About Paganism

(The information in this section has been adapted with kind permission from the Pagan Awareness Network Inc. www.paganawareness.net.au)

WHAT IS PAGANISM
SOME FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
A BRIEF HISTORY OF PAGANISM
FACTOIDS

WHAT IS PAGANISM

“Paganism” (commonly referred to as “Neo-Paganism” in academic circles) is an umbrella term that covers a number of different spiritual beliefs and practices. These include Druidism, Wicca, modern Witchcraft, Goddess-worship, modern Shamanism and other similar spiritual paths. Satanism is not normally considered a Pagan faith, as this is historically and culturally connected to Judeo-Christian beliefs.

Wicca and Witchcraft are among the most popular of Pagan religions, but there are others also. There are four main categories within the Pagan communities of English-speaking countries:

• Earth-centred religions (includes most forms of Witchcraft – this is by far the largest category)
• Reconstructionist groups (individuals and groups seeking to re-create the religious practices of the Classical Pagan era, for example worship of Greek or Egyptian gods and goddesses, Druidism etc)
• Ethnic North-European traditions such as Asatru (Traditional Nordic religion)
• Groups that practice Ceremonial Magic. (Thelema, Discordianism, Chaos Magick etc.)

Not all Pagans identify as Witches or Wiccans. However, the growth of the Pagan movement over the past 50 years has been profoundly shaped by the influence of Wicca, a specific tradition originating in the U.K. Many of the beliefs and practices of modern Pagans have their roots in Wiccan practices.

SOME FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q. Is this a real religion?

A. You’d better believe it. Wicca, Witchcraft and Paganism are among the fastest-growing religious communities in the Western world. In Australia alone the rate of increase between the 1996 Census and the 2001 Census was around 400%. (Source, Australian Bureau of Statistics.) In the U.S.A a leading Pagan priestess and author, Phyllis Curott, has claimed that the Pagan community is doubling approximately every 18 months.

Paganism has been recognised as a distinct and identifiable faith by the U.S. Military. It is recognised as a religion on the Census in the U.K.

Equal Opportunity legislation applies to Pagans federally and in all states of Australia as much as any other religious group, as do religious vilification laws.

Q. Why is it becoming so popular?

A. The Pagan Awareness Network Inc has identified dissatisfaction with mainstream religions as a major factor in Paganism’s current surge in popularity.

Relevant issues include:

• Recognition of nature and the environment.
• The place of women in religion.
• Attitudes to sexuality, including alternative sexual preferences.
• Dogma as opposed to spirituality.
• Promoting a direct relationship between the self and the Sacred.

Paganism provides positive and progressive answers to all of these issues.

Q. Do Witches worship the Devil?

A. No. The concept of an evil force or deity is a Christian concept that is irrelevant to most Pagans, including Witches. There are exceptions, but most people who identify as Witches see themselves as following a nature-based religion.

Q. What does “Nature-based” mean, exactly?

Many Pagans feel a sense of reverence for nature. [Photo by Gavin Andrew]

A. Many Pagans believe in a balance between a Goddess and a God, and view Light and Darkness as both being sacred. This is expressed in a concept known as “The Wheel of the Year”, and the cycle of birth, growth, dying and renewal represented by the four seasons.

In most forms of modern Paganism, the moon is given particular importance, as are the earth, the sun and the stars.

Q. So you have Witches. What about Wizards and Sorcerers?

A. These terms aren’t common in the Pagan community, but a few people do choose to identify themselves as such. Sorcerer, for example, is a play on words for “Sourceror” i.e. someone who taps into the Universal Source.

Q. Are Witches all women? Are there Warlocks?

A. No. Males and females are both called witches.

Q. Do they cast spells?

A. Yes, many do. A spell is really just a prayer with a few stage-props attached – candles, crystals and so on.

Q. What about Harry Potter?

A. Many Pagans enjoy the Harry Potter books just as much as other people do, because it’s an entertaining story. However, it has nothing to do with the actual beliefs and practices of real-life Witches and Pagans. Many Pagans enjoy the Harry Potter books just as much as other people do, because it’s an entertaining story. However, it has nothing to do with the actual beliefs and practices of real-life Witches and Pagans.

Q. Is it true that Witches and other Pagans perform their rituals naked?

Witches often practice their religion naked or ‘sky-clad’. [Artwork by D. Polley]

A. Actually yes, many do. It’s not compulsory, and there’s nothing inherently sexual about it. It’s about being free of shame and guilt, and a symbolic stripping away of false values within a sacred space.

For more information, see Sky-Clad – the Bare Facts, a pamphlet produced by the Pagan Awareness Network Inc.

Q. So there are no orgies or blood sacrifices at these rituals?

A. Some Pagan rituals are adults-only because of the overt sexual symbolism they contain. Pagans generally don’t see anything shameful or embarrassing about sexuality. Most rituals, however, you could take your own child to.

Pagans are earth-honouring folk and find suggestions that their religion condones cruelty to animals downright offensive.

Q. Various church representatives have in the past described Witchcraft and Paganism as being “dangerous”? How do you react to that?

A. Utter rubbish. Pagan beliefs and practices are no more dangerous than the practices of Christians, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists – any religion you care to name. There is no inherent difference.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF PAGANISM

The roots of Paganism go back to pre-Christian Europe, but in the modern era it only came to public attention in the 1950’s with the publication of Witchcraft Today, a book written by a retired English civil servant and amateur folklorist named Gerald Gardner.

There is considerable argument in academic circles about whether modern Pagan practices, especially Witchcraft, have any relationship to the Pagan religions of the pre-Christian era.

However, the claim that Neo-Paganism was “invented” in the 1950’s by Gerald Gardner is a fallacy. Ronald Hutton, Professor of History at Oxford University, has traced the evolution of modern Pagan religions to the Romantic Movement in the late 18th and early 19th Centuries.

In his book Triumph of the Moon, Professor Hutton identifies several key roots of modern Pagan beliefs and practices:

• Folklore and “Cunning Craft” practices of remote rural areas in England.
• Classical Paganism of Ancient Greece and Rome repopularised in the Enlightenment era of the 18th Century.
• Medieval Freemasonry.
• Ceremonial and occult fraternities of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries.

The late Professor Carlo Ginzburg also identified church records such as the Canon Episcopi as evidence that the fertility-based beliefs central to modern Paganism did in fact survive until the early Medieval period and the Witch Hunts instigated by the Catholic Church. (See his book Ecstasies – Deciphering the Witches Sabbath).

FACTOIDS

The word “Pagan” is from the Latin, meaning “country-dweller”. Early Christianity was primarily an urban religion, and the traditional religious practices of rural people persisted even in areas that were nominally Christian.

Easter is actually a Pagan holiday. The word is derived from “Eostre”, the Germanic goddess of the spring. Her festival celebrated the return of life and growth to the land with the passing of winter. The medieval Christian Church centred its own festival of death and resurrection around this time as a way of linking their religious beliefs with what was already familiar to the population.

The days of the week are derived from Pagan gods, as are many of the months of the year. January, for example, comes from the Roman god Janus, who has two faces – one looking back to the past, the other looking forward to the future. An appropriate choice for marking the first month of the New Year.

The moon is sacred to the vast majority of Pagans, because it is connected to the emotions and the subconscious mind: the true self that lies underneath the conscious persona. The moon has a powerful effect on human behaviour – as any policeman, casualty nurse or talk-back radio producer will attest. The moon is also responsible for the tides, and without them life on this earth could not have evolved.

Cauldrons and broomsticks are used by Witches... but not in the way you might think. The cauldron is a symbol of the Goddess because of its shape, and the broomstick, or besom, represents life and fertility likewise because of its phallic shape.

Witches and Pagans get married just like other people. Called a “Handfasting”, the traditional ritual is performed at the spring festival of Beltane (May 1st in the northern hemisphere, October 31st in Australia, because the seasons are reversed.) The ritual requires a couple to remain committed to each other for a year, at which time they can elect to renew their vows. There are registered Pagan Celebrants in most states of Australia who can perform legally recognised Handfastings in accordance with Australian law.