Philadelphia was host to a milestone in Pagan studies last November. Morgan Beard takes a look at what that means for the scholars who have built their careers on the study of contemporary Paganism.

Think of the American Academy of Religion (AAR) as the parliament of the religious studies world. The Academy is composed of approximately 7,500 scholars who study religion in all its forms, functioning as a forum for the exchange of ideas and research. If it's happening in religious studies, it happens in the Academy.

In 2005, Paganism was granted a program unit at the AAR's annual conference, meaning that for the first time, there were sessions with several presentations devoted solely to Paganism. It may not sound like much, but in the academic world it's an acknowledgment of Paganism as a major religion rather than a fringe movement -- and, in a broader sense, it's a sign of Paganism's increasing acceptance with the public at large.

This wasn't the first time that Pagan studies scholars tried to get a program unit within the AAR. Their first application, made back in 1997, was turned down because the AAR felt Paganism wasn't big enough, and could be covered by other program units, like New Religious Movements. What's changed?

"We drew on the success of Pagan studies conferences in the U.K. and the Nature Religions Scholars Network in the U.S.," explains Cat McEarchern of the University of Stirling, who helped to prepare the most recent application. "We had a large number of scholars sign on to support the consultation, many of them not actively working with Pagans. This is a good sign for the growth of Pagan studies and the growing acceptance of the field as a valid academic endeavor."

McEarchern also organizes the Conference on Contemporary Pagan Studies (CCPS), the first full-day conference on Pagan studies in the United States, which takes place in conjunction with the AAR's annual conferences. Started in 2003, attendance at the CCPS has grown steadily, which also helped get Pagan studies accepted as a program unit.

The program unit is only one of the milestones that Pagan studies has achieved over the past few years. In 2004, AltaMira Press introduced its new Pagan Studies series -- the first such series in existence.

"The purpose of the series is the same as with the AAR -- to provide a vehicle whereby people learn about Paganism as a world religion," says Wendy Griffin, a professor of women's studies at California State University Long Beach and co-editor of the series. "It gives younger scholars an opportunity to publish, senior scholars a venue where they can get more individualized attention, and it also helps shape the field."

The first book in the series was Researching Paganisms, a collection of essays written by researchers on their experiences studying Pagans. Forthcoming books include Introduction to Pagan Studies by Barbara Jane Davy, a textbook aimed at college professors who want to teach Paganism as a religion, and Her Hidden Children: The Rise of Paganism in America, a history of Paganism in the United States by noted scholar Chas S. Clifton, who co-edits the series with Griffin.

Clifton also edits The Pomegranate, a respected academic journal for Pagan studies that had been on hiatus for several years until it was picked up by Equinox Publishing in 2003. That same year saw another landmark for Pagan studies: the first academic book on Pagan theology, appropriately titled Pagan Theology, written by Michael York.

Ironically, Pagan scholars owe these successes in part to the Pagan community itself.

"One of the reasons there's such a large body of scholarship on Pagan studies is that Pagans love to read about religion," observes Grant Potts, a critical writing fellow and Ph.D. candidate at the University of Pennsylvania. A Pagan himself, his area of expertise is ritual theory. "Most major academic publishers publish studies on Paganism. There's a readership that's not academic that's interested in reading these books. That makes it more attractive for the publisher, knowing they're going to get those sales over Amazon.com."

But the increase in academic works on Paganism also reflects a change in attitude about Paganism, one that's been twenty years in the making.

"Today, Paganism is generally seen as a modern religion that is just another part of our modern world. Twenty years ago, Paganism was seen as a fringe religion, and usually only mentioned as an example of the odd things people do," says McEarchern. "One interesting sign of these changes is the rough study a colleague and I did at the AAR this year. We examined a broad range of books in the exhibit hall, looking specifically for those that presented a broad range of religions as examples of the various ways to study or understand human religiosity. We found that Paganism was often featured as just another modern religion, while it was absent on books that focused on fringe or destructive groups. This is a change from even five years ago, and is a good sign that Pagans have achieved the status of being normal in the eyes of many scholars of religion."

The pioneers in studying Paganism had to deal with the same types of prejudice that Pagans themselves deal with, sometimes balancing their interest in the subject against their future job prospects. For people who want to make a career for themselves in academia, not being taken seriously can be deadly, and sometimes scholars have to walk a fine line.

"I think personally, for a long time -- although this isn't true anymore -- for years [my biggest challenge] was getting across the message that my work was serious," says Griffin. "In the whole tenure system, you have to be careful. I was lucky to be in the Women's Studies department, because it's much more accepting of me and my work than a more conservative department might have been. But it was still a challenge. [For example,] I was specifically told by the office that handles grants and research not to mention witches or witchcraft in my grant proposals."

"In the academic community, some people don't think this is worthy or serious. Certainly, I do get that," says Helen Berger, a professor of sociology at West Chester University. Her book A Community of Witches, published in 1999, was cited by several interviewees as one of the studies that put Pagan studies on the academic map. "Somehow they think I'm not looking at something really meaningful, or a real religion. `Isn't that cute?' I actually got told that at a conference where I was presenting."

"I really played it safe with topics at the beginning of my career," says Regina Oboler, a professor of anthropology at Ursinus College. At the time, she was interested in women's studies -- itself a controversial field when it was first introduced -- and decided that her research topics had to be "unassailable." She ended up in Kenya studying a tribe called the Nandi. "Looking at things like economic and social change affecting gender where things nobody would say were unimportant."

It wasn't until after Oboler got tenure that she became interested in studying Pagans. "I believe that in fact a lot of my colleagues don't take it seriously. A lot of people, their first reaction is to ask, `Why are you studying something so small, so insignificant, and so ridiculous?' "

Oboler is fascinated by being present at the birth of a religious movement, comparing it to what it might have been like to be traveling with Joseph Smith as he spread the word of Mormonism. She says when she puts it in those terms, it makes more sense to the skeptics. "If people give you enough respect to listen to what you say, they'll come around."

"It's less of a risk now that Pagan studies has become more recognized," continues Berger. "The new consortium in the AAR is extremely legitimizing, and that's helpful to young scholars. But in terms of getting jobs, people have to be careful about what they study and how they present that. There are not many jobs in Pagan studies. You have to be concerned about feeding yourself and your family."

In fact, there are currently no academic jobs in Pagan studies -- all of the scholars who study Pagans are employed teaching other subjects. This hasn't deterred younger students and professors from getting into the field.

"My only real concern is that I have to show that I have training and knowledge in a broad enough range of religions to be able to teach multiple courses in different areas," says McEarchern, who isn't yet a tenured professor. "There are no specific programs in Pagan studies, so I have to be able to teach a variety of courses."

So what makes Paganism worthy of study despite the prejudices? What has the research told academics about Paganism, and in turn about the world at large?

Initially, back in the 1980s, the biggest surprise for many researchers was that Pagans tended to be well-educated, intelligent people -- conventional wisdom at the time being that people who joined "fringe" movements were less educated and had fewer options.

Today, Pagans still hold some surprises. Berger is currently collaborating with Douglas Ezzy of the University of Tasmania in Australia on a study of teenage witches. "We began with the notion that these teens were superficial, and found that's not true," says Berger. "They're so charming, and so involved, and very committed. We had this nice hypothesis about what's happening to the religion as it becomes popularized, and then we do the research and find that the data doesn't uphold the nice hypothesis. The religion is becoming popularized, but these kids' practices aren't."

But many researchers say that the most valuable insight that Pagans give them is about modern spirituality.

"Academics have gradually begun to see Paganism as an example of how religion as an element of human life changes and adapts," explains McEarchern. "The change in perception has been motivated in large part by changes in how academics look at religion. Religion is seen, by many of us, as an element of human life that grows and changes with the individual. The individual and the groups to which he or she belong influence each other in many ways, and changes in religiosity are a normal part of being human. So Pagan religiosity, that allows for personal choice and change, is a normal way of being religious."

Potts takes it a step farther: "One of the things that Pagans confront the Academy with is that [the classical] model of religion is inadequate. Studying Paganism, they're concerned that there are no central beliefs, there are no clear borders on the community, no clear rituals, no clear ethical frameworks. The system is built around being open and in a mode of inquiry. . . . Pagans as believers are not believers, they're questioners. They ask a question and come to an answer they feel good about as a conclusion, but are open to new answers."

Pagans tend to have a fluid view of reality, and an equally fluid definition of truth that sometimes confounds researchers in search of solid answers.

"I began my research assuming that everybody who talked about [beings like] animal guides or fairies as if they were real actually believed they were real. Later, I found out that many don't," says Oboler. She realized that people who literally believe in intangible beings talk about them the same way as the people who only believe in them as archetypes or metaphors. "That was a little bit shocking to me in a way."

These types of surprises and revelations are part of what draw scholars to study Paganism. In the process, they sometimes make discoveries about themselves.

"I entered into [Pagan studies] very cautiously, because I was not interested in what I thought was religion at all, having rejected it many years ago," says Griffin. Griffin first learned about Paganism when a student in one of her women's studies classes announced that she was a witch, and invited Griffin to a coven gathering. That led Griffin to study the coven for a year, and in the process, felt an unexpected resonance. "[It surprised me] that religion could be fun -- and that I was a profoundly spiritual person," she recalls. During that year, she discovered that she was a Pagan, and eventually began practicing Wicca, which she still does today.

What's next for Pagan studies? As a relatively young discipline, there's plenty of room to expand, and academics see the topics getting broader rather than more specialized.

"I think one of the exciting things about Pagan studies is how broadly integrated the discipline is, and seeing people delving into many different things," says Griffin. As an example, she cites books she's planning on adding to the Pagan Studies series; one is about Paganism and process theology (which describes reality as a series of experiences rather than static objects) and another is on Pagans and science fiction novels.

"As scholars, [in order to expand the field] we have to do good work," says Clifton. "My personal desire, as editor of The Pomegranate, would be to (a) reach beyond the English-speaking world, the Anglosphere, and get more material from around the globe, and that is beginning to happen. For (b) I would also like to make more connection between people studying contemporary Paganisms and those studying religions of the past -- for instance, the Roman Empire."

"I see Pagan studies beginning to branch out to interesting questions that haven't been asked yet," says Potts, citing pop culture and feminism as two areas where Paganism has had an influence. "Now specific questions are coming out. Actually, more specific questions are articulating what this community has to say. I think that's where scholars are waking up."

"What we're seeing in Pagan studies is another area where Paganism and knowledge about Pagans is spreading rapidly," concludes Griffin. "It says, we're here, there are more of us every day, we're serious, and we're interested in shaping the direction of the future."

Links:

The Conference on Contemporary Pagan Studies: http://www.paganstudies.org

The American Academy of Religion: http://www.aarweb.org

AltaMira's Pagan Studies Series: http://www.altamirapress.com/series (scroll down to Pagan Studies Series)

The Pomegranate online: http://www.equinoxpub.com (click on Journals and then select The Pomegranate)

Chas Clifton's blog: http://www.chasclifton.com/blogger

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