What is PAGAN religion?

Question

What does a pagan believe? Who does a pagan follow?

Answer 1

You have been give some very good answers and also some very ignorant answers and I feel the need to correct.
Some have said that all pagans are evil and satan worshipers and we are out to get Christianity...blahblahblah...
It's sad that people have to make up stuff about others because they have no real idea what we believe, but because it is not what they believe, it must be wrong and evil.
I do not believe in the devil and would have nothing to do with Satan...the name reeks of evil and I am on the opposite side of evil. I believe in ":An it harm none, do what thou will" Positive energy through the God and/or Goddess. We do NOT worship rocks and inanimate objects. That's just stupid. Some pagans do use crystals and athames and such in ritual spells but what on Earth would make somebody think we worship such things? We (most of us) respect the Earth not worship it.
Assumption is the mother of all f**k-ups.
I believe that Christians should keep their faith and it is wonderful they found a religion that gives them peace. As I have done. I just wish Christianity taught more tolerance for others of different faiths instead of fear and ignorance. (I was raised Christian so I know what I'm talking about. I was taught that as well-that doesn't go towards all Christians...I have many friends of many different faiths) Everybody deserves to have their own faith or lack thereof. It's our right as a human.

Answer 2

There are many Pagan religions, the term Pagan is just a big umbrella that encompasses them all. I am a Heathen and I follow the Olde Nordic/Germanic religion of Odinism. I worship the Gods and Goddesses that the Vikings did.
There is nothing evil about Paganism, non of the Pagan Paths believe in a devil and therefore do not worship one. The Olde religions have some things in common, they are mostly nature based religions. Wicca which derives from Witchcraft is a very harmonious nature religion. Witches believe in a God and Goddess. The change of the seasons represent different times in the Goddess's life.
Nature is very sacred to us, we strive to live alongside it and not be its master.
There are those out there who use Paganism, particularly Heathenry, as a shield for racism. I have come across those who think being a Heathen means you can be a white supremecist and hate those who don't believe in what you do. These people are NOT Pagan and give us a very bad name. If you want to learn about Paganism then type Paganism into a search engine. There are so many good sites out there.

Answer 3

There's an amazing amount of misinformation about paganism posted here, mostly by Wiccans claiming to be pagans who don't have a clue what a pagan is. Pagan is a term that describes any of a number of pre-Christian polytheistic nature-based religions. Neo-pagans are modern people who follow modern versions of those pre-Christian polytheistic nature-based religions. Despite the claims of many Wiccans who know absolutely nothing about ancient pagan cultures, Wicca is not based on any pre-Christian religion and is not even polytheistic. Wicca is duotheistic. In other words, Wicca is not a pagan religion; it is a New Age religion. To correct some of the other idiocies posted above: 1)"An it harm none do what thou will" is the Wiccan Rede. It has nothing to do with paganism and is not based on any pre-Christian nature-based religion. 2) Pagans do not worship "the God" or "the Goddess". Pagans are polytheistic and worship multiple gods and goddesses. Ancient pagans did not worship or have any concept of "the Goddess". That's Wicca not paganism. 3) Pagans do not worship nature. Pagans revere nature and believe that humans are part of nature. 4) Paganism does not "welcome all faiths, all beliefs, all religions". 5) Pagans do not believe in a single supreme being. 5) Pagans do not believe in or worship Satan. As a rule of thumb, when someone starts talking about paganism, ask if they're a Wiccan. If they are, don't believe a word they say about paganism. Most Wiccans have filled their heads with utter New Age rubbish about the so-called ancient pagan origins of Wicca. Wicca is no more ancient or pagan than the Elks Club. That is not to say that there is anything wrong with Wicca, per se, except for the fact that Wiccans have spread more disinformation about paganism than has Christianity. They should be ashamed.

Answer 4

It is basically nature worship. The worship the spirits of animals, plants, the seasons, etc. Some also throw some of the other pre-Christian religions, such as the Roman, Greek, and Egyptian gods.

Paganism has nothing to do with Satan. That story is something the early Catholic Church came up with when they were taking over. What is really funny is that many of Christian beliefs and holidays are just bastardizations of pagan holidays. For example, many pagan religions celebrated the 'birth' of the new year on the Winter Solstice (which included evergreen bows and candles... doesn't that sound familiar).

Answer 5

Pagan religions tend to believe in the spirits of Nature. Sun God, etc. Winter Solstice is a Pagan Holiday....in that Pagans were paying homage to nature on the shortest day of the year. Ditto for Summer Solstice.

Most of the Christian religions are around the same time as Pagan religions....and that is no mistake. When the Christians were trying to convert the Pagans they adopted many of their holidays and made them their own.

Answer 6

Pagan is a general term for any pre Christian religion. Typically they will believe in earth/spirits and perhaps a variety of gods.

The Greek religion. Pagan
Wican. Pagan
Roman. Pagan.
Etc.

Answer 7

Pagans worshiped the sun and prayed to fertility gods that there harvests would ripen that kind of thing but what is intresting for all you Chrirstians out there is how many Pagan rituals you asymilated into your religion for the purpose of selling it to the masses. Easter for instance. Have none of you ever thought why easter changes date? Well i'll tell you it's because it falls on the Spring lunar equinox based on the cycle of the moon a Pagan ritual nothing to do with the death of christ. Also sunday is not the christian holy day it s the pagan one when they would worship the sun

Answer 8

Paganism is a very broad term encorporating a LOT of different beliefs. It's kinda like saying that you're "Christian" when you consider yourself to be a Methodist. All denominations whether it be Catholic, Baptist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Episcopalian..etc..etc.. all classify themselves as Christian. The term Paganism is very similar in that aspect. Under the blanket statement of Paganism, you have druidism, goddess worship, Asatru, Odinism, Wiccan, etc..etc..

Each one of those different branches of "Paganism" has their own set of beliefs and even within those different groups there are differing beliefs. For example, Gardnerian Wicca is different from Alexandrian Wicca which is different than druidism or Asatru.

If there was one thing that someone could say about "Paganism" as a whole, it would probably be that Pagans do not (for the most part) believe in the Judeo-Christian God.

As for who they follow.. depends on what/who/how they believe in.

It's not quite as simple as a cut and dried answer, but never be afraid to do research. Educating yourself only makes you better.

Answer 9

Pagan is a term used and abused many times. It has been used by many (not all) christian people to describe any religion other than christianity, or religions percieved to be worshiping the devil, interestingly pagan people do not believe in the devil, nor do they believe in good and evil in line with christian concepts. These people were frequently burn at the stake during the witch hunts of the middle ages by christian people

What I think you are getting at is current neo-pagan religions, that is re-born ancient belief systems such as wicca. These are earth-based religions that commonly worship 'the godess', sometimes 'god and godess'. As I understand it, neo-pagan religions view divinity as being part of everything (being imanent), rather than a separate creating force, and work along the basic law 'an it harm none, do what ye wilt'.

Neo-pagan people frequently, though not always, practice magick (often called witchcraft as many refer to themselves as witches), either as part of a covern, or singularly. Not all belong to a covern.

I have known a number of witches through my life and have found them to be remarkably balanced individuals who use their religion as a way of enhancing their life, quite successfully to from what I saw.

This is where my knowledge ends, from here on in can I suggest that you google paganism/wicca/witchcraft or check wikipedia?

Answer 10

From its earliest beginnings, Christianity spread much more quickly in major urban areas than in the country side and soon the word for "country dweller" became synonymous with someone who was "not a Christian," giving rise to the modern meaning of "pagan."

This group may include the Dharmic religions, which technically incorporate pagan characteristics like nature-worship, polytheism and reverence of female deities, and are thus diametrically opposite to the Abrahamic faiths. "

Some of what pagan belives:

They welcome all faiths, all beliefs, all religions.
Some believe in a Supreme Being. Many believe in God and Goddess--a duality.

All of nature and the universe are considered embodiments of God and Goddess.

Many believe in reincarnation after some rest and recovery in the "Otherworld."

"Evil" is imbalance. Most believe there is no evil but rather that people sometimes make mistakes.

The concept of "salvation" is essentially irrelevant; rather the belief that people can attain spiritual balance and harmony with each other and nature.

Most do not believe in Satan or any spirit being as the cause of suffering.
-Pagan worship is not satan worship

Jesus command to only worship and follow his teachings, Unfortunately for Christianity and Islam, pagan believes have infiltrated into their believe or customs.