What does being a pagan mean, is it not just a way of getting in touch with nature or is it it something dark

Answer 1

hey susan, its says this about the word Pagan in the World Books Encyclopedia...

pagan 1. a person who is not a Christian, Jew, or Moslem; person who worships many gods or no god; heathen. The ancient Greeks and most of the Romans were pagans because they did not know or believe in the God worshiped by the Christians and Jews, and later, the Moslems.

2. a person who has no religion, having something to do with pagans; not Christian, Jewish, or Moslem; heathen.
2. not religious.

Not sure exactly what it means but thought it may help !

Answer 2

Paganism is not new or unusual in our modern life. For many people it exists less as an active religion than as parts of our popular culture.
Halloween costumes and treats, Christmas trees and mistletoe, Easter bunnies and eggs, maypole dances, harvest festivals and hundreds of other folkways began as Pagan practices. Modern-day Pagans seek to restore the religious context of these practices.

The origin of the word pagan is from the Latin paganus, meaning a country dweller.
When cities were Christianized the people in the country continued to practice the old religions. The word pagan took on the meaning of "those folks out there in the sticks who still do all that old-fashioned stuff."
Later it came to mean any member of an indigenous folk or tribal religion or anyone who was not "of the Book" (i.e., the Koran, Bible, Torah).

Pagan religions originated in a time when people lived close to the land. Pagan theologies reflect an awareness of nature with its cycles of the seasons, as well as the cycles and seasons of human life. Such awareness is a common thread among Pagans today. Few modern Pagans can fully know or follow how our ancestors worshiped. Instead we invent and reinvent our religious practices, and even our beliefs, as we determine how they resonate with our contemporary lives. Some people prefer to use the word "Neopagan" to describe this form of modern Paganism.

We capitalize the words Pagan and Paganism in accordance with standard practices for religious names, e.g., Buddhist and Buddhism, Muslim and Islam. Paganism is a vital, genuine -- and growing! -- spiritual path.


Some Pagans believe in the Goddesses and Gods of the old religions and others do not. Many Pagans understand deity as immanent, in everything, and believe revelation is found in nature instead of written in scriptures. Some believe in an afterlife and that their actions in this life will determine their place in the next. Others believe only in this life and that their actions here are all that matters. Still others believe in reincarnation. Some Pagans believe in an active Spirit World while others do not.




We will never force our views onto anyone else.
If you don't believe what we do then, well, you don't believe. That's fine!
There will never be a suicide bomber from Pagans. There will never be a Holy War from Pagans.
There are no restrictions on what you wear, eat, drink, think or say.
As long as no-one is being hurt - it's cool.

Answer 3

Depends. Pagan is a *very* broad term - dictionary definitions claim it's anything that not Abrahamic (Judaism/Christianity/Islam), but in most uses, it refers to an assortment of religions that generally derive from pre-Christian European beliefs. (Mind you, there's plenty of folks who follow non-European Pagan beliefs, but they aren't the bulk of modern Paganism.)

Some sort of connection with the natural world is common in a lot of Pagan religions, but by no mean is it a given. There's an assortment of religious philosophies knocking about - some are polytheists, some are monotheists, some are pantheists... You've got a better chance getting details about a specific Pagan religion, such as Wicca or Asatru.

However, in most cases, it's not "something dark", if by that, you mean evil cultists out there eating babies for breakfast.

Answer 4

Most people who aren't pagan will tell you it is something dark.
Pagans will tell you otherwise, but it is much more than simply getting in touch with nature but that's a start.
Peace

Answer 5

To me, "pagan" doesn't mean either of those choices. I may use "pagan" as a shortened form of "neo-pagan" which means that I am a polytheist who worships pre-Christian deities. Although many neo-pagans are environmentalists, there are many more environmentalists that do not follow a neo-pagan religion.

Answer 6

Depends on the Pagan we're all different and somewhat depends how you define dark.

Answer 7

It means recognizing the Divine in everything. All matter is a form of energy that is connected to the Divine. The Divine tends to conform to our expectations and likes to wears different masks and personalities to interact with us. It's great fun. This is why most pagans are polytheistic, that is they recognize many different gods and goddesses.

Answer 8

We speak english, so whats a better source then a dictionary. Read the definition, I think theres about 9 of them.

Answer 9

I used to think it meant down and dirty but now I realise it just means being untrammeled by religion.

Answer 10

personally I find it hilarious. Anyone read the nelson leader? See the picture of the 'pagan' tree planting? what the xxxx do they look like? the one in the middle looks like one of ken dodd's diddy men. pml.