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Contemporary Paganism We Must with the Art and Literature of the Ancient World, and Folk Apprehend Its Origins and Diversity

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Contemporary Paganism We Must with the Art and Literature of the Ancient World, and Folk Apprehend Its Origins and Diversity A sample entry from the Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature (London & New York: Continuum, 2005) Edited by Bron Taylor © 2005 All Rights Reserved Paganism – Contemporary 1247 Movements from the Far Right to the Children of Noah. activities, maintained a focus on actions rather than ideas, Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University Press, 1997. at least as the locus of transgression. With the Enlighten- Shnirelman, Victor A. Russian Neo-pagan Myths and ment and Romanticism, the body and its needs and desires Antisemitism. Acta No. 13. Jerusalem: The Vidal became associated not with temptation and sin but with Sassoon International Center for the Study of the possibility of good and health. The meaning of Antisemitism, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1998. “nature” altered from “not yet sanctified” to “as it should Sokol, Moshe. “What are the Ethical Implications of really be.” Thus “pagan desires” could be valorized as Jewish Theological Conceptions of the Natural noble and worthy. This exemplifies trends that resulted in World?” Background paper, Conference on Judaism the creation of a set of religions, the members of which and the Natural World, 22–4 February 1998, Harvard called themselves Pagans. University, Center for the Study of World Religions, 4. In the early to mid-twentieth century Gerald Gardner Wyschogrod, Michael. “Judaism and the Sanctification of and companions declared themselves to be members of a Nature.” The Melton Journal (Spring 1992), 6–7. Pagan Witchcraft religion. Their ideas were rooted in aca- See also: Animism: Humanity’s Original Religious World- demic understandings that the alleged witches persecuted view; Ecofascism; Fascism; Israel and Environmentalism; in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries had been con- Jewish Environmentalism in North America; Kabbalah tinuing ancient pre-Christian fertility religions. However, and Eco-theology; Neo-paganism and Ethnic Nationalism alongside the theories of Margaret Murray about such in Eastern Europe; Odinism; Redwood Rabbis; The Sacred witches, and the musings of Robert Graves about the and the Modern World. inheritance of Celtic knowledges, were other forms of real but diffuse connections with the ancient religions of Europe. Ronald Hutton has documented four such connec- Paganism – Contemporary tions: high ritual magic (ceremonial engagements with “supernatural forces and beings,” such as among Hermetic Paganism labels a set of religions centered on the celebra- orders and the Rosicrucians), hedge witchcraft (e.g., the tion and veneration of nature that understand and engage low-level folk magic of “cunning men” and Horse Whis- it in one way or another as sacred. To fully understand the perers), the general love affair of the Christian centuries natural dimension of contemporary Paganism we must with the art and literature of the ancient world, and folk apprehend its origins and diversity. Scholars who study rites. Thus, Gardner and the Witches that gathered with such religion generally use “Pagan” or “Paganism” (with a him blended aspects of previously esoteric ceremonies capital P) to denote a religion as identified by its (e.g., those that invoked elemental beings and guardians of adherents, and “pagan” or “paganism” (lower-case) to the directions) with the use of herbal remedies, veneration refer to more general phenomena such as the pre-Christian of classical deities (e.g., the Moon and/or Earth as religions of ancient Europe. Goddess), and seasonal and lunar festivals. Immediately, The origins of the name and of the revival of Paganism therefore, their spirituality focused attention on human in the twentieth century arise from earlier cultural trends relationships with the Earth, places and physical reality. and movements. Many Pagans think that “pagan” derives Witchcraft was not the only form of Paganism to be from a Latin word meaning villager or “country-dweller” revived or created. In almost every century since the as opposed to a city-dweller. They associate it not only Roman invasion of Britain there have been claimants to with rural and traditional values, but also with being close the title “Druid.” Until the twentieth century most such to nature or the land. Of course, this makes it difficult to Druids were Christians of one sort or another. There were speak of classical Roman “paganism” since that term must exceptions such as the Gallic-inspired polytheism of refer to temple-based religious observances in cities and Breton Druids since the period of the French Revolution. towns. In reality the term originally meant something In the second half of the twentieth century, however, more like “parishioner,” a member of a community living a plethora of mostly Pagan Druid Orders formed. They in a particular place – rural or urban – who is therefore share with Witches (or Wiccans as some name them- obligated to respect sacred places and people in that area. selves) a calendar including eight annual seasonal/solar The term “paganism” was created by Christians in the festivals alongside those marking phases of the lunar fourth century in order to contrast (negatively) their cycle, a delight in ceremony, and a reverence for nature religion with the religiosity they hoped to replace. that sometimes results in environmental activism. Witches The mere addition of “-ism,” however, misdirected and Druids now tend to name deities from ancient Celtic attention from cult (the performance or observance of cultures, although some venerate a more eclectic pan- traditionally defined duties toward persons, places and theon. It is partially true that Wicca and other Witchcraft powers worthy of respect) toward beliefs about deities. traditions are mystery religions enabling the discovery Despite this, the polemics of the medieval churches against and expression of the individual’s higher self in relation popular religion, including beliefs about anti-Christian to nature, whereas Druidry is a more public or accessible 1248 Paganism – Contemporary nature religion encouraging a wider population to working and of experimentation with ritual and identity, celebrate. but generally speaking it simply replicates the modes of A third group of Pagans name themselves variously affiliation and discourse typical in pre-internet Paganisms. Heathens or Ásatrúar, “those who honor deities.” They are The common ground among all Paganisms is literally inspired by Germanic, Norse, Icelandic and/or Anglo- physicality or nature. As ever in religions, it is primarily Saxon cosmologies and literatures. They too engage in in relation to engagement with the common ground magic and ritual, celebrate seasons and venerate deities. that diversity is most evident. For Pagans, then, the key While there has been considerable feminist influence questions are about ontologies and epistemologies of on the various Paganisms, this is most explicit in Pagan other-than-human beings and places and appropriate branches of Goddess Spirituality and in versions of witch- modes in which humans might relate to them. craft such as that of the Reclaiming covens initiated by It is not irrelevant that the contemporary revival of Starhawk in San Francisco. Similarly, many Pagans have Paganism has emerged from and is rooted in European been influenced by shamanism. Some Heathens, for cultures and landscapes. Even if Pagans and others are example, are experimenting with trance techniques and wrong about the origins of the word, it is important that performances rooted in understandings of ancient literary “Pagan” is linked with countryside rather than wilderness. references to “seidr.” Both feminism and shamanism have That is, traditional paganisms enabled people to make affected the celebratory practices of Pagans and have religious sense of living and working with places and their sometimes encouraged even more direct encounters with surrounding community of life. They did not demand nature, including environmental direct action. Paganisms pilgrimages that transcended ordinary reality by long of various other kinds have been revived in different treks to distant places less altered by humanity. Indeed, parts of Europe, typically drawing on knowledge of ances- it is doubtful that such true wildernesses have existed tral literatures and traditions and blending them with anywhere in Europe for a very long time. Even in North environmentalism and other contemporary concerns. America, Africa and everywhere else inhabited or visited Each Pagan tradition, or “path,” is divided into myriad by humans, “wilderness” has sometimes been created local, regional or global affinity groups and networks of recently by evicting previous occupants. Everywhere, the various kinds. Sometimes a focus on a particular deity or Earth is at least partially the result of human interaction pantheon distinguishes a group from others. Sometimes a with other life and other influences. Thus Paganisms can particular teacher or initiator introduces alternative ways engage powerfully with the world as it is. Sometimes of working magic that attract attention and result in the Pagan celebration of nature takes place in the heart of formation of a new lineage of groups. Sometimes a cities, sometimes it requires confrontation with economic group’s stress on a particular sacred place, or the intensity interests transforming ecologically diverse ecosystems, of their commitment to a threatened ecosystem, leads sometimes it encourages organic husbandry, and some- them to identify more strongly together than they do with times results in evocative and playful ceremonies.
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