National mysticism

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'''National mysticism''' is a form of [[pseudohistory]] in which religious or supernatural claims [[Nationalist pseudohistory|are incorporated in the national history of]] an ethnic group. It can be considered a mix of [[religion]] and [[nationalism]]. National mysticism is popular because it serves as a [[God|divine]] [[:Category:We're on a mission from God|justification]] for ethnic [[bigotry]].

==Definition==
National mysticism goes further than just nationalist myths. Beliefs such as "the [[United States]] has always been the ally of free peoples worldwide", "[[China]] is the center of the world", and "[[Russia]] never wanted a war; it has only fought wars when forced to out of self-defence", while both myths and national in their character, are not national mysticism. For these types of claims to rise to the level of national mysticism, a divine element, such as the fulfillment of a [[God]]-given mandate, needs to be a central element in the discourse.

==Origin==
National mysticism is often associated with ancient civilizations, as many later civilizations had monotheistic religions that prevented national mysticism from taking on too much of a religious character. The foundational myths of the Aztecs and the Romans are obvious examples of national histories that are more mythological than factual while the imperial dynasties of [[Egypt]] and the Inca empire, for example, claimed descendance from the gods. In ancient [[China]], the Zhou dynasty invented the "mandate of heaven", claiming that heaven gave a ruling dynasty a mandate because they were good. If the dynasty was overthrown, it was because the ruler had become wicked and a new mandate was given to the over-throwers (this was used primarily as a justification to overthrow a dynasty). The origin of the Chinese state, therefore, was attributed, beginning with the Zhou, to an original mandate of heaven. The [[Old Testament]] is an example of [[Jewish]] national mysticism, while the {{wpl|sun language theory||,}} which claims that all of the world's languages descend from proto-Turkish, was defended by the Turkish state into the 1920s and 1930s.

Other notable examples include the occultist beliefs of several high-ranking [[Nazi]] leaders, and neo-Nazis tossing around asinine references to ancient origins of "[[Aryan]]" people in Ultima Thule, Atlantis, seeing themselves as being descendants of [[Odin]] or the ''real'' [[Christian Identity|descendants of Abraham]], or ascribing [[prophet]] or [[demigod]] status to [[Hitler]].

==In Marxist theory of social evolution==
Anthropological [[Marxism]] in part utilizes the concept of national mysticism in its [[theory]] to explain societal evolution.<ref>{{wpa|societal evolution}}</ref> According to [[Karl Marx]] (1818-1883) and [[Friedrich Engels]] (1820-1895), the theory's founders, the [[ruling class]] of a [[society]] creates and maintains the [[ideology]] of the society in order to control the lower classes, maintain [[power]], and resist change (hardly a surprising view, given that Marxism developed in the heyday of [[Romanticism|romantic]] nationalism). Part of such ideology, especially in more ancient societies, would involve the origins of the state,<ref>{{wpa|origins of the State}}</ref> which the upper stratum of society mystifies to maintain a [[false consciousness]] in the lower classes, according to the theory.

==Modern examples==
National mysticism still plays a role in contemporary politics.

* The [[Serbia]]n cultus around the Battle of Kosovo Polje of 1389, in which a Serb-led Christian coalition was defeated by the Ottoman Army.
* Similarly, [[Croatia]]ns perceives themselves as ''the'' historical Antemurale Christianitatis, often skillfully indulging in [[quote mining]] to prove it.
* The [[Hindutva]] movement in [[India]]. Hindutva advocates propagate the pseudoarcheological and pseudohistorical [[Indigenous Aryans theory]].
* The [[Romania]]n nationalist ideology of [[Protochronism]]. Some Protochronists take their obsession with Romania's past to such an extent that they worship the Dacian god Zalmolxes.
* [[Thracomania]], a Bulgarian alternative to [[Protochronism]].
* The Aztec founding myth, while not usually accepted as an actual event, still holds an important position in [[Mexico]]'s national symbolism.
* The [[personality cult]] [[Juche|around the Kim family]] in [[North Korea]] falls into this, especially with its claims of supernatural occurrences surrounding Kim il-Sung during his rise to power. Some of their [[woo]] also lionizes Koreans as "the cleanest race" and other such rhetoric, inherently superior to all others. This is allegedly to the point that women who become pregnant by Chinese men have been forced into having [[abortion]]s, as otherwise this [[Miscegenation|pollutes the "pure" Korean gene pool]].
* In the [[United States]], claims that the [[United States Constitution]] is a [[God]]-ordained document, and that the nation's expansion from "sea to shining sea" was [[Manifest destiny|the will of the Lord]], persist despite the United States never being mentioned in the [[Bible]] and the Founding Fathers being deists who [[Establishment Clause|took pains]] to keep the church out of the government (and vice versa).
* Some of the crankier forms of [[Asatru]] dip into this, especially in [[Scandinavia]], the homeland of [[Norse mythology]]. Such national mysticism was heavily influential upon the [[Heavy metal|black metal]] scene in the '90s, and often painted Christianity as a foreign invader that had oppressed the "true" religion of the Nordic people.
* Some nationalist English organizations, such as the [[Anglo-Saxon Foundation]] and [[Woden's Folk]], are quite obsessed with Germanic paganism.

==See also==
*[[American exceptionalism]]
*[[Civil religion]]
*[[Historical determinism]]
*[[Juche]]
*[[Manifest destiny]]
*[[Pagan survivals]]
*[[Polytheistic reconstructionism]]
*[[Shinto]]

=== Want to read this in another language? ===
{{fr|Mysticisme national}}

==External links==

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150415073401/http://anthropology.ua.edu/cultures/cultures.php?culture=Marxist%20Anthropology Marxist Anthropology] The University of Alabama Department of Anthropology
* Hubbes Laszlo-Attila (December 19, 2011) [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1984597 "A Comparative Investigation of Romanian and Hungarian Ethno-Pagan Blogs"]
==References==
{{reflist}}
[[category:Pseudohistory]]
[[Category:Religion]]
[[Category:Nationalism]]
[[Category:Nationalist pseudohistory]]

Categories: Pseudohistory, Religion, Nationalism, Nationalist pseudohistory