Does anyone actually understand what a Pagan is?

Question

Does anyone understand what an 'Occult practitioner' is? Does anyone even care?

Answer 1

Yes, I know the meanings of those words. I am a polytheist who doesn't believe in the deities of Christianity, Judaism, or Islam---so I am considered a pagan (but neo-pagan is more appropriate for my beliefs and practices).
I also use a few of the occult (mystic) practices.
I don't think that all pagans practice the occult, nor do I feel that all those who practice the occult arts are necessarily pagan, though many are.
I care about the meanings of words because words are what makes clear communication possible.

Answer 2

If you're looking for a dictionary defintion then I'd suggest dictionary.com

Paganism refers to many different beliefs such as Wicca, Asatru, Celtic, Druidism ...etc.
Most Pagans believe in multiple dieties, nature worship and they respect the ebb and flow of the universe. Pagans don't try to convert others and they don't claim to be 'the only way'.

"Does anyone understand what an 'Occult practitioner' is?"
Occult definition: Of, relating to, or dealing with supernatural influences, agencies, or phenomena.
So, I guess anyone that deals with a God practices the occult.

"Does anyone even care?"
I'll guess that you do since you asked this question

Answer 3

A real pagan is someone who worships the earth and mother nature. A stark contrast to the masculine dieties that are dominant in the more modern religions.
Most britons were pagans before the romans invaded and forced us into christianity.
An occult practitioner is something else entirely.

Answer 4

Technically pagan is used to define anyone who does not believe in the mainstream Judea-Christian and Islam religions. Anymore it usually refers to the New Age religions, Wicca, Asatru and other similar reconstructs of ancient religions.

Occult generally refers to the practice of witchcraft, necromancy and other "dark arts"

I'm a Pagan, and I guess an Occult practitioner as well. Doesn't bother me.

Answer 5

a pagan is anyone who believes in a religion which isn't that of the ancient Greeks. so technically Christians are pagans but over time its has been use to describe minority religions. paganism is not a religion in itself but a description of certain religions meant as an insult

an occult practitioner is someone who practises the occult arts.

Answer 6

Paganism (from Latin paganus, meaning "a country dweller" or "civilian") is a term which, from a western perspective, has come to connote a broad set of spiritual or religious beliefs and practices of natural or polytheistic religions
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paganism

In the 1920s Margaret Murray theorized that a witchcraft religion existed underground and in secret, and had survived through the witchcraft prosecutions by ecclesiastic and state courts. Most historians reject Murray's theory, as it was partially based on the similarities of the accounts given by those accused of witchcraft and such similarity is thought to actually derive from the standard set of questions laid out in witch-hunting manuals that were used by interrogators (Hutton, 2001).

In the 1940s Gerald Gardner claimed to have been initiated into a New Forest coven led by a woman named "Old Dorothy", whom some surmise was actually a woman named Dorothy Clutterbuck - an ex-colonial woman returned from India. Gardner had already written about Malay native customs and wrote books about witchcraft. Gardnerian Wicca is used to refer to the traditions of Neopaganism that adhere closely to Gardner's teachings, differentiating it from similar traditions, such as Alexandrian Wicca.

The 1960s and 1970s saw a resurgence in Neo-druidism as well as the rise of Germanic Neopaganism and Ásatrú in the USA and in Iceland. The 1980s and 1990s saw, on the one had, an increasing interest in serious academic research and Reconstructionist Pagan traditions, and on the other, the popularization of a sort of mainstream, New Age, dumbed-down and media-friendly "Wicca Lite".[citation needed] In the 2000s, the community is incredibly large, diverse, and (given some of the above differences) sometimes polarized.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-Paganism

Answer 7

"Does anyone even care?"

Are you asking this as a Pagan yourself? If so, and being one myself, you might find the Old English definition of the word very interesting. It means, "village dweller."

Walk your Good Red Road and...

Blessed Be.

Answer 8

I dont understant anything about a Pagan.

Answer 9

A pagan is someone who is not a christian, moslem or jew. Its someone with no religion in Europe prior to the big three religions. Before christianity, Islam, and judaism, every one in Europe were pagans with no gods. Eventually, People began to create belief systems to explain the world they lived in. They created norse gods and etc.

Answer 10

Pagan have gods who have sons like the old Greek gods