Alternative Spirituality and Religion Review

Volume 5, Issue 1, 2014

Contemporary Spirituality in Israel

And Not a Word About the Goddess: On the Politics of Shaping and Displaying a Pagan Identity by Israeli Pagan Women in Israeli Women’s Spirituality Festivals

In this article I intend to analyze the processes by which Pagan identity is formed and expressed by Israeli Pagan women, when attending ‘Women’s Spirituality’ festivals and workshops in Israel. As such it will deal with the complexities of identifying oneself as a (Jewish-born) Pagan in Israel, the nation state of the Jewish people. By doing so it will also hopefully contribute to research on the politics of identity in Israeli New Religious Movements, and more generally – in Israeli society at large. The findings I will present here are part of a wider and ongoing study of the Israeli Pagan community, which is intended to be the first book-length research to focus on Contemporary Paganism in Israel. In this article I will claim that the unique connections between (Jewish) religion and the state in Israel, coupled with the country’s distinct Jewish character, create a situation in which – unlike their North American and Western European sisters – Israeli Pagan women generally find it difficult to express their Pagan identity when participating in Israeli Women’s Spirituality festivals and workshops. This in turn contributes to a consolidation of a Pagan identity separate from the wider Israeli New Age scene.