Aout 2010, Conference Neopagan rituals and traditional cosmologies

FIRST CIRCULAR SIXTH ANNUAL CONFERENCE
OF THE SIEF WORKING GROUP ON THE RITUAL YEAR
NEOPAGAN RITUALS AND TRADITIONAL COSMOLOGIES to be held in Dobogókő, Hungary on 4-7 June 2010 Dear Colleague, In the name of the Hungarian Association for the Academic Study for Religions, and the SIEF Working Group on The Ritual Year, we have the honour to invite you to Dobogókő, Hungary, for the sixth annual conference of the ritual year working group. The Ritual Year Working Group (www.theritualyear.com) was established in 2004 under the aegis of SIEF, Societé Internationale d’Ethnologie et de Folklore (www.siefhome.org). The Executive Board consists of Emily Lyle (President), Irina Sedakova (Secretary) and Aude Le Borgne (Treasurer).

The general theme is NEOPAGAN RITUALS AND TRADITIONAL COSMOLOGIES.

The language of presentations at the conference will be English, but discussion may take place also in other languages with the help of colleagues prepared to offer instant translation. After the fall of the communist regimes, several neopagan movements gained special strength in Eastern Europe. These movements prepared the new renaissance of the national identity, and their ideological background is the prechristian (or thought to be prechristian) religious ideas. As social censure ended, there was an opportunity to organise the rituals openly, and they attracted more and more participants. Of course the process of the re-invention or re-creation of “pagan” rituals is well known from other parts of the world as well. Research into these modern rituals and comparative studies are welcome These and many other topics related to the ritual year will be discussed during the conference.