Among the young, the situation is worse. Numerous pagan groups primarily Wiccan and Druidic exist in Ireland though none is officially recognised by the Government. [36] Some critics have described this approach as a form of racism. [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. [82] Polytheism, animism, and pantheism are common features of pagan theology. Obviously a complete revival is probably impossible but are small scale ones possible?. Pay Less. "[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". 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. 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 . According to this view, human society was formerly a matriarchy, with communities being egalitarian, pacifistic, and focused on the worship of the Mother goddess,[117] which was subsequently overthrown by violent and warlike patriarchal hordes - usually Indo-European pastoralists who worshipped male sky-gods,[117] and continued to rule through the form of Abrahamic religions, specifically Christianity in the West. [124] In the US, there are estimated to be between 1 and 1.5 million practitioners.[125]. and used standard models for extrapolating likely numbers. [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. The primary forms of Paganism in Europe were Hellenistic religions, including the Roman Imperial cult, mystery religions, local ethnic religions, especially among Anglo-Saxons and the Germanic tribes, Gnosticism and Neo-Platonism. Vote 1 1 comment sorted by Best This female-only, radical feminist variant of Wicca allows cisgender lesbians but not transgender women. 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. Christmas day (December 25th) was usurped and inaccurately fixed by Christians from the Roman festival of Mithra. They have also suggested that these could all be included under the rubric of "paganism". [145], 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. The Goddess movement draws some of its inspiration from the work of archaeologists such as Marija Gimbutas,[113][114][115][116] 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,[117] which has inspired some neopagan worshippers of the Triple Goddess. 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. [123] Nevertheless, there is a slow growing body of data on the subject. pages 111130 in Olivia Cosgrove et al. [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. This movement of God also crossed the ocean . [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. I simply accepted, reaffirmed, and extended a very old experience. [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. 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. [45] Reconstructionists do not altogether reject innovation in their interpretation and adaptation of the source material, however they do believe that the source material conveys greater authenticity and thus should be emphasized. [135], In the 2011 Australian census, 32083 respondents identified as pagan. [175], In areas such as the US Bible Belt, where conservative Christian dominance is strong, pagans have faced continued religious persecution. 12 October 2016. 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. 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. Most of what is considered Christian Europe is actually pagan Europe . It's pretty clear from the context that this is the sense in which the pope is using it. [105], Wicca is the largest form of modern paganism,[41] as well as the best-known[107] and most extensively studied. Pagan Definition. [106] Today the followers of the Chuvash Traditional Religion are called "the true Chuvash". [84] Nevertheless, common to almost all pagan religions is an emphasis on an agricultural cycle and respect for the dead. [86], Discussions about prevailing, returning or new forms of paganism have existed throughout the modern period. An example of a nativistic movement is: . 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. . [23] This approach has been received critically by many specialists in religious studies. [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. 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. Heathenry is a term used to describe the religious practices of two main groups of people, one historical and one modern. Because of these different approaches there is disagreement on when or if the term pagan should be capitalized, though specialists in the field of pagan studies tend towards capitalisation.[4]. It actually dates back much longer than that: it has roots in Hinduism and old Persian beliefs, but it moved to Northern Europe and mingled with indigenous beliefs . "[1] Thus it has been said that although it is "a highly diverse phenomenon", "an identifiable common element" nevertheless runs through the pagan movement. T hey don't look very Christianthose strange faces made of leaves, and those women displaying cartoonishly enlarged genitals on the walls of medieval churches. It was organised by two British religious studies scholars, Graham Harvey and Charlotte Hardman. [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. Professor Hutton argues that the Druid and Wiccan practices of today are valid forms of pagan religion even though they are based on self-conscious revivals (in the 18th and 20th century. [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. [144] They have also been supported by Pagan studies scholar Graham Harvey. 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]. [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. Is a Pagan revival possible in Europe? 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. 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. 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 . Europe is in the midst of a pagan revival. 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". [178] In April 1996 a larger conference dealing with contemporary paganism took place at Ambleside in the Lake District. [11] 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. 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. Mari fled here from forced Christianization in the 17th to 19th centuries. [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. [63] Pagans feel that this understanding of the gods reflected the dynamics of life on Earth, allowing for the expression of humour. First, it can refer to a belief that everything in the universe is imbued with a life force or spiritual energy. C hristianity is declining in Europe. [19] To avoid causing offense, many scholars in the English-speaking world have begun using the prefixes "modern" or "contemporary" rather than "neo". [71] For pagans, pantheism means that "divinity is inseparable from nature and that deity is immanent in nature". The word " Asatru " combines the words "Asa," which refers to Norse gods, and "tru," meaning "faith.". Go home": A Revival of Neo-Paganism between the Baltic Sea and Transcaucasia, "How Do Pagans Feel About Homosexuality? [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. Although they share similarities, contemporary pagan movements are diverse, and do not share a single set of beliefs, practices, or texts. [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. [18], Some practitioners eschew the term pagan altogether, preferring more specific names for their religion, such as "Heathen" or "Wiccan". [104] Their main god is Tura, a deity comparable to the Estonian Taara, the Germanic Thunraz and the pan-Turkic Tengri. Mari people - Another Uralic group. [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. The revival of Pagan practices may be one of its consequences. [44] They often follow scholarly debates about the nature of such pre-Christian religions, and some reconstructionists are themselves scholars. [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. [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. Modern forms of paganism are rooted in the 19th century C.E. [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. Magliocco noted that it was this world that pagans "strive to re-create in some measure". [178] In 2004, the first peer-reviewed, academic journal devoted to pagan studies began publication. [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. 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". [35], For some pagan groups, ethnicity is central to their religion, and some restrict membership to a single ethnic group. It is also fewer than the adherents of Jediism, whose campaign made them the fourth largest religion after Christianity, Islam and Hinduism.[]. This is due to Dianic belief in gender essentialism; according to founder Zsuzsanna Budapest, "you have to have sometimes [sic] in your life a womb, and ovaries and [menstruate] and not die". View. [] 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. [68], It is its inclusion of female deity which distinguishes pagan religions from their Abrahamic counterparts. Renaissance and revival History of modern Paganism Contemporary Paganism is the restoration of indigenous religion, especially that of ancient Europe. The Australian Bureau of Statistics classifies paganism as an affiliation under which several sub-classifications may optionally be specified. The last pagan revival was under the Western Emperor Eugenius, who was a puppet of the Pagan magister millitum Arbogast. [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]. 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. "[44] Strmiska argues that these two poles could be termed reconstructionism and eclecticism, respectively. 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. The ECER has made efforts to establish mutual support with Hindu groups, as has the Lithuanian Romuva movement. There is "considerable disagreement as to the precise definition and proper usage" of the term modern paganism. Since traditional religion is declining I don't see it not spreading. [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. [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.[]. [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. [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. You might argue that the most successful pagan revival movement in the 20th century was National Socialism. Their religious rituals are characterized by harmonious devotion to . Although they share similarities, contemporary pagan movements are diverse, and do not share a single set of beliefs, practices, or . The Contemporary Pagan Revival in Montreal At the Turn of the . 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". In Iceland, the satrarflagi, or sir faith, represents the contemporary continuation of Norse paganism. This includes animism, nature religion, Druidism, pantheism, and Wicca/Witchcraft. [81], Domestic worship typically takes place in the home and is carried out by either an individual or family group. [][][], 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. These open, unstructured or loosely structured traditions contrast with British Traditional Wicca, which emphasizes secrecy and initiatory lineage. I'd rather beA 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 wreathd horn. [30], The term "neo-pagan" was coined in the 19th century in reference to Renaissance and Romanticist Hellenophile classical revivalism. Renaissance: Influence and Interpretations. [64] Others adopt the belief that the deities have both a psychological and external existence. As a result, fairly detailed breakdowns of pagan respondents are available. [82], The belief in magical rituals and spells is held by a "significant number" of contemporary pagans. [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. Acceptance. It is, in fact, unique among Pagan paths. Hutton estimated that there are 250,000 neopagan adherents in the United Kingdom, roughly equivalent to the national Hindu community. To say it another way, modern Paganism is one of the happy stepchildren of modern multiculturalism and social pluralism. The first comprehensive study of its kind, this fully illustrated book establishes Paganism as a persistent force in European history with a profound influence on modern thinking. [17] A number of academics, particularly in North America, consider modern paganism a form of nature religion. 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 . Faith, ethics and loyalty . [70], A key part of most pagan worldviews is the holistic concept of a universe that is interconnected. [3] Scholars of religion may characterise these traditions as new religious movements. . [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.
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