Impediments to Practice in Contemporary Paganism
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/pome.v16i2.27020Keywords:
barriers, clergy, Contemporary Paganism, Heathens, leadership, obstacles, Pagans, prejudice, quantitative studies, Witches, WitchcraftAbstract
This quantitative study is based on data from a large-scale national survey of Pagans, Witches, and Heathens in the United States (N=3,318) that was conducted by the author and examines the prevalence and severity of impediments to practice encountered by American Pagans. Obstacles can be organized into the following categories: (1) those rooted in interactions with the dominant culture in which Pagans live; (2) challenges arising from the non-institutional nature of Paganism; (3) requirements related to the practice of magick; (4) demands stemming from educational/developmental trajectories; and (5) pragmatic challenges encountered when trying to live according to one’s values. Contemporary Paganism is in the early stages of routinization. The analysis reveals that the “house church,” volunteer clergy model poses real, pervasive challenges not only for Paganism in general, but for the leaders and clergy in particular. The importance of nature is a notable feature of Paganism and the most common obstacle to religious practice discovered is the expense of living a Green lifestyle. Fear of prejudice and conflicts with the values embedded within the dominant culture’s educational system are also prevalent barriers that affect practice.References
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——. “Solitary Practitioners in the United States.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion, Baltimore, November 26, 2013.
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Berger, Helen A., Evan A. Leach and Leigh S. Shaffer. Voices from the Pagan Census: A National Survey of Witches and Neo-Pagans in the United States. Columbia, S.C.: University of South Carolina Press, 2003.
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“Table 75: Self-Described Religious Identification of Adult Population: 1990, 2001, 2008.” In Statistical Abstracts of the United States. http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s0075.pdf.
Weber, Max. “Science as Vocation,” in From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology, edited by H.H. Gerth and C. Wright Mills, 129–56. New York: Galaxy, 1958.
——. The Sociology of Religion. Translated by Ephraim Fischoff. Boston: Beacon Press, 1963.
Atkinson, Rowland, and John Flint. “Sampling, Snowball: Accessing Hidden and Hard-to-Reach Populations.” In The A-Z of Social Research, edited by Robert L. Miller and John D. Brewer, 274–81. London: SAGE Publications, 2003.
Bado-Fralick, Nikki. Coming to the Edge of the Circle: A Wiccan Initiatory Ritual. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/0195166450.001.0001.
Barner-Barry, Carol. Contemporary Paganism: Minority Religions in a Majoritarian America. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005. http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/9781403973382.
Berger, Helen A. “Are Solitaries the Future of Paganism?” Patheos. August 23, 2010. http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Solitaries-The-Future-Of-Paganism.html.
——. A Community of Witches: Contemporary Neo-Paganism and Witchcraft in the United States. Columbia, S.C.: University of South Carolina Press, 1999.
——. “Solitary Practitioners in the United States.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion, Baltimore, November 26, 2013.
——. “Witchcraft and NeoPaganism.” In Witchcraft and Magic: Contemporary North America, edited by Helen A. Berger, 28–54. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005. http://dx.doi.org/10.9783/9780812201253.28.
Berger, Helen A., Evan A. Leach and Leigh S. Shaffer. Voices from the Pagan Census: A National Survey of Witches and Neo-Pagans in the United States. Columbia, S.C.: University of South Carolina Press, 2003.
Blake, James. “Overcoming the ‘Value-Action Gap’ in Environmental Policy: Tensions Between National Policy and Local Experience.” Local Environment: The International Journal of Justice and Sustainability 4, no. 3 (1999): 257–78. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13549839908725599.
Carpenter, Dennis D. “Emergent Nature Spirituality: An Examination of the Major Spiritual Contours of the Contemporary Pagan Worldview.” In Magical Religion and Modern Witchcraft, edited by James R. Lewis, 35–71. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 1996.
Chancey, Mark A. “The Bible, the First Amendment, and the Public Schools in Odessa, Texas.” Religion and American Culture: A Journal of Interpretation 19, no. 2 (2009): 169–205.
Clifton, Chas S. Her Hidden Children: The Rise of Wicca and Paganism in America. Lanham, Md.: AltaMira Press, 2006.
——. “Some Sources of Modern Pagan Ethics.” In Magical Religion and Modern Witchcraft, edited by James R. Lewis, 269–75. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 1996.
Davy, Barbara Jane. Introduction to Pagan Studies. Lanham, Md.: AltaMira Press, 2007.
Deckman, Melissa M. School Board Battles: The Christian Right in Local Politics. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 2004.
Flynn, Rob, Paul Bellaby and Miriam Ricci. “The ‘Value-Action Gap’ in Public Attitudes Towards Sustainable Energy: The Case of Hydrogen Energy.” The Sociological Review 57 (2009): 159–80. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-954X.2010.01891.x.
Greenawalt, Kent. Does God Belong in Public Schools? Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2005.
Greenwood, Susan. The Nature of Magic: An Anthropology of Consciousness. New York: Berg, 2005.
Harrow, Judy. “The Contemporary Neo-Pagan Revival.” In Magical Religion and Modern Witchcraft, edited by James R. Lewis, 9–24. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 1996.
Hufford, David. “Sleeping Reason, Dreams of Disenchantment.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion, San Diego, November 23, 2014.
Hutton, Ronald. The Triumph of the Moon. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198207443.001.0001.
Ivakhiv, Adrian. “The Resurgence of Magical Religion.” In Magical Religion and Modern Witchcraft, edited by James R. Lewis, 237–65. Albany, N.Y.: State University of New York Press, 1996.
Kermani, S. Zohreh, Pagan Family Values: Childhood and Religious Imagination in Contemporary American Paganism. New York: New York University Press, 2013.
Kyle, Richard. The Religious Fringe: A History of Alternative Religions in America. Downers Grover, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1993.
Magliocco, Sabina. Witching Culture: Folklore and Neo-Paganism in America. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvannia Press, 2004. http://dx.doi.org/10.9783/9780812202700.
Pike, Sarah M. New Age and Neopagan Religions in America. New York: Columbia University Press, 2004.
Reece, Gwendolyn. “Prevalence and Importance of Contemporary Pagan Practices.” The Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies 16 (2014): 35–54.
Robbins, Thomas. Cults, Converts, and Charisma: The Sociology of New Religious Movements. London: Sage Publications, 1988.
Spears, James T., and James C. Carper, eds. Curriculum, Religion, and Public Education: Conversations for an Enlarging Public Square. New York: Teachers College Press, 1998.
Supreme Court of the United States. “Syllabus Burwell, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Et Al. v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., Et Al.” https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/pdf/13-354.pdf.
“Table 75: Self-Described Religious Identification of Adult Population: 1990, 2001, 2008.” In Statistical Abstracts of the United States. http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s0075.pdf.
Weber, Max. “Science as Vocation,” in From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology, edited by H.H. Gerth and C. Wright Mills, 129–56. New York: Galaxy, 1958.
——. The Sociology of Religion. Translated by Ephraim Fischoff. Boston: Beacon Press, 1963.
Published
2015-08-25
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Reece, G. (2015). Impediments to Practice in Contemporary Paganism. Pomegranate, 16(2), 150-177. https://doi.org/10.1558/pome.v16i2.27020
