Baha'i
Buddhist worldview traditions
Christian worldview traditions
Contextualising the diversity of worldviews
Hindu worldview traditions
Humanist worldview traditions
Jain
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jewish worldview traditions
Muslim worldview traditions
Pagan
Rastafari
Sikhi worldview traditions
Soka Gakkai
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Zoroastrian
Research

Paganism: hard to live by, but still relevant to 21st century life?

Kathryn Rountree

Research Summary

Neo-paganism – contemporary ‘Western’ paganism, as distinct from the animist beliefs of ‘traditional’ people – is an international movement with branches in 30 countries. The Pagan Federation, founded in Britain in 1971, has as its first principle ‘Love for and kinship with nature’. But what does this mean for contemporary pagans? Is it really a description of their way of life, or is it metaphorical language, or is it romantic wishful thinking? The article gives an account of neo-pagan beliefs and practices. Neo-pagans do identify their beliefs with those of traditional animist peoples, and the article also spends some time giving accounts of those. The researcher shows that they are not totally comparable. Neo-pagan belief in kinship with nature is restricted to belief and ritual, whilst in traditional animist societies, it actually determines all of the rules of life, something which is impossible in a contemporary, pluralist society. Yet neo-pagan principles of kinship with nature are still important to the huge task of shifting people away from the damaging ideology of consumerism.

Researcher

Kathryn Rountree

Research Institution

University of Massey, New Zealand

What is this about?

  • Who are Neo-Pagans and what do they believe and practice?
  • How does their principle of ‘kinship with nature’ affect their lifestyles?
  • They identify their principle of ‘kinship with nature’ with the beliefs and cultures of traditional animist peoples, but to what extent can they be compared to such peoples? (What, in turn, do such peoples actually believe and practice?)
  • Neo-Pagans see their commitment to ‘kinship with nature’ as a solution to problems caused by twenty-first century consumerism, especially environmental problems. To what extent is this view justified?

What was done?

Mostly, the author’s research method is to review existing literature on Neo-Paganism and on traditional animist societies, but some communication via email with contemporary practitioners of neo-paganism is also evident.

Main findings and outputs

  • Neo-Paganism is an international movement with diverse members: Pagans, Wiccans, Heathens, Earth Goddess-Worshippers, Druids and Shamans. Most Neo-Paganists are animists, believing that all things on Earth have spirits. Humans are one kind of ‘people’ amongst ‘bird-people’, ‘waterfall-people’ and so on. All such ‘people’ have rights, all are inter-linked.
  • The key belief in Neo-Paganism is ‘kinship with nature’: humans have a familial relationship to all things on Earth. Some Neo-Pagans, especially in Britain, express this through environmental activism or protest. Participation in ancient rituals at sacred sites e.g. stone circles or springs is common. During such rituals, Neo-Pagans report feelings of intense communication with or non-separation from nature, or abilities to connect with local spirit beings or human ancestors.
  • Neo-Pagans choose these beliefs and rituals, but ‘traditional’ animists inherit animism as a matter of culture and law. Their kinship is with particular places, animals and / or plants. Various examples are given: for the Kamea of New Guinea, strict marriage laws mean that husbands and wives each have specific plants to grow, pieces of land take the names and identities of those working on them, trees are given names and young girls grow up eating food produced on their future husband’s land (marriages are arranged at birth).
  • Neo-Paganism is a radical alternative, hard to establish as ‘normal’, whilst traditional animism is taken for granted (though under pressure from Westernisation). It may be romantic, but ‘kinship with nature’ could be a useful strategy for working towards Earth’s sustainability.

Relevance to RE

  • The research offers very interesting and useful background information for those RE teachers seeking to include studies of Paganism in the curriculum.
  • Pedagogically speaking, the approach taken by the research could well be fruitful in the classroom. It is enquiring, sympathetic yet critical. Pupils could look into Paganism in a variety of ways (listening and responding to teacher presentations based on the article and other sources1, carrying out their own background research, receiving and interviewing a visitor, etc.) Some of the critical questions posed by the article could then be offered to pupils for discussion and debate, e.g. is it true that we are related to all other forms of life on Earth? Is it actually possible to live as if all other forms of life belong to your family? What are the strengths and weaknesses of Paganism as a way of life or philosophy, in relation to protecting the Earth for future generations? Does it have more or less to offer than the ‘mainstream’ religions which the pupils have studied?

Generalisability and potential limitations

The study is of the broad international Pagan movement, The Pagan Federation. It takes account of the fact that this movement is diverse in its membership. In comparing the beliefs of neo-pagans to traditional animist beliefs, it gives several different examples of these. The environmental issues that it raises are of very wide relevance and good for pedagogy.

Find out more

Neo-Paganism, Animism, and Kinship with Nature, Journal of Contemporary Religion, 27:2, 305-320 (published online 23 April 2012), 10.1080/13537903.2012.675746

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13537903.2012.675746

 

Back to top