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. [83] The figures for England and Wales showed 80,153 describing themselves as pagan (or some subgroup thereof.) What Paganism Is. [164] Ethan Doyle White stated that while the pagan and New Age movements "do share commonalities and overlap", they were nevertheless "largely distinct phenomena. [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.) In the 1970s, Wicca was notably influenced by feminism, leading to the creation of an eclectic, Goddess-worshipping movement known as Dianic Wicca. [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". 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. Renaissance: Influence and Interpretations. [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. [81], Domestic worship typically takes place in the home and is carried out by either an individual or family group. [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. 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. [160], "Neopagan practices highlight the centrality of the relationship between humans and nature and reinvent religions of the past, while New Agers are more interested in transforming individual consciousness and shaping the future. 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. The first account of the gods of Irish myth to take in the whole sweep of Irish literature in both the nation's languages, the book describes how Ireland's pagan divinities were transformed into literary characters in the medieval Christian era--and how they were recast again during the Celtic Revival of the late nineteenth and early twentieth . 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. Various forms of Wicca have since evolved or been adapted from Gardner's British Traditional Wicca or Gardnerian Wicca, such as Alexandrian Wicca. [86] English esotericist Gerald Gardner was at the forefront of the burgeoning Wiccan movement. 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. [82], Paganism's public rituals are generally calendrical,[70] although the pre-Christian festivals that pagans use as a basis varied across Europe. [57] Most pagans adopt an ethos of "unity in diversity" regarding their religious beliefs. Some modern pagan literature prominently features comparative religion involving European and Indian traditions. Many years after the last inscriptions to the Eastern divinities had been dedicated in the provinces, such dedications were sufficiently numerous at Rome, particularly so during the closing years of the fourth century, when the pagan revival reached its culmination. The last pagan revival was under the Western Emperor Eugenius, who was a puppet of the Pagan magister millitum Arbogast. [173] They also express disapproval of Christianity's continued missionary efforts around the globe at the expense of indigenous and other polytheistic faiths. 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]. 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. The animistic aspects of pagan theology assert that all things have a soul - not just humans or organic life - so this bond is held with mountains and rivers as well as trees and wild animals. [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. Golden Dawn ended up winning 18 seats, making it the third-largest party in parliament. [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. [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). To say it another way, modern Paganism is one of the happy stepchildren of modern multiculturalism and social pluralism. Read reviews and buy The Druid Revival Reader - by John Michael Greer (Paperback) at Target. [88] The Western attitude to paganism gradually changed during the early modern period. Community. From the serpent goddesses of ancient Crete to modern nature-worship and . 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". Germanische Glaubens . [95], In the 1920s Margaret Murray theorized that a secret pagan religion had survived the witchcraft persecutions enacted by the ecclesiastical and secular courts. 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. European. "[12] The religious studies scholar Wouter Hanegraaff characterised paganism as encompassing "all those modern movements which are, first, based on the conviction that what Christianity has traditionally denounced as idolatry and superstition actually represents/represented a profound and meaningful religious worldview and, secondly, that a religious practice based on this worldview can and should be revitalized in our modern world. [105], Wicca is the largest form of modern paganism,[41] as well as the best-known[107] and most extensively studied. [56], Eclectic paganism takes an undogmatic religious stance [57] and therefore potentially sees no one as having authority to deem a source apocryphal. "[172] Further, there is a common belief in the pagan community that Christianity and paganism are opposing belief systems. [lower-Greek 1][lower-Greek 2][bettersourceneeded], The United States government does not directly collect religious information. [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. 1 January : New Year's Day 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. 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. The Contemporary Pagan Revival in Montreal At the Turn of the . Here is a short list encompassing all European countries. [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 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. [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. Oh, and there's nothing Pagan in "Harry Potter." The only religion even implied in any of the HP books is Christianity. Expect More. In this article, the author surveys the history of Neo-Paganism from the Romantic movement to the 20th-century revival of Witchcraft, Druidism, Asatru and other forms of Pagan religion. 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 . [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. . C hristianity is declining in Europe. False. 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. [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. [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. [50] While Wicca is identified as an eclectic form of paganism,[51] Strmiska also notes that some Wiccans have moved in a more reconstructionist direction by focusing on a particular ethnic and cultural link, thus developing such variants as Norse Wicca and Celtic Wicca. 2. 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. George Watson MacGregor Reid founded the Druid Order in its current form in 1909. 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. Free standard shipping with $35 orders. [70], A key part of most pagan worldviews is the holistic concept of a universe that is interconnected. Common pagan devotional practices have thus been compared to similar practices in Hinduism, Buddhism, Shinto, Roman Catholicism, and Orthodox Christianity, but contrasted with that in Protestantism, Judaism, and Islam. $17.85 - $52.94 32 Used from $3.00 12 New from $44.68 1 Collectible from $37.00. This female-only, radical feminist variant of Wicca allows cisgender lesbians but not transgender women. This movement of God also crossed the ocean . Neo-Druidry is the second-largest pagan path after Wicca,[citation needed] and shows similar heterogeneity. [65] [123] Nevertheless, there is a slow growing body of data on the subject. Today, the Western nations, once considered "Christian," appear to be in the midst of a "pagan revival," as noted in a December 2018 New York Times article titled "The Return of Paganism." [82], The belief in magical rituals and spells is held by a "significant number" of contemporary pagans. 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