European Congress of Ethnic Religions

Interfaith organization (1998-)

European Congress of Ethnic Religions

Formation| 1998
Founder| Jonas Trinkūnas
Type| Modern paganism
Location|

* Vivulskio 27-4, LT-03114 Vilnius, Lithuania

Membership| 11 organisations (2023)

President

| Uģis Nastevičs
Website| ecer-org.eu

European Congress of Ethnic Religions (ECER) is an organisation for cooperation among associations that promote the ethnic religions of Europe.[1] The primary goal of the ECER is the strengthening of pre-Christian religious traditions of Europe, emphasizing and fostering their ties with modern pagan movements.

## History

[edit]

A "World Pagan Congress" was hosted in June 1998 in Vilnius, Lithuania, organized by Jonas Trinkūnas of Romuva, a Lithuanian neopagan organization. It was attended by members from a number of neopagan organizations from Europe and North America, as well as observers from the academic field. At the meeting it was decided to make the congress an annual event and to form an organization around it.[2]

The organization's name was the result of a day-long passionate debate.[3] The words "pagan" and "heathen" were rejected because of their perceived cultural associations with immorality, violence and backwardness. "Indigenous" was seen as satisfactory on a linguistic level, but was voted down with regard to its established use by groups distinguished from European colonizers.[2] Other suggestions were terms along the lines of "old religion" and "ancestral religion". "Ethnic", the Greek equivalent to the Latin paganus in early Christian sources, was eventually agreed on. The word's history and the connection to ethnology were things that appealed to the majority of the participants.[2]

To avoid misunderstandings, the founding declaration of the organization makes clear that ethnic here does not refer to ethnic politics. The founding member Denis Dornoy also clarified this in the organization's newsletter The Oaks in 1999:

> Is ethnic connected with ethnic cleansing? Is it another pure race ideology? Do you have to belong to a long-lost people to be ethnic? Isn't ethnic a subject for white-haired academics? Ethnic is none of the above, and its meaning is far simpler. Ethnos is Greek, meaning people, and ethnic means related to a particular people, i.e., anything that defines a people: its language, customs, daily behaviour, food ... or spiritual outlook. We call this last point ethnic religion. It is a set of traditions, worship, way of life, related to a people. It often, but not always, involves ancestor worship. Sometimes it is so integrated into everyday life that it cannot even be called "religion" (i.e., belief) according to Western standards.[4]

Signing of the Riga Declaration (ECER) 2023

The congress was held under the name "World Congress of Ethnic Religions" from 1999 to 2010. The 2006 and 2009 conferences were held in India, in the spirit of collaboration between Western Neopaganism and Hinduism. The intention of a worldwide scope was "more of a dream than reality", as the congress mostly consisted of representatives of neopagan movements in Europe. To reflect this, the organization was renamed "European Congress of Ethnic Religions" in 2010.[3] The congress was an annual event until 2010, and has since then been held once every two years.

## Members and leadership

[edit]

ECER's website defines the scope of the organization: "By Ethnic Religion, we mean religion, spirituality, and cosmology that is firmly grounded in a particular people's traditions. In our view, this does not include modern occult or ariosophic theories/ideologies, nor syncretic neo-religions."[1]

Since 2023, the president of the ECER is Uģis Nastevičs.[5]

Member organizations represent Baltic, Slavic, Germanic, Greek, and Roman traditions. As of 2023, the member organizations of the ECER were:[6]

* Latvijas Dievturu sadraudze, Latvia
* Associazione Tradizionale Pietas — Pietas, Italy
* Groupe Druidique des Gaules, France
* Objednannia ridnoviriv Ukrajiny, Ukraine
* Związek Wyznaniowy Rodzima Wiara, Poland
* Senovės baltų religinė bendrija Romuva, Lithuania
* Sjamanistisk Forbund, Norway
* Slovanský kruh, Czech Republic
* Societas Hesperiana Pro Cultu Deorum, Italy
* Werkgroep Traditie Vzw, Flanders (Belgium) and the Netherlands
* Ýpato Symvoúlio ton Ellínon Ethnikón, Greece

## Chronology of the congresses

[edit]

Year  | Location  | Theme/Notes[1]

|
|

1998  | Vilnius, Lithuania  | Foundation of the ECER
1999  | Telšiai, Lithuania  | laying down a structure and aims for the organisation
2000  | Bradesiai, Lithuania  | solving administrational issues
2001  | Vilnius, Lithuania  | with delegates from the Vishva Hindu Parishad
2002  | Vilnius, Lithuania  | "the continuity of ethnic religions in the modern world"
2003  | Vilnius, Lithuania  | "Global Initiatives for Ethnic Cultures and Religions"
2004  | Athens, Greece  | "The High Values Of The Pre-Christian Ethnic Traditions and Religions"
2005  | Antwerp, Flanders  | "Spirituality and Tradition in an Anti-Traditional World"
2006  | Jaipur, India  | "Spirituality Beyond Religions"
in cooperation with the International Centre of Cultural Studies and the
World Congress of Elders of Ancient Cultures and Traditions
2007  | Riga-Jūrmala-Sigulda, Latvia  | "The Spirit Will See New Light in the Turn of Ages"
2008  | Poznań-Głogów, Poland  | "Ethnic Religions in Modern Europe"
2009  | Nagpur, India  | "Renaissance of the Ancient Traditions: Challenges and Solutions"
2010  | Bologna, Italy  | "Ethics in Contemporary World"
2012  | Odense, Denmark  | "What can Ethnic religions do for Europe – and what can Europe do for the Ethnic religions"
2014  | Vilnius, Lithuania  | "Mother Earth, Unite us"
2016  | Prague, Czech Republic  | With the participation of Czech deputy Minister of Culture
2018  | Rome, Italy  | With the Joint celebration of the Natale di Roma, a festival linked to the foundation of Rome
2023  | Riga-Lokstene, Latvia  | With the compilation of the Riga Declaration

## References

[edit]

### Notes

[edit]

1. ^ a b c About ECER.
2. ^ a b c Strmiska 2005, p. 14.
3. ^ a b Strmiska 2005, p. 276.
4. ^ Strmiska 2005, p. 15.
5. ^ "Par Eiropas etnisko reliģiju organizācijas prezidentu kļūst Uģis Nastevičs". tvnet.lv [lv] (in Latvian). 3 July 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2023.+[lv]&rft.atitle=Par+Eiropas+etnisko+reliģiju+organizācijas+prezidentu+kļūst+Uģis+Nastevičs&rft.date=2023-07-03&rft_id=https://www.tvnet.lv/7807550/par-eiropas-etnisko-religiju-organizacijas-prezidentu-klust-ugis-nastevics&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:European+Congress+of+Ethnic+Religions" class="Z3988">
6. ^ "The RIga Declaration of the European Congress of Ethnic Religions (2023)". European Congress of Ethnic Religions. 4 July 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2023.

### Sources

[edit]

* Strmiska, Michael (2005). Modern Paganism in World Cultures: Comparative Perspectives. Religion in Contemporary Cultures. Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-1-85109-613-8.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website

* v
* t
* e

Modern paganism

Approaches|

* Eclectic
* Nature religion
* New Age
* Neoshamanism
* Reconstructionism
* Secular
* Western esotericism
* Western philosophy

Arts and institutions|

* Festivals and events
* Music
* Temples

By country or region|

* Australia
* German-speaking Europe
* Hungary
* Ireland
* Italy
* Scandinavia
* South Africa
* United Kingdom
* United States
* Minnesota

Movements (list)|

| Ethnic|

* African
* Ausar Auset
* Godianism
* Heathenry
* Armenian
* Baltic
* Dievturi
* Romuva
* Burkhanism
* Canarian (Berber)
* Caucasic
* Abkhaz
* Ossetian-Scythian
* Celtic
* Druidry
* Wicca
* Daco-Thracian (Romanian)
* Egyptian
* Kemetic Orthodoxy
* Germanic
* Greco-Roman
* Hellenic
* Roman
* Natale di Roma
* Semitic
* Slavic
* Rodnovery (list)
* RUNVira
* Peterburgian Vedism
* Ynglism
* Turko-Mongolic
* list
* Uralic
* Estonian
* Erzyan
* Finnish
* Hungarian
* Mari
* Udmurt
* Zuism

* Interfaith: European Congress of Ethnic Religions · Foundation for Traditional Religions

|

Syncretic|

* Adonism
* Christo-Paganism
* Church of All Worlds
* Church of Aphrodite
* Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans
* Goddess movement
* Ivanovism
* Pagan Federation
* Radical Faeries
* Ringing Cedars' Anastasianism
* Secular paganism
* Temple of Priapus

* Neopagan witchcraft: Wicca
* Cochranianism
* Feri
* Reclaiming
* Stregheria

In society|

* Criticism
* Crypto-paganism
* Discrimination
* LGBTQ+ and paganism
* Pagan studies
* Technopaganism
* Writers on modern paganism

Related articles|

* Ariosophy
* Witch-cult hypothesis
* Hermeticism
* Neotribalism
* Platonism in the Renaissance
* Thelema
* Theosophy
* Traditionalist School

* v
* t
* e

Paganism (and modern paganism)

* Animism
* Panentheism
* Pantheism
* Polytheism

Historical
ethnic religions (list)
(existing and
extinct)|

Asian

* Ainu
* Altaic
* Manchu
* Mongolian
* Tengrism
* Turkic
* Austroasiatic
* Sarnaism
* Vietnamese
* Indonesia
* Parmalim
* Kaharingan
* Momolianism
* Kejawèn
* Malay
* Philippine
* Tagalog
* Marapu
* Sunda Wiwitan
* Chinese
* Hinduism
* Hindu mythology
* Dravidian
* Tamil
* Kalash
* Punjabi
* Vedic
* Shinto
* Ryukyuan
* Korean
* Miao
* Tai
* Ahom
* Mo
* Satsana Phi
* Tibeto-Burmese
* Bathouism
* Benzhuism
* Bimoism
* Bon
* Bongthingism
* Burmese
* Donyi-Polo
* Heraka
* Kiratism
* Qiang
* Sanamahism

European

* Albanian
* Anatolian
* Hittite
* Lydian
* Phrygian
* Armenian
* Baltic
* Old Prussian
* Latvian
* Lithuanian
* Basque
* Caucasian
* Circassian
* Georgian
* Ossetian
* Vainakh
* Celtic
* Irish
* Etruscan
* Germanic
* Anglo-Saxon
* Frankish
* Gothic
* Norse
* Greek
* Hellenistic religion
* Hero cult
* Sacred mysteries
* Eleusinian
* Orphic
* Samothracian
* Iberian
* Cantabrian
* Castro
* Gallaecian
* Lusitanian
* Italic
* Camunnian
* Ligurian
* Umbrian
* Minoan
* Nuragic
* Paleo-Balkan
* Dacian
* Illyrian
* Thracian
* Roman
* Cybele
* Gallo-Roman
* Imperial cult
* Mithraism
* Mysteries of Isis
* Natale di Roma
* Scythian
* Slavic
* Uralic
* Baltic Finnic
* Hungarian
* Mari
* Sami

Middle-Eastern and North African

* Ancient Near Eastern
* Hurrian
* Egyptian
* Nubian
* Mesopotamian
* Babylonian
* Sumerian
* Semitic
* Arabian
* Canaanite
* Iranian
* Persian
* Berber
* Punic

Oceanian and Pacific Islander

* Australian
* Melanesian
* Micronesian
* Nauruan
* Papuan
* Polynesian
* Cook Islander
* Hawaiian
* Māori
* Rapa Nui
* Tahitian
* Tongan

Sub-Saharan African

* Akan
* Bantu
* Bushongo
* Kongo
* Lozi
* Zulu
* Dahomean
* Dinka
* Efik
* Hausa
* Lugbara
* Maasai
* Malagasy
* Mbuti
* Odinani
* San
* Serer
* Somali

Modern paganism
(movements)|

Ethnic

* African
* Ausar Auset
* Godianism
* American
* Mexicayotl
* Native American Church
* Armenian
* Baltic
* Dievturība
* Romuva
* Caucasian
* Abkhaz
* Adyghe Habze
* Uatsdin
* Celtic
* Canarian
* Heathenry
* Hellenism
* Hindu
* Italo-Roman
* Kemetism
* Zalmoxianism
* Romani
* Semitic
* Slavic
* Turko-Mongolic
* Burkhanism
* Vattisen Yaly
* Uralic
* Estonian
* Finnish
* Hungarian
* Mordvin
* Udmurt Vos

Other

* Neopagan witchcraft
* Cochrane's Craft
* Feri Tradition
* Stregheria
* Wicca
* Druidry
* European Congress of Ethnic Religions
* Goddess movement
* Neoshamanism
* Polytheistic reconstructionism
* Secular paganism

Myth and ritual|

* Veneration of the dead
* Bear worship
* Blót
* Tumulus
* Dying and rising deity
* Ethos
* Folklore
* Idolatry
* Magic and religion
* Megalith
* Dolmen
* Menhir
* Stone row
* Myth
* Myth and ritual
* Mythology
* Orthopraxy
* Reincarnation
* Religion and mythology
* Ritual
* Sacred grove
* Holy well
* Sacrifice
* animal
* human
* Supernatural magic
* Trees in mythology
* Tree of life
* World tree
* Totem
* Virtue
* Witchcraft
* Animal worship

Christianization|

* Christianity and paganism
* Christianization of saints and feasts
* Constantinian shift
* Neoplatonism
* Religio licita
* Virtuous pagan

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