Eco-paganism and Eco-magic, which are offshoots of direct action environmental groups, strongly emphasize fairy imagery and a belief in the possibility of intercession by the fae (fairies, pixies, gnomes, elves, and other spirits of nature and the Otherworlds). [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]. . Some modern forms of Paganism have their roots in 19th century C.E. [30], The term "neo-pagan" was coined in the 19th century in reference to Renaissance and Romanticist Hellenophile classical revivalism. Paperback. [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. 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.[112]. An example of a nativistic movement is: . 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. [172] This animosity is flamed by historical conflicts between Christian and pre-Christian religions, as well as the perceived ongoing Christian disdain from Christians. ", 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. This estimate accounted for multiple membership overlaps as well as the number of adherents represented by each attendee of a pagan gathering. 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. of human rights inhibited the faithful from living in accordance with their beliefs and indeed would lead to a neo-pagan revival. In Soviet Russia, all religion was banned. According to the most recent Pew poll, only 71 percent of Europeans still identify as Christian, though 81 percent were raised in the faith. Description. [85] Among those who believe in it, there are a variety of different views about what magic is. [90] At the time, it was commonly believed that almost all such folk customs were survivals from the pre-Christian period. The largest subgroup was Wicca, with 11,766 adherents. [3] Scholars of religion may characterise these traditions as new religious movements. [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. C hristianity is declining in Europe. 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. (eds), Learn how and when to remove this template message, secret pagan religion had survived the witchcraft persecutions, Union of Slavic Native Belief Communities, Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans, other expressions of gender and sexuality, Religious discrimination against neopagans, The Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies, Religion data from the 2001 Canadian census, "University of Victoria chaplain marks solstice with pagan rituals", "Invented Culture/Invented Religion: The Fictional Origins of Contemporary Paganism", 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198722250.003.0016, "Old Europe: Sacred Matriarchy or Complementary Opposition? [92], "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. This female-only, radical feminist variant of Wicca allows cisgender lesbians but not transgender women. When Adler asked one gay male pagan what the pagan community offered members of the LGBT community, he replied, "A place to belong. I lived in Europe from 1992-2000, but was not pagan at the time. [56], Eclectic paganism takes an undogmatic religious stance [57] and therefore potentially sees no one as having authority to deem a source apocryphal. One such. The word " Asatru " combines the words "Asa," which refers to Norse gods, and "tru," meaning "faith.". Today, we'll discuss a fascinating phenomenon that stretches back thousands of years, What if the Catholic World. "[44] Strmiska argues that these two poles could be termed reconstructionism and eclecticism, respectively. 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]. [47], Strmiska nevertheless notes that this reconstructionist-eclectic division is "neither as absolute nor as straightforward as it might appear". Since traditional religion is declining I don't see it not spreading. 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. The Australian Bureau of Statistics classifies paganism as an affiliation under which several sub-classifications may optionally be specified. [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. [70] In Wicca, a Wheel of the Year has been developed which typically involves eight seasonal festivals. [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. Neopaganist beliefs and practices are extremely diverse, some tending towards syncretic melding of once-diverse practices and beliefs, others bordering on the historical reenactment of meticulously . Hilmar rn Hilmarsson: satr is a pre-Christian religion that was prevalent in Northern Europe over 1,000 years ago. [134], A study by Ronald Hutton compared a number of different sources (including membership lists of major UK organizations, attendance at major events, subscriptions to magazines, etc.) [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.[]. Before the 20th century, Christian institutions regularly used paganism as a term for everything outside of Christianity, Judaism andfrom the 18th centuryIslam. [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". [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. 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". [19] 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. "[142], Folklorist Sabina Magliocco supported this idea, noting that a great many of those Californian pagans whom she interviewed claimed that they had been greatly interested in 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". [104] Their main god is Tura, a deity comparable to the Estonian Taara, the Germanic Thunraz and the pan-Turkic Tengri. It was the outlook of the European religions of classical antiquity - Persia . [82], Paganism's public rituals are generally calendrical,[70] although the pre-Christian festivals that pagans use as a basis varied across Europe. ", "Minoan Brotherhood | Transcendence Directory | Western Esotericism Community", "Why won't pagans accept trans women? Europe Leaves Christianity for 'Paganism' LONDON and DUBLIN - Martyr's Free Church in Edinburgh is part of the rich history of Christianity in Scotland. [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. In both beliefs, divinity and the material or spiritual universe are one. 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. 1 January : New Year's Day Pre-World War II neopagan or proto-neopagan groups, growing out of occultism and/or Romanticism (Mediterranean revival, Viking revival, Celtic revival, etc.). Adonism largely died out in the 1930s, but remained an influence on the German occult scene. [176], 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. [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. [69] As noted above, pagans with naturalistic worldviews may not believe in or work with deities at all. [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. 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." [138] Out of 21507717 recorded Australians,[] they compose approximately 0.15% of the population. 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. [78], Pagan ritual can take place in both a public and private setting. [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". From the serpent goddesses of ancient Crete to modern nature-worship and . [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. What affects one of us affects us all. [161], Since the 1960s and 1970s, contemporary paganism, or neo-paganism, and the then emergent counterculture, New Age, and hippie movements experienced a degree of cross-pollination. Neopaganism (sometimes Neo-Paganism) describes a heterogeneous group of new religious movements which attempt to revive ancient, mainly pre-Christian and often pre-Judaic Indo-European religions. What Paganism Is. [14] But there has been much "cross-fertilization" between these different faiths: many groups have influenced, and been influenced by, other pagan religions, making clear-cut distinctions among them more difficult for scholars to make. [89] Another reason for change was the circulation of ancient writings such as those attributed to Hermes Trismegistus; this made paganism an intellectual position some Europeans began to self-identify with, starting at the latest in the 15th century with people like Gemistus Pletho, who wanted to establish a new form of Greco-Roman polytheism. [61], One principle of the pagan movement is polytheism, the belief in and veneration of multiple gods or goddesses. [179], The relationship between pagan studies scholars and some practising pagans has at times been strained. 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. 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. This usage has been common since the pagan revival in the 1970s. [105], Wicca is the largest form of modern paganism,[41] as well as the best-known[107] and most extensively studied. [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. It's definitely not a Wiccan path, and because of the structure within the spirituality, it's not even something where you can swap out gods of other pantheons and insert the Roman deities. [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. These figures were not released as a matter of course by the Office for National Statistics, but were released after an application by the Pagan Federation of Scotland. She furthermore argues that some of those dissatisfied pagans lashed out against academics as a result, particularly on the Internet. Among the young, the situation is worse. Most are polytheistic realists, believing that the deities are real entities, while others view them as Jungian archetypes. Download Free . Many such pagans aim for an explicitly ecocentric practice, which may overlap with scientific pantheism. [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". It is also fewer than the adherents of Jediism, whose campaign made them the fourth largest religion after Christianity, Islam and Hinduism.[]. 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. He then discusses the future prospects of Paganism, examining various social and cultural factors that work in its favour and others that work against it. He claimed to have been initiated by the New Forest coven in 1939, and that the religion he discovered was a survival of the pagan witch-cult described in Murray's theory. Most people who have explored the medieval architecture of Western Europe have heard a tour guide explain that a particular carving or decorative feature is a pagan image obtruding itself subversively in a Christian sacred space. Although they share similarities, contemporary pagan movements are diverse, and do not share a single set of beliefs, practices, or texts. Pagan practices in Europe by then were very rural, isolated, and irregularly organized and were only disappearing as the days passed. [65] Many pagans believe adoption of a polytheistic world-view would be beneficial for western society replacing the dominant monotheism they see as innately repressive. Asatru is the name of a 20th-century revival of Norse paganism. Magliocco noted that it was this world that pagans "strive to re-create in some measure". Pagan; Paganism: . This alarming tendency is already widespread in Europe, where a majority of young adults have no faith, as a recent report showed. 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 . The establishment and growth of the Internet in the 1990s brought rapid growth to these, and other pagan movements. [175], In areas such as the US Bible Belt, where conservative Christian dominance is strong, pagans have faced continued religious persecution. For the last several centuries, Europe and America have become increasingly secular as pre-Christian ideas and traditions have gained acceptance. [] The overall numbers of people self-reporting as pagan rose between 2001 and 2011. Arts+Culture Feature. [], In 2006, there were at least 6804 (0.164%) pagans among New Zealand's population of approximately 4 million. [61] This has been interpreted in two distinct ways among the pagan community. I simply accepted, reaffirmed, and extended a very old experience. 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. Later that year, attacks on immigrants reportedly doubled. Having suffered years of oppression through Soviet secularism and facing an ongoing threat from the current government, the Mari people are unique and strong. [59], Religious studies scholar Graham Harvey noted that the poem "Charge of the Goddess" remains central to the liturgy of most Wiccan groups. [36] Some critics have described this approach as a form of racism. Numerous pagan groups primarily Wiccan and Druidic exist in Ireland though none is officially recognised by the Government. 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