(Re)Constructing the Ritual in Contemporary Paganism
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| Year of publication | 2013 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
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| Description | Contemporary Paganism (or maybe more precisely Paganisms) is an umbrella term for a diversified group of movements whose main unifying characteristic is that they are to lesser or greater extent based on or inspired by prehistoric or ancient, usually polytheistic religions. Some scholars tend to distinguish (although such distinction is very vague and problematic) between movements that are trying to truly reconstruct dead religions and those movements that are only inspired by such religions and their systems of beliefs and practices are newly invented (e.g. Wicca or Druidism). One of the most significant problems the first category (i.e. the Reconstructionist Pagan movements) has to deal with is the lack of reliable sources on ritual practice of the faiths their beliefs are based on. This paper explores how the ritual practice in contemporary Paganism is being (re)invented, what are the inspiration sources for these rituals and how are these rituals legitimized by contemporary Pagans. |