Pagan Studies

Pagans and Academic Publishing

May 20, 2013 By Christine Kraemer Leave a Comment

Some of you may remember that I’m publishing a book of Pagan erotic theology entitled Eros and Touch from a Pagan Perspective: Divided for Love’s Sake with an academic publisher next year. Here’s a sneak peek at the cover image I commissioned from artist Valerie Herron. Gorgeous, no? Deciding what kind of press to approach with this book was a difficult process because both the publishing industry and academia are in crisis right now. This makes it a particularly difficult time for … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Pagan Studies Tagged With: academia, Pagan, Pagan studies, Paganism, publishing, scholarship Leave a Comment

News and Notes – Pagan Theology and Scholarship

April 30, 2013 By Christine Kraemer Leave a Comment

Cherry Hill Seminary sponsored a well-received conference this month at the University of South Carolina. Entitled "Sacred Lands and Spiritual Landscapes," the conference featured historian Ronald Hutton as a keynote speaker and a range of papers on topics such as pilgrimage, the lesbian land movement, witchcraft in urban landscapes, ecotheology, and more. Our own blogger at A Sense of Place, Elinor Predota, presented a paper entitled “Into the Sacred Woods: The Inner and Outer Value of a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Announcements, Pagan Studies, Theology Tagged With: academic conferences, Cherry Hill Seminary, Pagan, Pagan studies, Pagan theology, Paganism Leave a Comment

Fundamentalism

April 18, 2013 By yvonne 9 Comments

What is fundamentalism? Is it all bad? Can the term 'fundamentalist' be applied to Pagans? What is fundamentalism? The term fundamentalism originated in Christianity, when a series of books called The fundamentals was published, outlining five beliefs that the author considered it essential for Christians to hold. In that context, the term originally meant someone who adhered to these five beliefs. The movement was created in response to liberal theology and higher criticism; so in … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Pagan Studies, Theology Tagged With: academia, fundamentalism, Pagan, Pagan studies, Pagan theology, Paganism, religious identity 9 Comments

Interview with Christine Hoff Kraemer on Albion Calling

April 17, 2013 By Christine Kraemer 2 Comments

I was honored this week by an interview with Ethan Doyle White for his blog, Albion Calling. The article is part of a series of interviews with scholars of Pagan studies and esotericism; previous interviewees include Dave Evans, Chas Clifton, Caroline Tully, and Nevill Drury. (I am in excellent company!) Here's the link: An Interview with Dr. Christine Hoff Kraemer EDW is an up-and-coming scholar himself, and I'm champing at the bit to read his recent article in The Pomegranate, "Robert … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Pagan Studies Tagged With: academia, Pagan, Pagan studies, Pagan theologies, Pagan theology, Paganism 2 Comments

Values, beliefs, practices

April 14, 2013 By yvonne 18 Comments

SENZ umbrella testing - photo by Eelke Dekker

What makes you a Pagan? Is it what you believe, what you do, or something else? Some other religions Because Christianity is strongly creedal (uniting around a set of beliefs), people tend to assume that all other religions must also unite around beliefs. However, in Hinduism (a religion which has many similarities to Paganism), there are many different beliefs, ranging from monotheism to monism to polytheism. Rather than uniting around a specific belief, groups of Hindus unite around … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Pagan Studies, Theology Tagged With: beliefs, orthopraxy, Paganism, practice, religious identity, values 18 Comments

Five questions about Paganism

April 10, 2013 By yvonne 8 Comments

Pagan handfasting ceremony at Avebury (Beltane 2005) - source: ShahMai Network

From Michael York: In preparation for a paper for the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion’s annual conference, I am seeking answers from pagan practitioners to the following questions. The title of my presentation is “Religion and Theology: A Contemporary Western Pagan Perspective on Identity Formation and Modern Policy.” The analytical framework I propose to use is one that differentiates paganism (broadly of course) from Abrahamic, dharmic and secular religions or perspectives, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Pagan Studies, Theology Tagged With: deep ecology, interfaith, Pagan, Pagan studies, Pagan theology, Paganism, religious identity, sexuality, theology 8 Comments

Ritual, liturgy, and worship

April 4, 2013 By yvonne 5 Comments

The structure of ritual in Paganism tends to be to create the sacred space as a microcosm representing the whole cosmos, then to raise power within it, then to wield the power, thank the divine powers and/or commune with them, and then to dismantle the whole structure. This format is essentially derived from the Western magical tradition. If you go to a church service, where the ritual mode is liturgical, there is no wielding of power; rather the approach is to wait for the power to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Pagan Studies, Theology Tagged With: celebration, ceremony, decorum, liturgy, magic, ritual, ritual theory, ritualisation, Ronald Grimes, worship 5 Comments

Pagans and religious education

March 29, 2013 By yvonne 6 Comments

The Earth with symbols of different faiths around it

Religious education in schools Here in the UK, religious education in schools is part of the National Curriculum, acknowledges the diversity of religious traditions, and seeks to prepare children for living in a multicultural society. The content of the local curriculum is decided by SACREs (Standing Advisory Councils for Religious Education), which consist of representatives of schools and representatives of local religious traditions. I have been on one as a Pagan representative, and at … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Pagan Studies, Theology Tagged With: religious education 6 Comments

Pagan Intrafaith: A Patheos Pagan Panel

February 21, 2013 By Christine Kraemer 6 Comments

Pagan Intrafaith panel, Feb. 2013. Photo by Jason Pitzl-Waters.

This year at PantheaCon, I was pleased to moderate a panel on "Pagan Intrafaith," discussing how interfaith models might benefit the Pagan community if applied internally. If you'd like to listen to the audio, proceed! Or, scroll down to see the list of presenters and the text of my opening remarks. Pagan Intrafaith Patheos Pagan Writers Panel Presentation, PantheaCon 2013 February 15, 2013 – San Jose, California Moderator: Christine Hoff Kraemer Participants: Eric … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Pagan Studies Tagged With: community building, diversity, interfaith, intrafaith, Pagan, Pagan studies, Paganism, pluralism 6 Comments

Dispatch from PantheaCon: Preparing for Our Future

February 17, 2013 By Christine Kraemer 12 Comments

Greetings from PantheaCon! My con has not been quite all I hoped. Although our Patheos Pagan panel on Pagan Intrafaith went really well (and I look forward to sharing the recording with you all soon), Friday night I came down with a nasty cold, and since then I’ve only been able to do one or two events a day. I have gotten some very good social time with those who don’t fear the plague, though, for which I’m grateful. Happily, I was able to attend Wild Hunt writer/editor Jason … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Pagan Studies Tagged With: fundraising, institutionalization, Jason Pitzl-Waters, oral history, Pagan, Paganism, PantheaCon 12 Comments