Pagan Studies

Goddess Communities in Australia by Patricia Rose

by Feminism and Religion

Originally published on the Feminism and Religion project

Australia has a very diverse and rapidly expanding number of people for whom the Goddess, however She is understood,... more Australia has a very diverse and rapidly expanding number of people for whom the Goddess, however She is understood, is significant. The 2006 census revealed that there were over 30,000 Pagans or followers of other earth-based religious traditions in Australia and, given the way in which religions are classified in the census, this is undoubtedly a serious underestimation. We await the findings of the 2011 census with great interest.

Prior to European settlement in Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples followed their own rich spiritual beliefs, which were based on the forces of nature, a reverence for the land and its creatures, and the influence of ancestral spiritual beings. Recently, non-indigenous Australians have become increasingly interested in the indigenous connection to the land and indigenous spirituality.

While it is important not to appropriate indigenous culture, Goddess women and men in Australia are keen to express their spirituality in ways that are relevant to this land and to the Australian culture. We recognize the need to become more attuned to the ways of Australia, to her seasons and her natural cycles, and we can learn from the experiences of indigenous peoples, garnered from millennia of living on and with this land.

John Michell, Radical Traditionalism, and the Emerging Politics of the Pagan New Right.

by Amy Hale

The Pomegranate 13.1 (2011) 77-97

Although the legacy and work of John Michell is frequently associated with a culturally liberal neo-tribalism, certain... more Although the legacy and work of John Michell is frequently associated with a culturally liberal neo-tribalism, certain aspects of Michell’s thought can be, and have been, interpreted as an esoteric extension of more explicitly right-wing political positions, ones which are currently convergent with the political subcultures surrounding the European New Right both in Europe and also among newly emerging right-wing groups in the US. This essay examines the ways in which the work of John Michell is resonant with many of the philosophies of the European New Right, and how in his final years and after his death new markets for his work are emerging in the various subcultures associated with right-wing Paganism.

What is Wrong With Pagan Studies?

by Markus Altena Davidsen

”What is Wrong with Pagan Studies?, Method and Theory in the Study of Religion 24(2), 183-199.

Review of Pizza Murphy & James Lewis (eds.), Handbook of Contemporary Paganism, in the series Brill Handbooks on Contemporary Religion 2, Leiden & Boston: Brill.

Published May 2012.

Using Communications Theory to Explore Emergent Organisation in Pagan Culture

by Angela Coco

Pagan culture presents a paradoxical case to the traditional frameworks and methodologies social scientists have used... more Pagan culture presents a paradoxical case to the traditional frameworks and methodologies social scientists have used to describe religious organisation. A key factor influencing Paganism’s emergence has been its adoption of online communications. Such communications provide a means of
coordinating activities in and between networks accommodating diverse beliefs and practices and the ability to avoid overarching hierarchical organisation. These characteristics have led theorists to label Paganism as a postmodern religion, signalling the possibility of a different kind of social organisation from that evidenced in modern religions. Karaflogka (2003) distinguishes between two aspects of the move online, religion in cyberspace and religion on the Internet. While the Internet may be an online place for cybercovens and for performing cyber rituals, the analysis in this paper focuses on the interweaving of online and offline communicative practices. I suggest that communications theories, as outlined in Wenger’s ‘communities of practice’ model (1998) and Taylor and Van Every’s (2000) communications mapping, afford frameworks for exploring
the inter-connectedness of online/offline interactions and a means of identifying emergent organisation in the Pagan movement. The analysis focuses on a particular feature of Pagan organisation, the accommodation of both group-oriented and solitary pagans.

Discourses of authenticity within a Pagan community: the emergence of the 'fluffy bunny' sanction

by Angela Coco

PAGANS ONLINE AND OFFLINE: LOCATING COMMUNITY IN POSTMODERN TIMES

by Angela Coco

Recenzja: Pogaństwo wiecznie żywe [Marc Augé, Duch pogaństwa, przekład Krzysztof Wakar, Oficyna Wydawnicza Volumen, Warszawa 2010, s. 352]

by Mariusz Filip

Literatura Ludowa 6(55)/2011: 85–87

(under contract) Definitional Issues: Contemporary Pagan, Neo-Pagan & Native Faith

by Mariusz Filip

Co-authored with Scott Simpson
K. Aitamurto, S. Simpson (eds.) Modern Pagan and Native Faith Movements in Central and Eastern Europe [Equinox Studies in Contemporary and Historical Paganism]. Equinox Publishing

Polityka tożsamości we wspólnotach neopogańskich. Przykład Zakonu Zadrugi „Północny Wilk”

by Mariusz Filip

W. Dohnal, A. Posern-Zieliński (red.) 2011. Antropologia i polityka. Szkice z badań nad kulturowymi wymiarami władzy. Warszawa: Komitet Nauk Etnologicznych PAN – Instytut Archeologii i Etnologii PAN. 174–188

Contemporary Paganism, Utopian Reading Communities, and Sacred Nonmonogamy: The Religious Impact of Heinlein's and Starhawk’s Fiction

by Christine Hoff Kraemer

The Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies, Vol 13, No 1 (2011): 52-76.

Contemporary Paganism’s emphasis on sacred story and narrative has led to an interdependent relationship with popular... more Contemporary Paganism’s emphasis on sacred story and narrative has led to an interdependent relationship with popular media. Pagans draw inspiration from fiction and also bring their practices to life in popular novels. Robert Heinlein’s 1961 Stranger in a Strange Land has had a major impact on the practice of ethical nonmonogamy in the Pagan community, an impact that is reflected in Starhawk’s 1993 The Fifth Sacred Thing. Along with liturgical echoes from Stranger, Starhawk’s novel contains sacred sex practices similar to those Heinlein describes. Unlike Heinlein, however, Starhawk is writing from life; The Fifth Sacred Thing reflects the developing real-life norms of her San Francisco-based Pagan community. Both novels also follow the generic conventions of the American utopian novel, a literary form that has influenced communal and millennial movements of the past. Together, Heinlein and Starhawk’s novels demonstrate how fiction can inspire religious practice that then appears again in fiction.

The Undying Fire: Erotic Love as Divine Grace in _Promethea_

by Christine Hoff Kraemer

In _Sexual Ideology in the Works of Alan Moore: Critical Essays on the Graphic Novels,_ ed. Todd A. Comer and Joseph Michael Sommers (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2012), 150-162.

Download is EXCERPT ONLY.

In Alan Moore’s _Promethea,_ love is more than right relationship between two or more human beings—it is the universe... more In Alan Moore’s _Promethea,_ love is more than right relationship between two or more human beings—it is the universe reaching out compassionately and erotically to every living being within it. Drawing upon the monist threads of the Western esoteric tradition that affirm the feminine divine (particularly the writings of influential twentieth-century magician Aleister Crowley), Moore constructs an apocalyptic narrative where the end of the world involves not its physical destruction, but spiritual dissolution and transformation. Here, divine love is both unconditional and erotic—though not necessarily sexual in the physical sense. Yet sexuality is an important vehicle for the characters’ experience of love, and sexuality also operates as a metaphor for the quality of God/dess’ love for the universe
Although Moore’s intellectual and spiritual influences may appear obscure, the fact that erotic love has arisen as a central way to understand the love of God in some recent Christian and post-Christian theology suggests that Moore’s work is part of a wider cultural movement to position the body and eroticism as central issues in Western religiosity. In this theology, erotic love is explored as a moral force for justice, as well as a metaphor for humanity’s embodied relationship with the divine. “Grace,” the traditional term for divine love that is offered without condition and despite the brokenness or sinfulness of humanity, blurs with this new conception of eros. This essay will contextualize Promethea within current theological trends, articulate Promethea’s notion of love using textual examples from both the comic and from theological and occult writings, and examine how the comics form is used to educate Moore’s audience about how one might reframe sexuality spiritually or religiously.

Neopogański nacjonalizm jako praktyka. Tożsamość Zakonu Zadrugi "Północny Wilk"

by Mariusz Filip

Państwo i Społeczeństwo 2009, 9(4): 45-57

O etnografię rodzimowierstwa. Wprowadzenie do etnografii Zakonu Zadrugi "Północny Wilk"

by Mariusz Filip

Państwo i Społeczeństwo 2008, 8(4): 107-121

Analiza istniejących opracowań ruchu rodzimowierczego wskazuje, że podstawową strategią opisu doktryn i działalności... more Analiza istniejących opracowań ruchu rodzimowierczego wskazuje, że podstawową strategią opisu doktryn i działalności poszczególnych ugrupowań jest socjografia, a więc taki sposób przedstawiania rzeczywistości, który uniwersalizuje zarówno opisywanych, jak i opisującego. W artykule postuluję o partykularyzację opisu opartego o długotrwałe badania terenowe – etnografię. Posmak tego sposobu pisania o rodzimowierstwie daje opis sytuacji „pierwszego kontaktu” z członkami Zakonu Zadrugi „Północny Wilk”.

From Man to Witch: Gerald Gardner, 1946-1949

by Morgan Davis

From Man to Witch: Gerald Gardner, 1946-1949

by Morgan Davis

Does Humor Have a Place in Religion? by Barbara Ardinger

by Feminism and Religion

Originally published on the Feminism and Religion Project.

Is there anything funny about the divine? Any joke-telling gods? From the days of Abraham until today, the gods and... more Is there anything funny about the divine? Any joke-telling gods? From the days of Abraham until today, the gods and their preachers are a very earnest lot intent on saving us from our sins and building congregations.

Like it or not, we neopagans are still children of the society we’re endeavoring to change. Some of us seem to want to switch patriarchy to matriarchy, but that’s just swapping Big Daddy for Big Momma. It’s still a hierarchical arrangement with the deity at the top of the mountain. Immediately below the “arch” are angels, men, eagles, lions, and other superior beasts. At the bottom of the mountain are women, mud, and matter. (In case you don’t recognize it, this is the 18th-century Great Chain of Being.)

Any humor in spiritual and religious writing? The Hebrew Bible (which Christians refer to as the Old Testament) is a collection of laws, canonically approved versions of history, prophetical preachings, and poetry. The Christian Bible (aka New Testament) give us different approved versions of history, plus further preaching, plus myth and mysticism. The writings of the medieval Fathers of the Church are famously grim and misogynistic. The Qur’an offers ethical guidance and moral preaching. In the Far East, the Tao is also profound, as are the preachings of the Buddha. The writings of Confucius present instructions for maintaining the correct social order (another version of that Great Chain). The great stories of Hinduism are filled with wonder, adventures, and philosophy. But they’re not very funny.

These are the standard texts of the standard-brand religions, and though I’ve greatly oversimplified them—no offense intended to anyone—I think it’s safe to say that while we can have conversations filled with humor, gentle or ironic, with followers of these religions, we are unlikely to discern anything funny in the holy books. From the beginning, spiritual writing has been unrelentingly and highly serious.

One of the blessings of the Goddess religion—spiritual feminism or feminist spiritualism—is playfulness. I know many neopagans who are extraordinarily creative. I’ve been to some truly inventive rituals. I have read hilarious jokes and postings in the social media.

How to Talk to a Deity* by Barbara Ardinger

by Feminism and Religion

Originally published on the Feminism and Religion Project

Originally, when ritual was still part of everyday life and everybody talked to gods and goddesses all the time, we... more Originally, when ritual was still part of everyday life and everybody talked to gods and goddesses all the time, we spoke to them in everyday words. As time went on and priests assumed more power, however, exalted language and fulsome invocations arose, and pretty soon only the High Priest could speak to God Most High. We common folks were allowed to pray, of course, but the important prayers were uttered by the priests.

During the European Renaissance and all the way up to the 19th-century occult revival, it was thought that the gods spoke Hebrew and Latin. Ceremonial magicians wrote rituals in these languages or made up other highly esoteric languages like crypto-Egyptian, quasi-Sanskrit, and Enochian (the “angelic language” of the Elizabethan Dr. Dee). If you read books on high occultism, you’ll see scripts in these languages. Trying to pronounce the words can be like trying to unscrew the inscrutable.

Continue reading: http://feminismandreligion.com/2012/01/01/how-to-talk-to-a-deity-by-barbara-ardinger-ph-d/

A Life in the Woods: Protest Site Paganism

by Adrian Harris

This auto-ethnography of my research at UK protest sites illustrates how the power of place can catalyse a Pagan... more This auto-ethnography of my research at UK protest sites illustrates how the power of place can catalyse a Pagan spirituality.

The power of place: Protest site pagans

by Adrian Harris

My fieldwork with activists living on UK protest camps revealed the impact of spending extended periods of time in the... more My fieldwork with activists living on UK protest camps revealed the impact of spending extended periods of time in the organic environment. The wilderness effect – previously described in the context of US treks in places like the Grand Canyon – was apparent even in comparatively urban environments and catalysed a spiritual emergence for several people. I begin by explaining the context of protest site activism and spirituality. I then draw on my fieldwork to describe how key aspects of the wilderness effect were expressed on UK protest sites and discuss some of the life changing experiences catalysed by the effect. I then outline my model of embodied situated cognition and use it to provide a partial explanation for how the wilderness effect works.

The Temple of Flora or Venus in Rome near the Circus Maximus and the new Christian topography: the ‘pagan revival’ in action?

by Michael Mulryan

in The Archaeology of Late Antique Paganism, edd. L. Lavan and M. J. J. Mulryan (Late Antique Archaeology 7) (Leiden and Boston 2011) 209-27.