In both guises, as an individual practitioner and a credentialed expert, Mr. [Michael] York embodies the increasing mainstream acceptance of Pagan religion. From academia to the military, in the person of chaplains and professors, through successful litigation and online networking, Paganism has done much in the last generation to overcome its perception as either Satanism or silliness.<\/p>\n
\u201cAcademically, it\u2019s much more open and accepted and respected,\u201d\u009d said Mr. York, 70, who retired five years ago from the faculty of Bath Spa University in England. \u201cAnd on a more personal level, we don\u2019t proselytize or anything like that, but most of my friends know that I\u2019m Pagan and most of them are not, and we can discuss it. They understand that there is a Pagan spirituality, and the misconceptions about it have diminished.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
Because the federal census does not ask about religious affiliation, and because ridicule or discrimination tended to keep Pagans closeted in the past, statistics on the number of adherents in the United States are imprecise and probably too low. Still, the recent growth is evident in surveys done in 1990 and 2001 by the City University of New York.<\/p>\n
Over the course of those 11 years, the survey went from tabulating 8,000 Wiccans nationally \u201d\u201d that branch of Paganism was the only one to turn up \u201d\u201d to 134,000 Wiccans, 33,000 Druids and 140,000 Pagans.<\/p>\n