Neopaganism

More on the historical legend of Aradia, demonstrating through linguistic and ethnographic evidence that a legendary figure by that name must have existed in Italian folklore long before Leland wrote _Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches_, in 1899.  Explores the origins of "Sa Rejusta," a legendary Sardinian character.

Surveys data shows that the majority of Russians consider themselves Orthodox. However, sociologists are well aware that not all Orthodox Russians are believers. But even those Russians who believe in God do not necessarily recognize Orthodox dogmas. This fact does not surprise scientists, as they correlate Russian Orthodoxy with ethnocultural rather
than religious identity of Russians. However, in addition to the Orthodox Russian ethnocultural identity, neo-pagan Russian identity is also steadily gaining popularity in Russia. With all the seeming antagonism of Orthodoxy and (neo)paganism these two types of Russian identity are similar and can even flow smoothly one another, combining in the worldview of Russians. But neo-pagan identity has its "competitive advantages", so it is possible to predict that one will become increasingly popular among Russians.
Согласно данным социологических опросов большинство населения России заявляет о своей принадлежности к
православному вероисповеданию. Однако социологам хорошо известно, что далеко не все православные россияне являются верующими. Но даже и те, кто верит в Бога, вовсе не обязательно признают православные догматы. В научном мире давно существует консенсус – русское православие соотносится исследователями не столько с религиозной идентичностью россиян, сколько с этнокультурной. При этом стоит обратить внимание, что помимо православной русской этнокультурной идентичности в России поступательно набирает популярность и неоязыческая русская идентичность. При всём кажущемся антагонизме православия и (нео)язычества эти два типа русской идентичности схожи и даже могут плавно перетекать друг в друга, совмещаясь в мировоззрении современного россиянина. Но у неоязыческой идентичности есть свои «конкурентные преимущества», поэтому можно прогнозировать, что она будет становиться всё более востребованной среди россиян.

T his chapter is a preliminary exploration of the links between three layers of vernacular religion and the experiences underlying them: Italian vernacular religion and healing, Italian American versions of these customs, and Stregheria, or Italian American revival Witchcraft, 1 a Neo-Pagan religion practiced by second-, third-and fourth-generation Italian Americans seeking new ways to connect with spirituality and construct ethnic identity. I argue that Italian vernacular religion was linked to a number of geographic, economic, religious, and social factors that were particular to the regions and towns in which it developed, but also partook of a broader cosmology that I am calling "the enchanted worldview." In this chapter, I will outline some of the parameters of this worldview and sketch its particulars, especially in the areas of vernacular healing, magic, and witchcraft. I also propose that American scholars reconsider historical approaches to the study of tradition, especially when these can shed light on how traditions change over time to incorporate elements from elite and ecclesiastical cultures.

Άρδην, τεύχος 52, Ιανουάριος - Μάρτιος 2005

H “ομά­δα Ε” και ο ευ­τε­λι­σμός της Ελ­λά­δας και της ελ­λη­νι­κής ιστο­ρί­ας
Από τον Καστοριάδη στον… Φουράκη
Γ. Ρακκάς, Από τους αρχαιολάτρες στους εξωγήινους
Γ. Σχίζας, Φοβού τους Λιακόπουλους και δώρα φέροντας
Σ. Καργάκος, Κατά ποίοι ο λίθος του αναθέματος
Γ. Τσαγκρινός, Τηλεοπτική δυσπεψία
Γ. Καραμπελιάς, Η περίπτωση του περιοδικού «Δαυλός»
Μ. Μερακλής, Το κοινό, το δικό μας, των άλλων
Ι. Προμπονάς, Η καταγωγή της ελληνικής γλώσσας
Ν. Ξηροτύρης, Η καταγωγή των Ελλήνων
Σ. Φανός, Η περίπτωση του περιοδικού «Ιχώρ»
Γ. Καστρινάκης, Αμεριμνησία και διαγραφή των σημασιών

In the 40 years since the Maimonides studies (1,2) it has become clear, through both scientific research and first hand reports, that individuals can become telepathically linked in dreams, and can even experience one another in a consensual way in a shared intersubjective dreamspace. However, considering the fact that many animals dream physiologically just as humans do, it should not surprise us that, given the strong bonds between humans and their animal companions, that psi-dreaming might connect humans with other species as well. This presentation will explore human-animal psi-dreaming, and invites participants to share their own interspecies dreams.

My Hungarian article "Epicurus, the Prophet of our Age? The Possibilities of an Epicurean Theology in the 21. century", published in the conference proceedings "Adsumus XVIII". I also participated in the editing and renewing of the issue. In this case we made huge efforts with my fellow editors to renew the series and make it even more enjoyable.
In my article I make an attempt to make Epicurean theology contemporary in a certain sense by the philosophy (and not just his religious studies research) of Eliade. In the last part of the paper I also explain how this train of thought can demonstrate the interpretation difficulties of neopagan and new age religions, as well as list all the other possible problems that can come up in the process.

"Epikurosz, századunk prófétája? Az epikureus teológia lehetőségei a 21. században" című elemzésem az általam is szerkesztett Adsumus XVIII. konferenciakötetben. Megjelent 2021-ben. A teljes kiadvány megtalálható itt: https://eotvos.elte.hu/szakmai-munka/kiadvanyok/kiadvanyok

Session Ü. VALK, L. GUZY: Insecurities and uncertainties at the margins of institutionalised religions: ghosts, monsters, witchcraft and other dangerous matters

“Pagan” masks in contemporary European winter festivals, popular Frazerism, and the search for festive authenticity (and its heritagisation)

Many winter festivals and public rituals throughout Europe reveal an interesting characteristic: the usage of masks and costumes with monstrous and/or zoomorphic features. These events occur in contexts that are or were traditionally Christian (especially in Catholic areas), although they have also been undergoing significant secularisation in the last few decades. In spite of these Christian or secular frameworks, these rituals and the masked figures that characterise them are very often described as “pagan”, “Dionysian”, “pre-Christian”, “very ancient”, and the like.
This paper intends to highlight the symbolic sources of these phenomena and discuss what are or could be the historical factors that led to these rather striking and apparently incongruous forms of religious or pseudo-religious conceptualisations and practices as well as the social needs to which they seem to respond today. To achieve these heuristic goals, several concepts will be operationalised and discussed, such as “ritualisation”, “popular Frazerism”, and “heritagisation”, and others.

This comprehensive introduction to the three-volume anthology Shamanism: Critical Concepts (RoutledgeCurzon, 2004) provides an overview of the state of shamanism studies in Western humanities and social sciences from the 1700s to the present.  Particulalry, it examines how different branches of social scholarship appraoched shamanism beginning from from Enlightenment explorers and ninteenth-century Romantic observers to psychoanalysts, Marxists, post-modernist scholars, and spirituality writers.  It also shows how and why a parochial metaphor of shamanism eventually gained popularity in Western humanities and counterculture

Un estratto del lavoro di sviluppo della via archetipica al contatto con la Dea, imago dell'Anima. Il testo, scritto dall'accademica Vivianne crowley, è tradotto in italiano come " I poteri della Wicca". E' un approccio interessante  ed originale al sacro ed al numinoso, in cui il concetto di inconscio collettivo junghiano si confronta con quello inerente all'idea delle ipostasi meoplatoniche, segnatamente nell'accezione di Proclo e Giamblico.

Hecate was an ambiguous deity in ancient Greece, who survived throughout late Antiquity and Early Medieval period without losing her obscure features. During the Early Modern period, assimilated to Diana and Herodias, she appears in demonologists’ treaties on witchcraft, being considered the patroness of witches. Nowadays, contemporary Neo-Paganism attaches a remarkable role to medieval folklore: thus, due to her special link to magic and witchcraft, the goddess Hecate is even now particularly worshipped by several groups who attempt to revive, and revitalize, pre-Christian polytheistic elements. This goddess lends perfectly to this aim.

This chapter will describe the history and structure of the main Neopagan organization in Armenia—the Arordineri Ukht—and explore its interrelations with the dominant religious tradition in Armenia (Christianity, represented by the Armenian Apostolic Church), as well as analyze its nationalistic-dissident foundations and ties with nationalistic political and social movements. Finally, we will have a closer look at the Arordiner’s holy scripture—the Ukhtagirk—as well as on the most important elements of the worldview and ritual system of these Neopagans.

From the anthology edited by Nané Jordan and Chandra Alexandre and published by Demeter Press.

This anthology calls Pagan and Goddess mothering into focus by highlighting  philosophies and experiences of mothers in these spiritual movements and traditions. Pagan  and Goddess spirituality are distinct, yet overlapping and diverse communities, with much to say about deity as mother, and about human mothers in relationship to deity. Authors share creative voices, stories, and scholarship from the forefront of Pagan- and Goddess- centred home, in which divine mothers, Goddesses, diverse female embodiments, and generative life cycles are honoured as sacred. Authors inquire into how their spirituality impacts the perceived value and experiences of mothers themselves, while generating new ways of imagining and enacting motherhood in spiritual and daily life.

Pagan, Goddess, Mother opens spaces for dialogue in areas such as how Pagan- and Goddess- centred mothers engage in, and are impacted by, their spiritual leadership through practices of ceremony, ritual, magic, and priestessing. Authors consider mothers’ lived connections with their children, family life, and themselves, through nature, the Earth, and mothering as a spiritual practice. Chapters reflect upon the ways that Pagan- and Goddess-identified mothers creatively navigate daily interactions with dominant religions, the public sphere, community leadership and activism—facing the challenges of such while forging new pathways for spirited wellbeing in mothering and family life.

The Book of Veles came into being as mystification with the “genealogy”
tracing back to Ossianism, and it has become the holy script of Rodnovers (Slavic Neo-Pagans). The topic of this paper is the question which layer of The Book itself enables such a reading. It contains mythical themes but also a historical, euhemeristic layer related to identity. The possibilities of it being adopted by Rodnovers are provided by both of them, although the historical one seems more influential.

As a variant of alternative spirituality derived from postmodern fluidity and fragmentation of large narratives, Nordic Heathenry has gone through a revival for the past decades. Due to the common ground of potentially völkish/ethnicist views shared by far-right milieus, it has been confronted with the risk of the extremist framework dominating the reception of Norse symbols and myths. While many strains of heathenry might present similarities in their neo-romantic nativist revival, some have been attempting to focus on a heritage discourse that can become acceptable and normalized in society, reflecting an open and inclusive attitude. The Asatru Association in Iceland and The Old Way in Sweden, through their public message and stated mission, underline the need for the freedom to reinvent myth and ritual while remaining anchored in the present, thus distancing themselves from other cultural appropriations and proclaiming their own role in society. The very flexible view on myth and ritual constitutes a defining aspect for the identity of these movements.

Neopagan religiosities which refer to European, pre-Cristian traditions often use authentication strategies for their religious beliefs and practices that stress the antiquity of their sources and being part of a traditional cultural lineage. From a religious studies perspective, the concept of invented tradition is used to examine those authentication strategies using two examples: the blank rune, habitually utilized by one part of the neopagan community while completely dismissed by the other part, and the “Witch’s Ladder”, an object featured in contemporary books about magic practices whose attributed origin -fin de siècle magical practices in Great Britain- is not confirmed.

Сегодня в России активно строятся православные храмы, СМИ рассказывают о церковных праздниках, представители духовенства часто принимают участие в"разных официальных мероприятиях. Много говорится о торжестве православия, о «православном ренессансе». Парадоксально, но вместе с тем можно говорить и о возрождении славянского язычества. Его исповедуют некоторые известные персоны, языческие персонажи проникают на страницы художественных книг, в кино, живопись, тексты песен. Языческие волхвы проводят обряды, языческие талисманы продаются в сувенирных магазинах, именами славянских богов предприниматели называют свои фирмы. Почему это происходит и что вообще известно науке о язычестве восточных славян? Ответы на подобные вопросы вы найдёте в этой книге.
Today in Russia, Orthodox temples are actively being built, the mass media covers church holidays, and clergy often participate in public ceremonies and national events. Recently, there has been much talk about the triumph of Russian Orthodoxy. It is ironic that we can talk about the revival of Slavic Paganism at the same time that we are discussing
the triumph of the so-called Orthodox Renaissance in contemporary Russia. In the midst of this Orthodox Renaissance, celebrities are openly professing their conviction in pagan beliefs, pagan characters, symbols, and images are featuring prominentley in films, paintings, and lyrics, pagan priests are practicing their respective rituals, pagan talismans are being sold in gift shops, and entrepreneurs are naming their companies
after Slavic gods. Why is this happening and what do we really know about East Slavic Paganism? This book aims to answer these very questions.

This paper gives an overview of anthropological and folklorstic approaches to belief, and proposes its examination as a response to specific contextual factors. It approaches belief
as emerging from “participatory consciousness,” a state of mind that exists alongside rational consciousness in all human societies. Examples are drawn from the cultures of magico-religious healers in Italy and modern Pagans in North America and Western Europe.
KEYWORDS: belief, magic, history of folklore theory, folk healing, modern Pagans

Contemporary Paganism portrays gender in an array of different ways and, as such, is very inclusive of sexual diversity. But how do queer people take part in the Pagan community? More precisely, what kind of efforts or changes do queer and transgender people have to make in order to relate to the pagan community? To answer these questions, this article examines how queer and transgender people proceed to different kinds of negotiations, especially regarding the concept of gender, that allow them to either participate actively in the Pagan community or to distance themselves from it. After a brief definition of the Pagan community in Montreal and its take on gender, it will demonstrate, with the help of certain concepts from queer studies and performance studies, how a few queer individuals perform gender in ritual context and how gender and queerness impact their relationship with Pagan religious beliefs, practices and communities.

This article explores the influence of Orthodox theology on Rainer Maria Rilke’s poetry and poetics. It traces the pathways of his experience of Russian Orthodox spirituality as essential to his understanding and reception of these motifs. His introduction to Russian culture, his travels and his exchange with leading artists of Russian movements of art, as well as his studies of Russian literature and religious philosophy are considered for this process. The basis for this reception in Rilke’s Spiristic and Spiritualistic convictions, and in his interest for Paganism are considered as well. Rilke’s fundamental epistemological critique of  rising Materialism, which he shared with other members of the Symbolist movement, and of the secularisation of Western European culture, with its ‘death of God’ experience, are considered with a view, on how he adopted figures of Orthodox (and Neoplatonic) epistemologies to counter the position of a technocratic Positivist ‘Naturalism’, of whose limitations and essential negativity he remained deeply convinced.
Rilke’s reception of these experiences, perceptions and forms of thought, are reflected with regard to present positions in the academic study of Esotericism and Religion. The focus of this study is to show that Rilke’s experience and reception of core motifs of Christian Orthodoxy provided him with conceptual and poetic means to develop a poetry based on a spiritual perception and conceptualisation of the world. In this regard, his inclusion of the personal experience of secularisation in a ‘post-secular’ episteme and poetology, as emerging in his last poems, is noted as interesting development of the Orthodox motifs in the course of his life. This article is intended to inspire to further studies in this field.
In the time between the submission of this article at the UNESCO institute of Inter-Cultural and Inter-Religious Studies, formally accepted as contribution to a then unfinished dissertation project, and the present, some aspects indicated in the original paper have been worked out in new articles. These and other recent publications relevant to this complex have been included here.

У монографії «Постмодерністські візії релігійності: сучасне язичництво у міській культурі (Україна в загальноєвропейському контексті)» представлений спектр думок щодо «початку» неоязичництва, термінології для позначення даного явища. Запропоновано розглянути процес трансформації язичництва в сучасних його формах крізь призму історико-культурної обумовленості. Виокремлена специфіка розвитку сучасного язичництва в Україні в контексті загальноєвропейських тенденцій історико-культурної еволюції. Авторка спробувала зануритися в пошуки вихідної точки, яка започаткувала явище, що на початку ХХІ ст. набуває все більшої популярності в секуляризованому західному світі. На пострадянському просторі неоязичницькі/рідновірські об'єднання діють у формі релігійних громад і конфесій, фольклорно-етнографічних гуртків, суспільних, екологічних організацій, музичних колективів. Йде постійний процес організації нових громад, затухання раніше діючих, перетворення всередині вже існуючих, з'являється помітний прошарок людей, які самостійно, поза групою, зайняті пошуком свого духовного шляху на основі язичницького світогляду.

Symbols are important cultural expressions that may be circulated through both time and space as groups appropriate, modify, and ascribe new meanings to them within a larger context of cultural appropriation and invented tradition. I explore this process by looking at the construction of religious folk histories and how they related to the use of symbols by different groups of Celtic Neo-Pagan or " Ethnopagan " traditions in the United States and Britain. Data from print and electronic sources are analyzed to determine how these Ethnopagans appropriate, reinterpret, inflate, and conflate ancient Celtic and other European symbols, as well as recently invented symbols, into their ethnoreligious folk histories and repertoires. This process, including the appropriation of Celtic identity, is discussed in terms of its potential role in the construction, marking, legitimization, and validation of these ethnoreligious traditions and identities.

A continuación se presentan los Sagrados Apelativos con los cuales se puede invocar al Gran Señor Dionisio, o alguno de sus aspectos. En negrita se lee la transliteración del original griego, teniendo en cuenta que la combinación de las vocales PH se pronuncia como una F, la combinación CH como una K, y la combinación TH como una Z de España. Junto a la trasliteración se da la interpretación en español.

In this paper, the author explores the origins, associations, and functions of the ancient goddess Hekate.  The roles of Hekate in the myth of Demeter and Persephone are discussed, as are Hekate’s place in the Eleusinian Mysteries.  Finally, the author describes her own personal relationship to the goddess Hekate.

The article addresses contemporary enthusiasts’ activities dealing with the ancient Thracian heritage in Bulgaria. Alternative re-writings of the past, cult movements and historical re-enactments have been analysed in view of the creation of a popular narrative, which is being endlessly shared, experienced, re-appropriated and re-formulated online. Based on the concept of "community of practice", as it has been recently introduced in Heritage Studies by Nicolas Adell, Regina F. Bendix, Chiara Bortolotto and Markus Tauschek, the focus of the paper is on possible entanglements between various academic and dilettante, professional and amateur, religious and political actors, all of which contribute to the establishment of an “edited” past.