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Neo-Pagan traditions, many come to mind:
The Tarot (probably invented in India and brought by the Gypsies to Europe in the late
13th century).
Karma (although there were some concepts of cause and effect in ancient Pagan
traditions, the term is from India).
Chakras (another concept from India).
Tattvas (although currently used by more ceremonial magicians than Neo-Pagans per se,
the Tattvas are certainly moving into greater popularity).
Kundalini (an Indian concept)
Shiva, Shakti, Kali, Ganesha (Indian deities)
As you can see, there are a wide variety of concepts which have been adopted in modern
Western Neo-Paganism that seem to have ancient India as their source. Gardner, of
course, spent many years in India and some have postulated that his version of the Craft
may have had some influences from that country. Indeed, Ann Moura, in her book,
Origins of Modern Witchcraft, makes a case for the source of modern civilization in an
area called Sind. Although this area is now in Pakistan, it gave us the name „India.‰
From Sind, the ancient religion of Shiva and Shakti spread out around the world. The
author reveals that virtually every aspect of modern Witchcraft can be traced back to the
ancient Sind religion: The notion of the triple goddess (a Maiden, Mother, and Crone)
comes straight from there; The idea of the God being horned is derived from an image of
Shiva; Many of the mythic images we associate with Greece and Rome originally came
from this faith.
To answer the needs of seekers for „more,‰ it makes sense to see if there is an ancient
form of Paganism which is still alive in India today. If so, is it genuinely old and does it
offer a wide range of spiritual and magical practices? Surprisingly, the answer to these
questions is, „Yes.‰
PAGANISM IN INDIA
For many people in the U.S., Paganism is any religion which is not Judaism or
Christianity. More and more, this definition is moving to include Islam. Certainly if any
religion could be conceived of as a major faith on the level of these three religions, it
must be Hinduism. India is currently the second most populous country in the world and
most of the people there are Hindus. But that is like saying that the major religion of the
U.S.A. is Christianity. Both of these descriptions are true, and both are false.
In the U.S.A. there are thousands of denominations of Christianity. Although they have
some (or many) similar beliefs, there are many Christian sects which are decidedly at
variance with each other&Mac226;s philosophy and theology. The same is true of
Hinduism in India, but to a greater extreme. Christians (for the most part) worship the
deity Jesus. Depending upon the sect, Hindus worship one or more of the members of a
triad of deities, or their consorts, or an incarnation of one of those deities, or a lesser
deity. Thus, different Hindu paths not only have different traditions, but they also seem
to worship different gods.
And yet, for the most part, Hinduism is tolerant of various sects (as well as other
religions who are not proactively trying to convert them). One person worships Krishna,
another Shakti, another Ganesha. Although, as in any culture, there have been fanatics,
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