Between the Cross and the Pentagram

Symbolic Bricolage and Purism in Contemporary Neopaganism

Abstract

This article investigates the symbolic tensions between Neopaganism and Christianity, focusing on how contemporary religious practices reconfigure elements inherited from the Christian tradition. Although the emic discourse of Neopaganism claims a rupture with the Christian matrix and asserts an authentic pagan identity, a more ambiguous dynamic emerges, in which Christian symbols and structures are often critically and creatively repurposed. Drawing on the theoretical frameworks of Wouter Hanegraaff and Ronald Hutton, the article argues that modern Neopagan identity is not built on exclusion but on selective recombination, symbolic reinterpretation, and bricolage. As a case study, the article analyzes the Witches' Black Lent, a practice proposed in digital environments by content creators linked to Contemporary Pagan Witchcraft, to demonstrate how this religiosity operates in interstitial zones—neither Christian nor anti-Christian, but hybrid, inventive, and performative. By illuminating these zones of symbolic negotiation, the article contributes to the debate on alternative religiosities and their strategies of legitimation in contexts of pluralism and religious deinstitutionalization.