Pop Pagans

Donna Weston is Head of Popular Music at the Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University, Australia. Andy Bennett is Professor in Cultural Sociology in the Centre for Public Culture and Ideas, Griffith University, Australia.

"This varied collection of essays traces the intertwining of modern Paganisms with popular music through a wide variety of genres. An important contribution to our understanding of emergent Pagan cultures, and a very exciting book." - Sabina Magliocco, California State University "'Pop Pagans: Paganism and Popular Music' is a crucial contribution to the study of spirituality and music. The wide-ranging coverage and theoretical perspectives presented here provide an essential baseline for approaching this dynamic intersection of expressive forms." - Holly Everett, Memorial University, Canada "'Pop Pagans' is a useful contribution, illustrating just how far 'pagan' themes have penetrated popular culture and music and, simultaneously, how 'religion' is not merely a matter of belief and 'spirituality' but also a practical embodied matter of music, dance, and community." - Anthropology Review Database 'This work successfully serves as a broad overview of the relationship between popular music and Paganism, but can serve equally well as a general introduction to the core ideas and foci unifying diverse Pagan groups - Recommended' - Choice

• Contributors List Foreword, Graham Harvey 1. Towards a Definition of Pagan Music, Donna Weston and Andy Bennett Part I Histories 2. Paganism and the Counter-culture, Andy Bennett 3. Paganism, Popular Music and Stonehenge, Rupert Till 4. Rememberings of a Pagan Past: Popular Music and Sacred Place, Donna Weston Part II Genres 5. Pagan Metal, Deena Weinstein 6. The Darker Shade of Pagan: The Emergence of Goth, Jason Pitzl-Waters 7. Paganism and the British Folk Revival, Andy Letcher Part III Performance 8. Dancing Paganism: Music, Dance and Pagan Identity, Douglas Ezzy 9. Total Solar Eclipse Festivals, Cosmic Spirituality and Planetary Culture, Graham St John 10. Techno-shamanism and the Economy of Ecstasy as a Religious Experience, Alan Nixon and Adam Possamai Part IV Communities 11. Sacramental Song: Theological Imagination in the Religious Music of American Pagans, Christopher Chase 12. The Rise of the Celtic Cyber-diaspora: The Influence of the "New Age" on Internet Pagan Communities and the Dissemination of "Celtic" Music, Narelle McCoy 13 Esoterrorism and the Wrecking of Civilization: Genesis P-Orridge and the Rise of Industrial Paganism, Christopher Partridge Notes Discography and Filmography Bibliography Index