In this thesis, I explore the works of Kenneth Grahame in light of what some critics have deemed “literary paganism”. I argue that Grahame employs certain “pagan” tropes in order to launch a critique of modern culture. Grahame upholds a classical vision of leisure that rejects the ideology inherent to urbanization. His critique of modernity relies on a literary persona indicative of an alternative attitude to that of the middle class fin de siècle urban culture. His short stories add to this critique in their presentation of childhood as a pre-converted pagan existence which en-kindles a sense of disappointment with routinized adult life in the modern city. The Wind in the Willows embodies Grahame's vision of true leisure which is depicted in both the River Bank animals and their wetland ecosystem itself. By paying close attention to the pagan themes in Grahame’s writing, we gain a comprehensive view of his often misunderstood body of work.

Raven's Song is an original musical dramatizing the conflict between paganism and Christianity. The play revolves around a woman who has become disillusioned by her people and her gods. The only gods she has ever known were blood-thirsty, appeased only by the blood and entrails of human sacrifice. Therefore, Raven resists all religion. Through providential circumstances, she is married into a Christian family and is overwhelmed by their love, and the kindness of their God. In search for truth, Raven begins to question her disbelief. All men search for truth in their own way, and all, at one time, will question the existence and nature of God. The play does not presume to answer these questions, but allows each participant to decide for himself, as Raven must decide for herself.

The raising of the runestones occurred during a complex period related to Christianity´s establishment in Scandinavia. The breaking point between the old Nordic and Christian religion has often been treated as clear-cut. Defining a period or material culture into one or the other religion is too simple and becomes problematic when a previously established (worldview) religion has been alive and permeated throughout society. This paper aims to illustrate the complexity of this period by studying runestones in Södermanland with pagan symbols. The runestones will be examined together with their context.

The purpose of this essay is to concisely present an overview of the Pagan ritual practice before the Christianization of Ireland and the United Kingdom, which enables tracking down the connection and relationship between them and three American and British, Wiccan Youtube-creators nicknamed Witchtubers. Witchtuber’s description of Samhain and objects visible in chosen videos are analyzed from Christopher Partridge’s theory of Occulture along with the parameters of acceptance, harmonization and the centralization of Goddess-worship concluded by previous studies. Also causes of the development of Neo-Paganism and Wiccain the U.K. and USA have been a part of this research in being able to further draw connections between today’s practice amongst Witchtubers and previous research. In able to do this, Content analysis has been applied to the transcriptions made by the author of this essay in order to analyze the parameters of reference-features, proportional and thematic content. In conclusion, the analysis of Witchtuber’s videos along with previous research by scholars confirm the theory of Occulture along with the question of acceptance and harmonization though leaving the question of Goddess-centering as more of a possibility of representing the mere majority of practitioners. Fragmented pieces of information about the Pagan past is left and scholars claim Irish and British Paganism to have been extinct since the overthrow by Christians. It has left the practitioners of Wicca with their own interpretation and manipulation of Paganism. Witchtuber’s statements and showcasing of objects match scholar’s descriptions of historical context to the development of the Wiccan movement apart from a few exceptions. Those which cannot be directly connected rather indicate the continuous development of the movement as of being a personal religion.

The purpose of this work is to show how the Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa developed a pedagogical strategy based on his main heteronymous trilogy, which is made up of Ricardo Reis, Álvaro de Campos and Alberto Caeiro, in order to defend and establish the foundations for a Portuguese pagan School of thinking. The pedagogical approach used by Pessoa will be shown to be evolutionary, which starts with Reis, goes through Campos and ends up with Caeiro, who is considered the master of this School. The evolutionary aspect of this pedagogical strategy will be demonstrated to be related to the level of acceptance of Christianism and dualism for all three heteronyms. In addition, each heteronym will be identified as a different type of pedagogue and scrutinized in order to identify his main characteristics and role in Pessoa's main objective. A structural model will be proposed to explain the main differences among these three heteronyms regarding the main subject of this work, where a contrast between dualism and monism will be drawn to explain each heteronym's form of paganism, and the main characteristics of their poetry will be found to be related to this model. As a conclusion, we suggest a change in the traditional order in which the poetry of these three heteronyms is studied and presented in anthologies from the order most commonly used (Caeiro – Reis – Campos) to the evolutionary sequence demonstrated here (Reis – Campos – Caeiro), which takes in account the pedagogical purpose of Pessoa's poetry, in order to establish a sequence of study and reading that might achieve in a more efficient way a full appreciation of the work of this genius of poetry.

Heathenism is a branch of Paganism based on Germanic mythology, whose diverse spiritual beliefs are united by a common sacrificial ritual called blot. The Swedish Heathen organization The Swedish Forn Sed Assembly [Samfundet Forn Sed Sverige] is a self-described nature religion, who see nature as sacred and whose public blot ceremonies are held outside in order to commune with the gods. In this thesis I explore the relationship between ritual, space, and place by asking where blot are held, and why they are held where they are. Based on ethnographic fieldwork and written sources, I argue that practitioners transform sacred space into place by imbuing it with meaning through ritual. Blot locations are points of connection between the practitioners and the gods and spirits that dwell in nature. Furthermore, nature can be understood as sacred because it is less affected by historical processes characteristic of modernity, such as urbanization and industrialization. In this sense, the Heathen understanding of sacred space predicates upon the same modernity that it defines itself in opposition of: by seeking to reconnect with nature in a supposedly disenchanted world, Heathenism subverts the narrative of disenchantment.

Earth Matters examines the relationships between alternative religion in North America and the natural world through the twin lenses of the history of religions and cultural anthropology. Throughout, nature remains a contested ground, defined simultaneously the limits of cultural activity and by an increasing expansion of claims to knowledge by scientific discourses. Less a historical review than a series of fugues of thought, Earth Matters engages with figures like the French vitalist, Georges Canguilhem, the American environmentalist, John Muir; the founder of Deep Ecology, Arne Næss; the collaborators on Gaia Theory, James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis; the physicist and New Age scientist, Fritjof Capra; and the Wiccan writer and activist, Starhawk. These subjects move in spirals throughout the thesis: Canguilhem opens the question of vitalism, the search for a source of being beyond the explanations of the emerging sciences. As rationalism expands its dominance across the scientific landscape, this animating force moves into the natural world, to that protean space between the city and the wild and in the environmental thinkers who initially moved along those boundaries. As the twentieth century moves towards a close, mechanistic thinking simultaneously reaches heights of success previously unimagined and collapses under the demand for complexity posed by quantum physics, by research in genetic interactions, by the continued elusive relationship of mind to health. This allows the wild to return inside through the internalization of consciousness sparked by the American New Age, but also provides a new model to understand the natural world as complex zone open to a wide variety of strategies, including the multiplicities of understanding offered through contemporary neopaganisms. Earth Matters argues for the necessity of the notion of ecology, both as an environmental concern but also as an organizing principle for human thought and behavior. Ecologies are by their nature complex and multi-variegated things dependent upon the surprising and unpredictable interaction of radically different organisms, and it is through this model that we are best able to understand not only ourselves but also our communities and our efforts to make sense of the external world.

The broad aim of this thesis is twofold: firstly, I contextualise the Maausk movement and its practitioners’ understandings in relation to history and the surrounding society; secondly, I analyse the affective and embodied experiences of being a Maausk practitioner from a phenomenological perspective. The thesis focuses on the formation and practice of Maausk, which is perceived to be deeply tied to the society and history where it exists. Relatedly, this study examines how Maausk identity formation and practices have been influenced by the Soviet legacy, romantic nationalism and Estonia’s current economic and political situation. In order to analyse the Maausk experiences and narratives, this study draws from various phenomenologically oriented theories of affect, embodiment and emotion, as well as cultural theories of place, identity, tradition and authenticity. I have used economic anthropology and globalisation theories as well as historical studies of Estonia’s Soviet past to contextualise the Maausk movement. Further, to place Maausk in the European religious landscape, this study refers to native faith and Neo-pagan studies. Through sensory ethnography, this study draws on the affective and emotional aspects of the research material to analyse how the complexity of emotional experiences of being a Maausk practitioner produces Maausk meanings and values. The study also examines the role and function of the body and emotions during the process of embodying the Maausk practices, both techniques and meanings of the practices.

Witches and pagans have long faced historical persecution from the Catholic church and other patriarchal systems of power. In the eyes of mainstream society, they have been reduced to fragments of ancient history and entertaining media stereotypes. Real practitioners of witchcraft and paganism have remained fairly marginalized and trapped in the shadows, but this is starting to change. Witches and pagans have begun to involve themselves in large-scale political movements, combining spiritual power with direct action. While this phenomenon has a longer track record in the United States, in France it is extremely new. France is a country that has an even deeper history of pagan origins and Inquisition witch trials, wih a currently conflicted religious dynamic of being both secular and Catholic. Therefore, the reclamation and practice of witchcraft within an activist setting has even more revolutionary significance. Because the basic tenets of most witch and pagan spiritualities emphasizes fighting oppression, witchcraft has attracted marginalized groups, especially the LGBT community. The occult offers valuable new ways of examining activism and social justice using spirituality and magic.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Catholic University of America, 1949.