User:Cinderella157/sandbox 2

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
"Neopagan" redirects here. For other uses, see Neo-Pagan (disambiguation).

Frey
.

Modern paganism, also known as contemporary paganism[1] and neopaganism,[2] is a collective term for religions influenced by the various historical pre-Christian beliefs of pre-modern peoples in Europe and adjacent areas of North Africa and the Near East. Although they share similarities, contemporary Pagan movements are diverse, and do not share a single set of beliefs, practices, or texts.[3] Scholars of religion characterise these traditions as new religious movements. Most academics who study the phenomenon treat it as a movement that is divided into different religions; others characterize it as a single religion of which different Pagan faiths are denominations.

Prominent modern Pagan religions include

Rodnovery and the Goddess movement
. Adherents rely on pre-
eclecticism on one end and polytheistic reconstructionism on the other. Polytheism, animism, and pantheism
are common features of Pagan theology.

Contemporary Paganism has sometimes

been associated with the New Age movement, with scholars highlighting both their similarities and differences.[5] The academic field of Pagan studies
began to coalesce in the 1990s, emerging from disparate scholarship in the preceding two decades.

Terminology

Definition

There is "considerable disagreement as to the precise definition and proper usage" of the term "modern Paganism".[6] Even within the academic field of Pagan studies, there is no consensus about how contemporary Paganism can best be defined.[7] Most scholars describe modern Paganism as a broad array of different religions, not a single one.[8] The category of modern Paganism could be compared to the categories of Abrahamic religions and Indian religions in its structure.[9] A second, less common definition found within Pagan studies—promoted by the religious studies scholars Michael F. Strmiska and Graham Harvey—characterises modern Paganism as a single religion, of which groups like Wicca, Druidry, and Heathenry are denominations.[10] This perspective has been critiqued, given the lack of core commonalities in issues such as theology, cosmology, ethics, afterlife, holy days, or ritual practices within the Pagan movement.[10]

Contemporary Paganism has been defined as "a collection of modern religious, spiritual, and magical traditions that are self-consciously inspired by the pre-Judaic, pre-Christian, and pre-Islamic belief systems of Europe, North Africa, and the Near East."[1] Thus it has been said that although it is "a highly diverse phenomenon", "an identifiable common element" nevertheless runs through the Pagan movement.[1] Strmiska described Paganism as a movement "dedicated to reviving the polytheistic, nature-worshipping pagan religions of pre-Christian Europe and adapting them for the use of people in modern societies."[11] The religious studies scholar Wouter Hanegraaff characterised Paganism as encompassing "all those modern movements which are, first, based on the conviction that what Christianity has traditionally denounced as idolatry and superstition actually represents/represented a profound and meaningful religious worldview and, secondly, that a religious practice based on this worldview can and should be revitalized in our modern world."[12]

Discussing the relationship between the different Pagan religions, religious studies scholars Kaarina Aitamurto and Scott Simpson wrote that they were "like siblings who have taken different paths in life but still retain many visible similarities".

new religious movements,[15] with the anthropologist Kathryn Rountree describing Paganism as a whole as a "new religious phenomenon".[16] A number of academics, particularly in North America, consider modern Paganism a form of nature religion.[17]

A Heathen shrine to the god Freyr, Sweden, 2010

Some practitioners eschew the term "Pagan" altogether, preferring more specific names for their religion, such as "Heathen" or "Wiccan".

ethnos and the academic field of ethnology.[20] Within linguistically Slavic areas of Europe, the term "Native Faith" is often favored as a synonym for Paganism, rendered as Ridnovirstvo in Ukrainian, Rodnoverie in Russian, and Rodzimowierstwo in Polish.[21] Alternately, many practitioners in these regions view "Native Faith" as a category within modern Paganism that does not encompass all Pagan religions.[22] Other terms some Pagans favor include "traditional religion", "indigenous religion", "nativist religion", and "reconstructionism".[19]

Various Pagans who are active in Pagan studies, such as

Afro-American religions. They have also suggested that these could all be included under the rubric of "paganism" or "Paganism".[23] This approach has been received critically by many specialists in religious studies.[24] Critics have pointed out that such claims would cause problems for analytic scholarship by lumping together belief systems with very significant differences, and that the term would serve modern Pagan interests by making the movement appear far larger on the world stage.[25] Doyle White writes that modern religions that draw upon the pre-Christian belief systems of other parts of the world, such as Sub-Saharan Africa or the Americas, cannot be seen as part of the contemporary Pagan movement, which is "fundamentally Eurocentric".[1] Similarly, Strmiska stresses that modern Paganism should not be conflated with the belief systems of the world's Indigenous peoples because the latter lived under colonialism and its legacy, and that while some Pagan worldviews bear similarities to those of indigenous communities, they stem from "different cultural, linguistic, and historical backgrounds".[26]

Reappropriation of "paganism"

Many scholars have favored the use of "Neopaganism" to describe this phenomenon, with the prefix "neo-" serving to distinguish the modern religions from their ancient, pre-Christian forerunners.[27] Some Pagan practitioners also prefer "Neopaganism", believing that the prefix conveys the reformed nature of the religion, such as its rejection of practices such as animal sacrifice.[27] Conversely, most Pagans do not use the word "Neopagan",[19] with some expressing disapproval of it, arguing that the term "neo" offensively disconnects them from what they perceive as their pre-Christian forebears.[18] To avoid causing offense, many scholars in the English-speaking world have begun using the prefixes "modern" or "contemporary" rather than "neo".[28] Several Pagan studies scholars, such as Ronald Hutton and Sabina Magliocco, have emphasized the use of the upper-case "Paganism" to distinguish the modern movement from the lower-case "paganism", a term commonly used for pre-Christian belief systems.[29] In 2015, Rountree stated that this lower case/upper case division was "now [the] convention" in Pagan studies.[19] Among the critics of the upper-case P are York and Andras Corban-Arthen, president of the ECER. Capitalizing the word, they argue, makes "Paganism" appear as the name of a cohesive religion rather than a generic religious category, and comes off as naive, dishonest or as an unwelcome attempt to disrupt the spontaneity and vernacular quality of the movement.[30]

The Parthenon, an ancient pre-Christian temple in Athens dedicated to the goddess Athena. Strmiska believed that modern Pagans in part reappropriate the term "pagan" to honor the cultural achievements of Europe's pre-Christian societies.

The term "neo-pagan" was coined in the 19th century in reference to

Hellenophile classical revivalism.[α] By the mid-1930s "Neopagan" was being applied to new religious movements like Jakob Wilhelm Hauer's German Faith Movement and Jan Stachniuk's Polish Zadruga, usually by outsiders and often pejoratively.[31] Pagan as a self-designation appeared in 1964 and 1965, in the publications of the Witchcraft Research Association; at that time, the term was in use by revivalist Witches in the United States and the United Kingdom, but unconnected to the broader, counterculture Pagan movement. The modern popularisation of the terms pagan and neopagan as they are currently understood is largely traced to Oberon Zell-Ravenheart, co-founder of the 1st Neo-Pagan Church of All Worlds who, beginning in 1967 with the early issues of Green Egg, used both terms for the growing movement. This usage has been common since the pagan revival in the 1970s.[32]

According to Strmiska, the reappropriation of the term "pagan" by modern Pagans served as "a deliberate act of defiance" against "traditional, Christian-dominated society", allowing them to use it as a source of "pride and power".[18] In this, he compared it to the gay liberation movement's reappropriation of the term "queer", which had formerly been used only as a term of homophobic abuse.[18] He suggests that part of the term's appeal lay in the fact that a large proportion of Pagan converts were raised in Christian families, and that by embracing the term "pagan", a word long used for what was "rejected and reviled by Christian authorities", a convert summarizes "in a single word his or her definitive break" from Christianity.[33] He further suggests that the term gained appeal through its depiction in romanticist and 19th-century European nationalist literature, where it had been imbued with "a certain mystery and allure",[34] and that by embracing the word "pagan" modern Pagans defy past religious intolerance to honor the pre-Christian peoples of Europe and emphasize those societies' cultural and artistic achievements.[35]

Divisions

Ethnicity and region

Some examples of symbols for various modern pagan religions

For some Pagan groups, ethnicity is central to their religion, and some restrict membership to a single ethnic group.[36] Some critics have described this approach as a form of racism.[36] Other Pagan groups allow people of any ethnicity, on the view that the gods and goddesses of a particular region can call anyone to their form of worship.[37] Some such groups feel a particular affinity for the pre-Christian belief systems of a particular region with which they have no ethnic link because they see themselves as reincarnations of people from that society.[38] There is greater focus on ethnicity within the Pagan movements in continental Europe than within the Pagan movements in North America and the British Isles.[39] Such ethnic Paganisms have variously been seen as responses to concerns about foreign ideologies, globalization, cosmopolitanism, and anxieties about cultural erosion.[40][41]

Although they acknowledged that it was "a highly simplified model", Aitamurto and Simpson wrote that there was "some truth" to the claim that leftist-oriented forms of Paganism were prevalent in North America and the British Isles while rightist-oriented forms of Paganism were prevalent in Central and Eastern Europe.[15] They noted that in these latter regions, Pagan groups placed an emphasis on "the centrality of the nation, the ethnic group, or the tribe".[13] Rountree wrote that it was wrong to assume that "expressions of Paganism can be categorized straight-forwardly according to region", but acknowledged that some regional trends were visible, such as the impact of Catholicism on Paganism in Southern Europe.[42]

Eclecticism and reconstructionism

"We might say that Reconstructionist Pagans romanticize the past, while Eclectic Pagans idealize the future. In the first case, there is a deeply felt need to connect with the past as a source of spiritual strength and wisdom; in the second case, there is the idealistic hope that a spirituality of nature can be gleaned from ancient sources and shared with all humanity."

— Religious studies scholar Michael Strmiska[43]

Another division within modern Paganism rests on differing attitudes to the source material surrounding pre-Christian belief systems.

Eclectic Pagans, conversely, seek general inspiration from the pre-Christian past, and do not attempt to recreate past rites or traditions with specific attention to detail.[46]

On the reconstructionist side can be placed those movements which often favour the designation "Native Faith", including

Goddess Movement, Discordianism and the Radical Faeries.[14]
Strmiska also suggests that this division could be seen as being based on "discourses of identity", with reconstructionists emphasizing a deep-rooted sense of place and people, and eclectics embracing a universality and openness toward humanity and the Earth.[47]

Strmiska nevertheless notes that this reconstructionist-eclectic division is "neither as absolute nor as straightforward as it might appear".

Sami people of Northern Scandinavia, Siv Ellen Kraft highlights that despite the religion being reconstructionist in intent, it is highly eclectic in the manner in which it has adopted elements from shamanic traditions in other parts of the world.[49]
In discussing Asatro – a form of Heathenry based in Denmark – Matthew Amster notes that it did not fit clearly within such a framework, because while seeking a reconstructionist form of historical accuracy, Asatro nevertheless retains a strong christian influence; with a modern construction of dogma, practices, religious titles, literature & an over emphasis on acknowledging & the worship of only the
historical re-enactment.[52]

Naturalism, ecocentrism, and secular paths

See also: Gaia hypothesis, Naturalistic pantheism, and Secular paganism

Some Pagans distinguish their beliefs and practices as a form of religious naturalism or naturalist philosophy,[53] including those who identify as humanistic or atheopagans. Many such Pagans aim for an explicitly ecocentric practice, which may overlap with scientific pantheism.[54]

Historicity

"Modern Pagans are reviving, reconstructing, and reimagining religious traditions of the past that were suppressed for a very long time, even to the point of being almost totally obliterated... Thus, with only a few possible exceptions, today's Pagans cannot claim to be continuing religious traditions handed down in an unbroken line from ancient times to the present. They are modern people with a great reverence for the spirituality of the past, making a new religion – a modern Paganism – from the remnants of the past, which they interpret, adapt, and modify according to modern ways of thinking."

— Religious studies scholar Michael Strmiska[55]

Although inspired by the pre-Christian belief systems of the past, modern Paganism is not the same phenomenon as these lost traditions and in many respects differs from them considerably.[55] Strmiska stresses that modern Paganism is a "new", "modern" religious movement, even if some of its content derives from ancient sources.[55] Contemporary Paganism as practiced in the United States in the 1990s has been described as "a synthesis of historical inspiration and present-day creativity".[56]

fakelore, especially in recent years as information and misinformation alike have been spread on the Internet and in print media. A number of Wiccan, pagan and even some Traditionalist or Tribalist groups have a history of Grandmother Stories – typically involving initiation by a Grandmother, Grandfather, or other elderly relative who is said to have instructed them in the secret, millennia-old traditions of their ancestors. As this secret wisdom can almost always be traced to recent sources, tellers of these stories have often later admitted they made them up.[58] Strmiska asserts that contemporary paganism could be viewed as a part of the "much larger phenomenon" of efforts to revive "traditional, indigenous, or native religions" that were occurring across the globe.[59]

Beliefs

Romuvan priestess Inija Trinkūnienė leading a ritual

Beliefs and practices vary widely among different Pagan groups; however, there are a series of core principles common to most, if not all, forms of modern paganism.[60] The English academic Graham Harvey noted that Pagans "rarely indulge in theology".[61]

Polytheism

One principle of the Pagan movement is polytheism, the belief in and veneration of multiple gods or goddesses.[60][61] Within the Pagan movement, there can be found many deities, both male and female, who have various associations and embody forces of nature, aspects of culture, and facets of human psychology.[62] These deities are typically depicted in human form, and are viewed as having human faults.[62] They are therefore not seen as perfect, but rather are venerated as being wise and powerful.[63] Pagans feel that this understanding of the gods reflected the dynamics of life on Earth, allowing for the expression of humour.[63]

One view in the Pagan community is that these polytheistic deities are not viewed as literal entities, but as

American neopagans first came to their adopted faiths because it allowed a greater freedom, diversity, and tolerance of worship among the community.[67] This pluralistic perspective has helped the varied factions of modern Paganism exist in relative harmony.[57] Most Pagans adopt an ethos of "unity in diversity" regarding their religious beliefs.[68]

It is its inclusion of female deity which distinguishes Pagan religions from their Abrahamic counterparts.[65] In Wicca, male and female deities are typically balanced out in a form of

veneration of women.[β]

There are exceptions to polytheism in Paganism,

Lev Sylenko, which is devoted to a monotheistic veneration of the god Dazhbog.[69]
As noted above, Pagans with naturalistic worldviews may not believe in or work with deities at all.

Pagan religions commonly exhibit a metaphysical concept of an underlying order that pervades the universe, such as the concept of

harmonia embraced by Hellenists and that of Wyrd found in Heathenry.[70]

Animism and pantheism

Samogitian Sanctuary, a reconstruction of a medieval pagan observatory in Šventoji, Lithuania used by the modern Romuvans

A key part of most Pagan worldviews is the holistic concept of a universe that is interconnected. This is connected with a belief in either pantheism or panentheism. In both beliefs, divinity and the material or spiritual universe are one.[71] For pagans, pantheism means that "divinity is inseparable from nature and that deity is immanent in nature".[57]

Dennis D. Carpenter noted that the belief in a pantheistic or panentheistic deity has led to the idea of interconnectedness playing a key part in pagans' worldviews.[71] The prominent Reclaiming priestess Starhawk related that a core part of goddess-centred pagan witchcraft was "the understanding that all being is interrelated, that we are all linked with the cosmos as parts of one living organism. What affects one of us affects us all."[72]

Another pivotal belief in the contemporary Pagan movement is that of

power animals or animal spirits who can act as spiritual helpers or guides.[74]

Animism was also a concept common to many pre-Christian European religions, and in adopting it, contemporary Pagans are attempting to "reenter the primeval worldview" and participate in a view of cosmology "that is not possible for most Westerners after childhood".[75]

Nature worship

Main article: Earth religion

All Pagan movements place great emphasis on the

organic life - so this bond is held with mountains and rivers as well as trees and wild animals. As a result, Pagans believe the essence of their spirituality is both ancient and timeless, regardless of the age of specific religious movements. Places of natural beauty are therefore treated as sacred and ideal for ritual, like the nemetons of the ancient Celts.[76]

Many Pagans hold that different lands and/or

cultures have their own natural religion, with many legitimate interpretations of divinity, and therefore reject religious exclusivism
.

While the Pagan community has tremendous variety in political views spanning the whole of the political spectrum, environmentalism is often a common feature.[77]

Wiccan altar belonging to Doreen Valiente
, displaying the Wiccan view of sexual duality in divinity

Such views have also led many pagans to revere the planet Earth as

Gaia after the ancient Greek goddess of the Earth.[78]

Practices

First Day of Summer
in 2009

Ritual

Pagan ritual can take place in both a public and private setting.[70] Contemporary Pagan ritual is typically geared towards "facilitating altered states of awareness or shifting mind-sets".[79] In order to induce such altered states of consciousness, pagans utilize such elements as drumming, visualization, chanting, singing, dancing, and meditation.[79] American folklorist Sabina Magliocco came to the conclusion, based upon her ethnographic fieldwork in California that certain Pagan beliefs "arise from what they experience during religious ecstasy".[80]

Sociologist Margot Adler highlighted how several Pagan groups, like the Reformed Druids of North America and the Erisian movement incorporate a great deal of play in their rituals rather than having them be completely serious and somber. She noted that there are those who would argue that "the Pagan community is one of the only spiritual communities that is exploring humor, joy, abandonment, even silliness and outrageousness as valid parts of spiritual experience".[81]

Domestic worship typically takes place in the home and is carried out by either an individual or family group.[82] It typically involves offerings – including bread, cake, flowers, fruit, milk, beer, or wine – being given to images of deities, often accompanied with prayers and songs and the lighting of candles and incense.[82] Common Pagan devotional practices have thus been compared to similar practices in Hinduism, Buddhism, Shinto, Roman Catholicism, and Orthodox Christianity, but contrasted with that in Protestantism, Judaism, and Islam.[83] Although animal sacrifice was a common part of pre-Christian ritual in Europe, it is rarely practiced in contemporary Paganism.[82]

Festival

See also:
List of Neo-Pagan festivals and events
Museum of Witchcraft, Boscastle
, Cornwall, England, displaying all eight of the Sabbats

Paganism's public rituals are generally calendrical,[70] although the pre-Christian festivals that Pagans use as a basis varied across Europe.[84] Nevertheless, common to almost all Pagan religions is an emphasis on an agricultural cycle and respect for the dead.[82] Common Pagan festivals include those marking the summer solstice and winter solstice as well as the start of spring and the harvest.[70] In Wicca, a Wheel of the Year has been developed which typically involves eight seasonal festivals.[82]

Magic

The belief in

spells is held by a "significant number" of contemporary Pagans.[85] Among those who believe in it, there are a variety of different views about what magic is. Many Neopagans adhere to the definition of magic provided by Aleister Crowley, the founder of Thelema: "the Science and Art of causing change to occur in conformity with Will". Also accepted by many is the related definition purportedly provided by the ceremonial magician Dion Fortune: "magic is the art and science of changing consciousness according to the Will".[85]

Among those who practice magic are Wiccans, those who identify as Neopagan Witches, and practitioners of some forms of revivalist Neo-druidism, the rituals of which are at least partially based upon those of ceremonial magic and freemasonry.[86]

History

Early modern period

Discussions about prevailing, returning or new forms of paganism have existed throughout the modern period. Before the 20th century, Christian institutions regularly used paganism as a term for everything outside of Christianity, Judaism and—from the 18th century—Islam. They frequently associated paganism with idolatry, magic and a general concept of "false religion", which for example has made Catholics and Protestants accuse each other of being pagans.

Gemistus Pletho, who wanted to establish a new form of Greco-Roman polytheism.[89] Positive identification with paganism became more common in the 18th and 19th centuries, when it tied in with criticism of Christianity and organized religion, rooted in the ideas of the Age of Enlightenment and Romanticism. The approach to paganism varied during this period; Friedrich Schiller's 1788 poem "Die Götter Griechenlandes" presents ancient Greek religion as a powerful alternative to Christianity, whereas others took interest in paganism through the concept of the noble savage, often associated with Jean-Jacques Rousseau.[89]

19th and early 20th centuries

Great God! I'd rather be
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathèd horn.

— William Wordsworth, "The World Is Too Much with Us", lines 9-14

One of the origins of modern Pagan movements lies in the romanticist and national liberation movements that developed in Europe during the 18th and 19th centuries.[90] The publications of studies into European folk customs and culture by scholars like Johann Gottfried Herder and Jacob Grimm resulted in a wider interest in these subjects and a growth in cultural self-consciousness.[90] At the time, it was commonly believed that almost all such folk customs were survivals from the pre-Christian period.[91] These attitudes would also be exported to North America by European immigrants in these centuries.[91]

The Romantic movement of the 18th century led to the re-discovery of

occultism, the widespread emergence of pagan themes in popular literature, and the rise of nationalism.[92]

Dievturi killed by the Communists
1942–1952.

"The rise of modern Paganism is both a result and a measure of increased religious liberty and rising tolerance for religious diversity in modern societies, a liberty and tolerance made possible by the curbing of the sometimes oppressive power wielded by Christian authorities to compel obedience and participation in centuries past. To say it another way, modern Paganism is one of the happy stepchildren of modern multiculturalism and social pluralism."

— Religious studies scholar Michael Strmiska[93]

The rise of modern Paganism was aided by the decline in Christianity throughout many parts of Europe and North America,[91] as well as by the concomitant decline in enforced religious conformity and greater freedom of religion that developed, allowing people to explore a wider range of spiritual options and form religious organisations that could operate free from legal persecution.[94]

Historian Ronald Hutton has argued that many of the motifs of 20th century neo-Paganism may be traced back to the utopian, mystical counter-cultures of the late-Victorian and Edwardian periods (also extending in some instances into the 1920s), via the works of amateur folklorists, popular authors, poets, political radicals and alternative lifestylers.

Prior to the spread of the 20th-century neopagan movements, a notable instance of self-identified paganism was in Sioux writer Zitkala-sa's essay "Why I Am A Pagan". Published in the Atlantic Monthly in 1902, the Native American activist and writer outlined her rejection of Christianity (referred to as "the new superstition") in favor of a harmony with nature embodied by the Great Spirit. She further recounted her mother's abandonment of Sioux religion and the unsuccessful attempts of a "native preacher" to get her to attend the village church.[95]

In the 1920s

courts. Historians now reject Murray's theory, as she based it partially upon the similarities of the accounts given by those accused of witchcraft; such similarity is now thought to actually derive from there having been a standard set of questions laid out in the witch-hunting manuals used by interrogators.[96]

Late 20th century

The 1960s and 1970s saw a resurgence in

Germanic neopaganism in the United States and in Iceland. In the 1970s, Wicca was notably influenced by feminism, leading to the creation of an eclectic, Goddess-worshipping movement known as Dianic Wicca.[97] The 1979 publication of Margot Adler's Drawing Down the Moon and Starhawk's The Spiral Dance opened a new chapter in public awareness of paganism.[98]
With the growth and spread of large, pagan gatherings and festivals in the 1980s, public varieties of
British Traditional Wicca, which emphasizes secrecy and initiatory lineage.[99]

The 1980s and 1990s also saw an increasing interest in serious academic research and reconstructionist pagan traditions. The establishment and growth of the Internet in the 1990s brought rapid growth to these, and other pagan movements.[99] By the time of the collapse of the former Soviet Union in 1991, freedom of religion was legally established across Russia and a number of other newly independent states, allowing for the growth in both Christian and non-Christian religions.[100]

Religious paths and movements

Further information:
List of Neopagan movements

Goddess movement

Main article: Goddess movement
Further information: Matriarchal religion

Goddess Spirituality, which is also known as the Goddess movement, is a Pagan religion in which a singular, monotheistic Goddess is given predominance. Goddess Spirituality revolves around the sacredness of the female form, and of aspects of women's lives that adherents say have been traditionally neglected in Western society, such as menstruation, sexuality, and maternity.[101]

The Goddess movement draws some of its inspiration from the work of archaeologists such as Marija Gimbutas,[102][103][104][105] whose interpretation of artifacts excavated from "Old Europe" points to societies of Neolithic Europe that were matristic or goddess-centered worshipping a female deity of three primary aspects,[106] which has inspired some neopagan worshippers of the Triple Goddess.

Adherents of the Goddess Spirituality movement typically envision a history of the world that is different from traditional narratives about the past, emphasising the role of women rather than that of men. According to this view,

pastoralists who worshipped male sky-gods,[106] and continued to rule through the form of Abrahamic religions, specifically Christianity in the West. Adherents look for elements of this human history in "theological, anthropological, archaeological, historical, folkloric and hagiographic writings".[107]

Heathenry

Main article: Heathenry (new religious movement)
A Heathen altar for household worship in Gothenburg, Sweden

Heathenism, also known as Germanic Neopaganism, refers to a series of contemporary Pagan traditions based on the historical religions, culture and literature of Germanic-speaking Europe. Heathenry is spread out across northwestern Europe, North America and Australasia, where the descendants of historic Germanic-speaking people now live.[108]

Many Heathen groups adopt variants of Norse mythology as a basis for their beliefs, conceiving of the Earth as on the great world tree Yggdrasil. Heathens believe in multiple polytheistic deities adopted from historical Germanic mythologies. Most are polytheistic realists, believing that the deities are real entities, while others view them as Jungian archetypes.[109]

Druidry

Main article: Druidry (modern)

Neo-Druidry is the second-largest pagan path after Wicca,[

George Watson MacGregor Reid founded the Druid Order in its current form in 1909. In 1964 Ross Nichols established the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids. In the United States, the Ancient Order of Druids in America (AODA) was established in 1912,[110] the Reformed Druids of North America (RDNA) in 1963, and Ár nDraíocht Féin (ADF) in 1983 by Isaac Bonewits
.

Eco-paganism and Unitarian Universalism

See also: Environmentalism and Syncretism

Eco-paganism and Eco-magic, which are offshoots of

Otherworlds).[111]

Some Unitarian Universalists are eclectic pagans. Unitarian Universalists look for spiritual inspiration in a wide variety of religious beliefs. The Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans, or CUUPs, encourages its chapters to "use practices familiar to members who attend for worship services but not to follow only one tradition of paganism".[112]

Occultism and ethnic mysticism

In 1925, the Czech esotericist Franz Sättler founded the pagan religion Adonism, devoted to the ancient Greek god Adonis, whom Sättler equated with the Christian Satan, and which purported that the end of the world would come in 2000. Adonism largely died out in the 1930s, but remained an influence on the German occult scene.[113]

LGBT paganism

Main article:
Modern Pagan views on LGBT people
Radical Faeries with banner at 2010 London Gay Pride

The western

other expressions of gender and sexuality that are marginalized by mainstream society." Conflict naturally arises, however, as some neopagan belief systems and sect ideologies stem from fundamental beliefs in the male-female gender binary, heterosexual pairing, resulting heterosexual reproduction, and/or gender essentialism.[114][115]

In response, groups and sects inclusive of or specific to LGBT people have developed. Theologian Jone Salomonsen noted in the 1980s and 1990s that the

eclectic pagan group known as the Radical Faeries. When Adler asked one gay male pagan what the pagan community offered members of the LGBT community, he replied, "A place to belong. Community. Acceptance. And a way to connect with all kinds of people—gay, bi, straight, celibate, transgender—in a way that is hard to do in the greater society."[117][118]

trans-exclusionary radical feminism.[119][120][121]

Further information: Feminist views on transgender topics

Trans exclusion can also be found in Alexandrian Wicca, whose founder views trans individuals as melancholy people who should seek other beliefs due to the Alexandrian focus on heterosexual reproduction and duality.[122]

Reconstructionism

Union of Slavic Native Belief Communities celebrating Mokosh
Main article: Polytheistic reconstructionism

In contrast to the eclectic traditions,

Slavs, respectively.[δ][ε][ζ]

Wicca and modern witchcraft

Main article: Wicca
Mabon-Fall Equinox 2015 Altar by the Salt Lake Pagan Society of Salt Lake City, Utah. Displayed are seasonal decorations, altar tools, elemental candles, flowers, deity statues, cookies and juice offerings, and a nude Gods painting of Thor, the Green Man, and Cernunnos dancing around a Mabon Fire.

Wicca is the largest form of modern Paganism,[41] as well as the best-known[123] and most extensively studied.[59]

Religious studies scholar Graham Harvey noted that the poem "Charge of the Goddess" remains central to the liturgy of most Wiccan groups. Originally written by Wiccan High Priestess Doreen Valiente in the mid-1950s, the poem allows Wiccans to gain wisdom and experience deity in "the ordinary things in life".[124]

Historian

Judeo-Paganism or jewitchery, and Dianic Wicca or feminist Wicca, which emphasizes the divine feminine, often creating women-only or lesbian-only groups.[η] In the academic community Wicca has also been interpreted as having close affinities with process philosophy.[125]

In the 1990s, Wiccan beliefs and practices were used as a partial basis for a number of US films and television series, such as

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, leading to a surge in teenagers' and young adults' interest and involvement in the religion.[126][127]

Semitic neopaganism

Main article: Semitic neopaganism

Beit Asherah (the house of the Goddess Asherah) was one of the first Neopagan synagogues, founded in the early 1990s by Stephanie Fox, Steven Posch, and Magenta Griffiths (Lady Magenta). Magenta Griffiths is High Priestess of the Beit Asherah coven, and a former board member of the Covenant of the Goddess.[128]

Vattisen Yaly

Main article: Vattisen Yaly

The

Slavified ethnicity and having had exchanges also with other Indo-European ethnicities,[130] their religion shows many similarities with Finnic and Slavic Paganisms; moreover, the revival of Vattisen Yaly in recent decades has occurred following Neopagan patterns.[131] Today the followers of the Chuvash Traditional Religion are called "the true Chuvash".[129] Their main god is Tura, a deity comparable to the Estonian Taara, the Germanic Thunraz and the pan-Turkic Tengri.[130]

Demographics

Establishing precise figures on Paganism is difficult. Due to the secrecy and fear of

persecution still prevalent among Pagans, limited numbers are willing to openly be counted. The decentralised nature of Paganism and sheer number of solitary practitioners further complicates matters.[132] Nevertheless, there is a slow growing body of data on the subject.[133] In the US, there are estimated to be between 1 and 1.5 million practitioners.[134]

Europe

See also:
the United Kingdom
handfasting ceremony at Avebury
in England.

Neopagan and other folk religion movements have gained a significant[citation needed] following on the eastern fringes of Europe, especially in the Caucasus and the Volga region.

Caucasus region

Among Circassians, the

Uatsdin faith was revived, and in 2012, 29% of the population identified with it (North Ossetia is about 2/3 Ossetian and 1/3 Russian).[138] Neopagan movements are also present to a lesser degree elsewhere; in Dagestan 2% of the population identified with folk religious movements, while data on neopagans is unavailable for Chechnya and Ingushetia.[135]

Volga region

The

Mari native religion in fact has a continuous existence, but has co-existed with Orthodox Christianity for centuries, and experienced a renewal after the fall of the Soviet Union. A sociological survey conducted in 2004 found that about 15 percent of the population of Mari El consider themselves adherents of the Mari native religion. Since Mari make up just 45 percent of the republic's population of 700,000, this figure means that probably more than a third claim to follow the old religion.[139] The percentage of pagans among the Mari of Bashkortostan and the eastern part of Tatarstan is even higher (up to 69% among women). Mari fled here from forced Christianization in the 17th to 19th centuries.[140] A similar number was claimed by Victor Schnirelmann, for whom between a quarter and a half of the Mari either worship the Pagan gods or are adherents of Neopagan groups.[141]
Mari intellectuals maintain that Mari ethnic believers should be classified in groups with varying degrees of Russian Orthodox influence, including syncretic followers who might even go to church at times, followers of the Mari native religion who are baptized, and nonbaptized Mari.

A neopagan movement drawing from various syncretic practices that had survived among the Christianised Mari people was initiated in 1990,[142] and was estimated in 2004 to have won the adherence of 2% of the Mordvin people.[143]

Western Europe

A study by

Hindu community.[86]

A smaller number is suggested by the results of the

Rastafarian, Baháʼí and Zoroastrian groups, but fewer than the big six of Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, Judaism and Buddhism. It is also fewer than the adherents of Jediism, whose campaign made them the fourth largest religion after Christianity, Islam and Hinduism.[ι]

Modern Hellen ritual in Greece

The 2001 UK Census figures did not allow an accurate breakdown of traditions within the Pagan heading, as a campaign by the Pagan Federation before the census encouraged Wiccans, Heathens, Druids and others all to use the same write-in term 'Pagan' in order to maximise the numbers reported. The

2011 census however made it possible to describe oneself as Pagan-Wiccan, Pagan-Druid and so on. The figures for England and Wales showed 80,153 describing themselves as Pagan (or some subgroup thereof.) The largest subgroup was Wicca, with 11,766 adherents.[κ]
The overall numbers of people self-reporting as Pagan rose between 2001 and 2011. In 2001 about seven people per 10,000 UK respondents were pagan; in 2011 the number (based on the England and Wales population) was 14.3 people per 10,000 respondents.

Census figures in Ireland do not provide a breakdown of religions outside of the major Christian denominations and other major world religions. A total of 22,497 people stated Other Religion in the 2006 census; and a rough estimate is that there were 2,000–3,000 practicing pagans in Ireland in 2009. Numerous pagan groups – primarily Wiccan and Druidic – exist in Ireland though none is officially recognised by the Government. Irish Paganism is often strongly concerned with issues of place and language.[λ]

North America

Further information:
Neopaganism in the United States
Socio-economic breakdown of U.S. Pagans in 1999
Education Percentage[144]
Claimed to have at least a
College degree
 65.4%
Claimed to have
Post-graduate degrees
 16.1%
Claimed to have completed some college or less 7.6%
Location Percentage[144]
Urban areas 27.9%
Suburban areas 22.8%
Rural areas 15.8%
Small towns 14.4%
Large towns 14.4%
Didn't respond 5.6%
Ethnicity Percentage[144]
White
 90.4%
Native American 9%
Asian 2%
Hispanic 0.8%
African American 0.5%
"Other" 2.2%
Didn't respond 5%

Canada does not provide extremely detailed records of religious adherence. Its

better source needed
]

The United States government does not directly collect religious information. As a result such information is provided by religious institutions and other third-party statistical organisations.

Pew Forum on religion, there are over one million Pagans in the United States.[145] Up to 0.4% of respondents answered "Pagan" or "Wiccan" when polled.[146]

According to Helen A. Berger's 1995 survey "The Pagan Census", most American Pagans are middle-class, educated, and live in urban/suburban areas on the East and West coasts.[144]

Oceania

See also:
Paganism in Australia
Breakdown of Australians[147]
Classifications Adherents
Animism 780
Druidism 1,049
Paganism 16,851
Pantheism 1,391
Nature Religions 3,599
Witchcraft (incl. Wicca) 8,413
Total 32,083

In the

Witchcraft. As a result, fairly detailed breakdowns of Pagan respondents are available.[ν]

New Zealander
affiliations[148]
Groups Adherents
Druidism
 192
Nature religion 4,530
Wicca 2,082
Total 6,804

In 2006, there were at least 6804 (0.164%) Pagans among New Zealand's population of approximately 4 million.[149] Respondents were given the option to select one or more religious affiliations.[148]

Paganism in society

Propagation

Based upon her study of the pagan community in the United States, the sociologist

proselytize in order to gain new converts to their faiths. Instead, she argued that "in most cases", converts first become interested in the movement through "word of mouth, a discussion between friends, a lecture, a book, an article or a Web site". She went on to put forward the idea that this typically confirmed "some original, private experience, so that the most common experience of those who have named themselves pagan is something like 'I finally found a group that has the same religious perceptions I always had'".[150] A practicing Wiccan herself, Adler used her own conversion to paganism as a case study, remarking that as a child she had taken a great interest in the gods and goddesses of ancient Greece, and had performed her own devised rituals in dedication to them. When she eventually came across the Wiccan religion many years later, she then found that it confirmed her earlier childhood experiences, and that "I never converted in the accepted sense. I simply accepted, reaffirmed, and extended a very old experience."[151]

A simple Pagan altar

Folklorist

mythology and folklore as children, imagining a world of "enchanted nature and magical transformations, filled with lords and ladies, witches and wizards, and humble but often wise peasants". Magliocco noted that it was this world that pagans "strive to re-create in some measure".[152] Further support for Adler's idea came from American Wiccan priestess Judy Harrow, who noted that among her comrades, there was a feeling that "you don't become pagan, you discover that you always were".[153] They have also been supported by Pagan studies scholar Graham Harvey.[154]

Many pagans in North America encounter the movement through their involvement in other hobbies; particularly popular with US Pagans are "golden age"-type pastimes such as the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA), Star Trek fandom, Doctor Who fandom and comic book fandom. Other manners in which many North American pagans have got involved with the movement are through political or ecological activism, such as "vegetarian groups, health food stores" or feminist university courses.[155]

Adler went on to note that from those she interviewed and surveyed in the US, she could identify a number of common factors that led to people getting involved in Paganism: the beauty, vision and imagination that was found within their beliefs and rituals, a sense of intellectual satisfaction and personal growth that they imparted, their support for environmentalism or feminism, and a sense of freedom.[156]

Class, gender and ethnicity

Based upon her work in the United States, Adler found that the pagan movement was "very diverse" in its class and ethnic background.[157] She went on to remark that she had encountered pagans in jobs that ranged from "fireman to PhD chemist" but that the one thing that she thought made them into an "elite" was as avid readers, something that she found to be very common within the pagan community despite the fact that avid readers constituted less than 20% of the general population of the United States at the time.[158] Magliocco came to a somewhat different conclusion based upon her ethnographic research of pagans in California, remarking that the majority were "white, middle-class, well-educated urbanites" but that they were united in finding "artistic inspiration" within "folk and indigenous spiritual traditions".[159]

The sociologist Regina Oboler examined the role of gender in the US Pagan community, arguing that although the movement had been constant in its support for the equality of men and women ever since its foundation, there was still an essentialist view of gender engrained within it, with female deities being accorded traditional western feminine traits and male deities being similarly accorded what western society saw as masculine traits.[160]

Relationship with New Age

Main article:
Modern Paganism and New Age

"Neopagan practices highlight the centrality of the relationship between humans and nature and reinvent religions of the past, while New Agers are more interested in transforming individual consciousness and shaping the future."

— Religious studies scholar Sarah Pike.[161]

Since the 1960s and 1970s, contemporary Paganism, or Neo-Paganism, and the then emergent

modern Paganism and New Age,[163] while Aidan A. Kelly stated that Paganism "parallels the New Age movement in some ways, differs sharply from it in others, and overlaps it in some minor ways".[164] Ethan Doyle White stated that while the Pagan and New Age movements "do share commonalities and overlap", they were nevertheless "largely distinct phenomena."[165]
Hanegraaff suggested that whereas various forms of contemporary Paganism were not part of the New Age movement – particularly those who pre-dated the movement – other Pagan religions and practices could be identified as New Age.
magic and witchcraft, which are conversely core interests of many Pagan religions, such as Wicca.[167]

Many Pagans have sought to distance themselves from the New Age movement, even using "New Age" as an insult within their community, while conversely many involved in the New Age have expressed criticism of Paganism for emphasizing the material world over the spiritual.[165] Many Pagans have expressed criticism of the high fees charged by New Age teachers, something not typically present in the Pagan movement.[168]

Relationship with Hinduism

Because of their common links to the Proto-Indo-European culture, many adherents of modern Paganism have come to regard Hinduism as a spiritual relative. Some modern Pagan literature prominently features comparative religion involving European and Indian traditions. The ECER has made efforts to establish mutual support with Hindu groups, as has the Lithuanian Romuva movement.[169]

In India, a prominent figure who made similar efforts was the

Hindu revivalist Ram Swarup, who pointed out parallels between Hinduism and European and Arabic paganism. Swarup reached out to modern Pagans in the West and also had an influence on Western converts to Hinduism or pro-Hindu activists, notably David Frawley and Koenraad Elst, who both have described Hinduism as a form of paganism.[170] The modern Pagan writer Christopher Gérard has drawn much inspiration from Hinduism and visited Swarup in India. Reviewing Gérard's book Parcours païen in 2001, the historian of religion Jean-François Mayer described Gérard's activities as part of the development of a "Western-Hindu 'pagan axis'".[171]

Prejudice and opposition

See also:
Religious discrimination against Neopagans

In the

people of the book, so they do not have the same status as Abrahamic religions in Islamic religious law
for example, Muslim men cannot marry pagan women while they are allowed to marry among people of the book; and Muslims can eat meat of halal animals that are slaughtered by people of the book, but not that slaughtered by methods of other religions.

Regarding to European paganism, In Modern Paganism in World Cultures: Comparative Perspectives Michael F. Strmiska writes that "in Pagan magazines, websites, and Internet discussion venues, Christianity is frequently denounced as an antinatural, antifemale, sexually and culturally repressive, guilt-ridden, and authoritarian religion that has fostered intolerance, hypocrisy, and persecution throughout the world."

anti-semitism in its A Reflection on the Shoah.[173] They also express disapproval of Christianity's continued missionary efforts around the globe at the expense of indigenous and other polytheistic faiths.[174]

Some Christian authors have published books criticizing modern Paganism, [35] while other Christian critics have equated Paganism with Satanism, which is often portrayed as such in mainstream entertainment industry.[175]

In areas such as the US

discrimination and ostracism.[176]

Pagan studies

Main article: Pagan studies

The earliest academic studies of contemporary Paganism were published in the late 1970s and 1980s by scholars like Margot Adler, Marcello Truzzi and Tanya Luhrmann, although it would not be until the 1990s that the actual multidisciplinary academic field of Pagan studies properly developed, pioneered by academics such as Graham Harvey and Chas S. Clifton. Increasing academic interest in Paganism has been attributed to the new religious movement's increasing public visibility, as it began interacting with the interfaith movement and holding large public celebrations at sites like Stonehenge.[177]

The first international academic conference on the subject of Pagan studies was held at the

The Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies was edited by Clifton, while the academic publishers AltaMira Press began release of the Pagan Studies Series.[ξ] From 2008 onward, conferences have been held bringing together scholars specialising in the study of Paganism in Central and Eastern Europe.[179]

The relationship between Pagan studies scholars and some practising Pagans has at times been strained. The Australian academic and practising Pagan Caroline Jane Tully argues that many Pagans can react negatively to new scholarship regarding historical pre-Christian societies, believing that it is a threat to the structure of their beliefs and to their "sense of identity". She furthermore argues that some of those dissatisfied Pagans lashed out against academics as a result, particularly on the Internet.[180]

Criticism

Main article:
Criticism of modern Paganism

Neopaganism has been criticized on a variety of fronts, ranging from pseudohistory to racial issues to institutional issues. As neopaganism is not a unified religion, it means that the criticisms of certain groups often do not apply to other groups. Criticisms of specific Neopagan groups range from criticisms of their belief in gender essentialism[181] to criticisms of their belief in Nationalism[182] to criticisms of the worldly focuses of pagan organizations.[165]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Religion data from the 2001 Canadian census at the Wayback Machine (archive index)
  2. ^ Todd, Douglas (December 2003). "University of Victoria chaplain marks solstice with pagan rituals". Vancouver Sun. Postmedia Network Inc. Retrieved 14 March 2013.
  3. ^ "Religion Statistics and Publications". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on 19 January 2009. Retrieved 14 March 2013.

References

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c d Doyle White 2016, p. 6.
  2. ^ Adler 2006, p. xiii.
  3. ^ Carpenter 1996, p. 40.
  4. ^ Adler 2006. pp. 3–4.
  5. JSTOR 10.1525/nr.1999.3.1.135
    . Retrieved 15 December 2020 – via JSTOR.
  6. ^ Strmiska 2005, p. 13.
  7. ^ Doyle White 2012, p. 15.
  8. ^ Doyle White 2012, pp. 16–17.
  9. ^ Doyle White 2012, p. 17.
  10. ^ a b Doyle White 2012, p. 16.
  11. ^ Strmiska 2005, p. 1.
  12. ^ Hanegraaff 1996, p. 77.
  13. ^ a b Aitamurto & Simpson 2013, p. 3.
  14. ^ a b c Doyle White 2016, p. 7.
  15. ^ a b Aitamurto & Simpson 2013, p. 2.
  16. ^ Rountree 2015, p. 1.
  17. ^ Strmiska 2005, pp. 15–16; Harvey 2005, pp. 84–85.
  18. ^ a b c d Strmiska 2005, p. 9.
  19. ^ a b c d Rountree 2015, p. 8.
  20. ^ Strmiska 2005, p. 14; Simpson & Filip 2013, pp. 34–35.
  21. ^ Simpson & Filip 2013, p. 27.
  22. ^ Simpson & Filip 2013, p. 38.
  23. ^ Strmiska 2005, p. 11; Doyle White 2012, pp. 12–13.
  24. ^ Doyle White 2012, p. 13.
  25. ^ Doyle White 2012, p. 14.
  26. ^ Strmiska 2005, pp. 11–12.
  27. ^ a b Simpson & Filip 2013, p. 32.
  28. ^ Simpson & Filip 2013, p. 32; Rountree 2015, p. 8.
  29. ^ Hutton 2003, p. xiv; Magliocco 2004, p. 19; Doyle White 2016, p. 8.
  30. ^ York 2016, p. 7.
  31. ^ Simpson & Filip 2013, p. 31.
  32. ^ Adler 2006.
  33. ^ Strmiska 2005, p. 7.
  34. ^ Strmiska 2005, pp. 7–8.
  35. ^ a b Strmiska 2005, p. 8.
  36. ^ a b Strmiska 2005, p. 17.
  37. ^ Strmiska 2005, pp. 17–18.
  38. ^ a b Strmiska 2005, p. 18.
  39. ^ Strmiska 2005, pp. 16–17.
  40. ^ Rountree 2015, p. 5.
  41. ^ a b Strmiska 2005, p. 47.
  42. ^ Rountree 2015, p. 10.
  43. ^ Strmiska 2005, p. 22.
  44. ^ a b c Strmiska 2005, p. 19.
  45. ^ Strmiska 2005, p. 19; Doyle White 2016, p. 6.
  46. ^ Strmiska 2005, pp. 19–20.
  47. ^ Strmiska 2005, pp. 21–22.
  48. ^ a b c Strmiska 2005, p. 21.
  49. ^ Kraft 2015, p. 28.
  50. ^ Amster 2015, pp. 44, 59.
  51. ^ Strmiska 2005, p. 21; Doyle White 2016, p. 7.
  52. ^ Simpson & Filip 2013, p. 39.
  53. ISBN 9780191789090
    .
  54. S2CID 171320981
    .
  55. ^ a b c Strmiska 2005, p. 10.
  56. ^ Carpenter 1996. p. 47. Paganism, as I use the term, refers broadly to an emerging spiritual movement comprised of overlapping forms of spirituality referred to by many names (e.g. 'Neo-Paganism,' 'Paganism,' 'Neo-Pagan Witchcraft,' 'Witchcraft,' 'the Craft,' 'Wiccan Spirituality,' 'Wicca,' 'Wicce,' 'Wiccan religion,' 'The Old Religion,' 'Goddess Spirituality,' 'Nature Spirituality,' 'Nature Religion,' 'the Old Religion,' 'Goddess Spirituality,' 'Nature Spirituality,' 'Nature Religion,' 'Earth-Based Spirituality,' 'Earth Religion,' 'Ecofeminist Spirituality,' and 'Euro-American Shamanism'
  57. ^ a b c Adler 2006, p. 23.
  58. ^ Adler 2006, pp. 94–5 (Sanders), 78 (Anderson), 83 (Gardner), 87 (Fitch), 90 (Pendderwen).
  59. ^ a b Strmiska 2005, p. 2.
  60. ^ a b c Adler 2006, p. 22.
  61. ^ a b c Harvey 2007, p. 1.
  62. ^ a b Strmiska 2005, p. 35.
  63. ^ a b Strmiska 2005, p. 36.
  64. ^ Strmiska 2005, p. 36; Adler 2006, p. 29.
  65. ^ a b c Strmiska 2005, p. 37.
  66. ^ Adler 2006, pp. 26–28.
  67. ^ Adler 2006, pp. 31–32.
  68. ^ Carpenter 1996, p. 61.
  69. ^ a b Rountree 2015, p. 20.
  70. ^ a b c d Strmiska 2005, p. 38.
  71. ^ a b Carpenter 1996, p. 50.
  72. ^ Starhawk 1989, p. 10.
  73. ^ Greenwood 2000, p. 23.
  74. ^ Carpenter 1996, p. 54.
  75. ^ Adler 2006, pp. 22–23.
  76. ^ "Animism". Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  77. ^ Moreton, Cole (22 June 2009). "Everyone's A Pagan Now". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  78. ^ Carpenter 1996, p. 55.
  79. ^ a b Carpenter 1996, p. 66.
  80. ^ Magliocco 2004, p. 9.
  81. ^ Adler 2006, pp. 335–354.
  82. ^ a b c d e Strmiska 2005, p. 40.
  83. ^ Strmiska 2005, p. 41.
  84. ^ Strmiska 2005, p. 39.
  85. ^ a b Harvey 2007, pp. 84–85.
  86. ^ a b c Hutton 1999.
  87. ^ Stuckrad 2007, p. 296.
  88. ^ Stuckrad 2007, pp. 296–297.
  89. ^ a b c Stuckrad 2007, p. 297.
  90. ^ a b Strmiska 2005, p. 42.
  91. ^ a b c Strmiska 2005, p. 43.
  92. ^ Hutton 1999, p. 22.
  93. ^ Strmiska 2005, pp. 44–45.
  94. ^ Strmiska 2005, p. 44.
  95. ^ Bonnin, Gertrude. "Why I Am A Pagan". Bucknell.edu. The Online Archive of Nineteenth-Century U.S. Women's Writings. Archived from the original on 17 October 2017. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
  96. ^ Hutton 1999, pp. 194–201.
  97. ^ Adler 2006, pp. 178–239.
  98. ^ Adler 2006, p. ix.
  99. ^ a b Adler 2006, pp. 429–456.
  100. ^ Strmiska 2005, p. 45.
  101. ^ Harvey 2007, p. 70.
  102. ISBN 978-0-5202-5398-8. Archived
    from the original on 9 January 2016. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  103. ISBN 978-0-5002-8249-6
    .
  104. OCLC 924859108
    .
  105. ^ Mellaart, James (1967). Catal-huyuk. A Neolithic Town In Anatolia. New York: McGraw-Hill. Archived from the original on 11 April 2016. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  106. ^
    ISBN 9789060322888
    .
  107. ^ Harvey 2007, p. 73-75.
  108. ^ Harvey 2007, p. 53.
  109. ^ Harvey 2007, p. 54-58.
  110. ^ "Ancient Order of Druids in America". AODA. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
  111. ^ Letcher (2001) "The Scouring of the Shire: Fairies, Trolls and Pixies in Eco-Protest Culture" Folklore Vol. 112, No. 2, pages 147-161.
  112. ^ "Official Website of CUUPS". Archived from the original on 17 June 2006. Retrieved 18 June 2006.
  113. ^ Hakl 2010.
  114. ^ "How Do Pagans Feel About Homosexuality?". ThoughtCo. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  115. ISSN 1743-1735
    .
  116. ^ Salomonsen 2002, p. 44.
  117. ^ Adler 2006, pp. 355–371.
  118. ^ "Minoan Brotherhood | Transcendence Directory | Western Esotericism Community". Transcendence Works!. 13 November 2015. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
  119. ^ PANTHEON (1 March 2011). "Transgender Issues in Pagan Religions". PANTHEON. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  120. ^ "What is the Dianic Wiccan Tradition?". ThoughtCo. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  121. ISSN 0261-3077
    . Retrieved 15 June 2019.
  122. ^ "Oh, My Pop Culture Goddess: Transgender Issues in Wicca and Paganism". Lady Geek Girl and Friends. 16 February 2014. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  123. ^ Strmiska 2005, p. 2; Rountree 2015, p. 4.
  124. ^ Harvey 2007, pp. 36–37.
  125. ^ Wise, Constance (2008). Hidden Circles in the Web: Feminist Wicca, Occult Knowledge, and Process Thought. Rowman Altamira.
  126. ^ Berger & Ezzy 2007.
  127. ^ Johnston & Aloi 2007.
  128. ^ Lewis 2000, p. 162.
  129. ^ a b Chuvash faith and beliefs Archived 15 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine. Chuvash Culture Portal.
  130. ^ a b Valentin Stetsyuk. Introduction to the Study of Prehistoric Ethnogenic Processes in Eastern Europe and Asia, The Turkic Tribe Bulgar in Eastern Europe. Lviv, Ukraine.
  131. ^ Sergei Filatov, Aleksandr Shchipkov. Religious Developments among the Volga Nations as a Model for the Russian Federation. Religion, State & Society, Vol. 23, No. 3, 1995. pp. 239-243
  132. ^ Berger 1999, p. 9.
  133. ^ Robinson 2008.
  134. ^ Ahmed, Iqbal (23 December 2019). "The Many Faces of the Occult". The Atlantic. Retrieved 25 March 2021. about 1 million to 1.5 million people, identify as Wicca or Pagan
  135. ^ a b Arena - Atlas of Religions and Nationalities in Russia • sreda.org
  136. ^ Крылов [Krylov], Александр [Alexande] (17 March 2004), Единая Вера Абхазских "Христиан" и "Мусульман". Особенности религиозного сознания в современной Абхазии [Of United Vera Abhazskyh "Christians" & "Muslims." Features of religious consciousness in Modern Abkhazia] (in Russian), RU: Portal-credo, retrieved 30 May 2011.
  137. ^ В Абхазии создана религиозная организация "Совет жрецов Абхазии" [In Abkhazia creatures Religious Organization "Tip zhretsov Abkhazia"], Apsnypress, archived from the original on 25 November 2015.
  138. ^ Arena - Atlas of Religions and Nationalities in Russia. Sreda.org; 29% "adhere to a traditional religion of their ancestors, worship gods and the forces of nature". (исповедую традиционную религию своих предковпоклоняюсь богам и силам природы). This figure compares to 1.2% adherents of ethnic religions in all of the Russian Federation.
  139. ^ Nikolaus von Twickel. Europe's Last Pagans Worship in Mari-El Grove Archived 17 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Saint Petersburg Times, 2009.
  140. ISBN 5-89647-050-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
    )
  141. Archive-It
    . Journal of Contemporary Religion 17.2. 2002.
  142. ^ Schnirelmann, Victor: "Christians! Go home": A Revival of Neo-Paganism between the Baltic Sea and Transcaucasia. Journal of Contemporary Religion, Vol. 17, No. 2, 2002. p. 206.
  143. ^ Schnirelmann, Victor: "Christians! Go home": A Revival of Neo-Paganism between the Baltic Sea and Transcaucasia. Journal of Contemporary Religion, Vol. 17, No. 2, 2002. p. 208
  144. ^ a b c d Berger 1999, pp. 8, 9.
  145. ^ Pitzl-Waters 2008.
  146. ^ Pew 2008, p. 12.
  147. ^ a b PAN results 2012.
  148. ^ a b StatsNZ affiliation 2006.
  149. ^ StatsNZ population 2006.
  150. ^ Adler 2006, p. 13.
  151. ^ Adler 2006, pp. 15–19.
  152. ^ Magliocco 2004, pp. 40, 55.
  153. ^ Harrow 1996, p. 12.
  154. ^ Harvey 2007, p. 1-2.
  155. ^ Rabinovitch 1996, p. 76-77.
  156. ^ Adler 2006, pp. 20–21.
  157. ^ Adler 2006, p. 19.
  158. ^ Adler 2006, p. 34.
  159. ^ Magliocco 2004, p. 7.
  160. ^ Oboler 2010, pp. 182–183.
  161. ^ Pike 2004, p. 18.
  162. ^ Hunt 2003, pp. 147–148.
  163. ^ Pike 2004, p. vii.
  164. ^ Kelly 1992, p. 136.
  165. ^ a b c Doyle White 2016, p. 9.
  166. ^ Hanegraaff 1996, p. 78.
  167. ^ a b c Kelly 1992, p. 138.
  168. ^ Kelly 1992, p. 139.
  169. ^ Strmiska 2005, pp. 27–29.
  170. ^ Herrmann-Pfandt 2009, pp. 240–242.
  171. ^ Mayer 2001, pp. 100–101.
  172. ^ a b c Strmiska 2005, p. 29.
  173. ^ Strmiska 2005, p. 30.
  174. ^ a b c Strmiska 2005, p. 31.
  175. ^ Strmiska 2005, p. 34.
  176. ^ Strmiska 2005, p. 32.
  177. ^ Clifton & Harvey 2004, p. 7.
  178. ^ a b Clifton & Harvey 2004, p. 8.
  179. ^ Aitamurto & Simpson 2013, p. 4.
  180. ^ Tully 2011, pp. 98–99.
  181. ISBN 0-7090-8074-3
    . p.38. (Hardback edition first published 1998).
  182. ^ Shnirelman 1998 Neo-paganism and nationalism. Eastern European area

Sources

  1. J. McCarthy
    , A History of Our Own Times, 1880 iv. 542).
  2. ^ Clifton, Chas. "A Goddess Arrives". Gnosis Fall 1988: 20–29.
  3. ^ ""The Viking Revival" by Professor Andrew Wawn. BBC Homepage".
  4. ISBN 0-7591-0818-8
    . p.97: "Some pagans embrace the idea of a pan-European Celtic culture, but some practice regionally specific reconstructionist traditions."
  5. ISBN 0-02-864417-4. p.12: "Some groups have gone even further, trying to use archaeology, religious history, comparative mythology, and even the study of non-Celtic Indo-European
    religions in an effort to create a well-researched and scholarly 'reconstruction' of the ancient Celts."
  6. ISBN 978-0-275-98713-8
    .
  7. ^ Telesco (2005) p.114
  8. ^ Pagans and the Scottish Census of 2001 Archived 13 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 18 October 2007.
  9. ^ National Statistics Office (2001): '390,000 Jedi There Are'. Retrieved 18 October 2007.
  10. ^ Office for National Statistics, 11 December 2012, 2011 Census, Key Statistics for Local Authorities in England and Wales. Accessed 12 December 2012.
  11. ^ Butler, Jenny, "Irish neo-paganism". pages 111–130 in Olivia Cosgrove et al. (eds), Ireland's new religious movements. Cambridge Scholars, 2011
  12. ^ "2011 Census QuickStats: All people – usual residents". Australian Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
  13. ^ Pagan Awareness Network Inc. Australia (2011). "Australian Census Pagan Dash". Facebook Public Event. Australia. Retrieved 13 March 2013. The aim is to get Pagans of all persuasions (Wiccan, Druid, Asatru, Hellenic, Egyptian, Heathen etc.) to put themselves on the census form as 'Pagan' or 'Pagan, *your path*'.... Paganism is included in the Australian Standard Classification of Religious Groups (ASCRG), as a separate output category.... The classification structure of this group is: 613 Nature Religions 6130 Nature Religions, nfd (not further defined) 6131 Animism 6132 Druidism 6133 Paganism 6134 Pantheism 6135 Wiccan/Witchcraft 6139 Nature Religions, nec (not elsewhere classified) If a response of Pagan is qualified with additional information such as Druid or Wiccan, this additional information will be used in classifying the response. For example, Pagan Wiccan would be classified as 6135 and Pagan Celtic would be 6133. Pagan alone would be classified as 6133.
  14. ^ "Pagan Studies / AltaMira Press". csulb.edu. Retrieved 26 May 2008.

Bibliography

Academic anthologies

Academic journal articles

  • Doyle White, Ethan (2010). "The Meaning of "Wicca": A Study in Etymology, History and Pagan Politics". The Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies. 12 (2).
  • Hakl, Hans Thomas (2010). "Franz Sättler (Dr. Musallam) and the Twentieth-Century Cult of Adonism". The Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies. 12 (1).
  • Jonuks, Tõnno (2013). "Der Estnische Nationalismus und sein Konzept der prähistorischen Religion: Die Nation als Gestalterin des Religionsbildes". Forschungen zur Baltischen Geschichte. 8.
  • Tully, Caroline Jane (2011). "Researching the Past is a Foreign Country: Cognitive Dissonance as a Response by Practitioner Pagans to Academic Research on the History of Pagan Religions". The Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies. 13 (1).
  • Oboler, Regina Smith (2010). "Negotiating Gender Essentialism in Contemporary Paganism". The Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies. 12 (2).

Technical reports and statistics

Contemporary Pagan literature

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Neopaganism.


Category:Modern paganism

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Cinderella157/sandbox_2&oldid=1127445580"