Neo-Paganism

Modern Paganism, or Neo-paganism describes a family of new religions that draw their inspiration from the extinct pre-Christian religions of Europe, North Africa, and West Asia. Modern pagan approaches to these past religions vary, from those that try to precisely imitate specific pre-Christian traditions to those that are looser and more eclectic in their use of historical and archaeological source material as a pattern. Most of these religions emerged in Europe and North America during the 20th century. Collectively, they can claim hundreds of thousands of adherents, and perhaps several million.

In 313 AD, Roman Emperor Constantine issued the Edict of Milan, which accepted Christianity. Ten years later, it became the official religion of the Roman Empire. The populace converted to Christianity and began to persecute and penalize the pre-Christian, mostly polytheistic religions practiced within its boundaries. Although the Western Roman Empire collapsed in the 5th century, Christianity remained dominant within its former borders and spread into northern Europe. Judaism and, later, Islam also spread in and around the old empire. These three Abrahamic religions largely succeeded in eradicating existing pre-Christian religions from Europe and adjacent portions of North Africa and West Asia. In other parts of the world, such as sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, Abrahamic religions did not completely replace existing traditional religions.

Christians had designated followers of non-Abrahamic religions with the Latin term pagani (pagans) since at least the 4th century. Christians viewed these as false religious traditions and believed that the gods and goddesses of paganism were demons.  These pre-Christian religions reemerged with the advent of Renaissance humanism in the 14th century. In much of Christian Europe, it became increasingly acceptable to incorporate scenes from the classical mythologies of the pre-Christian Greeks and Romans in literature and art. The 18th century experienced a similar focus on the deities of pre-Christian mythologies among the Germanic peoples. The Romantic movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries further contributed to a more positive assessment of Europe’s pre-Christian religions.

This artistic and cultural celebration of pre-Christian mythologies laid the foundation for modern Paganism. Several esoteric groups of the 19th century, such as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and the Theosophical Society, adopted imagery from the pre-Christian past. This led to the formation of the first modern Pagan groups early in the 20th century. Ancient Egyptian deities appeared in Thelema, a religion established by English occultist Aleister Crowley in 1904. Völkisch (folkish) groups appeared in Germany and Austria beginning in 1910. German esotericist Franz Sättler venerated selected pre-Christian deities through his Adonistic Society which was formed in the 1920s. One of the earliest modern pagan groups in the United States was the Church of Aphrodite, created by Russian migrant Gleb Botkin in 1939. These diverse and eclectic groups typically remained small.

A religion that played the most significant role in advancing modern paganism was Wicca. Rising to prominence in England in the 1950s England, Wicca’s early practitioners believed that their religion was a survival and continuation of a pre-Christian witches’ religion, a claim that was later rejected by historians. Wicca soon spread beyond Great Britian. In the United States, it included many variations, many of which were influenced by the identity-based political movements of the 1960s and ’70s. Dianic Wicca, for example, merged Wicca with second-wave feminism. The Minoan Brotherhood offered a form of Wicca for gay and bisexual men. Further popularization through books that explained how a reader could become a Wiccan without joining a preexisting group helped establish Wicca as the world’s largest modern pagan religion. 

Growing interest in alternative spiritualities among the counterculture of the late 1960s and the ’70s proved to be fertile ground for the proliferation of modern Pagan religions. New groups that emerged in the United States included the Church of All Worlds, Feraferia, and the Goddess Movement. In both Britain and the USA, modern Pagan groups formed whose members called themselves Druids (a high-ranking priestly class in ancient Celtic cultures). There was also growth in Heathenry, whose followers honored the pre-Christian deities of Europe’s linguistically Germanic peoples. Despite some overlap, modern Paganism remained distinct from the New Age movement which simultaneously rose to prominence.

In the 1990s, the collapse of Marxist-Leninist governments across the Eastern bloc led to the rapid emergence of modern Pagan groups in this region. While Wicca and other modern Paganisms of the West gained a foothold, it was more common to form a religion based on regional traditions that fostered a sense of national identity. In the Baltic states, Romuva and Dievturība emerged as religions venerating the pre-Christian deities of the Lithuanian and Latvian peoples. In linguistically Slavic countries such as Poland, Russia, and Ukraine, varieties of a Slavic-oriented religion called Rodnovery appeared. Elsewhere, small groups were also formed that worshipped pre-Christian deities in places like Ireland, Finland, Italy, Greece, Egypt, and the Levant. Often identifying as “reconstructionists,” many of these groups countered the eclecticism of modern pagan traditions like Wicca and Druidry by emphasizing fidelity to historical and archaeological source material in the formation of their new religions.

To better combat discrimination, from the 1960s onward many modern pagan groups collaborated to form organizations such as the Pagan Federation and the European Congress of Ethnic Religions. This augmented the sense of a collective modern pagan identity. Toward the close of the 20th century, a growing number of individuals chose to identify simply as “Pagans” rather than as members of a specific modern pagan religion. Despite efforts to unify paganism, there have always been modern pagan groups excluded from the broader Neo-pagan community, particularly those that are regarded as promoting extremist political views.

The website of the Pagan Federation International (https://www.paganfederation.org/) offers basic information about modern paganism from the viewpoint of modern pagans. The “About the Pagan Federation” subpage provides the following information:

The Pagan Federation

 

The Pagan Federation has been in continuous existence since 1971 and has published its journal Pagan Dawn, and its previous incarnation as The Wiccan, since 1969. Over this time, it has grown to have a readership of more than 5.000 quarterly. These facts make the Pagan Federation one of the largest and oldest organizations of its type in Europe.

 

It was set up originally as primarily a campaigning organization: one that would actively fight the ignorance and negative attitudes towards Paganism which were at large in the country (UK) then and which obviously still exist in various forms today.

To help campaigning, it was essential to create a network of like-minded people who shared common aims. The second major focus of the PF therefore, was to put Pagans in touch with each other, so that they could share views and meet and talk. A nationwide network, now run by over 40 Regional Coordinators and numerous local organizers, has been put in the place so that members can meet and work together for the benefit of Paganism in general.

 

These two functions are still paramount today but have evolved as times have changed. It might still not be easy to “come out” as a Pagan now, but it was almost impossible a few decades ago. This change in perception, which the PF has helped cause, has enabled us to make considerable strides toward a more proactive and visible celebration of Paganism.

The Three Principles of Membership

 

The Pagan Federation exists not to promote a single aspect or path within Paganism, nor does it presume to represent all Pagans. Rather it is an umbrella organization with a membership drawn from all strands. All Pagans over the age of 18 are welcome to join regardless of which Pagan path they follow. They must however subscribe to the three principles which give the Pagan Federation its common purpose and its focus:

 

Functions and Activities

 

The Pagan Federation has been actively developing and supporting events throughout the UK. Many regions now have annual conferences and most have their own newsletters to keep members in touch with local happenings. There are also a number of smaller events such as pub moots, discussion groups, workshops, picnics and coach trips to sacred sites to enable members to learn more about Paganism and to meet with like-minded people.

 

The serious campaigning continues. The PF runs an Anti-Defamation section, which seeks to defend Paganism against abuse and misrepresentation by the media and which fights discrimination against Pagans by the authorities. As a resource for the media, the Pagan Federation handles hundreds of inquiries each year from radio, television, newspapers and magazines, giving them accurate and authoritative information.

Rather than be purely reactive in its mission to achieve the recognition of Paganism, the PF has also taken a more positive and proactive approach to achieve these ends. This has resulted in Paganism being recognized as a valid religion by “Religions in the UK”, the directory of the UK’s Interfaith Network. The Home Office has also recognized Paganism as a religion whose members have a right to spiritual support on a par with other religions. We now have several prison visitors, and a similar pastoral service is being provided for Pagans in hospital. This creates a useful precedent when dealing with other Government departments.

 

We are working towards winning acceptance of the right of Pagans to practice their beliefs openly and without discrimination. In all its endeavors, the Pagan Federation promotes factual accuracy about Paganism, and works toward the goal of tolerance, respect and mutual understanding.

The “What is Paganism?” subpage contains this information:

 

The Basics

 

Pagans may be trained in particular traditions, or they may follow their own inspiration. Paganism is not dogmatic. Pagans pursue their own vision of the Divine as a direct and personal experience.

 

The Pagan Federation recognizes the rich diversity of traditions that form the body of modern Paganism. In a brief introductory booklet, it is not possible to describe each and every one. Rather than attempt this, the pages in this section – links are on the left-hand side of this page contain an introduction to six examples of major Pagan traditions. [Note: links are not available on the left-hand sise of this page, but several characteristics shared by modern pagan religions are listed and described below]

This is not an exhaustive list, but these six traditions provide a good overview of modern Pagan practice. A suggested reading list is also available.

 

Some authors see the emergence of Paganism in the twentieth century as a revival of an older Pagan religion and describe all the above traditions as Neo-Pagan.

 

This term is also used to describe all those who are recognizably Pagan, but who do not adhere to any of the above traditions per se.


A definition of a Pagan: A follower of a polytheistic or pantheistic nature-worshipping religion.

 

A definition of Paganism: A polytheistic or pantheistic nature-worshipping religion. 

What Paganism Is

 

Paganism is the ancestral religion of the whole of humanity. This ancient religious outlook remains active throughout much of the world today, both in complex civilisations such as Japan and India, and in less complex tribal societies world-wide. It was the outlook of the European religions of classical antiquity – Persia, Egypt, Greece and Rome – as well as of their “barbarian” neighbours on the northern fringes, and its European form is re-emerging into explicit awareness in the modern West as the articulation of urgent contemporary religious priorities.

 

The Pagan outlook can be seen as threefold. Its adherents venerate Nature and worship many deities, both goddesses and gods.

Nature – Veneration

 

The spirit of place is recognized in Pagan religion, whether as a personified natural feature such as a mountain, lake or spring, or as a fully articulated guardian divinity such as, for example, Athena, the goddess of Athens. The cycle of the natural year, with the different emphasis brought by its different seasons, is seen by most Pagans as a model of spiritual growth and renewal, and as a sequence marked by festivals which offer access to different divinities according to their affinity with different times of year. Many Pagans see the Earth itself as sacred: in ancient Greece the Earth was always offered the first libation of wine, although She had no priesthood and no temple.

Polytheism: Pluralism and Diversity

 

The many deities of Paganism are a recognition of the diversity of Nature. Some Pagans see the goddesses and gods as a community of individuals much like the diverse human community in this world. Others, such as followers of Isis and Osiris from ancient times onwards, and Wiccan-based Pagans in the modern world, see all the goddesses as one Great Goddess, and all the gods as one Great God, whose harmonious interaction is the secret of the universe. Yet others think there is a supreme divine principle, that “both wants and does not want to be called Zeus”, as Heraclitus wrote in the fifth century BC. Or which the Great Goddess Mother of All Things, as Isis, was to the first century CE novelist Apuleius and the Great Goddess is to many Western Pagans nowadays. Yet others, such as the emperor Julian, the great restorer of Paganism in Christian antiquity, and many Hindu mystics nowadays, believe in an abstract Supreme Principle, the origin and source of all things. But even these last Pagans recognize that other spiritual beings, although perhaps one in essence with a greater being, are themselves divine, and are not false or partial divinities. Pagans who worship the One are described as henotheists, believers in a supreme divine principle, rather than monotheists, believers in one true deity beside which all other deities are false.

The Goddess

 

Pagan religions all recognize the feminine face of divinity. A religion without goddesses can hardly be classified as Pagan. Some Pagan paths, such as the cult of Odin or of Mithras, offer exclusive allegiance to one male god. But they do not deny the reality of other gods and goddesses, as monotheists do. (The word ‘cult’ has always meant the specialized veneration of one particular deity or pantheon and has only recently been extended to mean the worship of a deified or semi-divine human leader.) By contrast, non-Pagan religions, such as Judaism, Christianity and Islam, often but not always, abhor the very idea of female divinity. The (then) Anglican Bishop of London even said a few years ago that religions with goddesses were ‘degenerate!’

Other Characteristics

 

The many divinities of Pagan religion often include ancestral deities. The Anglo-Saxon royal houses of England traced their ancestry back to a god, usually Woden, and the Celtic kings of Cumbria traced their descent from the god Beli and the goddess Anna. Local and national heroes and heroines may be deified, as was Julius Caesar, and in all Pagan societies the deities of the household are venerated. These may include revered ancestors and, for a while, the newly dead, who may of may not choose to leave the world of the living for good. They may include local spirits of place, either as personified individuals such as the spirit of a spring or the house’s guardian toad or snake, or as group spirits such as Elves in England, the Little People in Ireland, Kobolds in Germany, Barstuccae in Lithuania, Lares and Penates in ancient Rome, and so on. A household shrine focuses on the cult of these deities, and there is usually an annual ritual to honor them. The spirit of the hearth is often venerated, sometimes with a daily offering of food and drink, sometimes with an annual ritual of extinguishing and relighting the fire. Through ancestral and domestic ritual a spirit of continuity is preserved, and by the transmission of characteristics and purposes from the past, the future is assured of meaning.

So, not all Pagan religion is public religion; much is domestic. And not all Pagan deities are humanoid super-persons; many are elemental or collective. We are looking at a religion which pervades the whole of everyday life.

 

One consequence of the veneration of Nature, the outlook which sees Nature as a manifestation of divinity rather than as a neutral or inanimate object, is that divination and magic are accepted parts of life. Augury, divination by interpreting the flight of birds, was widespread in the ancient world and is in modern Pagan societies, as is extispicy, divination by reading the entrails of the sacrificed animal, itself a larger scale version of divination by reading the tea leaves left in a teacup. As well as reading the signs already given by deities, diviners may also actively ask the universe to send a sign, e.g., by casting stones to read the geomantic patterns into which they fall, by casting runes or the yarrow stalks of the I Ching. Pagans usually believe that the divine world will answer a genuine request for information. Trance seership and mediumship are also used to communicate with the Otherworld.

Magic, the deliberate production of results in this world by Otherworld means, is generally accepted as a feasible activity in Pagan societies, since the two worlds are thought to be in constant communication. In ancient Rome a new bride would ceremonially anoint the doorposts of her new home with wolf’s fat to keep famine from the household, and her new-born child would be given a consecrated amulet to wear as a protection against harmful spirits. The Norse warriors of the Viking age would cast the magical ‘war fetter’ upon their enemies to paralyze them, and Anglo-Saxon manuscripts record spells to bring healing and fertility. Specialist magical technologists such as horse-whisperers and healers are common throughout Pagan societies, but often the practice of magic for unfair personal gain or for harm to another is forbidden, exactly as physical extortion and assault are forbidden everywhere.

Modern Paganism

 

With its respect for plurality, the refusal to judge other ways of life as wrong simply because they are different from one’s own, with its veneration of a natural (and supernatural) world from which Westerners in the age of technology have become increasingly isolated, and with its respect for women and the feminine principle as embodied in the many goddesses of the various pantheons, Paganism has much to offer people of European background today. Hence it is being taken up by them in large numbers. When they realize that it is in fact their ancestral heritage, its attraction grows.

Democracy, for example, was pioneered by the ancient Athenians and much later reinvented by the Pagan colonizers of Iceland, home of Europe’s oldest parliament. Our modern love of the arts was fostered in Pagan antiquity, with its pageants and its temples, but had no place in iconoclastic Christianity and Islam. The development of science as we know it began in the desire of the Greeks and Babylonians to understand the hidden patterns of Nature, and the cultivation of humane urbanity, the ideal of the well-rounded, cultured personality, was imported by Renaissance thinkers from the writings of Cicero. In the Pagan cities of the Mediterranean lands the countryside was never far from people’s awareness, with parks, gardens and even zoos, all re-introduced into modern Europe, not by the religions of the Book, and not by utilitarian atheists, but by the Classically inspired planners of the Enlightenment 

In the present day, the Pagan tradition manifests both as communities reclaiming their ancient sites and ceremonies (especially in Eastern Europe), to put humankind back in harmony with the Earth, and as individuals pursuing a personal spiritual path alone or in a small group (especially in Western Europe and the European-settled countries abroad), under the tutelage of one of the Pagan divinities. To most modern Pagans in the West, the whole of life is to be affirmed joyfully and without shame, as long as other people are not harmed by one’s own tastes. Modern Pagans tend to be relaxed and at ease with themselves and others, and women in particular have a dignity which is not always found outside Pagan circles.

Modern Pagans, not tied down either by the customs of an established religion or by the dogmas of a revealed one, are often creative, playful and individualistic, affirming the importance of the individual psyche as it interfaces with a greater power. There is a respect for all of life and usually a desire to participate with rather than to dominate other beings. What playwright Eugene O’Neil called “the creative Pagan acceptance of life” is at the forefront of the modern movement. This is bringing something new to religious life and to social behavior, a way of pluralism without fragmentation, of creativity without anarchy, of wisdom without dogma. Here is an age-old current surfacing in a new form suited to the needs of the present day.

There is enormous variation among modern Pagan religions, so it is impossible to identify any single unifying feature except for the fact that they all draw on the pre-Christian religions of Europe, North Africa, and West Asia. Many modern Pagans see themselves as torchbearers for these extinct religions, often refusing to admit that these traditions ever died out. As is the case with Wicca, adherents claim that their traditions were secretly preserved and practiced throughout the past into the present. Others forthrightly state that their modern practices are a deliberate revival of extinct religions. Some new religions are merely inspired by, rather than attempts to replicate one or several past religions.

Theologically, modern paganism displays a variety of perspectives, from pantheism and monotheism to polytheism and atheism. Even within the same group, there can be differences of opinion on theological issues. Some modern Pagans may believe that the deities they honor and invoke literally exist, whereas others regard them merely as symbols or archetypes. Some modern Pagans do not believe in a soul, while others do, thinking that it proceeds to an afterlife or is reincarnated following the death of the body.

As in the pre-Christian religions that inspired them, modern pagan movements often place greater emphasis on ritual practices than on belief. Although group ceremonies may take place in specially constructed buildings, they are more often conducted outdoors or in practitioners’ homes. The geographical dispersion of modern pagans in many countries means that it is common for an individual to practice their religion alone. Many modern rituals involve offerings to deities, spirits, or ancestors. These offerings often consist of food and drink, and sometimes include poetry or performances. Festivals are often held on dates that pertain to seasonal changes or astronomical events such as the summer and winter solstices. This contributes to many modern Pagans’ views that their traditions are nature religions, or Earth religions. attuned to the rhythms of the planet.

Modern Pagan groups differ considerably on sociocultural and political issues. Many groups welcome new members of every gender, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. Many intertwine their religion with an activist commitment to progressive causes such as feminism. Other modern Pagan groups are ethnic nationalist, emphasizing a connection between their religion and a particular ethnic or national identity. These groups tend to be more socially conservative on issues of gender and sexuality. While these divergent positions coexist in many countries, as a rule, the more progressive modern paganisms predominate in North America and Britain, while their more conservative ethnic nationalist counterparts predominate in central and eastern Europe. The only common denominators between these factions is an expressed concern for the natural environment and skepticism toward Christian missionaries.