Modern paganism in the United States is represented by widely different movements and organizations. The largest Neopagan religious movement is

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 ...

, followed by

Neodruidism 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 ...

. Both of these religions or spiritual paths were introduced during the 1950s and 1960s from

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

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

Kemetism Kemetism (also Kemeticism; both from the Egyptian ', usually voweled Kemet, the native name of ancient Egypt), also sometimes referred to as Neterism (from ' ( Coptic ''noute'') "deity"), or Egyptian Neopaganism, is a revival of ancient Egy ...

appeared in the US in the early 1970s. Hellenic Neopaganism appeared in the 1990s.

History

Paganism first arose in the United Kingdom, with individuals like Charles Cardell and

Gerald Gardner Gerald Brosseau Gardner (13 June 1884 – 12 February 1964), also known by the craft name Scire, was an English Wiccan, as well as an author and an amateur anthropology, anthropologist and archaeology, archaeologist. He was instrumental in bri ...

popularizing their nature-based beliefs. The spread of Neopaganism in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

started in the 1960s with the introduction of

(or Druidry) and

from

. In the 1960s throughout the 1970s multiple variations of the craft (with a more centered structure) began sprouting up within the US. Neodruidism had begun in 1912 in the United States, but was more a fraternal order at that time.

(or Heathenism) entered during the 1970s, developing into new denominations proper to the US, notably Theodism. In the same period the first Kemetic groups were formed, with the tradition itself originating in the US.

, introduced by Gerald Gardner in 1954, is the best known of the Neopagan movements. Charles Cardell, Gerald Gardner's rival during the 1950s Pagan Witchcraft Movement in England, actually coined the term "Wiccens" referring to Pagan Witches. Men were not the only founders of Pagan beliefs. Feminist based practices were on the rise during the 1960s and 1970s. The Pagan Organization, WITCH, an acronym for Women's International Terrorist Conspiracy from Hell, was formed during the 1960s. Another instance of such practices was

Dianic Witchcraft Dianic Wicca, also known as Dianic Witchcraft, and, to some also as "Dianism," "Dianic Feminist Witchcraft," or simply "Feminist Witchcraft"' is a modern pagan, goddess tradition, focused on female experience and empowerment. Leadership is by w ...

, mothered by

Zsuzsanna Budapest Zsuzsanna Emese Mokcsay (born 30 January 1940 in Budapest, Hungary) is a Hungarian author, activist, journalist, playwright and songwriter living in America who writes about feminist spirituality and Dianic Wicca under the pen name Zsuzsanna Bud ...

who published a 1979 piece tilted "The Holy Book of Women's Mysteries". The 1980s and 1990s saw the emergence of a number of reconstructionist and other ethnic traditions. Hellenic Neopaganism (Dodekatheism), for example, has flourished since the 1990s, along with parallel developments in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

. Hellenism was soon legally recognized as a 'known religion' in 2017 within Greece, when granted it more religions freedoms such as the freedom to open houses of worship and the freedom for clergy to officiate weddings.

Organizations

Notable US Neopagan organizations: *

/ Goddess/eclectic: ** Cherry Hill Seminary, South Carolina, since 2001 **

Church of All Worlds The Church of All Worlds (CAW) is an American Neopagan religious group whose stated mission is to evolve a network of information, mythology, and experience that provides a context and stimulus for reawakening Gaia and reuniting her children thr ...

, formed 1962, formerly the largest of all the pagan movements, which centres on worship of the earth-mother goddess **

Circle Sanctuary Circle Sanctuary is a non-profit organization and legally recognized neopagan church based in southwestern Wisconsin, US. It aims to encourage community celebrations, spiritual healing, research, networking and education. Circle Sanctuary was f ...

, based in Wisconsin; largest Neo-Pagan organization in the US; its newsletter, ''Circle Network News'', has some 15,000 subscribers (as of 1992) ** Council of Magickal Arts,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

Covenant of the Goddess The Covenant of the Goddess (CoG) is a cross-traditional Wiccan group of solitary Wiccan practitioners and over one hundred affiliated covens (or congregations). It was founded in 1975 in order to increase co-operation among witches and to secure ...

, since 1975 **

Feraferia Feraferia is a Neopagan religion with a community that began in Southern California and now spans the United States and parts of Europe. Members of this community practice Hellenic-inspired Goddess worship. The founder of the group, Fredrick M ...

, Hellenic-inspired goddess worship, established 1967 in southern California by Frederick M. Adams, as a continuation of his Fellowship of Hesperides founded in 1957, based in Nevada City **

Feri Tradition The Feri Tradition is an initiatory tradition of modern Pagan witchcraft. It was founded in California in the 1960s by the Americans Victor Henry Anderson and his wife Cora Anderson. Practitioners have described it as an ecstatic tradition rath ...

, from ca. 1960 **

Reclaiming Tradition Reclaiming is a modern witchcraft tradition, aiming to combine the Goddess movement with feminism and political activism (in the peace and anti-nuclear movements). Reclaiming was founded in 1979, in the context of the ''Reclaiming Collective'' ...

, an international community of women and men working to combine earth-based spirituality and political activism *

Roman Paganism Religion in ancient Rome consisted of varying imperial and provincial religious practices, which were followed both by the people of Rome as well as those who were brought under its rule. The Romans thought of themselves as highly religious, ...

Nova Roma Nova Roma (Latin for 'New Rome") is an international Roman revivalist and reconstructionist organizationStrmiska, Michael: ''Modern Paganism in World Cultures: Comparative Perspectives'', pp. 335-36. ABC-CLIO, 2005 created in 1998 by Joseph Blo ...

, since 1998 * Hellenic Neopaganism ** Hellenion *

: ** Ár nDraíocht Féin, since 1983 **

The Druid Order The Druid Order is a contemporary druidry fraternal order, founded in 1909 by George Watson MacGregor Reid in the United Kingdom. At various times it has also been known as The Ancient Druid Order, An Druidh Uileach Braithreachas, and The Briti ...

, since 1909 **

Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids The Order of Bards, Ovates & Druids or OBOD is a Neo-Druidic organisation based in England, but based in part on the Welsh Gorsedd of Bards. It has grown to become a dynamic druid organisation, with members in all parts of the world. The conc ...

, since 1964 ** Reformed Druids of North America, since 1963 ** Ancient Order of Druids in America, since 1874, when it was the Ancient Archaeological Order of Druids *

Heathenry (new religious movement) 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 ...

: ** Ásatrú Alliance, AA, since 1988,

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

-based ** The Ásatrú Community Inc. (2012) A nonprofit universalist Ásatrú organization located in Thousand Oaks, California. ** Ásatrú Folk Assembly, AFA,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

based, since 1994, re-activation of Stephen McNallen's 1974-1986 Asatru Free Assembly, formerly Viking Brotherhood, 1971-1974 **

Odinic Rite The Odinic Rite (OR) is a reconstructionist religious organisation named after the god Odin. It conceives itself as a neo-völkisch Heathen movement concerned with Germanic paganism, Germanic mythology, folklore, and runes. As a white supremacis ...

, ORV, since 1997 **

The Troth The Troth, formerly the Ring of Troth, is an American-based international heathen organization.On its main ...

, since 1987 **

Wolves of Vinland Wolves of Vinland is a Norse neopaganism, Norse neopagan group based in the outskirts of Lynchburg, Virginia, Lynchburg, Virginia. In 2018, the Southern Poverty Law Center added the Wolves of Vinland to its List of organizations designated by the S ...

** Fellowship of Northern Traditions, a group founded by Heathen YouTuber, Wisdom of Odin *

** Ausar Auset Society, since 1973 ** Church of the Eternal Source, since 1970 **

Kemetic Orthodoxy Kemetic Orthodoxy is a new religious movement based on Kemeticism, which is a reconstruction of ancient Egyptian religion. It was founded in 1988 by Tamara Siuda, who remains its current Nisut or Pharaoh. Despite its name, Siuda considers Kemeti ...

, since 1988 * Nondenominational Pagan groups ** Free Spirit Alliance * American council of witches, pagans, and friends. A group working towards unity through friendship, help, information, news and issues.

Festivals

Heartland Pagan Festival Heartland or Heartlands may refer to: Businesses and organisations * Heartland Bank, a New Zealand-based financial institution * Heartland Inn, a chain of hotels based in Iowa, United States * Heartland Alliance, an anti-poverty organization ...

, since 1986 * Pagan Spirit Gathering, since 1980 * Starwood Festival, since 1981 *

Pan Pagan Festival The Pan Pagan Festival (PPF) is one of the United States's first and longest running nature spirituality festivals, organized by the Midwest Pagan Council that spans from Wednesday through Sunday in late July or early August each year. The first Pa ...

, since 1976

Demographics

Wiccan churches and other Neopagan institutions are becoming more common in the US. However, estimates of their numbers vary widely. The 2014 Pew Research Center's Religious Landscapes Survey included a subset of the New Age Spiritual Movement called "Pagan or Wiccan," reflecting that 3/4 of individuals identifying as New Age also identified as Pagan or Wiccan and placing Wiccans and Pagans at 0.3% of the total U.S. population or approximately 956,000 people of just over 1,275,000 individuals in the New Age movement. Most of the 1990s studies put the number of US Neopagans between 200,000 and 1 million (0.1% to 0.5% of the total population). A 2008 Pew Forum survey put "New Age" religious believers, including Neopagans, at about 1.2 million. According to David Waldron (2005), roughly 10 million Wiccan-related books were sold in 2000 (up from 4.5 million in 1990), as reported by the American Booksellers Association. However this gives only a rough guide to the size of the Wiccan-related economy and he comments that the added complexity of determining the boundary between Wiccan or Neopagan products and New Age products makes determining the size of the movement from this rather problematic. More conservative estimates included Helen Berger and Craig Hawkins in ''Exploring the World of Wicca'', who guessed from 150,000 to 200,000. Melton, J. Gordon, Jerome Clark and Aidan A. Kelly in ''New Age Almanac'' (1991, p. 340) estimated a total of about 300,000 people associated with the "overall movement" of Wicca, with "tens of thousands" of members active in between 1,000 and 5,000 covens. Conservative estimates in 1993 arrived at about 50,000 Wiccans in the US (''Religious Requirements & Practices of Certain Selected Groups: A Handbook for Chaplains'', 1993) while Wiccan high estimates claimed several million (Phyllis Curott, ''The Book of Shadows: A Modern Woman's Journey into the Wisdom of Witchcraft and the Magic of the Goddess''). In 2008, U.S. Today estimated 1 million

Wiccans 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 was ...

, a fast growth compared to the 100.000/200.000 estimated in late 1990s and early 2000s. The United States Census Bureau's American Community Survey found 342,000 Wiccans and 340,000 Pagans in the United States in 2008.

Wicca

Wicca was introduced to North America in 1964 by

Raymond Buckland Raymond Buckland (31 August 1934 – 27 September 2017), whose craft name was Robat, was an English writer on the subject of Wicca and the occult, and a significant figure in the history of Wicca, of which he was a high priest in both the Gardne ...

, an expatriate Briton who visited Gardner's Isle of Man coven to gain initiation. Interest in the USA spread quickly, and while many were initiated, many more non-initiates compiled their own rituals based on published sources or their own fancy. Another significant development was the creation by feminists in the late 1960s to 1970s of an eclectic movement known as

Dianic Wicca Dianic Wicca, also known as Dianic Witchcraft, and, to some also as "Dianism," "Dianic Feminist Witchcraft," or simply "Feminist Witchcraft"' is a modern pagan, goddess tradition, focused on female experience and empowerment. Leadership is by w ...

, or feminist Dianic Witchcraft. The

United States Department of Veterans Affairs The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a Cabinet-level executive branch department of the federal government charged with providing life-long healthcare services to eligible military veterans at the 170 VA medical centers a ...

in an out-of-court settlement of 23 April 2007 with the family of

Patrick Stewart Sir Patrick Stewart (born 13 July 1940) is an English actor who has a career spanning seven decades in various stage productions, television, film and video games. He has been nominated for Olivier, Tony, Golden Globe, Emmy, and Screen Actors ...

allowed the

pentacle A pentacle (also spelled and pronounced as ''pantacle'' in Thelema, following Aleister Crowley, though that spelling ultimately derived from Éliphas Lévi) "The Pantacle of Frater V. I. O." is a talisman that is used in magical evocation, and ...

as an "emblem of belief" on tombstones in military cemeteries.

Druidry

Druidry is also known as Druidism and

. The Ancient Order of Druids in America was founded in 1912 as the American branch of the Ancient and Archaeological Order of Druids. Coming from the Druid cultural revivals in the UK in the 18th and 19th centuries, Neodruidry in the U.S. has a long history. Celtic Reconstructionism, while not associated with Druidry directly, is also part of the cultural diaspora of Celtic Paganism. Celtic Reconstructionists place a greater emphasis on scholarly approaches, reviving and reconstructing the old practices of the Celts in the modern day.

Asatru

Ásatrú in the United States began in the early 1970s with Stephen McNallen's 1974-1986 ''Asatru Free Assembly'', formerly ''Viking Brotherhood'', 1971-1974. In 1986, the " folkish vs. universalist" dispute regarding the stance of Ásatrú towards

white supremacism White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White s ...

escalated, resulting in the breakup of the ''Asatru Free Assembly''. The "leftist" (universalist) branch reformed as

The Troth The Troth, formerly the Ring of Troth, is an American-based international heathen organization.On its main ...

, while the "rightist" (folkish) branch became the Ásatrú Alliance (AA). McNallen re-founded his own organisation as the Ásatrú Folk Assembly (AFA) in 1994. In 1997, the Britain-based

(OR) founded a US chapter (ORV). This means that folkish Asatru is represented by three major organizations in the US, viz. AA, AFA and OR. The three groups have attempted to collaborate within an International Asatru-Odinic Alliance from 1997 until 2002, when it dissolved again as a result of internal factional disputes.

Discrimination

According to feminist pagan

Starhawk Starhawk (born Miriam Simos on June 17, 1951) is an American feminist and author. She is known as a theorist of feminist Neopaganism and ecofeminism. In 2013, she was listed in Watkins' ''Mind Body Spirit'' magazine as one of the 100 Most Spir ...

"religious discrimination against Pagans and Wiccans and indigenous religions is omnipresent in the U.S." Controversies mostly surround religious rights in US prisons and the

US military The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six Military branch, service branches: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States N ...

. Prison inmates' right to practice minority religions was asserted in 2004 by the Supreme Court in ''

Cutter v. Wilkinson ''Cutter v. Wilkinson'', 544 U.S. 709 (2005), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that, under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), facilities that accept federal funds cannot deny prisoners ...

''. Some neopagan groups, particularly Germanic ones, have themselves been accused of racial discrimination. See Nordic racial paganism.