Categoria: Pagan Studies

L’articolo di Barrett, piuttosto breve, può essere letto qui.

Lo scorso 13 maggio il quotidiano britannico The Indipendent, con un articolo di Gary Lachman, ha segnalato l’ultimo volume di Ronald Hutton (di cui avevo già parlato qui):

[…] The Druids, like his earlier work, explores the notion of “invented tradition”; something, he writes, “that relies upon an original foundation myth that has subsequently been disproved but has made itself worthy of respect in its own right.” Both wicca and neo-paganism fall into this camp, their claims to ancient lineage being undermined while their significance as post-modern religions is celebrated in his brilliant Triumph of the Moon.

Predictably, Hutton finds himself defending his position on two fronts. Neo-pagans, clinging to the notion that their beliefs are part of an ancient nature religion, and radical feminists upholding the idea of a primeval matriarchal society (which Hutton finds “rather delightful”), scorn Hutton’s refreshingly cheerful acceptance that there seems little evidence for either of these. And his less unbuttoned colleagues shake their heads at his optimism about Druidry and other “alternative spiritualities” as valid contemporary religions. He has a very pragmatic, creative attitude, recognising that factual error can still produce beneficial results. We may not be able to “get it right”, about the Druids and other people of the past, but “we can look upon the past and how it works for us, and call upon it in order to make the future”.

L’articolo completo è leggibile qui.