What is pagan religion ?

Question

can some one tell me more about pagan religion, who follow it, which country, what is it all about ? i see this word in answers regularly.

Answer 1

Paganism is not one single religion, it is a term used to describe a collection of religions that are not Abrahamic, Dharmic, or Taoic in origin or basis. This means that pagan religions are not judaic, christian, islamic, hindu, buddhist, taoist, etc. It is a large collection of primarily earth-based religions. Some pagan religions you may have heard of from this forum would be Wicca, Asatru, Stregheria, Helenistic, Sumerian, and Thelema. The term would also cover many indiginous beliefs from around the world. Many pagan religions, but not all, are polytheistic, some are also monotheistic, dualtheistic, pantheistic, and syncretic.

There are literally thousands of people in the world who follow pagan religions. In American alone, there are over one million Wiccans, and many others who are of different pagan beliefs.

Paganism is not from any specific culture or country, as it is a collection of faiths that come from around the world. Many of the pagan religions are primarily indo-european in origin, but there are also pagan faiths that come from many other areas of the world, including africa, autralia, the americas, and mesopotamia. Many of the various indiginous beliefs in various countries are considered uner the pagan umbrella.

The word pagan comes from the latin word "paganus" which was someting of a slang term used by the Romans for the people who lived in rural areas around Rome. It gained a religious context in the 4th century, because Christianity did not spread among people in the countysides and rural areas as fast as it did in the cities, thus the people who kept their traditional beliefs became refered to by the term. Somwhere in the 17th centruy is when it became used in English, partly due to King James.

The Wiccan rede, as mentioned earlier, is not a general belief of most pagan religions, or even of all Wiccans. It is generally a new term, which began being used by Wiccans in the 1960's. Many pagan religions were historically war-like, and many do not have any problem with harming something or someone if they had to, to protect themselves, what is their, or other people.

It is difficult to get into much more detail about it without getting into the individual religions, which I could fill about 150 more pages worth of information here but it would take a little too long to read. Hope this helps to clarify a few things about paganism for you.

Answer 2

Pagan Religion

Answer 3

Paganism is a non-christian based belief structure. It does not have an ultimate evil or good. It is also often called Heathenism. The word pagan comes from latin and essentially means a person who lives in the country, heathen is similar and means a person who lives on the heath, or in the country/woods. Neither term was originally demeaning, but is sometimes used that way by the Xians, etc. The non-christian belief structures existed millenia before any judeo-christian ones did, and actually make more sense, at least to me. But then I may not be a round peg and therefore would fit into a round hole. Belief structures vary and people should get in where they fit in. If you want to be a Xian, then go there, if you want to be a Heathen, go there. That's what is so good about this country, superfically, is the religious freedom. Even tho, it seems that the government wants you to think that religious freedom means you can go to any church or synagogue you want to. That's not religious freedom, believing what you want to is........., be brave.

Answer 4

Pagan religion is any religion that does not follow the Jewish, Islamic or Christian beliefs. Druids are pagans. Witches are pagans. Any religion that doesn't worship the God of Abraham would be considered pagan.

Answer 5

pagan/ wiccan is the beautiful religion of thanking the world and nature for giving us life. i should know as i am pagan. The Pentagram we use for our religious icon/symbol is generally used to show devil worshiping in horror movies but Pagans/ Wiccans do not believe in the devil as the devil is in the christian religion. Us pagans are for peace and are for nature and we have been rumored to be satanic and doing sacrafice when that was not at all what we did AT ALL. and it really annoys me when i see movies showing my religions pentagram on horror movies meaning it features the devil or devil worshiping. we have no god/goddess as such but we give different aspects of nature a name such as mine are the earth is my mother and the sky is my father, the stars are my ancestors and the planets are my grandparents and the trees and plants are my siblings. however, all pagans vary as to what they describe nature as some parts of nature seem more bold to them than others so they might name the sky their mother instead of the earth like mine.

Answer 6

The only countries practicing into the modern day are
Lithuania and a few other former soviet states. They still have in tact most of their traditions and beliefs from centuries ago.

As far as the rest of us, we are scattered across the world in small groups, the most prominent being in the UK.

The pagan religion encompasses several other earth based religions: Heathenism, druidism, wiccan, asatru(norse paganism), shamanism, vedic(historical India), and neo-pagan or just pagan(Practitioners who either explore all or combine elements of others.)

There is no set belief system for any of these religions, therefore I can give what is generally believed or accepted,

An it harm none, do as thou wilt
Do what you will, so long as it harms none
An it harm none, do what thou will
That it harm none, do as thou wilt

this is the wiccan rede, which is a general rule for most, you can do whatever you want as long as it harms no one(Including yourself)

Now i will attempt to establish our relationship with the divine:
These are polytheistic or dualistic religions, although some groups worship exclusively one god/goddess. The belief of more than one god is prevalant in these religions. We are an earth based people, nature has a special relationship for all of us, the gods/goddess's manifest themselves in various forms of nature(whether the classic lightning strike or a breeze stirring leaves on a tree) the gods/goddess we worship have different names, Brigid, isis,lugh, thor, odin, and many more.

The wiccan religion being by far the most populous believes generally in two gods, the great horned god, lord of the hunt and the triple maiden, mother, crone(based on seasonal or lunar cycles) goddess.

We are a joyous people, our goal is to live a harmonious lifestyle with nature and each other, most of us have an ecological concern for the environment as well. Magic and ritual play a big part in these religions, magic is none of the harmful things people say it is, unless used with the intention of doing harm(No different then say my intention with a kitchen knife) It can make you feel quite alive and connected with the earth, as we all can be. The ritual does not involve bringing Satan into the mix(Most pagans have no concept of hell or the devil) Many have a problem with our open acceptance of all kinds of people(Gay, lesbian, trans) most pagan groups I've encountered follow this acceptance(some do not however)

I've summarized a few key concepts, but for more information you can visit www.adf.org, http://www.religioustolerance.org/ to find a pagan group to learn from firsthand, yahoo groups has a bunch or meetup.com has a good source as well,
for some good information. I am a practicing Druid myself, and have explored different paths if you'd like you can email me for other info: [e-mail], spammers or hate mongers will be reported.

Edit: I do not presume that the wiccan rede is what most follow, but it is a similar rule that nearly all of them abide by, whether it is called something else or phrased differently. Also I was refering to modern-day practice, certainly the old religions of europe differ by what is practiced today. We are no longer needed to be warlike.

Answer 7

there are many pagan religions. there are also religions that don't claim either abrahamic (judaism and it's offshoot religions) or pagan.

Answer 8

The following site will link you to videos that will explain Paganism far better than I ever could.
http://www.wiccanway.com/demystifying-paganism.html

Answer 9

Any Religion not Serving the True God.