Handbook of contemporary paganism / / edited by Murphy Pizza and James R. Lewis.

• Superior document: Brill handbooks on contemporary religion, v. 2
• TeilnehmendeR: Pizza, Murphy.; Lewis, James R.
• Year of Publication: 2009
• Language: English
• Series: Brill handbooks on contemporary religion ; v. 2.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (660 p.)
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.
• Other title: Contemporary paganism; Preliminary Material /; Introduction /; The modern magical revival /; The influence of Aleister Crowley on Gerald Gardner and the early witchcraft movement /; Earth Day and afterwards: American paganism’s appropriation of ‘nature religion’ /; Re-enchanting the world: A weberian analysis of wiccan charisma /; Contemporary paganism by the numbers /; “A religion without converts” revisited: Individuals, identity and community in contemporary paganism /; The wild hunt: A mythological language of magic /; Reclamation, appropriation and the ecstatic imagination in modern pagan ritual /; Alchemical rhythms: Fire circle culture and the pagan festival /; Pagan theology /; Drawing down the goddess: The ancient {female} deities of modern paganism /; The return of the goddess: Mythology, witchcraft and feminist spirituality /; Witches’ initiation—A feminist cultural therapeutic? /; Animist paganism /; Heathenry /; New/old spiritualities in the West: Neo-shamans and neo-shamanism /; Australian paganisms /; Celts, druids and the invention of tradition /; Magical children and meddling elders: Paradoxical patterns in contemporary pagan cultural transmission /; Of teens and tomes: The dynamics of teenage witchcraft and teen witch literature /; Rooted in the occult revival: Neo-paganism’s evolving relationship with popular media /; Weaving a tangled web? Pagan ethics and issues of history, ‘race’ and ethnicity in pagan identity /; ‘Sacred’ sites, artefacts and museum collections: Pagan engagements with archaeology in Britain /; Wolf age pagans /; Contributors /; Index /
• Bibliography: Includes bibliographical references and index.
• ISBN: 1282397850; 9786612397851; 9047442350
• ISSN: 1874-6691
• Hierarchical level: Monograph
• Statement of Responsibility: edited by Murphy Pizza and James R. Lewis.

Contemporary Paganism is a movement that is still young and establishing its identity and place on the global religious landscape. The members of the movement are simultaneously growing, unifying, and maintaining its characteristic diversity of traditions, identities, and rituals. The modern Pagan movement has had a restless formation period but has also been the catalyst for some of the most innovative religious expressions, praxis, theologies, and communities. As Contemporary Paganism continues to grow and mature, new angles of inquiry about it have emerged and are explored in this collection. This examination and study of contemporary Paganism contributes new ways to observe and examine other religions, where innovations, paradoxes, and inconsistencies can be more accurately documented and explained.