ABSTRACT
Paganism is an extremely complex phenomenon, arguably not one religion, or 'Paganism', but many 'Paganisms', a coalition which is bound together through significant common ground but which at the same time rejoices both in its contemporary diversity and in the tangles of its historical skein. Even in its modem setting, Paganism has no known or uncontested starting point and no single founder or originator; rather, it has developed into its present forms from a variety of sources which are themselves traceable through the mythic landscape of European history. But the boundaries cannot be set so easily, for Paganism has also drawn upon concepts indigenous to religions outside Europe (adopting chakras from India, for example) and the very word 'Pagan' continues to be an arena of contested meaning.
