ABSTRACT

Neo-pagans are mainly interested in practising religions of the pre-Christian era, whether as a survival or a revival. Whereas Aquarian Perennism is self-styled as an awakening in the future, neo-paganism thinks of itself more as a re-awakening of riches of the rituals and beliefs of the past. As D. Kemp underlines from his knowledge of the field in the UK, there are self-describing neo-pagans who expect a new age and there are self-describing ‘New Agers’ who perform rituals of the occult type. If Aquarian perennism comes from the Theosophical Society’s stream of thought, neo-paganism must also be located in relation to modern occultism. Presentist perennism might be a very new development in perennism in Western societies, since groups like the Theosophical Society and Spiritualism embraced the notion of progress, in the sense that they appropriate a ‘divine’ time in their everyday life and try to live it.