Contemporary Paganism: Listening People, Speaking Earth

by Graham Harvey

An introduction to modern Paganism and its roots and history

The Pagan tradition celebrates the physical nature of life on earth, blending science with spiritual folklore. Seasonal festivals are combined with the rediscovery of shamanic techniques and an emphasis on grounded empiricism. Considering the everyday world of food, health, sex, work, and leisure to be sacred, Pagans oppose that which threatens life such as deforestation, overdevelopment, nuclear power and invoke ancient deities in this struggle for the well-being of the earth and its inhabitants.

Contemporary Paganism presents a broad-based introduction to the main trends of contemporary Paganism, revealing the origins and practical aspects of Druidry, Witchcraft, Heathenism, Goddess Spirituality and Magic, Shamanism, and Geomancy among others. Making use of both traditional history and the movement's more imaginative sources, Harvey reveals how Paganism and its central focus on individual and social life is evolving and how this new religion perceives and relates to more traditional ones.

Genres: Religion, Paganism, Spirituality, Nonfiction, Witchcraft, Research, Magick

272 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1997

Reviews

[Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thorough and rarely dry, this is a great deep dive into an academic examination of Pagans of all flavors. Harvey has mostly mastered the art of writing for a layperson audience*, using accessible language and minimal jargon. It's an older book but still valuable and worth reading, both for n00bs and old grizzled witches.

* Take this with a grain of salt; I completed the coursework for a PhD, so I'm used to reading scholarly things.

[Elisa_in_neverland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting and well written book.

[iz]

disserYAYtion

[penny shima glanz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up in order to hopefully better understand the fantasy I was reading. I think this was a fairly balanced and objective look at both historical and contemporary Paganism. I do recommend it if you are curious..

[Lynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A terrific resource, in spite of the fact that it entirely overlooks Hellenic Paganism. I suppose it's not truly the author's fault, though, as that movement was only beginning to gain large number of followers at the time of the book's publication.