What is Paganism and Chaotic Paganism?

Question

What are the beliefs and differences between these two religions?

Answer 1

Paganism is an umbrella term that describes any of a number of nature and/or magic-based religions, the most common of which is Wicca. Paganism is also known as neopaganism, to differentiate between modern pagan practices and traditional pagan, or paleopagan, religions such as indigenous American cultural beliefs, Australian aboriginal religions, and pre-Christian polytheistic religions which neopagan religions often draw from.

I am assuming that a Chaotic pagan is a pagan who also practices Chaos magic. Chaos magic is a form of magic developed by Peter J. Carroll based partly on the writings of Austin Osman Spare, among others. Essentially Chaos magic removes all religious and cultural trappings from magic and boils it down to its most basic componentns; the focus of Chaos magic is pure practicality and getting results. Some Chaos magicians also practice paradigmal piracy (a term taken from Joshua Wetzel's "The Paradigmal Pirate") and draw from whatever magical paradigm suits their needs at the time.

Chaos magic also has nothing to do with deliberately causing disorder. Rather the Chaos is that of quantum physics; in fact, Carroll's "Liber Kaos" has an excellent discussion on quantum theory and magic. Check my sources below for further reading, particularly on Chaos magic.