Neopaganism

Neopaganism is an umbrella term used to describe the contemporary revival of pre-Christian faith traditions. As the term encompasses a number of distinct religions and spiritual belief systems, including Wicca and Neo-Druidism, there is no single, universally accepted definition of neopaganism. However, there are numerous concepts common to the various branches of neopagan thought and cosmology, including monism, pantheism, and polytheism. Neopagan faiths also tend to revere nature as a sacred entity while emphasizing respect for all life-forms. It is also customary for adherents of neopaganism to believe in or practice magic and other rituals thought to influence everyday human life.

History

Prior to the rise of Christianity, many European civilizations practiced faith traditions that were strongly shaped by nature and natural phenomena. Nature played a major role in daily life, and the elements posed constant hazards to the safety and prosperity of human communities. As such, nature deities became a common focal point of worship and exaltation.

Many of these belief systems included codified rituals and ceremonies, with practitioners engaging in rites of worship directed not only at nature deities but also at deceased ancestors. The latter practice, known as ancestor worship, was a common feature of ancient religions and remains a part of many indigenous and traditional faiths. Ancestor worship is the practice of venerating and honoring the spirits of departed family members, with some adherents positing that ancestral spirits can be petitioned by the living to favorably interfere in their everyday affairs.

The expansion of the Roman Empire led to an intermingling of its religious tradition with the spiritual beliefs of those living in conquered and annexed territories. However, these disparate religions were able to coexist in relative peace, largely because both were built around polytheism, or a belief in multiple gods.

After Christianity was adopted as the official religion of the Roman Empire, the new faith began to spread across Europe and its monotheistic principles came into conflict with these polytheistic systems. With the promotion of Christianity, all other traditional belief systems were labeled pagan, a pejorative catch-all term for the spiritual beliefs of people not aligned with the Abrahamic religions of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. With persecution threatening those who failed to convert to an Abrahamic faith, pagan religions had almost entirely disappeared by the beginning of the Middle Ages.

However, the rise of Christianity in Europe was not simply a matter of one religious tradition supplanting another. The transition was gradual, and early forms of European Christianity drew on existing pagan beliefs and practices to ease its implementation. Some scholars have claimed that December 25 was selected as Christmas Day due to its proximity to the winter solstice, a major pagan celebration that falls on December 21. While this theory has been disputed by both Christian and secular academics, it is generally accepted that Christianity's integration in Europe was facilitated to some degree by its ritualistic similarities to pagan religions, though whether or not this was by design remains a matter of debate.

Christianity went on to become not only Europe's dominant religion but also a key source of cultural hegemony. As such, pagan beliefs were driven out of the mainstream, if not extinguished altogether. Most pagan religions virtually disappeared, only to be rediscovered centuries later, after the rise of the secular nation-state triggered a decline in the influence of Christianity.

By the end of the nineteenth century, there was a growing movement toward alternative forms of spiritual expression. Championed by figures including Helena Blavatsky and Aleister Crowley, newly emergent forms of pagan-inspired spiritualism began to take hold in the twentieth century. By the 1960s, they were becoming increasingly widespread, finding commonalities with the progressive social and philosophical movements of the era. Around the same time, many European countries were repealing the final remnants of the anti-witchcraft laws that had been used to punish alleged witches, sorcerers, and satanic agents over the course of the past millennium.

Beliefs and Practices

Neopaganism is a fluid concept, with no precise or all-encompassing definition. The diverse worldwide community of neopagans includes practitioners of Wicca, Neo-Druidism, Shamanism, Heathenism, Odinism, and Sacred Ecology. Some of these belief systems emphasize the practice of ancient rites and rituals, while others engage in the worship and reverence of ancient gods and deities. However, most neopagan philosophies share a common reverence for nature and the innate vitality of the natural world. They also tend to embrace the concepts of polytheism, pantheism, or monism.

While polytheism is simply a belief in multiple gods, goddesses, and deities, pantheism differs in that it posits the eternal presence of the divine in all things, living and nonliving. In essence, it is the belief that the divine is part of everything, including oneself, at all times, and can be observed or experienced in all things at all times. Monism holds that all things are unified by their common divine origins; it is the idea that all is one, and one is all.

From a structural standpoint, neopagan religions also tend to be highly decentralized. Internal hierarchies, when they are present at all, are typically much looser than those used by the Abrahamic creeds. Many faiths that identify as neopagan also emphasize the importance of the individual's spiritual experience, allowing for overarching principles and beliefs to be adapted on a personal level.

Beyond the acceptance or adoption of magic and related rituals, many branches of contemporary neopaganism have also embraced time-honored meditative techniques and healing practices such as yoga, herbalism, alchemy, acupuncture, massage therapy, ayurveda, and natural or substance-assisted psychonautic exploration. On the whole, the neopagan movement seeks to rediscover and reclaim the lost wisdom of ancient ages and reintegrate it into modern life. While few government or international agencies have attempted to compile official statistics, it is believed that the worldwide popularity of neopaganism is on the rise, especially in Western nations, where a coincidental decline in Christianity is ongoing.

Religions and Movements

Of the faiths and spiritual belief systems that identify as neopagan, Wicca and Neo-Druidism are the two most widely practiced. Others include Shamanism, Heathenism, Odinism, and Sacred Ecology.

Wicca

Said to have originated in the agrarian society of the ancient Celts, Wicca is centered on building a positive, harmonious relationship with nature and with the divine pantheon of gods and goddesses worshiped by adherents. It is composed of loosely structured groups of practitioners known as Wiccans, who generally assemble under the guidance or leadership of senior members known as priests, priestesses, warlocks, or witches. The requirements that must be fulfilled in order to earn priest/priestess or warlock/witch status vary, as the groups that make up the faith do not follow an identical set of traditions. Wiccans engage in the casting of spells, charms, and incantations, which are used to influence or manipulate the external world.

Although the faith is somewhat nontraditional in that it allows practitioners to devise an individualized belief system, there are numerous commonalities among the various groups that identify as Wiccan. Reverence for nature is one of Wicca's central tenets, and the faith teaches that all living things deserve equal respect. While moral absolutism is rejected by Wiccans, they do believe that nature is divine in origin and strive for a harmonious relationship with the natural world. Wicca is also built around two key codes of conduct. The first is known as the Wiccan Rede, which states: "An ye harm none, do what ye will." This prohibits the casting of spells or charms intended to bring harm to another individual or living creature. The second is the Threefold Law, which resembles the Hindu concept of karma and posits that any intentional harm done to another person or living creature will revisit the offending individual threefold.

Neo-Druidism

Neo-Druidism is a revival of the ancient Druidic faith traditions practiced in Great Britain and France that peaked during the Iron Age. Like Wicca, Neo-Druidism is built around a polytheistic system of nature worship. Neo-Druids believe in the divine character of nature and hold that this divinity is eternally present in all things in the material world. One unique aspect of Neo-Druidism is that practitioners believe gods, goddesses, and powerful divine spirits can manifest at any time and may choose human conduits to present themselves.

The cycles of the natural world, including the seasons, hold a prominent place in the Neo-Druid faith and are duly celebrated. The summer and winter solstices, the vernal and autumnal equinoxes, and the phases of the moon are all carefully observed and are marked with rituals and sacraments. In addition, rites of passage such as birth, puberty, ordination into senior positions within the faith, marriage, and death are the subject of elaborate ceremonies. Like Wiccans, Neo-Druids practice magic and spellcasting as part of its sacred order.

Cooperation, community, and the interconnectedness of all living things, including believers and nonbelievers alike, are major Neo-Druid principles. However, like Wicca, Neo-Druidism rejects the notion of absolute morality. The faith tradition also teaches that both reincarnation and ascension into a higher spiritual plane are possible after death, and ancestor worship is a common and enthusiastically encouraged practice.

Other Branches of Neopaganism

Shamanism is inspired by the traditional, centuries-old shamanistic practices associated with indigenous and native groups around the world. It uses rituals believed to induce trances and other altered states of consciousness, allowing practitioners to gain advanced spiritual and philosophical insights that can then be imported back into their everyday lives. However, it does not seek to appropriate the ceremonial shamanistic practices associated with specific indigenous groups.

Heathenism, or Heathenry, is built around a rediscovery of the pre-Christian religions formerly practiced in numerous regions of northern Europe, including parts of what are now England, Germany, Scandinavia, and the Friesland region of the Netherlands. Heathens draw on surviving literary sources that detail the beliefs and traditions of these ancient religions, which include ancestor worship, a rich polytheistic mythology, and belief in a hierarchy of greater and lesser spirits known as wights. One of its central concepts is known as wyrd, which posits that all living things are connected by a universal life force. The actions of an individual are believed to influence this universal life force, and as such, adherents are mindful of the consequences of their choices. As in Wicca, belief in a karma-like force is a major feature of Heathenism.

Odinism revives the ancient religion of European tribes who primarily lived in Scandinavia but also in parts of modern-day Germany and Great Britain. The Norse god Odin is its central figure, and like other neopagan faiths, it eschews ideas of moral absolutism and espouses the divine character of nature. After death, the righteous faithful are believed to pass into a higher plane known as Valhalla.

Sacred Ecology is a minor movement that seeks to infuse human understanding of the natural world with spirituality. As in other more widely practiced forms of neopaganism, Sacred Ecology embraces the idea of the interconnectedness of all living things and strives to build mutually beneficial relationships between human and nonhuman life-forms.

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