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Putting the "neo" in pagan
What is neopaganism? The neo is important. Even contemporary practitioners recognize that they are trying to recreate something old, for their own purposes, rather than carrying on an intact tradition from the past. For example, a group called Arn Draiocht Fein (a Gaelic phrase meaning "our own Druidism") describes itself as

a completely independent tradition of Neopagan Druidism. Like our sisters and brothers in other Neopagan movements, we're polytheistic Nature worshipers, attempting to revive the best aspects of the Paleopagan faiths of our ancestors within a modern scientific, artistic, ecological and wholistic context.

Neopaganism is an eclectic religion characterized by what works and is appealing now, not by faithfulness to an older tradition. As Starhawk, a well-known witch, observed in an interview in Gnosis magazine: "It's unimportant whether modern-day paganism is based on truth or myth. … It doesn't really make all that much difference in terms of our relationship with the Goddess today."

Although references to "the ancient ways" abound in neopaganism, and many old names are evoked, historical links evaporate when they are investigated closely. Historicity doesn't matter, neopagans say: what's important is to create rituals that express their experience of the sacred in the world and themselves. Imagined links with an ancient tradition seem to help validate these rituals.

For many centuries the word pagan has had a double connotation for Christians. Because it was long used to describe those who were not Christian, it has carried a taint of wickedness and idolatry. More subtly, in the European world the pagans were those who followed the old gods before their conversion, giving the word an archaic ring. To be pagan was to be old-fashioned, behind the times. Literally, however—and this is part of its current attraction—a pagan was a peasant, a dweller in nature or the countryside, in contrast to the urban Roman world. (A similar history lies behind the words heath and heathen.)

For good strategic reasons, Christianity first spread largely in the urban centers. Paul (unlike Jesus) rarely preached in the country. The New Testament was written mainly to city-dwellers. The peasants in the country were seldom the first to become Christians; hence, the old pagan religions hung on longer there than in the city. So country-dwellers were pagan in both senses of the word: they were peasants and idolaters. By the late fourth century, when Christianity had effectively become the official religion of the declining Roman empire, pagan had assumed most of the negative tone it has carried until recent times.

For many, the current fascination with paganism is the result of a reversal of this ancient trend. As cities have grown, as the promise of a modern golden age has faded, and as we have come to be more aware of our dependence on the natural world, it is no longer a slur to be called a name that means country-dweller. And in an age that is becoming less Christian all the time, it is certainly no longer a slur to be called by a name which for so long has meant unchristian.

More important than its link to the past is the fact that paganism is not Christianity. In fact, the non-Christian tone of the name is one of its main appeals. Consider, for example, this self-definition on a well-designed neopagan home page on the Internet:

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November 15 1999, Vol. 43, No. 13