What exactly is a pagen ((sp?))?

Question

like what do they believe in/worship???

Answer 1

You've gotten a few idiotic answers so far, along with a couple of escapists, and one or two pointing to good information.

Basically, there are a few broad definitions.

1: Anything other than the Judeo-Christian branch of faiths that believe in the One God.

2: Any religion that is polytheistic in nature.

3: NeoPaganism, which is a (mostly) polytheistic form of religion that honors the sanctity of the Earth, believes Deity to be more immanent than transcendent and has branches that are somewhat reconstructionist in nature. Wicca is an example of a NeoPagan faith.

4: The proper definition was "country dweller", and it came to be used as a pejorative to make fun of people who still believed in the Old Religion whilst Christianity made it's takeover in rural Europe.

If someone introduces themselves as a Pagan, currently, it is likely to mean NeoPagan, however some reconstructionists would consider themselves old-school.

Native Americans, and aboriginal religions are considered Pagan. Mormons qualify as Pagans, believing that there is more than one God; they worship only one, but believe that there are many.

That's basically a nutshell, from a NeoPagan nut.

Answer 2

The word Pagan has been defined in lots of different ways. The definition that I think is most accurate is that Paganism is a category of the pre-Christian religions of Europe, and religions that either attempt to reconstruct or draw elements and ideas from them.

Of course, this definition isn't one that everyone will agree on. For more information, see the source below.

Answer 3

Pagan was the name given to people who were neither jewish or christian in the "good ol dark ages" and were either "converted" or killed. Today I believe the name is used only towards people who don't believe in "one god" and worship nature or sincerely hold other beliefs. Wiccans (some people call them withches) are probably the best example of this today. Needless to say there is alot of "hellfire and brimstone" talk when it comes to Pagans. But they have sincere religious beliefs as valid as anyone else's that should at the very least be respected. (so don't call them pagans ;-)

Answer 4

Pagan.

To look in the dictionary, you will see lots of "meanings", some are from other religions trying to define what they think we are, and some are self definitions.

There is an old saying - ask 100 pagans what pagan means, and get 150 answers.

And that pretty much explains what a pagan is.

The word pagan is derived from an old Latin word, pagani, one of the land. It was used to reference country folk and farmers, and later was turned into a slang word, much like "country bumpkin" or one who was not wizened to the ways of the more educated and enlightened "city folks".

The dictionary also says, one who is not Christian, Jewish or Muslim. Which pretty much leaves everyone else as pagans. However, I believe in allowing a religion to "self define" itself, so Buddhists are Buddhists, not pagans, as are Hindus their own religion and not considered pagan. I would not disrespect their religion by trying to classify it. Pagans usually do not have any kind of "organized" religion, but spirituality is very personal to them.

Why? Because neo- pagans, or today's pagans, are practicing a chosen life style, self defined, with a common factor of a deep respect for the earth. Very earth centered, their life style reflects this in their respect for nature, their concern with preserving it, and trying to live in harmony with the land, it's cycles and it's seasons.

Religion become a personal choice. We go back to the 100 questioned, 150 answers. Pagans choose their own deities to work with, so it is not an "organized" religion as most folks are familiar with. Pagans also choose no religion. We have atheist pagans, who's only concern is to live in harmony with the land. We have pagans of all sorts of beliefs, so, again, I refer to paganism as an umbrella term for all who follow an earth based philosophy.

But, as I said, ask 100 pagans, get 150 answers. You will find some who will disagree with me, but it is not important. What is important is that we look at what they practice, and what they believe and understand - that this is a cultural thing. A mixture of personal life style and personal spirituality.

Answer 5

Paganisms are the label people put on all mystery religions that compose of allegorical mythology mostly having to do with the earth. These are nature/earth based religions. Modern day Christianity is very much so infused with pagan mystery religions of old. Mithraism got infused in Christianity, much of the Catholic practices are from Mithraism. Most certainly they adapted the mithraism concept on their god incarnate doctrine, but it was the sun god. Christianity is corrupted by pagan roman ideas from those times.

I don't think there is a religion that doesn't have paganism in it, islam has the moon god of the arabics infused with their Our'an. Gezz in the old testament the "God" of it asked for animal sacrifices, although this was allegorical for the sacrifice of ones earthly nature to make it pure it was writen for pagan people to reform from their ways and seek inner esoteric wisdom and understanding of themselves and the world.

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. The term can be defined broadly, to encompass many or most of the faith traditions outside the Abrahamic monotheistic group of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. 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. "Pagan" is the usual translation of the Islamic term mushrik, which refers to 'one who worships something other than The God of Abraham'. Ethnologists avoid the term "paganism," with its uncertain and varied meanings, in referring to traditional or historic faiths, preferring more precise categories such as shamanism, polytheism or animism. The term is also used to describe earth-based Native American religions and mythologies, though few Native Americans call themselves or their cultures "pagan". Historically, the term "pagan" has usually had pejorative connotations among westerners, comparable to heathen, infidel and kafir (كافر) in Islam. In modern times, though, the words "pagan" or "paganism" have become widely and openly used by some practitioners of certain spiritual paths outside the Abrahamic and Dharmic religious mainstream to describe their beliefs, practices, and organized movements.

Answer 7

Pagan can be one of many different polytheistic or earthbound religions. Wicca for example worships nature not the devil like third rate literature and hatemongering christian fundamentalists would have you believe.

Answer 8

Pagans worship Gods - many different Gods (and Goddesses) that stand for different things. They worship symbols of those Gods, and they also are known to sacrifice animals, etc. to their Gods.

In a lot of ways, the Catholics - though they are Christians because they believe in Christ - are like Pagans. They worship God and Jesus, but they also have a slew of Saints, and they have a lot of rituals in the church that are similar to those of Pagans.

Answer 9

The term can be defined broadly, to encompass many or most of the faith traditions outside the Abraham monotheistic group of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

In other words, they are people who consider themselves religious, but they don't follow the Bible.

Answer 10

A Pagan is anyone who has dicovered that no-one else has the insight to lead him or her to her or his metaphysicl goals, s/he must find his/her own path, and lead her/him self.

Otherwise....

One of the aphorisms of Paganism is : "Question Authority!"
Most Pagans do not actually worship any Gods or Goddesses, at least not in the Christian way - - - we're not looking for salvation or any beyond-life favors. We engage in rituals to celebrate the Deities whose ways we enjoy, or with whom we have personal agreements, or that we are trying to learn about or contact; and we engage in these rituals sometimes to appease Deities whom we may have offended or to contact and make new personal agreements with other Deities. We rarely consider that any of these Deities created the world or are responsible for all of fate, we consider that they are part of existence, part of the season turning, part of the moon rising. There's a 'nameless' Deity whom quite a few Pagans revere just called the Goddess, and She is a part of all life everywhere. One of the reasons that we do not worship them in the Christian, or Judeaic, or Muslim way is that we have been taught and recognize that they and we are actually equal in ultimate power, just that the focus of their existence is metaphysical and the focus of ours is physical, and that they need to interact with us just as much as we need to interact with them.

The myths, fables, and parables that Pagans tend to revere and value come from one or another ancient civilization - - - Celts, Romans, Greeks, Egyptians, Hindi, Sumerians, Sufi, etc.

There is an awareness of an ancient time when humans were civilized along Matriarchal lines, where men roamed thru the wildernesses, hunting, mining, wandering, etc, and women lived in villages, had domesticated animals, raised children, owned land, were leaders, judges, bankers, etc. The men would 'visit' the women for as long as they were welcome and there were few long-term relationships. The most essential 'magic' was the miraculous apparent capacity of women to create children all by themselves, among whose results were that inheritance went not to a man's son (for who could tell for sure which was actually his own son) but to his nephew, his sister's son. Some parts of Judaeism continue this.

Then the men discovered that they were necessary to procreation, seemingly felt 'tricked' or betrayed by the women and conquered them, beginning the sequence of Patriarchal civilizations that have continued for thousands of years, including results of valuing sons over daughters, direct inheritance, devaluing of women in almost every way, primogeniture, etc.

The Goddess is Life, all life everywhere. Whether She created all things in the beginning or not is not important, She Mothers and nurtures all of life now, She is a direct source of wisdom for all stages of human understanding. She is seen as having three personnae (reminiscent of the Christian Trinity) - - - Maiden, Mother, and Crone. There's some kind of link between Her and the ocean, between Her and the Moon...

Deities are contacted in a variety of ways, but usually a celebration occurs either on a Full Moon, a Dark Moon, or a Celtic Holy Day (the soltices, the equinoxes, and the points halfway between them, (called the 'eight-spoked wheel of the year'); usually the High Priest, High Priestes or both hosts the gathering, cleanses the area, casts a circle (draws it in the air going clockwise, often with a magical tool called the athame (ah-thah-may), sometimes chanting things), and sets a guardian (a person who will not participate in the celebration, but will cut open and closed the circle gate to let people in and out, and who will challenge those who would participate at the beginning to ensure that they were invited, that they know what they are doing, and that everyone's intent is harmonious with each other); before facing the guardian and entering the circle, people are often cleansed and/ or blessed with charged water or salted water or sprigs of sage and/or incense.

Once everyone is in the circle and it is closed, the High Priest or the High Priestess or both will begin the service, which usually includes contacting or honoring the God and the Goddess (or the Lord and the Lady, or even specifically Named pairs, such as Isis and Osiris, or Kernunos and Caer Idun), having people summon Elementals (usually Air, Fire, Water, and Earth) or open 'gates' at the edges of the circle to the Elemental Realms (Air = usually East, Fire South, Water West, Earth North;; but different traditions vary widely on the number and direction of the Elements). Then the 'work' of the ritual is done - - - participants make wishes, or express problems that they need help with, divination and/or channeling is done, and a bunch of other things are also possible (Wiccaning a baby, handfasting for a year and a day, etc). The Deities and Elementals are invited to "Stay if you Will, but go if you must, and know that You are always in our hearts", the guardian opens the gate, the people leave the circle, the circle is un-made and the area cleaned up. Usually the people share a meal ("cakes and ale") and/or some celebratory songs,,, usually ending with hugs and everyone's appreciation of everyone else's participation.

Deities can usually be contacted when in circle by calling or chanting their name. If you do this without a definate place for the Deity to 'show up' (called 'evocation'), She / He will probably make Himself / Herself known within the person calling (which can be disconcerting).

We definately believe in Deities powers, its just that they seem to value our physicalities almost as much as we value their metaphyical nature and abilities.