Locating Contemporary British Paganism as Late Modern Culture

This paper addresses the place of contemporary British Paganism as part of Western culture. It is in two parts. The first explores Paganism theoretically and socio-historically and the second provides a ‘micro-cosmic’, ethnographic level of analysis. The first part focuses on the way in which the processes of modernity, manifesting within the West through such processes as individualisation and secularisation, have provided fertile ground for the inculcation of Pagan worldviews by effectively undermining cultural and institutional impediments to the adoption of overtly magical sensibilities. The second part examines more closely the group processes underlying British Paganism, using data from participant observation and in-depth interviews to illustrate the way in which late modern community forms can assuage potential areas of conflict among adherents. These two viewpoints combine to locate British Paganism as late modern culture.