What is pagan religion?

Question

What is this about in a nutshell? Is there sacrificial stuff like witchcraft of old, or what is it? Are they for all good or do they punish people by putting spells on them?

Answer 1

Paganism (from Latin paganus, meaning "a country dweller, rustic") is a term which, from a western perspective, has come to connote a broad set of spiritual or cultic practices or beliefs of any folk religion, and of historical and contemporary polytheism religions in particular.

The term can be defined broadly, to encompass the faith traditions outside the Abrahamic monotheistic group of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The group so defined includes the Dharmic religions, Native American religions and mythologies and Shinto as well as non-Abrahamic ethnic religions in general. More narrow definitions will not include any of the world religions and restrict the term to local or rural currents not organized as civil religions. Characteristic of pagan traditions is the absence of proselytisation, and the presence of a living mythology which explains religious practice. Sacrifice plays a central part in pagan and non-pagan religion alike.

The term "pagan" is a Christian adaptation of the "goy" of Judaism, and as such has an inherent Christian or Abrahamic bias, and pejorative connotations among westerners, comparable to heathen, infidel, and mushrik and kafir (كافر) in Islam. For this reason, Ethnologists avoid the term "paganism", with its uncertain and varied meanings, in referring to traditional or historic faiths, preferring more precise categories such as polytheism, shamanism, or animism.

Since the later 20th century, however, the words "pagan" or "paganism" have become widely and openly used as a self-designation of adherents of polytheistic reconstructionism and neopaganism.

[edit] Heathenry
"Heathen" (Old English hæðen) is a translation of paganus. The term is used for Germanic paganism, or Germanic Neopaganism, in particular. The Germanic tribes were distributed over Eastern and Central Europe by the 5th century, and their dialects ceased to be mutually intelligible from around that time. Christianization of the Germanic peoples took place from the 4th (Goths) to the 6th (Anglo-Saxons, Alamanni) or 8th (Saxons) centuries on the continent, and from the 9th to 12th centuries in Iceland and Scandinavia.


[edit] Pagan classifications
Pagan subdivisions coined by Isaac Bonewits [1]

Paleo-Paganism: A retronym coined to contrast with "neopaganism", denoting a pagan culture that has not been disrupted by other cultures. The term applies to Hinduism, Shinto, pre-Migration period Germanic paganism as described by Tacitus, Celtic Polytheism as described by Julius Caesar, and the Greek and Roman religion.
Meso-Paganism: A group, which is, or has been, significantly influenced by monotheistic, dualistic, or nontheistic worldviews, but has been able to maintain an independence of religious practices. This group includes Native Americans and Australian Aborigine Bushmen, Viking Age Norse paganism. Influences include: Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism, Theosophy, Spiritualism, as well as Sikhism, and the many Afro-Diasporic faiths like Haitian Vodou, and Santería.
Neo-Paganism: An attempt by modern people to reconnect with nature, pre-Christian religions, or other nature-based spiritual paths. This definition may include anything on a sliding scale from reconstructionist to New Age and non-reconstructionist groups such as Neo-Druidism and Wicca.

[edit] Historical polytheism
Further information: Prehistoric religion and Polytheism
Bronze Age to Classical Antiquity (as opposed to Zoroastrianism, Judaism and Dharmic religions)

Religions of the Ancient Near East
Ancient Egyptian religion
Ancient Semitic religion
Ancient Greek religion
Ancient Roman religion
Celtic polytheism
Late Antiquity to High Middle Ages (as opposed to Abrahamic and Dharmic religions)

Germanic paganism
Slavic paganism
Baltic paganism
Finnish paganism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paganism

BTW: Satanism is part of Xianity, not Paganism nor Heathenry.

Answer 2

Pagan is just an umbrella term that covers just about any belief system outside the big three (Christianity, Judaism, Islam)

There are so many different religions that fall under Paganism you can't make any more generalizations about them. Yea some are nature based, but some arent. Some have gods and deities, some don.t Most Pagans today do have some type Earth based belief and quite a few practice witchcraft but not all do by any means.

Answer 3

There is no one Pagan religion. The term Pagan is used these days for any non-mainstream religion. I can really only speak about my path which is called Wicca.

Wiccans are trained to Worship the Lord and Lady and to revere the Earth, the mother of the human race.
We strive to be balanced with ourselves and with nature.
Our way of seeing things is like the world itself, not black and white, but a rainbow.
We have almost no laws, however we are also trained to understand and accept that we are responsible for both our rights and wrongs, this is both restrictive and freeing at the same time.
We do not believe in a manifestation of evil, we do not believe in Satan.
We believe that Birth is the doorway to the path of Life is the doorway to the path of Death is the doorway to path of Rebirth. It is the journey to understand, and it is only over when you do. Each person makes their own journey.

As to sacrifice, not in the sense most people think about. I offer things to the Lord and Lady in ritual, things I can not get back, it is a sacrificial offering. But if you mean the whole Hollywood `Blood stained altars, Black candles at midnight under a full moon' kind of stuff, nope My branch of Paganism doesn't go for that, and never has. Only the ignorant and those who wish to think ill of us believe that sort of crap.

Are we all good? No, we are human and fallable. Are the people of any religion all good?

Do we punish people by putting spells on them? Well I suppose we could, if we are willing to take the backlash from it, which for those who are Wiccan is three times as bad. Sorry, there hasn't been anyone I despise enough for that.

Answer 4

Paganism covers anything that is not Christianity, Judaism or Islam.

Witchcraft is one form of paganism but there is no sacrifice (even 'of old'). Good vs bad is relative but most are what would be considered good. Pagans don't believe in sin and they don't put spells on anyone as punishment because it will come back to them times 3.

Answer 5

Yo, KCBA--sangria is an alcoholic drink. Santeria is the religion you're thinking of. Nice try, but no dice.

Okay, now to the OP:

Most folks have done a good job of covering what modern paganism is. It really does vary from person to person. While many pagans avoid animal sacrifice (and nobody does human sacrifice) as well as malevolent magic, there are some whose ethics are different. Afro-Caribbean religions such as Voodoo and Santeria utilize animal sacrifice as do some people who practice traditional Norse, Greek and Roman pagan religions. As to the ethics of magic, again that's a very personal thing. I have no problem with curses, for example, though I tend to simply let people get enough rope to hang themselves for the most part. Other people are absolutely rabid about "harming none".

As for "old" witchcraft, most of the extant material comes from forced testimonials from victims of the Inquisition and other trials, as well as peoples' imaginations.

Answer 6

Paganism is an umbrella term that includes any non-Abrahamic faith. Hinduism, Buddhism, and Wicca are examples.

Neo-Paganism is also an umbrella term. It describes religions within in the Pagan cluster that are earth-oriented, often polytheistic, and usually inspired by ancient spiritual paths. Some Neo-Pagan faiths include Astatru, Wicca, Druidism, and Goddess worship.

I know of no Neo-Pagan tradition that practices animal sacrifice.

Wiccans in particular are guided by the Wiccan Rede ("If you harm none, do what you will"); as a result, they tend to err on the side of peace and compassion as a rule. But because Neo-Paganism covers a lot of religious ground, and not all of them live according to the Wiccan Rede, there are certainly Neo-Pagans out there who would have no problem whatsoever with striking back at someone who harmed them.

Answer 7

Asking what is pagan is like asking what is Christian. In Christianity you can be any of a number of denominations from Baptist to Zionist, and have extremests like the Branch Davidians or Heavens Gate. Pagan is not a religion in and of itself, but there are many sects that are, such as Wiccan. and witches (not the same).
I guess the simple answer would be that it is any belief that is not Abrahamic in origin.
And like any group of people there are good and bad, but not because of their religion, but because that is the way an individual is. Witches were not into sacrifices nor into punishing people with spells. Witches are very peace loving and accepting people who will not judge you based on what you do or do not believe. They have been persecuted for years, and still are, by people who do not understand their way of life nor do they wish to learn. Witches have nothing to do with Satan, they do not believe in the existance of Satan because Satan is a fictional chatacter dreamed up by early Christians to scare people into converting. And to use as a convenient excuse when something bad happens. Anyone who believe witches are in league with Satan belong in a nut house!

Answer 8

Roman Catholicism is mostly a fake religion, which has murdered millions of people over time. It is a pagan cult on steroids

Answer 9

Pagan means "of the country" and generally refers to the nature-based religions that were predominant in many parts of the world, especially Europe, before the advent of Christianity. (Some people broaden the definition to include those who worshiped the classical gods of Greece and Rome). Though many were called "witches", many of the old pagans were not all practitioners of Wicca, the practitioners of which call themselves witches and who do spells for good, for they know and understand the Law of Consequences.

Ancient Druids did practice sacrifice, including human sacrifice, and certain religions such as Voodoo and Sangria today practice animal sacrifice. Most modern Pagans I know don't go in for this; they are closer to Native American beliefs in the sacredness of nature and the interconnectedness of all things.

Answer 10

Paganism (from Latin paganus, meaning "a country dweller, rustic") is a term which, from a western perspective, has come to connote a broad set of spiritual or cultic practices or beliefs of any folk religion, and of historical and contemporary polytheism religions in particular.

The term can be defined broadly, to encompass the faith traditions outside the Abrahamic monotheistic group of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The group so defined includes the Dharmic religions, Native American religions and mythologies and Shinto as well as non-Abrahamic ethnic religions in general. More narrow definitions will not include any of the world religions and restrict the term to local or rural currents not organized as civil religions. Characteristic of pagan traditions is the absence of proselytisation, and the presence of a living mythology which explains religious practice. Sacrifice plays a central part in pagan and non-pagan religion alike.

The term "pagan" is a Christian adaptation of the "goy" of Judaism, and as such has an inherent Christian or Abrahamic bias, and pejorative connotations among westerners, comparable to heathen, infidel, and mushrik and kafir (كافر) in Islam. For this reason, Ethnologists avoid the term "paganism", with its uncertain and varied meanings, in referring to traditional or historic faiths, preferring more precise categories such as polytheism, shamanism, or animism.

Since the later 20th century, however, the words "pagan" or "paganism" have become widely and openly used as a self-designation of adherents of polytheistic reconstructionism and neopaganism.

Answer 11

Pagan-The term was used as an insult by the early Christians to belittle what remained of the native religions. It is used today to describe religions which have no widely accepted structure or following.