Paganism
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226053526
2008-07-16T16:53:34Z
Totnesmartin
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[[WP:UNDO|Undid]] revision 226012805 by [[Special:Contributions/91.18.121.158|91.18.121.158]] ([[User talk:91.18.121.158|talk]]) - Greek would be Khorikos or Agrotes (very roughly!)
{{dablink|"Pagan" and "Heathen" redirect here. For other usages, see [[Pagan (disambiguation)]] and [[Heathen (disambiguation)]]}}
[[Image:Mayan priests dancing around fire.jpg|right|thumb|275px|Mayan priests dancing around fire at a ceremony]]
'''Paganism''' (from [[Latin]] ''paganus'', meaning "country dweller, rustic", also called '''paynim''') is a word used to refer to various religions and religious beliefs from across the world. It is a term which, from a Western perspective, has modern connotations of [[spiritualism|spiritualist]], [[animism|animistic]] or [[shamanism|shamanic]] practices or beliefs of any [[folk religion]], and of historical and contemporary [[Polytheism|polytheistic]] religions in particular.
The term can be defined broadly, to encompass the faith traditions outside the [[Abrahamic religion|Abrahamic]] [[monotheism|monotheistic]] group of [[Judaism]], [[Christianity]], and [[Islam]]. The group so defined includes many of the [[Eastern religions]], [[Native American mythology|Native American religions and mythologies]], as well as non-Abrahamic [[ethnic religion]]s in general. More narrow definitions will not include any of the [[world religions]] and restrict the term to local or rural currents not organized as [[civil religions]]. Characteristic of pagan traditions is the absence of [[proselytism]] and the presence of a living [[mythology]] which [[Myth and ritual|explains religious practice]].<ref>"And it Harms No-one", A Pagan Manifesto, [[Janet Farrar]] & [[Gavin Bone]], 1998.[http://www.wicca.utvinternet.com/manifest.htm]</ref>
The term "pagan" is a Christian adaptation of the "[[gentile]]" of Judaism, and as such has an inherent Abrahamic bias, and [[pejorative]] connotations among Westerners,<ref>"Pagan", Encyclopedia Britannica 11th Edition, 1911, retrieved 22 May 2007.[http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/ORC_PAI/PAGAN_Lat_paganus_of_or_belongi.html]</ref> comparable to heathen, and [[infidel]], [[mushrik]] and [[kafir]] (كافر) in Islam. For this reason, [[ethnologists]] avoid the term "paganism," with its uncertain and varied meanings, in referring to traditional or historic faiths, preferring more precise categories such as [[polytheism]], [[shamanism]], [[pantheism]], or [[animism]]; however others criticise the use of these terms, claiming that these are only aspects that different faiths may share and do not denote the religions themselves.
Since the later 20th century, "Pagan" or "Paganism" has become widely used as a self-designation by adherents of [[Neopaganism]].<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/classic/A1032166 "A Basic Introduction to Paganism"], BBC, retrieved 19 May 2007.</ref> As such, various modern scholars have begun to apply the term to three separate groups of faiths; [[Polytheism#Historical_polytheism|Historical Polytheism]] (such as [[Celtic polytheism]] and [[Norse paganism]]), [[folk religion|Folk]]/[[Ethnic religion|ethnic]]/Indigenous religions (such as [[Chinese folk religion]] and [[African traditional religion]]), and [[Neo-paganism]] (such as [[Wicca]] and [[Germanic Neopaganism]]).
==Etymology==
===Pagan===
The term ''pagan'' is from Greek ''paganus'', an adjective originally meaning "[[rural]]", "rustic" or "of the country." As a noun, ''paganus'' was used to mean "country dweller, villager."
The semantic development of post-classical Latin ''paganus'' in the sense "non-Christian, heathen" is unclear. The dating of this sense is controversial, but the 4th century seems most plausible. An earlier example has been suggested in [[Tertullian]] <u>De Corona Militis xi</u>, ''"Apud hunc [sc. Christum] tam miles est paganus fidelis quam paganus est miles infidelis,"'' but here the word ''paganus'' may be interpreted in the sense "[[civilian]]" rather than "heathen". There are three main explanations of the development:
*(i) The older sense of classical Latin ''pāgānus'' is "of the country, rustic" (also as noun). It has been argued that the transferred use reflects the fact that the ancient [[idolatry]] lingered on in the rural villages and hamlets after [[Christianity]] had been generally accepted in the towns and cities of the [[Roman Empire]]; cf. Orosius <u>Histories 1. Prol.</u> ''"Ex locorum agrestium compitis et pagis pagani vocantur."'' From its earliest beginnings, [[Christianity]] spread much more quickly in major urban areas (like [[Antioch]], [[Alexandria]], [[Corinth]], [[Rome]]) than in the countryside (in fact, the early church was almost entirely urban), and soon the word for "country dweller" became synonymous with someone who was "not a [[Christian]]," giving rise to the modern meaning of "Pagan." This may, in part, have had to do with the closeness to nature of rural people, who may have been more resistant to the new ideas of Christianity than those who lived in major urban centers and were cut off from the cycles of nature and the forms of spirituality associated with them. However, it may have also resulted from early Christian missionaries focusing their efforts within major population centers (e.g., [[Paul of Tarsus|St. Paul]]), rather than throughout an expansive, yet sparsely populated, countryside (hence, the Latin term suggesting "uneducated country folk") until a bit later on.
*(ii) The more common meaning of classical Latin ''pāgānus'' is "civilian, non-militant" (adjective and noun). Christians called themselves ''mīlitēs'', "enrolled soldiers" of [[Christ]], members of his [[Church militant and church triumphant|militant church]], and applied to non-Christians the term applied by [[soldier]]s to all who were "not enrolled in the army".
*(iii) The sense "heathen" arose from an interpretation of ''paganus'' as denoting a person who was outside a particular group or [[community]], hence "not of the city" or "rural"; cf. Orosius <u>Histories 1. Prol.</u> ''"ui alieni a civitate dei..pagani vocantur."'' See C. Mohrmann, <u>Vigiliae Christianae</u> 6 (1952) 9ff.
-- [http://dictionary.oed.com Oxford English Dictionary, (online) 2nd Edition (1989)]
"[[Peasant]]" is a [[cognate]], via [[Old French]] ''paisent''. ([http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3atext%3a1999%2e04%2e0062&query=id%3dpagus#id,pagus Harry Thurston Peck, ''Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquity'', 1897; "pagus"]).
In their distant origins, these usages derived from ''pagus'', "province, countryside", cognate to Greek πάγος "rocky hill", and, even earlier, "something stuck in the ground", as a landmark: the [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] root ''*pag-'' means "fixed" and is also the source of the words ''page'', ''[[The Pale|pale]]'' (stake), and ''pole'', as well as ''pact'' and ''peace''.
While ''pagan'' is attested in English from the 14th century, there is no evidence that the term ''paganism'' was in use in English before the 17th century. The [[Oxford English Dictionary|''OED'']] instances [[Edward Gibbon]]'s [[The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire|''Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'']] (1776): "The divisions of Christianity suspended the ruin of paganism." The term was not a [[neologism]], however, as ''paganismus'' was already used by [[Augustine of Hippo|Augustine]].<ref>Divers. Quaest. 83. Augustine makes clear that, in his time, ''paganus'' was the term in [[Vulgar Latin]] synonymous to educated ''gentilis'' "[[gentile]]".</ref>
Less than twenty years after the last vestiges of paganism were crushed with great severity by the emperor Theodosius I<ref>"Theodosius I", The Catholic Encyclopedia, 1912.[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14577d.htm]</ref> Rome was seized by [[Alaric]] in 410. This led to murmuring that the gods of paganism had taken greater care of the city than that of the Christian God, inspiring [[Augustine of Hippo|St Augustine]] to write ''[[The City of God]]'', alternative title "''De Civitate Dei contra Paganos'': The City of God against the Pagans", in which he claimed that whilst the great 'city of Man' had fallen, Christians were ultimately citizens of the 'city of God.'<ref>"The City of God", Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite DVD, 2003.</ref>
===Heathen===
''Heathen'' is from [[Old English language|Old English]] ''hæðen'' "not Christian or Jewish", (c.f. [[Old Norse]] ''heiðinn''). Historically, the term was probably influenced by [[Gothic language|Gothic]] ''haiþi'' "dwelling on the [[heath]]", appearing as ''haiþno'' in [[Ulfilas]]' bible as "gentile woman," (translating the [[names of the Greeks#Hellene comes to mean "pagan"|"Hellene"]] in Mark 7:26). This translation probably influenced by Latin ''paganus'', "country dweller", or it was chosen because of its similarity to the Greek [[ethnic|''ethne'']], "[[gentile]]". It has even been suggested that Gothic ''haiþi'' is not related to "heath" at all, but rather a loan from [[Armenian language|Armenian]] ''hethanos'', itself loaned from Greek ''ethnos''.
==Terminology==
===Common word usage===
[[Image:Perchten4.jpg|thumb|220px|[[Perchten]] procession in [[Klagenfurt]], Austria.]]
Both "pagan" and "heathen" have historically been used as a [[pejorative]] by adherents of [[monotheism|monotheistic]] religions (such as [[Judaism]], [[Christianity]] and [[Islam]]) to indicate a disbeliever in their religion. Although, in modern times it is not always used as a pejorative. "Paganism" frequently refers to the religions of [[classical antiquity]], most notably [[Greek mythology]] or [[Religion in ancient Rome|Roman religion]], and can be used neutrally or admiringly by those who refer to those complexes of belief. However, until the rise of [[Romanticism]] and the general acceptance of [[freedom of religion]] in [[Western civilization]], "Paganism" was almost always used disparagingly of [[heterodox]] beliefs falling outside the established political framework of the Christian Church.
"Pagan" came to be equated with a Christianized sense of "[[epicurian]]" to signify a person who is sensual, materialistic, self-indulgent, unconcerned with the future and uninterested in sophisticated religion. The word was usually used in this worldly and stereotypical sense, particularly among those who were drawing attention to what they perceived as being the limitations of paganism, for example, as when [[G. K. Chesterton]] wrote: "The pagan set out, with admirable sense, to enjoy himself. By the end of his civilization he had discovered that a man cannot enjoy himself and continue to enjoy anything else." In sharp contrast [[Swinburne]] the poet would comment on this same theme: "Thou hast conquered, O pale Galilean; the world has grown grey from thy breath;
We have drunken of things Lethean, and fed on the fullness of death."<ref>'Hymn to Proserpine'</ref>
Christianity itself has been perceived at times as a form of paganism by followers of the other Abrahamic religions<ref>[http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=489&letter=C&search=polytheism%20christianity Jewish Encyclopedia]</ref><ref>[[Shirk (polytheism)|Shirk]]</ref>because of, for example, the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, the celebration of pagan feast days,<ref>[[Christianised calendar]]</ref> and other practices<ref>[[Christianised rituals]]</ref> – through a process described as "baptising"<ref>[http://asharqalawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=2&id=6465 The Pope, The Emperor and the Persian Leader] </ref>or "[[christianization]]". Even between Christians there have been similar charges of paganism levelled, especially by Protestants,<ref>'[[Philip Melanchthon]] 'Apologia Confessionis Augustanae'</ref><ref>[[Jean Seznec]] 'The Survival of the Pagan Gods'</ref> towards the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches for their [[veneration]] of the saints and images.
===Heathenry===
"Heathen" (Old English ''hæðen'') is a translation of ''Paganus''. The [[Germanic tribes]] were distributed over Eastern and Central Europe by the 5th century, and their [[Germanic languages|dialects]] ceased to be mutually intelligible from around that time, [[Germanic Christianity|Christianization]] of the Germanic peoples took place from the 4th ([[Goths]]) to the 6th ([[Anglo-Saxons]], [[Franks]]) or 8th ([[Alamanni]], [[Saxons]]) centuries on the continent, and from the 9th to 12th centuries in Iceland and Scandinavia.
===Pagan classifications===
Pagan subdivisions coined by [[Isaac Bonewits]]<ref name="Defs"> [http://www.neopagan.net/PaganDefs.html "Defining Paganism: Paleo-, Meso-, and Neo-"]
(Version 2.5.1) 1979, 2007 c.e., Isaac Bonewits</ref>
*Paleopaganism: A [[retronym]] coined to contrast with "[[Neopaganism]]", denoting a Pagan culture that has not been disrupted by other cultures. The term applies to [[Hinduism]], [[Parsism]], [[Shinto]], pre-Migration period [[Germanic paganism]] as described by [[Tacitus]], [[Celtic polytheism]] as described by [[Julius Caesar]], and the [[Ancient Greek religion|Greek]] and [[Religion in ancient Rome|Roman religion]].
*Mesopaganism: A group, which is, or has been, significantly influenced by monotheistic, dualistic, or nontheistic worldviews, but has been able to maintain an independence of religious practices. This group includes aboriginal Americans as well as Australian aboriginals, [[Viking Age]] [[Norse paganism]]. Influences include: [[Freemasonry]], [[Rosicrucianism]], [[Theosophy]], [[Spiritualism (religious movement)|Spiritualism]], and the many Afro-Diasporic faiths like [[Vodou|Haitian Vodou]], and [[Santería]]. Bonewits includes [[British Traditional Wicca]] in this subdivision.
*[[Neopaganism]]: A movement by modern people to revive nature-worshipping, pre-Christian religions, or other nature-based spiritual paths. This definition may include anything on a sliding scale from [[Polytheistic reconstructionism|Reconstructionist]] at one end to non-reconstructionist groups such as [[Neo-druidism]] and [[Wicca]] at the other.
==Groups considered Pagan==
===Historical polytheism===
{{see|Prehistoric religion|Polytheism}}
;Bronze Age to Classical Antiquity (as opposed to [[Zoroastrianism]], Judaism and Indian religions)
*[[Religions of the Ancient Near East]]
**[[Ancient Egyptian religion]]
**[[Ancient Semitic religion]]
*reconstructed [[Proto-Indo-European religion]]
*Graeco-Roman
**[[Ancient Greek religion]]
**[[Ancient Roman religion]]
**[[Hellenistic religion]]
** [[Roman imperial cult]]
** [[Mystery religion]]
*[[Celtic polytheism]]
;Late Antiquity to High Middle Ages (as opposed to Abrahamic and Indian religions)
*[[Germanic paganism]]
*[[Slavic paganism]]
*[[Baltic paganism]]
*[[Finnish paganism]]
*[[Estonian mythology|Estonian paganism]]
*[[Inca mythology|Incan paganism]]
*[[Aztec religion|Aztec paganism]]
===Contemporary ethnic religion===
[[Image:Kyzyl Shaman.jpg|thumb|220px|Shaman doctor of [[Kyzyl]]]]
[[Image:Rhumsiki crab sorceror.jpg|thumb|right|220px|A [[Kapsiki]] crab sorcerer of [[Rhumsiki]]]]
{{see|ethnic religion}}
There are many surviving traditions of [[ethnic religion]]. Organized ethnic religions that achieved the status of a [[civil religion]] are [[Shinto]], tied to [[Japanese people|Japanese]] identity, and [[Judaism]], tied to [[Jews|Jewish]] identity. In [[Hindu nationalist|nationalist]] definitions, [[Hinduism]] may be tied to [[Bharatavarsha|Indian]] identity.
Uninstitutionalized [[folk religion]] is found mainly in rural and sparsely populated areas. These include [[Animism]], [[ancestor worship]] and [[Shamanism]] of [[Asia]], [[Africa]], the [[Americas]], as well as [[New Guinea]] and other [[Pacific islands]]. [[Chinese folk religion]] is an umbrella term for uninstitutionalized folk traditions under a secular regime.
All [[world religion]]s, however, also include folk religious aspects, as opposed to their theological or philosophical aspects, see [[folk Christianity]], or local institutions of revealed religions may become strongly tied to ethnic identity, e.g. [[Yazdânism]] (Kurdish faiths descending from [[Zoroastrianism]]), [[Tibetan Buddhism]], or various Christian [[national church]]es such as the [[Armenian Apostolic Church]], the various [[Syriac Christianity|Syriac]] churches, and the various branches of the Orthodox Church, e.g., [[Greek Orthodox]], [[Russian Orthodox]] and other non-Roman churches.
====Africa====
{{main|African traditional religion}}
{{see|Yoruba religion|Bwiti}}
During the expansion of the [[Sokoto Caliphate]] in West Africa, Islamic [[Fula people|Fulbe]] (Fula) labelled their non-Muslim neighbours, such as this Kapsiki [[diviner]], ''[[Kirdi]]'', or "pagans".
====Australian and Oceanic====
{{see|Polynesian mythology|Micronesian mythology|Melanesian mythology|Australian Aboriginal mythology}}
====Eurasia====
{{main|Eurasian Indigenous Religions}}
{{see|Chinese folk religion|Shamanism in Siberia|Korean shamanism|Bön}}
Eurasian ethnic religions became largely extinct in the course of the [[Middle Ages]], first with [[Christianization]] in the West and the [[spread of Buddhism]] in the East, and then with the [[Islamic conquests]] of Persia, Central and South Asia. A notable survival of pre-Islamic traditions are the people of [[Kafirstan]], now shrunk to the [[Kalash]]a people, inhabiting three valleys in the [[North-West Frontier Province]] of [[Pakistan]].
The 2002 census of the [[Russian Federation]] reports 123,423 people (0.23% of the population) as belonging to ethnic groups predominantly adhering to "traditional beliefs", mostly in [[Siberia]] and the [[Russian Far East]].
In Japan, there is the [[Ryukyuan religion]].
====Central America====
{{main|Maya religion}}
{{see|Mayan astrology}}
In spite of five centuries of persecution [[Mayan]] paganism is alive and well in Guatemala, and is experiencing a resurgence of interest among young Mayans. Recent peace accords signed by the Guatemalan government have provided funds to teach Mayan language and traditional religion in rural schools.
===Pagan revivals and new religious movements===
[[Image:YSEE ritual.jpg|thumb|250px|left|A ceremony at the annual ''[[Prometheia]]'' festival of the Greek polytheistic group [[Supreme Council of Ethnikoi Hellenes]], June 2006.]]
====Neopaganism====
{{main|Neopaganism}}
Neopaganism includes [[Polytheistic reconstructionism|reconstructed religions]] such as [[Hellenic polytheism|Hellenic]], [[Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism|Celtic]] or [[Germanic neopaganism|Germanic]] reconstructionism as well as modern eclectic traditions such as [[Discordianism]], or [[Wicca]] and its many offshoots.
Many of the "revivals", [[Wicca]] and [[Neo-druidism]] in particular, have their roots in 19th century [[Romanticism]] and retain noticeable elements of [[occultism]] or [[theosophy]] that were current then, setting them apart from historical rural (''paganus'') folk religion. The ''[[Íslenska Ásatrúarfélagið]]'' is a notable exception in that it was derived more or less directly from remnants in rural folklore.
[[Neopaganism in the United States]] accounts for roughly a third of all neopagans worldwide, and for some 0.2% of US population, figuring as the sixth largest non-Christian denomination in the US, after [[Judaism]] (1.4%), [[Islam]] (0.6%), [[Buddhism]] (0.5%), [[Hinduism]] (0.3%) and [[Unitarian Universalism]] (0.3%).<ref>[[Religion in the United States#The American Religious Identification Survey|ARIS]] 2001 figures.</ref>
====Modern nature religion====
Many current pagans in industrial societies base their beliefs and practices on a connection to Nature, and a divinity within all living things, but this may not hold true for all forms of Paganism, past or present. Some believe that there are many deities, a [[Pantheon (gods)|pantheon]] of deities, which is known as [[polytheism]]. By contrast, [[pantheism]] is the belief that the combined subconscious spirit of all living things form the Universal Deity. [[Panentheism]] takes this one step further, incorporating the idea that the Universal Deity is both in everything (in the universe) but also extends beyond the known physical universe. Ancient Greek paganism, which tended in many cases to be a deification of the local deity, as [[Athena]] in [[Athens]], saw each local emanation as an aspect of an Olympian deity during the Classical period and then after [[Alexander the Great|Alexander]] to syncretize the deity with the political process, with "state divinities" increasingly assigned to various localities, as [[Roma (mythology)|Roma]] personified Rome. Many ancient regimes would claim to be the representative on [[earth]] of these [[deity|gods]], and would depend on more or less elaborate bureaucracies of state-supported priests and scribes to lend public support to their claims.
In one well-established sense, paganism is the belief in any non-[[Monotheism|monotheistic]] religion, which would mean that the Pythagoreans of ancient [[Greece]] would not be considered Pagan in that sense, since they were monotheist, but not in the Abrahamic tradition. In an extreme sense, and like the pejorative sense below, any belief, ritual or pastime not sanctioned by a religion accepted as [[orthodox]] by those doing the describing, such as [[Burning Man]], [[Halloween]], or even [[Christmas]], can be described as "pagan" by the person or people who object to them and the individuals who choose to claim this title.
==Demographics==
Paganism has been previously defined broadly, to encompass many or most of the faith traditions outside the [[Abrahamic]] monotheistic group of [[Judaism]], [[Christianity]], and [[Islam]]. If the [[Indian religions]] are included, nearly 30% of the world population can be termed as ''Pagans''.<ref>[http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html Major Religions of the World Ranked by Number of Adherent] on Adherents.com </ref>
The term has also been used more narrowly,<ref>[http://www.religioustolerance.org/paganism.htm Meanings of the terms Pagan and Paganism<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>Eisenstadt, S.N., 1983, Transcendental Visions -- Other-Worldliness -- and Its Transformations: Some More Comments on L. Dumont. ''Religion''13:1-17, at p. 3.</ref><ref>Michael York, Paganism as Root-Religion, The Pomegranate, 6:1 (2004), pp. 11-18 (distinguishing the main streams of developed religion as gnostic, dharmic, Abrahamic and pagan).</ref> however, to refer only to religions outside the very large group of so-called [[Axial Age]] faiths that encompass both the Abrahamic religions and the chief Indian religions. Under this narrower definition, which differs from that historically used by many<ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11388a.htm Catholic Encyclopaedia (1917 edition) on paganism] </ref><ref>[http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=33161 Hindu rites at a famous Catholic shrine shocks many Catholics]</ref> (though by no means all<ref>David Scott, Christian Responses to Buddhism in Pre-Medieval Times, Numen, Vol. 32, No. 1 (Jul., 1985), pp. 88-100</ref><ref>Audrius Beinorius, Buddhism in the Early European Imagination: A Historical Perspective, ACTA ORIENTALIA VILNENSIA 6:2 (2005), pp. 7–22</ref>) Christians and other Westerners, contemporary paganism is a relatively smaller and more marginal numerical phenomenon. According to [[Encyclopedia Britannica]] estimates (as of 2005), adherents of [[Chinese folk religion]] account for some 6.3% of world population, and adherents of [[tribal religion]]s ("ethnogeligionists") for another 4.0%. The number of adherents of neopaganism is insignificant in comparison, amounting to 0.02% of world population at the most, or some 0.4% of the "ethnoreligious" population.
==See also==
{{wiktionarypar|pagan|heathen}}
*[[Animism]]
*[[Folk religion]]
*[[Idolatry]]
*[[List of Pagans]]
*[[Myth and ritual]]
*[[Mythology]]
*[[Neopaganism]]
*[[Polytheism]]
*[[Religion and mythology]]
*[[Shamanism]]
==Notes==
{{reflist|2}}
==References==
*Michael York, ''Pagan Theology: Paganism as a World Religion'' NYU Press (2003), ISBN 0814797083.
==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
<!-- NOTE: READ THIS BEFORE ADDING A LINK: This article is about historical and indigenous Paganism, not [[Neopaganism]]. Do not add links to Neopagan articles or groups here. Do not add links of groups you belong to, or websites you run. Thank you. -->
===Articles===
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/paganism/ BBC - Religion & Ethics - Paganism] - overview with many articles and links
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/paganism/history/modern_1.shtml BBC - The Revival of Paganism] - short report on modern Paganism
* [http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/jod/texts/demise.html The Demise of Paganism] by James J. O'Donnell
* [http://www.pagannews.com/cgi-bin/articles1.pl?160 Surviving in church as a Pagan] - article supporting the claim that Pagan religions influenced Christianity
===Organisations===
* [http://www.nciv.net/engels/englishhome.htm Netherlands Centre for Indigenous Peoples]
* [http://www.speaking4earth.net Speaking 4 Earth: International Platform for Indigenous Peoples]
* [http://www.chakana.nl Chakana: NGO & knowledge centre about Indians of the highlands] (Nederlands)
{{Paganism}}
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