How can people be just plain "Pagan"?

Question

No offense, but I mean....what IS your definition of Pagan?

When I think of Pagans, I think of differen't things...like Egyptians were Pagans weren't they? What about the Romans and the Greeks? The Anglo-Saxons, and the religion in Arabia before Islam....you know?

There are different Pagan religions, so when people on here say "I'm Pagan" which Pagan religion do they follow?

Thanks Daughter of Isis...lol I would;ve been able to tell which one you followed just by your name. I am not as ignorant as most of my fellow "Christians" lol.

I now understand what you mean...

P.S. With me...I am Christian...I don't go to a church, therefore I am not a baptist, or a Catholic etc...I am just Christian. I believe in Jesus and God.

While voiceofreason made me laugh, thumbs down, not all are like that.

Answer 1

We say Pagan like people say Christian.
I'm Pagan Specifically? I'm UU eclectic Egyptian Pagan. Pagan is easier to type.
If you ask, Pagan will tell you which tradition they are.

Answer 2

Depends. See a number of folks aren't just "plain" Pagan - you've got your Wiccans, your Asatruars, your Celtic Reconstructionists... they use the term Pagan as a quick-and-easy term. It's got some issues, since there's a lot of potential for misinterpretation, but a lot more people have at least a vague sense of what someone means when they say "I'm Pagan" than if they were to say, "I follow Senistrognata." Depends on how much time someone wants to invest in explaining, and whether or not a few wrong assumptions are better than blank stares.

Now there are also some folks who self-identify as simply "plain" Pagans. Folks like this also get called Eclectics or Seekers - they don't ascribe to a particular Pagan religion, but take a few bits here and there and merge them into a personal interaction with the divine. I suppose it's somewhat like being "just Christian" as opposed to Lutheran or Baptist or something like that - except it's perhaps a bit broader a category. These folks *might*, eventually, choose to join a particular religion, or they might continue to blaze a new path - there's a lot of wiggle room, it seems, for folks to follow a more personal, mystic route.

Answer 3

What a "pagan's" exact beliefs are depends on the person. A lot of modern pagans, (or neo-pagans), tend to have a favorite pantheon, but also sometimes venerate selected gods from other pantheons. Some of the most common favorites are Celtic, Egyptian, and Greek/Roman.

There are also a lot of modern pagans that view all the various pagan gods as simply aspects of a central male deity that is commonly referred to as "The God". Likewise, all female deities are seen as aspects of "The Goddess". These pagans will sometimes pray to a specific god for a certain purpose. For instance, one might pray to Aphrodite for love, although they consider Aphrodite to basically be an aspect of The Goddess. It is sometimes seen as helping to focus one's desires by addressing prayers to a specific named aspect of The God and Goddess.

The concept of venerating gods from multiple pantheons is actually not at all new. For instance, in the city of Rome, one would find temples to Egyptian gods. A lot of pagan cultures adopted and venerated gods from other cultures. Sometimes these gods would be called by a different name than was used in the culture of the god's origin, but sometimes they used the same name.

You may encounter people who even incorporate figures such as Jesus into the pagan pantheons they venerate. I've met pagans that preferred the Hindu pantheon who worshiped Jesus because they considered him to be an incarnation of Vishnu.

Answer 4

Pagan actually, historicall just meant sort of what we mean when we say "bumbpkin". Just a derogatory word for a peasant.
For example: in scotland a long, long time ago, before the enlightemnment, a lot of people in the cities were either some sect of protestant christianity or another, and people in the highlands in the clans were usually catholics or episcopalians. However, people in distant little villages without connections to huge communities of people might still be connected to old polytheistic religions. Like, druidism, or the old gaelic religions. They were reffered to as "pagan" mostly because they were "backwards" - they spoke the old gaelic and they practiced old superstitious religions, but the term stuck and now "pagan" means someone with an earth mother religion, or someone with a polytheistic religion tied to tales about the earth.
Pagan sort of meant non-christian, but it doesn't really. Today it's a lot more specific.

Answer 5

Good question. It's like what Daughter of Isis said, just a general term.

If people want me to define my religion in a term I say "Christian." But more specifically I say "non-denominational liberal/progressive Armenian Protestant Christian with open theistic leanings." That's a bit much to say at first, but it's what distinguishes me from the rest of the Christians. I think Paganism is similar. They use it as a general term, but will get more specific if asked.

Answer 6

That's one of the reasons that I use the term "Wicca-based Pagan", but some people follow their own polytheistic, nature-based religion that doesn't fit neatly into any box other than "Pagan".

And actually your example of Christian is a nice analogy. If you say "Christian" it can mean any of a number of denominations, some of which are VERY different in how they interpret Christianity than others.

Answer 7

My description isn't important, but pagan is an English word with a specific meaning.

Using Yahoo! Education dictionary searching for the word pagan, you will find pagan and neopaganism.

For Pagan,
NOUN:
1.One who is not a Christian, Muslim, or Jew, especially a worshiper of a polytheistic religion.
2.One who has no religion.
3.A non-Christian.
4.A hedonist.
5.A Neo-Pagan.
ADJECTIVE:
1.Not Christian, Muslim, or Jewish.
Professing no religion; heathen.
2.Neo-Pagan.

For Neopaganism
NOUN:
Any of various religious movements arising chiefly in the United Kingdom and the United States in the late 20th century that combine worship of pagan nature deities, particularly of the earth, with benign witchcraft.

Paganism (Neopaganism) is a belief which has a "way of life" (religion).

Answer: Before you label yourself, understand the words that describe you.

Answer 8

When people claim to be pagan, they're just giving a general term so that they don't have to disclose their path within Paganism. It's like a Catholic saying to someone that they're Christian, not wanting to say that they were Catholic. There are still lots and lots of people out there who run after people who claim to be witches, wiccan or whatever, with burning torches, wanting to condemn them to hell for their beliefs. Pagans just want to practice in peace without haters chanting at their door "You're going to hell, you're going to hell". It's just easier for some to simply say that they are pagan. And there is nothing wrong with that IMO.

Answer 9

Why, whatever religion they choose.

I'm a general Pagan because I'm a solitary and ecclectic witch. That pisses off a lot of people. If you would prefer, I can simply say I'm a witch. Not that that narrows down the field of religion any, since a witch is simply one who practices witchcraft, which is not a religious designation. Pagan is an umbrella term for many religions. Since I'm not defined in any particular one, I capitalize Pagan and call it a religion.

Answer 10

The word "pagan" was assigned to non-Christians by Christians. Let them explain what they mean.