South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

is primarily represented by the traditions of

Wicca Wicca () is a modern Pagan religion. Scholars of religion categorise it as both a new religious movement and as part of the occultist stream of Western esotericism. It was developed in England during the first half of the 20th century and w ...

contemporary Witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...

Germanic neopaganism Heathenry, also termed Heathenism, contemporary Germanic Paganism, or Germanic Neopaganism, is a modern Pagan religion. Scholars of religious studies classify it as a new religious movement. Developed in Europe during the early 20th cent ...

and

Neo-Druidism Druidry, sometimes termed Druidism, is a modern spiritual or religious movement that promotes the cultivation of honorable relationships with the physical landscapes, flora, fauna, and diverse peoples of the world, as well as with nature deit ...

. The movement is related to comparable trends in the United States and Western Europe and is mostly practiced by

White South Africans White South Africans generally refers to South Africans The population of South Africa is about 58.8 million people of diverse origins, cultures, languages, and religions. The South African National Census of 2022 was the most recent censu ...

of urban background; it is to be distinguished from folk healing and

mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narra ...

in local Bantu culture. While there are no official statistics, the movement has been described as "small but growing" as of 2004."This is the indigenous pre-Christian body of religions of Europe, which includes branches such as Druidism and Wicca. Pagan belief is based on the notion of life as an endless circle, with the promise of rebirth, renewal and recycling as embodied in the 'wheel of the year', a calendar of events following the solar and lunar cycles. Rituals are performed, in sacred places, on occasions linked to cyclic events such as the full moon, the summer solstice, the spring equinox and the autumn equinox. Pagans emphasise healing, the use of magic, and journeys to the 'other world' through meditation, drumming, dance, divination, and the use of an assortment of sacred tools including crystals, candles, drums, and feathers. Paganism is associated with a strong reverence for the Earth, and for human life, and places women in a special position in religious worship. Paganism is the religion of choice for a small but growing number of mainly white South Africans. Pagans have suffered prejudice and misunderstanding, and have been mistakenly classed with much-feared satanic worship." Representatives of the movement have published claims of numbers of adherents ranging in the five digits as of 2008.

History

South Africa's first democratic elections were held on 27 April 1994. The new Constitution provided for the right to

freedom of religion Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freed ...

, belief and opinion, paving the way for Paganism in South Africa. Early public activity included the first publication of ''Penton Pagan Magazine'' in December 1995, edited by Damon Leff, and the formation of the Pagan Federation of South Africa (PFSA) in June 1996, with Donna Vos elected as its first president. While the PFSA constitution took into account the principles of the UK-based

Pagan Federation The Pagan Federation is a UK-based voluntary organisation, founded as the Pagan Front, that provides information and counters misconceptions about Neopaganism. It was formed in 1971, and campaigns for the religious rights of Neo-pagans and ed ...

formed in 1971, it has never been affiliated with it, nor with the Pagan Federation International (PFI), which has been represented in South Africa since 2007.

Beliefs and practices

South African Pagans actively participate in a diverse variety of groups or function primarily as

solitary practitioner A solitary witch is one who chooses to practice their spiritual faith in the privacy of their home or other designated space, without the need to participate in a group such as that of a Wiccan coven; although it’s not uncommon for solitaries to ...

s. Pagan traditions practised in South Africa include

, Heathenry and

Druidry A druid was a member of the high-ranking class in ancient Celtic cultures. Druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no written accounts. Whi ...

. Wicca and contemporary Witchcraft are the predominant traditions practised and the majority of South African Pagans identify themselves as Wiccans or Witches in a contemporary sense. While beliefs and practices vary, Donna Vos broadly defined Paganism as follows in an interview: Professor Philip Harrison of

Wits University The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( or ). The university ...

's School of Architecture and Planning included an overview of Paganism in a series of specialised travel books: Wallace (2006) outlined common beliefs and practices uniting South African Pagans:

Terms of identification

South African Pagans experience prejudice and discrimination due to the use of misleading terms of identification and the narrow interpretation of certain terms by other members of society. The capitalised terms of

self-identification In the psychology of self, one's self-concept (also called self-construction, self-identity, self-perspective or self-structure) is a collection of beliefs about oneself. Generally, self-concept embodies the answer to the question ''"Who am I? ...

''Pagan'', ''Heathen'', ''Witch'' and ''Witchcraft'' have been

reappropriated In linguistics, reappropriation, reclamation, or resignification is the cultural process by which a group reclaims words or artifacts that were previously used in a way disparaging of that group. It is a specific form of a semantic change (i.e. ...

by Neopagans worldwide, however historical negative stereotypes persist in the mainstream media and society in general. The colonial terms ''

witch Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...

'' and ''

witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have ...

'' also have strong negative connotations in a traditional African context, relating to concepts such as evil and harmful magic, and are not terms generally used by practitioners of traditional African religion to identify themselves. Accusations of witchcraft can lead to violent

witch-hunt A witch-hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. The classical period of witch-hunts in Early Modern Europe and Colonial America took place in the Early Modern per ...

s and are therefore considered a criminal offence in South Africa under the

Witchcraft Suppression Act of 1957 The Witchcraft Suppression Act 3 of 1957 is an act of the Parliament of South Africa that prohibits various activities related to witchcraft, witch smelling or witch-hunting. It is based on the Witchcraft Suppression Act 1895 of the Cape Colo ...

. Pagans do not generally believe in the concept of the

Devil A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of ...

or identify themselves as

Satanists Satanism is a group of ideological and philosophical beliefs based on Satan. Contemporary religious practice of Satanism began with the founding of the atheistic Church of Satan by Anton LaVey in the United States in 1966, although a few h ...

. The term '' occult'', meaning hidden or secret, may be applied to

Western esotericism Western esotericism, also known as esotericism, esoterism, and sometimes the Western mystery tradition, is a term scholars use to categorise a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas ...

practised by Pagans among others. The terms '' occult'', ''occultism'' and ''occultist'' generally only have negative connotations in a

Christian fundamentalist Christian fundamentalism, also known as fundamental Christianity or fundamentalist Christianity, is a religious movement emphasizing biblical literalism. In its modern form, it began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries among British and ...

context.

Festivals and holidays

South African Pagans celebrate the cycles and seasons of

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...

throughout the year according to the

Wheel of the Year The Wheel of the Year is an annual cycle of seasonal festivals, observed by many modern pagans, consisting of the year's chief solar events (solstices and equinoxes) and the midpoints between them. While names for each festival vary among dive ...

based on Southern Hemisphere seasonal dates where applicable. The major seasonal festivals of the year known as ''sabbats'' are the

winter solstice The winter solstice, also called the hibernal solstice, occurs when either of Earth's poles reaches its maximum tilt away from the Sun. This happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere (Northern and Southern). For that hemisphere, the winter ...

(in June), the first spring festival (1 August), the spring equinox (in September), the first summer festival (31 October), the summer solstice (in December), the first harvest festival (1 February), the autumnal equinox (in March) and the final harvest festival (30 April). Seasonal holidays do not coincide with the corresponding Christian holidays which originated in the Northern Hemisphere and absorbed the European pagan holidays based on Northern Hemisphere seasonal dates. The winter solstice is celebrated in June whereas Christmas is celebrated midsummer in December. The spring equinox is celebrated in September whereas Easter is celebrated in March/April. The final harvest festival is celebrated on 30 April whereas Halloween is celebrated on 31 October. Since 2004 South African Pagans have also celebrated Pagan Freedom Day on Freedom Day, a public holiday celebrated on 27 April to commemorate South Africa's first democratic elections and the end of apartheid in 1994.

Demographics

The majority of South African Pagans have European ancestry and live in urban areas. There are no official statistics about South African Pagans. Historical Census statistics for religious denominations do not include an explicit count of Pagans and the Census 2011 form did not include any questions about religion due to low priority. In 2003 then president of the Pagan Federation of South Africa Norman Geldenhuys stated there were approximately 50,000 Pagans in South Africa. In 2008 Donna Vos stated there were an estimated 10,000 to 50,000 Pagans in South Africa.

Legal status

The Civil Union Act, which came into effect on 30 November 2006, legalised

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

and also allowed for the legal designation of religious marriage officers without any religious restriction in accordance with the Constitution. Previously, religious marriage officers could only be legally designated as such "for the purpose of solemnizing marriages according to Christian, Jewish or Mohammedan rites or the rites of any Indian religion" in accordance with the

Marriage Act Marriage Act may refer to a number of pieces of legislation: Australia * Marriage Act 1961, Australia's law that governs legal marriage. * Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Act 2017 Canada * ''Civil Marriage Act'' passed in ...

. A Pagan wedding ceremony, also referred to as a

handfasting Handfasting is a traditional practice that, depending on the term's usage, may define an unofficiated wedding (in which a couple marries without an officiant, usually with the intent of later undergoing a second wedding with an officiant), a ...

, performed by someone other than a legally designated marriage officer could be legalised in a second civil ceremony although this option was restricted to opposite-sex couples prior to the implementation of the Civil Union Act. In accordance with section 5 of the Civil Union Act, a Pagan organisation may apply to the

Department of Home Affairs An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

for designation as a religious organisation and when designated as such must formally nominate suitable candidates from within their organisation to be designated by the Department of Home Affairs as religious marriage officers for the purpose of solemnising marriages according to the rites of that religious organisation. A Pagan organisation may also apply to the

South African Revenue Service The South African Revenue Service (SARS) is the revenue service of the South African government. It administers the country's tax system and customs service, and enforces compliance with related legislation. It is governed by the SARS Act 34 of ...

for registration as a tax-exempt public-benefit organisation (PBO) conducting public-benefit activities involving "religion, belief or philosophy". The Witchcraft Suppression Act of 1957 based on colonial witchcraft legislation criminalises claiming a knowledge of witchcraft, conducting specified practices associated with witchcraft including the use of charms and divination, and accusing others of practising witchcraft.Witchcraft Suppression Act 3 of 1957
/ref> In 2007 the

South African Law Reform Commission The South African Law Reform Commission (SALRC) is a law reform commission which investigates the state of South African law and makes proposals for its reform to Parliament and the provincial legislatures. It is an independent advisory statutory ...

received submissions from the South African Pagan Rights Alliance and the Traditional Healers Organization requesting the investigation of the constitutionality of the act and on 23 March 2010 the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development approved a South African Law Reform Commission project to review witchcraft legislation.

Registered organisations

Pagan organisations which have been designated as religious organisations by the Department of Home Affairs in accordance with section 5 of the Civil Union Act include the South African Pagan Rights Alliance (SAPRA), the South African Pagan Council (SAPC), the Correllian Nativist Tradition South Africa (CNTSA) and the Circle of the African Moon (CAM). The South African Pagan Council (SAPC) was also registered as a tax-exempt Public Benefit Organization (PBO) by the South African Revenue Service in 2008.

Advocacy

Prior to the passing of the Civil Union Act in 2006, the Pagan Federation of South Africa (PFSA) formed in 1996, the South African Pagan Rights Alliance (SAPRA) formed by Damon Leff in 2004 and the Circle of the African Moon (CAM) formed by Donna Vos in 2001 lobbied for the reform of marriage legislation to bring it into line with the Constitution. The South African Pagan Rights Alliance (SAPRA) is a faith-based human rights organisation which promotes the guaranteed liberties and freedoms enshrined for all South African Pagans in the Bill of Rights of the South African Constitution and assists South African Pagans whose constitutionally guaranteed rights and freedoms have been infringed due to unfair discrimination to obtain appropriate redress. Membership of SAPRA is restricted to South African citizens who identify as Pagans. SAPRA is an affiliated member of the South African Pagan Council (SAPC) formed in 2006 and represents the SAPC in matters relating to the defence and protection of the rights of South African Pagans. In 2007 SAPRA and SAPC were represented by Lawyers for Human Rights, an independent human rights organisation, in their request to the South African Law Reform Commission for the review of witchcraft legislation on constitutional grounds. Touchstone Advocacy is a SAPRA initiative launched in March 2008 advocating an end to witch-hunts globally, especially during the 30 days from 29 March to 27 April each year. The victims of these witch-hunts are generally vulnerable members of society who do not identify themselves as Witches or Pagans.