Bojan Jovanovic's book, the occasion for this text, is an opportunity to consider several issues which the author opens in the framework of anthropological/ethnologic and psychological analyses of the so-called national character (of Serbs), or their inherited temper, which may partly account even for some contemporary events in Serbia. All this, however, is in this book put in a religious perspective, which aspires to reconcile a scientific and religious approach as the exclusive ideological view of the world, which leads to a fatalistic conclusion on a never-ending cyclical repetition of history. The author explicitly and succinctly expresses the idea in the claim that "religion is the cornerstone of the soul", and "the soul is religious by nature", which is why "the fundament of a community's features cannot be perceived adequately without learning about its religious life" (165). The author therefore strives to explain the inheritance of temper by focusing on

pagan heritage as the antechamber of Christian ethic, or the lower degree of religious devotion. It is evident without any deep analysis that Serbian society has over the past decades been increasingly regressing to the idea of the "victory of the heavenly over the earthly kingdom" (though the New Age Serbia is a republic). The number of church-goers is on the rise, religious processions have become part of the statehood identity, agencies where magic rituals are performed are flourishing and sacral understanding of the world is increasingly diminishing the secular character of the state and the society. But all research has confirmed that this takes place concurrently with some negative effects created in the specific historical period of a society standing at a crossroads, due to failure in transitioning from a pre-modern (in modern terminology pre-political (authoritarian) regime) into a modern political society, based on foundations of a rule of law state that is painfully emerging in the so-called democratic transition in Serbia
		Leonid Sejka, A Room with Volcano Area Map, 1960

today. Therefore, we can again talk about disintegration of the state, which provokes growing insecurity in the people and fears of the new and unknown, producing not only existential concern, but also political uncertainty; and in the view of cultural consequences, it incites escape into the imaginary, into collectivism and religious devotion

Anthropological/ethnical aspect of rebirth of traditional nationalism and religiosity in the new millennium is repressed for reasons of either purely political explanations or clerical

concept of original religiosity and national belonging, which may be said to be a single-dimensional interpretation, which is not groundless, but is also insufficient to account for the vitality of archaic consciousness. In other words, instead of cyclical return of paganism as an innate form of human "archetypal consciousness", we may rather talk about recurrence of challenging social and historical periods, which bring about temptations and cast doubt on the rational (for the human mind

reachable) explanation of the world; and about cyclical highs and lows in the influence of religious and mythical ideas, which sometimes make people engage in magic rituals, instead of taking individual action and responsibility for improving their situation.

The illusionary redemption (through mediation of the church, and without any individual effort), is presented as a more attractive solution than the difficult and constant fight to change unfavorable social conditions.

This can explain the renewed popularity of the Kosovo myth, which is manipulated jointly by authorities and the church. By presenting the medieval state of Dusan's empire as a

model of Serbian statehood (because of its size, created by war conquests over the neighboring states) and turning historical defeat of the Kosovo battle into a victory (for choosing the kingdom of heaven over the earthly kingdom, in the name of clericalization of the state), a psychological pressure is exerted on people's minds, and a return to the past is offered as an escape from the chaotic present.. Finally, we should state why the thesis about "primeval return of paganism" in Serbs is not only theoretically unjustified, but also dangerous in the practice of social development. By implying an exclusively synchronic approach, outside historical trends, it suggests a static image of the future, which offers as an explanation only cyclical repetitions without alternatives. Without a diachronic perspective and research of historically continuous development thread of human
		Leonid Sejka, A Non-Functional Form, 1956

needs and dispositions (or "cultural" and "symbolic" capital, in the words of Pierre Bourdieu), it is impossible to explain different types of "habitus" and reasons for their occurrence or for regressing to archaic patterns of behavior. An organicistic interpretation of social phenomena leads to a fatalistic view of history ever-repeating itself, which deepens and disseminates the feeling of resignation and helplessness of individuals, who in our research unconsciously accepted this attitude by saying: "Everything is always the same", and "Nothing can ever be changed".