Handbook of Contemporary Paganism (Brill Handbooks on Contemporary Religion)

Contemporary Paganism is a movement that is still young and establishing its identity and place on the global religious landscape. The members of the movement are simultaneously growing, unifying, and maintaining its characteristic diversity of traditions, identities, and rituals. The modern Pagan movement has had a restless formation period but has also been the catalyst for some of the most innovative religious expressions, praxis, theologies, and communities. As Contemporary Paganism continues to grow and mature, new angles of inquiry about it have emerged and are explored in this collection. This examination and study of contemporary Paganism contributes new ways to observe and examine other religions, where innovations, paradoxes, and inconsistencies can be more accurately documented and explained. The Modern Magical Revival / Nevill Drury -- The Influence Of Aleister Crowley On Gerald Gardner And The Early Witchcraft Movement / Henrik Bodgan -- Earth Day And Afterwards / Chas S. Clifton -- Re-enchanting The World / Robert Puckett -- Contemporary Paganism By The Numbers -- A Religion Without Converts Revisited / Síân Reid -- The Wild Hunt / Susan Greenwood -- Reclamation, Appropriation And The Ecstatic Imagination In Modern Pagan Ritual / Sabina Magliocco -- Alchemichal Rhythms / J. Lawton Winslade -- Pagan Theology / Michael York -- Drawing Down The Goddess / Marguerite Johnson -- The Return Of The Goddess / Carole M. Cusack -- Witches' Initiation, A Feminist Cultural Therapeutic? / Jone Salomonsen -- Animist Paganism / Graham Harvey -- Heathenry / Jenny Blain, Robert J. Wallis -- New/old Spiritualities In The West / Dawne Sanson -- Australian Paganisms / Douglas Ezzy -- Celts, Druids And The Invention Of Tradition / James R. Lewis -- Magical Children And Meddling Elders / Purphy Pizza -- Of Teens And Tomes / Hannah E. Johnston -- Rooted In The Occult Revival / Peg Aloi -- Weaving A Tangled Web? / Anne-marie Gallagher -- 'sacred' Sites, Artefacts And Museum Collections / Robert J. Wallis, Jenny Blain -- Wolf Age Pagans / Mattias Gardell. Edited By Murphy Pizza And James R. Lewis. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. As Contemporary Paganism continues to grow and establish its identity and place on the global religious landscape, new angles of inquiry about it have emerged and are discussed by Pagan Studies scholars of varying disciplines in this collection.