Neopaganism

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Neopaganism is a modern word that translates directly to "New Paganism." In a broad sense, Neopagan religions are new religious movements that seek to establish a 21st-century pagan community.

Philhellenes and Romantic poets of the 19th Century, like Percy Bysshe Shelley, were among the first to be referred to as "Neopagan" by their critics.

[edit] Etymology of "Neopagan"

The root of "neopagan" is the Latin "paganus"[1], meaning "rustic" or "country dweller". Despite the somewhat romanticised romantic notion held by many modern self-identified (Neo)Pagans that the term was initially applied to not-yet-Christianised polytheists because it was the people in the countryside "keeping the traditions alive", there is substantial evidence from antiquity that it was initially applied as a slur against polytheists. The On-Line Etymology Dictionary points out that Roman military slang used the term "paganus" in the pejorative to mean "civilian", and "incompetent soldier", and that this was continued on when the early Christian church adopted militaristic imagery and strategies to convert the masses.

The term neo-pagan, similarly, was coined in the 19th Century CE as a pejorative term against then-current "Philhellenes" and Victorian Romantics and Classicists, such as Percy Bysshe Shelley and Lord Byron:

• The very persons who would most writhe and wail at their surroundings if transported back into early Greece, would, I think, be the neo-pagans and Hellas worshipers of today. (W. James, letter of 5 April 1868, cited after OED)
• The neopagan impulse of the classical revival. (J. A. Symonds, Renaissance in Italy 1877, iv. 193)
• Pre-Raphaelitism [...] has got mixed up with æstheticism, neo-paganism, and other such fantasies. (J. McCarthy A history of our own times, 1880, iv. 542)

In spite of the terms "pagan" and "neo-pagan" (and variants) having histories as slurs, in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries CE, the term has been used in self-identification as a reclaimed word, to the point that prominent (Neo)Pagan writers, such as Issac Bonewits[2], have re-defined and effectively whitewashed the meanings and histories of the terms. It should, though, be noted that linguistic drift is a common phenomenon of all living languages, and reclaiming terms is a valid act that needn't be ignorant of etymology.

[edit] Types of Neopaganism

This section is to define "NeoPagan" paths under current use of the term "NeoPagan" as a reclaimed word than many (though not all) persons in the following religious paths at least occasionally use to self-identify.

[edit] Asatru

Asatru is a Reconstructionist religion dedicated to reviving the worship of the Norse Gods. Asatru is sometimes referred to as either "Norse polytheism", "Germanic polytheism", or simply "Heathenism", with followers often referring to themselves as "Heathens" or "Asatruar". Other terms may be in use amongst the Asatru community.

Many Asatruar are "tribal" and may worship only German, or only Scandinavian deities, as an example.

[edit] Celtic Polytheism

Celtic polytheism is an umbrella term that refers to the polytheistic reconstruction of Gaulish, Gaelic, Welsh, Cornish, and Breton polytheistic systems of tribes commonly referred to as "Celtic". Pictish polytheism is often included under the umbrella of Celtic reconstruction; though the Picts are technically not Celtic, their inclusion is made because when a handful of Gaelic clans were banished from Ireland to Scotland, many clansmen intermarried with Picts and some cultural blending happened (additionally, there are a lot of Scottish surnames that are of Pictish origin).

Little survives of pre-Christian Celtic written languages, and as such, much of Celtic mythology did not get written down until Christian monks sought to preserve the narrative mythology as tales of heroes. It is also believed that some mythology became absorbed into stories of early Christian Saints.

The term "Celt", in referring to the aforementioned tribes is of Hellenic origin. Herodotus referred to the Gauls as Keltoi[3]. It is also noteworthy that among the Herakles mythos includes Herakles' consensual affair with a woman named Keltine who, after laying with Herakles, became the mother of the Keltoi[4].

[edit] Hellenic Polytheism

Hellenic Polytheism is the modern worship of the Hellenic Gods. Hellenists use historical materials and modern innovation to make ancient practices relevant to a lifestyle in the 21st century, drawing from many different regions and historical periods during which the Hellenic Gods were worshipped in antiquity.

[edit] Types of Hellenic Polytheism

• Attic polytheism
• Boeotian polytheism
• Lesbian polytheism
• Neoplatonism
• Neo-Pythagoreanism
• Orphism
• Panhellenic polytheism

The idea that all ancient Hellenes worshipped the same deities in the same ways and had the same festivals is somewhat of a misnomer. When examining the ancient Hellenes, we discover not one tribe spread out amongst an entire peninsula, dozens of islands, and colonies, but instead over thirty tribes speaking dialects of a language that, while the same in structure and alphabet, was dissimilar enough that Hellenes who spoke only Attic, for example, would sometimes comment that the Aeolic dialect (spoken mainly in Boeotia, Thessaly, and Lesbos) sounded "barbaros" (like a foreign language). Despite this, unlike many Norse or Celtic polytheists, Hellenists seem less likely to practise tribal religions, but it is uncertain what the ratios of "tribal Hellenic" to "Pan-Hellenic" polytheists exactly are. Many who practise Panhellenic polytheism cite the Hellenistic era as bringing many of the Hellenic tribes together, to some extent or another, and feeling that the religion (if left unbroken by Christianity, as the reasoning goes) was headed in a direction similar to Hinduism, with many sects, deity cults, schools of philosophy, and so forth under an umbrella of "Hellenism".

[edit] Syncretic Hellenic Paths

Hellenic syncretism is almost impossible to escape -- the concept of syncretism in Hellenic polytheism encompasses both Interpretatio graeca, interpreting deities of other tribal pantheons as said tribe's versions of Hellenic deities, and the "absorption" of deities from non-Hellenic tribes, such as Adonis or Kybele. While some Hellenic recons seem to find the mere idea of syncretism as somehow sullying the integrity of the ancient religion, others embrace it, pointing out that Kybele and Adonis were thouroughly "Hellenised" by the time of Hesiod (one of Hellenic polytheism's oldest primary sources) and that deities whom we as modern people know as Apollon, Zeus, and Athene, were, at one point in Hellas' religious history referred to only by the "local epithets" used by those particular Hellenic tribes, and it wasn't until much later in antiquity that the Apollon of Thespiae, for example, was recognised as the same Apollon of Athens.

A number of recognised syncretic paths are practised today, including:

• Alexandrian/Hellenistic polytheism - Greco-Roman-Egyptian
• Greco-Roman polytheism
• Greco-Buddhism
• Romano-Celtic polytheism -- historically, it was predominantly the Celts of Gaul and Hispania whose religion was significantly influenced by Rome, but some ruins of Greco-Roman shrines still exist in England and Wales. Nonetheless, due to debatable mythological ties of Hellas and Gaelic tribes, "Helleno-Gaelic" syncretism is practised by a few.

[edit] Kemetism

Kemetism is the polytheistic religion of ancient Egypt.

[edit] Religio Romana

Religio Romana, closely related to Hellenic Polytheism, works to revive the Roman way. Several groups dedicated to this revival exist, the most prominent being Nova Roma[5].

[edit] Wicca

Wicca is most commonly associated with the word "Neopagan". There are many different Wiccan traditions, but the most common are listed here.

• Alexandrian
• Dianic
• Eclectic (also sometimes referred to as "NeoWicca" or "Popular Wicca")
• Gardnerian or British Traditional (both terms are used interchangeably for the same lineages)

[edit] Dissension

While some polytheists have been working for a few decades to reclaim the term, some feel that "Pagan" and other terms derived from the same Latin root should be avoided just like other racial, religious, and ethnic slurs.

In recent years, it has become clear that the term Neopaganism is most associated with Wicca-derived practices, in the public eye. Thus, many non-Wiccans choose not to use this term in order to distinguish themselves from Wicca.

[edit] Is Hellenic Polytheism a "Pagan" Religion?

Abrahamic religionists, or more specifically, those who practice Judaism, Islam, or Christianity, frequently call those who do not practice one of their religions "pagan." In this sense, Hellenic Polytheism is definitely a pagan religion. Like Hindu practitioners, many Hellenists are reluctant to apply the term to their religion, instead calling themselves polytheists or reconstructionists; some may even take serious offence to the term. Alternatively, some Hellenists may use the term to avoid confusion when discussing their religion with outsiders.