{"schema":"https://ver.cy/schemas/card/1.0.0","id":"vr.tr.paganism","code":"thing-q29536","url":"https://ver.cy/models/thing/q29536/","name":"paganism","alternateNames":["modern paganism","Circassian paganism","Paganism in Middle-earth","Germanic paganism","Proto-Indo-Iranian paganism","Saxon paganism","Taaraism","Paganism in modern Russia","Baltic religion","Gothic paganism","Nordic paganism","Illyrian religion"],"kind":"thing","status":"published","version":"0.2.0-wave.1","language":"en","classifiers":{"family":"Thing Registry","category":"Society, people and institutions","entryKind":"thing","plane":"SOC","domain":["SOC.ORG"],"industry":[],"navPath":"","tags":[],"facets":{}},"whatItIs":"A term historically used, often by Christians, for polytheistic and folk religions outside the Abrahamic faiths, such as ancient Germanic, Roman and Circassian religions; today it also names contemporary Pagan movements, such as Heathenry, Wicca, Druidry, Hellenism and Rodnovery, whose adherents use it as a self-designation.","purpose":"Let an agent describe paganism respectfully and neutrally: distinguish historical religions from contemporary movements, attribute beliefs to adherents, and separate fictional depictions.","scope":{"in":[],"out":[],"boundaries":[]},"distinguishingFeatures":["Umbrella term","Historical and contemporary senses","Often polytheistic or nature-centred","Term was historically pejorative"],"structure":{"bundles":[{"id":"senses","name":"Senses","description":"Historical or contemporary.","layers":[{"id":"historical","name":"Historical","description":"Ancient religions.","findings":[{"id":"historical-finding","name":"Historical","description":"Historical religions.","questions":[{"text":"Is an ancient religion meant, and what do historians and archaeologists know about it?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"How reliable are the sources?","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"contemporary","name":"Contemporary","description":"Modern movements.","findings":[{"id":"contemporary-finding","name":"Contemporary","description":"Contemporary movements.","questions":[{"text":"Is a contemporary Pagan movement meant, and how do its adherents describe it?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"When did it emerge?","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]},{"id":"practice","name":"Practice","description":"Beliefs and festivals.","layers":[{"id":"beliefs","name":"Beliefs","description":"Core beliefs.","findings":[{"id":"beliefs-finding","name":"Beliefs","description":"Beliefs.","questions":[{"text":"What beliefs do adherents of this tradition hold, according to them?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Do traditions differ?","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"festivals","name":"Festivals","description":"Seasonal festivals.","findings":[{"id":"festivals-finding","name":"Festivals","description":"Festivals.","questions":[{"text":"When are festivals such as solstices or sabbats celebrated?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Are public events open to visitors?","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]},{"id":"respect","name":"Respect","description":"Neutral handling.","layers":[{"id":"language","name":"Language","description":"Terminology.","findings":[{"id":"language-finding","name":"Language","description":"Terminology.","questions":[{"text":"Does the community use Pagan as a self-designation or prefer another name?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Is the term used respectfully?","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"symbols","name":"Symbols","description":"Misappropriation.","findings":[{"id":"symbols-finding","name":"Symbols","description":"Misappropriated symbols.","questions":[{"text":"Is a symbol used by adherents also misused by extremist groups, according to monitoring bodies?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"How should the distinction be explained?","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"senses-fiction","name":"Fiction","description":"Disambiguation.","layers":[{"id":"fiction","name":"Fiction","description":"Fictional religions.","findings":[{"id":"fiction-finding","name":"Fiction","description":"Fictional sense.","questions":[{"text":"Is a fictional religion in a novel or game meant?","kind":"boundary"},{"text":"Which entry fits?","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"sites","name":"Sites","description":"Sacred sites.","findings":[{"id":"sites-finding","name":"Sites","description":"Sacred sites.","questions":[{"text":"Which sacred sites are used today, and what access rules apply?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"How can visitors behave respectfully?","kind":"action"}]}]}]}]},"agentConduct":{"may":["Describe historical and contemporary pagan religions accurately, citing scholarly and community sources.","Use the names practitioners use for their own traditions."],"mustNot":["Use the term as an insult or to dismiss people's religion.","Present historical reconstructions as certain where evidence is thin.","Mock rites, sacred sites or objects of pagan communities.","Associate contemporary pagans with extremist groups that appropriate their symbols without evidence."],"requiresHuman":["Recording religious affiliation about identified people."]},"ethics":{"considerations":["Pagan practitioners face prejudice, and the term itself carries a history of contempt.","Extremists misuse some pagan symbols, which harms practitioners who reject them."],"affectedParties":["Pagan practitioners","Communities with ancestral traditions"]},"owners":{"steward":"Nobody owns it; it belongs to the communities that practise it.","roles":[],"masterSystems":[]},"relations":[{"target":"Q9174","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"religion","type":"related","note":"category"},{"target":"Wicca","type":"related","note":"example"},{"target":"religious studies","type":"related","note":"field"},{"target":"folk religion","type":"related","note":"related concept"}],"interaction":{"identity":{"applicability":"required","items":["Vercy registry: vr.tr.paganism","Wikidata: Q29536 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q29536)"]},"properties":{"applicability":"not-applicable","items":[]},"recognition":{"applicability":"optional","items":["Seasonal festivals such as solstice celebrations","Varied traditions and symbols","Fictional paganism in novels is a separate topic","Rituals, festivals, sacred sites, altars and symbols, varying widely between traditions."]},"capabilities":{"applicability":"required","items":["distinguish historical and contemporary paganism","describe beliefs and practices as adherents describe them","find scholarly sources on ancient religions","find information for respectful visits to sacred sites"]},"hazards":{"applicability":"required","items":["Presenting beliefs as facts or as fiction","Using pagan as a pejorative","Confusing movements with extremist misappropriation of symbols"]},"interfaces":{"applicability":"required","items":["Freedom of religion provisions","Heritage protection for sacred sites"]},"context":{"applicability":"required","items":["Understanding religious history and contemporary spirituality.","ancient European religions","Heathenry","Wicca and witchcraft traditions","Druidry","reconstructionist and ethnic movements such as Rodnovery"]}},"sources":[{"title":"Wikidata item Q29536: paganism","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q29536","note":"identity and sense of the item"},{"title":"Wikipedia: Paganism","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paganism","note":"general description of the item"}],"openQuestions":["Should each tradition be a separate entry?","How should self-designations be recorded?","How should fictional depictions be split off?"],"resources":{"spec":"/models/things/publications/thing-q29536/spec.json"},"provenance":{"origin":"thing registry research (pass 2)","builtFrom":["models/things/publications/thing-q29536/spec.json"],"providers":["Claude"],"researchStatus":"unreviewed","generatedAt":"2026-09-11T13:19:14Z","builder":"tools/build_cards.py@1.0.0"},"completeness":{"sections":{"classifiers":"filled","whatItIs":"filled","purpose":"filled","distinguishingFeatures":"filled","structure":"filled","agentConduct":"filled","ethics":"filled","owners":"filled","relations":"filled","interaction.identity":"filled","interaction.properties":"not-applicable","interaction.recognition":"filled","interaction.capabilities":"filled","interaction.hazards":"filled","interaction.interfaces":"filled","interaction.context":"filled","sources":"filled"},"notes":{"_gate":"Published through the thing publication gate 1.0 on 2026-10-06T19:51:58+00:00: completeness 1.00; sense: Wikidata description; 2 live sources; review by codex: pass","interaction.properties":"Plane SOC: no invented physical properties."},"score":1.0}}