Many Wiccans and other Neopagans refer to themselves simply as
Pagans.Unfortunately, the word has many different meanings -- some quite negative. The termNeopaganis less ambiguous. -- Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Neopaganism. It is a term used to describe the modern branches of paganism that have come up in the last few hundred years, particularly those that rely heavily on Wicca but also applying to those recreationist traditions such as the Ásatrú, the Hellenists, and the modern Druids.
Some, however, feel that the term Neopagan
is divisive and that it creates unnecessary rifts, or that it carries a negative connotation. In Lesson 12 of the WitchSchool 2nd Degree Course (CWC201) it says that:
Another very damaging term: Neo-Pagan. Whoever hung the term Neo-Pagan around our necks did us tremendous damage. Not only does Neo-Pagan make a division between traditional Pagans and modern Pagans, cutting us off from our past and our natural allies, but if there were any way to add to the bad feeling that many Judeo-Christians have for the word Pagan putting
Neoin front of it is surely the way. Scholars may think of Neo in terms of Neo-Platonism and Neo-Confucianism, but ordinary people (who are by far the majority) do not. For most people the term Neo is exclusively associated with negative groups: Neo-Nazis, Neo-Fascists, etc... Popular culture does not have a single positive connotation forNeothat I can think of.
In this essay I will attempt to justify the use of the term Neopagan
as opposed to Pagan
for common use in the Neopagan community. First, I will address the use of the prefix Neo
in modern society and how it does not carry a negative connotation. Second, I will discuss how words have meaning and how using the term Neopagan
is good both in how it differentiates us from alternate definitions of Pagan
and in how it creates an informative distinction between modern recreationist religions and the ancient beliefs we occasionally draw from.
Traditionally the term Neo
means something new
as opposed to the old form of the same. For example, even with the case of Neo-Naziism
it is used to differentiate between the punk-ass kids with tattoos and bad hair cuts and the original followers of the political ideology of the Third Reich. It doesn't change the connotation, it simply helps reduce the ambiguity of which group of Nazis we are talking about. Similarly, the term Neo-Liberalism
is used to differentiate between the original philosophy of Adam Smith and its modern implementation.
The prefix itself has no connotation beyond that it differentiates between the new
and the old.
The Neo-Nazis
or Neo-Fascists
are not considered to be worse than the original Nazis or Fascists, just a different implementation of the philosophies.
Even in popular culture there are positive and/or neutral examples such as Neopets. Neo
was the name of the main character in The Matrix and Pacfic Neo-Tek makes hardware and software for 3COM's Palm Pilot. It is also being applied to Neoconservatism, for a set of beliefs riding in as a new form of conservatism (new
being a relative term, of course). Neo-Modus® is the "home of Direct Connect," a community oriented P2P network. Scholars are obviously not the only ones who take Neo
to be a neutral prefix.
I can, of course, call my self whatever I wish. I can tell people I am a Supercalafragilistasist. But that imparts no information, as it's a meaningless word. If asked about eye color, for example, I cannot logically claim to be "sloe eyed blue" as sloe eyed is black, which contradicts the "blue". I might have eyes so dark blue as to be nearly black, but if I used the earlier phrase, it would be semanticlly null, and would cause confusion rather than communication. -- Rev. MoonStorm, of the Correllian-Nativist Tradition
Words and names have meaning. They are the means by which we inform others what we believe and who we are, they also allow us to informatively differentiate between different groups. When someone says that they are a Neo-Alexandrian Wiccan
that brings to mind a specific set of beliefs and practices. Words like these define us and help us inform others as to who and what we are.
The word Pagan,
which has a long list of meanings that have nothing to do with us or that only represent us peripherally. Even taking what we as a community traditionally mean by Pagan
(and avoiding such definitions as Non-Christian
), we find that the list of religions that are included contains, among others:
Similarly, the word Neopagan
carries with it a set of connotations and meanings that happen to fit perfectly. New
Paganism. No matter what they do, the Helenists will never be practicing more than a reconstruction of the original Greek religion. It should be emphasized that there is nothing wrong with this, only that we need to recognize the distinction between a practitioner of the original Greek faith and someone who is attempting to follow in their footsteps. Examples of Neopagan religions/groups are:
The question that we, as Neopagans, need to be asking is not why can't we be associated with the
but rather original Pagan religions,
are we providing information about or obfuscating who and what we are when we describe ourselves to others.
As the Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance put it:
We recognize that many Wiccans, Neopagans, and others regularly use the terms
PaganandPaganismto describe themselves. Everyone should be free to continue whatever definitions that they wish. However, the possibility of major confusion exists -- particularly if one is talking to a general audience. When addressing non-Wiccans or non-Neopagans, it is important that the term:
- Be carefully defined in advance, or that
- Its meaning is clearly understandable from the text's context.
Otherwise, the speaker or writer will be referring to one group of people, while the listeners or readers will assume that other groups are being referred to.
Using the term Neopagan
doesn't create an unnecessary division between groups, rather it creates an informative distinction such that when we refer to ourselves as Neopagans
others know exactly what we are talking about. We can use that as a term to describe ourselves without being confused with the practitioners of the original religions or with groups such as Atheists (who are, technically, Pagan). We can use the word Neopagan
to help others understand who and what we are and to explain our practices to others. As the Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance put it: [The word Neopagan] can be used without confusion among those who know its meaning.
Simply, the arguments against using the term Neopagan
are flawed. There is a need for the word even confining the definition of Pagan
to ancient Pagan religions; the term has caught on in the popular culture, among scholars, and among followers of the various Neopagan faiths; and we do not create barriers where none exist with the word so much as give those differences and distinctions a name.
The problem is not where someone defines their terms precisely, or only uses such terms in the presence of people where it is already understood what the word means--there its meaning is known by both sides. What must be emphasized is that Neopagan
is a better word for us: It lacks the connotations and prejudice, it is well understood both within the community and out, and it has been adopted by scholars who research our society.
We are Neopagans and there is nothing wrong with that.
Added: 30 July 2004.
Updated: 26 March 2005
Copyright © 2004, 2005 David Hartwell Clements, All Rights Reserved.