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Paganism ‘Paganism’ is a term historically applied to any and all religions outside the Abrahamic traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and in particular to the polytheistic religions indigenous to Europe (→ Heathen). In the twentieth century, various species of revived, reconstructed, and invented paganism have gained adherents throughout Europe and North America. In recent religious studies—and sometimes on the borderline between religious practice and historical research—attempts have…

General Characteristics of Freemasonry 1. Freemasonry (or Masonry) is a traditional fraternal society that was developed on the basis of the customs and conventions of late medieval stonemasons. Its standard definition among contemporary Masons is “a peculiar system of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols” (Knoop/Jones 1947, 9). Freemasonry was the prototype of many modern social and fraternal organizations, and it has been accorded a fair level of undeserved notoriety as a paradi…