Pagan Theology Survey

Thanks so much to everyone who participated in my Pagan Theology survey in March, 2016!

This survey was done for a paper in my Pagan Theology course that I’m taking from Cherry Hill Seminary.  The survey was hosted on Survey Monkey and was posted on the following Facebook groups:

  • ADF General Discussion
  • OBOD Friends
  • California Pagans

These groups reflect different groups of people that I frequently associate with.

176 people answered the survey. Approximately 2/3 of the respondents came from the ADF group.

Here’s a summary of the results:

How do you define your personal beliefs?

Respondents could respond with multiple selections.

  • Duotheist – 1%
  • Polytheist – 72%
  • Monist – 28%
  • Archetypist – 18%
  • Animist – 51%
  • Humanist – 14%

In addition, although not one of the options, 5% of the respondents wrote in that they were a Pantheist.

Top 10 belief combinations (in order):

  1. Polythiest – 29.07%
  2. Polythiest-Animist – 15.70%
  3. Animist – 7.56%
  4. Monist – 6.98%
  5. Polythiest-Animist-Humanist – 5.81%
  6. Polythiest-Archetypist-Animist – 3.49%
  7. Monist-Animist – 2.91%
  8. Polythiest-Monist – 2.91%
  9. Polythiest-Monist-Animist – 2.91%
  10. Polythiest-Monist-Archetypist-Animist – 2.33%

Do you tend to work with a specific cultural pantheon? If so, which pantheon? 

This was a free-form answer, so respondents answered as they defined their pantheon.

80% of the respondents identified a specific pantheon or group of pantheons that they work with

  • Celtic (Irish, Welsh, Gaelic, Scottish) – 69%
  • Norse (Germanic, Norse, Anglo-Saxon) – 27%
  • Greek/Hellenic – 8%
  • Other – 8%

Top 10 pantheons (in order):

  1. Celtic – 22.56%
  2. Irish – 14.29%
  3. Norse – 10.53%
  4. Celtic/Norse – 7.52%
  5. Gaelic – 6.77%
  6. Welsh – 6.77%
  7. Greek – 6.02%
  8. Anglo-Saxon – 2.26%
  9. Celtic/Norse/Egyptian – 1.50%
  10. Celtic/Roman – 1.50%

Do you have a devotional practice?

80% of the respondents said that they did have a devotional practice.

Not everyone who worked with a specific pantheon had a devotional practice, and not everyone who had a devotional practice worked with a specific pantheon.

If you have one, please describe your devotional practice.

Respondents were asked to include how often they perform devotions, how regular their practice is, if their devotions always to the same beings, and a general outline of the practice. A freeform response was requested.

Frequency of Practice:

  1. Daily – 59.15%
  2. Weekly – 18.31%
  3. High Days/Sabbats – 12.68%
  4. Practice is life – 8.45%
  5. Monthly – 1.41%

Interesting observations from the details:

  • Approximately 25% of the respondents who did a daily practice included some form of meditation
  • About 10% of the respondents who reported doing daily devotions did devotions multiple times a day
  • In the “Practice is life” category, respondents felt that most, or every, action of theirs was in devotion to deity.

Is there anything that’s unusual about your practice or beliefs that might be interesting to a survey of Pagan Theology?

Some quotes from the answers:

  • “Everything on my practice is tangible–one can touch and see my goddess, whether she be another human, a tree, or even a rock.”
  • “In my view, magic is completely compatible with scientific knowledge”
  • “like most spiritual people my beliefs continue to grow and evolve as I learn more about the world around me”
  • “I try and use appropriate quiet public spaces for worship like parks, woods, public sculpture, lakes, ponds, hills, temple-like park structures etc”