Pagan Theology

March 15, 2003
York (The Emerging Network: A Sociology of the New Age and Neo-Pagan Movements) endeavors to demonstrate that paganism in its many varieties has an underlying unity. He argues that it is international, viable, distinct from other spiritual perspectives, and present in the many local folk cultuses. While York notes a number of common themes in the folk/indigenous religious traditions, and he is correct that world religions have emerged from or been influenced by the local religious cults of country people, his analysis does not stand up well. He argues that American Indian religions, Asian shamanism, Chinese folk religion, aspects of common Hindu ritual, and modern neo-paganism somehow reflect an underlying common worldview, yet he does not address their vast differences in perspective. He also fails to engage in a thorough academic study of pagan cultus, instead providing an analysis of his personal experiences in certain cultures to which he has traveled. The best introductions to modern paganism remain Margot Adler's Drawing Down the Moon and Starhawk's The Spiral Dance, both originally published in 1979 and recently reprinted. Comprehensive collections on religion or paganism may wish to acquire York's work, but it is not recommended for most academic and public libraries.-William P. Collins, Library of Congress

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