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.
🇮🇹 ItalyJupiterIuppiter
The Roman sky father and king of the gods, associated with thunder and oathsBeing · Power and authority · Protection Historical
🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreHecateἙκάτη
A Greek goddess of magic, crossroads, and the moon, often shown in three forms.Being · Protection · Power and authority Historical
🇪🇬 Egypt and 2 moreIsisꜣst (Egyptian)
Egyptian goddess of magic, mourning and kingship, mother of HorusBeing · Protection · Healing Historical
🇮🇸 IcelandGaldergaldr
A Germanic incantation and the written charms derived from itText · Protection · Cursing and harm Historical
🇮🇹 ItalySibylline BooksLibri Sibyllini
Ancient Roman oracular texts consulted during state crises and disastersText · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead 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
🇬🇷 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
🇪🇬 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
🇸🇪 Sweden and 2 moreDísdísir
Female spirits of fate and protection in Norse traditionBeing · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇮🇹 ItalyLectisternium
An ancient Roman ritual where couches were draped and meals served to gods.Rite · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇮🇹 ItalyFortunaFortūna
The Roman goddess of luck and fate, shown with a wheel and a horn of plentyBeing · Luck and prosperity · Seeing and foretelling Historical
🇮🇹 ItalySanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia
A vast Roman sanctuary complex in Palestrina that housed an oracle and a temple to the goddess of fate.Tradition · Seeing and foretelling · Protection Historical
🇮🇹 Italy and 5 moreEuropean witchcraft
Historical beliefs in harmful magic and the resulting trials across EuropeBelief · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical
🇩🇪 Germany and 1 moreHercules' ClubHerkuleskeule
A club-shaped amulet worn in the Roman Empire and by Germanic peoples as a protective charm.Charm · Protection Historical
🇮🇹 Italy and 1 moreKollyra curse tablet
An ancient Greek tablet cursing a thief to suffocation until stolen goods are returned.Text · Protection · Cursing and harm Historical
🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 1 moreMagic in Anglo-Saxon Englandgaldorcræft
Healing charms and protective rituals practiced by early English tribesTradition · Healing · Protection Historical
🇸🇪 SwedenKvinneby amulet
An 11th-century Swedish copper plate with a long runic inscription seeking protectionCharm · Protection Historical
🇮🇹 Italy and 1 morePalladiumΠαλλάδιον (Palladion)
A wooden statue of Athena said to protect cities, stolen from Troy and brought to Rome.Charm · Protection Historical
🇯🇵 Japan and 4 moreHousehold deity
A spirit or minor god believed to guard a home and its family members.Being · Protection · Speaking with spirits and the dead Historical
🇮🇹 ItalyŚuri𐌑𐌖𐌛 (Etruscan)
An ancient Etruscan deity of volcanic fire, the underworld, and healingBeing · Protection · Healing Historical
🇬🇷 GreeceMeilichiosΜειλίχιος
An ancient Greek chthonic spirit linked to Zeus and appeased through fire offerings.Being · Protection · Cursing and harm Historical
🇳🇴 NorwayGrógaldr
An Old Norse poem about raising a dead seeress to ask for helpText · Cursing and harm · Protection Historical
🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreAgathos Daimonἀγαθὸς δαίμων
A noble spirit and serpent deity of Greek and Egyptian traditionBeing · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Fortuna: Charles Samuel, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Bald's Leechbook: Unknown, the Internet Archive scan is low quality, and some of the tex, Public domain, source
- Śuri: Marie-Lan Nguyen, Public domain, source
- Grógaldr: W.G. Collingwood (1854 - 1932), Public domain, source
- Sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia: MM, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- European witchcraft: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Kvinneby amulet: Ulrik Skans SHMM, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Hercules' Club: Wolfgang Sauber, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Hecate: Henryk Siemiradzki, Public domain, source
- Isis: Ägyptischer Maler um 1360 v. Chr., Public domain, source
- Galder: Bengt A. Lundberg, CC BY 2.5, source
- Palladium: Marie-Lan Nguyen ( Jastrow ), Public domain, source
- Sibylline Books: kladcat, CC BY 2.0, source
- Meilichios: Mark Landon, CC BY 4.0, source
- Agathos Daimon: Carole Raddato, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Ancient Egyptian religion: Moh hakem, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Household deity: Claus Ableiter, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Magic in the Greco-Roman world: ArchaiOptix, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Animal sacrifice: Wilfredor, CC0, source
- Dís: Emil Doepler, Public domain, source
- Lectisternium: Classical Numismatic Group (CNG), Inc., www.cngcoins.com, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Jupiter: ArchaiOptix, CC BY-SA 4.0, source