VOLUME 3 |NUMBER 2 |2012 19
model. Everything is virtual and therefore uncontrollable.
The organizers dissimulate themselves behind fictitious
names, adherents cannot be distinguished from the
merely curious, and communication is through email or
discussion forums. It is certain, however, that world
neopaganism is attempting a “conquest” and its proponents
are taking concrete steps to achieve this purpose.
Besides these potential neopagan imported groups in
Romania, there also are the so-called autochthonous ones,
militating for the revival of the old Thracian-Dacian beliefs.
Thracians and Dacians were the population who inhabited
Romania before the Roman conquest (1st century AD). An
example is the Gebeleizis Society (http://www.gebeleizis.org/),
self-described as a “cultural-religious association, whose
primordial aim is to establish and develop, on the territory
of present-day Romania, ethnic communities faithful to
the religion and culture of our Thracian-Dacian ancestors.”10
Despite its indigenous character, the movement is not
alien to the revival of European paganism, whose avant-
garde in Romania it claims to be. Moreover, it promotes
deities who belong to the Scandinavian pantheon. The
members of the Gebeleizis Society consider the Scandinavian
pantheon to be the natural religion of Indo-European peoples,
a “more or less intact survivor of Judeo-Christian barbarism.”
A simple Internet search reveals that attempts to establish
neopagan societies in Romania go back as far as 2004. That
year saw the appearance of the online MoonLight Grove
review (http://moonlightgrove.3x.ro), self-entitled “the first
Wicca review in the Romanian language,” which was
published between April and December of 2004. Each issue
contained information about the Sabbath Wicca principles
and traditions healing plants aromatherapy the science of
trees and magic performed with gems, crystals, or candles.
The Romanian Coven group became visible on the Internet
in the year 2006. The group described itself as “a Romanian
group attempting to provide the Wiccans in Romania with
the information they need, in the Romanian language, as
well as the possibility to know other persons sharing their
faith.”9 The group was active the following year, too, when it
published a newsletter and organized monthly meetings in
Bucharest whose details it communicated by email to the
registered members. Another group entitled Romanian
Wiccans maintains contact with interested persons
through a discussion forum.
It is difficult to assess the current impact of neopaganism in
Romania. The forums begun on the above-mentioned Web
sites demonstrate a certain interest in this topic, but they
do not allow us to know whether this interest has led to
established covens organized according to the Occidental
model. Everything is virtual and therefore uncontrollable.
The organizers dissimulate themselves behind fictitious
names, adherents cannot be distinguished from the
merely curious, and communication is through email or
discussion forums. It is certain, however, that world
neopaganism is attempting a “conquest” and its proponents
are taking concrete steps to achieve this purpose.
Besides these potential neopagan imported groups in
Romania, there also are the so-called autochthonous ones,
militating for the revival of the old Thracian-Dacian beliefs.
Thracians and Dacians were the population who inhabited
Romania before the Roman conquest (1st century AD). An
example is the Gebeleizis Society (http://www.gebeleizis.org/),
self-described as a “cultural-religious association, whose
primordial aim is to establish and develop, on the territory
of present-day Romania, ethnic communities faithful to
the religion and culture of our Thracian-Dacian ancestors.”10
Despite its indigenous character, the movement is not
alien to the revival of European paganism, whose avant-
garde in Romania it claims to be. Moreover, it promotes
deities who belong to the Scandinavian pantheon. The
members of the Gebeleizis Society consider the Scandinavian
pantheon to be the natural religion of Indo-European peoples,
a “more or less intact survivor of Judeo-Christian barbarism.”
A simple Internet search reveals that attempts to establish
neopagan societies in Romania go back as far as 2004. That
year saw the appearance of the online MoonLight Grove
review (http://moonlightgrove.3x.ro), self-entitled “the first
Wicca review in the Romanian language,” which was
published between April and December of 2004. Each issue
contained information about the Sabbath Wicca principles
and traditions healing plants aromatherapy the science of
trees and magic performed with gems, crystals, or candles.
The Romanian Coven group became visible on the Internet
in the year 2006. The group described itself as “a Romanian
group attempting to provide the Wiccans in Romania with
the information they need, in the Romanian language, as
well as the possibility to know other persons sharing their
faith.”9 The group was active the following year, too, when it
published a newsletter and organized monthly meetings in
Bucharest whose details it communicated by email to the
registered members. Another group entitled Romanian
Wiccans maintains contact with interested persons
through a discussion forum.
It is difficult to assess the current impact of neopaganism in
Romania. The forums begun on the above-mentioned Web
sites demonstrate a certain interest in this topic, but they
do not allow us to know whether this interest has led to
established covens organized according to the Occidental
