Is there going to be a major Pagan comeback???

Question

and no i'm not talkign about wicca.
I mean Reconstructionist faiths.

Asatru, hellenismos, Natib-Qadish etc. etc.

What do you think???

Answer 1

There already is! http://home.earthlink.net/~jordsvin is my page and has tons on Norse religions. What is Natib-Qadish? There is a reconstructionist networking page on yahoogroups. Jordsvin

Answer 2

I think there will be judging by the numbers on such places as MySpace. And these are young folks posting on the boards too, which is a good sign of growth. Too, there are more books out now on Asatru and Germanic Heathenry than at any other times. In the past, a new book on those topics always meant growth. I do not know about the other Reconstructionist movements, but I would think they would be experiencing growth as well.

Answer 3

I'm not sure about "major". I see a continued growth, but they're definately not for everyone - as evidenced by the friction between the Reconstructionists and the rest of the Pagan community.

::shrugs:: Give it another 10 years or so, and I think you'll see the Recon religions out in the spotlight a little bit more.

Answer 4

Only if you consider reconstructionism a true coming back. It's really not, because it is not a part of the broader culture. In order to be an accurate reconstruction, most reconstructionists would have to be part of a civic religion.

Answer 5

You can't argue that the Western world is a post-Christian world (meaning whatever we think and feel is going to be colored by the past Christianity for both good and bad). The only philosophical world-views that seem to hold up (to me) in post-Christianity are throwbacks to either Nietzche or Stoicism. So on the one hand I think you see a secular "Nietzchean" lack of religion. And on the other I think you see a rise of Paganism that is firmly grounded in Stoic ideas. Depending on which way the individual leans.

So yes....

Answer 6

Asatru is coming back big time, especially in the northern and central Europe in the heavy-metal music circles. There are some melodic death bands that started to sing about vikings in the late 80s and they became popular. Now there's tens and tens of n00b little bands jumping of the bandwagon and singing about battles and vikings and whatever else..
And all these 15 year old newbie metal fans wear huge mjöllners and they think they're SOOO true if they pretend to be asatruar... Oh well, I guess it still positive that the old faith is getting recognition again, but I find it so stupid that in Scandinavia it's almost fashionable to be an asatruar and to wear an oversized hammer... :(

Answer 7

In most developed countries it is a race between Buddhism and Paganism as to which is the fastest growing religion. Both are good faiths for the modern world as they let you be as literal or as philosophical as you want to be about them...I think that lack of dogma and absolutism is what appeals - that and a lack of the hypocracy that comes with the 3 faiths of the book...
Bring it on I say!!!

Answer 8

I think it has already started. My family is Odinist though I do not follow that path. I think it is mostly underground because of fear. If every true pagan came forth tomorrow and stated, "Here I am," you would be surprised of how many there are out there. I wish we could actually put a symbol in our front lawn/on cars/houses/tee-shirts without being thought of as evil. However, changing the world is always a hard thing yet not impossible.

Answer 9

There already is a pagan comeback. The thing is that pagans like myself don't feel it necessary to convert everyone to our own way of belief as we have no insecurities so whether people join up or not is of no consequence, so you don't hear much about it. We are doing things in small groups and are not really expanding in large numbers and I don't expect we will be. As more non-religiously persuaded bible scholars find new peices of information to bring to light, some are finally being liberated from their own forced beliefs

Answer 10

I think there will be a Pagan comeback and I think Harry Potter will be the catalyst that drives it. Check out this article about the revival of Paganism. It's actually a Christian warning against the revival. Pretty funny.

http://www.tomorrowsworld.org/cgi-bin/tw/tw-mag.cgi?category=Magazine45&item=1162760686