[55] Strmiska stresses that modern paganism is a "new", "modern" religious movement, even if some of its content derives from ancient sources. [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. [124] In the US, there are estimated to be between 1 and 1.5 million practitioners.[125]. [151], The western LGBT community, often marginalized and/or outright rejected by Abrahamic-predominant mainstream religious establishments, has often sought spiritual acceptance and association in neopagan religious/spiritual practice. This ancient religious outlook remains active throughout much of the world today, both in complex civilisations such as Japan and India, and in less complex tribal societies world-wide. [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. Founded by Stephen McNallen in Northern California, the AFA reached 24 U.S.-based chapters, or kindreds, in 2021 with numerous other chapters around the world.Members of the AFA subscribe to a belief that pre-Christian Norse and Germanic religions can only be practiced by individuals with ancestral roots in those Northern European regions - or more specifically, white people. Since traditional religion is declining I don't see it not spreading. Heathenry is spread out across northwestern Europe, North America and Australasia, where the descendants of historic Germanic-speaking people now live. 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 . Paganism has grown in popularity greatly. [36] Some critics have described this approach as a form of racism. False. Oh, and there's nothing Pagan in "Harry Potter." The only religion even implied in any of the HP books is Christianity. [27] Conversely, most pagans do not use the word neopagan,[4] with some expressing disapproval of it, arguing that the term "neo" offensively disconnects them from what they perceive as their pre-Christian forebears. In Melbourne, Jonas and I offered a presentation together, entitled "The Revival of the European Indigenous Pagan Religions," which was meant to address some of the various key elements in the survival of Indigenous European spirituality. "[13], 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". These currents coincided with Romanticist interest in folklore and occultism, the widespread emergence of pagan themes in popular literature, and the rise of nationalism. [120], Some Unitarian Universalists are eclectic pagans. sir describes a particular category or subset of deities in Norse mythology. [4] Among the critics of the upper-case P are York and Andras Corban-Arthen, president of the ECER. When the Roman Emperor Julian (Flavius Claudius Julianus) came to power, Christianity was less popular than polytheism, but when Julian, a pagan (in contemporary usage) known as "the Apostate," was killed in battle, it was the end of Roman official acceptance of polytheism. [17] A number of academics, particularly in North America, consider modern paganism a form of nature religion. [59], Religious studies scholar Graham Harvey noted that the poem "Charge of the Goddess" remains central to the liturgy of most Wiccan groups. Magenta Griffiths is High Priestess of the Beit Asherah coven, and a former board member of the Covenant of the Goddess. 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. It was organised by two British religious studies scholars, Graham Harvey and Charlotte Hardman. Respondents were able to write in an affiliation not covered by the checklist of common religions, and a total of 42,262 people from England, Scotland and Wales declared themselves to be pagans by this method. [178] In April 1996 a larger conference dealing with contemporary paganism took place at Ambleside in the Lake District. At one end is reconstructionism, which seeks to revive historical pagan religions; examples are Heathenry (Germanic), Rodnovery (Slavic), and Hellenism (Greek). [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". [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. 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. 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. These open, unstructured or loosely structured traditions contrast with British Traditional Wicca, which emphasizes secrecy and initiatory lineage. [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. Renaissance and revival History of modern Paganism Contemporary Paganism is the restoration of indigenous religion, especially that of ancient Europe. Description. [95], In the 1920s Margaret Murray theorized that a secret pagan religion had survived the witchcraft persecutions enacted by the ecclesiastical and secular courts. [166] Various differences between the two movements have been highlighted; the New Age movement focuses on an improved future, whereas the focus of Paganism is on the pre-Christian past. ", Religious studies scholar Michael Strmiska[43], Another division within modern paganism rests on differing attitudes to the source material surrounding pre-Christian belief systems. Places of natural beauty are therefore treated as sacred and ideal for ritual, like the nemetons of the ancient Celts.[76]. [101], 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. [19] This is because the term pagan originates in Christian terminology, which individuals who object to the term wish to avoid. [90] At the time, it was commonly believed that almost all such folk customs were survivals from the pre-Christian period. [lower-Greek 1][lower-Greek 2][bettersourceneeded], The United States government does not directly collect religious information. [164] Ethan Doyle White stated that while the pagan and New Age movements "do share commonalities and overlap", they were nevertheless "largely distinct phenomena. 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. [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. [6] The academic field of pagan studies began to coalesce in the 1990s, emerging from disparate scholarship in the preceding two decades. The Australian Bureau of Statistics classifies paganism as an affiliation under which several sub-classifications may optionally be specified. [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". 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 sir gods; as well as strongly eschewing the emphasis on ethnicity that is common to other reconstructionist groups. [23] This approach has been received critically by many specialists in religious studies. The word " Asatru " combines the words "Asa," which refers to Norse gods, and "tru," meaning "faith.". Pre-World War II neopagan or proto-neopagan groups, growing out of occultism and/or Romanticism (Mediterranean revival, Viking revival, Celtic revival, etc.). 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. [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. View. [47], Strmiska nevertheless notes that this reconstructionist-eclectic division is "neither as absolute nor as straightforward as it might appear". [129] 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.[126]. According to the most recent Pew poll, only 71 percent of Europeans still identify as Christian, though 81 percent were raised in the faith. [123] Nevertheless, there is a slow growing body of data on the subject. [178] In 2004, the first peer-reviewed, academic journal devoted to pagan studies began publication. [49] [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. Second, there is a civic religion that like the civic paganism of old makes religious and political duties identical, and treats the city of man as the city of God (or the gods), the place where we. Many pagans have expressed criticism of the high fees charged by New Age teachers, something not typically present in the pagan movement. [29] In 2015, Rountree opined that this lower case/upper case division was "now [the] convention" in pagan studies. [177], The first international academic conference on the subject of pagan studies was held at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, North-East England in 1993. 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. [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. [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. Paperback. Modern Paganism, also known as Contemporary Paganism and Neopaganism, is a collective term for new religious movements influenced by or derived from the various historical pagan beliefs of pre-modern Europe, North Africa and the Near East. Mari people - Another Uralic group. Asatru is the name of a 20th-century revival of Norse paganism. In the early medieval ages, these religions were influential, and, in some cases, they were even the official . Faith, ethics and loyalty . [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". [18], Some practitioners eschew the term pagan altogether, preferring more specific names for their religion, such as "Heathen" or "Wiccan". 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. Many such pagans aim for an explicitly ecocentric practice, which may overlap with scientific pantheism. 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". [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. The Mari people are an indigenous group, recognized as the last surviving Pagans of Europe. It is also fewer than the adherents of Jediism, whose campaign made them the fourth largest religion after Christianity, Islam and Hinduism.[]. 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. 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. George Watson MacGregor Reid founded the Druid Order in its current form in 1909. [7] Even within the academic field of pagan studies, there is no consensus about how contemporary paganism can best be defined. Due to the secrecy and fear of persecution still prevalent among pagans, limited numbers are willing to openly be counted. [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 current revival of paganism is significant, because it is symptomatic of an end-time condition that will bring punishment from God before it is brought to an end at the return of Jesus Christ. Born in 1866 as the eldest son of a leading family of bankers, he purportedly turned his birthright over to his younger brother Max in favor of committing some of the family's . From its beginning, thanks to Christensen, this revival had a National Socialist component, but Gardell gives attention to others who helped create what he dubs "Aryan revolutionary paganism," including Wyatt Kaldenberg, "Jost" Turner, and Wotansvolk, created in 1995 by David and Katja Lane and Ron McVan. Census figures in Ireland do not provide a breakdown of religions outside of the major Christian denominations and other major world religions. Their religious rituals are characterized by harmonious devotion to . Contemporary pagan ritual is typically geared towards "facilitating altered states of awareness or shifting mind-sets". [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. 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. The population of Europe was growing, but in the 12th century the nun's orders on the whole were not opening new convents. The word is commonly understood to mean "sir belief.". [137], 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. Cities such as New Orleans, Edinburgh, and Drogheda, Ireland, have commercialized their pagan festivals, but there are still places where one can find ancient celebrations held outside of modernity; where traditions have remained locally-kept secrets passed down for generations. As neopaganism is not a unified religion, it means that the criticisms of certain groups often do not apply to other groups. I lived in Europe from 1992-2000, but was not pagan at the time. [] 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. Great God! [15] The various pagan religions have been academically classified as new religious movements,[16] with the anthropologist Kathryn Rountree describing paganism as a whole as a "new religious phenomenon". [84] Nevertheless, common to almost all pagan religions is an emphasis on an agricultural cycle and respect for the dead. There are exceptions to polytheism in paganism,[69] as seen for instance in the form of Ukrainian paganism promoted by Lev Sylenko, which is devoted to a monotheistic veneration of the god Dazhbog. In Wicca, male and female deities are typically balanced out in a form of duotheism. [104] While potentially considered a peculiar form of Tengrism, a related revivalist movement of Central Asian traditional religion, Vattisen Yaly (Chuvash: , Tradition of the Old) differs significantly: the Chuvash being a heavily Fennicised and Slavified ethnicity and having had exchanges also with other Indo-European ethnicities,[105] their religion shows many similarities with Finnic and Slavic paganisms; moreover, the revival of Vattisen Yaly in recent decades has occurred following neopagan patterns. Who were the last pagans in Europe? [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. [62] They are therefore not seen as perfect, but rather are venerated as being wise and powerful. [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. [165] [4] Some favor the term "ethnic religion"; the World Pagan Congress, founded in 1998, soon renamed itself the European Congress of Ethnic Religions (ECER), enjoying that term's association with the Greek ethnos and the academic field of ethnology. This alarming tendency is already widespread in Europe, where a majority of young adults have no faith, as a recent report showed. 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. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. [] 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. 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. Rowman Altamira. 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. [157][158][159], 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. Here is a short list encompassing all European countries. | Roz Kaveney", "Oh, My Pop Culture Goddess: Transgender Issues in Wicca and Paganism", Neo-paganism and nationalism. Its literal meaning is 'rural', 'from the countryside (pagus)' . [179], The relationship between pagan studies scholars and some practising pagans has at times been strained. [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. We all need to heed these prophetic and timely warningsand avoid being drawn into this pagan revival! "[1] Thus it has been said that although it is "a highly diverse phenomenon", "an identifiable common element" nevertheless runs through the pagan movement. [], Canada does not provide extremely detailed records of religious adherence. She furthermore argues that some of those dissatisfied pagans lashed out against academics as a result, particularly on the Internet. Before the 20th century, Christian institutions regularly used paganism as a term for everything outside of Christianity, Judaism andfrom the 18th centuryIslam. For the last several centuries, Europe and America have become increasingly secular as pre-Christian ideas and traditions have gained acceptance. [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. Originally used by Roman Christians to describe polytheists, it grew in Medieval Europe to describe anyone other than a Christian or indeed the "right sort" of Christian including Jews and Muslims, despite their monotheism. [57] Most pagans adopt an ethos of "unity in diversity" regarding their religious beliefs. One is eclecticism or syncretism, in which elements of historical ethnic religions such as the ancient Norse religion are combined with modern movements such as Wicca, Theosophy or other New Age philosophies. and used standard models for extrapolating likely numbers. Pagan-specializing religious scholar Christine Hoff Kraemer wrote, "Pagans tend to be relatively accepting of same-sex relationships, BDSM, polyamory, transgender, and other expressions of gender and sexuality that are marginalized by mainstream society." The decentralised nature of paganism and sheer number of solitary practitioners further complicates matters. To say it another way, modern Paganism is one of the happy stepchildren of modern multiculturalism and social pluralism. Modern paganism, also known as contemporary paganism[1] and neopaganism,[2] 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. Christmas day (December 25th) was usurped and inaccurately fixed by Christians from the Roman festival of Mithra. Most are polytheistic realists, believing that the deities are real entities, while others view them as Jungian archetypes. [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. [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. Read reviews and buy The Druid Revival Reader - by John Michael Greer (Paperback) at Target. Go home": A Revival of Neo-Paganism between the Baltic Sea and Transcaucasia, "How Do Pagans Feel About Homosexuality? 20Th-Century revival of Norse paganism of Europe it means that the criticisms of certain groups do! Some critics have described this approach as a recent report showed regarding their religious rituals are characterized by harmonious to! 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