journal of religion in europe 8 (2015) 235-260 Journal of

Religion in
Europe
brill.com/jre

Neoshamanism, National Identity and the Holy

Crown of Hungary

László Kürti
Professor, Institute of Political Science, University of Miskolc, Hungary
kurti1953@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 emer-
gent 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.1 I show how neoshamanism surpris-
ingly 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

236 Kürti

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 develop-
ments.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 neoshaman-
ism 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 László Kürti, “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 Lázár, “Táltos
healers, neoshamans, and multiple medical realities in postsocialist Hungary”, in Helle
Johanessen & Imre Lázár (eds.), Multiple medical realities (Oxford: Berghahn, 2006), 35–53;
Gábor Attila Feleky, “The vague borders of New Age. Methodological comparisons of studies
concerning New Age in Central and Easton Europe,” in Máté Tóth András & 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, Ágnes Kertész and András
Takács, “István után 1000 évvel: újtáltosság Magyarországon az ezredfordulón,” Korunk,
January 2006. http://www.korunk.org/?q=node/8&ev=2006&honap=1&cikk=8085 (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 primi-
tive: 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 sha-
mans: 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.

journal of religion in europe 8 (2015) 235-260

Neoshamanism, National Identity and the Holy Crown 237

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 Éva Kanalas and a Siberian (Tuvan) neoshaman were allowed to per-
form 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, Táltos 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 rega-
lia, 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:
Österreichichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1966); János M. Bak, “Holy Lance, Holy
Crown, Holy Dexter: sanctity of insignia in medieval East-Central Europe,” in János 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, Przemysław Urbańczyk, & Przemyslaw Wiszewski, Central Europe in the
High Middle Ages: Bohemia, Hungary and Poland, c. 900–c.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 Lööw (eds.), Cultic Milieu: Oppositional subcultures in an age of
globalization (Walnut Creek: AltaMira Press), 2002.

journal of religion in europe 8 (2015) 235-260

238 Kürti

Crown in the Hungarian Parliament it is crucial to see the interconnectedness

of Christian fundamentalist revivalism, revitalization of the Holy Crown the-
ory, and rejuvenated neoshamanic and mythical Paganism in Hungary.8
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 simi-
larities 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, Koppány wanted to preserve old pagan religion and nomadic tradi-
tions 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 Koppány lost his
life. On becoming king of Hungary in 1001 and and taking up Christianity, Vajk was
renamed Stephen. Koppány has been reinvented as a political figure recently by the
Koppány Group, a grassroots protest organization opposing the eviction of debt-ridden
homeowners. Interestingly, the Koppány Group is not only anti-European Union but criti-
cizes 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). Koppány’s
name is also mentioned with regard to the Holy Crown neoshamanic ritual by Éva
Kanalas, “The Tuva shaman payed reverence with his drum to St. István’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.
10 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,” Nova Religio 4/2 (2001), 289–297.
11 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 tradi-
tional healers (Hector, ny: Busca Inc, 2008).

journal of religion in europe 8 (2015) 235-260

Neoshamanism, National Identity and the Holy Crown 239

of  clothing) are utilized to create local versions of native shamanistic

performances. The core doctrine holds that nature is sacred and that shaman-
ism 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 phe-
nomena.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 injus-
tices and inequalities. Its worldview is both liberal and conservatively commu-
nitarian 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 pres-
ent 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 conscious-
ness 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 táltos-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 27,/2, (2012), 305–320. There are several important
Hungarian sources on neopaganism, see for example Tamás Szilágyi – Réka Szilárdi,
Istenek ébredése Az újpogányság vallástudományi vizsgálata (Szeged: jate Press, 2007);
Attila László Hubbes (ed.), Etno-pogányok (Kolozsvár: Erdélyi Múzeum Egyesület, 2012).
13 Kürti, “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 Kürti, “Psychic phenomena,” 322–350.

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240 Kürti

Asian connection; 3) reliance on Hungarian medieval tribal and royal symbol-

ism, 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 táltos was a magical
­specialist whose qualities resemble shamans in various Eurasian cultural set-
tings.16 Concerning knowledge of the actual practices of táltoses, historical
sources are mainly 16th century through 18th century witch trials and diverse
folklore collections from the past 150 years.17 Táltoses stopped practicing in
Hungarian villages by the 19th century, resulting in hotly debated controver-
sies 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 lan-
guage 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 táltoses 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 táltos-belief and shamanic research
can be found in Jeroen W. Boekhoven, Genealogies of shamanism: Struggles for power, cha-
risma, 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 ear-
lier in Kürti, László, “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 Kürti, László, “Hungarian shamanism: History vs ethography,” Studia
Mythologica Slavica 3 (2000), 89–114. For a balanced and critical view, see Éva Pócs,
“Hungarian táltos and his European parallels,” in Mihály Hoppál and Juha Pentikäinen,
(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 Mihály Hoppál is
entirely devoted to classic Siberian and Central Asian shamanism, see Vallástudományi
Szemle 8,/1 (2012).

journal of religion in europe 8 (2015) 235-260

Neoshamanism, National Identity and the Holy Crown 241

“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 prac-
tices, 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 (Ősmagyar 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 Diószegi and Mihály
Hoppál; cf. also Jenő Fazekas, “Hungarian shamanism, material and history of research,”
in Carl-Martin Edsman (ed.), Studies in shamanism (Stockholm: Almqvist and Wiksell,
1967), 97–119.
21 Vilmos Diószegi’s four classic books are: A sámánhit emlékei a magyar népi műveltségben
(Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1958); Sámánok nyomában Szibéria földjén (Budapest:
Magvető, 1960); Samanizmus (Budapest: Gondolat, 1962); A pogány magyarok hitvilága(
Budapest: Akadémaiai Kiadó, 1967). His description of his pioneering fieldtrips to Siberia
in 1959 can be read in his 1960 monograph. Diószegi’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 ver-
sion of his analysis, see V. Vainshtein, “The Tuva (Soyot) shaman’s drum and the ceremony
of its ‘enlivening’,” in Vilmos Diószegi (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 Kürti, László, “Neoshamanism, psychic phenomena and media trickery:
Cultic differences in Hungary,” in Jeffrey Kaplan & Helen Lööw (eds.), The cultic milieu:
Oppositional subcultures in an age of globalization (Lanham, Md.: Rowman and Littlefield,
2003), 110–138; see also, Lázár, Táltos Healers, 35–53.

journal of religion in europe 8 (2015) 235-260

242 Kürti

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 tell-
ing, 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 Máté
(1934–2012), an expatriate from Germany who settled in Hungary after
1993.24 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 Máté’s books—written down by others—were published in Hungarian in four volumes,
see Imre Máté, Yotengrit i-iv (Budapest: Püski: 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 sámánfestő, 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 Bíró in several of his books, see for example Lajos Bíró, A magyar Jézus avagy

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Neoshamanism, National Identity and the Holy Crown 243

are other lesser known groups and individuals who emphasize one or
another aspect of Hungarian prehistory, but they are all equally nationalis-
tic, New Age and Neopagan in their outlook.28
One celebrated neoshamanic figure is Éva Kanalas (b. 1970), who became a
recognized singer of folk songs of the táncház-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 trav-
eled to search for more authentic expressions of traditional musical culture.30
Her worldview and the mission of music in neoshamanism are best summa-
rized 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 communi-
cation 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 19thcentury and especially in the 1950s by Soviet

Izrael elveszett törzsei ii (Budapest: Fríg, 2006). An excerpt can be read on http://www
.kincseslada.hu/magyarsag/content.php?article.147 ( 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 ii),” 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 László Kürti, 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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244 Kürti

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 sha-
man) 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 Éva 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 prac-
tice 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 Éva 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 Diószegi, (ed.), Popular beliefs and folklore tradition in Siberia
(Bloomington: Indiana Univeristy Press, 1968); and Vilmos Dioszegi & Mihály Hoppál,
(eds.), Shamanism in Siberia (Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 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, 1820–1917 (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 (Åbo/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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Neoshamanism, National Identity and the Holy Crown 245

himself available for private aura cleansings and funeral services.36 The popu-
larity 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 sover-
eignty 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 subse-
quent intellectual exercises, some more realistic than others. The only materi-
als 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 Éva Kanalas and the Tibet Support Association Sambhala Tibet Center in Hungary orga-
nized 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 György Györffy, King Saint Stephen
of Hungary (New York: Columbia University/Eastern European Monographs), 1994.
39 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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246 Kürti

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, how-
ever, holds that Hungarian land is the property of and for the Holy Crown (in
original Latin in jurisdictionem Sacrae Regni 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 country.45 In Hungarian ecclesiasti-
cal and popular culture, the Holy Crown is perhaps the single most important
historic symbol, an idea fostered by the overwhelming Roman Catholic influ-
ence 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 László Péter, “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 Zétényi,
A Szentkorona-eszme mai értelme (Interpretation of the Holy Crown Theory) (Budapest:
Püski, 1997).
44 For the earlier fantastic historical trajectory of the coronation regalia, see Péter, “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 ii. Thefts of art, manuscripts, stamps and
jewelry in Europe (Jefferson: McFarland, 2011), 204–210.
45 See, Péter, “The Holy Crown of Hungary,” 421–510.
46 Hann, “Socialism and King Stephen’s right hand,” 12–14.

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Neoshamanism, National Identity and the Holy Crown 247

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 con-
stant shift to give increasing weight to Christian values together with national
traditions to counter the lingering socialist legacy.48 The executive branch pro-
posed to place the Holy Crown of Saint Stephen in the central lobby of the
Parliament, which instantaneously provoked debates. Historians and archae-
ologists 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 affilia-
tion 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, “Országot szolgáló egyház”, Népszabadság, 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 prop-
erties 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 “Egyház - állam- emberi jogok” (Church - state - human
rights) Fundamentum 1/2 (1998), 77–80.
48 On the development of new religiosity, see Miklós 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 András
Kovács, The stranger at hand: Anti-semitic prejudices in post-communist Hungary (Leiden:
Brill, 2011). On Hungarian nationalism see László Kürti , “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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248 Kürti

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, Székesfehérvár.53 On August 15, 2001 the

50 Popular legend has it that Saint Stephen was a chosen shaman king because on the coro-
nation mantle he is depicted with six fingers. The legend received a great boost when the
Protestant bishop, László Makkai (1890–1951) legitimated it by including it in his romantic
novel The Táltos King (A táltoskirály, 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 viii,
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 infor-
mative 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 11th-13th 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 Gábor Papp, A Szent Korona nevében (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  László Kürti, “Symbolism and drama within the ritualization of the Hungarian

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Neoshamanism, National Identity and the Holy Crown 249

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 connec-
tion. In the summer of 2010, State Secretary for Culture Géza Szőcs, 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. Müller (eds.), Rituals in Parliaments

(Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2006), 41–64.
54 The connection between ritualization and mythology is made by Marc Augé, An anthro-
pology 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
.com/watch?v=E18tkycthz8 (accessed September 3, 2014).
56 In 2012 the former poet Géza Szőcs resigned, and since then has been an adviser to the
prime minister. See the interview with Szőcs about his openness to Asia, Szőcs Géza: nem
a politikusok elfogultak, hanem a szakma, 23 February 2014, http://nol.hu/kultura/
szocs_geza_szerint_nem_a_politikusok_elfogultak__hanem_a_szakma-1446525 (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, Kurultáj became a
standardized spelling. The linguist Imre Baski has written a logical argument about the

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250 Kürti

Fidesz-ruled 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 Éva 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, düngür) in order to invoke his spirit
helper(s).60 Then he continued turning around, lowering his body, and bend-
ing forward somewhat while singing with his usual low murmuring voice.
The many ‘snake’ pendants (mancaq) attached to his shamanic costume tin-
kled continuously while Adigzi was singing and reciting magic formulas.61
His Hungarian hostess, Éva, 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 kurultáj margójára,” 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 Szövetsége), 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 per-
cent 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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Neoshamanism, National Identity and the Holy Crown 251

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 exe-
cuting 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 pre-
history by making absurd claims about “Jesus’ Parthian ancestry,” the “rejuve-
nation of shamanist” tradition, or writing blasphemous “unscientific” studies
about the Virgin Mary.64 However, with such a mélange 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: Akadémaiai Kiadó, 1996), and also “Tuvan shamanic folk-
lore,” 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 Napvágás (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=1386 (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=1386 (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 suc-
cessful Avatar film.

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252 Kürti

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-rank-
ing members of the party holding governmental office is easy to trace, as I sug-
gested above. Ruling party leaders regularly attend the largest gatherings of
folkloric nationalist celebrations (Kurultáj, Magyarok Országos Gyűlése).66
The Fidesz-monitored Echo-tv regularly features neoshamanic themes, topics
frequently presented by other television channels as well (for example, Lélek-
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 Éva
Kanalas’ trip to Tuva in 2011 was financed with the help of the Minister of
National Resources Miklós Réthelyi, 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 Orbán, 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 sug-
gested. 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 per-
formance was. The videoclip on Youtube was watched more than 44,000 times http://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uqpmpdxgxdo (accessed November 3, 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 Jenő Töröcsik, 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 Péter, “The Holy Crown,”
423–424.

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Neoshamanism, National Identity and the Holy Crown 253

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 prehis-
toric 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 posi-
tive future for his version of the Hungarian state.71 Already in 2005, Orbán
revealed a similar connection when he referred to a popular legend concern-
ing 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 hom­
epage. There is no English version on the page, but fortunately, there are several com-
ments in English, see for example, “Fighting the Devil: Viktor Orbán’s speech on St.
Michael’s Day,” http://hungarianspectrum.wordpress.com/2012/09/30/fighting-the-devil-
viktor-orbans-speech-on-st-michaels-day/ (accessed November 10, 2014). Major news­
papers 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/2013/05/201351674859600711.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 György, Gábor, “A történelem kirúgra a hónunk
alól az intellektuális mankót – avagy az arc és az ülep fölcserélhető 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 Árpád
dynasty can be read in Hungarian, “Nemzeti összefogás Európában,”: speech delivered at
the conference in honor of Saint Stephen, Szabad Európa Központ, August 19 2005,
http://2001-2006.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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254 Kürti

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 László Péter 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 eleva-
tion 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=98&mcat=84&
details=1&id=1536 (accessed November 19, 2014). For a critical reading of the new consti-
tution 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 Balázs Majtényi’s critical piece which points out several inconsistencies in the
text. One such for instance concerns the Holy Crown and the Presidency, which—as
Majtényi suggests—is supposed to “embody” both state and nation, a reason why
Majtényi thinks that “legislative stupidity” is a legitimate phrase to refer to the new con-
stitution; see “Legislative stupidities in the New Hungarian Constitution,” Pace diritti
umani 1 (2012), 105–110.
74 Péter, “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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Neoshamanism, National Identity and the Holy Crown 255

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 peace-
fully 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 his-
torical 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 ‘70s.” 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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256 Kürti

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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