Judeo-Paganism
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Judeo-Paganism, or Jewish Paganism, is a religious movement related to Judaism and Neopaganism, which explores the origins of the Jewish religion and its ancient neighbors, the religions of the Canaanites, Phoenicians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Ugarit folk, and Egyptians.
Groups are generally small and often linked; common topics of discussion among Jewish Pagans include the historical links between El/Yahweh, Asherah, and Baal, as well as their respective cults; the character of Lilith in the Jewish tradition; and the emergence of monotheism in Judaism, as well as general Jewish topics and Pagan topics. (Judeo-Paganism, like the religion of Natib Qadish, focuses on the beliefs of the ancient Near East, but Natib Qadish emphasizes ancient Canaanite beliefs, while Judeo Paganism is more concentrated on Judaism and the pagan religions that it was born among (which include Canaanite beliefs), as well as Eretz Yisrael).
[edit] History
Jewish Paganism is a new movement. Jewish Pagan groups, such as the JAP-L mailing group, listed among the links below, have existed on the Internet since the late 1990s.
Melissa Mears (née Oringer), founder of http://www.jewitchery.com, describes her personal view: "I am a Jew and I am a Wiccan. I am an elder in the Wiccan tradition, NROOGD, and hived from my mother coven in 1999... "Jewitchery" is a created term, one used for and by folks who want to self-identify as such. There is no Jewitchery tradition, no Jewitchery religion, and no Jewitchery philosophy - people who self-identify as Jewitches are all over the map, from all walks of life, and have many and varied beliefs and practices (or lack thereof)."
Some Jewish Pagan groups, such as the Order of the Temple of Astarte, have been around since the 1970s, and may be offshoots of either Judaism or Neopaganism.
One Israeli nature-based spiritual path is known as Am Ha Aretz, Amha for short, which means "People of the Land". Ironically, the term is also a derogatory term for uncivilized people, roughly equivalent to "barbarian". The "Land" is the land of Israel, which is itself worshipped. Some members of Amha are polytheist, some mystics, some animists. They call themselves Hebrews, rather than Jews, to distinguish between Hebrews (pre-exile) and Jews (post exile/rabbinical traditions). The group considers itself to be reclaiming Hebrew tribal and animist traditions. In the Amha tradition, the gods are "Elohim", the spirits of warrior ancestors are "Rephaim", and the land spirits and those ancestor spirits that tie members to the land are "Teraphim".
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- http://www.hollyfeld.org/heaven/.Web/elists/jap-l.phtml - This is a mailing list on Jewish Paganism.
- http://www.lilitu.com/jap/ - This is a resource page for Jewish Pagans, which may be helpful.
- http://paganwiccan.about.com/cs/jewishpaganism/ - This is a subpage of About.com, which can be useful for its links.
- http://www.jewitchery.com - Jewish Paganism resources and discussion.
- http://www.forward.com/articles/6983 - An article about Jewish Pagans in The Forward
- http://www.forward.com/issues/2003/03.10.31/living1.html - An article about Jewitches in the The Forward
- http://www.walkingstick.org/ - A resource page for "the restoration and preservation of aboriginal Jewish spirituality".
- http://telshemesh.org/ - A site about "earth based traditions in Judaism".
- http://groups.yahoo.com/group/judeopaganbasics/ - Another mailing list covering the "basics."
- http://www.peelapom.com - A resources website and blog by a Jewish Pagan, one of the women interviewed in the article in The Forward
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