paganism ???

Question

do the pagans have a holy book?

if not where do/did their rules come from?

what do the pagans actually believe in?

and any other anfo would be useful

Answer 1

Paganism is like monotheism - it is not a specific religion; it covers a vast number of different beliefs. Wicca is the most popular one today, but by no means is every pagan a Wiccan. So basically, different pagans believe completely different things, and some of them probably do have holy books.

Answer 2

Paganism is an umbrella term for many different religious followings. All of those following's share beliefs in common, or at least have one thing in common: being earth-centered. Think of this kind of like how you would think of Christianity...Lutherans, Baptists, Jehovah's Witnesses etc are all Christians, they are just different branches of Christianity. One of the branches of Paganism that you are probably most familiar with is Wicca. Wiccans follow the law of return which states that what you do comes back to you threefold. They also believe in harming no living thing. Wicca was started by Gerald Gardener around the 1930's (I'm not sure about the exact time period). Aside from the two already stated beliefs Wiccans have varying rules and religious ideas from group to group. As for Pagans in general most are polytheistic (but not all), a lot are animistic, many do witchcraft...though witchcraft is not religious many pagans practice it along with their religion. As you can see this is a long and very involved topic. I'm going to stop here and please message me if you want more info..... Here are some good web pages for you to look at:

http://www.religioustolerance.org/paganism.htm

http://www.religioustolerance.org/witchcra.htm

Answer 3

The Neo-Pagan religions do not have a holy book. Most of us believe in personal revelation.

Most follow the rule, "And It harm none do as you will". Many folks suggest that this saying originated with A. Crowley.

Witchvox.com has lots of useful information.

Edit:
Angelsun does not seem to know what she is talking about. I have some great Christian friends, including my wife. I have learned much from Christian sources.

Blessed Be
Pabs

Answer 4

Since there's a number of Pagan religions out there, there's no one book that applies to all Pagans. Most Pagan religions don't have a book, per se - many of them have a collection of mythologies that were originally oral, but later transcribed and collected. These stories are the basis of the religions, and where the rules come from.

Answer 5

Every culture that predates monotheism had a pagan religion associated with that culture. The tradition was oral, thus no holy books. All pagan religions are earth based. They follow the cycles of the earth and celebrate each major change in every 365 day period, or what is known in our times as, The Wheel of the Year.

Paganism is polytheistic. Each culture had its own pantheon of gods and goddesses which governed and impacted on every aspect of daily life. What I find truly fascinating is that each culture had gods and goddesses which were similar to each other. So, as an example, the Celtcs had Lugh, their sun god. Lugh is described as a beautiful blond male. The same description can be found of the Greek/Roman sun god Apollo.

Paganism is alive and well today. Yes, there was a lot lost due to the Inquisition - it had to go underground - but it is enjoying a resurgence in the west with current research helping to fill in the blanks of what was formally lost. Impossible you say? No it is not when you consider that the Gnostic gospels are being found, like the gospel of Mary Magdalene, having been lost for over 1500 years.

Contrary to Christian propaganda, pagans do not worship or align themselves with the mythological entity known as Satan. Satan is a Christian construct and was unknown in pagan cultures. Paganism has no consummately "good" or consummately "evil" god or goddess. Instead, the gods and goddesses reflected the needs, the hopes and the desires of the people. They were also the basis of the first Code of Law known as the Code of Hammurabi.

"Do what you will. Harm none," is their motto or basic code of behavior as, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you," is the motto or basic code of behavior for Christians.

Unlike the patriarchies, paganism is in sync with the earth thus pagans of old, just like pagans today, are very respectful of the earth. Consequently, it is safe to say that pagans were the world's first environmentalists.

Answer 6

paganism is not a religion in and of itself but rather a term used by those I know to indicate those who believe in and follow " The Ancient Ways. "

this would include any Religious Belief System not totally Christian in its structure as well as those Christians who have incorporated Ancient Belief Systems into a structured Christian Belief System.

there are a number of these Pagan Belief Systems and many people who use the term " Pagan " in a different definition of what I use. therefore I prefer to ask the individual I'm talking to what they mean by the term so no misunderstanding will occur.

Answer 7

Angelsuns doesn't know what she is talking about. She was probably just "playing at" paganism. Some of my best friends are christians and they respect my beliefs as well.

Answer 8

I just have to add this comment because it needs to be said.

I am an atheist and i would support a pagan or wiccan before christianity.
for the simple fact during the salem witch trials the christians were doing the burning . Please let me know in the bible where it says to sacrifice persons.

Answer 9

yes it is known as a book of shadows(in the burning times people had to hide what they believed) Are rules are basically common curtesy we believe in a God and a Goddess because you cannot have harmony without the other. There are plenty of sites to learn from do a keyword search and you will be surprised what you will find

Answer 10

A pagan is simply a generic term for an unbeliever. They could believe in any sort of crap and have a variety of religions or books.