Haase_UZ_x007E_DTh (2).pdf - South African Theological Seminary

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postmodernity has opened the door for all manner of religio-spiritual expressions, many
of which re-kindle mankind’s animistic hunger. One of the most noticeable of these is
the renaissance of Paganism, or Neo-Paganism, as practitioners usually prefer to call
themselves.
D.D. Carpenter, an adherent of Paganism, believes Griffin (1988, 1990) identifies a
number of themes that characterize postmodern spirituality, nearly all of which accord
fully with the resurgent Neo-Pagan beliefs. Griffin identifies traits such as: (1) the reality
of internal relations or interconnection; (2) a non-dualistic relation of humans to Nature;
(3) the immanence of both the past and the future in the present; (4) the universality and
centrality of creativity; (5) post-patriarchy; (6) communitarianism (versus individualism
and nationalism); (7) the ‘de-privatization’ of religion, meaning the rejection of the
autonomy of morality, politics, and economics from religious values; and (8) the rejection
of materialism, in the sense of economism, meaning the subordination of social, religious,
moral, aesthetic, and ecological interests to short-term economic interests (Carpenter,
1992). Carpenter believes with others, that there is a relationship between postmodernity
and Paganism, “because Paganism represents an attempt to synthesize premodern notions
of divine reality, cosmic meaning and an enchanted nature with present day life. In
addition, certain of the themes identified by Griffin (1988a, 1990) as characteristic of
postmodern spirituality will be shown to be descriptive of contemporary Paganism”
(Carpenter, 1992).
Defining Neo-Paganism, and other new spiritualities in the contemporary West, is
much like attempting to define Christianity in contemporary Africa: a very difficult to do.
Neo-Pagan beliefs are, among other things, non-Jewish, non-Christian and non-Islamic.
To the major religions, Pagans are often considered ‘heathens,’ or those with a lack of
religion, which is a misnomer. Pagan religions are not well ordered, nor do they
subscribe to a well-ordered set of doctrines. Witchcraft, the occult, alchemy and other
sub-disciplines are usually considered within Neo-Pagan family, but Satanism is usually
thought too extreme. It is fascinating how many ancient Pagan practices were long ago
incorporated, or ‘redeemed,’ into Western culture and Christian practice, and remains
accepted practices today.
University of Zululand, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa