paganism
Let an agent describe paganism respectfully and neutrally: distinguish historical religions from contemporary movements, attribute beliefs to adherents, and separate fictional depictions.
Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled
4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions
Senses Historical or contemporary.
Historical
Ancient religions.
Historical
Historical religions.
- Is an ancient religion meant, and what do historians and archaeologists know about it? provenance
- How reliable are the sources? boundary
Contemporary
Modern movements.
Contemporary
Contemporary movements.
- Is a contemporary Pagan movement meant, and how do its adherents describe it? provenance
- When did it emerge? provenance
Practice Beliefs and festivals.
Beliefs
Core beliefs.
Beliefs
Beliefs.
- What beliefs do adherents of this tradition hold, according to them? provenance
- Do traditions differ? boundary
Festivals
Seasonal festivals.
Festivals
Festivals.
- When are festivals such as solstices or sabbats celebrated? provenance
- Are public events open to visitors? provenance
Respect Neutral handling.
Language
Terminology.
Language
Terminology.
- Does the community use Pagan as a self-designation or prefer another name? provenance
- Is the term used respectfully? boundary
Symbols
Misappropriation.
Symbols
Misappropriated symbols.
- Is a symbol used by adherents also misused by extremist groups, according to monitoring bodies? provenance
- How should the distinction be explained? action
Fiction Disambiguation.
Fiction
Fictional religions.
Fiction
Fictional sense.
- Is a fictional religion in a novel or game meant? boundary
- Which entry fits? action
Sites
Sacred sites.
Sites
Sacred sites.
- Which sacred sites are used today, and what access rules apply? provenance
- How can visitors behave respectfully? action
Classifiers Filled
- Family
- Thing Registry
- Category
- Society, people and institutions
- Entry kind
- thing
- Plane
- SOC
- Domain
- SOC.ORG
- Other names and narrower kinds
- 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
What it is Filled
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.
Why it exists Filled
Let an agent describe paganism respectfully and neutrally: distinguish historical religions from contemporary movements, attribute beliefs to adherents, and separate fictional depictions.
Distinguishing features Filled
- Umbrella term
- Historical and contemporary senses
- Often polytheistic or nature-centred
- Term was historically pejorative
What robots and AI may and may not do Filled
Must not
- 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.
Only with a human decision
- Recording religious affiliation about identified people.
May
- Describe historical and contemporary pagan religions accurately, citing scholarly and community sources.
- Use the names practitioners use for their own traditions.
Moral aspects Filled
- Pagan practitioners face prejudice, and the term itself carries a history of contempt.
- Extremists misuse some pagan symbols, which harms practitioners who reject them.
Who is affected
- Pagan practitioners
- Communities with ancestral traditions
Owners Filled
Steward
Nobody owns it; it belongs to the communities that practise it.
Links to other meta-models Filled
parent
- Q9174 - registry parent class
related
- religion - category
- Wicca - example
- religious studies - field
- folk religion - related concept
What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled
Identity and identifiers required Filled
- Vercy registry: vr.tr.paganism
- Wikidata: Q29536 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q29536)
Direct properties not applicable Not applicable
Not applicable
Plane SOC: no invented physical properties.
Recognition optional Filled
- 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 and actions required Filled
- 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 and failure modes required Filled
- Presenting beliefs as facts or as fiction
- Using pagan as a pejorative
- Confusing movements with extremist misappropriation of symbols
Standards and interfaces required Filled
- Freedom of religion provisions
- Heritage protection for sacred sites
Context of use required Filled
- Understanding religious history and contemporary spirituality.
- ancient European religions
- Heathenry
- Wicca and witchcraft traditions
- Druidry
- reconstructionist and ethnic movements such as Rodnovery
Sources Filled
- Wikidata item Q29536: paganism - identity and sense of the item
- Wikipedia: Paganism - general description of the item
Open questions
- Should each tradition be a separate entry?
- How should self-designations be recorded?
- How should fictional depictions be split off?
Machine files
Provenance
thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed
Built from: models/things/publications/thing-q29536/spec.json