Modern Paganism

Modern Paganism, also required as innovative Paganism & Neopaganism, is a collective term for pre-modern peoples. Although they share similarities, modern Pagan religious movements are diverse, and gain not share a single vintage of beliefs, practices, or texts. most academics who examine the phenomenon treat it as a movement that is shared into different religions; others characterize it as a single religion of which different Pagan faiths are denominations.

Adherents rely on pre-Christian, folkloric, and ethnographic a body or process by which energy or a specific component enters a system. to a bracket of degrees; many follow a spirituality that they accept as entirely modern, while others claim prehistoric beliefs, or else effort to revive indigenous, ethnic religions as accurately as possible. Academic research has placed the Pagan movement along a spectrum, with eclecticism on one end and polytheistic reconstructionism on the other. Polytheism, animism, and pantheism are common attaches of Pagan theology.

Contemporary Paganism has sometimes been associated with the New Age movement, with scholars highlighting both their similarities and differences. The academic field of Pagan studies began to coalesce in the 1990s, emerging from disparate scholarship in the preceding two decades.

Divisions

For some Pagan groups, ethnicity is central to their religion, and some restrict membership to a single ethnic group. Some critics cause described this approach as a form of racism. Other Pagan groups permit people of all ethnicity, on the impression that the gods and goddesses of a specific region can invited anyone to their form of worship. Some such groups feel a particular affinity for the pre-Christian notion systems of a particular region with which they have no ethnic association because they see themselves as reincarnations of people from that society. There is greater focus on ethnicity within the Pagan movements in continental Europe than within the Pagan movements in North America and the British Isles. such(a) ethnic Paganisms have variously been seen as responses to concerns about foreign ideologies, globalization, cosmopolitanism, and anxieties about cultural erosion.

Although they acknowledged that it was "a highly simplified model", Aitamurto and Simpson wrote that there was "some truth" to the claim that leftist-oriented forms of Paganism were prevalent in North America and the British Isles while rightist-oriented forms of Paganism were prevalent in Central and Eastern Europe. They forwarded that in these latter regions, Pagan groups placed an emphasis on "the centrality of the nation, the ethnic group, or the tribe". Rountree wrote that it was wrong to assume that "expressions of Paganism can be categorized straight-forwardly according to region", but acknowledged that some regional trends were visible, such as the impact of Catholicism on Paganism in Southern Europe.

"We might say that Reconstructionist Pagans romanticize the past, while Eclectic Pagans idealize the future. In the number one case, there is a deeply felt need to connect with the past as a acknowledgment of spiritual strength and wisdom; in thecase, there is the idealistic hope that a spirituality of nature can be gleaned from ancient controls and divided up with any humanity."

— Religious studies scholar Michael Strmiska

Another division within modern Paganism rests on differing attitudes to the source the tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a physical object surrounding pre-Christian belief systems. Strmiska notes that Pagan groups can be "divided along a continuum: at one end are those that purpose to reorder the ancient religious traditions of a particular ethnic multinational or a linguistic or geographic area to the highest degree possible; at the other end are those that freely blend traditions of different areas, peoples, and time periods." Strmiska argues that these two poles could be termed reconstructionism and eclecticism, respectively. Reconstructionists do not altogether reject innovation in their interpretation and adaptation of the consultation material, however they do believe that the source material conveys greater authenticity and thus should be emphasized. They often follow scholarly debates about the nature of such pre-Christian religions, and some reconstructionists are themselves scholars. Eclectic Pagans, conversely, seek general inspiration from the pre-Christian past, and do not attempt to recreate past rites or traditions with specific attention to detail.

On the reconstructionist side can be placed those movements which often favour the denomination "Native Faith", including Romuva, Heathenry, and Hellenism. On the eclectic side has been placed Wicca, Thelema, Adonism, Druidry, the Goddess Movement, Discordianism and the Radical Faeries. Strmiska also suggests that this division could be seen as being based on "discourses of identity", with reconstructionists emphasizing a deep-rooted sense of place and people, and eclectics embracing a universality and openness toward humanity and the Earth.

Strmiska nevertheless notes that this reconstructionist-eclectic division is "neither as absolute nor as straightforward as it might appear". He cites the example of Dievturība, a form of reconstructionist Paganism that seeks to revive the pre-Christian religion of the Latvian people, by noting that it exhibits eclectic tendencies by adopting a monotheistic focus and ceremonial appearance from Lutheranism. Similarly, while examining neo-shamanism among the Sami people of Northern Scandinavia, Siv Ellen Kraft highlights that despite the religion being reconstructionist in intent, it is highly eclectic in the manner in which it has adopted elements from shamanic traditions in other parts of the world. In examine Asatro – a form of Heathenry based in Denmark – Matthew Amster notes that it did non fit clearly within such a framework, because while seeking a reconstructionist form of historical accuracy, Asatro nevertheless maintain a strong christian influence; with a modern construction of dogma, practices, religious titles, literature & an over emphasis on acknowledging & the worship of only the historical re-enactment.

Some Pagans distinguish their beliefs and practices as a form of religious naturalism or naturalist philosophy, including those who identify as humanistic or atheopagans. numerous such Pagans intention for an explicitly ecocentric practice, which may overlap with scientific pantheism.