ORIGIN Such nature-centered types of spirituality can be contrasted with otherworldly religions that Beginnings emphasize a spirituality reality that is "higher" or "better" than nature; examples of such Written by: Carl McColman transcendental/otherworldly faiths would include mainstream forms of Christianity and Islam. When Paganism is simultaneously a prehistoric and postmodern religion-it is as ancient as the fertility Christianity became the dominant religion in Europe and later the Americas, it contributed to the symbols associated with the veneration of gods and goddesses tens of thousands of years ago, while suppression or marginalization of many indigenous nature-based spiritual practices. However, even in its newest forms have emerged as recently as the mid-20th century. Broadly speaking, Paganism regions where otherworldly religions became dominant, old forms of nature worship persisted, often encompasses two key characteristics: 1) religious and spiritual practices concerning the worship of, or as folkloric practices. One example of this is the veneration of water sources in Ireland, where "holy devotion to, the earth, the natural world, and/or the manifest physical universe; and/or 2) belief in wells" originally sacred to local pagan deities were later Christianized and became centers of devotion spiritual beings: goddesses, gods, nature spirits (fairies, elves, power animals), and ancestral spirits. to the Virgin Mary or other saints. Folk beliefs in fairies and elves also may be vestigial remains of Not all expressions of Paganism incorporate both of these characteristics; it is possible to be a nature earlier nature-based spirituality. mystic without worshiping the goddesses or the gods, and vice versa. Many of the gods and spirits venerated by Pagans have strong ties to nature. (For example, "power animals" are helpful spirits Nearly all interpretations of ancient Pagan religions are contested within scholarly circles. Although inshamanic practice, each one related to an animal present in the physical world.) practitioners of modern forms of Paganism appeal to the past to legitimize their practice, some By their very nature, prehistoric religions have left behind no written records, but are known by scholars argue that these contemporary expressions of nature-centered religion are essentially new archaeological remains. Throughout the world, graveyards and ceremonial sites reveal evidence of religions, formed in response to issues and concerns of their day and related to the past only insofar magical practices, sacrificial rites, and the veneration of gods, goddesses, and/or mythic beings. as they look to archaeological and mythological data for inspiration. Paleolithic figurines of obese or pregnant women, such as those discovered in Dolní Vestonice in the Czech Republic, or Willendorf in Austria, are dated as far back as 22,000-29,000 B.C.E. Such figures Between the 18th and the 20th centuries, a variety of new religious movements have emerged, have been interpreted as fertility symbols and goddess symbols; such interpretations suggest that particularly in Europe and North America, religions that are to various degrees based on Pagan prehistoric humanity engaged in religious activities that were oriented toward nature, the earth, and practices such as nature veneration or goddess devotion. Examples of these would include modern the feminine (as opposed to later worship of masculine sky gods or transcendent deities); however, Druidism, Wicca, and revivals of ethnic religions (such as Asatru). These revivals/recreations of such speculation can never be conclusively proven. ancient Paganism are properly called contemporary Paganism ("new paganism"). Other archaeological evidence suggests early magical/religious practices, often with a strong focus of nature symbolism. For example, an ornately decorated silver cauldron, found near Gundestrup, Influences Denmark and believed to be of Celtic origin and dated to the 1st century B.C.E., includes a variety of In its ancient forms, Paganism had one key influence: nature itself. But in its rebirth in the 18th-20th magical, religious, and natural symbolism. Particularly striking is a symbol of a man sitting in a cross- centuries as various new or revived forms of nature-centered spirituality, Paganism in fact has been legged position, wearing a crown of antlers, and holding a torc (a ceremonial neck ornament) in one influenced by a variety of sources, not all explicitly religious or spiritual. hand and a serpent in the other. This image has variously been interpreted as a representation of a fertility god, Cernunnos (literally, ‘the horned one'), or of a priest or druid who engaged in magical In The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft (2000), Ronald Hutton traces rites that involved the guidance of animal spirits. literary, social, cultural, folkloric, and mythological antecedents to the writings of Gerald Gardner, who is widely regarded as the single most influential figure in the emergence of British witchcraft, or Mythologies from around the world often include stories of gods and goddesses with strong ties to Wicca, in the 1950s. Since Wicca is the largest part of modern Paganism, its influences have been the natural world, including deities associated with the earth, like Gaia or Rhea (Greek), Nerthus traced to the largest extent. (Germanic), or Nantosuelta (Gaulish). Many deities were associated with particular elements of nature, such as the Greek gods Zeus (sky/thunder), Poseidon (the sea), and Demeter (grain/harvest). When Gardner published his book Witchcraft Today in 1954, he probably was not inventing his tale of a surviving "witch cult" in England, but neither was he reporting on a genuine "coven" of witches that Paganism has such strong ties with nature and physical reality that among many practitioners has persisted for centuries as a hidden alternative to Christianity. Rather, Gardner drew on a variety Paganism is also understood as "Nature Religion." In 279 B.C.E., a Gaulish chieftain, Brennus, led a of sources in creating the new fertility religion known as Wicca. raiding party into Greece and sacked Delphi, the seat of a renowned oracle. According to the 1st- Literary adoration of nature - Modern forms of nature spirituality emerged out of the Romantic century Greek historian Diodorus Siculus, when Brennus entered a Greek temple and saw idols of movement of the 19th century. Romantic poets venerated and celebrated nature, often in gods in human form, he laughed. Brennus, and apparently all the Gauls, seems to have understood reaction to the unpleasant side of industrialization. This eventually contributed to the the gods and goddesses not as projections of human personalities, but as embodiments of various establishment of organizations devoted to respect for nature (such as the Boy Scouts) but also to forces of nature. increased interest in ancient forms of religion as means for interacting with the natural world in a spiritual way. Romantic interest in primitive religion - Certainly vestigial forms of indigenous European Ceremonial magic and Freemasonry- Many of the ceremonies of Gardner's witch coven drew Paganism could be deduced from folklore as well as certain folk practices. Veneration of water at upon rituals practiced by established secret societies of his day, including Freemasonry and holy wells, ceremonial bonfires during seasonal festivals, and the "cunning man" traditions of folk ceremonial magic groups like the Order of the Golden Dawn. healers and diviners, all point to religious and spiritual sensibilities that run counter to the prevailing Christian faith in England. Likewise, interest in the "medicine men" and the indigenous Although other traditions of Paganism have had different influences (for example, the myth of the religions of North America and Africa inspired those of European ancestry to investigate (or, burning times, i.e., the witch persecution, typically is of little importance to Celtic Reconstructionists perhaps, to re-create) their own primal traditions. or Odinists), this variety of influences serves as an example of how diverse the factors were that Speculations of a Great Mother Goddess cult in antiquity - By the early 21st century, the concept contributed to modern revivals or recreations of the Pagan path. of one single Great Mother Goddess had fallen out of scholarly favor, but in the late 19th and early 20th century it was a popular idea. Some scholars promoted the idea, while the poet and novelist Founders Robert Graves created his own idiosyncratic vision of Goddess religion in his highly influential book Paganism has no overall founding figure (such as Krishna, the Buddha, Jesus Christ, or Muhammad) The White Goddess (1966). The Great Mother Goddess emerged as an attractive alternative to the who functions as an object of worship or veneration. Because ancient Paganism is prehistoric in overly male image of God promoted by the Abrahamic religions; furthermore, since the one God origin, key figures from the beginnings of this religious path are lost to the mists of time. However, was associated with heaven and with spirit, the "One Goddess" took on a complementary role as various traditions and lineages within the Pagan world can be traced to one or more key visionaries emblematic of matter and the earth. or leaders who founded (or popularized) his or her particular community. It would be inaccurate, The culture of "Merrie England" - One way in which Romanticism flourished