Paganism: From Ancient Myths to Modern Realities
Ethan Doyle White Who or what, exactly, is a pagan? “Paganism” is one of these words that is slippery and imprecise, continually shifting and taking on new meanings. Were the ancient Greeks or early medieval Vikings “pagans”? And if so, why? Moreover, who exactly are those people who call themselves pagans today and what is their relationship to the religions of the distant past?Helping to cut through the confusion, this talk explores the history of paganism as a concept, examining how it arose among fourth-century Christians as a means of designating everyone and anyone not venerating the God of Abraham. From there, it looks at how the term has entered the modern world as a label embraced by tens if not hundreds of thousands of living people, among them Wiccans, Druids, and Goddess worshippers.
Bio
Ethan Doyle White is a historian and scholar of religion with a PhD from University College London (UCL). Among his research interests are modern Paganism and related forms of esotericism, early medieval religion, and modern uses of archaeology and folklore. He currently teaches courses at City Lit, London and was previously a visiting lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire. Among his publications are Wicca: History, Belief, and Community in Modern Pagan Witchcraft (Sussex Academic Press, 2016), Pagans: The Visual Culture of Pagan Myths, Legends and Rituals (Thames and Hudson, 2023), and The New Witches of the West: Tradition, Liberation, and Power (Cambridge University Press, 2024). He is also the lead director for interviews at the World Religions and Spirituality Project (WRSP) and sits on the editorial boards of The Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies and the American Academy of Religion’s “Reading Religion” website.
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Marguerite Johnson is a cultural historian of the ancient Mediterranean, specialising in sexuality and gender, particularly in the poetry of Sappho, Catullus, and Ovid, as well as magical traditions in Greece, Rome, and the Near East. She also researches Classical Reception Studies, with a regular focus on Australia. In addition to ancient world studies, Marguerite is interested in sexual histories in modernity as well as magic in the west more broadly, especially the practices and art of Australian witch, Rosaleen Norton. She is Honorary Professor of Classics and Ancient History at The University of Queensland, and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities. She lives in Mytilene.
IMAGE: Raphael, 'The Council of Gods,' (c.1517). Villa Farnesina.
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