In 2001 about seven people per 10,000 UK respondents were pagan; in 2011 the number (based on the England and Wales population) was 14.3 people per 10,000 respondents. [59], Religious studies scholar Graham Harvey noted that the poem "Charge of the Goddess" remains central to the liturgy of most Wiccan groups. Go home": A Revival of Neo-Paganism between the Baltic Sea and Transcaucasia, "How Do Pagans Feel About Homosexuality? [6] The academic field of pagan studies began to coalesce in the 1990s, emerging from disparate scholarship in the preceding two decades. 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. [106] Today the followers of the Chuvash Traditional Religion are called "the true Chuvash". As a result, pagans believe the essence of their spirituality is both ancient and timeless, regardless of the age of specific religious movements. [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. [27] Some pagan practitioners also prefer "neopaganism", believing that the prefix conveys the reformed nature of the religion, such as its rejection of practices such as animal sacrifice. Irish paganism is often strongly concerned with issues of place and language. 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. Expect More. [49] From the high Medieval period (950-1350) her story takes the reader through to the renaissance and the reformation, the great witch hunts (1480-1650), the age of reason and science to the principle romantic revival movements of the 19th century; the Druidic revival at Primrose Hill in London in 1792, the romantic notions of Edward Carpenter . Although they share similarities, contemporary pagan movements are diverse, and do not share a single set of beliefs, practices, or . ", Letcher (2001) "The Scouring of the Shire: Fairies, Trolls and Pixies in Eco-Protest Culture", Arena - Atlas of Religions and Nationalities in Russia, Europe's Last Pagans Worship in Mari-El Grove, "Christians! 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. Her own name, she notes, is derived from Thor's stone - "there are many, many names in Iceland linked with Thor". [121], In 1925, the Czech esotericist Franz Sttler founded the pagan religion Adonism, devoted to the ancient Greek god Adonis, whom Sttler equated with the Christian Satan, and which purported that the end of the world would come in 2000. [23] This approach has been received critically by many specialists in religious studies. The largest subgroup was Wicca, with 11,766 adherents. Neo-Druidry dates to the earliest forms of modern paganism: the Ancient Order of Druids founded in 1781 had many aspects of freemasonry, and has practiced rituals at Stonehenge since 1905. | Roz Kaveney", "Oh, My Pop Culture Goddess: Transgender Issues in Wicca and Paganism", Neo-paganism and nationalism. [87] Various folk beliefs have periodically been labeled as pagan and churches have demanded that they should be purged. [180], Neopaganism has been criticized on a variety of fronts, ranging from pseudohistory to racial issues to institutional issues. At the other end are eclectic movements, which blend elements of historical paganism with other religions and philosophies; examples are Wicca, neo-Druidry, and the Goddess movement. The Pew Research Center(PRC) has as one of its core areas of interest, "Religion and Public Life." It provides extensive reportage on this decline in Christian identity. Among the young, the situation is worse. Since the 1990s, many Russians have rediscovered religion, including Orthodox Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, and Slavic Paganism. [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. (, Davy, Barbara Jane (2007) "Introduction to pagan studies". 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. [62] They are therefore not seen as perfect, but rather are venerated as being wise and powerful. [100], In contrast to the eclectic traditions, Polytheistic Reconstructionists practice culturally specific ethnic traditions based on folklore, songs and prayers, as well as reconstructions from the historical record. In places like the UK pagans like Druid and Wiccan's doubled in size from 2001 and 2011 and definitely still growing. In Wicca, male and female deities are typically balanced out in a form of duotheism. [109], In the 1990s, Wiccan beliefs and practices were used as a partial basis for a number of US films and television series, such as The Craft, Charmed and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, leading to a surge in teenagers' and young adults' interest and involvement in the religion. 1 January : New Year's Day [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. [70] 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]. 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. An example of a nativistic movement is: . 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. [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. [65] [3] Scholars of religion may characterise these traditions as new religious movements. This includes animism, nature religion, Druidism, pantheism, and Wicca/Witchcraft. [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. [46], On the reconstructionist side can be placed those movements which often favour the designation "Native Faith", including Romuva, Heathenry, and Hellenism. [] From 2008 onward, conferences have been held bringing together scholars specialising in the study of paganism in Central and Eastern Europe. [124] In the US, there are estimated to be between 1 and 1.5 million practitioners.[125]. Great God! Numerous pagan groups primarily Wiccan and Druidic exist in Ireland though none is officially recognised by the Government. But it didn't arise out of the blue, as it results from a long . Pagan beliefs have survived alongside Christianity. [168], Because of their common links to the Proto-Indo-European culture, many adherents of modern paganism have come to regard Hinduism as a spiritual relative. 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. [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. 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. Europe is extremely rich in festivals and holidays, be them Christian, pagan or non-religious. [123] Nevertheless, there is a slow growing body of data on the subject. 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. [42], "We might say that Reconstructionist Pagans romanticize the past, while eclectic pagans idealize the future. The revival of Pagan practices may be one of its consequences. [14] Rountree wrote that it was wrong to assume that "expressions of Paganism can be categorized straight-forwardly according to region", but acknowledged that some regional trends were visible, such as the impact of Catholicism on paganism in Southern Europe. Wicca, Druid, Jedi and all of them just a new age fad among bored Europeans. This alarming tendency is already widespread in Europe, where a majority of young adults have no faith, as a recent report showed. In the early medieval ages, these religions were influential, and, in some cases, they were even the official . [21] Alternately, many practitioners in these regions view "Native Faith" as a category within modern paganism that does not encompass all pagan religions. [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). [82], Paganism's public rituals are generally calendrical,[70] although the pre-Christian festivals that pagans use as a basis varied across Europe. 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. 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. Germanische Glaubens . To say it another way, modern Paganism is one of the happy stepchildren of modern multiculturalism and social pluralism. 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". [91], The Romantic movement of the 18th century led to the re-discovery of Old Gaelic and Old Norse literature and poetry. [56], Eclectic paganism takes an undogmatic religious stance [57] and therefore potentially sees no one as having authority to deem a source apocryphal. 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. The establishment and growth of the Internet in the 1990s brought rapid growth to these, and other pagan movements. "Neopagan" redirects here. 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". As this secret wisdom can almost always be traced to recent sources, tellers of these stories have often later admitted they made them up. The figures for England and Wales showed 80,153 describing themselves as pagan (or some subgroup thereof.) [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. [17] A number of academics, particularly in North America, consider modern paganism a form of nature religion. [], In 2006, there were at least 6804 (0.164%) pagans among New Zealand's population of approximately 4 million. The population of Europe was growing, but in the 12th century the nun's orders on the whole were not opening new convents. The Moravian revival in 1727 had a deep impact on John Wesley, who led the 18th-century revival in the Church of England that gave birth to Methodism. [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. False. [97] The 1979 publication of Margot Adler's Drawing Down the Moon and Starhawk's The Spiral Dance opened a new chapter in public awareness of paganism. "[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". [165] [152][153], In response, groups and sects inclusive of or specific to LGBT people have developed. [36] Some critics have described this approach as a form of racism. [120], Some Unitarian Universalists are eclectic pagans. 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." Asatru is the name of a 20th-century revival of Norse paganism. [48] He cites the example of Dievturba, a form of reconstructionist paganism that seeks to revive the pre-Christian religion of the Latvian people, by noting that it exhibits eclectic tendencies by adopting a monotheistic focus and ceremonial structure from Lutheranism. They frequently associated paganism with idolatry, magic and a general concept of "false religion", which for example has made Catholics and Protestants accuse each other of being pagans. The Australian Bureau of Statistics classifies paganism as an affiliation under which several sub-classifications may optionally be specified. As neopaganism is not a unified religion, it means that the criticisms of certain groups often do not apply to other groups. [174] Thus, many pagans keep their religion private to avoid discrimination and ostracism. Heathens believe in multiple polytheistic deities adopted from historical Germanic mythologies. The decentralised nature of paganism and sheer number of solitary practitioners further complicates matters. [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. "[172] Further, there is a common belief in the pagan community that Christianity and paganism are opposing belief systems. pages 111130 in Olivia Cosgrove et al. [67] This pluralistic perspective has helped the varied factions of modern paganism exist in relative harmony. [32], According to Strmiska, the reappropriation of the term "pagan" by modern pagans served as "a deliberate act of defiance" against "traditional, Christian-dominated society", allowing them to use it as a source of "pride and power". [174] For instance, Strmiska highlighted instances in both the US and UK in which school teachers were fired when their employers discovered that they were pagan. Some modern pagan literature prominently features comparative religion involving European and Indian traditions. I lived in Europe from 1992-2000, but was not pagan at the time. Most of what is considered Christian Europe is actually pagan Europe . 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 . 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. Obviously a complete revival is probably impossible but are small scale ones possible?. In fact, while the Nazis initially tried to coopt Christianity, their goal was to. [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. [55] Contemporary paganism as practiced in the United States in the 1990s has been described as "a synthesis of historical inspiration and present-day creativity". Ancient Order of Druids (1781) The Druid Order (1909) Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (1888) Crowleyan Thelema (1904) Germanic neopaganism/Armanism. Further, some convents only accepted women of the nobility or those who . These conflicts sometimes. Thus, with only a few possible exceptions, today's Pagans cannot claim to be continuing religious traditions handed down in an unbroken line from ancient times to the present. [150], The sociologist Regina Oboler examined the role of gender in the US pagan community, arguing that although the movement had been constant in its support for the equality of men and women ever since its foundation, there was still an essentialist view of gender engrained within it, with female deities being accorded traditional western feminine traits and male deities being similarly accorded what western society saw as masculine traits. Studies in Contemporary European Paganism (2012) 2012 Adam Anczyk. 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. Pagan comes from the Latin word "paganus," meaning villager or civilian and they have a polytheistic approach to life. [135], In the 2011 Australian census, 32083 respondents identified as pagan. 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