[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. [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. Its literal meaning is 'rural', 'from the countryside (pagus)' . Reconstructing the Pagan Mind in Seventeenth-Century Europe (I.3) - The Kingdom of Darkness I.3 - Reconstructing the Pagan Mind in Seventeenth-Century Europe A Historico-Philosophical Critique of Pure Reason from Part I - Giving Up Philosophy Published online by Cambridge University Press: 23 March 2022 Dmitri Levitin Chapter Get access Share Cite [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. At one end is reconstructionism, which seeks to revive historical pagan religions; examples are Heathenry (Germanic), Rodnovery (Slavic), and Hellenism (Greek). 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. Some modern pagan literature prominently features comparative religion involving European and Indian traditions. Is a Pagan revival possible in Europe? Greece is no exception. [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. 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. While the pagan community has tremendous variety in political views spanning the whole of the political spectrum, environmentalism is often a common feature. [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. It is also fewer than the adherents of Jediism, whose campaign made them the fourth largest religion after Christianity, Islam and Hinduism.[]. [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. [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. But it didn't arise out of the blue, as it results from a long . [], Canada does not provide extremely detailed records of religious adherence. (, Davy, Barbara Jane (2007) "Introduction to pagan studies". Interest in the Norse myths revived, as elsewhere, in the late 19th . [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. The Witchcraze was a Neo-Pagan movement in 19th century Europe that attempted to rehabilitate healers and midwives. 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. Vote 1 1 comment sorted by Best [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. 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. The Australian Bureau of Statistics classifies paganism as an affiliation under which several sub-classifications may optionally be specified. 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". The approach to paganism varied during this period; Friedrich Schiller's 1788 poem "Die Gtter Griechenlandes" presents ancient Greek religion as a powerful alternative to Christianity, whereas others took interest in paganism through the concept of the noble savage, often associated with Jean-Jacques Rousseau.[89]. 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". [178] In April 1996 a larger conference dealing with contemporary paganism took place at Ambleside in the Lake District. Mari people - Another Uralic group. ", 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. [26], Many scholars have favored the use of "neopaganism" to describe this phenomenon, with the prefix "neo-" serving to distinguish the modern religions from their ancient, pre-Christian forerunners. 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. 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. She furthermore argues that some of those dissatisfied pagans lashed out against academics as a result, particularly on the Internet. Oh, and there's nothing Pagan in "Harry Potter." The only religion even implied in any of the HP books is Christianity. Europe is in the midst of a pagan revival. 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 PRC has also begun to report on Pagan identity. 12 October 2016. Hilmar rn Hilmarsson: satr is a pre-Christian religion that was prevalent in Northern Europe over 1,000 years ago. Renaissance: Influence and Interpretations. Although the movement is small, there is a religious movement attempting to revive the worship of the ancient Greek gods . [68], It is its inclusion of female deity which distinguishes pagan religions from their Abrahamic counterparts. This female-only, radical feminist variant of Wicca allows cisgender lesbians but not transgender women. [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. What Paganism Is. [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. Religio Romana is a modern Pagan reconstructionist religion based upon the ancient faith of pre-Christian Rome. These currents coincided with Romanticist interest in folklore and occultism, the widespread emergence of pagan themes in popular literature, and the rise of nationalism. Various forms of Wicca have since evolved or been adapted from Gardner's British Traditional Wicca or Gardnerian Wicca, such as Alexandrian Wicca. [65] [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 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. 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 . "[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". ", 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]. [lower-Greek 1][lower-Greek 2][bettersourceneeded], The United States government does not directly collect religious information. [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. [96], The 1960s and 1970s saw a resurgence in neo-Druidism as well as the rise of Germanic neopaganism in the United States and in Iceland. [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. [102], Beit Asherah (the house of the Goddess Asherah) was one of the first neopagan synagogues, founded in the early 1990s by Stephanie Fox, Steven Posch, and Magenta Griffiths (Lady Magenta). [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. Inside Iceland's pagan revival. 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. Many such pagans aim for an explicitly ecocentric practice, which may overlap with scientific pantheism. False. From the serpent goddesses of ancient Crete to modern nature-worship and . [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. Since Mari make up just 45 percent of the republic's population of 700,000, this figure means that probably more than a third claim to follow the old religion. 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. [85] Among those who believe in it, there are a variety of different views about what magic is. 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. 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". C hristianity is declining in Europe. [175], In areas such as the US Bible Belt, where conservative Christian dominance is strong, pagans have faced continued religious persecution. [63] Pagans feel that this understanding of the gods reflected the dynamics of life on Earth, allowing for the expression of humour. [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. The establishment and growth of the Internet in the 1990s brought rapid growth to these, and other pagan movements. [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. [148] She went on to remark that she had encountered pagans in jobs that ranged from "fireman to PhD chemist" but that the one thing that she thought made them into an "elite" was as avid readers, something that she found to be very common within the pagan community despite the fact that avid readers constituted less than 20% of the general population of the United States at the time. Community. Here is an article about the pagan revival: Unlike in western Europe, paganism among the Mari constitutes an unbroken tradition rather than a New Age construction. Germanische Glaubens . [91], The Romantic movement of the 18th century led to the re-discovery of Old Gaelic and Old Norse literature and poetry. "[72], Another pivotal belief in the contemporary pagan movement is that of animism. [123] Nevertheless, there is a slow growing body of data on the subject. [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. [60] The English academic Graham Harvey noted that pagans "rarely indulge in theology". Pagan; Paganism: . 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. Faith, ethics and loyalty . Who were the last pagans in Europe? Wicca, Druid, Jedi and all of them just a new age fad among bored Europeans. [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. [167], Many pagans have sought to distance themselves from the New Age movement, even using "New Age" as an insult within their community, while conversely many involved in the New Age have expressed criticism of paganism for emphasizing the material world over the spiritual. 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. Christmas day (December 25th) was usurped and inaccurately fixed by Christians from the Roman festival of Mithra. The Mari people are an indigenous group, recognized as the last surviving Pagans of Europe. [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. 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. Acceptance. Contemporary paganism has sometimes been associated with the New Age movement, with scholars highlighting both their similarities and differences. Among Circassians, the Adyghe Habze faith has been revived after the fall of the Soviet Union, and followers of neopagan faiths were found to constitute 12% in Karachay-Cherkessia and 3% in Kabardino-Balkaria (both republics are multiethnic and also have many non-Circassians, especially Russians and Turkic peoples)[126] In Abkhazia, the Abkhaz native faith has also been revived, and in the 2003 census, 8% of residents identified with it (note again that there are many non-Abkhaz in the state including Georgians, Russians and Armenians);[127] on 3 August 2012 the Council of Priests of Abkhazia was formally constituted in Sukhumi. 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. [79] In order to induce such altered states of consciousness, pagans utilize such elements as drumming, visualization, chanting, singing, dancing, and meditation. [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. Among modern Pagans, there are two approaches to reviving pagan practices. 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). Many pagans have expressed criticism of the high fees charged by New Age teachers, something not typically present in the pagan movement. 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. Some pagans have reported experiencing communication with spirits dwelling in rocks, plants, trees and animals, as well as power animals or animal spirits who can act as spiritual helpers or guides. This includes animism, nature religion, Druidism, pantheism, and Wicca/Witchcraft. 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. Modern forms of paganism are rooted in the 19th century C.E. The decentralised nature of paganism and sheer number of solitary practitioners further complicates matters. [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". (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? The 2011 census however made it possible to describe oneself as pagan-Wiccan, pagan-Druid and so on. 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. [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. Great God! Other manners in which many North American pagans have got involved with the movement are through political or ecological activism, such as "vegetarian groups, health food stores" or feminist university courses. View. [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. [42], "We might say that Reconstructionist Pagans romanticize the past, while eclectic pagans idealize the future. To say it another way, modern Paganism is one of the happy stepchildren of modern multiculturalism and social pluralism. Heathenry is a term used to describe the religious practices of two main groups of people, one historical and one modern. This movement of God also crossed the ocean . The Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans, or CUUPs, encourages its chapters to "use practices familiar to members who attend for worship services but not to follow only one tradition of paganism". [138] Out of 21507717 recorded Australians,[] they compose approximately 0.15% of the population. Pre-World War II neopagan or proto-neopagan groups, growing out of occultism and/or Romanticism (Mediterranean revival, Viking revival, Celtic revival, etc.). These open, unstructured or loosely structured traditions contrast with British Traditional Wicca, which emphasizes secrecy and initiatory lineage. 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