Neo-Paganism and New Age Spirituality have very different rules factors. Neo-Paganism, as defined by the Encyclopædia Britannica, is an umbrella term for several spiritual movements that attempt to restore the “authentic pantheons and rituals” of the ancient polytheistic religions of Europe and the Middle East.(Neo-Paganism) These forms of “nature-oriented spirituality” are typically pre-Christian and primarily originate in Europe. (Fisher 478) ReligiousTollerance.org sheds some light on how people formed these Neo-Pagan religions:
“Druidic religion is based on the faith and practices of the ancient Celtic professional class; followers of Asatru adhere to the ancient, pre-Christian Norse religion; Wiccans also trace their roots back to the pre-Celtic era in Europe. Other Neopagans follow Hellenismos (ancient Greek religion), Religio Romana (ancient Roman religion), Kemetism (ancient Egyptian religion) and other traditions.” (Neopagan & Pagan)
Unfortunately, most of the original rituals and religious practices have long since been lost. Starhawk, a well-known academic of Paganism, explains, “It is not based on dogma or a set of beliefs, nor on scriptures or a sacred book revealed by a great man.” (Starhawk 2-3) Instead, Neo-Pagans take their teachings from nature, and with that, they combine the history they do have about their originating religions to create an eclectic reconstruction of the ancient practices. Although the specific practices of Neo-Pagans vary, most follow a basic pagan ethic of “Do what thou wilt, but harm none”, believe in multiple deities, often including a primary god or goddess, and most Neo-Pagans practice traditional ceremonies in relation to the equinoxes and solstices.(Neopagan & Pagan) According to the...
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Starhawk. The Spiral Dance: a Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1979.
Magliocco defines "Neo-Paganism" as others have before her as "a movement of new religions that attempt to revive, revitalize, and experiment with aspects of pre-Christian polytheism" (Magliocco 4). She continues to tell us that the Neo-Pagan goal is to gain a "deeper connection with the sacred, with nature, and with community" (4). This definition does not include any acts performed in the religion that may turn off any scientific readers from the start. Instead it is a broad yet exact definition that describes the religion from a rational standpoint.
Wicca—one of the most recognizable pagan religions today in the USA and Great Britain—is also unfortunately, like many pagan religions, still greatly misunderstood by the general population: mainly due to the media’s often inaccurate or highly skewed presentation of Wicca and Wiccan practitioners. This inaccurate depiction of Wicca and Wiccans often leads to people lumping Wiccans together with occultists and Satanists and all the negative connotations that surround those words. Luckily, Wiccans are neither occultist nor Satanists. Instead Wiccans are part-witch-part-pagans whose unique beliefs, traditions, and practices set them apart from other witches and pagans.
The controversies that surround Wicca start with its exact origin. There are some who believe that it has its origins in Witchcraft due to the similarities between the two. Witchcraft itself is a Pagan practice [polytheistic and non-Christian, Muslim and Jewish in origin] that began with the Celts around 700 B.C. As the movie The Burning Times depicts, the region during this time period was primarily a rural culture so the Celtic traditions were based completely on Nature. Their months were even named after trees and their festivals revolved around the solstices and equinoxes (Steiger). A polytheistic religion, they worshiped a host of female and male deities and are most notably associated with the concept of Goddess worship, a strong belief in the divinity of the female (Burning Times). These paganistic beliefs and rituals gradually over the centuries combined with other European religious practices, such as magic, potions, and ointments for healing, to form what we call in modern times Witchcraft. Groups who did not hav...
Smith, Huston. World’s Religions: A Guide to our Wisdom Traditions. San Francisco: Harper Collins, 1994.
Neo-Pagans are a group of faiths bringing ancient Pagan and magickal traditions to the modern age; including mostly Wicca, Druidism, Asatru, Shamanism, neo-Native American, and many more. It is an umbrella term for various beliefs with many elements in common. Some Neo-Pagans find no conflict practicing Neo-Paganism along with another faith, such as Christianity or Judaism.
On the surface, pagan culture and Christianity would appear to have very little in common. Traditionally, the Hellenistic pagan cultures worshipped multiple deities; the central of which were the twelve Olympians of the Greek Pantheon. Lesser divine beings and demi-humans also played a significant role in the Hellenistic culture. The worship of these deities was the mainstream of religion during the Hellenistic period until the rise of the great philosophers.
Oxtopy, W., & Segal, A. (2007). A concise introduction to world religions. (1st ed., p. 258). New York: Oxford University press.
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Smart, Ninian. "Blackboard, Religion 100." 6 March 2014. Seven Dimensions of Religion. Electronic Document. 6 March 2014.
People in Ancient Rome believed in many religions that helped them make decisions. The first religion that ancient Romans believed in was Polytheistic. This means that they worshipped many gods. Romans took the Greek gods and gave them different names and worshiped them. The Romans took their gods and put animal heads on them instead of regular heads. Later on, in Roman culture, Christianity was created in ancient Rome . Christianity was illegal in ancient
Oxtoby, Willard G., and Alan F. Segal. A Concise Introduction to World Religions. Oxford, Canada: Oxford University Press, 2007.
Barbour, Ian G. Religion in an Age of Science. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1990. Print. (BL 240.2 .B368 1990)
Hopfe, L. M., & Woodward, M. R. (2007). Religions of the World (10th ed.) New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Religion and magic are alike in the aspect of bringing people together. Both magic and religions perform types of rituals and they also use symbols. Even though some people may not see magic as a religion for some people it might be. One of the differences I noticed between the two was that magic user do not go by a certain set of rules or traditions like religions do. In Paganism you get to set things the way you feel like they need to be. Unlike Christianity where everything is already put into place. Growing up I loved learning everything I could about magic to the point where my mother gave me a chest full of Wiccan spells and herbs for certain spells. I know for me believing in magic made more sense than believing in what Christianity
III. Smithson, Jayne. “Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion.” Class lectures. Anthropology 120. Diablo Valley College, San Ramon 2004.