“Earth-centered World” by Glynn Gorick
Neo-Paganism “is in its essence the worship of the powers of this world, beautiful or terrible, but all in a circle under the turning sky above, which is One.”
— C.A. Burland, Echoes of Magic (1972)
Neo-Paganism is a new religious movement that began in the United States in the 1960s, with literary roots going back to mid-19th century Europe, as attempts to revive what their founders thought were the best aspects of ancient pagan ways, blended with modern humanistic and pluralistic ideals, while consciously striving to eliminate certain elements of traditional Western monotheism, including dualistic thinking and sexual puritanism. The distinguishing characteristics of Neo-Paganism include a perception of divinity as immanent, a multiplicity of deities, both feminine and masculine, a commitment to environmental responsibility, and a creative approach to ritual.
Religious studies scholars, Robert Ellwood and Harry Partin, gave the following description of Neo-Paganism in their 1987 survey of Religious and Spiritual Groups in Modern America:
“The unifying theme among the diverse [Neo-Pagan] traditions … is the ecology of one’s relation to nature and to the various parts of one’s self. As Neo-Pagans understand it, the Judeo-Christian tradition teaches that the human intellectual will is to have dominion over the world, and over the unruly lesser parts of the human psyche, as it, in turn, is to be subordinate to the One God and his will. The Neo-Pagans hold that, on the contrary, we must … cooperate with nature and its deep forces on a basis of reverence and exchange. Of the parts of [humankind], the imagination should be first among equals, for [humankind’s] true glory is not in what [they command], but in what [they see]. What wonders [they see] of nature and of [themselves they leave] untouched, save to glorify and celebrate them.
“What Neo-Pagans seek is a new cosmic religion oriented to the tides not of history but of nature—the four directions, the seasons, the path of the sun—and of the timeless configurations of the psyche. They seek not that morality that comes from imposing the will on reluctant flesh, nor the mystical trance that is the fruit of asceticism, but the expansiveness of spirit that comes from allowing nature and rite to lower the gates confining the civilized imagination. For them, this is the spirit called up by the names ‘pagan’ and ‘polytheism.’ …
“[Neo-Pagans] seek to restore a proper balance between masculine and feminine symbolization of the sacred. They seek to recover a sense of wonder and respect as religious feelings toward nature in all its moods and toward the human body and psyche. Thus they want to find a new totality, perhaps in reaction to a schizophrenic culture. They look for it in a new cosmic religion that vehemently rejects the religious value of history, while it radically affirms the religious value of raising the level of consciousness through stimulation of the imagination by ritually creating a suggestive and sacred milieu.”
Updated 2019
Neo-Paganism 