Why do you think that Neo-paganism is on the rise now?

[TransylvanianPZ]

A lot of people have started larping that they believe in old pagan beliefs, what do you think caused this to happen? Do you think that people are just desperately reaching out for some sort of spirituality in their life, is it a psyop or is there something deeper to it?

 

[A Cardboard Box]

Edgy retards ejecting the one true Christ.

 

[Joe Swanson]

It isn't

 

[Agarathium1066]

I don't think its on a statistical rise quite so much as it is growing more vocal and accepted among some groups. It's partially due to it being temporarily popular due to fad so you're more likely to see and hear about it now. There was another 'boom' of pagan and mysticism in the 80s as well though it rarely gets covered.

Some people just don't feel a connection to christianity, some of it is self-loathing being shoved down their throats, some are just big horny for Loki.

 

[Drkinferno72]

Western religions fall to the wayside but people still want to fill that spiritual void

 

[Philosophy Zombie]

Larping mostly. There are three general categories of neopagan

• Left-wingers who feel that Christian missionaries destroyed their culture and feel like they're sticking it to the colonialists by practicing Celtic/African pagan rituals (probably incorrectly)
• Wiccans who do voodoo because it's feminist or whatever
• White nationalist types who think that Christianity is an excessively effeminate and Semitic religion but also see Islam as too brown for them. They see Jesus as a pathetic loser virgin and prefer the warlike, tribalistic nature of the Nordic gods, use the term "Christcuck" unironically, etc

Notice how none of these actually involve believing in the pagan gods

 

[Underperforming]

After the rise and stagnation of modern pop atheism, one of the common threads was characterizing themselves as without belief in “god or gods” and traditional religion as a whole, even crossing into fetishizing nihilism . One of the long term issues with this “movement” is it did not emphasis any true ideology other than a vague logical positivism (empiricism). As time went on, the “atheism” movement shed followers due to no consistent ideological framework and some of these people tried to find something else to follow. The traditional religion well has been poisoned in a sense from the echos of the modern atheist movement (for better or worse) and has led people to search else where from the established “church.”

Another reason could be the growing popular leftism among the post atheism crowd and the concept of appropriation. Since none of this group wanted to join a “church,” they would have to formulate there own “beliefs.” And since the concept of paganism is dead in the organized sense, no minority group would complain as there is no one to define the belief. The pagan can then pick and choose what to believe, it will go hand in hand with their prior worldview and they can larp to their heart’s content.

 

[Gender: Xenomorph]

One word:
Gaia

 

[White Devil]

It hasn't been any different now than from the past couple decades.

Maybe I'm biased though because my social friend group growing up were all metalheads and half of them think they're fucking asatru or something.

 

[Philosophy Zombie]

And since the concept of paganism is dead in the organized sense, no minority group would complain as there is no one to define the belief.

Hinduism is very much alive so no, organized paganism is not dead.

But it's both anti-egalitarian (some people, like Dalits, are fundamentally inferior to others) and brown, so neither demographic that is attracted to paganism is really interested in converting to Hinduism ime.

 

[Red Hood]

Fundies were right, it was Harry Potter and D&D.

 

[Queen Elizabeth II]

Attention seeking
Nationalism
Rejection of tradition
Embrace of tradition
Antisemetism
White Supremacy
Black Supremacy

There's a lot of different reasons. A lot of the historical religions just don't speak to the average man and woman in the western world anymore; the very same way that during the axial age Christianity, Confucianism and other schools of thought obliterated what came before that no longer held the minds of the population.

Religious beliefs may be long lasting, but they come and go as something "better" or more suitable for any number of reasons comes along.

 

[Underperforming]

Hinduism is very much alive so no, organized paganism is not dead.

But it's both anti-egalitarian (some people, like Dalits, are fundamentally inferior to others) and brown, so neither demographic that is attracted to paganism is really interested in converting to Hinduism ime.

But this thread is referring phenomenon of neo paganism, which broadly takes inspiration from a bastardization of nordic, greek, gnostic, and euro folk beliefs. Though hinduism would be considered pagan. You can’t larp it

 

[Dr. Barry Nyle]

Industrial society failed to make a compelling argument.

 

[$5.3 Million Dollars]

What's funny is that this pagan larping is only a few centuries old in some circles if we're talking about the current tradition the Britbongs and Americans practice, a lot of the 'ancient' practices have only been codified for maybe two to three centuries tops. The works that started drifting towards re-establishing a pagan or even just more mystical version of Christianity you see with things like the series that includes the Ars Goetia in the 17th century and would continue on into the Victorian era with all the psychics and hookum that made it easier to perform 'miracles'.

The Noble Savage trope that took off during this time would also propel it much like anything 'foreign' or 'non-conforming' does now. Same color, different shade. The current trend towards this you've seen on the internet with exceptional people for awhile, which was helped out by the surge of use of it in feminist circles, and it's why you see women and 'womxyn' as being the primary adherents, and I'd even argue that trans rhetoric has helped pushed this even further. Magical thinking leads to magical thinking.

My first cow was a 'pagan' on Deviant Art who went by the name of 'DivineAngel' and would often threaten to hex people and to make their wombs barren, and you will find this hilarious attempt at a spiritual connection a common thread on most cows that stick around long enough.

 

[Idiotron]

Because Christianity lost it's power and influence and now, aside from a few places on the planet, no country is pushing it onto their citizens and keeping other religions from entering the mainstream.
Basically, people become pagans these days because they can.

 

[biozeminadae1]

I think a possible future is all religions becoming like ancient Judaism, maybe First Temple period. Where the God of any-given nation is the god that matters, and the rest are His competitors who are also his underlings.

Well, maybe not, since that line of thinking will lead to genocides yet unseen possible by the Human species.

 

[The Great Chandler]

Personally I don't give a damn as long as it does you and some others some good. Just for the love of God (or gods) don't go axe-crazy!

 

[Unyielding Stupidity]

It's just a way for them to rebel against their parents for making them put on a suit and go to church every sunday morning when they were kids.

 

[I-chi]

Surprise surprise, humans are hard wired to indulge in the belief of something. Anything.

If not a Christian God, then they'll find literally anything else to give meaning to an otherwise painfully mundane void that constantly reinforces how small and uninteresting they really are in the grand scheme of things.