The Centre For Pagan Studies & The Doreen Valiente Foundation were devastated to announce the passing of our founder and chairman, John Belham-Payne, on the morning Monday 15th February 2016.
Read more about John on the Doreen Valiente Foundation website and donate to the memorial fund
John Belham-Payne 1952 – 2016. RIP
About Us – “The Centre For Pagan Studies is a charity with objects as follows – “
To provide information on the principles and practice of paganism in its various forms for the benefit of all, and to give public education in order to 1/ reduce defamation of the people who follow a pagan path 2/ to facilitate pagans to learn more and research their chosen path.”
Formed in 1995 by John and Julie Belham-Payne, the Centre was put together as a resource facility for those wishing to learn more about the ancient religions of the world and to connect with speakers, authors and authorities on various pagan related topics.
We have many projects which we have already formed over the years, and continue to execute and develop, Blue Plaques for noted people in the pagan community, book publishing, events, conferences. Now in 2021, we are mostly online, and we have an exciting plan for expansion of the Centre For Pagan Studies starting with a vibrant and diverse online events schedule with plans for live exhibitions and conferences in the coming years, and are looking for discerning people with a professional approach to form a great media team with us.“
Panel of Experts Charge of the Goddess Conference 2012
Speakers and Academicians
The Centre For Pagan Studies has an authoritative and academically approved list of speakers and lectures on most pagan and esoteric related subjects. Working closely with Professor Ronald Hutton (Bristol University), Rufus Harrington, Melissa Harrington, Prudence Jones, Vivianne Crowley, Philip Heselton, Marian Green, Julia Phillips, Richard Levy, Jennifer Uzzell, Angela Puca, Timothy R Landry, Yvonne Aburrow, Bob Houghton, and many more we are always pleased to arrange a dialogue whether it be a short telephone interview for a media presentation, or a lecture for a conference or pagan gathering. Please use the contact form to ask us about speakers.
Events and Conferences
The Centre For Pagan Studies arranges events and conferences annually and if you would like to be informed of upcoming events please visit our Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/CentreForPaganStudies
Pagan Heritage
The Centre For Pagan Studies has an active mission to honour Pagan Heritage and to that end we have the Commemorative Blue Plaques Project which is entirely funded by donations from the pagan community.
Publishing
The Centre For Pagan Studies publishing arm is interested in educative, information, and inspirational books about Paganism and the Occult arts. We are not interested in How-To books, or vanity publishing.
Our History
Formed in 1995 by John and Julie Belham-Payne and based in an 18th Century barn in the grounds of their home in Sussex England. The Centre was put together as a resource facility for those wishing to learn for themselves, more about the ancient religions of the world. The C.F.P.S. provides accurate information in lecture form from a number of eminent speakers on a variety of Pagan and esoteric based themes. It also provided a sheltered working space for small groups, wishing to use the grounds for rituals. The C.F.P.S. was at that time used for a number of weekend conferences. The beautiful grounds and the unique atmosphere made it an obvious venue for handfastings. It also held the first ever Pagan Art Exhibition by the renowned Visionary Artists Group.
The CFPS and Doreen Valiente our Patron. News March 2011 The Doreen Valiente Foundation is Born!
Since Doreen´s death and bequeathment of all her magical artefacts and manuscripts. In the absence of a permanent site for the Centre For Pagan Studies, we have created a temporary exhibition, which is available to any suitable venue in the world. Along with the display Trustees are available to give talks and presentations of the Doreen Valiente Collection. See the foundation’s projects page for up to date information on what we are doing now. As this has now become a full time occupation we are currently applying limited resources to maintaining this site – Please visit the DoreenValiente.org for all the updates and news. Eventually we will incorporate the Centre For Pagan Studies site into the Doreen Valiente Site.