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NEO-PAGANISM: RITUAL AND LIFE FORGED BY THE BURNING TIMES A THESIS IN Sociology Presented to the Faculty of the University of Missouri-Kansas City in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree MASTER OF ARTS by LINDA SPENCER A.A., Johnson County Community College, 1994 B.A., University of Missouri-Kansas City, 1998 Kansas City, Missouri 2011 © 2011 LINDA SPENCER ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii NEO-PAGANISM: RITUAL AND LIFE FORGED BY THE BURNING TIMES Linda Spencer, Candidate for the Master of Arts University of Missouri-Kansas City, 2011 ABSTRACT The Burning Times has been of interest to both scholars and practitioners alike over the past few decades. The interest typically focuses on those that died and the discrepancy of the number of those who perished. While the historical and sociological aspects of the Burning Times are fascinating, when the analytical lens is shifted to examine how the Burning Times affect present-day practitioners, it proves to be just as fascinating and much more subtle. Paganism’s practitioners greet the Burning Times with a sense of ambivalence. The Burning Times balances between being meaningful and meaningless. The Burning Times can be understood through legitimacy, myth, and space and time through two means. First, it can be seen, through Ritual practice within Pagan covens. Second, the Burning Times can be seen when Pagans make the decision whether to be “out” or closeted. Throughout both of these areas of study, the element of ambivalence can be seen. iii The faculty listed below, appointed by the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, have examined a thesis titled “Neo-Paganism: Ritual Forged by the Burning Times,” presented by Linda Spencer, candidate for the Master of Arts degree, and certify that in their opinion it is worthy of acceptance. Supervisory Committee Shannon Jackson, Ph.D., Committee Chair Department of Sociology Linda Breytspraak, Ph.D. Department of Sociology Alexander Holsinger, Ph.D. Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology iv CONTENTS ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... iii LIST OF TABLES ...........................................................................................................vii GLOSSARY .....................................................................................................................viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................xi Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... 1 2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE ................................................................................. 4 Present Day Neo-Pagan Perspective .............................................................................. 5 Sociological Perspective ................................................................................................18 Theoretical Perspective …..............................................................................................26 3. METHODOLGY .........................................................................................................38 Quantitative Methods ...................................................................................................38 Qualitative Methods ......................................................................................................51 4. RESULTS ....................................................................................................................53 Statistics ........................................................................................................................53 In-Depth Interviews .......................................................................................................57 Participant Observation ................................................................................................. 63 5. DISCUSSION ..............................................................................................................65 Legitimacy ....................................................................................................................69 Myth .............................................................................................................................76 Ritual ............................................................................................................................78 Space and Time .............................................................................................................84 v 6. CONCLUSION ...........................................................................................................96 Limitations ....................................................................................................................97 Recommendations for future research ............................................................................97 Appendix A. IRB APPROVAL .......................................................................................................99 B. CONSENT TO PARTICIPATE ..................................................................................100 C. PAGAN DEMOGRAPHIC AND BELIEF SURVEY .................................................102 D. INTERVIEW SCHEDULE .........................................................................................106 E. LAWS PERTAINING TO EUROPEAN WITCHCRAFT ...........................................107 REFERENCE LIST .........................................................................................................110 VITA ..............................................................................................................................123 vi TABLES Table Page 1. Gender ..........................................................................................................................39 2. Ethnicity .......................................................................................................................40 3. Education Levels .......................................................................................................... 41 4. Marital Status ................................................................................................................41 5. Religious Upbringing ....................................................................................................42 6. Present-Day Religious Tradition.................................................................................... 43 7. Out about beliefs ...........................................................................................................43 8. What brought you to this belief? ....................................................................................44 9. Do you perform ritual? ................................................................................................. .45 10. Why do you perform ritual? .........................................................................................46 11. Do you give offerings at your rituals? ..........................................................................46 12. Knowledge of the Burning times .................................................................................47 13. Do you believe 9 million Witches were killed? ............................................................47 14. Does this lend legitimacy to Paganism? .......................................................................48 15. Does this provide historical threads to the past? ...........................................................48 16. Does this provide a unifying history? ...........................................................................48 17. Does this provide a group mind? ..................................................................................49 18. Do you believe that people died due to religious persecution? ......................................49 19. Do you believe that people died due to the label of Witchcraft? ...................................50 vii GLOSSARY Burning Times- A time period referenced to a historical time from around 1000 CE through the seventeenth century when it is said that over nine million people were tortured and burned by church and public officials on the assumption that they were the Christian version of Witches. It is said to have been very profitable for both church and state. Historians indicate that the majority of people tortured and murdered were women. Circle- A created barrier by practitioners of magick when gathering with a coven or solitarily. Casting a circle is a way to protect and control the magick raised within its barrier. The circle is not considered flat or two dimensional, but rather all encompassing; 360 degrees, not only level plain surrounding the practitioner, but also above and below the practitioner; like a bubble Coven- A group of people who meet to magickally work and/or worship in an organized fashion. ‘Traditionally’ a coven should be made up of 13 individuals. Craft, The- This is another term for the practice of magick, especially Witchcraft. Deosil- A clockwise motion, symbolic of positive and constructive energies. It is the Sun’s apparent motion around the Earth in the Northern Hemisphere. This direction is utilized when creating some circles. Esbat- A term for the meeting of a coven; based on the cycles of the moon. There are five potential Esbat gatherings that can take place