From Neopaganism to Ecopaganism 2

I see Neopaganism and the New Age movement as the two somewhat overlapping wings of Third-wave Romanticism of the occult/spiritual sort. The First Wave occurred around 1800, the Second Wave around 1900; in both cases, plus and minus two or three decades, roughly. The Third wave of Romanticism was the Sixties Counterculture, similarly plus-and-minus.

The Ecology/Green movement is also a product of Third Wave Romanticism. And where the occult/spiritual and the ecological romanticisms overlap, I would call it Eco-romanticism; but better: Ecopaganism, since it has obvious inherent pagan roots. But in truth, strong New Age elements : biological science, future-focus, and utopianism, are inseparable from it.

This is the way I see it, anyway. These categories fit the realities pretty well, and the scheme serves as convenient ideology. For political reasons, ecologist-environmentalists may not want the cause of saving the Biosphere associated with Paganism, but what can one do?-- there has always been a strong affinity between Paganism (well, mostly) and a Nature-orientation, which was not the case with the Abrahamic religions, and though there have been those with a strong Christian background who loved and respected Nature (J. R. R. Tolkien and John Muir come to mind), and perhaps considerable ecological concern among the more liberal Abrahamic denominations over the last 50 years, the sacred books, traditions, and ideology counter a strong green/ecological adherence. Quite simply, like it or not, these religions have failed. Whereas, being new religions of the Third Wave, Neopaganism and NAM have been at least open to, and have often embraced environmentalism and ecologism. This is particularly so of Neopaganism, and that should be recognized and respected.