Handbook of Contemporary Paganism

Twenty-four chapters provide a general survey and review of contemporary Paganism, which editors Lewis (religious studies, U. of Wisconsin) and Pizza (a doctoral candidate in cultural anthropology and comparative religions at the U. of Wisconsin) describe as consisting of "Wicca and Witchcraft, Druidry, Heathenry, Asatru, Goddess-worship, Ethnic Reconstructions, and many other traditions." Individual chapters discuss the diverse roots of modern magical practice, the influence of Aleister Crowley on Wiccan ritual, American Paganism's appropriation of "nature religion," the demographic profile of contemporary Paganism, the discursive quality of Pagan identity, an ethnographic study and folkloric analysis of the "Wild Hunt" ritual, creativity and performance in Pagan ritual magic, the culture of fire circles, Pagan theology as a form of devotional humanism that is based more on experience than belief, the ways ancient Greek and Roman Goddesses have been appropriated by contemporary Paganism, the role of the Goddess in contemporary Germanic-Norse heathenry, the growing influence of animism in contemporary Paganism, neo-shamanism, the features and growth of Australian Paganism, issues of legitimacy in the appropriation of ancient Celtic and Druidic traditions, British and North American Heathenry, the generational transmission of Paganism and the emergence and development of the role of Elder, teen witch literature in popular culture, overlap in British Pagan identities and its relationship to the question of Pagan ethics, Pagan engagements with archaeology and perspectives on cultural heritage, and the rise of Asatru and other Norse-flavored Paganisms within American White-Power culture. Annotation c2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

James R. Lewis, Ph.D. (2003) in Religious Studies, University of Wales Lampeter, is Lecturer in Religious Studies at the University of Wisconsin. He has published extensively on New Religions, including (with Daren Kemp) Handbook of New Age (Brill 2007)Murphy Pizza is a Ph.D Candidate in Cultural Anthropology and Comparative Religions at the University of Wisconsin.