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EveryJaadu

Pagan and Neopagan: magic in this belief world

Ancient pagan religions, and the modern revival: Wicca, Druidry, Heathenry.

Pagan and Neopagan traditions include the religions of the ancient world, such as Greek, Roman, Norse and Celtic, which survive in fragments, and the modern revival: Wicca, Druidry, Heathenry, Hellenism and Rodnovery. Pagan was a Christian word for the non-Christian. Today many people use it for themselves. This page covers the modern and ancient strands and why they are often confused. Neopaganism is now one of the fastest-growing religious minorities in several Western countries.

Ancient and modern

Ancient pagan religions were state and household religions with temples, sacrifices, oracles and magic. They were replaced or suppressed with the spread of Christianity from the fourth century. Modern Paganism began in the twentieth century: Gerald Gardner's Wicca in the 1950s, Druid orders from the eighteenth century, and Heathen groups in Iceland, Scandinavia and North America. They are new religions drawing on old sources. Ancient religions in Greece, Rome and Egypt had priesthoods and temples, and oracles such as Delphi and Siwa drew visitors from far away.

A contested past

Margaret Murray's 1921 claim that witch trials hit a surviving pagan religion shaped the early movement, and was later rejected by historians such as Norman Cohn and Ronald Hutton. Modern Pagans now often accept their traditions as created and revived, and speak of inspiration. Some Heathen groups have been linked to racist movements, which most Heathens condemn. Wicca is a religion with initiation, a god and goddess and a yearly cycle of eight festivals, while Druidry, Heathenry and others have their own forms.

Gender, law and community

Wicca and Goddess movements gave women priestly roles, and many covens are led by women. Pagans have faced discrimination and moral panics, including the Satanic panic of the 1980s. In Britain, the last Witchcraft Act was replaced in 1951. In Iceland the Asatru Fellowship has been recognised since 1973. Pagan chaplains now serve in prisons and the armed forces in some countries. Many Pagans see themselves as part of an environmental and feminist movement, and others focus on ancestral heritage.

Commerce and ethics

Pagan books, tarot, crystals and festivals are a large market. Wicca borrows from many cultures, which raises questions of appropriation, and some Pagans work to credit sources. Scholars call the field a case study in how religion is invented. Pagans themselves often say that what matters is practice and community. Scholars regard Paganism as part of the religious landscape and no longer as a curiosity, and Pagan studies has become an academic field.

Pagan and Neopagan on EveryJaadu

The entries written up so far, best known first.

RegionSouth AsiaSoutheast AsiaEast AsiaCentral Asia and the CaucasusMiddle EastNorth AfricaSub-Saharan AfricaEuropeNorth AmericaLatin America and the CaribbeanOceania
KindTraditionRiteCharmOracleSubstanceBeingFigureTextIllusionBelief
PurposeProtectionHealingSeeing and foretellingLuck and prosperityLove and attractionCursing and harmCleansing and purificationSpeaking with spirits and the deadChange and initiationBinding and oathsPower and authorityWonder and entertainment
WhoShamansFolk healersPriests and ritual specialistsWitches, sorcerers and cunning folkDiviners and readersMediums and the possessedCeremonial magicians and alchemistsHouseholds and ordinary peopleStage magiciansScholars and sceptics
OccasionWeddings and betrothalFestivalsBirth and childhoodDeath and remembranceHarvest, farming and weatherNew yearInitiation and coming of ageIllness and misfortuneJourneys and voyagesEveryday use
StandingLivingRevivedFadingHistoricalLegendaryPerformed
OrderBest knownA to ZNewestLiving first
🇮🇳 India and 5 moreAstrology A divinatory practice that reads human fate through the positions of celestial bodies.Belief · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Living 🇫🇷 France and 5 moreWerewolf A mythical shapeshifter that turns into a wolf, central to European witch-hunts and Gothic horror.Being · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Legendary 🇪🇬 Egypt and 4 moreAnimal sacrifice The ritual killing of livestock or wild animals as an offering to deitiesRite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Historical 🇮🇹 ItalyLectisternium An ancient Roman ritual where couches were draped and meals served to gods.Rite · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical 🇬🇷 Greece and 5 moreCrossroads (folklore) A junction between worlds where spirits are met and deals are madeBelief · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Cursing and harm Living 🇮🇹 ItalyFortunaFortūna The Roman goddess of luck and fate, shown with a wheel and a horn of plentyBeing · Luck and prosperity · Seeing and foretelling Historical 🇬🇧 United KingdomWiccan Rede A moral guideline for Wiccans stating that actions should cause no harm.Text · Cursing and harm Living 🇬🇷 GreeceTriple Goddess A Neopagan deity representing three female life stages and lunar phasesBeing · Power and authority Living 🇮🇸 Iceland and 2 moreSeiðr A Norse magic of fate and spirit, practiced by seers and sorcerers in the Viking Age.Tradition · Seeing and foretelling · Cursing and harm Revived 🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 4 moreCorn dolly A woven straw figure made from the last sheaf of a European harvest to house the crop spirit.Tradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Revived 🇮🇪 Ireland and 1 moreLughnasadhLúnasa A Gaelic harvest festival marking the beginning of the grain gathering seasonTradition · Luck and prosperity · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇳🇴 NorwayEsbat A monthly Wiccan ritual held at the full or new moon for worship and community.Rite · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Love and attraction Living 🇫🇷 France and 5 moreYule log A large wooden log burned in the hearth during winter festivals across Europe and North America.Tradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living 🇮🇳 India and 5 moreSpirit possession A global belief that spirits or demons can take control of a person's body and mindBelief · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Living 🇮🇹 ItalyLemuriaLemuralia An ancient Roman festival to send restless ghosts away from the homeRite · Cleansing and purification · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical 🇸🇪 Sweden and 5 moreMidsummerJāņi; Joninės; Jaanipäev; Enyovden; Litha; Juhannus A summer solstice festival marked by bonfires, maypole dancing, and feasting across Europe.Tradition · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living 🇮🇪 Ireland and 1 moreSamhain A Gaelic festival marking the end of harvest and the start of winter, observed on November 1st.Tradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇨🇭 SwitzerlandMagic circle A ritual boundary drawn or visualised to create sacred space and protectionTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇮🇹 Italy and 1 moreAradia A figure of Italian folklore and modern pagan witchcraft, seen as a teacher of magic and liberation.Figure · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Revived 🇬🇧 United KingdomCeridwenCerridwen A Welsh enchantress and modern goddess of poetic inspiration and transformation.Being · Change and initiation Revived 🇬🇷 GreeceCassandraΚασσάνδρα A Trojan priestess cursed to speak truth that no one acceptsFigure · Seeing and foretelling Legendary 🇬🇷 GreeceOrpheusὈρφεύς A Thracian bard whose music charms nature and who journeys to the underworldFigure · Wonder and entertainment Legendary 🇬🇷 GreeceMedeaΜήδεια A sorceress and princess of Colchis who aids Jason and uses magic for revenge.Figure · Cursing and harm · Healing Legendary 🇮🇸 Iceland and 1 moreNornsnornir Fate-weaving figures from Norse myth who shape human destiny and tend the world tree.Being · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical 🇮🇸 Iceland and 2 moreValkyrievalkyrja Female figures in Norse myth who select fallen warriors and guide them to Odin's hallBeing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Legendary 🇷🇺 Russia and 3 moreLeshyлеший A forest spirit from Slavic folklore who guards the woods and misleads travelers.Being · Protection · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇬🇷 Greece and 5 moreSpodomancy Divination by reading omens in ashes, soot, and cindersOracle · Seeing and foretelling · Healing Living 🇮🇪 Ireland and 5 moreFairy A European spirit with magical powers and human form found in folklore and artBeing · Protection · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇬🇷 GreeceDeipnonδεῖπνον An ancient Athenian lunar offering to Hekate and the restless dead at the month's end.Rite · Protection · Cursing and harm Living 🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreHecateἙκάτη A Greek goddess of magic, crossroads, and the moon, often shown in three forms.Being · Protection · Power and authority Historical 🇮🇪 Ireland and 5 moreHoly well A water source revered for healing and ritual across pagan and Christian traditionsTradition · Healing · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇮🇶 Iraq and 5 moreLove magic Rituals and spells used to attract, preserve, or end romantic relationships across many cultures.Tradition · Love and attraction · Cursing and harm Historical 🇳🇴 Norway and 2 moreValknut A symbol of three interlocked triangles found on Germanic artifacts and used in modern Heathenry.Belief · Power and authority Living 🇸🇳 Senegal and 5 morePentagramπεντάγραμμον A five-pointed star figure used across history for protection, ritual, and cosmologyCharm · Protection · Binding and oaths Living 🇷🇺 Russia and 5 moreSlavic religion The pre-Christian beliefs of the Slavic peoples before their conversion to Christianity.Tradition · Protection · Healing Revived 🇮🇷 Iran and 4 morePersian mythologyاسطوره‌شناسی ایرانی Ancient Iranian myths of cosmic struggle between light and darknessBelief · Power and authority Historical 🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreAncient Egyptian religion Polytheistic worship, divine kingship, and funerary rites along the NileTradition · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical 🇬🇷 GreeceAncient Greek folklore The oral stories, music and rituals of the ancient GreeksTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Historical 🇬🇷 Greece and 2 moreGreco-Roman mysteriesμυστήρια Secret religious schools of the ancient Mediterranean for initiates onlyTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Historical 🇬🇷 GreeceEleusinian MysteriesἘλευσίνια Μυστήρια Ancient Greek secret initiation rites honouring Demeter and Persephone at EleusisTradition · Change and initiation · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical 🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreWheel of the Year An annual cycle of eight seasonal festivals observed by modern pagans.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living 🇬🇷 Greece and 2 moreMagic in the Greco-Roman world Private supernatural practices in ancient Greece and Rome, distinct from public state religion.Tradition · Protection · Cursing and harm Historical 🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreGardnerian Wicca An initiatory neopagan tradition tracing its lineage to Gerald Gardner and the New Forest covenTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Change and initiation Living 🇺🇸 United StatesDianic Wicca A female-only pagan tradition honoring the Goddess and women's experienceTradition · Protection · Healing Living 🇷🇺 Russia and 7 moreSlavic Native FaithРодноверие A modern polytheistic movement drawing on Slavic folklore, romanticism, and global spiritual traditions.Tradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living 🇸🇪 Sweden and 2 moreGermanic seeressvǫlva Diviners and sorceresses of early Germanic and Norse societyTradition · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Revived 🇮🇸 Iceland and 2 moreYulejól A Germanic midwinter festival merged with Christmas and revived by modern pagansTradition · Luck and prosperity · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living 🇮🇪 Ireland and 4 moreWinter solstice The shortest day and longest night of the year, marked by rites of solar returnTradition · Seeing and foretelling · Protection Living
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Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

The weekly digest

Every Monday: seven entries you may not know, what is on the calendar this week, and one rite drawn step by step.