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NEOPAGAN RELIGIOUS |
Available in Finnish at: www.iki.fi/moira/neopagan.html |
Just as the term "Eastern religions" refers to Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, etc., the term "Neo-Pagan" refers to a collection of separate religions which share a few common themes. Most Neo-Pagan traditions have some of the following factors in common:
Many Wiccans and other Neopagans refer to themselves as "Pagans." Unfortunately, there is no consensus on the meaning of the term "Pagan" outside the Neopagan community. Four main, unrelated definitions have been identified. Tara Miller writes...The largest Neo-Pagan group are believed to be Wiccans. The following description of Neo-Paganism from a Wiccan perspective is generously contributed by Tara Miller, from "Druidry Knowledge of the Oak."
The Pagan Ethic: "Do what thou wilt, but harm none". This is a positive morality, not a list of thou-shalt-nots. Each individual is responsible for discovering his or her own true nature and developing it fully, in harmony with the outer world. The Concept of Goddess and God as expressions of the Divine reality: female and male, rather then the suppression of either the female or the male principles. 2 The main branches of Paganism in the U.K. and United States are Shamanism, Goddess Spirituality, Sacred Ecology and other various Magical Groups. 2 The two predominant and public of these is Wicca and Druidry 5. "...Neo-Pagans...often make up their own forms of group ritual [and attempt to draw on] divine inspiration for these new ceremonies.’ 6 Recently, Pagans have been holding more rites than just those associated with the eight season feasts. They have introduced rites of passages for births, deaths, marriages, along with self growth rituals for relinquishing conflict, depression, low self-esteem and many more." 5 Margo Adler writes: 7
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Tara Miller writes: 8
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Essays on Neo-Pagan faith traditions: |
* Druidism |
* Wicca |
* Many followers of Asatru regard themselves as "Heathens" rather than "Neopagans." They view their religion as "not just a branch of the Neopagan tree" but as a different tree entirely. |
Bibliography |
* Charlotte Hardman & Gram Harvey, "Paganism Today: Introduction", Page IX |
* Hardman, Page XI |
* Hardman, Page XIV |
* The Pagan Federation "Federation Information Pack:. Page 14 |
* Hardman XV |
* Mary P. Fisher, "Living Religions", Prentice Hall, Inc. Englewood cliffs, NJ, (1991), Page 379 |
* Margot Adler, "Drawing Down the Moon, Beacon Press, Boston, MA, (1986), Page 453 |
* Tara Miller, "Pagan Misconceptions." First published in the Capaha Arrow at Southeast Missouri State University and then at Earth Spirit , 1997-MAY. See: http://members.tripod.com/~TaraMiller/pagan.html |
Related essay : |
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Contacting other Neopagans : |
* The Circle Guide to Pagan Groups is a Contacts directory
of Wiccan covens, Druidic groves, Goddess centers, Shamanic circles,
Pagan festivals, periodicals, networks, websites, and other
resources. See:
http://www.circlesanctuary.org/publications/index.htm |
* The Pagan Webweaving Page lists Neopagans by U.S. state, Canadian province and other countries. Their Email address and a short note are included. See: http://www.hue.org/paganww/viewing.html |
* The Green Pages have lists of Neopagans, sorted by region. See: http://www.oakgrove.org/GreenPages/contacts/search.html |
* See also our essay "How to contact a local Wiccan or coven" |
References : |
* Major Neopagan festivals and gatherings are listed by the Witches Voice at: http://www.witchvox.com/network/events/festivals.html |
* Starhawk, The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religions of the Great Goddess" San Francisco: Harper & Row, San Francisco, CA (1997) |
* Alt.Pagan has a FAQ about Paganism at:
http://www.teleport.com/~rain/altpagfaq.html |
* Omphalos, "The Center of the Pagan Web..." emulates "the big-name Search Engine portals such as Yahoo, Webcrawler, etc." They list Wiccan and other Neopagan sites under a variety of topics, from Arts & Graphics, to Health & Healing, to New Age, Regional and Wicca. See: http://www.omphalos.net (The Omphalos was a stone at the Oracle of Delphi about which the world was believed to revolve.) |
* Storm in a Bottle", a Neopagan site, has a calendar of important days from Pagan religions and other faith groups. See: http://www.aristotle.net/~tempest/pagani/calendar.htm |
* The Pythia's Page is a web site "dedicated To Apollo And His Shrine At Delphi." See: http://www.angelfire.com/ma/signoftheharp/ |
* Medea's Chariot (formerly Madam Trillian's Pagan Resource Center) at: http://NEXUS.mnic.net/~rajchd |
* Wednesbury Theod is a religious group devoted to the "revival and practice of Theodish Belief, the ancient religion of the Anglo-Saxon peoples." See: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Atlantis/2575/ |
* The Green Egg is the official journal of the Church of All Worlds. They "seek to provide diverse aspects of Gaian culture with a common language while continuing to give voice to the great variety of opinion in our Pagan community." See: http://www.greenegg.org/ |
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