Pagan Religions in Five Minutes

Suzanne Owen is an associate professor in the study of religion at Leeds Trinity University in the United Kingdom researching British Druidry and Indigeneity in Newfoundland. Angela Puca, PhD (2021), is an independent religious studies scholar and university lecturer. She is bridging the gap between academia and the general public with her social media project Angela’s Symposium, where she disseminates peer-reviewed research to a wide audience engagingly. She’s the author of the forthcoming Italian Witchcraft and Shamanism, to be published by Brill, and coeditor of Pagan Religions in Five Minutes for Equinox Publishing Ltd.

Foreword


Ronald
Hutton, University of Bristol


Preface


Suzanne
Owen and Angela Puca


Paganism


1.
What is Paganism? Angela
Puca



2.
Is Paganism a religion? Suzanne
Owen


3.
What is the difference between Pagan, pagan, Paganism and
neo-Paganism? Graham
Harvey, The Open University


4.
How did modern Paganism begin? Sabina
Magliocco, University of British Columbia


5.
What is the relationship between ancient and contemporary Paganism?
Caroline
Tully, University of Melbourne


6.
How many Pagans are there? Vivianne
Crowley, Nottingham Trent University


7.
Are most Pagans solitary practitioners? Helen
A. Berger, Brandeis University


8.
What is a Pagan worldview? Graham
Harvey


9.
Is there anything common to all Pagan Religions? Jennifer
Uzzell, Pagan Federation


10.
Is Paganism a nature religion? Ethan
Doyle White



11.
How do Pagans view nature and the environment? Chas
S. Clifton


12.
Do Pagans have sacred sites? Ethan
Doyle White


13.
Do all Pagans follow the same festivals? Doug
Ezzy, University of Tasmania


14.
Do Pagans have a holy book like the Bible? Denise
Cush, Bath Spa University


15.
What is the relationship between Theosophy and Paganism? Yves
Muehlematter, University of Zurich



Pagan
religions




16.
Can a Pagan follow more than one path or tradition? Caroline
Tully


17.
What is the difference between hard and soft polytheism? Jefferson
Calico
18. What is the difference between an eclectic and a traditional
Pagan or witch? Angela
Puca



19.
Are all witches Pagan? Mary
Hamner, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill


20.
Can anyone be called a “witch”? Francesca
Po



21.
What is the difference between Wicca and witchcraft? Mary
Hamner


22.
What is Heathenry? Jefferson
Calico



23.
What is the difference between Druidism and Druidry? Jennifer
Uzzell



24.
Is Druidry the indigenous religion of Europe? Suzanne
Owen


25.
What are Techno Pagans? Chris
Miller, University of Ottawa




26.
What was ancient Slavic “paganism”? Giuseppe
Maiello, University of Finance and Administration, Prague



27.
What is Romuva in Lithuania? Milda
Ališauskienė, Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas



28.
Is Romuva an official religion in Lithuania? Rasa
Pranskevičiūtė-Amoson, Vilnius University



29.
How has Paganism developed in Brazil? Karina
Oliveira Bezerra



Pagan
beliefs and practices




30.
How do Pagans conceive of gods? Vivianne
Crowley


31.
Is there salvation in paganism? Michael
York, Bath Spa University


32.
Can a person have Pagan beliefs without being Pagan? Alessandro
Testa, Charles University, Prague


33.
Are some Pagans atheist? Sarah
Best


34.
Do Pagans worship ancestors? Jennifer
Uzzell



35.
What are pagan ethics? Michael
York



36.
How do Pagans interact with deities and spirits? Jenny
Butler, University College Cork



37.
What does a Pagan minister do? Holli
Emore, Cherry Hill Seminary



38.
What does the pentacle symbol mean to Pagans? Angela
Puca



39.
Do Pagans believe in reincarnation or life after death? Jennifer
Uzzell



40.
Do Pagans practise ritual sex? Angela
Puca




41.
Are Astrology and Tarot part of Paganism? Francesca
Po



42.
How do Pagans view magic? Karina
Oliveira Bezerra



43.
Is there a difference between magic and magick? Caroline
Tully



44.
What is chaos magic? Isis
Mrugalla, University of Tübingen



45.
Do Pagans use the Internet for their religion? Franz
Winter, University of Graz



46.
Is Christmas a pagan festival? Alessandro
Testa



47.
Is Carnival a pagan festival? Alessandro
Testa



48.
Are Halloween and Easter pagan festivals? Jenny
Butler



Pagan
discussions




49.
Do Pagans practise sacrifice? Jefferson
Calico



50.
Are Satanism and Paganism the same? Ethan
Doyle White


51.
What explains the enduring bias against Pagans? Franz
Winter



52.
Is there antipathy between Pagans and Christians? Denise
Cush



53.
Can a Christian also be a Pagan? Rhiannon
Grant, Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre



54.
Can Paganism be applied to non-European religions, such as Shinto?
Doug
Ezzy



55.
Can witchdoctors and Africana spiritual traditions be regarded as
Pagan? Mary
Hearns-Ayodele



56.
How much of Paganism is based on cultural appropriation? Sabina
Magliocco


57.
Do Pagans have particular political views? Ethan
Doyle White



58.
Is there a problem with fascism in contemporary Paganism? Amy
Hale



59.
Were Pagans involved in the war in Ukraine? Giuseppe
Maiello


60.
Why do some polytheists reject the term Pagan? Angelo
Nasios



61.
Is Paganism empowering to women and LGBTQI+? Giovanna
Parmigiani, Harvard Divinity School



62.
Is Paganism queer? [M]
Dudeck




63.
Why is witchcraft popular among teenagers? Denise
Cush



64.
Do Pagans avoid technology? Chris
Miller
65. What is WitchTok? Mary
Hamner


66.
How do Pagans use fiction and film? Carole
Cusack, University of Sydney



67.
Is Paganism make-believe? [M]
Dudeck Studying
and teaching Pagan religions




68.
How do scholars study Paganism? Chris
Miller



69.
Should Pagan religions be taught in schools? Denise
Cush



70.
Are contemporary Pagan religions indicative of a new form of
religiosity? Denise
Cush