Overwhelm in war-related grief. Slow the pace, focus on stabilisation and grounding, use community rites as resources (4.5), and refer for trauma-focused treatment if needed.
Non-adherence to therapy tasks that clash with religious practice. Ask what fits the client's calendar and rites; adapt homework rather than impose it.
Rupture over politics. If the client senses disapproval of nationalism, acknowledge it directly, own any misstep, and return to the client's own values.
Rupture over the therapist's religion. If you are Christian or from another background and the client distrusts you, name it and ask what would help trust grow; consider referral if it cannot be bridged.
Branch disputes. Intra-movement conflict (e.g. over Sylenko's status) [uncertain: secondary, unverified] can split families and friendships. Stay neutral and focus on the client's relationships.
Exclusionary or violent talk. Distinguish expression from intent; assess risk to others and follow duty-to-protect procedures. Never ignore threats.
Possible psychosis or mania in a religious idiom. Refer for psychiatric assessment while respecting the faith; involve community informants only with consent (4.4).
Pressure from relatives. If a family member seeks your help to "get them out", explain that your role is to help the client with their goals, not to deconvert them.
Pressure from community leaders. If leaders seek information or try to direct therapy, hold confidentiality and consent boundaries.
Diaspora isolation. Small, ageing North American communities [source: Aitamurto 2015] may leave clients isolated; help them find other Ukrainian cultural networks as well as religious ones.

Cross-reference: other Ukrainian, Slavic and Baltic native-faith revivals are covered in XIV 179.

Sources

Online sources:

Books and articles cited:

Lesiv, M. (2013). The Return of Ancestral Gods: Modern Ukrainian Paganism as an Alternative Vision for a Nation. McGill-Queen's University Press (cited through reviews).
Ivakhiv, A. (2005). In Search of Deeper Identities: Neo-Paganism and Native Faith in Contemporary Ukraine. Nova Religio 8(3), 7–38 [uncertain: not verified].
Sylenko, L. (1979). Maha Vira [uncertain: not verified].
Sylenko, L. (1996). Mudrist ukrainskoi pravdy, Nauka (Katekhyzm) Runviry. Kyiv: Oberehy (from Pomegranate reference list).
Vieten, C. et al. (2013). Spiritual and religious competencies for psychologists [uncertain: not verified].
American Psychiatric Association (2022). DSM-5-TR, Cultural Formulation Interview [uncertain: not verified].

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