According to Ivantis’ Russian Folk Belief, a dvoeverie, also known as a double belief, is the “term most often used for the interweaving of pre-Christian and Christian elements” (4) in which a person retains an established sense of beliefs as well as a more modern sense of beliefs. The term remythologization is not as easy to define in one sentence. Basically, remythologization is the term used to explain the transition from Paganism to Christianity in Russia. The Christian Church was eager for the masses to convert, so as to ensure the church leaders newfound political power, and had to find ways to convince the public to accept this new religion. It’d be difficult to completely revamp a system of belief that had been in practice for hundreds of years, without offering things to comfort and ease the transition for the people. For instance, “the timing of Christian holidays coincides with traditional pagan observances” (Module 1 Class Notes). People are comforted by the familiar and therefore it was easier to go from celebrating the Winter Solstice to Christmas simply because both were at the same time of year, and the Christian holiday also made use of familiar pagan holiday symbols like the tree.

Dvoeverie is not a concept all on its own, but instead it is a part of remythologization. As Russian peasants began the transition from Paganism to Christianity, their beliefs slowly evolved. Eventually they had Pagan as well as Christian beliefs. For example, perhaps one man was raised to believe in the celebration of Christmas, but the same man was also raised celebrating the Summer Solstice. This would be an example of a dvoeverie that resulted from remythologization.

It’s important to understand that without remythologization the Russian transition from Paganism to Christianity may not have been as successful, and the folklore and myths we’re studying could be entirely different, if not nonexistent.