Genealogy of Religion

Exploring the Origins, History and Future of Religion

Entries Tagged as 'pagan'

Crazy Corn Children & Ritual Form

June 8th, 2011 · 8 Comments · Cognition, Ecology, Economy, Ritual

In 1977, Stephen King published his short story “Children of the Corn” in Penthouse. Seven years later, movie audiences across the nation were horrified by the ritual doings of small town Nebraska kids who worshiped something malevolent in the corn.
It surely was no coincidence that later in the year, Nebraska experienced a sharp drop in [...]

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Druids Granted Status of “Religion”

October 4th, 2010 · No Comments · Classifications, Definitions, History, Neolithic, Pagans

The British government has, after a lengthy vetting process, recognized Druidism or Druidry as a religion and granted it charitable status.  The commissioners in charge of such decisions apparently had a hard time getting their collective heads around the idea that not all religions are monotheistic, textual, dogmatic, priestly, hierarchical, institutionalized, or systematic.
As the Toronto [...]

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The Supernatural and Stonehenge

July 25th, 2010 · No Comments · Archaeology, Cultural Evolution, History, Neolithic, Pagans, Power, Ritual

As you can see from Texas A&M’s anthropology aggregating site (which is one of my favorite places on the net), at least a dozen stories have appeared in the past week about new archaeological finds near Stonehenge.  Using ground penetrating radar and other non-invasive technology, archaeologists have discovered another henge — which was wooden, approximately [...]

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Why “Pagans and Polytheism”?

February 12th, 2010 · No Comments · Pagans

As the new and organized forms of religion associated with the Neolithic Revolution matured and proliferated, various forms of polytheism spread throughout Mesopotamia, the Levant, the Mediterranean, and Europe.  A diverse pantheon of gods and goddesses spawned a remarkable array of religious cults and practices that today are called “pagan,” the best known forms of [...]

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