Editing Modern paganism (section)

==Terminology==

===Definition===

There is "considerable disagreement as to the precise definition and the proper usage" of the term ''modern paganism''.{{sfn|Strmiska|2005|p=13}} Even within the academic field of [[pagan studies]], there is no consensus about how contemporary paganism can best be defined.{{sfn|Doyle White|2012|p=15}} Most scholars describe modern paganism as a broad array of different religions, not a single one.{{sfn|Doyle White|2012|pp=16–17}} The category of modern paganism could be compared to the categories of [[Abrahamic religions]] and [[Indian religions]] in its structure.{{sfn|Doyle White|2012|p=17}} A second, less common definition found within pagan studies – promoted by the religious studies scholars Michael F. Strmiska and [[Graham Harvey (religious studies scholar)|Graham Harvey]] – characterises modern paganism as a single religion, of which groups like [[Wicca]], [[Druidry (modern)|Druidry]], and [[Heathenry (new religious movement)|Heathenry]] are [[Religious denomination|denomination]]s.{{sfn|Doyle White|2012|p=16}} This perspective has been critiqued, given the lack of core commonalities in issues such as theology, cosmology, ethics, afterlife, holy days, or ritual practices within the pagan movement.{{sfn|Doyle White|2012|p=16}}

Contemporary paganism has been defined as "a collection of modern religious, spiritual, and magical traditions that are self-consciously inspired by the pre-[[Judaism|Judaic]], pre-Christian, and pre-[[Islam]]ic belief systems of Europe, North Africa, and the Near East."{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|p=6}} Thus it has been said that although it is "a highly diverse phenomenon", "an identifiable common element" nevertheless runs through the pagan movement.{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|p=6}} Strmiska described paganism as a movement "dedicated to reviving the polytheistic, nature-worshipping pagan religions of pre-Christian Europe and adapting them for the use of people in modern societies."{{sfn|Strmiska|2005|p=1}} The religious studies scholar [[Wouter Hanegraaff]] characterised paganism as encompassing "all those modern movements which are, first, based on the conviction that what Christianity has traditionally denounced as [[idolatry]] and [[superstition]] actually represents/represented a profound and meaningful religious worldview and, secondly, that a religious practice based on this worldview can and should be revitalized in our modern world."{{sfn|Hanegraaff|1996|p=77}}

Discussing the relationship between the different pagan religions, [[religious studies]] scholars Kaarina Aitamurto and Scott Simpson wrote that they were "like siblings who have taken different paths in life but still retain many visible similarities".{{sfn|Aitamurto|Simpson|2013|p=3}} But there has been much "cross-fertilization" between these different faiths: many groups have influenced, and been influenced by, other pagan religions, making clear-cut distinctions among them more difficult for scholars to make.{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|p=7}} The various pagan religions have been academically classified as [[new religious movements]],{{sfn|Aitamurto|Simpson|2013|p=2}} with the anthropologist Kathryn Rountree describing paganism as a whole as a "new religious phenomenon".{{sfn|Rountree|2015|p=1}} A number of academics, particularly in North America, consider modern paganism a form of [[nature religion]].{{sfnm|1a1=Strmiska|1y=2005|1pp=15–16|2a1=Harvey|2y=2005|2pp=84–85}}

[[File:Vårblot 2010 offergåvor.jpg|thumb|left|A Heathen shrine to the god [[Freyr]], Sweden, 2010]]

Some practitioners completely eschew the use of the term ''pagan'', preferring to use more specific names for their religion, such as "Heathen" or "Wiccan".{{sfn|Strmiska|2005|p=9}} This is because the term ''pagan'' originates in Christian terminology, which individuals who object to the term wish to avoid.{{sfn|Rountree|2015|p=8}} Some favor the term "ethnic religion"; the World Pagan Congress, founded in 1998, soon renamed itself the [[European Congress of Ethnic Religions]] (ECER), enjoying that term's association with the Greek ''[[Ethnic group|ethnos]]'' and the academic field of [[ethnology]].{{sfnm|1a1=Strmiska|1y=2005|1p=14|2a1=Simpson|2a2=Filip|2y=2013|2pp=34–35}} Within [[Slavic languages|linguistically Slavic]] areas of Europe, the term "Native Faith" is often favored as a synonym for paganism, rendered as ''Ridnovirstvo'' in Ukrainian, ''Rodnoverie'' in Russian, and ''Rodzimowierstwo'' in Polish.{{sfn|Simpson|Filip|2013|p=27}} Alternately, many practitioners in these regions view "Native Faith" as a category within modern paganism that does not encompass all pagan religions.{{sfn|Simpson|Filip|2013|p=38}} Other terms some pagans favor include "traditional religion", "indigenous religion", "nativist religion", and "reconstructionism".{{sfn|Rountree|2015|p=8}}

Various pagans who are active in pagan studies, such as [[Michael York (religious studies scholar)|Michael York]] and Prudence Jones, have argued that, due to the similarities of their [[worldview]]s, the modern pagan movement can be treated as part of the same global phenomenon as [[History of religion|pre-Christian Ancient religions]], living [[Indigenous religions]], and [[world religion]]s like [[Hinduism]], [[Shinto]], and [[Afro-American religions]]. They have also suggested that these could all be included under the rubric of "paganism".{{sfnm|1a1=Strmiska|1y=2005|1p=11|2a1=Doyle White|2y=2012|2pp=12–13}} This approach has been received critically by many specialists in religious studies.{{sfn|Doyle White|2012|p=13}} Critics have pointed out that such claims would cause problems for analytic scholarship by lumping together belief systems with very significant differences, and that the term would serve modern pagan interests by making the movement appear far larger on the world stage.{{sfn|Doyle White|2012|p=14}} Doyle White writes that modern religions that draw upon the pre-Christian belief systems of other parts of the world, such as [[Sub-Saharan Africa]] or the Americas, cannot be seen as part of the contemporary pagan movement, which is "fundamentally [[Eurocentrism|Eurocentric]]".{{sfn|Doyle White|2016|p=6}} Similarly, Strmiska stresses that modern paganism should not be conflated with the belief systems of the world's [[Indigenous peoples]] because the latter lived under [[colonialism]] and [[Postcolonialism|its legacy]], and that while some pagan worldviews bear similarities to those of indigenous communities, they stem from "different cultural, linguistic, and historical backgrounds".{{sfn|Strmiska|2005|pp=11–12}}

===Reappropriation of "paganism"===

Many scholars have favored the use of "neopaganism" to describe this phenomenon, with the prefix "neo-" serving to distinguish the modern religions from their ancient, pre-Christian forerunners.{{sfn|Simpson|Filip|2013|p=32}} Some pagan practitioners also prefer "neopaganism", believing that the prefix conveys the reformed nature of the religion, such as its rejection of practices such as [[animal sacrifice]].{{sfn|Simpson|Filip|2013|p=32}} Conversely, most pagans do not use the word ''neopagan'',{{sfn|Rountree|2015|p=8}} with some expressing disapproval of it, arguing that the term "neo" offensively disconnects them from what they perceive as their pre-Christian forebears.{{sfn|Strmiska|2005|p=9}} To avoid causing offense, many scholars in the English-speaking world have begun using the prefixes "modern" or "contemporary" rather than "neo".{{sfnm|1a1=Simpson|1a2=Filip|1y=2013|1p=32|2a1=Rountree|2y=2015|2p=8}} Several pagan studies scholars, such as [[Ronald Hutton]] and [[Sabina Magliocco]], have emphasized the use of the upper-case "Paganism" to distinguish the modern movement from the lower-case "paganism", a term commonly used for pre-Christian belief systems.{{sfnm|1a1=Hutton|1y=2003|1p=xiv|2a1=Magliocco|2y=2004|2p=19|3a1=Doyle White|3y=2016|3p=8}} In 2015, Rountree opined that this lower case/upper case division was "now [the] convention" in pagan studies.{{sfn|Rountree|2015|p=8}} Among the critics of the upper-case P are York and Andras Corban-Arthen, president of the ECER. Capitalizing the word, they argue, makes "Paganism" appear as the name of a cohesive religion rather than a generic religious category, and comes off as naive, dishonest or as an unwelcome attempt to disrupt the spontaneity and vernacular quality of the movement.{{sfn|York|2016|p=7}}

[[File:The Parthenon in Athens.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The [[Parthenon]], an ancient pre-Christian temple in [[Athens]] dedicated to the goddess [[Athena]]. Strmiska believed that modern pagans in part reappropriate the term "pagan" to honor the cultural achievements of Europe's pre-Christian societies.]]

The term "neo-pagan" was coined in the 19th century in reference to [[Italian Renaissance|Renaissance]] and [[Romanticist]] [[Hellenophile]] classical [[Revivalism (architecture)|revivalism]].{{efn|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." ([[William James|W. James]], letter of 5 April 1868, cited after OED); "The neopagan impulse of the classical revival". ([[John Addington Symonds|J. A. Symonds]], ''Renaissance in Italy'', 1877, iv. 193); "Pre-Raphaelitism [...] has got mixed up with æstheticism, neo-paganism, and other such fantasies." ([[Justin McCarthy (1830–1912)|J. McCarthy]], ''A History of Our Own Times'', 1880 iv. 542).}} By the mid-1930s "neopagan" was being applied to new religious movements like [[Jakob Wilhelm Hauer]]'s [[German Faith Movement]] and [[Jan Stachniuk]]'s Polish [[Zadruga (movement)|Zadruga]], usually by outsiders and often pejoratively.{{sfn|Simpson|Filip|2013|p=31}} Pagan as a self-designation appeared in 1964 and 1965, in the publications of the [[Witchcraft Research Association]]; at that time, the term was in use by Wiccans in the United States and the United Kingdom, but unconnected to the broader, [[counterculture]] pagan movement. The modern popularisation of the terms pagan and neopagan as they are currently understood is largely traced to [[Oberon Zell-Ravenheart]], co-founder of the 1st Neo-Pagan [[Church of All Worlds]] who, beginning in 1967 with the early issues of ''[[Green Egg]]'', used both terms for the growing movement. This usage has been common since the pagan revival in the 1970s.{{Sfn|Adler|2006}}

According to Strmiska, the [[reappropriation]] of the term "pagan" by modern pagans served as "a deliberate act of defiance" against "traditional, Christian-dominated society", allowing them to use it as a source of "pride and power".{{sfn|Strmiska|2005|p=9}} In this, he compared it to the [[gay liberation]] movement's reappropriation of the term "[[queer]]", which had formerly been used only as a term of [[homophobia|homophobic]] abuse.{{sfn|Strmiska|2005|p=9}} He suggests that part of the term's appeal lay in the fact that a large proportion of pagan converts were raised in Christian families, and that by embracing the term "pagan", a word long used for what was "rejected and reviled by Christian authorities", a convert summarizes "in a single word his or her definitive break" from Christianity.{{sfn|Strmiska|2005|p=7}} He further suggests that the term gained appeal through its depiction in [[Romanticism|romanticist]] and 19th-century European [[nationalism|nationalist]] literature, where it had been imbued with "a certain mystery and allure",{{sfn|Strmiska|2005|pp=7–8}} and that by embracing the word "pagan" modern pagans defy past religious intolerance to honor the pre-Christian peoples of Europe and emphasize those societies' cultural and artistic achievements.{{sfn|Strmiska|2005|p=8}}