Contemporary Paganism Research Articles

Sabina Magliocco, Witching Culture: Folklore and Neo-Paganism in America

Sabina Magliocco, Witching Culture: Folklore and Neo-Paganism in America (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004), 280 pp., $55 (cloth), $19.95 (paper).

Being at Home in Nature

Pagans have accused Judaism of a transcendental disregard for nature, while Jewish thinkers have suggested that paganism exhibits a natural, if primitive, disregard for ethics. For the most part, the paganism of which Jewish philosophers have spoken is understood as religion that has not yet developed any awareness of or respect for God, rather than contemporary Paganism. Pagans have cited some biblical texts in environmental work done by Jewish philosophers and activists. It seems obvious that individual Pagans and Jews have more or less appreciation of nature based on their personal inclinations; there are certainly many examples of good work being done on both sides. Addressing the basic difference in worldview or cosmology that underlies the accusations, I suggest a supplementation of Jewish and Pagan ideas, drawing on the work of the (post)modern Jewish philosopher Emmanuel Levinas (1906–1995). If Levinas’s understanding of transcendence is interpreted in terms of a lateral transcendence of one’s own ego, and one’s limited view of the world, rather than the vertical transcendence of nature, his ethical theory can contribute to the development of interpersonal environmental ethics in a contemporary Pagan worldview.

Renovating the Broom Closet

A perception of reduced stigma and increased access to information facilitate increased involvement in contemporary Paganism in Canada, from a rational-choice and demographic standpoint. Original research done within the Canadian Pagan community from 1995 to 1998 suggests that, given the available data both on current demographics and on cultural trends, the number of self-identified Pagans on the 2011 and 2021 censuses will continue to increase at a rate higher than that of other religious groups.

‘I would rather be a god/dess than a cyborg’ A Pagan Encounter with Donna Haraway

Through a close textual analysis of relevant sections of Donna Haraway’s 1985 paper, ‘A Cyborg Manifesto’, and with specific reference to her closing remark in that article, I explore the compatibility of Haraway’s work with a Pagan political philosophy. After a general introduction to what I take to be the key concepts for a Pagan politics in Haraway’s work, I offer a brief outline of her use of the figure of the ‘cyborg’. With this background established, I begin my consideration of the final line of ‘A Cyborg Manifesto’, which reads: ‘Though both are bound in the spiral dance, I would rather be a cyborg than a goddess’. Through my unpacking of this comment I offer an explanation of the type of position that Haraway is attempting to adopt, a position that takes into account both the unique opportunities that we are offered, and the risks that we are exposed to, by technologies in the modern world. Equipped with this understanding of Haraway’s position, we are able more clearly to see her critical perspective on Paganism (which I argue is part of what is represented by the ‘goddess’ figure in the above quote). I then offer a re-reading of this goddess figure in light of the political and philosophical reality of contemporary Paganism’s engagement with the technological, and argue that the cyborg and the goddess should be understood as kin, not as adversaries. Finally, I present what I take to be the most important challenge that Haraway’s paper offers to contemporary Paganism, namely the challenge to think carefully about powerful dualisms—like those between ‘nature’ and ‘culture’ and between the ‘organic’ and the ‘technological’—and to ask ourselves about the roles that they might play in our Paganism and our politics more generally.

Carol Barner-Barry, Contemporary Paganism: Minority Religions in a Majoritarian America

Carol Barner-Barry, Contemporary Paganism: Minority Religions in a Majoritarian America (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005), xii + 242 pp., $55 (cloth).

Book Excerpt

Since its popular inception in the mid-1990s, the World Wide Web has been subject to a set of interrelated mythologies about its potential as a social technology. Virtual reality has been confused with online activity, the question of computer-mediated community has been debated, and researchers have begun to explore the Internet’s impact on religious belief and practice. This excerpt addresses some of these concerns in terms of the Internet more generally and modern Paganism on the Internet more specifically. While some Pagans regard the Net as the next leap in magickal evolution, others consider it little more than a global notice board for the privileged classes.

Civil Religion Aspects of Neo-Paganism

Robert Bellah’s concept of civil religion is largely an analytical concept that, like the notion of secularization, is more tautological than empirical—defying in general what evidence could be legitimately used to confirm or disconfirm it. As a sociological construct, however, “civil religion” is nevertheless deemed a useful heuristic device. The following analysis builds on the data of Wimberley and Swatos concerning who is likely to support American civil religion and who is not, but this is not an empirical study in and of itself. Instead, what I have sought to tease out are, first, the common denominator language of “civil religion” itself and its current renewal, secondly, where Pagans fit with the Wimberley–Swatos findings concerning the construct, and, thirdly, some of the nuances and difficulties regarding Pagan civil religion involvement—especially in the post-9/11 increase in patriotic fervor and the countervailing trend expressed through the separation of church–state juridical decisions involving the “under God” clause in the Pledge of Allegiance. The article concludes with a brief look at how nature religion/Goddess spirituality might constitute a Pagan form of civil religion in contrast to Pagan sectarian expression. Though not exclusively, this article draws from conversation on the Nature Religions List, which, if not fully representative of all facets of contemporary Paganism, represents some of the best of current intellectual Pagan thought and, at the same time, a diversified range between conservative right and liberal left orientations.

The encyclopedia of magic and alchemy

Interest in magic and sorcery has been rekindled in recent years due to the success of popular fiction and films such as the Harry Potter novels and The Lord of the Rings. Surprisingly, much of that fancy is founded on fact, and now readers looking for the history and lore behind their favorite fantasies will have a resource on which to rely. With more than 500 entries, The Encyclopedia of Magic and Alchemy is a fascinating A-to-Z reference to the history of the Western magical and alchemical traditions, sorting history from myth and folklore and examining mystical beliefs through the ages. With roots reaching back to ancient Egypt, the classical world, and the Middle East, magic and alchemy have often played an integral part in science, politics, and religion. From the quest for the Philosopher's Stone to 20th-century wizards like Aleister Crowley to contemporary pagans and wiccans, the full range of Western magic and its influence on society is documented here. Topics covered include history, lore, famous people, philosophies, procedures, materials, rituals, and relationships to science.

Re-Imagining Inanna: The Gendered Reappropriation of the Ancient Goddess in Modern Goddess Worship

'Re-Imagining Inanna: The Gendered Reappropriation of the Ancient Goddess in Modern Goddess Worship' examines the specifically gendered reconstruction of the ancient Mesopotamian deity Inanna in modern Goddess worship. This paper argues that the reconstruction of Inanna in modern Goddess worship is an imaginative process based upon unexamined gendered assumptions of what is properly feminine for a great goddess. The result of this process is a constructed image of Inanna that is incongruent with the personality of Inanna as imagined in ancient Mesopotamia. Moreover, this incongruence leads to an examination of the Pagan approach to history and an analysis of the sociological features present in contemporary Paganism that allows for these selective reconstructions.

Review of <i>The Encyclopedia of Modern Witchcraft and Paganism</i> edited by Shelley Rabinovitch and James Lewis

Review of <i>The Encyclopedia of Modern Witchcraft and Paganism</i> edited by Shelley Rabinovitch and James Lewis

Cyberhenge: Modern Pagans on the Internet

The Journal of Popular CultureVolume 40, Issue 1 p. 169-170 Cyberhenge: Modern Pagans on the Internet Maria Beatrice Bittarello, Maria Beatrice Bittarello University of StirlingSearch for more papers by this author Maria Beatrice Bittarello, Maria Beatrice Bittarello University of StirlingSearch for more papers by this author First published: 24 January 2007 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5931.2007.00358.xRead the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume40, Issue1February 2007Pages 169-170 RelatedInformation

Reviews

Book Reviewed in this article: Ahmed, Monisha. 2002. Living fabric. Weaving among the nomads of Ladakh Himalaya. Banks, Marcus. 2001. Visual methods in social research. Causey, Andrew. 2003. Hard bargaining in Sumatra. Western travelers and Toba Bataks in the marketplace of souvenirs. Fausto, Carlos. 2001. Inimigos fiéis. História, guerra e xamanismo na Amazǒnia. Fiskesjö, Magnus. 2003. The Thanksgiving turkey pardon, the death of Teddy's bear and the sovereign exception of Guantánamo. Foster, Helen Bradely, and D. Clay Johnson (eds.). Wedding dress across cultures. Frank, Katherine. 2002. G‐strings and sympathy. Strip club regulars and male desire. Griffith, David, and Manuel Valdés Pizzini. 2002. Fishers at work, workers at sea. Harris, Mark. 2000. Life on the Amazon. The anthropology of a Brazilian peasant village. Knauft, Bruce (ed). 2002. Critically modern. Alternatives, alterities, anthropologies. Lohmann, Roger Ivar (ed.). 2003. Dream travellers. Sleep experiences and culture in the western Pacific. Martínez‐Hernáez, Angel. 2000. What's behind the symptom? Popenoe, Rebecca. 2004. Feeding desire. Fatness, beauty and sexuality among a Saharan people. Scher, Philip W. 2003. Carnival and the formation of a Caribbean transnation. Schrauwers, Albert. 2000. Colonial‘reformation’in the highlands of central Sulawesi, Indonesia, 1892–1995. Shackel, Paul (ed). 2001. Myth, memory and the making of the American landscape. Srinivas, M.N. 1996. Indian society through personal writings. Thomas, Helen, and Jamilah Ahmed (eds.). 2003. Cultural bodies. Ethnography and theory. Wallis, Robert J. 2003. Shamans/Neo‐shamans. Ecstasy, alternative archaeologies and contemporary pagans. Whittle, Alasdair. 2003. The archaelogy of people. Dimensions of Neolithic life.

Anti-Catholicism and Nineteenth-Century Fiction by Susan M. Griffin

NEWMAN STUDIES JOURNAL 94 of Arnold, and it says little about the endless attacks on Newman that Arnold seems to have taken as his mission in life. It is little wonder that Charles Kingsley admired Arnold as he did. The essay on modern Scottish Catholicism by Bernard Aspinwall is clogged with learning but its content was a delightful surprise. The Scottish apparently did not agree with each other, except for their loyalty to the church. When I was a student at the university in Edinburgh, the novel Maria Monk (1836) was commonly displayed in the booksellers’ windows and a fellow parishioner told me that the Catholics had suffered much during his lifetime. For those who don’t know, Maria Monk was a novel that “depicted” life in a convent. No detail was too absurd not to be believed by theVictorian reader and it was just one in a series of such novels. One point, the work of Fr. Hadley ought to have been expanded upon since it is a wonderful description of life for the Irish immigrants in Scotland in the nineteenth century. Rene Kollar’s essay on Sister Barbara Ubryk—the insane nun of Cracow—was also a revelation to me. Of course, the Victorians thrived on such material and nuns were perhaps the most pitied of all the victims of the Catholic church. The Catholic nuns of this period may have been the most slandered of any Catholic group and the Maria Monk novel and the “Nuns” of Cracow were vital tools in the Protestant arsenal. (On the subject of “nun,” I hope some scholar might do a study of the conversion rate among the “Puseyite” convents.) I am a bit uncomfortable with the two essays on the Oxford Movement. The first volume of the Tracts for the Times (1–20) was addressed to the question of Erastianism, or state-control of the church. If the state had the last word on the matters of doctrine and discipline,other questions were irrelevant. Yes,the appeal to the seventeenth-century divines was used to validate the Catholic claims put forward by Newman, Keble, and Froude, but it can be argued that those divines were more Protestant than not, and Laud died professing his own Protestantism. For critics of the Oxford Movement, starting with Dr. Arnold, Catholicism meant one religion— modern paganism or worse—but no other. With all that might be said on behalf of Ritualism and Christian Socialism,orT.S.Eliot’s own brand of Catholicism (the subject of Pearce’s fine essay on literary converts), the principle of dogma was pretty much lost after Newman’s conversion in 1845. Yet every religion has its own history,and it is pointless to quarrel with it. John R. Griffin Colorado State University–Pueblo Anti-Catholicism and Nineteenth-Century Fiction. By Susan M. Griffin. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Pages: 284. Cloth, $80.00, ISBN 0–521–83393–0. Consider this scenario: a young Jesuit, Father Eustace, Irish by birth but capable of passing as an English gentleman, is sent by the Jesuit general in Rome to rent a country house in England where his assignment is to attract a young, Protestant 95 heiress in order to convert her to Roman Catholicism and then to persuade her to become a nun and to give her inheritance to the Jesuits. The girl’s father was a Catholic, her mother a Protestant. Upon the death of her father, his Jesuit confessor persuaded the daughter to give him a casque of jewels for masses that would lessen her father’s time in Purgatory; those jewels were then delivered to the Jesuit general in Rome. Both the old confessor and the Father Eustace have access to the general through a secret entrance in the back of a tobacco shop. While not quite an automaton, Father Eustace is in the grip of a carefully cultivated obedience and, therefore, almost selfless.The control that the Jesuit general has over men like Father Eustace is one tactical element in a broader strategy:“Our mission be no less than our holding an universal superintending rule, spiritual and intellectual, over all the nations of the earth, even as vicegerents...

Encyclopedia of religion in the South

SAMUEL S. HILL AND CHARLES H. LJBBY, EDS. Encyclopedia of Religion in the South. second edition, revised, updated, and expanded. Macon, Georgia: Mercer 2005. Pp. xv + 854. $60.00. This revision of the Encyclopedia of Religion in the South, first published in 1984, involves sixty new articles and revision of many original ones. As with the original volume, entries deal with denominations, leaders, ethnic groups, architecture, church offices, doctrinal emphases, social movements, and major cities. New topics range from the Bible Belt to the Brownsville Revival, from Mahalia Jackson to Stonewall Jackson. Not surprisingly, articles have been added on various fundamentalist entities (e.g., the PTL Club) and leaders (e.g., Pat Robertson) and on nonwestern religions (e.g., Islam). Most material is quite valuable. Particularly enticing are entries on such matters as Guilt, Fatalism, Neo Paganism, Spirituality, Voodoo, Sports and Religion, and Violence and Religion. Some updated articles are excellent, such as Lawrence S. Cunningham's sensitive treatment of novelist Flannery O'Connor. Problems, however, exist in several areas. First, there are technical matters. The list of contents promises an index beginning on page 857, but the entire volume ends with page 854. second, some bibliographies need updating. It is hard to write on financier Bernard Baruch (who, incidentally, resided primarily in the North from age eleven on) without citing the definitive work of Jordan A. Schwarz, to cover the civil rights movement without noting the work of Taylor Branch, and to discuss Anglican evangelist Devereux Jarrett without listing the work of David L. Holmes. In both editions, moreover, one finds historian Gilbert H. Barnes called Gilbert H. Drumond and scholar Dwight L. Dumond named Dwight L. Drumond. Third, certain topics include no religious content. The article 'Jamestown, for instance, involves strictly secular history, lacking any mention of Chaplain Robert Hunt or the frequency of prayer book worship. Fourth, some material is not sufficiently updated. The articles Bob Jones University and the 'Jones family neglect the 1982 Supreme Court case dealing with anti-discrimination laws. In the essay Religious Press, the original Interpreter's Bible (1952-57) is noted but not the New Interpreter's Bible (1994-98). The treatment of Dispensationalism mentions Hal Lindsey's Late Great Planet Earth (1970), but ignores Tim LeHaye's Left Behind series. The essay on Martin Luther King, Jr. gives the lengthy title of his doctoral thesis, but fails to note the controversy over plagiarism, the subject of over a hundred pages in the June, 1991 issue of the Journal of American History. …

Locating Contemporary British Paganism as Late Modern Culture

This paper addresses the place of contemporary British Paganism as part of Western culture. It is in two parts. The first explores Paganism theoretically and socio-historically and the second provides a ‘micro-cosmic’, ethnographic level of analysis. The first part focuses on the way in which the processes of modernity, manifesting within the West through such processes as individualisation and secularisation, have provided fertile ground for the inculcation of Pagan worldviews by effectively undermining cultural and institutional impediments to the adoption of overtly magical sensibilities. The second part examines more closely the group processes underlying British Paganism, using data from participant observation and in-depth interviews to illustrate the way in which late modern community forms can assuage potential areas of conflict among adherents. These two viewpoints combine to locate British Paganism as late modern culture.

Witching Culture: Folklore and Neopaganism in America – By Sabina Magliocco

Witching Culture: Folklore and Neopaganism in America – By Sabina Magliocco

Renovating the Broom Closet: Factors Contributing to the Growth of Contemporary Paganism in Canada

A perception of reduced stigma and increased access to information facilitate increased involvement in contemporary Paganism in Canada, from a rational-choice and demographic standpoint. Original research done within the Canadian Pagan community from 1995 to 1998 suggests that, given the available data both on current demographics and on cultural trends, the number of self-identified Pagans on the 2011 and 2021 censuses will continue to increase at a rate higher than that of other religious groups.

Online U-Topia: Cyberspace and the Mythology of Placelessness

Journal for the Scientific Study of ReligionVolume 44, Issue 3 p. 257-263 Online U-Topia: Cyberspace and the Mythology of Placelessness DOUGLAS E. COWAN, DOUGLAS E. COWAN Douglas E. Cowan is Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Sociology at the University of Missouri–Kansas City, 204C Haag Hall, 5100 Rockhill Road, Kansas City, MO 64110. E-mail: cowande@umkc.eduSearch for more papers by this author DOUGLAS E. COWAN, DOUGLAS E. COWAN Douglas E. Cowan is Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Sociology at the University of Missouri–Kansas City, 204C Haag Hall, 5100 Rockhill Road, Kansas City, MO 64110. E-mail: cowande@umkc.eduSearch for more papers by this author First published: 25 August 2005 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5906.2005.00284.xCitations: 15 Some of the material for this essay has been adapted from Douglas E. Cowan, Cyberhenge: Modern Pagans on the Internet (New York and London: Routledge, 2005). AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Citing Literature Volume44, Issue3September 2005Pages 257-263 RelatedInformation

Shamans/Neo-Shamans: Ecstasy, alternative archaeologies and contemporary Pagans

Shamans/Neo-Shamans: Ecstasy, alternative archaeologies and contemporary Pagans

Shamans/Neo-Shamans: Ecstasy, alternative archaeologies and contemporary Pagans

Shamans/Neo-Shamans: Ecstasy, alternative archaeologies and contemporary Pagans