Hermetic Library fellow Mark Stavish pointed out a paper by Michael LaRiviere on “Neopaganism” over at Thoughts of Amherst which may be of interest. Mark says, “Are Second Generation NeoPagans More Conservative Than Their Parents? A well done undergraduate paper from Amherst (2007).”

“I first was curious about individuals’ spiritual and religious life, and I made a point to differentiate between the two points. For instance, I wondered if individuals’ beliefs may have conflicted with the religion’s stated beliefs, or if one’s personal rituals were less formalized than group religious rituals. The very nature of Neopaganism provides an interesting answer to this question, as the movement is much more individual-oriented than traditional old religions. However, in considering the question of personal spirituality versus religion, another question arose as to the evolution of the religion. Did subsequent generations of Neopagans have differing views on spirituality and religion? Considering the liberalization of Roman Catholicism over the past fifty years, I thought perhaps a similar trend might be seen in Neopaganism. The answers I found were surprising, reflecting simultaneous pulls in various directions.” [via]