What do pagans worship? Is it mother nature?

Question

And is it true that they do most of their worshiping in the nude?

Answer 1

I can only speak as a Wiccan (Wicca is one denomination of Neo-Paganism), but Wiccans, at least as I was taught, don't worship nature per se. We believe that the universe is the body of God/dess, and therefore that all things contain Divine energy and that the world itself is sacred.

There can be no separation from God/dess. All things not only proclaim Their glory, but ARE Their glory. It's therefore more accurate to say that we worship the Divine as manifest in nature; we worship the Creator, IN the Creation.

As for worshipping in the nude...

"You shall be free from slavery, and as a sign that you be free you shall be naked in your rites." -- from The Charge of the Goddess

Some Wiccan covens (especially Gardnerian ones) and some Wiccan solitary practitioners do indeed worship in the nude. It's called working "skyclad", and there are a number of reasons why it's done.

1) To erase any sign of rank or hierarchy within the circle.

2) To appear before the Gods and/or other worshippers exactly as one is, without artifice, "in perfect love and perfect trust". The human body is beautiful in all its forms, and sacred; working naked affirms and reinforces this.

3) To mark sacred space as apart from mundane space (the same reasons Wiccans light candles and incense, cast the circle, and use special forms of speech within the sacred space).

4) To improve the flow of energy from the body, especially when one is weaving together the energy from several different participants.

I have to note that working skyclad does not have a sexual element to it in the prurient sense (although being naked in circle for the first time can certainly cause arousal -- don't forget, in Wicca we don't consider desire or sexuality a negative thing, so that's not really a problem as we see it). According to all the reading I have done and all the Wiccans I have talked with personally, the circle is NOT a place for orgies, skyclad or not! There is a sexual sacrament called the Great Rite, representing the desire and love between the Goddess and the God, but this is usually performed symbolically with the athame (ritual daggar) being inserted into a chalice full of wine.

I've only worked skyclad in a group once myself, and found it produced feelings of great openness and liberation. When practicing alone, I tend to work skyclad by preference.

Many Wiccans, however, do not work skyclad: they prefer robes, or even clean street clothes.

An article by a Wiccan on the subject of skyclad worship:

http://kyriapanagia.tripod.com/skyclad.html

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

Ok well obviously there are a few people here who think that anyone who doesn't follow an Abrahamic religion is a pagan, but that's simply not true.
Paganism is an umbrella for a lot of different faiths.
If you ask two pagans what they believe, you'll get three answers.
Generally speaking, paganism is an earth/nature-based belief system. Some pagans worship the earth as a living being, as the Mother of us all. Some worship the elements, some worship gods and goddesses.
There are some branches of Wicca that go "sky-clad" or nude, but it isn't a prevalent practice in paganism.

Answer 3

Depends on the Pagan and the tradition they follow. Some do and some don't.


Myself, no I do not worship Nature per se like a pantheist would. I'm both a hard-polytheist and animist. I worship the Æsir and Vanir (Norse Gods), my ancestors, as well as the Landsvættir (Land spirits). I do have a great respect of Nature though, as I think all Pagans do.

And I certainly don't do worship in the nude.... in my book nudity is for getting a good tan at nude beaches. ;-)

Answer 4

Different pagans worship different things. Pagan is just a more general term for someone who is in tune with nature and conducts magic spells or charms as a way to help them or other people.　My momma is Pagan.　Not all Pagans worship in the nude. Only a few do.

Answer 5

It depends on the pagan. Some pagans are pantheistic and worship nature. Other pagans worship many gods. Some of them believe that these gods are facets of one, universal god (monism), while others believe that the gods are separate and individual beings/entities (polytheism). Some pagans worship only one god (henotheists and monotheists), or only two (such as Wiccans).

The gods that are worshiped also depend on the pagan. They can range from well-known pantheons, such as Greek, Egyptian, and Celtic, to more obscure pantheons, such as Canaanite and Slavic. Some pagans' worship of gods may overlap into other religions, such as Vodou, Hinduism, Christianity, Satanism, and Buddhism.

Only extremely traditional Gardnerian Wiccans are *required* to worship in the nude. Whether you worship in the nude or clothed is really determined by your comfort level, the weather, the local laws, and the group with which you are worshiping.

Hope that helped.

Answer 6

Pagans worship God and all that he created in nature and no we don't do worshiping in the nude.

Answer 7

we don't worship in the nude, (most of the time).
We respect mother nature, we worship and believe in several gods/goddess's.

Answer 8

Paganism is a term used to describe many small, non-christian religions. The term actually applies to every religion other than Christianity.

For example, a Muslim practices a Pagan religion. A Hindu also practices a pagan religion... etc.

Answer 9

To be pagan is to be irreligious or hedonistic or a people or community observing a polytheistic religion, as the ancient Romans and Greeks. Pagans basically worship anything not of Christian, Jewish, or Muslim beliefs.

So they probably do perform rituals naked, with a few young boys, a sacrificial lamb or something.

Answer 10

There are several different branches to paganism, just as in catholocism and christianity. I am one. I believe in Wicca, one branch of paganism. Most of it is earth based, yes. Wiccans believe there is a goddess and god, along with many "less importnant" gods & goddesses. Just google paganism, and you will find all of the different branches. And, NO, we are NOT DEVIL WORSHIPPERS! Also, FYI, Christians stole a lot of our symbols and rituals and changed them just a little to suit their needs.