Paganism is described as ancient earth based religious beliefs, practiced throughout the world. The word derives from a term meant to refer to people of the country sides. Eventually it came to mean anyone not Christian.
Neo-Paganism is a wide spread umbrella term describing many earth based spiritual paths practiced today. Some of these are revivals of ancient beliefs, others are modern interpretations of the same. Most but not all of the Neo-Pagans would tell you they are polytheistic, and some, but not all practice some form of magic. There are those who will tell you this is a return to a feminine based belief system, however some of us who currently are practitioners would find that blatantly untrue, claiming we are trying for balance between male & female, not the supremacy of one over the other.
It is not known where neo-paganism was founded but it was practiced as far back as in Sumer, the Akkadian, Babylonian and Assyrian empires era. Which is around 3500 B.C. but may have been practiced before then.
Neo-paganism is a catch-all name for several religious sects. Although they hold wildly different beliefs, most worship ancient (pre-Christian) gods (hence the name) and/or are pantheistic. Neo-pagans tend to be very earth-oriented people, who love and respect nature.
Eco-Paganism is a neo-pagan movement that focuses its worship on the Earth Goddess and that tries to be politically active especially in areas of conservation, animal rights, natural medicine, etc.
It is not known where neo-paganism was founded but it was practiced as far back as in Sumer, the Akkadian, Babylonian and Assyrian empires era. Which is around 3500 B.C. but may have been practiced before then.
Your question is impossible to answer due to many factors such as what you are classifying as neo paganism. Up until 1951 when the last law against Witchcraft was repealed in England there were no people that spoke up about pagan relgions as being true religions that are still practiced today. Dr. Gerald Gardner of England shortly after 1951 developed and introduced "Wicca" and more specifically Gardnerian Witchcraft to the world. Everyone else seemed to run with his ideas and develop new branches of paganism which would later be lumped together under the umbrella term of neo paganism.
Anodea Judith has written: 'Guia Practica De Los Chakras' 'Wheels of life' -- subject(s): Miscellanea, Chakras 'The truth about neo-paganism' -- subject(s): New Age movement, Paganism 'Nueva Guia de Los Chakras - Ruedas de Energia Vita' 'Truth About Neo-Paganism (Truth About Series)' 'The Chakra System' 'Los chakras' 'Truth About Chakras'
Historically speaking, Neo-paganism as a movement really stems back to the middle part of the industrial revolution. As people were getting sick of the polluted and over crowded cities and as they were feeling more and more like "cogs in the machine" there were huge back-to-nature movements, where you can find the early roots of neo-paganism. The idea of the "nobel savage" in the late 1800's was especially prominent and many people started to mimic the practices of native tribes. This is also about the time that archaeology was really starting to take off, so there was a surge in the popularity of egyptian, greek and roman culture which led to further embellishment of the neo-pagan trend. However, you are right in pointing out that neo-paganism really bloomed with the rise of the new age movement, mostly as a result of the increased production of books and various mystical paraphenalia becoming economically viable.
Neo paganism in the sense of "Wicca" specifically owes its new lease on life mostly thanks to Dr. Gerald Gardner who was the first witch to speak up about witchcraft being a true religion that is still practiced today. This occured shortly after the last law against witchcraft was repealed in 1951. It has been a growing movement ever since.
Yes. In fact many bases are now designating areas specifically for the practice of Wicca and Neo-Paganism.
There are many neo-pagan religions that are popular in England. The three that are the most popular would most likely be Wicca, Neo-Druidism, and Theodism.
Pagans lived in the medieval times and most of them converted to Christianity. Their religion is still practiced by some people. Druidism, Shamanism and Asatru comes under Pagan religions. There are some other new religions stemmed from Pagan religions and those are called Neo-Paganism. Wicca, Witchcraft includes in Neo-Pagan religions.
Yes, in fact, the Unitarians are one of the most gay-friendly faiths in the world, (rivaled only by neo-paganism and reform Judaism).