Reviving Pagan Spirituality: A Manifesto

• Published in: Religions
• Main Author: Keith Parsons
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2022
• Subjects: neopagan; pagan; Asatru; soteriology; Axial Age; mythology; Religions. Mythology. Rationalism; BL1-2790; Iceland
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13100942; https://doaj.org/article/6e2a2e7bd43443618b0f9b12fb8654de

Numerous contemporary neopagan movements are attempts to revive or reconstruct ancient religious belief and practice. For instance, the worship of the ancient Norse gods has been restored to Iceland by the Asatru Fellowship. In this essay, I defend neopagan movements against the charge that ancient spirituality cannot be recovered in identifiable form. I note that today’s dominant religions, such as Christianity, also face questions of the continuity of identity and argue that if such problems are tractable for current religions, then, in principle, they are resolvable for neopagans. I further argue that there are three broad themes of spirituality that are identifiable in ancient pagan religion, and that these are permanent possibilities recoverable by modern people. I also defend the relevance and importance of these themes.