Secular paganism or humanistic paganism is an outlook which upholds virtues and principles associated with

paganism Paganism (from classical Latin ''pāgānus'' "rural", "rustic", later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christianity, early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions ot ...

while maintaining a secular worldview. Approaches to secular paganism vary, but can include the respect for living creatures and the Earth itself, while rejecting belief in deities. Secular pagans may recognize goddesses/gods as useful metaphors for different cycles of life, or reframe

magic Magic or Magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces * Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic * Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...

as a purely psychological practice.

Historical background

As Europe was Christianized, the

Church Fathers The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical per ...

regularly secularized pagan deities and myths through

euhemerism Euhemerism () is an approach to the interpretation of mythology in which mythological accounts are presumed to have originated from real historical events or personages. Euhemerism supposes that historical accounts become myths as they are exagge ...

, a practice where the deities are interpreted as historical figures who at some point had become worshiped as gods.

Clement of Alexandria Titus Flavius Clemens, also known as Clement of Alexandria ( grc , Κλήμης ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς; – ), was a Christian theologian and philosopher who taught at the Catechetical School of Alexandria. Among his pupils were Origen and ...

summarized the approach in ''Cohortatio ad gentes'', addressing the pagans: "Those to whom you bow were once men like yourselves." The 18th century produced a considerable body of works that sought to "unveil" concepts from the ancient world, including the pagan gods. This gave birth to rationalist and

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

interpretations of ancient mythological concepts, and ancient texts were sometimes read as if they were written by contemporaries to the

Enlightenment Enlightenment or enlighten may refer to: Age of Enlightenment * Age of Enlightenment, period in Western intellectual history from the late 17th to late 18th century, centered in France but also encompassing (alphabetically by country or culture): ...

philosophers, discussing the same topics as they from the same humanist perspective.

Neopaganism

Some adherents of

modern Paganism Modern paganism, also known as contemporary paganism and neopaganism, is a term for a religion or family of religions influenced by the various historical pre-Christian beliefs of pre-modern peoples in Europe and adjacent areas of North Afric ...

have developed

humanistic Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humani ...

or secular approaches, where important aspects of a pagan worldview are embraced, but deities are not revered as real or supernatural beings. These approaches take on a variety of different forms. In the 19th century, the French writer

Louis Ménard Louis-Nicolas Ménard (19 October 1822 – 9 February 1901) was a French man of letters also known for his early discoveries on collodion. Biography He was born in Paris. His versatile genius occupied itself in turn with chemistry, poetry, paint ...

used the term "mystical paganism" for his attempt to create a substitute for organized religion, in which he used a humanistic approach to recognize the importance of symbols and the irrational. The concept had significant influence on the poet

Leconte de Lisle Charles Marie René Leconte de Lisle (; 22 October 1818 – 17 July 1894) was a French poet of the Parnassian movement. He is traditionally known by his surname only, Leconte de Lisle''. Biography Leconte de Lisle was born on the French overseas ...

and the Parnassian movement. Some pagan revivalists are inspired by

Carl Jung Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology. Jung's work has been influential in the fields of psychiatry, anthropology, archaeology, literature, philo ...

's theories about

archetype The concept of an archetype (; ) appears in areas relating to behavior, historical psychology, and literary analysis. An archetype can be any of the following: # a statement, pattern of behavior, prototype, "first" form, or a main model that ot ...

s and the

collective unconscious Collective unconscious (german: kollektives Unbewusstes) refers to the unconscious mind and shared mental concepts. It is generally associated with idealism and was coined by Carl Jung. According to Jung, the human collective unconscious is populat ...

. Jung handled esoteric and mythological subjects in a secular and scientific, yet not dismissive manner. The biologist Andreas Weber promotes what he calls "poetic ecology" and "poetic materialism". This has been a source of inspiration for people such as Henrik Hallgren of the

Swedish Forn Sed Assembly The Community of Forn Sed Sweden ( sv, Samfundet Forn Sed Sverige), formerly the Swedish Asatro Community (''Sveriges Asatrosamfund'') is a heathen (Germanic neopagan) organization founded in 1994. History The Swedish Asatro Community ( sv, Sve ...

. ''Godless Paganism: Voices of Non-Theistic Pagans'', an American anthology edited by John Halstead, was published in 2016 and contains a number of essays on secular approaches to paganism. ''Atheopaganism: An Earth-Honoring Path Rooted in Science'' was published in 2019 by Mark Green and presents a methodology, rationale, set of values and practices for a denomination of naturalistic paganism.

Political theology

In the context of

political theology Political theology is a term which has been used in discussion of the ways in which theological concepts or ways of thinking relate to politics. The term ''political theology'' is often used to denote religious thought about political principled qu ...

, the philosopher Odo Marquard has argued that the

separation of powers Separation of powers refers to the division of a state's government into branches, each with separate, independent powers and responsibilities, so that the powers of one branch are not in conflict with those of the other branches. The typic ...

is a " disenchanted return of polytheism". His 1979 essay on the subject, "

In Praise of Polytheism "In Praise of Polytheism (On Monomythical and Polymythical Thinking)" (german: Lob des Polytheismus. Über Monomythie und Polymythie) is an essay by the German philosopher Odo Marquard, which was held as a lecture at the Technical University of Be ...

", provoked controversy among German scholars. Contrary to Marquard, the philosopher Jacob Taubes—who defended a secularized version of apocalyptic

eschatology Eschatology (; ) concerns expectations of the end of the present age, human history, or of the world itself. The end of the world or end times is predicted by several world religions (both Abrahamic and non-Abrahamic), which teach that negati ...

—argued that the secularized, political version of paganism is

totalitarianism Totalitarianism is a form of government and a political system that prohibits all opposition parties, outlaws individual and group opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high if not complete degree of control and reg ...

References

Citations

Sources

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External links

The forgotten history of atheist paganism

Humanist common ground: Paganism

Being atheist in the pagan community: What to expect

“Atheist pagan” does not equal “secular pagan”

LGBTQ Humanists
Paganism Modern paganism and society Secularism