Romanticism Connected to Wicca?

[Lady Adokenai]

In my English class today, we discussed Romanticism, and I noticed a few interesting corrolations...

Quote:

Romanticism was a movement in art and literature in 18th and 19th century Europe and America. Written as a reaction to everything that had come before it: the rationalism of the 18th century, Age of Reason and the strict beliefs of Puritanism.
Romanticism celebrated:
-The individual spirt
-Emotions
-Imagination
-The love of nature instead of the fear of God
-The supernatural (Some writers)
-Sentiment for the past, especially the myths and mysticism of the middle ages
-Optimism

that's direct from our notes. as we wrote them, I thought, "boy this sounds alot like Wicca." here's how I interpreted the things Romanticism celebrates:
-The individual spirt-- Wiccans are encouraged to be true to themselves and also tailor their worship to their needs and desires. (of course, we're also encouraged to listen to wisdom and reason, but that's not really the point in this part. ^^ wink
-Emotions-- We try to remain in touch and in check with how we feel.
-Imagination--Visualization is a key part of Wicca.
-The love of nature instead of the fear of God-- Wiccans love nature and their gods, we don't fear them. to us, that doesn't make sense to worship someone you are scared of.
-The supernatural (Some writers)-- Magic is generally seen as supernatural, and most Wiccans practice witchcraft.
-Sentiment for the past, especially the myths and mysticism of the middle ages-- We love to borrow (respectfully!) from old clultures and mythology. We believe there's alot to be learned from them.
-Optimism--I'm not sure if this could pertain to Wicca, but I know I try to be optimistic. 4laugh

And yeah, Wicca's not an art and literature movement, but it sounds like a religious version of this movement.

Sorry for the long post, but I'd like your opinions. Thank you!  

[Hypomanic Poet]

Wicca has been so often turned into a flowery romantic "let's frolick about in a meadow of lilies" kind of religion, a religion of peace. Especially Celtic and Greek Wicca, The myths and lore have been glorified and romanticised to an extreme.  

[WebenBanu]

That makes sense to me- Wicca could be considered an extension of the Romantic movement, and much of modern Western occultism seems to draw on books written, popularized, and/or published or reprinted under that period's influence. Ever seen woodcuttings or illustrations of "Victorian" mages? Those are from the Romantic movement- that's what they're talking about when they speak of involvement in the "supernatural," I believe. Alchemy was really big back then, magical theory, and the study of "spirituality" in the sense of the nature of spiritual beings. As for Romanticism being an art and literature movement, I almost consider spirituality to be an art form, and it is frequently expressed through works of literature, so it seems quite likely to me that they will go hand in hand.  

[The Bookwyrm]

The only problem I have with your theory is that Wicca doesn't invite people to custom tailor their beliefs so much as it offers a considerable degree of freedom not found in other religions for the most part. You're free to choose from one of many, many traditions, you're free to go solitary or to select a coven, you're free to choose what gods or goddesses you wish to work with, and you can write your own rituals, but there is dogma in Wicca that must be observed, otherwise it's not Wicca any more. I find a lot of people cross over out of Wicca and into general Paganism without realizing this, because they feel they're free to come and go as they please.

However, the Romanticism influence makes sense. Look at when Gardener was writing! It's no surprise that the influence is there, and was then amplified suring the 60's and 70's.  

[Nihilistic Seraph]

That's what I thought to when we went over Romanticism last semester, but most of the romantic poets went into a mystic version of Christianity, not paganism. There was a big influence of the benevolent God who watches down on us sort of thing.  

[Lady Adokenai]

Gypsy Blue- yeah, that's kinda what I meant. sweatdrop I'm not too eloquent. thanks! ^_^;

I love hearing people's opinions- anyone else wanna comment?  

[Jameta]

Major problem for me: the time. Romanticism (at least for Britain and America) occured mainly in the 18th century. Wicca was introduced in 1954, over 200 years later.  

[TheArgus]

There's a strong undercurrent of Pagan-curiosity in the works of the Classical period (from whence comes the term "Classical music). This was a period directly preceeding the Romantic movement. From Mozart's Magic Flute to Goethe's Faust, we see a preoccupation with the concept of nature being alive, powerful, and primal. It is only a natural supposition to assume that the later "Romantic " works, like Beethoven and P.B. Shelley, would have evolved, in a more or less linear fashion, from this.

Civilized humanity has always concerned itself with "that which came before".

Jameta, if the Crest badge in your sig is anything to go by... should I assume that you are of Scottish descent?  

[Nihilistic Seraph]

Jameta

Major problem for me: the time. Romanticism (at least for Britain and America) occured mainly in the 18th century. Wicca was introduced in 1954, over 200 years later.

I think she means more general nature worship than Wicca  

[Jameta]

Nihilistic Seraph

Jameta

Major problem for me: the time. Romanticism (at least for Britain and America) occured mainly in the 18th century. Wicca was introduced in 1954, over 200 years later.

I think she means more general nature worship than Wicca

She specifically said Wicca, though. And even with nature worship, it was more about liberation of self than seeking a new faith.  

[Amyane]

Jameta

Major problem for me: the time. Romanticism (at least for Britain and America) occured mainly in the 18th century. Wicca was introduced in 1954, over 200 years later.

That was the first thing I though of aswell. Though it kinda of makes sense.

 

[Nihilistic Seraph]

[ Message temporarily off-line ]  

[LadyEladrin]

Amyane

Jameta

Major problem for me: the time. Romanticism (at least for Britain and America) occured mainly in the 18th century. Wicca was introduced in 1954, over 200 years later.

That was the first thing I though of aswell. Though it kinda of makes sense.

I think she's more trying to compare the two movements as movements, that the two are growing because they are both 'a reaction to everything that had come before it'. Wicca and the Romantic movement are both like that.  

[Nihilistic Seraph]

EladrinStarmist

Amyane

Jameta

Major problem for me: the time. Romanticism (at least for Britain and America) occured mainly in the 18th century. Wicca was introduced in 1954, over 200 years later.

That was the first thing I though of aswell. Though it kinda of makes sense.

I think she's more trying to compare the two movements as movements, that the two are growing because they are both 'a reaction to everything that had come before it'. Wicca and the Romantic movement are both like that.

I think she just made the mistake of sticking in "Wicca" instead of "paganism" Romanticism is hardly a big movement today.  

[WebenBanu]

Nihilistic Seraph

I think she just made the mistake of sticking in "Wicca" instead of "paganism" Romanticism is hardly a big movement today.

But Romanticism was big in its day, and Wicca is big now. I've been thinking of this as a comparison between two movements which are very similar in many respects- Romanticism being the first of the two, of course.^_^ The two need not be bound by anything stronger than that a member of one would probably find the other to be interesting.

Then again, how different is the modern Wiccan movement from Romanticism? I don't recall a great deal about it, but it seems to me that the Romantics idealized natural settings and dabbled in the occult. Wicca does the same, so in that sense do you think Wicca could be considered a "reincarnation" of the Romantic movement in modern times?