Thesis (Ph. D.)--Catholic University of America. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 153-160) and index.

The purpose of this essay is to study the pluralism of notions of magic and magic ritualization by doing an analysis of three influential books by three Neopagan authors. The works that were used as material for this essay were Witchcraft today by Gerald Gardner, Wicca by Scott Cunningham and Instant Magick: Ancient wisdom, modern spellcraft by Christopher Penczak. The study answers two main questions: Which views on magic does each author express, regarding what magic is and how it should be practiced? How can each author’s views on magic be explained by studying the society the author lived in and the Neopagan traditions he came into contact with? For this study, I have been inspired by Åsa Trulsson and Catherine Bell. I use Bell’s concept of ritualization in order to provide a perspective where the practitioner is put in the center of attention, not the ritual itself. This essay showed that the authors’ views of magic and how it should be practiced can be explained by studying the societies they lived in as well as which Neopagan tradition they belonged to. Gardner has a much more rigid view on what magic is and how it should be exercised, compared to Cunningham and Penczak, which can be explained by the more traditional view on religion and ritual that existed during Gardner’s life, and his wish to legitimize the tradition he presented to the world. Furthermore, this essay shows that Gardner has influenced both Cunningham and Penczak, who have also been influenced by more diverse traditions than Gardner, such as Kabbalah, Reiki et cetera. This more diverse inspiration from other traditions also explains the differences between Gardner and the other two authors.

The history of paganism captivated many scholars in eighteenth-century Europe, and was brought into some of the greatest philosophical and religious debates of the age. 'Paganism' was a term that encapsulated a variety of religious beliefs and practices in the ancient and modern worlds, categorically defined through their shared distinction from the Abrahamic traditions of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Although research has been carried out into the historical study of paganism in eighteenth-century England and in many areas of continental Europe, histories of paganism produced in contemporary Scotland have largely been overlooked. This thesis aims to recover this forgotten dimension of Scottish historical scholarship by examining histories of paganism written by eighteenth-century Scots. It demonstrates that these writings provide valuable insights into Scottish intellectuals' attitudes towards religion and its history in the age of Enlightenment, and illuminate the ideas and scholarly practices that underpinned them. Part One examines the first half of the eighteenth century, exploring the writings of Robert Millar (1672-1752), Andrew Ramsay (1686-1743), Archibald Campbell (1691-1756), and Thomas Blackwell (1701-1757). It is shown that their approach to pagan religious history was founded in humanist scholarship and erudition; their findings were derived from the study of ancient texts, modern works of scholarship, and reports of modern pagans. It is demonstrated that this shared methodology did not translate into uniformity of interpretation. Pagan beliefs were variously regarded as manifestations of idolatry, as reflections of revealed religious truth, or as allegories of ancient philosophical wisdom; for some, paganism was soul-destroying, for others it was a crucial support for popular morality. It is argued, however, that each author provided a conjectural account of the origins of paganism, based on their perception of the earliest ages of human history, and their conception of the fabric of human nature. It is emphasised that, contrary to prevailing historiographical interpretations of the European study of paganism, the Scottish engagement with pagan religious history did not undermine contemporaries' attitudes towards the authority of the Christian Revelation or their perception of the superiority of Christianity. Part Two addresses the second half of the century, the age of the 'High Enlightenment'. It focuses on the natural histories of religion produced by the celebrated historians of the age, David Hume (1711-1776) and William Robertson (1721-1793). These works are generally regarded as the product of a new approach to historiography, which applied the science of human nature and society to the study of the origins and development of religious belief. It is argued here that these works in fact display remarkable continuity with the objectives, concepts, and scholarly practices that informed earlier histories of paganism. In framing their accounts of the natural development of religious belief, Hume and Robertson appealed to the evidence of the pagan past. A new emphasis on the stages of social and cognitive development supplemented, rather than replaced, the use of humanist scholarship, erudition, and conjecture in the study of pagan religious history. Nor did natural histories of religion necessarily threaten the privileged status of revealed Christianity. The thesis thus problematises the sharp division often drawn between the 'early' and 'high' phases of the Scottish Enlightenment, and questions the extent to which Scottish conceptions of religion and its history were radically transformed during the eighteenth century.

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [175]-188).

Thesis (M.A.R.)--Emmanuel School of Religion, Johnson City, Tennessee, 2000. / Vita. Photocopy of computer printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 77-80).

Thesis (M. Div.)--St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, 1980. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 134-140).

Habilitationsschrift--Göttingen. / Bibliography: p. 292-308.

This thesis uses ethnographic field research and literature analysis to examine the sometimes fraught interactions and relationships between the archaeologists and heritage managers who manage and interpret the material remains of Britain’s ancient past and contemporary Pagan groups to whom such remains are sacred. It provides a description of contestation of sites and human corporeal remains followed by a detailed analysis of the reasons presented in the discourse of contestation and the underlying attitudes behind the issues. The Thesis concludes with some thoughts on how heritage managers and archaeologists may better manage their interactions with the Pagan community in the future.