What exactly is "reconstruction" in the pagan religion? What does it mean?

Answer 1

Reconstruction isn't a religion (or religions) - it's a phase, an approach. The "Reconstructionist religions" are more accurately "the religions undergoing a period of intense rebuilding" - but that's a bit more of a mouthful.

The general intent of Reconstructionism is to rebuild one of the pre-Christian religions, as authentically as possible, using reliable sources. The primary method is to start by rebuilding the worldview - focus on the things that the people found important, such as moral structure, etc. Once the worldview has been understood - "thinking like a Celt", in my case - you've got the foundation, so you can start adding things in. Using archaeology, anthropology, mythology, folklore, secondary-source texts, etc, we start to piece together practices.

Mind you, this isn't an attempt to go back in time. Reconstructionism isn't about building a sod house on the moors and living without anything modern, nor is it an attempt to bring back certain things (like slavery) that have long since been dropped. You don't need to dress up in ancient clothes or swing swords or anything like that - we wear normal modern street clothes, use computers, the whole thing. It's a religion for modern times, modern people. We're just looking to follow in the footsteps of our ancestors, much the same ways that, for example, Jews still follow the practices of their ancestors.

There's definitely work being done on it - folks joke that it's "religion with homework" - but there's a secret: not everyone is doing all the heavy lifting. You don't need to be a PhD who speaks 3 languages to be a Reconstructionist - there's enough folks doing that work that normal, ordinary practitioners are able to use the fruits of their labors.

The big things that seem to be defining factors are in reference to what we generally refer to as "the lore" - ie, the extant material that we can refer to. While there's certainly some flexibility, the core of a Reconstructionist religion's practices are expected to be consistant with what's in the lore. Any new material that gets proposed should also match - the religion is like a tapestry, not a crazy-quilt. Any UPG (unverified personal gnosis - visions, personal experiences, etc) gets vetted against the lore as well, and what doesn't match, typically isn't accepted by the group.

Reconstructionism gets a bit of a bad rap, all told, and much of it's simply based on misperception. Folks incorrectly think: that we're just reenactors; that we're armchair historians who don't actually *live* our religions; that we're all uber-conservative elitist jerks; that our religion is terribly incomplete; even that we don't have a connection with our gods. None of it's true, but we will definitely admit that we're not your "typical" Pagans, and we often have different enough viewpoints that we disagree with a lot of the moral vocal folks in Pagan communities.

Answer 2

As a Hellenic Reconstructionist Pagan, I have tried to think about some of the best way to describe what reconstruction includes.....

Robin has a good answer as far as it goes although there are some cross-cultural gods that will be worshipped by Reconstructionists. Usually that happens when there is historical precedents such as Hellenic-Egyptian Syncretism.

This is NOT the same as an eclectic approach as those Recon Pagans who use a syncretic approach have done the research as to how and why these Gods had cross-cultural appeal historically.

As a general rule, though Recon Pagans of any stripe DO use a lot of historical research as the basis of their practice, the major emphasis is that it is a LIVING religion.

I have a couple of Hellenic Recon websites that you can use for more research if you are interested.

Answer 3

Basically an attempt by scholars and/or pagans to rebuild a religion that has not been practiced for awhile. Druidism, Wicca, and Asatru are all modern rebuildings of what was ancient pagan religions.

Some have more meat on their bones than others, mostly depending on how many and what kind of historical records the recreation was based on...I think Asatru, based off of Norse mythology has the most, Druidism has less, and Gardnerian Wicca is totally fabricated by Gardner.

Answer 4

Reconstructionists try and practise their religion as identically as is possible to the way it was originally done in the days before most Pagan religions were persecuted into hiding by Christians and Muslims.

So a Celtic reconstructionist worships the Celtic gods in the same way as the Ancient Celts did except for things that are obviously not done now-such as animal and human sacrifice etc.

Answer 5

Reconstruction in the Pagan religionS means the same thing that it does in other religions:

The attempt to rebuild rites decimated by war, cultural change and forced conversion.

Reconstuctionism is NOT reenactment, which is doing rites exactly the same as they were in the past.

Answer 6

As a Norse Reconstructionist Heathen . . . heh. Good answers so far!

I'd like to shed a bit more light on the "reconstruction vs. reenactment" issue because it's one that fuels a lot of unnecessary flamage on heathen fora. The *main* thing we work to reconstruct is WORLDVIEW: the cultural symbol set through which our ancestral cultures interpreted their physical reality.

I don't wear period gard and I don't wave swords around . . . but I work, constantly, at "thinking like a heathen." A *7th C* heathen . . . and at challenging my core beliefs, devotional practices, and perceptions of the world around me to conform to that standard. It's a work in progress, always, but it's a fascinating and worthy pursuit. I've never found anything before that just felt so *right* to me, and I've been down a lot of different paths in my life.

From a reconstructed worldview, which for me involves internalizing concepts like frith, shieldwall, innangardh, Web of Right Relationships, gifting, vinfengi, vinatta, archaic time sense, nonduality, Luck, honor, kinclan, ancestor veneration, Wyrd, orlog, and so forth (yeah, yeah, I know . . . it's a heckuva list) I am able to look at sources beyond the written record, like archeaology, esp. grave goods and burial practices, surviving folklore, custom, and superstition (you'd be surprised what they STILL do in places like Orkney, Iceland and rural Norway) and from these reconstruct the ancestral religious practices themselves---for my traditions, blot, sumbel, and husel---and feel that I am not only doing them as closely and accurately as possible to the ways my ancestors did, but also THINKING about them the same way as well.

Many people prefer a looser, more relativistic and personal approach, where individual gnosis, revelation, and sheer preference take primacy, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that---as long as they are clear about that being WHAT they are, in fact, doing and not trying to pass it off as "Ye Aulde and Anciente Norse (or Celtic) Wayes."

But I simply find that I strongly prefer the discipline of working within a specific culture as accurately as possible . . . that's where I find the MY greatest spiritual journey and personal growth.

Answer 7

Reconstructionist religions are religions that attempt to accurately reproduce, or reconstruct, the worship practices of ancient religions. This differentiates them from other Neo-Pagan religions which are not as much concerned with historical accuracy.

Answer 8

It's trying to practice in the same manner as the original religion did. Very difficult, given the ammount of lost and/or biased information.

Answer 9

A recon path is when they take information from archeology and history itself and apply the teachings and rituals they find there into modern times (excluding the animal sacrifices, etc...) There is Celtic Recon, Greek, Kemetic (Egyptian), etc... Other pagan paths usually allow mixing of traditions from other cultures/religions, etc... Recons do not.

Answer 10

Reconstructionism is an attempt to worship in the exact way pagans really, truly did centuries ago. I think Wikipedia has an article on it.

Frankly I think this is not particularly practical, and it's too much work for me. That and I don't care for following rules strictly, which this type of practice would require.