A national survey of witches and neo-Pagans in the United States. 

Auteurs: Helen A. Berger, Evan A. Leach & Leigh S. Shaffer

Jaar: 2003

Druk: niet vermeld

ISBN: 1570034885 / 9781570034886

Taal: Engels

279 pagina's

Uitgeverij: University of South Carolina Press

Hardcover met stofomslag, tweedehands, in nette staat.

Achterflaptekst:

Voices from the Pagan Census provides unprecedented insight into the expanding but largely unstudied religious movement of Neo-Paganism in the United States. Helen A. Berger, Evan A. Leach, and Leigh S. Shaffer present the findings of “The Pagan Census,” which was created and distributed by Berger and Andras Corban Arthen of the Earthspirit Community. Analyzing the most comprehensive and largest-scale survey of Neo-Pagans to date, the authors offer a portrait of this emerging religious community, including an examination of Neo-Pagan political activism, educational achievements, family life, worship methods, experiences with the paranormal, and beliefs about such issues as life after death.

A collection of religious groups whose practices evolved from Great Britain’s Wicca movement of the 1940s, Neo-Paganism spread to the United States in the 1960s. While the number of people who identify themselves with the religion has continued to rise, quantitative study of Neo-Paganism has been difficult given the movement's lack of centralized leadership and doctrine and its development as scattered, independent groups and individuals. Endorsed by all major Neo-Pagan leaders, the census generated a demographically diverse response. In contrast to most previous surveys, which were limited to Neo-Pagan festivals, this survey incorporates input from the large population of practitioners who do not participate in such events.

Keenly anticipated by the academic and Neo-Pagan communities, the results of the census provide the most in-depth information about the group yet assembled. Comparing Neo-Pagans with American society at large Berger, Leach, and Shaffer show that although the two groups share certain statistical characteristics, there are differences as well. The scholars also identify variations within the Neo-Pagan population, including those related to geography and to the movement's multiple spiritual paths.

Helen A. Berger is a professor of sociology at West Chester University in Pennsylvania. She is the author of A Community of Witches: Contemporary Neo-Paganism and Witchcraft in the United States, published by the University of South Carolina Press in 1999. Berger lives in West Newton, Massachusetts.

Evan A. Leach is an associate professor of management at West Chester University. The former director of research at the Wharton Cultural Management Project at the University of Pennsylvania, Leach holds a Ph.D. in organizational behavior from Yale University. He resides in West Chester.

Leigh S. Shafer  holds a Ph.D. in social psychology from Pennsylvania State University. He held faculty positions at Pennsylvania State University and Nebraska Wesleyan University before joining the faculty of West Chester University, where he is currently a professor of sociology. Shaffer lives in Downington, Pennsylvania.

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