Neopaganism in the United Kingdom

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wiccans gather for a handfasting ceremony at Avebury in England
Wiccans gather for a handfasting ceremony at Avebury in England
A group of English neo-druids.
A group of English neo-druids.

An estimated 40,000 (0.1%) to 250,000 Britons (0.4%) adhere to various forms of Neopaganism (Heathenry, Paganism), including Neo-Druidism, Germanic neopaganism, Wicca and New Age faiths, accounting for roughly a quarter of neopagans worldwide.

Contents

[edit] Demographics

A study by Ronald Hutton compared a number of different sources (including membership lists of major UK organizations, attendance at major events, subscriptions to magazines, etc.) and used standard models for extrapolating likely numbers. This estimate accounted for multiple membership overlaps as well as the number of adherents represented by each attendee of a Neopagan gathering. Hutton estimated that there are 250,000 Neopagan adherents in the United Kingdom, roughly equivalent to the national Hindu community.[1]

A smaller number is suggested by the results of the 2001 Census, in which a question about religious affiliation was asked for the first time. Respondents were able to write in an affiliation not covered by the checklist of common religions, and a total of 42,262 people from England, Scotland and Wales declared themselves to be pagans by this method (or 23% of the 179'000 adherents of "other religions" in the census results). These figures were not released as a matter of course by the Office of National Statistics, but were released after an application by the Pagan Federation Scotland[2]. From a British population of 59 million this gives a rough proportion of 7 pagans per 100,000 population, fewer than the so-called Jedi religion, whose campaign made them the largest of the religions after the Big Six[3].

The UK Census figures do not allow an accurate breakdown of traditions within the Pagan heading, as a campaign by the Pagan Federation before the census encouraged Wiccans, Heathens, Druids and others all to use the same write-in term 'Pagan' in order to maximise the numbers reported.

[edit] Organisations

Neopagan organizations in the UK:

[edit] References

  1. ^ Hutton (2001)
  2. ^ Pagans & the Scottish Census of 2001 Accessed 18 October 2007
  3. ^ [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/CCI/nugget.asp?ID=297&Pos=&ColRank=2&Rank=1000 National Statistics Office (2001): '390,000 Jedi There Are'. Accessed 18 October 2007
  • Hutton, Ronald (2001). The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft. ISBN 0-19-285449-6.

[edit] See also

v • d • e
Neopaganism
Movements
Approaches to Paganism
Demographics and politics