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136-447: The Wicker Man is a 1973 British folk horror film directed by Robin Hardy and starring Edward Woodward , Britt Ekland , Diane Cilento , Ingrid Pitt and Christopher Lee . The screenplay is by Anthony Shaffer , inspired by David Pinner 's 1967 novel Ritual , and Paul Giovanni composed the film score. The plot centres on the visit of a police officer, Sergeant Neil Howie, to

272-402: A weighted average score of 8/10 and the site's consensus: "This intelligent horror film is subtle in its thrills and chills, with an ending that is both shocking and truly memorable". In 2008, The Wicker Man was ranked by Empire at No. 485 of The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time . Christopher Lee considered The Wicker Man his best film. Similarly, Edward Woodward said that The Wicker Man

408-543: A 1979 Abraxas print has been found as I also put together this cut myself, and it crucially restores the story order to that which I had originally intended." Hardy reported in July 2013 that Studiocanal intended to restore and release the most complete version possible of the film. Rialto Pictures announced that it was to release the new digital restoration in North American cinemas on 27 September 2013. This new version

544-526: A borrowing of Greek ἔθνος ( ethnos ) via Armenian hethanos . The term has recently been revived in the forms "Heathenry" and "Heathenism" (often but not always capitalized), as alternative names for the modern Germanic pagan movement, adherents of which may self-identify as Heathens. It is perhaps misleading even to say that there was such a religion as paganism at the beginning of [the Common Era] ... It might be less confusing to say that

680-506: A class of subordinate gods/ daimons —see henotheism —or divine emanations . To Christians, the most important distinction was whether or not someone worshipped the one true God . Those who did not (polytheist, monotheist, or atheist ) were outsiders to the Church and thus considered pagan. Similarly, classical pagans would have found it peculiar to distinguish groups by the number of deities followers venerate. They would have considered

816-507: A confrontation between a modern Christian and a remote, pagan community continued to intrigue Shaffer, who performed painstaking research on paganism. Brainstorming with Hardy, they conceived the film as presenting the pagan elements objectively and accurately, accompanied by authentic music and a believable, contemporary setting. One of their main resources was The Golden Bough , a study of mythology and religion written by Scottish anthropologist James Frazer . Television actor Edward Woodward

952-509: A creed outworn; So might I, standing on this pleasant lea, Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn; Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea; Or hear old Triton blow his wreathèd horn. In Italy, with the fall of the Papal States the process of Italian unification fostered anti-clerical sentiment among the intelligentsia. Intellectuals like archaeologist Giacomo Boni and writer Roggero Musmeci Ferrari Bravo promoted

1088-625: A cultural and scholarly center, with the establishment of the first Muslim university in 717 under Umar II , attracting scholars from across the Islamic world. Although Harran lost its capital status under the Abbasid Caliphate , it continued to flourish, particularly during the reign of Harun al-Rashid (786–809), when its university became a key center for translation and intellectual activity. The local religion, blending elements of Mesopotamian paganism and Neoplatonism, persisted into

1224-405: A cultural sense. It retained that meaning for roughly the first millennium of Christianity. This was influenced by Christianity's early members, who were Jewish . The Jews of the time distinguished themselves from foreigners according to religion rather than ethno - cultural standards, and early Jewish Christians would have done the same. Since Hellenic culture was the dominant pagan culture in

1360-413: A direct sequel with fantasy elements. Hardy had no interest in the project, and it went unproduced. In 2006, a poorly received American remake starring Nicolas Cage was released, from which Hardy and others involved with the original have dissociated themselves. In 2011, a spiritual sequel written and directed by Hardy, The Wicker Tree , was released; it featured Lee in a cameo appearance. In 2013,

1496-458: A film that would later be renamed The Blood on Satan's Claw . The director of The Blood on Satan's Claw , Piers Haggard , adopted the phrase to describe his film in a 2004 retrospective interview for the magazine Fangoria . In the interview, Haggard notes how his film contrasted with the Gothic horror films popular in the previous decade: I grew up on a farm and it's natural for me to use

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1632-423: A film treatment for director Michael Winner , who had John Hurt in mind as a possible star. Winner eventually declined the project, so Pinner's agent persuaded him to write Ritual as a novel instead. Shaffer and Lee paid Pinner £15,000 (equivalent to £268,000 in 2023) for the rights to the novel, and Shaffer set to work on the screenplay. He soon decided that a direct adaptation would not work well, so drafted

1768-554: A horror film centring on "old religion" would be fun, in sharp contrast to the Hammer films they had both seen as horror film fans. Shaffer read the David Pinner novel Ritual , in which a devout Christian policeman is called to investigate what appears to be the ritual murder of a young girl in a rural village, and decided that it would serve well as the source material for the project. Pinner had originally written Ritual as

1904-470: A king" by representing the law, is a virgin, and is a "fool" by falling for their deception. Howie warns Summerisle and the islanders that the crops are failing due to the unsuitability of the climate, and that the villagers will turn on Summerisle and sacrifice him next summer when the next harvest fails again, but his pleas are ignored. The villagers force Howie inside a giant wicker man statue along with various animals, set it ablaze, and surround it, singing

2040-632: A largely pagan city well into the early Islamic period. When the city was besieged by the armies of the Rashidun Caliphate in 639–640, it was the pagan community that negotiated its peaceful surrender. Under the subsequent rule of the caliphates, Harran became a major settlement within the Diyar Mudar region and retained a significant degree of autonomy. During the First Fitna , the people of Harran sided with Mu'awiya I over Ali at

2176-527: A live performance celebration of the anniversary. David McGillivray of The Monthly Film Bulletin praised the film as "an immensely enjoyable piece of hokum, thoroughly well researched, performed and directed." Variety wrote that Anthony Shaffer's screenplay "for sheer imagination and near-terror, has seldom been equalled." Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times called it "a witty work of

2312-607: A military context rather than a religious one is in Tertullian 's De Corona Militis XI.V, where the Christian is referred to as paganus ( civilian ): Paganus acquired its religious connotations by the mid-4th century. As early as the 5th century, paganos was metaphorically used to denote persons outside the bounds of the Christian community. Following the sack of Rome by the Visigoths just over fifteen years after

2448-469: A more "upbeat" ending to the film, in which a sudden rain puts the flames of the wicker man out and spares Howie's life, but this suggestion was refused. Hardy subsequently had to remove about 20 minutes of scenes on the mainland, early investigations, and (to Lee's disappointment) some of Lord Summerisle's initial meeting with Howie. The first screening of the film was to trade and cinema distributors on 3 December 1973. The first public theatrical release

2584-416: A new story based only loosely on the story of the novel. Shaffer wanted the film to be "a little more literate" than the average horror picture. He specifically wanted a film with a minimum of violence and gore. He was tired of seeing horror films that relied almost entirely on viscera to be scary. The focus of the film was crystallised when he "finally hit upon the abstract concept of sacrifice." The image of

2720-435: A particular group of people or set of ideas other than their family and political context. If this is the right view of pagan life, it follows that we should look on paganism quite simply as a religion invented in the course of the second to third centuries AD, in competition and interaction with Christians, Jews and others. Defining paganism is very complex and problematic. Understanding the context of its associated terminology

2856-526: A prostitute, has a massage from Willow McGregor, and sees a brutal confrontation between Oak and a villager in The Green Man, which were featured in a revised edition of Inside the Wicker Man . Anchor Bay released a limited-edition wooden box of The Wicker Man . About 50,000 two-disc sets were made, of which 20 were signed by Lee and Woodward, Shaffer, Snell, and Hardy. In March 2002, Lee discussed

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2992-539: A reconstruction by Hardy. Hardy restored the narrative structure, some of the erotic elements which had been excised, and a very brief pretitle segment of Howie on the mainland (appearing at a church with his fiancée). A 96-minute restored version was released in January 1979, again to critical acclaim. The original 99-minute version was available in the US on VHS home video from Media Home Entertainment (and later Magnum) during

3128-641: A regular stream of folkloric horror; from Jonathan Miller 's Whistle and I'll Come to You (BBC, 1968) and Lawrence Gordon Clark 's yearly A Ghost Story for Christmas strand for the BBC (1971–1978). ITV, meanwhile, produced the Alan Garner adaptation The Owl Service (1969), Nigel Kneale 's Beasts (1976) and the HTV drama Children of the Stones (1977), which share a theme of ancient folklore seeping into

3264-490: A restoration comparison, and the theatrical trailer. The second disc features both the UK 87-minute theatrical cut and the 95-minute 2013 director's cut, along with an audio commentary on the director's cut and a making-of for the commentary. The third disc is the soundtrack to the film . In 2023, for the 50th anniversary of the film's release, StudioCanal announced 4K resolution restoration of existing footage, and remastering of

3400-480: A review of The Medium , which draws inspiration from Thai folklore , Kong Rithdee wrote in The Bangkok Post : "International critics will not hesitate to tag The Medium as the latest example of "folk horror"—think Robert Eggers' The Witch or Ari Aster's Midsommar . But Southeast Asian horror has always been folk horror. It's our default mode, our modus operandi , it's what audiences in this part of

3536-514: A sacred – although secular – longstanding, unwavering and unchallenged authority with a cross-religious effectiveness over the Albanians, which is attributed to an earlier pagan code common to all the Albanian tribes . Historically, the Christian clergy has vigorously fought, but without success, the pagan rituals practiced by Albanians for traditional feasts and particular events, especially

3672-556: A single called " The Wicker Man " in tribute to the film. In 2016, British band Radiohead released the music video for the song " Burn the Witch ", made in stop-motion animation and whose storyline greatly resembles that of The Wicker Man . In 2001, British band Pulp released "Wickerman" on their We Love Life album, which features a sample of Willow's Song. The White , a 2008 EP by American extreme metal band Agalloch , included three tracks featuring samples of dialogue from

3808-891: A strong folk horror element, with a strange creature terrorising a farm in Cornwall. From 1984 to 1986, ITV produced the pagan -influenced adventure series Robin of Sherwood . This was a retelling of the Robin Hood legend, which sometimes featured disturbing supernatural elements drawn from British folklore. The BBC comedy horror series The League of Gentlemen (1999–2017) referenced and homaged several folk horror works in its episodes, including The Wicker Man and Beasts . Folk horror elements sometimes turn up in American television productions. For instance, The X-Files episode " Home " (1996) has been described by writer Matt Berger as an example of American folk horror. In

3944-477: A subject in their own right." In addition, Petts notes how various spiritual, religious, and metaphysical ideas branded as "pagan" from diverse cultures were studied in opposition to Abrahamism in early anthropology, a binary he links to ethnocentrism and colonialism. Ludwig Feuerbach defined the paganism of classical antiquity , which he termed Heidentum ('heathenry') as "the unity of religion and politics, of spirit and nature, of god and man", qualified by

4080-501: A subsequent documentary, director Robin Hardy surprised the cast by suddenly announcing midway through filming that they were making a " musical "; performed by Magnet (in some versions of the film credited as "Lodestone"), the soundtrack contains 13 folk songs performed by characters in the film. Included are traditional songs, original compositions by Giovanni, and even a nursery rhyme, " Baa, Baa, Black Sheep ". " Willow's Song " has been covered or sampled by various rock music bands. It

4216-481: A theological aspect to an ethnological one, and religions began to be understood as part of the ethnic identities of peoples, and the study of the religions of so-called primitive peoples triggered questions as to the ultimate historical origin of religion . Jean Bodin viewed pagan mythology as a distorted version of Christian truths. Nicolas Fabri de Peiresc saw the pagan religions of Africa of his day as relics that were in principle capable of shedding light on

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4352-635: Is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism , or ethnic religions other than Judaism. In the time of the Roman Empire, individuals fell into the pagan class either because they were increasingly rural and provincial relative to the Christian population, or because they were not milites Christi (soldiers of Christ). Alternative terms used in Christian texts were hellene , gentile , and heathen . Ritual sacrifice

4488-419: Is crucial to stress right from the start that until the 20th century, people did not call themselves pagans to describe the religion they practised. The notion of paganism, as it is generally understood today, was created by the early Christian Church. It was a label that Christians applied to others, one of the antitheses that were central to the process of Christian self-definition. As such, throughout history it

4624-436: Is debated. In the 19th century, paganism was adopted as a self-descriptor by members of various artistic groups inspired by the ancient world . In the 20th century, it came to be applied as a self-descriptor by practitioners of modern paganism , modern pagan movements and Polytheistic reconstructionists . Modern pagan traditions often incorporate beliefs or practices, such as nature worship , that are different from those of

4760-505: Is featured as a B-side on their single "Roll On" (1996). It also was covered by Faith and the Muse on their 2003 album The Burning Season , and The Mock Turtles on their album Turtle Soup . The songs on the soundtrack were composed or arranged by Giovanni under the direction of Hardy and Shaffer, whose research into the oral folk tradition in England and Scotland was based largely on

4896-452: Is important. Early Christians referred to the diverse array of cults around them as a single group for reasons of convenience and rhetoric . While paganism generally implies polytheism , the primary distinction between classical pagans and Christians was not one of monotheism versus polytheism, as not all pagans were strictly polytheist. Throughout history, many of them believed in a supreme deity . However, most such pagans believed in

5032-504: Is related to pangere ('to fasten', 'to fix or affix') and ultimately comes from Proto-Indo-European *pag- ('to fix' in the same sense): The adoption of paganus by the Latin Christians as an all-embracing, pejorative term for polytheists represents an unforeseen and singularly long-lasting victory, within a religious group, of a word of Latin slang originally devoid of religious meaning. The evolution occurred only in

5168-522: Is staying at the Green Man Inn, the landlord's daughter attempts to seduce him, but he resists, explaining that he is engaged and saving himself for marriage. He notices a series of photographs celebrating the annual harvest, each featuring a young girl as the May Queen . The photograph of the most recent celebration is missing; the landlord tells him it was broken. At the local school, Howie asks

5304-553: Is the context in which Early Christianity itself developed as one of several monotheistic cults, and it was in this period that the concept of pagan developed in the first place. As Christianity emerged from Second Temple Judaism and Hellenistic Judaism , it stood in competition with other religions advocating pagan monotheism, including the cults of Dionysus , Neoplatonism , Mithraism , Gnosticism , and Manichaeanism . Dionysus in particular exhibits significant parallels with Christ, so that numerous scholars have concluded that

5440-582: The Battle of Siffin in 657, which allegedly resulted in a brutal retaliation by Ali, who massacred much of the population. Under the Umayyad Caliphate (661–750), Harran prospered and was selected as the capital by the last Umayyad caliph, Marwan II , from 744 to 750. This move may have been influenced by the city's pagan sympathies and its strategic position near the empire's eastern provinces. The city's prominence under Umayyad rule saw it grow as

5576-575: The Christian persecution of paganism under Theodosius I , murmurs began to spread that the old gods had taken greater care of the city than the Christian God. In response, Augustine of Hippo wrote De Civitate Dei Contra Paganos ('The City of God against the Pagans'). In it, he contrasted the fallen "city of Man" with the "city of God", of which all Christians were ultimately citizens. Hence,

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5712-557: The French Revolution and saw it as a path to restoring an ancient republic. He took the name Quintus Nautius, claimed Roman priestly lineage, and performed Orphic rites at his home. His followers were mainly his household. In 1799, he published La Thréicie , advocating a revival of paganism in France, condemning Christianity, and promoting universal animation . In the 17th century, the description of paganism turned from

5848-664: The Gheg – Tosk dialectal diversification. Regardless of the Christianization, ancient paganism persisted among Albanians , and especially within the inaccessible and deep interior – where Albanian folklore evolved over the centuries in a relatively isolated tribal culture and society – it has continued to persist, or at most it was partially transformed by the Christian, and later Muslim and Marxist beliefs, that were either to be introduced by choice or imposed by force. The Albanian traditional customary law ( Kanun ) has held

5984-541: The Harvard Film Archive . This print had previously been known as the "Middle Version" and was itself assembled from a 35 mm print of the original edit Robin Hardy had made in the United Kingdom in 1973, but which was never released. Robin Hardy believed that the original edit will probably never be found, saying, "Sadly, it seems as though this has been lost forever. However, I am delighted that

6120-872: The Mani Peninsula —where paganism had endured until the 12th century) encouraged the Medici, descendants of the Maniot Latriani dynasty, to found the Neoplatonic Academy in Florence , helping to spark the Renaissance . In addition Julius Pomponius Laetus (student of Pletho) established the Roman academy which secretly celebrated the Natale di Roma and the birthday of Romulus . The Academy

6256-473: The Middle English folk song " Sumer Is Icumen In ". Inside the wicker man, Howie recites Psalm 23 and prays to God. Howie and the animals burn to death as the head of the wicker man collapses in flames, revealing the setting sun. In the early 1970s, Christopher Lee was a Hammer Horror regular, best known for his roles in a series of successful films, beginning with The Curse of Frankenstein (as

6392-539: The classical world ; including those of the Greco-Roman, Celtic, Germanic, and Slavic tribes. However, modern parlance of folklorists and contemporary pagans in particular has extended the original four millennia scope used by early Christians to include similar religious traditions stretching far into prehistory . Paganism came to be equated by Christians with a sense of hedonism, representing those who are sensual, materialistic, self-indulgent, unconcerned with

6528-460: The pagan Celtic gods of their ancestors, with churches having fallen into disuse. They copulate openly in the fields, include children as part of the May Day celebrations , teach children of the phallic association of the maypole , and place toads in their mouths to cure sore throats. The islanders appear to be trying to thwart his investigation by claiming that Rowan never existed. While Howie

6664-531: The wicker man into modern popular culture . In recent times, a wicker man has been burnt at festivals such as Burning Man in the United States, and the former Wickerman Festival in Scotland. In 1998, Swedish black metal band Marduk used a line from this film on the introduction to the track "Slay The Nazarene" from the album Nightwing . In 2000, British heavy metal band Iron Maiden released

6800-662: The witch-cult hypothesis of Margaret Murray influenced a series of writers, who introduced ideas of pagan survivals in their fiction. Influential British turn of the century horror writers M. R. James , Algernon Blackwood and Arthur Machen produced seminal works of folk horror, notably James' collection Ghost Stories of an Antiquary , Machen's novella The Great God Pan and Blackwood's novella The Wendigo . Maria J. Pérez Cuervo cites Grant Allen 's Pallinghurst Barrow (1892), John Buchan 's Witch Wood (1927), and Eleanor Scott's Randall's Round (1929) as early examples of folk horror fiction. Cuervo argues that, following

6936-561: The 10th century, though periodic decrees enforced conversions to Islam, especially under Al-Ma'mun in 830. Nonetheless, Harran retained its heterogeneity, with a population that included Muslims, Christians, Jews, and a variety of other religious groups. The medieval church accused sects deemed heretical such as the Waldensians and Cathars of participating in pagan fertility rites. Arab paganism gradually disappeared during Muhammad 's era through Islamization . The sacred months of

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7072-500: The 1952 Finnish horror film The White Reindeer , in which a lonely bride is transformed into a vampiric reindeer, an idea derived from Finnish mythology and Sámi shamanism . Matthew Sweet , in his Archive on 4 documentary Black Aquarius , observes that the late 1960s counterculture movement led to what he terms a "second great wave of pop occultism" which pervaded popular culture, with many film and television works containing elements of folkloric or occult rituals. Whereas

7208-484: The 1980s and 1990s. This video includes additional early scenes set inside Howie's police station, which Hardy had left out of the 1979 restoration. In 2001, a remaster of the 88-minute cut was released on VHS, labelled as the "Theatrical Version". In 2001, the film's new world rights owners, Canal+ , tried to release the full-length film. Corman's copy had been lost, but a telecine transfer to 1-inch videotape existed. Missing elements were combined with film elements from

7344-463: The 2020s television series such as The Third Day and The Red King continued the folk horror tradition. Darkwood is a 2017 survival horror game by Acid Wizard Studios that made extensive use of folk horror imagery and themes, notably the rural isolationism, combining them with elements of body horror . Mundaun is a 2021 first person folk horror video game by Swiss developer Hidden Fields. The atmosphere and imagery has been compared to

7480-604: The 9th century, despite some church ruins from the 4th century indicating early Christian presence. The region's mountainous terrain allowed the Maniots to evade the Eastern Roman Empire's Christianization efforts, thus preserving pagan traditions, which coincided with significant years in the life of Gemistos Plethon . Another safe area for the pagans was the city of Harran which, Despite the persecution of its pagan inhabitants by Byzantine Emperor Maurice, remained

7616-520: The American film magazine Cinefantastique devoted a commemorative issue to the film, asserting that the film is "the Citizen Kane of horror movies" – an oft-quoted phrase attributed to this issue. Decades after its release, the film still receives positive reviews from critics and is considered one of the best films of 1973 . At the film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes , The Wicker Man holds an 90% "Fresh" rating based on 61 reviews, with

7752-640: The Arab pagans were the 1st, 7th, 11th, and 12th months of the Islamic calendar. After Muhammad had conquered Mecca he set out to convert the pagans. One of the last military campaigns that Muhammad ordered against the Arab pagans was the Demolition of Dhul Khalasa . It occurred in April and May 632 AD, in 10AH of the Islamic Calendar. Dhul Khalasa is referred to as both an idol and a temple, and it

7888-659: The Burns song "The Rigs of Barley", but Giovanni used a very different tune. Burns' tune was based on "Corn Riggs", and altered to match his lyrics. The song sung by the cultists of Summerisle at the end of the film, " Sumer Is Icumen In ", is a mid-13th-century song about nature in spring. The film also gave its name to the Wickerman Festival , an annual music festival held near Auchencairn in Galloway. Dubbed "Scotland's Alternative Music festival", it began in 2001 when

8024-774: The Corn (1984) (an adaptation of Stephen King 's 1976 short story ), The Blair Witch Project (1999), and the documentary Wisconsin Death Trip (1999). The films of Ben Wheatley have been seen as notable films of a modern folk horror revival, particularly Kill List (2011), Sightseers (2012), A Field in England (2013) and In the Earth (2021). Horror films from the Southeast Asia region have frequently drawn upon local folk beliefs, including those of Indonesian , Thai , Malay and Dayak cultures. In

8160-600: The Demon (1957), based on M.R. James's " Casting the Runes ", has been seen by horror historian Darryl Jones as foreshadowing the "folk horror" genre. Night of the Demon features isolated rural settings and countryside people who believe in the supernatural. Adam Scovell, writing for the British Film Institute , describes three films from the late 1960s and early 1970s as the "Unholy Trinity" of Folk Horror:

8296-482: The Genoese Il Basilisco (1979–1989), which released several works on pagan studies, and Politica Romana (1994–2004), seen as a high-level Romano-pagan journal. One prominent figure was actor Roberto Corbiletto , who died in a mysterious fire in 1999.The 1980s and 1990s also saw an increasing interest in serious academic research and reconstructionist pagan traditions. The establishment and growth of

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8432-518: The Internet in the 1990s brought rapid growth to these, and other pagan movements. By the time of the collapse of the former Soviet Union in 1991, freedom of religion was legally established across Russia and a number of other newly independent states, allowing for the growth in both Christian and non-Christian religions. In the 2000s, Associazione Tradizionale Pietas began reconstructing temples across Italy and sought legal recognition from

8568-670: The Latin west, and in connection with the Latin church. Elsewhere, Hellene or gentile ( ethnikos ) remained the word for pagan; and paganos continued as a purely secular term, with overtones of the inferior and the commonplace. Medieval writers often assumed that paganus as a religious term was a result of the conversion patterns during the Christianization of Europe , where people in towns and cities were converted more easily than those in remote regions, where old ways tended to remain. However, this idea has multiple problems. First,

8704-646: The Latin-speaking Western Roman Empire of the newly Christianizing Roman Empire , Koine Greek became associated with the traditional polytheistic religion of Ancient Greece and was regarded as a foreign language ( lingua peregrina ) in the west. By the latter half of the 4th century in the Greek-speaking Eastern Empire , pagans were—paradoxically—most commonly called Hellenes ( Ἕλληνες , lit. "Greeks") The word had almost entirely ceased being used in

8840-524: The May Day celebration, Howie subdues the innkeeper and steals his costume and mask (that of Punch , the fool) to infiltrate the parade. Rowan is eventually revealed. Howie sets her free and flees with her into a cave. Exiting it, they are intercepted by the islanders, to whom Rowan happily returns. Summerisle tells Howie that Rowan was never the intended sacrifice; Howie is. He fits their gods' four requirements: he came of his own free will, has "the power of

8976-680: The Moon and Starhawk 's The Spiral Dance opened a new chapter in public awareness of paganism. With the growth and spread of large, pagan gatherings and festivals in the 1980s, public varieties of Wicca continued to further diversify into additional, eclectic sub-denominations, often heavily influenced by the New Age and counter-culture movements. These open, unstructured or loosely structured traditions contrast with British Traditional Wicca , which emphasizes secrecy and initiatory lineage. The public appeal for pre-Christian Roman spirituality in

9112-700: The Roman east, they referred to pagans as Hellenes. Christianity inherited Jewish terminology for non-Jews and adapted it to refer to non-Christians with whom they were in contact. This usage is recorded in the New Testament . In the Pauline epistles , Hellene is almost always juxtaposed with Hebrew regardless of actual ethnicity The usage of Hellene as a religious term was initially part of an exclusively Christian nomenclature, but some Pagans began to defiantly call themselves Hellenes. Other pagans even preferred

9248-483: The Unholy Trinity has a very distinctive British flavour, Kier-La Janisse argues in her documentary Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror that the genre has culturally specific manifestations in American, Asian, Australian and European horror. Examples of "folk horror" films from the United States include Crowhaven Farm (1970), The Dark Secret of Harvest Home (1978), Children of

9384-461: The aforementioned Blood on Satan's Claw , Witchfinder General and The Wicker Man . He says they subvert expectations, having little in common except their nihilistic tone and countryside setting, noting their "emphasis on landscape which subsequently isolates its communities and individuals". He suggests that the rise of the genre at this time was inspired by the 1960s counterculture and New Age movements. Scovell also cites an early example as

9520-603: The basis of a number of British television plays of the 1970s; examples from the BBC's Play for Today strand include John Bowen 's Robin Redbreast (1970) and A Photograph (1977), David Rudkin 's Penda's Fen (1974), and Alan Garner 's Red Shift (1978), along with entries in the 1972 Dead of Night anthology series, such as The Exorcism . Adaptations of the antiquarian ghost stories of M. R. James , which derive their horror in cursed objects, medieval superstition, occult practices and witch trials, also provided

9656-440: The belief that returning to the old gods would bring prosperity to the island among the previously Christian population. Due to the bountiful harvests, the island's other inhabitants gradually embraced paganism , and the Christian ministers fled to the mainland. Exhuming the grave, Howie finds that the coffin contains only the carcass of a hare. He also finds the missing harvest photograph, showing Rowan standing amidst empty boxes;

9792-485: The company, Bentley needed to get a film into production quickly. This meant that although The Wicker Man was set in spring, filming actually began in October 1972; artificial leaves and blossoms had to be glued to trees in many scenes. The production was kept on a small budget. Christopher Lee was extremely keen to get the film made; he and others worked on the production without pay. While filming took place, British Lion

9928-545: The context of the 1848 revolutions , leading to the creation of national epics and national myths for the various newly formed states. Pagan or folkloric topics were also common in the musical nationalism of the period. Paganism resurfaces as a topic of fascination in 18th to 19th-century Romanticism , in particular in the context of the literary Celtic , Slavic and Viking revivals, which portrayed historical Celtic , Slavic and Germanic polytheists as noble savages . Great God! I'd rather be A Pagan suckled in

10064-780: The countryside as symbols or as imagery. As this was a story about people subject to superstitions about living in the woods, the dark poetry of that appealed to me. I was trying to make a folk-horror film, I suppose. Not a campy one. I didn't really like the Hammer campy style, it wasn't for me really. The term was later popularised by writer and actor Mark Gatiss in his 2010 BBC documentary series A History of Horror (Episode 2, "Home Counties Horror") in which he cited three British-made films— The Blood on Satan's Claw (Piers Haggard, 1971), Witchfinder General ( Michael Reeves , 1968), and The Wicker Man ( Robin Hardy , 1973)—as genre-defining works. The Jacques Tourneur film Night of

10200-497: The emperor. The growing religious stigmatization of Hellenism had a chilling effect on Hellenic culture by the late 4th century. By late antiquity, however, it was possible to speak Greek as a primary language while not conceiving of oneself as a Hellene. The long-established use of Greek both in and around the Eastern Roman Empire as a lingua franca ironically allowed it to instead become central in enabling

10336-544: The existing three cuts for a "4K Ultra HD Collector's Edition" release on 25 September 2023. On 21 June, the 4K restoration Final Cut was screened in cinemas across the UK along with a Q&A filmed in London, hosted by Edith Bowman with guests including Britt Ekland, and Robin Hardy's sons Julian and Dominic promoting their Wickermania! documentary. On 24 June, the Barbican Centre held "Musics from Summerisle",

10472-663: The fairy tales of a country were particularly representative of it, to the neglect of cross-cultural influence. Among those influenced were the Russian Alexander Afanasyev , the Norwegians Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe , and the Englishman Joseph Jacobs . Romanticist interest in non-classical antiquity coincided with the rise of Romantic nationalism and the rise of the nation state in

10608-550: The festival's artistic director Sid Ambrose hit upon the idea of a local counterculture-based family-friendly festival due to the surrounding area being inextricably linked with various locations used within The Wicker Man . It was held annually until 2015 at East Kirkcarswell Farm, Dundrennan. By the time of the film's completion, the studio had been bought by EMI, and British Lion was managed by Michael Deeley . The DVD commentary track states that studio executives suggested

10744-656: The film as a prime example of a short-lived subgenre he called " folk horror ", grouping it with 1968's Witchfinder General and 1971's The Blood on Satan's Claw . In 2003, the Crichton Campus of the University of Glasgow in Dumfries hosted a three-day conference on The Wicker Man , which resulted in the publication of two collections of papers about the film. In 2004, The Wicker Man ranked No, 45 on Bravo 's 100 Scariest Movie Moments . The film brought

10880-669: The film in drive-ins. It screened in the greater Atlanta area in May 1974. In Britain, the film was cut to roughly 87 minutes, with some narrative restructuring, and released as the "B" picture on a double bill with Don't Look Now . According to Lee, the cuts adversely affected the film's continuity . During the mid-1970s, Hardy made inquiries about the film, hoping to restore it to his original vision. Along with Lee and Shaffer, Hardy searched for his original cut, or raw footage. Both of these appeared to have been lost. Director Alex Cox said in his Moviedrome introduction in 1988 that

11016-544: The film: "The Isle of Summer", "Summerisle Reprise", and "Sowilo Rune" In the film Shallow Grave , Ewan McGregor's character is shown watching the final scene, representing the building sense of doom the character is experiencing. The creators of The League of Gentlemen television series often reference the film in their work, particularly in the Inside No. 9 episode 'Mr King'. Folk horror The cultural evolutionism of E. B. Tylor and James Frazer and

11152-523: The fire rituals ( Zjarri ). Pagan Continuity in Mani and Mistra (800–1100) Christianity was introduced late in Mani, with the first Greek temples converted into churches during the 11th century. Byzantine monk Nikon "the Metanoite" (Νίκων ὁ Μετανοείτε) was sent in the 10th century to convert the predominantly pagan Maniots. Although his preaching began the conversion process, it took over 200 years for

11288-490: The folk horror films of Ben Wheatley and Robert Eggers. The Excavation of Hob's Barrow is a folk horror point-and-click adventure game developed by Cloak and Dagger Games and published by Wadjet Eye Games in 2022. Players assume the role of an antiquarian who is attempting to excavate a mysterious tumulus in rural Northern England during the late Victorian era . Paganism Paganism (from classical Latin pāgānus "rural", "rustic", later "civilian")

11424-563: The foreign invaders were "not of the city" or "rural". The term pagan was not attested in the English language until the 17th century. In addition to infidel and heretic , it was used as one of several pejorative Christian counterparts to goy ( גוי / נכרי ) as used in Judaism, and to kafir ( كافر , 'unbeliever') and mushrik ( مشرك , 'idolater') as in Islam. In

11560-465: The future, and uninterested in more mainstream religions. Pagans were usually described in terms of this worldly stereotype , especially among those drawing attention to what they perceived as the limitations of paganism. Thus G. K. Chesterton wrote: "The pagan set out, with admirable sense, to enjoy himself. By the end of his civilization he had discovered that a man cannot enjoy himself and continue to enjoy anything else." In sharp contrast, Swinburne

11696-443: The harvest had failed. His research reveals that a human sacrifice is offered to the gods in the event of crop failure. He concludes that Rowan is alive and will soon be sacrificed to ensure a successful harvest. The following morning, on May Day, Howie seeks assistance from the mainland and returns to his seaplane, only to discover it no longer functions and its radio is damaged; he cannot leave or call for help. Later that day, during

11832-660: The historical paganism of Classical Antiquity. The 19th century also saw much scholarly interest in the reconstruction of pagan mythology from folklore or fairy tales. This was notably attempted by the Brothers Grimm , especially Jacob Grimm in his Teutonic Mythology , and Elias Lönnrot with the compilation of the Kalevala . The work of the Brothers Grimm influenced other collectors, both inspiring them to collect tales and leading them to similarly believe that

11968-429: The isolated Scottish island of Summerisle in search of a missing girl. Howie, a devout Christian, is appalled to find that the inhabitants of the island have abandoned Christianity and now practise a form of Celtic paganism . The Wicker Man is well regarded by critics. Film magazine Cinefantastique described it as "The Citizen Kane of horror movies", and in 2004, Total Film magazine named The Wicker Man

12104-488: The largest world religions. Contemporary knowledge of old pagan religions and beliefs comes from several sources, including anthropological field research records, the evidence of archaeological artifacts , and the historical accounts of ancient writers regarding cultures known to Classical antiquity . Most modern pagan religions existing today express a worldview that is pantheistic , panentheistic , polytheistic, or animistic , but some are monotheistic . It

12240-426: The lost original cut, "I still believe it exists somewhere, in cans with no name. I still believe that. But nobody's ever seen it since, so we couldn't re-cut it, re-edit it, which was what I wanted to do. It would have been ten times as good". European distributors of the film StudioCanal began a Facebook campaign in 2013 to find missing material, which culminated in the discovery of a 92-minute 35 mm print at

12376-560: The macabre" with "the splendid performances typical of British films." Janet Maslin of The New York Times was more negative, calling it "handsomely photographed" with "good performances," but "something of a howl" even though "it seems to have been made in all seriousness." The Wicker Man initially had moderate success and won the Golden Licorn for Best Film at the 1974 Paris International Festival of Fantastic and Science-Fiction Film , but largely slipped into obscurity. In 1977

12512-464: The majority to accept Christianity fully by the 11th and 12th centuries. Patrick Leigh Fermor noted that the Maniots, isolated by mountains, were among the last Greeks to abandon the old religion, doing so towards the end of the 9th century: Sealed off from outside influences by their mountains, the semi- troglodytic Maniots themselves were the last of the Greeks to be converted. They only abandoned

12648-583: The modern world. Matthew Sweet observes that occult and pagan elements even appeared in children's programmes and 1970s episodes of Doctor Who . Comedian Stewart Lee , in his retrospective of The Children of the Stones ("a tale of archaeology, occult ritual and Chopper bikes ") identifies that series as part of a "collective Sixties comedown" which includes the genre works The Owl Service , Timeslip (1970), The Tomorrow People (1973), The Changes (1975) and Raven (1977). The 1982 British TV series Westcountry Tales episode 'The Beast' also has

12784-415: The monster , 1957). Lee wanted to break free of this image and take on more interesting acting roles. The idea for The Wicker Man film began in 1971 when Lee met with screenwriter Anthony Shaffer , and they agreed to work together. Film director Robin Hardy and British Lion head Peter Snell became involved in the project. Shaffer had a series of conversations with Hardy, and the two decided that making

12920-430: The narrow meaning of the word from a broad cultural sphere to a more specific religious grouping. However, there were many Christians and pagans alike who strongly objected to the evolution of the terminology. The influential Archbishop of Constantinople Gregory of Nazianzus , for example, took offence at imperial efforts to suppress Hellenic culture (especially concerning spoken and written Greek) and he openly criticized

13056-487: The negative had "ended up in the pylons that support the M4 motorway ." Hardy recalled that a copy of the film made prior to Deeley's cuts was sent to Roger Corman, who, it turned out, still had it, possibly the only existing print of Hardy's original cut. The US rights had been sold by Warner Bros. to a small firm called Abraxas, managed by film buff Stirling Smith and critic John Alan Simon. Stirling agreed to an American release of

13192-467: The observation that man in the pagan view is always defined by ethnicity , i.e., As a result, every pagan tradition is also a national tradition. Modern historians define paganism instead as the aggregate of cult acts, set within a civic rather than a national context, without a written creed or sense of orthodoxy . The developments in the religious thought of the far-flung Roman Empire during Late Antiquity need to be addressed separately, because this

13328-564: The old religion of Greece towards the end of the ninth century. It is surprising to remember that this peninsula of rock, so near the heart of the Levant from which Christianity springs, should have been baptised three whole centuries after the arrival of St. Augustine in far-away Kent . According to Constantine VII in De Administrando Imperio , the Maniots were referred to as 'Hellenes' and only fully Christianized in

13464-459: The original U.S. theatrical version of The Wicker Man was digitally restored and released. On 29 April, Sergeant Neil Howie journeys by seaplane to the remote, verdant Hebridean island of Summerisle to investigate the disappearance of a young girl, Rowan Morrison, about whom he has received an anonymous letter. Howie, a devout Christian , is disturbed to find the Islanders paying homage to

13600-422: The pagans, before their competition with Christianity, had no religion at all in the sense in which that word is normally used today. They had no tradition of discourse about ritual or religious matters (apart from philosophical debate or antiquarian treatise), no organized system of beliefs to which they were asked to commit themselves, no authority-structure peculiar to the religious area, above all no commitment to

13736-558: The poet would comment on this same theme: "Thou hast conquered, O pale Galilean; the world has grown grey from thy breath; We have drunken of things Lethean, and fed on the fullness of death." Recently, the ethnocentric and moral absolutist origins of the common usage of the term pagan have been proposed, with scholar David Petts noting how, with particular reference to Christianity, "...local religions are defined in opposition to privileged 'world religions'; they become everything that world religions are not, rather than being explored as

13872-479: The popularity of pagan survival theories, weird fiction and supernatural fiction presented rural areas as "the domain of irrational forces that could only be appeased with certain rituals," often involving animal or human sacrifice. Shirley Jackson 's The Lottery (1948) was described in The Irish Times as "arguably the most influential North American folk horror text". The earliest known use of

14008-441: The previous versions (in particular, additional scenes of Howie on the mainland were restored, showing him to be the object of gossip at his police station, establishing his devout religiosity). The extended DVD cut was released by Canal+ ( Anchor Bay Entertainment handling US DVD distribution) in this 99-minute hybrid, considered the longest and closest version to Hardy's original 100-odd minute version. A two-disc limited edition set

14144-498: The priestly colleges (such as the College of Pontiffs or Epulones ) and cult practices more meaningful distinctions. Referring to paganism as a pre-Christian indigenous religion is equally untenable. Not all historical pagan traditions were pre-Christian or indigenous to their places of worship. Owing to the history of its nomenclature, paganism traditionally encompasses the collective pre- and non-Christian cultures in and around

14280-581: The recasting of Jesus the wandering rabbi into the image of Christ the Logos , the divine saviour, reflects the cult of Dionysus directly. They point to the symbolism of wine and the importance it held in the mythology surrounding both Dionysus and Jesus Christ; Wick argues that the use of wine symbolism in the Gospel of John , including the story of the Marriage at Cana at which Jesus turns water into wine,

14416-735: The restoration of Roman religious practices. In 1927, philosopher and esotericist Julius Evola founded the Gruppo di Ur in Rome, along with its journal Ur (1927–1928), involving figures like Arturo Reghini . In 1928, Evola published Imperialismo Pagano , advocating Italian political paganism to oppose the Lateran Pacts . The journal resumed in 1929 as Krur . A mysterious document published in Krur in 1929, attributed to orientalist Leone Caetani , suggested that Italy's World War I victory and

14552-474: The rise of fascism were influenced by Etruscan-Roman rites. The 1960s and 1970s saw a resurgence in neo-Druidism as well as the rise of modern Germanic paganism in the United States and in Iceland . In the 1970s, Wicca was notably influenced by feminism, leading to the creation of an eclectic, Goddess -worshipping movement known as Dianic Wicca . The 1979 publication of Margot Adler 's Drawing Down

14688-773: The rise of the Gruppo dei Dioscuri in cities like Rome, Naples, and Messina, which published a series of four booklets, including titles such as L'Impeto della vera cultura and Rivoluzione Tradizionale e Sovversione , before fading from public view ..The Evolian journal Arthos , founded in Genoa in 1972 by Renato del Ponte , expressed significant interest in Roman religion. In 1984, the Gruppo Arx revived Messina's Dioscuri activities, and Reghini's Pythagorean Association briefly resurfaced in Calabria and Sicily from 1984 to 1988, publishing Yghìeia . Other publications include

14824-782: The shooting. Some of the opening flying shots feature the Isle of Skye , including the pinnacles of The Storr and the Quiraing . The interior cave scenes were filmed inside Wookey Hole in Somerset. Hush Heath Estate in Staplehurst , Kent , makes a brief appearance in the film, doubling as Lord Summerisle's orchard and gardens. The climax of the film was shot at St Ninian's Cave and on the clifftops at Burrow Head in Wigtownshire . The amphibious aircraft that carries Sergeant Howie

14960-450: The sixth-greatest British film of all time. It also won the 1978 Saturn Award for Best Horror Film . The final scene was number 45 on Bravo 's 100 Scariest Movie Moments , and during the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony , it was included as part of a sequence that celebrated British cinema. The film brought the wicker man into modern popular culture . In 1989, Shaffer wrote a script treatment for The Loathsome Lambton Worm ,

15096-701: The spread of Christianity—as indicated for example, by the use of Greek for the Epistles of Paul . In the first half of the 5th century, Greek was the standard language in which bishops communicated, and the Acta Conciliorum ("Acts of the Church Councils") were recorded originally in Greek and then translated into other languages. "Heathen" comes from Old English : hæðen (not Christian or Jewish); cf. Old Norse heiðinn . This meaning for

15232-459: The stage, he lured Diane Cilento out of semi-retirement to play the town's schoolmistress. (They lived together in Queensland from 1975, and married in 1985). Ingrid Pitt , another British horror film veteran, was cast as the town librarian and registrar. Swedish actress Britt Ekland was cast as the innkeeper's lascivious daughter, although two body doubles were used for her naked scenes below

15368-578: The state, drawing inspiration from similar groups like YSEE in Greece. In 2023, Pietas participated in the ECER meeting, resulting in the signing of the Riga Declaration, which calls for the recognition of European ethnic religions. Public rituals, such as those celebrating the ancient festival of the Natale di Roma , have also resumed in recent years. The idea of practicing Roman religion in

15504-513: The students about Rowan, but all deny her existence. He checks the school register and finds Rowan's name. He questions the schoolteacher, who directs him to Rowan's grave. The next day, 30 April, Howie meets the island's leader, Lord Summerisle, grandson of a Victorian agronomist , to get permission for an exhumation. Summerisle explains that his grandfather developed strains of fruit trees that would prosper in Scotland's climate and encouraged

15640-508: The term originated from Gothic haiþno ( gentile woman) being used to translate Hellene in Wulfila's Bible , the first translation of the Bible into a Germanic language . This may have been influenced by the Greek and Latin terminology of the time used for pagans. If so, it may be derived from Gothic haiþi (dwelling on the heath ). However, this is not attested . It may even be

15776-479: The term, though describing an artefact rather than a genre, was in John Fowles ' 1966 novel The Magus , in which an African figure is described as a folk-horror, a corn-doll bundle of black strips of rag that hung down to the ground in a series of skirted flounces. The term folk horror was used in 1970 in the film magazine Kine Weekly by reviewer Rod Cooper describing the filming of The Devil's Touch ;

15912-439: The waist. Ekland found out that she was three months pregnant with her son Nic, to Lou Adler , two weeks into filming. Stuart Hopps (the film's choreographer) called upon Lorraine Peters, a nightclub dancer from Glasgow, who gyrated at the doorway and against the wall of a bedroom in the fully nude "wall" scenes. Ekland's speaking and singing voices were dubbed by Annie Ross and Rachel Verney respectively. Local girl Jane Jackson

16048-622: The wicker man, which gave the filmmakers their title, was taken from the description of the practice of human sacrifice by the Gauls in Julius Caesar 's Commentaries on the Gallic War : "Others have figures of vast size, the limbs of which formed of osiers they fill with living men, which being set on fire, the men perish enveloped in the flames." For Shaffer, this was "the most alarming and imposing image that I had ever seen." The idea of

16184-729: The word's usage as a reference to non-Christians pre-dates that period in history. Second, paganism within the Roman Empire centred on cities. The concept of an urban Christianity as opposed to a rural paganism would not have occurred to Romans during Early Christianity . Third, unlike words such as rusticitas , paganus had not yet fully acquired the meanings (of uncultured backwardness) used to explain why it would have been applied to pagans. Paganus more likely acquired its meaning in Christian nomenclature via Roman military jargon (see above). Early Christians adopted military motifs and saw themselves as Milites Christi (soldiers of Christ). A good example of Christians still using paganus in

16320-517: The work of Cecil Sharp , a "founding father" of the folk-revival movement of the early 20th century. Using Sharp's collections as a template, Shaffer noted to Giovanni which scenes were to have music, and in some cases provided lyrics, which would be appropriate to spring pagan festivals. Other songs on the soundtrack come from a later folk tradition; for example, "Corn Riggs", by Scotland's national bard, Robert Burns, accompanies Howie's arrival on Summerisle. The lyrics of this song were taken directly from

16456-528: The world grew up with—think Nang Nak or Pontianak as classic examples, or more recently, Joko Anwar 's Satan Slaves , Syamsul Yusof 's Munafik and Emir Ezwan's Roh ." Indonesian horror films have featured local folklore for many decades, including Satan's Slave (1980) and Mystics in Bali (1981); in the 2010s, The Queen of Black Magic and Impetigore also attracted international attention. As well as cinema, rural paganism formed

16592-420: The years following fascism was largely driven by Julius Evola . By the late 1960s, a renewed "operational" interest in pagan Roman traditions emerged from youth circles around Evola, particularly concerning the experience of the Gruppo di Ur . Evola's writings incorporated concepts from outside classical Roman religion, such as Buddhism , Hinduism , sexual magic , and private ritual nudity . This period saw

16728-475: Was a Thurston Teal , owned and flown in the aerial sequences by Christopher Murphy. According to Britt Ekland, some animals perished in the wicker man, whereas Robin Hardy said in an interview that great care was taken to ensure that the animals were in no danger of being hurt during this scene, and that they were not inside the wicker man when it was set on fire. The score was arranged, recorded and part composed by Paul Giovanni . According to Seamus Flannery in

16864-610: Was a week of test screenings at the Metropole Cinema London on 6 December 1973 ahead of the official public release in January 1974. It runs 87 minutes. A copy of a finished, 99-minute version was sent to American film producer Roger Corman in Hollywood to make a judgment of how to market the film in the U.S. Corman recommended an additional 13 minutes be cut from the film. Corman did not acquire U.S. release rights, and eventually Warner Bros. test-marketed

17000-422: Was also released on DVD on 13 October 2013. It is 91 minutes long, shorter than the director's cut but longer than the theatrical cut, and is known as The Wicker Man: The Final Cut . The Final Cut (UK) Blu-ray (2013) features short documentaries "Burnt Offering: The Cult of the Wicker Man", "Worshipping the Wicker Man", "The Music of the Wicker Man", interviews with director Robin Hardy and actor Christopher Lee,

17136-479: Was an integral part of ancient Greco-Roman religion and was regarded as an indication of whether a person was pagan or Christian. Paganism has broadly connoted the "religion of the peasantry ". During and after the Middle Ages , the term paganism was applied to any non-Christian religion, and the term presumed a belief in " false gods ". The origin of the application of the term "pagan" to polytheism

17272-780: Was bought by EMI Films . The film was shot almost entirely in the small Scottish towns of Stranraer , Gatehouse of Fleet , Newton Stewart , Kirkcudbright , Anwoth and Creetown in Galloway , as well as Plockton in Ross-shire . Some scenes were filmed in and around the Isle of Whithorn , where the owners of the castle, Elizabeth McAdam McLaughland and David Wheatley, plus several other local people, featured in various scenes. Culzean Castle in Ayrshire and its grounds and Floors Castle in Roxburghshire were also used for

17408-411: Was cast in the role of Sergeant Neil Howie after the part was declined by both Michael York and David Hemmings . In Britain, Woodward was best known for the role of Callan , which he played from 1967 to 1972. After The Wicker Man , Woodward went on to receive international attention for his roles in the 1980 film Breaker Morant and the 1980s TV series The Equalizer . After Shaffer saw her on

17544-837: Was dissolved in 1468 when Pope Paul II orderd the arrest and execution of some of the members, Pope Sixtus IV allowed Laetus to open the academy again until the Sack of Rome of the 1527. After the French Revolution , the French lawyer Gabriel André Aucler (mid 1700s–1815) adopted the name Quintus Nautius and sought to revive paganism , styling himself as its leader. He designed religious clothing and performed pagan rites at his home. In 1799, he published La Thréicie , presenting his religious views. His teachings were later analyzed by Gérard de Nerval in Les Illuminés (1852). Admiring ancient Greece and ancient Rome , Aucler supported

17680-482: Was employed as Ekland's stand-in for camera setups. Jackson was blonde-haired and bore a resemblance to Ekland but was otherwise not involved in any filming. The film was produced at a time of crisis for the British film industry. The studio in charge of production, British Lion Films, was in financial trouble and was bought by wealthy businessman John Bentley. To convince the unions that he was not about to asset strip

17816-477: Was first covered by an English musical project known as Nature and Organisation on their 1994 release Beauty Reaps the Blood of Solitude . It was covered by Sneaker Pimps as "How Do", and is included on their 1996 release Becoming X . "How Do" can be heard in the movie Hostel (2005); credited in the end titles as being composed by Sneaker Pimps. Additionally, the band has covered "Gently Johnny" as "Johnny"; it

17952-488: Was generally used in a derogatory sense. The term pagan derives from Late Latin paganus , revived during the Renaissance . Itself deriving from classical Latin pagus which originally meant 'region delimited by markers', paganus had also come to mean 'of or relating to the countryside', 'country dweller', 'villager'; by extension, ' rustic ', 'unlearned', ' yokel ', ' bumpkin '; in Roman military jargon , 'non-combatant', 'civilian', 'unskilled soldier'. It

18088-770: Was intended to show Jesus as superior to Dionysus. The scene in The Bacchae wherein Dionysus appears before King Pentheus on charges of claiming divinity is compared to the New Testament scene of Jesus being interrogated by Pontius Pilate . Proto-Albanian speakers were Christianized under the Latin sphere of influence, specifically in the 4th century CE, as shown by the basic Christian terms in Albanian, which are of Latin origin and entered Proto-Albanian before

18224-448: Was known by some as the Ka'ba of Yemen, built and worshipped by polytheist tribes. Interest in reviving ancient Roman religious traditions can be traced to the Renaissance , with figures such as Gemistus Pletho and Julius Pomponius Laetus advocating for a revival, when Renaissance magic was practiced as a revival of Greco-Roman magic . Gemistus Plethon, who was from Mistras (near

18360-468: Was one of his favourite films and that the character of Howie was the best part he ever played. In addition to Lee's admiration of the final shot of the film (of the collapsing wicker man), Woodward said that it is the best final shot of any film ever made. In 2010 The Guardian newspaper ranked it as No 4 in its "25 best horror films of all time" listings. In his 2010 BBC documentary series A History of Horror , writer and actor Mark Gatiss referred to

18496-421: Was sold with the shortened theatrical release, the new extended version and a documentary, The Wicker Man Enigma . In 2005, Inside the Wicker Man author Allan Brown revealed he had discovered stills taken on the set showing sequences from the script that had never been seen; it had never been certain that the scenes had been filmed. They include scenes where Howie closes a mainland pub open after hours, encounters

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