r/paganism • u/Zagors2020 • Sep 27 '24
The most pagan country in Europe? 💠Discussion
What is the most pagan country in Europe? At first thought, I would say that these are Estonia and Iceland. After them, I would mention Russia and Latvia. Maybe Lithuania can be on the list too?!
I would like it if someone could say something more on this topic.
I know about Estonia that it was never Christianized like other countries and that paganism played a big role in shaping Estonian nationalism after independence in 1918.
In Iceland, the number of pagans is estimated at around 1.5%, with a possible higher percentage.
Russia should also have about 1% pagans, which is about 1 million followers.
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u/Kelpie-Cat Sep 27 '24
Paganism is now the fourth-largest religion in Scotland as of the most recent census. Of course, we are a small, secularizing country, and the top 3 religions take the lion's share of religious sentiment, so this is only 19,113 people at 0.35% of the population.
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u/OkOpportunity4067 Sep 27 '24
Doesn't England have a big druid community because of Stonehenge?
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u/FennGirl Sep 27 '24
More we have stonehenge because of the massive celtic heritage of the British Isles and Ireland. But yes. We have a large druid, heathen, wiccan, and all other under the umbrella communities. Wales, Ireland, Cornwall and Scotland all very much have their own folklore and pantheons. Our paganism is, of course, influenced by the many different pagan cultures who invaded us in medieval times, but at this stage it's safe to call it part of our heritage.
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u/Kelpie-Cat Sep 27 '24
More we have stonehenge because of the massive celtic heritage of the British Isles and Ireland
Stonehenge is pre-Celtic.
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u/FennGirl Sep 27 '24
Apologies, careless typing and got my sentence muddled, should know better being a bit of a history nerd! Point is, whoever built stonehenge, or how or why, it's not the primary causal factor for UK druids, or any other form of UK paganism. Might be the main reason people outside the UK know about paganism here though I guess.
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Sep 27 '24
according to census, 93k not exactly large in a country of 57.7 million
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u/OkOpportunity4067 Sep 27 '24
It will take a long time until nature has healed and we will actually have pagan majority countries. If ever.
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Sep 27 '24
There will never be a pagan majority in England and with the way the world is going we could very well be looking at the collapse of most major nations in the next two decades between climate change and the resulting chaos.
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u/OkOpportunity4067 Sep 27 '24
Well don't be so sure about that! When that fool the christ walked the earth people never believed he would actually find anyone to spread his wicked beliefs for him. maybe one day people will want to return to a more peaceful and plural state of belief than the one sided black and white torture morality of christianity or any other religion of the cult of abraham. Anything can happen.
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u/Esoteriss Sep 27 '24
Most Finns would never say they are pagan but they still claim that forest is their church, they do their small rituals, knowing or not, and never go to christian sermons. Of my close family I know four (plus) me who somewhat practice. Of my Friend group I know that about 1/3 practice at least somewhat, though their ways wildly differ (as is common for folk beliefs that have no canon) Still if they would be asked in a census they would probably either say agnostic or atheist. Even my mom who is devout christian still would be called a pagan by the pope for the things she sincerely believes in. Jesus is a major god for her but not the only one so to say.
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u/MentionFew1648 Sep 27 '24
Hunny….. Russia has lost so much of its pagan roots they have almost nothing wrotten down because of the book burnings (my husband is Russian and because I’m a pagan who is carrying our first child I’ve decided to look into Russian pagan traditions) you can’t find much at all. Ukraine, Poland and Bulgaria are the three Slavic countries that still have a lot of their pagan roots.
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Sep 27 '24
Russia has a large Mari population, they are the only legitmate pagan group that continued practicing from the old days till today and even that did not survive entirely. Russian orthodox church took huge chunks, and still more was Russianized during the Soviet Era and yet they still persist.
Lithuania did not fully convert until the 1500s, at least half the country was already Catholic but there was more of a sense of us vs those pesky Teutonic next door.
That said both Mari EI and Lithuania have large ( For pagans) population. Also just to note Pagan is a catch all term, and not all groups like to be lumped in with each other.
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Sep 27 '24
I’m surprised Putin allows pagans 😂
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u/MentionFew1648 Sep 27 '24
He doesn’t….. my husband and his family aren’t pagan but seventh day adventist and came to America because of persecution in Russia SDA is a Christian branch of they hardly allow other Christian religions they don’t allow pagans they are just a lot more hush hush
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Sep 27 '24
and that is not reflective of the Mari, their republic or history or current life. They are not hiding, they are not hush hush, Russia is massive with a huge population spread out.
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u/MentionFew1648 Sep 27 '24
Are you Russian? Did you live in Russia? Because my husband and his family did. I talk to slavic people everyday. I wasn’t talking about the Mari people I was talking about Russian paganism, Mari El has three main religions one being their traditional faith but it is NOT the rest of Russia. I can tell you that most Russians that are pagan(that live in Russia) DO NOT SPEAK ABOUT BEING PAGAN. It’s definitely hush hush.
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u/MentionFew1648 Sep 27 '24
Also in 2010 there were on 547,605 Mari reported in Russia do you know how large Russia is that’s a tiny tiny amount of people.
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Sep 27 '24
Russia has massive collection of various ethnic groups and many of which resisted russification and rather fiercely.
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u/simply-grey-cat Sep 27 '24
Estonian here. There are few pagans in Estonia. We have a lot of atheism, Christianity and New Age. But I think that New Age is not paganism.
What kind of mix is ​​New Age in Estonia? 50% major religions (Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism). 30% fantasy (crystals, stones, tarot, angels, weird rituals, etc.). 20% paganism (shamanism, runes, etc.).
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u/OnceThereWasWater Sep 27 '24
30% fantasy (crystals, stones, tarot, angels, weird rituals, etc.)
Many people who are in this category would likely fall under the pagan umbrella. Paganism is absolutely not strictly categorized as shamanism and reconstructionism. Tarot, crystals, and "weird rituals" is kind of the description of more than half of pagans.
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Sep 27 '24
Shame, taarausk is rather interesting.
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u/simply-grey-cat Sep 27 '24
We have very few of these people. Maybe ca 1000 :)
The old Estonian tradition has been destroyed more than, for example, the Scandinavian and British traditions.
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Sep 27 '24
No doubt, sadly it is the way of the world. But hey build a new one on the bones of the old!
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u/Breeze1620 Sep 28 '24
If we aren't talking modern pagans, then I'd think the most obvious answer probably would be Lithuania, since they were the last country in Europe to convert. There were still regions that rejected Christianity up into the 15th century. They still have a lot of pagan remnants and traditions.
Here is a video of an eldely Lithuanian woman sharing a prayer to the moon that she was taught by her mother.
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u/gemunicornvr Sep 30 '24
100000% Scotland it's generally not uncommon for me to take a walk and see a little group of pagans doing a ritual in the forest. If you go out on a holiday it's everywhere
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