h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: The Traditions of Paganism - A10397874
Author: darakat - Now in a state of flux - U200300

Hello, having some clout to the neo pagan religious entries round here would be nice, so I shall start with this entry.

Hi! I've had a (very quick)look at this. I have to say it looks like a good basis for an entry.

However, if you want to get it into the EG, first of all you need to finish it. Then you need to put it into <./>GuideMl</.>. All of the bits in bold need to be converted into headers. Also an introduction and some kind of concluding sentence would be great!

Oh yes, and I think the title is a little misleading. Perhaps "Modern Paganism" would be better, since you don't seem to deal with ancient paganism.

Hope this helps!

IT doesn't absolutely need to be in GUideML, though that would help. It does need to be finished, and preferably with some sort of conclusion.

Good point Leo, thanks. The sub ed can do the guide ml if necessary.

darakat, I agree with Elentari - it's the good basis for an entry.

Generally I think you need to write the entry so it's not solely a list. You could either separate the items out into different sections, or leave the list but put in an introduction and conclusion, that sort of thing.


In the introduction there needs to be an outline of the difference between traditional pagan systems and neo pagan systems - in the first instance making clear that there are pagan systems that have been historically ongoing, and there are the ones that have been 'recreated' (and some that are probably a mix of both). You could then sort the list into the two (or more) categories, or at least show somehow for each system whether they are trad or neo.

I think a comment about how many neopagans are unaware of the source and historical shortness of their 'tradition' is important (as there are ALOT of misunderstandings about this).

You could also talk about why many pagan traditions got lost, and the impetus for modern recreations.

I think also that there may be a problem with using the term 'tradition' in the title, as there is some debate as to whether the neopagan traditions are traditional (or old enough to be called a tradition).


Links to the other EG pagan entries would be good. Links to wiki are generally frowned upon.

Can I suggest having a good read of the Edited entries on paganism - if you haven't already (there's an EG entry on Asatru for instance, which you could link to instead of the wiki one).

I'd also suggest a proof read as there are a few grammatical and spelling type mistakes



>>>
Appalachian Granny Magic A recently heard of tradition
<<<
Recently heard of by who? I haven't heard it formally called 'granny' magic, but have been aware of Appalachian traditions for years. I think they are traditional rather then neo btw.


I'll leave further comment on the content until you've had a chance to respond to current feedback



kea.

Some great points there kea. And I always like being agreed with.

Thanks for the ideas, please note it will take a bit of time for me to fix them as I am a full time worker. Of course any new ideas and comments on new material are welcome!

No rush!

Been fixing some of the issues, it should now defiantly be guideML but not everything in bold, I have a long list of stuff to do still:

- Alphabetise it properly
- Link each letter of the alphabet to make things easy to find
- Find more info on all the "paths" and put it here
- Edit intro and other explanation text
- Add more paths/traditions
- Delete any old or irrelevant info
- Create proper separators for each letter and references section

Anything else?

Yes more updates, for those who are paying attention to this thread

Hi darakat

A first comment is that it's generally not acceptable to write in the first person for the EG. You'll need to change the places where you've used 'I'.


I think we need to have some discussion about what you are meaning with your ambiguity paragraph.

>>
There is no reason to call "neo-pagan" not pagan and there is no reason to call it "neo-pagan" either. The reason for not referring to many of these paths as "Neo-pagan" is that some are not. Voodoo is a prime example of this. It is not a neo-pagan faith, nor is it a pagan faith.
<<

Personally I am happy calling 'neopagan' part of the wider pagan religions. However if you are not going to use the term neo pagan to differentiate between pagan traditions that are culturally based and have existed in an unbroken line, with those that have been 'invented' or 'reinvented' then it's hard to see how you can write a factual entry. Are you saying that such a distinction is unimportant to make, or do you believe that such a distinction doesn't exist?

The reason why I think it is important is because there is a HUGE amount of misinformation in the general public and within some pagan and alternative communities about what neo paganism and paganism are. Alot of people I know still believe that neo paganism is traditional in the sense of coming from an old culture and they simply do not understand the modernity of what they are practicing nor why it's important to understand this.

Obviously there are modern pagan traditions that are not neo pagan, but that doesn't mean that there is no such thing as neo-paganism (or whatever you want to call it).

I am happy for you to use an entirely different term btw, if you have one. But I still think the distinction needs to be made.


I'm also unclear as to your exmaple of voodoo. If it is not pagan then why is it in the entry?

One thing that might help is if you wrote an introduction, explaining briefly what paganism is. In fact whatever else you do I think this is essential. I find it helpful to think of someone reading an entry who knows nothing, or very little, about the subject, and then try and describe it to them.


If you really want to avoid the whole neopagan thing (and I get that you weren't intending an entry on that) then how about writing a few sentences describing that some pagan traditions have been created because the older systems were suppressed or died out and people felt an affinity and need to have pagan religions? Or something like that, that lets people know the *history* of modern paganism.

I think also that this will become clearer as you put in more info on each religion - maybe as much as possible put the origins.


Generally I think there needs to be an easier flow to the entry. The ambiguity paragraph reads more like a lecture (and could probably be avoided entirely with an introduction and explanation of modern paganism). I don't think you need the bit about the Wicca entry - you can make the point for not linking it in Peer Review if you need to.

If you could put the EG links in now it would be helpful for those of us reading so we don't have to keep looking for them.


Hope my comments are confusing matters further. It's still the basis of a good entry. Look forward to seeing what you come up with,
kea.

Fixed up the ambiguity thing, I hope what I have written better now, I forgot to delete my personal rant about the whole argument before (sorry!).

Actually Voodoo isn't in there, Vodou is, there a different faith that are pronounced exactly the same but I suppose my arguments not important for the guide in any place. Voodoo probably needs to go in as well (sigh), since it will fit into my new "scope" which I shall do as soon as I have posted this reply.

I will put in as much info as possible about each of the different traditions soon, its gonna take a while and a few references so you may have to wait for that.

Links to any EG entries on paganism should be provided I am aware! I kind of thought someone would point that out sooner or later, I shall go scouting around for them ASAP and link them.

Not sure about the whole "Wicca" entry in the EG, I haven't tried talking to the eds about it, I should get around to that as last time I looked it really was quite bad (historically alone), but maybe its been cleaned up since I last looked.

Minor edit and internal linking now done, now all I have to do is give it more content :P

Yay! finally got to some content update and a "general" post about wicca. I hope someone around hear is willing to give me a hand in getting some content on this page as at this rate its going to take years.

HI darakat,



I like the quote at the start The EG doesn't use introduction headers, so you could remove all this:

"The Traditions of Paganism And Neo-Paganism

More Work Based on comments commencing...

Introduction"


In fact it would be easier to comment on the entry itself if you took out the suggestions or requests for further information. eg

"But if you have some authoritative info on a path with links or enough info you can give us that we can put it here, do not be afraid to leave a comment with some proper citation please."

That won't make it into the EG, so best to remove it now.

Where you have written 'this entry' it reads too self consciously. It would be better if you took those bits out.

Likewise, the top of page etc links don't need to be there.


I still think you need an introduction explaining what paganism is.

I also still think that there needs to be an explanation of the differences between old traditions and neo-paganism. I'll be arguing for that in PR - if you want to get other opinions more people might comment there.


If you want help with the research, you could ask other h2g2 pagans, or post in Ask?



kea.

1. Ok will do.
2. Also will do.
3. I think most of these will probably go when I produce the final basic info for each tradition/path.
4. Those links are likely to be needed in the final version (some time to come I am sure) when each of the entries is as long as the one on Astru (as I plan).
5. Good idea, if there are any :P.

And of course we go through another complete rebuild :P. Oh well.

You still working on this dara?

Not really, trying to get the help of the pagan h2g2 community on it at current.