What is a pagan?

Question

I have seen many people say they are pagan. I dont know what this is . What is your beliefs/ religion. Please give serious answers.

I am not judging them I am only wanting to know somethings about them. So dont get all mad.

Answer 1

Pagans are early forms of a religious belief in which the earth, and nature are revered for their ability to reproduce. Many pagan groups view sex as natural, and the Maypole ceremony is actually worship of the phallus, or erect penis, planted in the fertile earth, being wound with ribbons to resemble the veins on it.

Answer 2

A pagan is anyone that is outside Christianity, Judism, or Islamic in their beliefs of God...i.e. have multiply gods or believe in the God/Goddess or Nature and what not.
Pagan also means "country-dweller" mostly because during the time when Judism was for those that practice Judism, and Christianity either wasn't around or was in its infancy, people saw God however they could understand a Superior Being.
Of course you have Satanist and Luciferians in this mix of paganism, as well as those that practice the "black arts" but for the most part pagans aren't hostile to anyones God, they just try to understand as best as possilbe who God is, and sometimes that doesn't match up with the Christian God, the Jewish God, or the Islamic God.
I suppose that I would be classified as a "pagan" just because I see God as having both male and female energies, i.e. I believe in the God/Goddess; one deity, two entities. But I also believe that Jesus was and is the Christ.
Religion and beliefs are complicated and often lead to hostility and misunderstanding of everyone that isn't of a certain view point. I believe that I am on the right path for me, that doesn't mean that I think everyone should think like me...but some others are not so "understanding". We all have our own paths to take...some "good" some that end "bad...but they are still all our own paths...if you ask Christians a certain question, you might get 50 different answers all for the same thing...it's not because they all aren't Christian, but everyone sees things a different way from another, even if they all go to the same church, and that goes for all religions and dogmas...not just Christians.
We all must respect each other and our choices...no amount of force will change someones beliefs...and that is the way we humans were made.

Answer 3

When a modern person says they are "pagan" it usually means that they follow a kind of new-ager-ish religion like Wicca or Druidism (in its modern form) or something similar. They usually believe in either "Old Gods" like Thor or Zeus or Isis, or they believe in something like a generic God & Goddess that is sort of an amalgamation of all the ancient dieties. A lot of them will honor gods from many ancient traditions.

They often also will believe in and practice magick, (spell casting type magic, not stage magic). Most of them totally reject the validity of any of the major monotheistic religions such a Christianity, Judaism, or Islam. However, some modern pagans will blend some aspect of one or more of these religions in with their other beliefs.

If you really want to know what any given self-professed modern pagan believes in, you would have to ask them, because there is a wide variety of beliefs and practices and many pagans that have unique ideas all their own.

Quite a few pagans tend to hold beliefs regarding sex and relationships that are diametrically opposed to those of most Christians. There are quite a few pagans that believe that sex is not only NOT sinful but that it is holy and magical.

There are tons of web-sites that deal with all sorts of modern pagan beliefs.

Answer 4

Nowadays the term pagan means tends to mean religious practices that depart from orthodox Christianity, such as worship or beliefs directed at Nature, goddesses, the moon and stars, and so on.

It is interesting that originally the word did not have such a negative connotation. Pagan just meant "rural or country" as opposed to urban. Christianity was a religion that first grew in urban centers, so the folk religion of country folks was known as "pagan." Now it means something far different!

Answer 5

Paganism (from Latin paganus, meaning "a country dweller" or "civilian") is a blanket term which has come to connote a broad set of spiritual or religious beliefs and practices of natural or polytheistic religions, as opposed to the Abrahamic monotheistic religions. "Pagan" is the usual translation of the Islamic term mushrik, which refers to 'one who worships something other than God'. Ethnologists do not use the term for these beliefs, which are not necessarily compatible with each other: more useful categories are shamanism, polytheism or animism. Often, the term has pejorative connotations, comparable to heathen, infidel and kafir (كافر) in Islam.
Personally, I'm Lutheran most Sundays, Wednesdays, & Fridays; Agnostic on Saturdays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays; and mostly dazed and confused on Mondays.

Answer 6

A Pagan is some who do not worship the Christian God not do we believe in the Christian Satan. I persoanly do not fault any one for what they believe, because we are not gods, we'er mortals and we have no right to say what else believes is right or wrong. I am not saying you are doing such a thing, and I converted from Christianity to Paganism so I know how some Christians take scripture way too far.

Answer 7

The actual definition of the word Pagan is the belief in more than one god. Most you find these days are not truely pagan as they believe in nothing, they mix thier herbs and send smoke to a god and goddess but have no clue as the real religion of it. The best way I can explain it is to compare it to the American Indian belief system. There is a god that brings the sun, one that takes care of the dead, one for medicine, one for weather, one to make the earth fertile for food, etc. It's not so much belief in supernatural beings anymore as it is a repect for the circle of life that makes everything possible, if one link in the chain is broken, it is the beginning of ruin. We as humans are quickly weakening many links in the chain and if we're not careful, we'll destroy ourselves.

ooo I got on a soapbox there for a sec, sorry 'bout that, it's something I grew up with and it's hard to shut me up once I get going LOL

Answer 8

Typically when people say pagan they usually mean people who do not believe in God. That's why you hear people say Halloween is a pagan holiday. Below is a link that will further define for you what is meant by the term pagan and its origin

Answer 9

A Pagan be many different things. I've most often heard the term used as someone who isn't part of one of the mainstream religions. Pagan is a BROAD term, for many religions that aren't mainstream.

Answer 10

Pagans practice nature-worshiping, usually polytheistic religions, such as Wicca, Asatru, Hellenic polytheism, and Celtic polytheism, to name a few that may be more recognizable to you. However, not all pagans fall under a specific religion. Many prefer to simply call themselves pagan and believe what they want to believe, without the strictures of a religion. Either way, it is nature-worship and polytheistic.

Answer 11

pagans worship the old gods before the white christ like thor or freya or the nones or any rock or spirit or the earth as mother of us all or the sky as a spirit and the moon as a symbol of womens powers its called paganism by the churches of God and Christians But they were here first in europe as animism in tribal lands is today