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

• TeilnehmendeR: Lewis, James R.; Pizza, Murphy.
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden ;, Boston : : Brill,, 2009.
• Year of Publication: 2009
• Language: English
• Series: Brill Handbooks on Contemporary Religion 2.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (660 p.)
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.

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.

Table of Contents

Preliminary Material / M. Pizza and J.R. Lewis -- Introduction / M. Pizza and J.R. Lewis -- The modern magical revival / Nevill Drury -- The influence of Aleister Crowley on Gerald Gardner and the early witchcraft movement / Henrik Bogdan -- Earth Day and afterwards: American paganism’s appropriation of ‘nature religion’ / Chas S. Clifton -- Re-enchanting the world: A weberian analysis of wiccan charisma / Robert Puckett -- Contemporary paganism by the numbers / Helen A. Berger -- “A religion without converts” revisited: Individuals, identity and community in contemporary paganism / Síân Reid -- The wild hunt: A mythological language of magic / Susan Greenwood -- Reclamation, appropriation and the ecstatic imagination in modern pagan ritual / Sabina Magliocco -- Alchemical rhythms: Fire circle culture and the pagan festival / J. Lawton Winslade -- Pagan theology / Michael York -- Drawing down the goddess: The ancient {female} deities of modern paganism / Marguerite Johnson -- The return of the goddess: Mythology, witchcraft and feminist spirituality / Carole M. Cusack -- Witches’ initiation—A feminist cultural therapeutic? / Jone Salomonsen -- Animist paganism / Graham Harvey -- Heathenry / Jenny Blain and Robert J. Wallis -- New/old spiritualities in the West: Neo-shamans and neo-shamanism / Dawne Sanson -- Australian paganisms / Douglas Ezzy -- Celts, druids and the invention of tradition / James R. Lewis -- Magical children and meddling elders: Paradoxical patterns in contemporary pagan cultural transmission / Murphy Pizza -- Of teens and tomes: The dynamics of teenage witchcraft and teen witch literature / Hannah E. Johnston -- Rooted in the occult revival: Neo-paganism’s evolving relationship with popular media / Peg Aloi -- Weaving a tangled web? Pagan ethics and issues of history, ‘race’ and ethnicity in pagan identity / Ann-Marie Gallagher -- ‘Sacred’ sites, artefacts and museum collections: Pagan engagements with archaeology in Britain / Robert J. Wallis and Jenny Blain -- Wolf age pagans / Mattias Gardell -- Contributors / M. Pizza and J.R. Lewis -- Index / M. Pizza and J.R. Lewis.