Pagan Family Values

For most of its history, contemporary Paganism has been a religion of converts. Yet as it enters its fifth decade, it is incorporating growing numbers of second‑generation Pagans for whom Paganism is a family tradition, not a religious worldview arrived at via a spiritual quest. In Pagan Family Values, S. Zohreh Kermani explores the ways in which North American Pagan families pass on their beliefs to their children, and how the effort to socialize children influences this new religious movement. The first ethnographic study of the everyday lives of contemporary Pagan families, this volume brings their experiences into conversation with contemporary issues in American religion. Through formal interviews with Pagan families, participant observation at various pagan events, and data collected via online surveys, Kermani traces the ways in which Pagan parents transmit their religious values to their children. Rather than seeking to pass along specific religious beliefs, Pagan parents tend to seek to instill values, such as religious tolerance and spiritual independence, that will remain with their children throughout their lives, regardless of these children's ultimate religious identifications. Pagan parents tend to construct an idealized, magical childhood for their children that mirrors their ideal childhoods. The socialization of children thus becomes a means by which adults construct and make meaningful their own identities as Pagans. Kermani’s meticulous fieldwork and clear, engaging writing provide an illuminating look at parenting and religious expression in Pagan households and at how new religions pass on their beliefs to a new generation.

An intriguing, important, and often entertaining look at an under-studied aspect of new religions. Highly recommended., Kermanis superb interweaving of survey-data, interviews, and observations of Spiral Scout meetings and festivals offers readers a rare glimpse into religious practice from the perspectives of multiple generations. She expertly explores how children and parents co-create their tradition, working together to build a shared history that is as much about remembering a mythic past as it is about forgetting parents struggles with institutional religion. Analyzing the daily practices of pagan familieswho value childlike wonder and playful behavior in adults and preternatural wisdom in childrenKermani demonstrates the often-theorized interdependence of the definitions of 'child' and 'adult' with a clarity that will cause future scholars to rethink their assumptions about the fixed nature of these categories. This excellent volume is a must read for anyone interested in the creation and maintenance of religious practices, American Paganism, and childhood studies., This is one of the best and most nuanced ethnographic studies of contemporary Paganism to come along. Kermani takes us into the deeply conflicted religious lives of Pagan families, yet as she so deftly reveals, Pagans are not unique in their ambivalent desires for their children. While paying careful attention to how and why adults refashion their own lost childhoods to create religious traditions for their families, Kermani also attends to the often-uncomfortable ways real children experience these ritual practices and ethical guidelines. In so doing, she highlights a central dilemma in contemporary American cultural and religious life. This sensitively written book offers a powerful model for researching childrens religious worlds, the ways these worlds are constructed by adults and inhabited, resisted, and reshaped by children., This study of the contemporary Pagan construction of childhood by Kermani (Youngstown State Univ.) is an important addition to academic collections, primarily because it covers an area of inquiry not addressed in the literature until now. Representing about 3 percent of the US population, Pagans are under-studied. This ethnography, drawing on both extensive fieldwork and survey research, provides good thick description and analysis., Kermani has provided a valuable window not only onto a & new religious movement but onto the very problem of & religion in America.

S. Zohreh Kermani received a PhD in American Religions from Harvard University in 2010. Her research interests include the history of new and alternative religions in the U.S. and childhood and religion. She currently teaches religious studies part time at Youngstown State University.