Naturalistic Paganism

A longer version of this essay was originally published at Eric S. Raymond’s website Oct. 22, 2010.

I. Introduction

The neopagan phenomenon is a loose collection of religious movements, experiments, and jokes combining some very new thinking with some very old sources.

This FAQ, originally prepared in 1992 at the request of a number of curious net.posters, offers a brief description of neopagan thought and practice.

II. What is a neopagan?

I used the term `religious’ above, but as you’ll see it’s actually more than somewhat misleading, and I (like many other neopagans) use it only because no other word is available for the more general kind of thing of which the neopagan movement and what we generally think of as `religion’ are special cases.

Neopaganism is `religious’ in the etymological sense of `re ligare’, to rebind (to roots, to strengths, to the basics of things), and it deals with mythology and the realm of the `spiritual’. But, as we in the Judeo/Christian West have come to understand `religion’ (an organized body of belief that connects the `supernatural’ with an authoritarian moral code via `faith’) neopaganism is effectively and radically anti-religious. I emphasize this because it is important in understanding what follows.

Common characteristics of almost all the groups that describe themselves as `neopagan’ (the term is often capitalized or hyphenated) include: Read More