The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
Neopaganism
polytheistic religious movement, practiced in small groups by partisans of pre-Christian religious traditions such as Egyptian, Greek, Norse, and Celtic. Neopagans fall into two broad categories, nature-oriented and magical groups, and often incorporate arcane and elaborate rituals. Two of the movement’s most influential thinkers were Alphonse L. Constant (1810–75) and Gerard Encausse (1865–1916).
See M. Adler, Drawing Down the Moon (1981, rev. ed. 1986); T. M. Luhrman, Pervasions of the Witch’s Craft (1989); J. G. Melton and I. Poggi, Magic, Witchcraft, and Paganism in America (1992).
