Hetanism
[3] The Arordiner movement has antecedents in the early 20th century, with the doctrine of Tseghakron (Ցեղակրոն, literally "national religion") of the nationalist political theorist [4][5] Garegin Nzhdeh.
[6] It took an institutional form in 1991, just after the collapse of the Soviet Union in a climate of national reawakening, when the Armenologist Slak Kakosyan founded the "Order of the Children of Ari" (Arordineri Ukht).
[8] He belonged to a generation of Armenian dissidents and was exiled in the 1970s from Soviet Armenia; in 1979 he fled to the United States where he became familiar with the ideas of Garegin Nzhdeh (1886–1955).
[8] Nzhdeh was a philosopher, statesman and fedayi of the first half of the twentieth century, who left an enduring legacy in the history of Armenia, and is still one of the driving forces of Armenian nationalism.
[9] Nzhdeh founded a movement named Tseghakron ("religion of the nation"), which was among the core doctrines of the Armenian Youth Federation.
[6] During his exile, Slak Kakosyan made extensive use of Nzhdeh's works to codify the Ukhtagirk ("Book of Vows"), the sacred text of the Armenian Native Faith movement.
[10] In the book, Garegin Nzhdeh is deified as an incarnation of Vahagn, the re-establisher of the true faith of the Armenians and of the Aryan values.
[10] While still in the United States, Kakosyan claimed that he had been initiated to the ancient Armenian hereditary priesthood mentioned by Moses of Chorene, changing his forename from "Edik" to "Slak".
[12] According to the scholar Yulia Antonyan, the emergence of the Armenian Native Faith is attributable to the same causes which led to the rise of other modern Pagan movements, but also Hindu and Protestant movements, in the other post-Soviet countries: The Armenian Native Faith represents the indigenous answer to the social and cultural upheavals which followed the collapse of Soviet society and of its atheist and materialist ideology.
[14] The Republican Party provided financial support for the Children of Ari until recent times,[12] sponsored the publication of Ukhtagirk[14] and the set up of a memorial stele to Slak Kakosyan on the grounds of the Temple of Garni.
[16] Besides the philosophical approach of the intellectuals, the common people are driven to the Armenian Native Faith by various reasons, ranging from mysticism to a sentimental devotion to the gods.
The structure of the Order of the Children of Ari, and of the local communities themselves, is characterised by a clear hierarchy, with the council of priests, led by an elected chief, handling the organisation of all activities.
[22] The book continues telling the myth of how Ara generates the gods[23] and how the goddess Anahit gives birth to Ari (Aryan), the form of mankind.
At the darkest stage of history, though, which according to Arordiners corresponds to the current times, Vahagn manifests again and brings the Ari forces back to life.
[21] For instance, it is common for the priests to make pilgrimage to Mount Khustup, where, according to the book, Garegin Nzhdeh experienced the presence of the god Vahagn.
[17] The veneration of Nzhdeh and the pilgrimage to his burial site, which is located on the slopes of the Khustup, is also slowly developing within the larger community of Arordiners.
The celebrations in honour of Vahagn at the Temple of Garni usually start at the memorial monument of Kakosyan, set up after his death on the site where his ashes were dispersed.
[35] Yulia Antonyan observed that about ten to twenty people take part to each knunk ritual, which is held on the occasion of the public ceremonies at the Temple of Garni.
[39] Christianity is criticised for having destroyed the rich and highly developed ancient Armenian culture, replacing the values of courage, martial spirit and honour with those of humility, obedience and modesty, thus causing the collapse of Armenian statehood and condemning the nation to centuries of subordination to foreign powers, migrations, persecutions and massacres.
[26] Arordiners generally do not have problems visiting Armenian churches and treating them as holy places, since many were built on the sites of pre-Christian temples.
Some figures of the history of the Armenian Apostolic Church are revered as Arordiners in disguise: The catholicoi (highest-ranking bishops) Vazgen I (1954–1994) and Garegin I (1995–1999).
