Modern paganism,also known as contemporary paganism and neopaganism,is a term for a religion or a family of religions which is 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. 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.
Wicca,also known as "The Craft",is a modern pagan,syncretic,earth-centered religion. Scholars of religion categorize it as both a new religious movement and as part of occultist Western esotericism. It was developed in England during the first half of the 20th century and was introduced to the public in 1954 by Gerald Gardner,a retired British civil servant. Wicca draws upon a diverse set of ancient pagan and 20th-century hermetic motifs for its theological structure and ritual practices.
Aradia is one of the principal figures in the American folklorist Charles Godfrey Leland's 1899 work Aradia,or the Gospel of the Witches,which he believed to be a genuine religious text used by a group of pagan witches in Tuscany,a claim that has subsequently been disputed by other folklorists and historians. In Leland's Gospel,Aradia is portrayed as a messiah who was sent to Earth in order to teach the oppressed peasants how to perform witchcraft to use against the Roman Catholic Church and the upper classes.
The Rosicrucian Order Crotona Fellowship was a Rosicrucian group founded by George Alexander Sullivan in about 1924. It may have existed under the name The Order of Twelve from 1911 to 1914 and again from 1920. The ROCF operated first from the Liverpool area of England and then after the mid-1930s from the Christchurch area. Its members studied esoteric subjects from lectures,plays and correspondence material prepared by George Alexander Sullivan.
Stregheria is a neo-pagan tradition similar to Wicca,with Italian and Italian American origins. While most practitioners consider Stregheria to be a distinct tradition from Wicca,some academics consider it to be a form of Wicca or an offshoot. Both have similar beliefs and practices. For example,Stregheria honors a pantheon centered on a Moon Goddess and a Horned God,similar to Wiccan views of divinity.
Drawing Down the Moon:Witches,Druids,Goddess-Worshippers,and Other Pagans in America Today is a sociological study of contemporary Paganism in the United States written by the American Wiccan and journalist Margot Adler. First published in 1979 by Viking Press,it was later republished in a revised and expanded edition by Beacon Press in 1986,with third and fourth revised editions being brought out by Penguin Books in 1996 and then 2006 respectively.
Aradia,or the Gospel of the Witches is a book composed by the American folklorist Charles Godfrey Leland that was published in 1899. It contains what he believed was the religious text of a group of pagan witches in Tuscany,Italy that documented their beliefs and rituals,although various historians and folklorists have disputed the existence of such a group. In the 20th century,the book was very influential in the development of the contemporary Pagan religion of Wicca.
Gary Charles Erbe,known as Raven Grimassi,was an American author of over 20 books,including topics on Wicca,Stregheria,witchcraft and neo-paganism. He popularized Stregheria,the religious practice of witchcraft with roots in Italy. Grimassi presented this material in the form of neo-paganism through his books. He had been a practitioner of witchcraft for over 45 years and was the co-director of the Ash,Birch and Willow tradition. He died of pancreatic cancer on March 10,2019.
Celtic neopaganism refers to any type of modern paganism or contemporary pagan movements based on the ancient Celtic religion. One approach is Celtic Reconstructionism (CR),which emphasizes historical accuracy in reviving Celtic traditions. CR practitioners rely on historical sources and archaeology for their rituals and beliefs,including offerings to spirits and deities. Language study and preservation are essential,and daily life often incorporates ritual elements. While distinct from eclectic pagan and neopagan witchcraft traditions,there is some overlap with Neo-druidism.
Sam Webster is an American writer,founder of Concrescent Press,and an advocate for open source religion—the use of the open source paradigm in the field of spirituality. He is a Thelemite,a member of the Golden Dawn tradition,Bishop Tau Ty of Ecclesia Gnostica Universalis,and an initiate of Wicca.
M. Macha NightMare is an American Neopagan witch. She was born in Milford,Connecticut and was one of the founders of the Reclaiming Collective in the 1970s.
Wiccan views of divinity are generally theistic,and revolve around a Goddess and a Horned God,thereby being generally dualistic. In traditional Wicca,as expressed in the writings of Gerald Gardner and Doreen Valiente,the emphasis is on the theme of divine gender polarity,and the God and Goddess are regarded as equal and opposite divine cosmic forces. In some newer forms of Wicca,such as feminist or Dianic Wicca,the Goddess is given primacy or even exclusivity. In some forms of traditional witchcraft that share a similar duotheistic theology,the Horned God is given precedence over the Goddess.
Neopagan witchcraft,sometimes referred to as The Craft,is an umbrella term for some neo-pagan traditions that include the attempted practice of magic. These traditions began in the mid-20th century,and many were influenced by the witch-cult hypothesis;a now-rejected theory that persecuted witches in Europe had actually been followers of a surviving pagan religion. The largest and most influential of these movements was Wicca. Some other groups and movements describe themselves as "Traditional Witchcraft" to distinguish themselves from Wicca.
Pagan studies is the multidisciplinary academic field devoted to the study of modern paganism,a broad assortment of modern religious movements,which are typically influenced by or claiming to be derived from the various pagan beliefs of premodern Europe. Pagan studies embrace a variety of different scholarly approaches to studying such religions,drawing from history,sociology,anthropology,archaeology,folkloristics,theology and other religious studies.
Modern Paganism in World Cultures:Comparative Perspectives is an academic anthology edited by the American religious studies scholar Michael F. Strmiska which was published by ABC-CLIO in 2005. Containing eight separate papers produced by various scholars working in the field of Pagan studies,the book examines different forms of contemporary Paganism as practiced in Europe and North America. Modern Paganism in World Cultures was published as a part of ABC-CLIO's series of books entitled 'Religion in Contemporary Cultures',in which other volumes were dedicated to religious movements like Buddhism and Islam.
Witching Culture:Folklore and Neo-Paganism in America is a folkloric and anthropological study of the Wiccan and wider Pagan community in the United States. It was written by the American anthropologist and folklorist Sabina Magliocco of California State University,Northridge and first published in 2004 by the University of Pennsylvania Press. It was released as a part of a series of academic books titled 'Contemporary Ethnography',edited by the anthropologists Kirin Narayan of the University of Wisconsin and Paul Stoller of West Chester University.
Enchanted Feminism:The Reclaiming Witches of San Francisco is an anthropological study of the Reclaiming Wiccan community of San Francisco. It was written by the Scandinavian theologian Jone Salomonsen of the California State University,Northridge and first published in 2002 by the Routledge.
Never Again the Burning Times:Paganism Revisited is an anthropological study of the Wiccan and wider Pagan community in the United States. It was written by the American anthropologist Loretta Orion and published by Waveland Press in 1995.
Living Witchcraft:A Contemporary American Coven is a sociological study of an American coven of Wiccans who operated in Atlanta,Georgia during the early 1990s. It was co-written by the sociologist Allen Scarboro,psychologist Nancy Campbell and literary critic Shirley Stave and first published by Praeger in 1994. Although largely sociological,the study was interdisciplinary,and included both insider and outsider perspectives into the coven;Stave was an initiate and a practicing Wiccan while Scarboro and Campbell remained non-initiates throughout the course of their research.
Persuasions of the Witches' Craft:Ritual Magic in Contemporary England is a study of several Wiccan and ceremonial magic groups that assembled in southern England during the 1980s. It was written by the American anthropologist Tanya M. Luhrmann of the University of California,San Diego,and first published in 1989.
