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Secular paganism is an outlook upholding virtues and principles associated with
paganism Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...
while maintaining a
secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin , or or ), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. The origins of secularity can be traced to the Bible itself. The concept was fleshed out through Christian hi ...
worldview. Alternately called naturalistic paganism or humanistic paganism, approaches vary, but typically 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 ** ''Magick'' (with ''-ck'') can specifically refer to ceremonial magic * Magic (illusion), also known as sta ...
as a purely psychological practice. The specific path of atheopaganism developed in the twenty-first century.


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 peri ...
regularly secularized pagan deities and myths through
euhemerism In the fields of philosophy and mythography, 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 histo ...
, a practice where the deities are interpreted as historical figures who at some point had become worshipped as gods.
Clement of Alexandria Titus Flavius Clemens, also known as Clement of Alexandria (; – ), was a Christian theology, Christian theologian and philosopher who taught at the Catechetical School of Alexandria. Among his pupils were Origen and Alexander of Jerusalem. A ...
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 form the same
humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humanism" ha ...
perspective.


Neopaganism

Some adherents of
modern Paganism Modern paganism, also known as contemporary paganism and neopaganism, spans a range of new religious movements variously influenced by the Paganism, beliefs of pre-modern peoples across Europe, North Africa, and the Near East. Despite some comm ...
have developed
humanistic Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humanism" ha ...
or
secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin , or or ), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. The origins of secularity can be traced to the Bible itself. The concept was fleshed out through Christian hi ...
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 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 i ...
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, psychotherapist, and psychologist who founded the school of analytical psychology. A prolific author of Carl Jung publications, over 20 books, illustrator, and corr ...
's theories about
archetype The concept of an archetype ( ) appears in areas relating to behavior, historical psychology, philosophy and literary analysis. An archetype can be any of the following: # a statement, pattern of behavior, prototype, "first" form, or a main mo ...
s and the
collective unconscious In psychology, the collective unconsciousness () is a term coined by Carl Jung, which is the belief that the unconscious mind comprises the instincts of Jungian archetypes—innate symbols understood from birth in all humans. Jung considered th ...
. 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 (), formerly the Swedish Asatro Community (''Sveriges Asatrosamfund'') is a heathen (Germanic neopagan) organization founded in 1994. History The Swedish Asatro Community () was founded in 1994 as an outgrowt ...
.


Political theology

In the context of
political theology Political theology is a term which has been used in discussion of the ways in which Theology, theological concepts or ways of thinking relate to politics. The term is often used to denote religious thought about political principled questions. Scho ...
, the philosopher
Odo Marquard Odo Marquard (26 February 1928 – 9 May 2015) was a German philosopher. He was a professor of philosophy at the University of Giessen from 1965 to 1993. In 1984 he received the Sigmund Freud Prize for Scientific Prose. Early life and education ...
has argued that the
separation of powers The separation of powers principle functionally differentiates several types of state (polity), state power (usually Legislature#Legislation, law-making, adjudication, and Executive (government)#Function, execution) and requires these operat ...
is a " disenchanted return of polytheism"; his 1979 essay "
In Praise of Polytheism "In Praise of Polytheism (On Monomythical and Polymythical Thinking)" () is an essay by the German philosophy, German philosopher Odo Marquard, which was held as a lecture at Technische Universität Berlin in 1978. It was first published in 1979 i ...
" provoked controversy among German scholars. Contrary to Marquard, the philosopher
Jacob Taubes Jacob Taubes (25 February 1923 – 21 March 1987) was a sociologist of religion, philosopher, and scholar of Judaism. Taubes was born into an old rabbinical family. He was married to the writer Susan Taubes. He obtained his doctorate in 1947 f ...
—who defended a secularized version of apocalyptic
eschatology Eschatology (; ) concerns expectations of the end of Contemporary era, present age, human history, or the world itself. The end of the world or end times is predicted by several world religions (both Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic and non-Abrah ...
—argued that the secularized, political version of paganism is
totalitarianism Totalitarianism is a political system and a form of government that prohibits opposition from political parties, disregards and outlaws the political claims of individual and group opposition to the state, and completely controls the public s ...
.


See also

*
Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans The Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans (abbr: CUUPS) is an independent affiliate of Unitarian Universalists who identify with the precepts of classical or contemporary Paganism: celebrating the sacred circle of life and guiding people to ...
*
Crypto-paganism Crypto-paganism is the secret adherence to paganism while publicly professing to be of another faith. In historical context, a crypto-pagan (from the Greek ''kryptos'' – , "hidden") was most likely to maintain the pretense of believing in an Ab ...
*
Cultural Christians Cultural Christians are those who received Christian values or appreciate Christian culture. They may be non-practicing Christians, non-theists, apatheists, transtheists, deists, pantheists, or atheists. These individuals may identify ...
, Cultural Judaism, and Cultural Muslims * Naturalistic pantheism *
Social cycle theory Social cycle theories are among the earliest social theories in sociology. Unlike the theory of social evolutionism, which views the evolution of society and human history as progressing in some new, unique direction(s), sociological cycle th ...
* World Pantheist Movement


References


Citations


Sources

* * * *


Further reading

* * *


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"

Pagan atheists: Yes, we exist
{{Neopaganism Paganism Modern paganism and society Religious atheism Religious humanism