Paleopaganism

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Paleopaganism
A Wisdom Archive on Paleopaganism

Paleopaganism A selection of articles related to Paleopaganism

We recommend this article: Paleopaganism - 1, and also this: Paleopaganism - 2.

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ARTICLES RELATED TO Paleopaganism

Paleopaganism: Pagan Paganism Dictionary II on Paleopaganism, Paleo-Paganism

Paleopaganism or Paleo-Paganism:

A general term for the original polytheistic, nature-centered faiths of tribal Europe, Africa, Asia, the Americas, Oceania and Australia, when they were (or in some rare cases, still are) practiced as intact belief systems.

Of the so-called “Great Religions of the World,” Hinduism (prior to the influx of Islam into India), Taoism and Shinto, for example, fall under this category, though many members of these faiths might be reluctant to use the term.

Some Paleopagan belief systems may be racist, sexist, homophobic, etc. There are billions of Paleopagans living and worshiping their deities today.

See Mesopaganism and Neopaganism.

(See also: Paleopaganism, Paleo-Paganism, Pagan, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)

Paleopaganism: Pagan Paganism Dictionary II on Mahayana, Greater Vehicle Buddhism

Mahayana, Greater Vehicle Buddhism

A later, “heterodox” version of Buddhism which incorporates many Paleopagan deities from throughout Asia as Buddhas or Saints.

Paleopaganism: Pagan Paganism Dictionary II on Familial Witchcraft “Fam-Trad

Familial Witchcraft or “Fam-Trad:”

The practices and beliefs of those who claim to belong to (or have been taught by members of) families that supposedly have been underground Paleopagans for several centuries in Europe and/or the Americas, using their wealth and power to stay alive and secret. Even if they existed, none of them could have a pure religious or magical tradition by now; instead, they would have fragments of Paleopagan customs mixed with Christianity or Islam as well as every new occult wave that hit the West. 99.9% of all the people I have ever met who claimed to be Fam-Trad Witches were lying, or had been lied to by their teachers. Also sometimes called “Hereditary Witchcraft” or even “Genetic Witchcraft” by those who think they must claim a witch as an ancestor in order to be a witch today.

(See also: Familial Witchcraft, Pagan, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)

Paleopaganism: Pagan Paganism Dictionary II on Buddhism

Buddhism

A variety of religions founded by a man named Gautama Siddhartha, the Buddha (“Enlightened One”). An outgrowth of Vedic Paleopagan mysticism, rooted in the “Four Noble Truths:”

(1) Existence is suffering,

(2) Suffering is caused by desire,

(3) Desire can be overcome,

(4) by following the Eightfold Path (right belief, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right meditation).

(See also: Buddhism, Pagan, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)

Paleopaganism: Pagan Paganism Dictionary II on Mesopaganism, Meso-Paganism

Mesopaganism or Meso-Paganism:

A general term for a variety of movements both organized and nonorganized, started as attempts to recreate, revive or continue what their founders thought were the best aspects of the Paleopagan ways of their ancestors (or predecessors), but which were heavily influenced (accidentally, deliberately and/or involuntarily) by concepts and practices from the monotheistic, dualistic, or nontheistic worldviews of Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, or early Buddhism.

Examples of Mesopagan belief systems would include Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism, Theosophy, Spiritualism, etc., as well as those forms of Druidism influenced by those movements, the many Afro-Diasporatic faiths (such as Voudoun, Santeria, Candomble, etc.), Sikhism, several sects of Hinduism that have been influenced by Islam and Christianity, Mahayana Buddhism, Aleister Crowley’s religion/philosophy of Thelema, Odinism (most Norse Paganism), most “Family Traditions” of Witchcraft (those that aren’t completely fake), and most orthodox (aka “British Traditionalist”) denominations of Wicca.

Some Mesopagan belief systems may be racist, sexist, homophobic, etc. There are at least a billion Mesopagans living and worshiping their deities today.

See Paleopaganism and Neopaganism.

(See also: Mesopaganism, Meso-Paganism, Pagan, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)

Paleopaganism: Pagan Paganism Dictionary II on Fairy, Faery, Faerie Trad Witchcraft

Fairy, Faery, Faerie Trad Witchcraft:

(1) Any of several traditions of Mesopagan and/or Neopagan Witchcraft started by the blind poet and scoundrel guru Victor Anderson since the 1970s, mixing British and Celtic folklore about the fairies, Gardnerianism, Voodoo, Hawaiian Huna (itself a Mesopagan invention of Max Freedom Long), Tantra, Gypsy magic, Native American beliefs, and anything else he was thinking about at the time he was training the founders of each trad.

(2) Varieties of Neopagan Witchcraft focused around homosexual or bisexual images and magical techniques rather than the heterosexual (and often homophobic) ones used in most Wiccan traditions.

(3) Other sects of Neopagan Witchcraft focused around real or made-up fairy lore, often taken from romantic poems, plays, and novels about the fairies. In most of these traditions, there is usually an assumption that the ancient associations between fairies and witches were true, and that the fairies were originally the Paleopagan nature spirits and/or deities.

(See also: Fairy, Faery, Faerie Trad Witchcraft, Pagan, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)

Paleopaganism: Pagan Paganism Dictionary II on Pagan, Paganism

Pagan, Paganism:

Originally from the Latin “paganus,” meaning “villager,” “country dweller,” or “hick.” The Roman army used it to refer to civilians. Early Roman Christians used “pagan” to refer to everyone who preferred to worship pre-Christian divinities and who were unwilling to enroll in “the Army of the Lord.” Eventually, “pagan” became simply an insult, with the connotation of “a false religion and its followers.”

By the beginning of the twentieth century, the word’s primary meanings became a blend of “atheist,” “agnostic,” “hedonist,” “religionless,” etc., (when referring to an educated, white, male, heterosexual, non-Celtic European) and “ignorant savage and/or pervert” (when referring to everyone else on the planet).

“Paganism” is now a general term for polytheistic, nature-centered religions, old and new, with “Pagan” used as the adjective as well as the membership term. It should always be capitalized just as other religious noun/adjective combinations are, such as “Buddhist,” “Hindu,” “Christian,” etc.

See Paleopaganism, Mesopaganism, Neopaganism.

(See also: Pagan, Paganism, Pagan, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)

Paleopaganism: Pagan Paganism Dictionary II on Neopaganism, Neo-Paganism

Neopaganism or Neo-Paganism:

A general term for a variety of movements both organized and (usually) nonorganized, started since 1960 c.e. or so (though they had literary roots going back to the mid-1800’s), as attempts to recreate, revive or continue what their founders thought were the best aspects of the Paleopagan ways of their ancestors (or predecessors), blended with modern humanistic, pluralist and inclusionary ideals, while consciously striving to eliminate as much as possible of the traditional Western monotheism, dualism, and puritanism.

The core Neopagan beliefs include a multiplicity of deities of all genders, a perception of those deities as both immanent and transcendent, a commitment to environmental awareness, and a willingness to perform magical as well as spiritual rituals to help both ourselves and others.

Examples of Neopaganism would include the Church of All Worlds, most heterodox Wiccan traditions, Druidism as practiced by Ár nDraíocht Féin and the Henge of Keltria, some Norse Paganism, and some modern forms of Buddhism whose members refer to themselves as “Buddheo-Pagans.” Neopagan belief systems are not racist, sexist, homophobic, etc. There are hundreds of thousands of Neopagans living and worshiping their deities today. As “Neo-Paganism,” this term was popularized in the 1960’s and 1970’s by Oberon Zell, a founder of the Church of All Worlds.

(See also: Neopaganism, Neo-Paganism, Pagan, Paganism, Pagan Dictionary)