Neopaganism

Neopaganism (new paganism) is a revival of ancient paganism and is a form of pantheism or polytheism or both. Neopaganism is also manifest in witchcraft (Wicca), occultism, and other religions that fit under the broad umbrella of New Age. At its core, the New Age movement borrows, mixes, and matches spiritual practices from paganism, Buddhism, Hinduism, aboriginal religions, and other sources. As a result, New Age religions present an incredible variety of practices. Psychics, horoscopes, the Dalai Lama, Wicca, witchcraft, crystal therapy, contacting the dead, worship of the moon goddess, past life regression, communion with higher beings, white/black magic, feng shui, and the quest for one’s “higher self” are all incorporated into New Age spirituality. The impulse to mix different religious beliefs and practices is ancient.

There are obviously a variety of beliefs that are practiced under the broad neopagan heading; however, there are some generally shared characteristics and beliefs that draw on polytheism, the occult, relativism, pluralism, and sometimes even pantheism.

Neopaganism sprouts from the soil of paganism, Hinduism, Wicca, and, indirectly, atheism, and other systems. Of course, the main root of neopaganism is ancient Greek and Roman polytheism. Neopagans are free to worship any gods and goddesses. But not all modern paganism comes from Greece. The revival of Buddhism and especially Hinduism with its multimillions of gods also supports New Age religion and neopaganism. Hinduism has infiltrated virtually every level of Western culture, tailored to fit Western humanism by teaching that each of us is a little god.

Another stream of neopaganism is the religion of Wicca (a.k.a. witchcraft or the Craft). This movement, popularly known as witchcraft, has a strong overlap with the feminist movement, which is evident in the feminist witch, Margot Adler. Wicca does not [intentionally] endorse evil or worship Satan (as some believe); rather, Wiccans attempt to draw on the spiritual powers in the universe to promote goodness and healing. Wicca recognizes many gods, including the supreme goddess, who is represented by the moon. This religion teaches that there are many invisible lines of spiritual power crisscrossing the world around us and that it is possible to tap into them for the sake of helping others. Wicca often likes to paint itself as the female alternative to male-dominated established religion [even though Gerald Gardner (1888—1964) is widely known as the father of modern Wicca]. Wiccans often envision their own versions of the Source of power; consequently, this makes Wicca individualistic and attractive to those who desire to maintain control and those who like alternative lifestyles. Others, feeling a special connection with animals, enjoy Wicca’s emphasis on nature. 

On April 11-14, 1974, the Council of American Witches listed 13 basic principles in the creed they called “Principles of Wiccan Belief.” These beliefs include moon worship, harmony with nature, the creative power in the universe manifest in male and female polarities, and sex as pleasure. The core Wiccan ethic says, “harm no one; do what you will.” Another rule says, “Anything you do will come back to you three times over.” Spell-casting and magic are vital parts of Wicca. Spells are symbolic acts performed in an altered state of consciousness to cause a desired change. Interestingly, though Wicca is synonymous with the demonic deeds in the Judeo-Christian theology, the Council of American Witches disavowed devil worship and the belief that there is “the only way” and rejected absolute Truth. Wiccans have an abhorrence to monotheism because it contradicts their polytheistic, pluralistic, and relativistic beliefs.

Neopagans are almost inevitably involved in the occult. They believe in an impersonal force, energy, or power, into which they can tap to do supernormal things. Whatever the source of ‘the Force’ of Star Wars, it clearly is similar to the force believed in by neopagan witches. Luke Skywalker is a classic model for this belief; this was evident when he had engaged in white magic when he tapped into the “light side of the Force.”

Neopagans are strongly pluralistic. Polytheism by its nature leaves room for more gods and goddesses. All forms of worship of whatever god one may choose are legitimate for the worshiper; however, such belief rejects absolute Truth in favor of an irrationalism in which opposites can both be true.

My Final Thoughts:

Due to the pluralistic beliefs and relativism regarding Truth, neopagans claim we should discard reason as normative in life. But if this is done, then opposites could both be true and this violates the fundamental laws of thought. The person who claims that opposites can both be true does not really believe that the opposite of that statement also is true. All Truth cannot be relative. That very claim is presented as a nonrelative truth claim. There cannot be one and only one GOD (monotheism) and more than one god (polytheism) at the same time and in the same sense. The pluralistic desire to embrace all forms of religion runs into the same problem. Everything cannot be true, including opposites. This violates the law of noncontradiction. Polytheists have to deny pluralism in order to affirm it, for they do not believe the opposite of pluralism is true. But if opposites are not true, pluralism is false.

We encounter a problem even in the claim that Wicca promotes goodness and healing. For if one were to tap into the ‘force’ in order to use it for something bad, that would imply that there is an absolute standard of good by which the bad can be measured. And if using the ‘force’ for bad violates Craft Law, that indicates that there is a universal craft law that defines right and wrong. If it does not, witchcraft can be done in any way one wishes. And if the dictum to not do anyone harm yet do what you will is to be taken seriously, an absolute moral standard must exist. If ethics are autonomous, then the very notion of what is and is not considered “harm” to another becomes wholly subjective. After all, Truth is absolute and never relative; consequently, teaching children that Truth is relative is harmful. Thus, Wiccans are harming children by teaching them Wicca as being true while they are also contradicting themselves by appealing to a claim of absolute truth.

Even the “Principle of Wiccan Belief” adopted by the Council of American Witches has a strong statement excluding the belief that Christianity is “the only way.” All inclusive groups fail to realize that every truth claim is exclusive. Under a cloak of inclusive language, neopagans believe that the only way is to deny that there is an only way. If witchcraft is true, all non-witchcraft beliefs must be false. Neopaganism is just as exclusive as any other religion that claims to have discovered truth about reality.

In her book, “Drawing Down the Moon,” Margot Adler states that modern pagans remain antiauthoritarian, taking pride in being the most flexible and adaptable of religions, who are perfectly willing to throw out dogmas. A neopagan ‘creed,’ therefore, is an oxymoron. Neopagans are noncreedal by definition. However, their protest notwithstanding, neopagans have their own creeds and dogmas. While protesting creeds, Adler declared a set of “basic beliefs” that she proclaims most people share. She seems unaware that she is thereby defining a creed. The creed she confessed was that the world is holy, nature is holy, the body is holy, sexuality is holy, the mind is holy, and the imagination is holy. She also declared that the individual is holy — the woman a goddess, a man a god. Divinity is immanent in all nature; it is as much within the individual as without. There are several standard doctrines of neopaganism in her creed, including pantheism, polytheism, animism, self-deification, and, covertly, free sexual expression.

Some pagan religions speak of origins, but few ask ultimate questions about them. There are gods acting, but how did they get us to this point? What caused it all to be? This has all been discussed already in the anthropic principle, the Big Bang cosmology, and the teleological argument. What creates and what is created are two, not one. The doctrine of creation empties nature of divinity. In polytheism, people prefer to worship a god they make rather than the GOD who made them. But why worship a finite god that is not an Ultimate? Worship should be reserved for the Ultimate.

Conclusion:

Neopagans acknowledge a ‘force’ greater than themselves yet it is ultimately used for self. Even if this ‘force’ is to be used to promote goodness and healing, the end goal would ultimately be the same as secular humanism in that pleasure is to be pursued and there is to be no absolute moral law to restrict people. Neopaganism is saturated in self-centeredness for the purpose of obtaining personal power. It is self-worship. Neopaganism provides no reason for life and death nor purpose for life. Furthermore, neopaganism is pantheistic, polytheistic, relativistic, and pluralistic; pantheism, polytheism, relativism, and pluralism have all been rejected; therefore, it simply follows that neopaganism and all of its subcategories must be rejected as Truth and eliminated as a choice. Neopaganism does not logically coincide with reality.

But what is Truth? Christ Jesus is Truth and is the only way. But does that make me narrow-minded? Yes. But for good reasons. Truth is narrow. See my other article, “Are Christians Narrow-Minded?“