Exploration of the relationship between mythology and culture as a part of the cultural identity of the Russian people, before the 1917 Revolution, during the Communist period, and since the fall of the Soviet Union. Focus on pre 1917 Slavic pagan, Christian, and folk mythology vis-a-vis Western mythology, on 20C propaganda and control of the "public mind" designed to reshape national identity and on the current deconstruction, reform, and rebirth of the old mythology.