Pagan Religions in Five Minutes - Suzanne Owen
32. Can a Person have Pagan Beliefs without being Pagan?
Pagan Religions in Five Minutes - Suzanne Owen
Alessandro Testa [+]
Charles University, Prague
Alessandro Testa (Isernia 1983) is a Research Fellow at the Department of Social Sciences, Charles University, Prague. He has a background in Classics, History, Religious Studies, and Anthropology. In the last 15 years he has studied, worked, or undertaken ethnographic fieldwork in Italy, France, Estonia, Czech Republic, Germany, Austria, and Catalonia (Spain). His publications include a large number of articles in journals and chapters in volumes, and three books (Miti antichi e moderne mitologie. Saggi di storia delle religioni e storia degli studi sul mondo antico, 2010; Il carnevale dell’uomo-animale, 2014; La religiosità dei Sanniti, 2016).
Description
The presence of Pagan beliefs in modern non-Pagan contexts challenges the idea that they are cultural relics and how current beliefs often mix cultural influences, including significant pre-Christian elements. There are beliefs and practices, such as the notions of ghosts and luck, that share roots with pre-Christian traditions. The concept of "Popular Frazerism," where individuals engage in practices with ancient origins, often without identifying as Pagan, is introduced.