ABSTRACT
In academic research increasing attention is being given to the areas of paganism, alternative spiritualties and ‘lived religion’ in the Global North, and how these issues and beliefs intersect with and shape notions of gender and feminism (Aune, 2015). However, the spatial implications, and questions of relationships with land and development remain substantively under-explored. The ways in which values and beliefs shape and are shaped by the natural environment, and understandings of the fragility of the earth offer different perspectives on religion, gender and ‘the city’. This chapter introduces some of the main themes in relation to gender and planning from a perspective of paganism and ‘spiritual but not religious’ beliefs and practices. It outlines the importance and challenge of a Goddess-focused faith to thinking about gender and religion, and draws out how this brings different questions to the arena of urban planning. Specifically this covers notions of appropriate behaviour in pre-historic/sacred spaces, the value of nature and how this plays out in local politics and the role planning policy could have in engaging with (neo)Pagan spiritualties and practices.
