Modern paganism, also known as contemporary paganism^[1] and neopaganism,^[2] is a type of religion or family of religions influenced by the various historical pre-Christian beliefs of pre-modern peoples in Europe and adjacent areas of North Africa and the Near East. Although they share similarities, contemporary pagan movements are diverse and as a result, they do not share a single set of beliefs, practices, or texts.^[3] Scholars of religion often characterise these traditions as new religious movements. 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.

Adherents rely on pre-Christian, folkloric, and ethnographic sources to a variety of degrees; many of them follow a spirituality that they accept as entirely modern, while others claim to adhere to prehistoric beliefs, or else, they attempt to revive indigenous religions as accurately as possible.^[4] Modern pagan movements can be placed on a spectrum. At one end is reconstructionism, which seeks to revive historical pagan religions; examples are Baltic neopaganism, Heathenry (Germanic), Rodnovery (Slavic), and Hellenism (Greek). At the other end are eclectic movements, which blend elements of historical paganism with other religions and philosophies; examples are Wicca, Druidry, and the Goddess movement. Polytheism, animism, and pantheism are common features of pagan theology. Some modern pagans are also atheist. Described as secular paganism or humanistic paganism, this is an outlook which upholds virtues and principles associated with paganism while maintaining a secular worldview. Secular pagans may recognize goddesses/gods as archetypes or useful metaphors for different cycles of life, or reframe magic as a purely psychological practice.

Contemporary paganism has sometimes been associated with the New Age movement, with scholars highlighting their similarities as well as their differences.^[5] The academic field of pagan studies began to coalesce in the 1990s, emerging from disparate scholarship in the preceding two decades.

Terminology

Definition

There is "considerable disagreement as to the precise definition and the proper usage" of the term modern paganism.^[6] Even within the academic field of pagan studies, there is no consensus about how contemporary paganism can best be defined.^[7] Most scholars describe modern paganism as a broad array of different religions, not a single one.^[8] The category of modern paganism could be compared to the categories of Abrahamic religions and Indian religions in its structure.^[9] A second, less common definition found within pagan studies—promoted by the religious studies scholars Michael F. Strmiska and Graham Harvey—characterises modern paganism as a single religion, of which groups like Wicca, Druidry, and Heathenry are denominations.^[10] This perspective has been critiqued, given the lack of core commonalities in issues such as theology, cosmology, ethics, afterlife, holy days, or ritual practices within the pagan movement.^[10]

Contemporary paganism has been defined as "a collection of modern religious, spiritual, and magical traditions that are self-consciously inspired by the pre-Judaic, pre-Christian, and pre-Islamic belief systems of Europe, North Africa, and the Near East."^[1] Thus it has been said that although it is "a highly diverse phenomenon", "an identifiable common element" nevertheless runs through the pagan movement.^[1] Strmiska described paganism as a movement "dedicated to reviving the polytheistic, nature-worshipping pagan religions of pre-Christian Europe and adapting them for the use of people in modern societies."^[11] 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."^[12]

Discussing the relationship between the different pagan religions, religious studies scholars Kaarina Aitamurto and Scott Simpson wrote that they were "like siblings who have taken different paths in life but still retain many visible similarities".^[13] But there has been much "cross-fertilization" between these different faiths: many groups have influenced, and been influenced by, other pagan religions, making clear-cut distinctions among them more difficult for scholars to make.^[14] The various pagan religions have been academically classified as new religious movements,^[15] with the anthropologist Kathryn Rountree describing paganism as a whole as a "new religious phenomenon".^[16] A number of academics, particularly in North America, consider modern paganism a form of nature religion.^[17]

Some practitioners completely eschew the use of the term pagan, preferring to use more specific names for their religion, such as "Heathen" or "Wiccan".^[18] This is because the term pagan originates in Christian terminology, which individuals who object to the term wish to avoid.^[19] 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.^[20] Within linguistically Slavic areas of Europe, the term "Native Faith" is often favored as a synonym for paganism, rendered as Ridnovirstvo in Ukrainian, Rodnoverie in Russian, and Rodzimowierstwo in Polish.^[21] Alternately, many practitioners in these regions view "Native Faith" as a category within modern paganism that does not encompass all pagan religions.^[22] Other terms some pagans favor include "traditional religion", "indigenous religion", "nativist religion", and "reconstructionism".^[19]

Various pagans who are active in pagan studies, such as Michael York and Prudence Jones, have argued that, due to the similarities of their worldviews, the modern pagan movement can be treated as part of the same global phenomenon as pre-Christian Ancient religions, living Indigenous religions, and world religions like Hinduism, Shinto, and Afro-American religions. They have also suggested that these could all be included under the rubric of "paganism".^[23] This approach has been received critically by many specialists in religious studies.^[24] Critics have pointed out that such claims would cause problems for analytic scholarship by lumping together belief systems with very significant differences, and that the term would serve modern pagan interests by making the movement appear far larger on the world stage.^[25] Doyle White writes that modern religions that draw upon the pre-Christian belief systems of other parts of the world, such as Sub-Saharan Africa or the Americas, cannot be seen as part of the contemporary pagan movement, which is "fundamentally Eurocentric".^[1] Similarly, Strmiska stresses that modern paganism should not be conflated with the belief systems of the world's Indigenous peoples because the latter lived under colonialism and its legacy, and that while some pagan worldviews bear similarities to those of indigenous communities, they stem from "different cultural, linguistic, and historical backgrounds".^[26]

Reappropriation of "paganism"

Many scholars have favored the use of "neopaganism" to describe this phenomenon, with the prefix "neo-" serving to distinguish the modern religions from their ancient, pre-Christian forerunners.^[27] Some pagan practitioners also prefer "neopaganism", believing that the prefix conveys the reformed nature of the religion, such as its rejection of practices such as animal sacrifice.^[27] Conversely, most pagans do not use the word neopagan,^[19] with some expressing disapproval of it, arguing that the term "neo" offensively disconnects them from what they perceive as their pre-Christian forebears.^[18] To avoid causing offense, many scholars in the English-speaking world have begun using the prefixes "modern" or "contemporary" rather than "neo".^[28] Several pagan studies scholars, such as Ronald Hutton and Sabina Magliocco, have emphasized the use of the upper-case "Paganism" to distinguish the modern movement from the lower-case "paganism", a term commonly used for pre-Christian belief systems.^[29] In 2015, Rountree opined that this lower case/upper case division was "now convention" in pagan studies.^[19] Among the critics of the upper-case P are York and Andras Corban-Arthen, president of the ECER. Capitalizing the word, they argue, makes "Paganism" appear as the name of a cohesive religion rather than a generic religious category, and comes off as naive, dishonest or as an unwelcome attempt to disrupt the spontaneity and vernacular quality of the movement.^[30]

The term "neo-pagan" was coined in the 19th century in reference to Renaissance and Romanticist Hellenophile classical revivalism.^[a] By the mid-1930s "neopagan" was being applied to new religious movements like Jakob Wilhelm Hauer's German Faith Movement and Jan Stachniuk's Polish Zadruga, usually by outsiders and often pejoratively.^[31] Pagan as a self-designation appeared in 1964 and 1965, in the publications of the Witchcraft Research Association; at that time, the term was in use by Wiccans in the United States and the United Kingdom, but unconnected to the broader, counterculture pagan movement. 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. This usage has been common since the pagan revival in the 1970s.^[32]

According to Strmiska, the reappropriation of the term "pagan" by modern pagans served as "a deliberate act of defiance" against "traditional, Christian-dominated society", allowing them to use it as a source of "pride and power".^[18] In this, he compared it to the gay liberation movement's reappropriation of the term "queer", which had formerly been used only as a term of homophobic abuse.^[18] He suggests that part of the term's appeal lay in the fact that a large proportion of pagan converts were raised in Christian families, and that by embracing the term "pagan", a word long used for what was "rejected and reviled by Christian authorities", a convert summarizes "in a single word his or her definitive break" from Christianity.^[33] He further suggests that the term gained appeal through its depiction in romanticist and 19th-century European nationalist literature, where it had been imbued with "a certain mystery and allure",^[34] and that by embracing the word "pagan" modern pagans defy past religious intolerance to honor the pre-Christian peoples of Europe and emphasize those societies' cultural and artistic achievements.^[35]

Varieties

Eclectic and reconstructive

Modern pagan attitudes differ regarding the source material surrounding pre-Christian belief systems.^[37] 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."^[38] Strmiska argues that these two poles could be termed reconstructionism and eclecticism, respectively.^[39] Reconstructionists do not altogether reject innovation in their interpretation and adaptation of the source material, however they do believe that the source material conveys greater authenticity and thus should be emphasized.^[38] They often follow scholarly debates about the nature of such pre-Christian religions, and some reconstructionists are themselves scholars.^[38] Eclectic pagans, conversely, seek general inspiration from the pre-Christian past, and do not attempt to recreate past rites or traditions with specific attention to detail.^[40]

On the reconstructionist side can be placed those movements which often favour the designation "Native Faith", including Romuva, Heathenry, and Hellenism.^[14] On the eclectic side has been placed Wicca, Thelema, Adonism, Druidry, the Goddess Movement, Discordianism and the Radical Faeries.^[14] Strmiska also suggests that this division could be seen as being based on "discourses of identity", with reconstructionists emphasizing a deep-rooted sense of place and people, and eclectics embracing a universality and openness toward humanity and the Earth.^[41]

Strmiska nevertheless notes that this reconstructionist-eclectic division is "neither as absolute nor as straightforward as it might appear".^[42] He cites the example of Dievturība, a form of reconstructionist paganism that seeks to revive the pre-Christian religion of the Latvian people, by noting that it exhibits eclectic tendencies by adopting a monotheistic focus and ceremonial structure from Lutheranism.^[42] Similarly, while examining neo-shamanism among the Sami people of Northern Scandinavia, Siv Ellen Kraft highlights that despite the religion being reconstructionist in intent, it is highly eclectic in the manner in which it has adopted elements from shamanic traditions in other parts of the world.^[43] 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 strongly eschewed the emphasis on ethnicity that is common to other reconstructionist groups.^[44] While Wicca is identified as an eclectic form of paganism,^[45] 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.^[42] Concern has also been expressed regarding the utility of the term "reconstructionism" when dealing with paganisms in Central and Eastern Europe, because in many of the languages of these regions, equivalents of the term "reconstructionism" – such as the Czech Historická rekonstrukce and Lithuanian Istorinė rekonstrukcija – are already used to define the secular hobby of historical re-enactment.^[46]

Ecologic and secular

The spectrum of modern paganism includes a range of ecologic and explicitly ecocentric practices, which may overlap with scientific pantheism.^[47] Pagans may distinguish their beliefs and practices as a form of religious naturalism or naturalist philosophy,^[48] with some engaged as humanistic or atheopagans.

Ethnic and regional

For some pagan groups, ethnicity is central to their religion, and some restrict membership to a single ethnic group.^[49] Some critics have described this approach as a form of racism.^[49] Other pagan groups allow people of any ethnicity, on the view that the gods and goddesses of a particular region can call anyone to their form of worship.^[50] 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.^[37] There is greater focus on ethnicity within the pagan movements in continental Europe than within the pagan movements in North America and the British Isles.^[51] Such ethnic paganisms have variously been seen as responses to concerns about foreign ideologies, globalization, cosmopolitanism, and anxieties about cultural erosion.^[52][53]

Although they acknowledged that it was "a highly simplified model", Aitamurto and Simpson wrote that there was "some truth" to the claim that leftist-oriented forms of paganism were prevalent in North America and the British Isles while rightist-oriented forms of paganism were prevalent in Central and Eastern Europe.^[15] They noted that in these latter regions, pagan groups placed an emphasis on "the centrality of the nation, the ethnic group, or the tribe".^[13] Rountree wrote that it was wrong to assume that "expressions of Paganism can be categorized straight-forwardly according to region", but acknowledged that some regional trends were visible, such as the impact of Catholicism on paganism in Southern Europe.^[54]

Historicity

Although inspired by the pre-Christian belief systems of the past, modern paganism is not the same phenomenon as these lost traditions and in many respects differs from them considerably.^[55] Strmiska stresses that modern paganism is a "new", "modern" religious movement, even if some of its content derives from ancient sources.^[55] Contemporary paganism as practiced in the United States in the 1990s has been described as "a synthesis of historical inspiration and present-day creativity".^[b]

Eclectic paganism takes an undogmatic religious stance ^[56] and therefore potentially sees no one as having authority to deem a source apocryphal. Contemporary paganism has therefore been prone to fakelore, especially in recent years as information and misinformation alike have been spread on the Internet and in print media. A number of Wiccan, pagan and even some Traditionalist or Tribalist groups have a history of Grandmother Stories – typically involving initiation by a Grandmother, Grandfather, or other elderly relative who is said to have instructed them in the secret, millennia-old traditions of their ancestors. As this secret wisdom can almost always be traced to recent sources, tellers of these stories have often later admitted they made them up.^[57] Strmiska asserts that contemporary paganism could be viewed as a part of the "much larger phenomenon" of efforts to revive "traditional, indigenous, or native religions" that were occurring across the globe.^[58]

Beliefs

Beliefs and practices vary widely among different pagan groups; however, there are a series of core principles common to most, if not all, forms of modern paganism.^[59] The English academic Graham Harvey noted that pagans "rarely indulge in theology".^[60]

Polytheism

One principle of the pagan movement is polytheism, the belief in and veneration of multiple gods or goddesses.^[59][60] Within the pagan movement, there can be found many deities, both male and female, who have various associations and embody forces of nature, aspects of culture, and facets of human psychology.^[61] These deities are typically depicted in human form, and are viewed as having human faults.^[61] They are therefore not seen as perfect, but rather are venerated as being wise and powerful.^[62] Pagans feel that this understanding of the gods reflected the dynamics of life on Earth, allowing for the expression of humour.^[62]

One view in the pagan community is that these polytheistic deities are not viewed as literal entities, but as Jungian archetypes or other psychological constructs that exist in the human psyche.^[63] Others adopt the belief that the deities have both a psychological and external existence.^[64] Many pagans believe adoption of a polytheistic world-view would be beneficial for western society – replacing the dominant monotheism they see as innately repressive.^[65] In fact, many American modern pagans first came to their adopted faiths because it allowed a greater freedom, diversity, and tolerance of worship among the community.^[66] This pluralistic perspective has helped the varied factions of modern paganism exist in relative harmony.^[56] Most pagans adopt an ethos of "unity in diversity" regarding their religious beliefs.^[67]

It is its inclusion of female deity which distinguishes pagan religions from their Abrahamic counterparts.^[64] Zdroj:https://en.wikipedia.org?pojem=Modern_paganism
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