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. [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. [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. [18], Some practitioners eschew the term pagan altogether, preferring more specific names for their religion, such as "Heathen" or "Wiccan". Religious studies scholar Sarah Pike asserted that in the United States, there was a "significant overlap" between 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". These open, unstructured or loosely structured traditions contrast with British Traditional Wicca, which emphasizes secrecy and initiatory lineage. Asatru is the name of a 20th-century revival of Norse paganism. [48] Concern has also been expressed regarding the utility of the term "reconstructionism" when dealing with paganisms in Central and Eastern Europe, because in many of the languages of these regions, equivalents of the term "reconstructionism" such as the Czech Historick rekonstrukce and Lithuanian Istorin rekonstrukcija are already used to define the secular hobby of historical re-enactment. Oh, and there's nothing Pagan in "Harry Potter." The only religion even implied in any of the HP books is Christianity. At the 2001 census, there were a recorded 21080 pagans in Canada. [38] Strmiska notes that pagan groups can be "divided along a continuum: at one end are those that aim to reconstruct the ancient religious traditions of a particular ethnic group or a linguistic or geographic area to the highest degree possible; at the other end are those that freely blend traditions of different areas, peoples, and time periods. [19] To avoid causing offense, many scholars in the English-speaking world have begun using the prefixes "modern" or "contemporary" rather than "neo". [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 Wiccans in the United States and the United Kingdom, but unconnected to the broader, counterculture pagan movement. In 1964 Ross Nichols established the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids. Its literal meaning is 'rural', 'from the countryside (pagus)' . $17.85 - $52.94 32 Used from $3.00 12 New from $44.68 1 Collectible from $37.00. Places of natural beauty are therefore treated as sacred and ideal for ritual, like the nemetons of the ancient Celts.[76]. [67] This pluralistic perspective has helped the varied factions of modern paganism exist in relative harmony. [63] Pagans feel that this understanding of the gods reflected the dynamics of life on Earth, allowing for the expression of humour. [22] Other terms some pagans favor include "traditional religion", "indigenous religion", "nativist religion", and "reconstructionism". View. Writing in the 1430s, Matteo Palmieri of Florence celebrated "this new age, so full of hope and promise" with a greater collection of "nobly-gifted souls" than the world had seen in a thousand years.Like others of his day, Palmieri believed he was living in a special time, a period of tremendous intellectual and artistic creativity inspired by the . This female-only, radical feminist variant of Wicca allows cisgender lesbians but not transgender women. The last pagan revival was under the Western Emperor Eugenius, who was a puppet of the Pagan magister millitum Arbogast. At least three residents of the city have formally complained over the plan to place the sculpture, one of five pieces of art funded by the government with a . [] The overall numbers of people self-reporting as pagan rose between 2001 and 2011. [82], The belief in magical rituals and spells is held by a "significant number" of contemporary pagans. Adherents look for elements of this human history in "theological, anthropological, archaeological, historical, folkloric and hagiographic writings".[118]. Ancient Order of Druids (1781) The Druid Order (1909) Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (1888) Crowleyan Thelema (1904) Germanic neopaganism/Armanism. [70], A key part of most pagan worldviews is the holistic concept of a universe that is interconnected. [160], "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. Some academics who study the phenomenon treat it as a movement that is divided into different religions while others characterize it as a single religion of which different pagan faiths are denominations. 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. Reviewing Grard's book Parcours paen in 2001, the historian of religion Jean-Franois Mayer described Grard's activities as part of the development of a "Western-Hindu 'pagan axis'".[171]. I lived in Europe from 1992-2000, but was not pagan at the time. 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. 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". On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. 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". Among modern Pagans, there are two approaches to reviving pagan practices. [178] In 2004, the first peer-reviewed, academic journal devoted to pagan studies began publication. Part of the reason Theodosius declared his son Western Emperor while Eugenius was still on the throne was because he was distressed by this pagan revival. Numerous pagan groups primarily Wiccan and Druidic exist in Ireland though none is officially recognised by the Government. ", "Minoan Brotherhood | Transcendence Directory | Western Esotericism Community", "Why won't pagans accept trans women? Jonas, along with his son-in-law Artras Sinkeviius, opened the program by singing a Lithuanian . [141] 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. C hristianity is declining in Europe. [66] In fact, many American neopagans first came to their adopted faiths because it allowed a greater freedom, diversity, and tolerance of worship among the community. It was organised by two British religious studies scholars, Graham Harvey and Charlotte Hardman. [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. [] In the academic community Wicca has also been interpreted as having close affinities with process philosophy. Before the 20th century, Christian institutions regularly used paganism as a term for everything outside of Christianity, Judaism andfrom the 18th centuryIslam. [60][73] In contrast, some contemporary pagans believe that there are specific spirits that inhabit various features in the natural world, and that these can be actively communicated with. For the last several centuries, Europe and America have become increasingly secular as pre-Christian ideas and traditions have gained acceptance. [99], The 1980s and 1990s also saw an increasing interest in serious academic research and reconstructionist pagan traditions. [75], All pagan movements place great emphasis on the divinity of nature as a primary source of divine will, and on humanity's membership of the natural world, bound in kinship to all life and the Earth itself. 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. 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. Adonism largely died out in the 1930s, but remained an influence on the German occult scene. [52], 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. 2. Free standard shipping with $35 orders. [122], Establishing precise figures on paganism is difficult. OTHER ARTICLES IN THIS ISSUE View All [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". Rowman Altamira. [55] Strmiska stresses that modern paganism is a "new", "modern" religious movement, even if some of its content derives from ancient sources. Most of what is considered Christian Europe is actually pagan Europe . [178] In April 1996 a larger conference dealing with contemporary paganism took place at Ambleside in the Lake District. [144] They have also been supported by Pagan studies scholar Graham Harvey. Contemporary pagan ritual is typically geared towards "facilitating altered states of awareness or shifting mind-sets". Greece is no exception. [65] Among many pagans, there is a strong desire to incorporate the female aspects of the divine in their worship and within their lives, which can partially explain the attitude which sometimes manifests as the veneration of women.[]. [84] Nevertheless, common to almost all pagan religions is an emphasis on an agricultural cycle and respect for the dead. [104] Their main god is Tura, a deity comparable to the Estonian Taara, the Germanic Thunraz and the pan-Turkic Tengri. Having suffered years of oppression through Soviet secularism and facing an ongoing threat from the current government, the Mari people are unique and strong. [63], One view in the pagan community is that these polytheistic deities are not viewed as literal entities, but as Jungian archetypes or other psychological constructs that exist in the human psyche. In the Islamic World, pagans are not considered 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. [59], 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. But it didn't arise out of the blue, as it results from a long . [170] The modern pagan writer Christopher Grard has drawn much inspiration from Hinduism and visited Swarup in India. Although they share similarities, contemporary pagan movements are diverse, and do not share a single set of beliefs, practices, or texts. Europe Leaves Christianity for 'Paganism' LONDON and DUBLIN - Martyr's Free Church in Edinburgh is part of the rich history of Christianity in Scotland. From the serpent goddesses of ancient Crete to modern nature-worship and . [10] A second, less common definition found within pagan studiespromoted by the religious studies scholars Michael F. Strmiska and Graham Harveycharacterises modern paganism as a single religion, of which groups like Wicca, Druidry, and Heathenry are denominations. The fracturing of Christians in western Europe into different groups led to conflicts, sometimes called the "wars of religion," that lasted for centuries in Europe. The Pre-Druidic Period. Magliocco noted that it was this world that pagans "strive to re-create in some measure". [lower-Greek 3] Based on the most recent survey by the Pew Forum on religion, there are over one million pagans in the United States. [143] 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". Here is a short list encompassing all European countries. [136] Up to 0.4% of respondents answered "pagan" or "Wiccan" when polled. 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. (, Davy, Barbara Jane (2007) "Introduction to pagan studies". Heathenry is a term used to describe the religious practices of two main groups of people, one historical and one modern. [179], The relationship between pagan studies scholars and some practising pagans has at times been strained. Europe is in the midst of a pagan revival. [154] Margot Adler noted groups whose practices focused on male homosexuality, such as Eddie Buczynski's Minoan Brotherhood, a Wiccan sect that combines the iconography from ancient Minoan religion with a Wiccan theology and an emphasis on men who love men, and the eclectic pagan group known as the Radical Faeries. At one end is reconstructionism, which seeks to revive historical pagan religions; examples are Heathenry (Germanic), Rodnovery (Slavic), and Hellenism (Greek). Modern forms of paganism are rooted in the 19th century C.E. It was the outlook of the European religions of classical antiquity - Persia . Contemporary paganism has therefore been prone to fakelore, especially in recent years as information and misinformation alike have been spread on the Internet and in print media. [21] Alternately, many practitioners in these regions view "Native Faith" as a category within modern paganism that does not encompass all pagan religions. [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". [62] These deities are typically depicted in human form, and are viewed as having human faults. And a way to connect with all kinds of peoplegay, bi, straight, celibate, transgenderin a way that is hard to do in the greater society. Well, it's home to one of the most dynamic revival preachers in Europe, Jean-Luc Trachsel, whose ministry in Oron is growing steadily and regularly sees conversions in the hundreds. [] This is more than many well known traditions such as Rastafarian, Bah and Zoroastrian groups, but fewer than the big six of Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, Judaism and Buddhism. [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". It is, in fact, unique among Pagan paths. 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. [86], Discussions about prevailing, returning or new forms of paganism have existed throughout the modern period. [71] For pagans, pantheism means that "divinity is inseparable from nature and that deity is immanent in nature". 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". In this article, the author surveys the history of Neo-Paganism from the Romantic movement to the 20th-century revival of Witchcraft, Druidism, Asatru and other forms of Pagan religion. A proposal to erect a pagan "Amazonian love god" statue near a cathedral in the English city of Wakefield has drawn the ire of residents who claim its placement mocks Christianity. As neopaganism is not a unified religion, it means that the criticisms of certain groups often do not apply to other groups. Mari anthropologist Nikandr Popov points out that pagan prayer meetings were permitted by decree during the Second World War - with collections being made for the front - and . 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. [146], 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. Author Richard Rudgley discusses similar themes in his book The Return of Odin: The Modern Renaissance of Pagan Imagination, where he looks at this notion of a pagan revival primarily through the workings of Carl Jung's idea of an "Odinic archetype." In essence, the holdovers from ancient evolutionary ideas deep within the human mind (or . Adherents rely on pre-Christian, folkloric, and ethnographic sources to a variety of degrees; many follow a spirituality that they accept as entirely modern, while others claim prehistoric beliefs, or else attempt to revive indigenous religions as accurately as possible. [130] The percentage of pagans among the Mari of Bashkortostan and the eastern part of Tatarstan is even higher (up to 69% among women). Theologian Jone Salomonsen noted in the 1980s and 1990s that the reclaiming movement of San Francisco featured an unusually high number of LGBT people, particularly bisexuals. [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. Contemporary paganism has sometimes been associated with the New Age movement, with scholars highlighting both their similarities and differences. This estimate accounted for multiple membership overlaps as well as the number of adherents represented by each attendee of a pagan gathering. [140] Respondents were given the option to select one or more religious affiliations. [110][111], Goddess spirituality, which is also known as the Goddess movement, is a pagan religion in which a singular, monotheistic Goddess is given predominance. 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. Various forms of Wicca have since evolved or been adapted from Gardner's British Traditional Wicca or Gardnerian Wicca, such as Alexandrian Wicca. sir describes a particular category or subset of deities in Norse mythology. [103], The Chuvash people, a Turkic ethnic group native to an area stretching from the Volga Region to Siberia, have experienced a pagan revival since the fall of the Soviet Union. [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. Pagan comes from the Latin word "paganus," meaning villager or civilian and they have a polytheistic approach to life. [128] In North Ossetia, 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). For other uses, see, Naturalism, ecocentrism, and secular paths, "The very persons who would most writhe and wail at their surroundings if transported back into early Greece, would, I think, be the neo-pagans and Hellas worshipers of today." Today, we'll discuss a fascinating phenomenon that stretches back thousands of years, What if the Catholic World. [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. This usage has been common since the pagan revival in the 1970s. European nationalism (including the British Order of Druids), but most . With the growth and spread of large, pagan gatherings and festivals in the 1980s, public varieties of Wicca continued to further diversify into additional, eclectic sub-denominations, often heavily influenced by the New Age and counter-culture movements. Go home": A Revival of Neo-Paganism between the Baltic Sea and Transcaucasia, "How Do Pagans Feel About Homosexuality? Pay Less. Christmas day (December 25th) was usurped and inaccurately fixed by Christians from the Roman festival of Mithra. Neo-druidism. In the early medieval ages, these religions were influential, and, in some cases, they were even the official . Hellenic, Roman, Kemetic, Celtic, Germanic, Guanche, Baltic and Slavic reconstructionists aim to preserve and revive the practices and beliefs of Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Ancient Egypt, the Celts, the Germanic peoples, the Guanche people, the Balts and the Slavs, respectively. One reason was increased contacts with areas outside of Europe, which happened through trade, Christian mission and colonization. [70] [106] Today the followers of the Chuvash Traditional Religion are called "the true Chuvash". pages 111130 in Olivia Cosgrove et al. [17] A number of academics, particularly in North America, consider modern paganism a form of nature religion. [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. Other forms loosely based on Gardner's teachings are Faery Wicca, Kemetic Wicca, Judeo-paganism or jewitchery, and Dianic Wicca or feminist Wicca, which emphasizes the divine feminine, often creating women-only or lesbian-only groups. [59], Religious studies scholar Graham Harvey noted that the poem "Charge of the Goddess" remains central to the liturgy of most Wiccan groups. The word 'pagan' (small 'p') is often used pejoratively to mean simply 'uncivilised', or even 'un-Christian' (the two generally being assumed to be identical), in the same way that 'heathen' is used. [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. The ECER has made efforts to establish mutual support with Hindu groups, as has the Lithuanian Romuva movement. Most are non-practicing. [77], Such views have also led many pagans to revere the planet Earth as Mother Earth, who is often referred to as Gaia after the ancient Greek goddess of the Earth. False. The Revival of the European Pagan Religions - Parliament of the World's Religions The Revival of the European Pagan Religions March 31, 2015 by Andras Corban-Arthen This article was originally published on August 31, 2010 by Earth Spirit Voices. Modern paganism, also known as contemporary paganism and neopaganism, is a term for a religion or family of 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. [][][], 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. [152][153], In response, groups and sects inclusive of or specific to LGBT people have developed. [82] Common pagan festivals include those marking the summer solstice and winter solstice as well as the start of spring and the harvest. . [65] [4], Various pagans who are active in pagan studies, such as Michael York and Prudence Jones, have argued that, due to similarities in their worldviews, the modern pagan movement can be treated as part of the same global phenomenon as pre-Christian Ancient religions, living Indigenous religions, and world religions like Hinduism, Shinto, and Afro-American religions. [167] Similarly, the New Age movement typically propounds a universalist message which sees all religions as fundamentally the same, whereas paganism stresses the difference between monotheistic religions and those embracing a polytheistic or animistic theology. [] From 2008 onward, conferences have been held bringing together scholars specialising in the study of paganism in Central and Eastern Europe. The evidence of the religious activities of the prehistoric inhabitants of western Europe is remarkable: on the Gower Peninsula, near Swansea in Wales, the Paviland caves have revealed one of the earliest magico-religious sites in the world, where around 26,000 years ago a group of humans carefully interred a skeleton, wrapping the body in red cloth or rubbing it with . [108], Historian Ronald Hutton identified a wide variety of different sources that influenced Wicca's development, including ceremonial magic, folk magic, Romanticist literature, Freemasonry, and the witch-cult theory of English archaeologist Margaret Murray. [175], In areas such as the US Bible Belt, where conservative Christian dominance is strong, pagans have faced continued religious persecution. Her own name, she notes, is derived from Thor's stone - "there are many, many names in Iceland linked with Thor". ", 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]. [48] Similarly, while examining neo-shamanism among the 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. 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. [162] An issue of academic debate has been regarding the connection between these movements. Renaissance: Influence and Interpretations. [44] They often follow scholarly debates about the nature of such pre-Christian religions, and some reconstructionists are themselves scholars. In both beliefs, divinity and the material or spiritual universe are one. One such. You might argue that the most successful pagan revival movement in the 20th century was National Socialism. [86], A smaller number is suggested by the results of the 2001 Census, in which a question about religious affiliation was asked for the first time. I am somewhat under the impression that paganism, as practiced in Europe, tends to often have a more ethnocentric bend to it because in Europe various pagan sects could be seen as "indigenous" religions. [61] This has been interpreted in two distinct ways among the pagan community. Some modern pagan literature prominently features comparative religion involving European and Indian traditions. Organised by the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Lancaster, North-West England, it was entitled "Nature Religion Today: Western Paganism, Shamanism and Esotericism in the 1990s", and led to the publication of an academic anthology, entitled Nature Religion Today: Paganism in the Modern World. As a result, pagans believe the essence of their spirituality is both ancient and timeless, regardless of the age of specific religious movements. [139], Based upon her study of the pagan community in the United States, the sociologist Margot Adler noted that it is rare for pagan groups to proselytize in order to gain new converts to their faiths. Part of most pagan worldviews is the holistic concept of a pagan revival was under the Western Emperor Eugenius who! The modern pagan writer Christopher Grard has drawn much inspiration from Hinduism and Swarup... 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