Ivanovism

[4] Ivanovite theology is a pantheism in which "Nature" (Pri-Roda in Slavic languages) is seen as a personified, universal and almighty force expressing herself primarily as the four elemental gods of Air, Earth, Fire and Water,[5] while Porfiry Ivanov is deified as the Parshek, her messenger and intercessor.

[4] The scholar Natalya V. Prokopyuk noted that despite being considerably different from other forms of Rodnovery in its doctrines, Ivanovism shares with other Rodnover movements the idea of a return to the natural world — seen as a source of spiritual strength —, the belief in reincarnation and the idea that by merging with the natural world one may see and steer past and future lives, and the tendency of believers to live in village communities.

[13] During the history of the movement, because of the shared belief in energetism and noospherology, the Ivanovites got close to the followers of Nikolay Fyodorovich Fyodorov (Fyodorovites) and other Russian cosmists, as well as to the Roerichians.

[17] The situation of constant material need he endured in his childhood left an indelible imprint on his character; this, most likely, influenced the strict rules of the creed he would have later preached, such as the abstinence from excesses of food, clothing, and "unnecessary" labour.

[17] In his youth, Ivanov was known for his cocky and even hooligan character, and took part in village fistfights as the ringleader; he even served in prison for having stolen a pair of boots.

[17] During the Russian Revolution (1917–1923), he was sympathetic towards the Bolsheviks, studied Marxist literature, participated in collectivisation and in the closure of churches, and was admitted as a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

[18] He subsequently adopted an itinerant lifestyle, walked barefoot and naked from chest to waist in any weather, even at −45 °C, while proclaiming himself as a teacher of divine truths, a deity, or even God himself.

[18] He began to preach his doctrine as broadly as possible, to state legislative bodies, to Orthodox Christian churches, wishing, as he noted, to examine them about "what they really prayed for".

[19] After Ivanov's death at the homestead of Verkhniy Kondryuchiy in Sverdlovsk, Luhansk Oblast, his followers continued to propagate the doctrine, which after the Chernobyl disaster (1986) and the struggle against atheism received a further impetus and reached unprecedented popularity.

[20] Between the late 1980s and the early 1990s, the Ivanovites published booklets about their doctrine and organised meetings and lectures throughout Russia, not only in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, but also in Vologda, Kazan, Zelenodolsk, Tver, Tyumen, Novosibirsk, Kolomna, Ufa, Kostroma, Magnitogorsk, Yakutsk, Petrozavodsk, Inta, Cherepovets, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, and other regional cities.

[20] Scientific conferences gave more space to the Ivanovite practice in the fields of official medicine and pedagogy, and the media started to broadcast about it on a large scale, even making movies about Ivanov's life.

[20] An Ivanovite, N. A. Pichugin, edited Ivanov's diaries to make their style more appealing to the tastes of official cultural circles, introducing punctuation and standard spelling, and published them in 1994 as the two-volume The History of Parshek.

[21] At the same time, the Ivanovites continued to develop the doctrine of the movement on the theoretical level, initially gaining consensus, especially among the followers of Nikolay Fyodorovich Fyodorov and other proponents of Russian cosmism,[20] and trying to cooperate with the Roerichians in the fields of ecology and pacifism.

[21] After the death of Valentina Sukharevskaya in 1990, and according to her will, the main community was led by the Matlaev spouses, headquartered at the House of Health (Дом здоровья, Dom zdorov'ya) at Verkhniy Kondryuchiy.

[5] On 21 April 2000, the village council of Orekhovka issued a decree making the Chuvilkin Hill and surrounding areas a protected zone of "historical, cultural and scientific value".

[5] In Moscow, Russia, another Ivanovite adherent since 1976, Aleksandr Nikitovich Sopronenkov, founded another splinter independent organisation, the Church of the Living Stream (Живой Поток, Zhivoy Potok), which conducts its ceremonies at the Bitsa Park.

[5] In Ivanovite pantheistic theology, divinity is "Nature", "Birth" or "Generation" itself, Pri-Roda (Природа) in Slavic languages, always personified and written with the uppercase initial in the movement's usage.

[23] Some believers also interpret the life trials and the social unrecognition which Ivanov endured as a kenosis ("emptying") — an ego-shattering experience of fall to the very bottom of inhuman suffering — of "God in the flesh", which prepared him for being a saviour for godless sinners.

[12] He therefore formulated a system of ritual practice based on twelve commandments teaching how to harden the body and the spirit, and how to behave towards Nature and other people.

[27] Those who decide to live according to the full program of the "hardening training" have to undergo an initiation rite which was administered by Porfiry Ivanov himself when he was alive, and later by Valentina Sukharevskaya and the following leaders of the early Ivanovite community.

I penetrate into his body with my inner vision and sensation, starting from the brain and reaching into the toes and the fingers, and the heart and the lungs, and into all other organs, except for the stomach which may not even be recalled.The last line, "except for the stomach which may not even be recalled", is a hint to the refusal of plants and animals for food, since the ultimate goal of the "hardening training" system is to lead the believer to live without food at all, getting energy from air, water and earth, becoming autotrophous by acquiring aether from the elements.

[13] The Hymn to Life (Гимн Жизни, Gimn Zhizni) one of the three main holy texts of Ivanovism, is sung by the believers every day at sunrise and sunset on notes that resemble those of La Marseillaise.

[4] The scholar Natalya V. Prokopyuk noted that Ivanovism was one of the first social movements which arose in the last phase of the Soviet Union and spread on a massive scale, not only in the big cities but all throughout Russia.

[30] The Ivanovites have been known for their proselytism, believing that they are engaged in a mission to save humanity and conducting their search for new adepts by holding lessons in schools and kindergartens and by disseminating written material.