what is a pagan?

Question

i looked in the dictionary and all it said was it's not christian and stuff but i still dont get what it is?

Answer 1

WICCA (sometimes called Wicce, The Craft, or The Old Religion by its practitioners) is an ancient religion of love for life and nature. In prehistoric times, people respected the great forces of Nature and celebrated the cycles of the seasons and the moon. They saw divinity in the sun and moon, in the Earth Herself, and in all life. The creative energies of the universe were personified: feminine and masculine principles became Goddesses and Gods. These were not semi-abstract, superhuman figures set apart from nature: they were embodied in earth and sky, women and men, and even plants and animals.

This viewpoint is still central to present-day Wicca. To most Wiccans, everything in Nature -- and all Goddesses and Gods -- are true aspects of Deity. The aspects most often celebrated in the Craft, however, are the triple Goddess of the Moon (Who is Maiden, Mother and Crone) and the Horned God of the wilds. These have many names in various cultures. Wicca had its organized beginnings in Paleolithic times, co-existed with other Pagan ("country") religions in Europe, and had a profound influence on early Christianity. But in the medieval period, tremendous persecution was directed against the Nature religions by the Roman Church. Over a span of 300 years, millions of women and many children were hanged, drowned or burned as accused "Witches". The Church indicted them for black magic and Satan worship, though in fact these were never a part of the Old Religion. The Wiccan faith went underground, to be practiced in small, secret groups called "covens". For the most part, it had stayed hidden until very recent times. Now scholars such as Margaret Murray and Gerald Gardner have shed some light on the origins of the Craft, and new attitudes of religious freedom have allowed covens in some areas to risk becoming more open.

How do Wiccan folk practice their faith today? There is no central authority or doctrine, and individual covens vary a great deal. But most meet to celebrate on nights of the Full Moon, and at eight great festivals or Sabbats throughout the year.

Though some practice alone or with only their families, many Wiccans are organized into covens of three to thirteen members. Some are led by a High Priestess or Priest, many by a Priestess/Priest team; others rotate or share leadership. Some covens are highly structured and hierarchical, while others may be informal and egalitarian. Often extensive training is required before initiation, and coven membership is considered an important commitment.

There are many branches or "traditions" of Wicca in the United States and elsewhere, such as Gardnerian, Alexandrian, Welsh Traditional, Dianic, Faery, Seax-Wicca and others. All adhere to a code of ethics. None engage in the disreputable practices of some modern "cults", such as isolating and brainwashing impressionable, lonely young people. genuine Wiccans welcome sisters and brothers, but not disciples, followers or victims.

Coven meetings include ritual, celebration and magick (the "k" is to distinguish it from stage illusions). Wiccan magick is not at all like the instant "special effects" of cartoon shows or fantasy novels, nor medieval demonology; it operates in harmony with natural laws and is usually less spectacular - though effective. Various techniques are used to heal people and animals, seek guidance, or improve members' lives in specific ways. Positive goals are sought: cursing and "evil spells" are repugnant to practitioners of the Old Religion.

Wiccans tend to be strong supporters of environmental protection, equal rights, global peace and religious freedom, and sometimes magick is used toward such goals.

Wiccan beliefs don not include such Judeo-Christian concepts as original sin, vicarious atonement, divine judgment or bodily resurrection. Craft folk believe in a beneficent universe, the laws of karma and reincarnation, and divinity inherent in every human being and all of Nature. Yet laughter and pleasure are part of their spiritual tradition, and they enjoy singing, dancing, feasting, and love.

Wiccans tend to be individualists, and have no central holy book, prophet or church authority. They draw inspiration and insight from Nature, tradition, the arts, literature, science, and personal experience. Each practitioner keeps a book or journal in which s/he records magickal "recipes", dreams, invocations, songs, poetry and so on.

To most in the Craft, every religion has its own valuable perspective on the nature of Deity and humanity's relationship to it: there is no One True Faith. Rather, religious diversity is necessary in a world of diverse societies and individuals. Because of this belief, Wiccan groups do not actively recruit or proselytize: there is an assumption that people who can benefit from the Wiccan way will "find their way home" when the time is right.

Pagan and wicca are ALMOST the same thing.

Answer 2

Ah, Pagans... I'm one of them.

Pagan, modernly, is an umbrella term like Christian, Buddhist, Jewish, or Muslim.

Pagans USUALLY

- Believe in either the Goddess, The God and Goddess, a whole pantheon of Gods and Goddesses, or every God and Goddess from every pantheon in existence

- Are aware of the Threefold Law, which states Karma will bite you in the butt if you do something bad, and congratulate you for doing something good.

- Don't do anything that'll hurt another, per the Wiccan Rede (though not all Pagans follow this, not all Pagans are Wiccan or feel it to be a well-written Rede)

- Practice Magick. A lot of us do, at least. Not all of us.

- Believe in an Afterlife of some sort.

- Believe in the supernatural or paranormal, such as angels, demons, faeries, etc.

- Believe it is possible to contact the dead.

- Feel that animals have souls, and some Pagans believes plants and rocks have souls as well.

These are only a few, I'm sure others can do better at listing.


- 17 yo Pagan

Answer 3

Well paganism is really an umbrella term... it includes a wide range of religions, including but certainly not limited to Asatru, Wicca, Druidism, pantheonism, etc.

And someone said something about Wicca and paganism being the same thing and how Wicca is full of goodness and happiness and sparkly orange magical butterflies of perkiness (well I made up that last one...). All I can say is, take some of the answers you get with a grain of salt... I'm Wiccan. I know what Wicca is. That's not quite what it is.

Answer 4

Hail Eris!

Pagans are, for the most part (Yes, there are exceptions), followers of non-monotheistic and non-Abrahamic religions, either reconstructed or new, and occasionally of irreligions (some identify as agnostic or atheist at the same time as Pagan, though most self-professed atheists and agnostics are rather firmly not any kind of religious believer). Also, Dharmics ("Hindus", Buddhists, etc.) tend not to identify as "Pagan", despite being generally polytheistic (as the majority of Pagans are). Basically, Pagans tend to be self-defining, except when they're not.

Snarky

Answer 5

Pagan means "country dweller" or "people trying to revive the old religion".

Many Pagans believe that nature is the only way to connect to the divine. Many Pagans believe in a God and Goddess, and some don't.

If you are truly interested, then go to Yahoo.com and start your search for the truth about Pagans, and every other religion!

Blessed Be )o(

Answer 6

PAGAN is - One who is not a Christian, Muslim, or Jew, especially an adherent of a polytheistic religion in antiquity.

Traditional designation of a practitioner of classical polytheisms. The early Christians often used the term to refer to non-Christians who worshiped multiple deities. Christian missionaries frequently sought to stamp out pagan practices by building churches on the sites of pagan shrines or by associating Christian holidays with pagan rituals (e.g., linking Christmas with the celebration of the winter solstice). The term pagan was also used to refer to non-Christian philosophers, and in the 20th century it was used to identify members of certain new religious movements.-

Answer 7

Paganism (from Latin paganus, meaning "an old 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 polytheistic 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 (such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism), 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 proselytism, and the presence of a living mythology which explains religious practice.[1]

The term "Pagan" is a Christian adaptation of the "Gentile" of Judaism, and as such has an inherent Christian or Abrahamic bias, and pejorative connotations among Westerners,[2] comparable to heathen, and infidel, 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, pantheism, 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 neo-Paganism

Answer 8

Its simple. Its people who dont worship Jesus.... (obviously) but they pray to gods and goddesses ( like I pray to the Egyptian Gods and Goddesses). Christians usually put it in the catagory of witchcraft.

I teach all kinds of people about Pagan history. heres the link
http://phoenix666999.tripod.com

Answer 9

Generally those who does not have or cliam to have a scriptures and who worship somebody other that the Creater of universe is called pagan.

Answer 10

-note- christians will tell u its the work of the devil, but it really isnt. its the first religion basicaly, im prety sure. its the belief in nature prety much. the symbol of whitch craft was taken from it, but in all actuality, it is far from that. pagans celebrate the summer nd winter solciste and stuff like that.

Answer 11

Yes, basically, a pagan is anyone who is neither Moslem, Christian, or (practicing) Jew. This includes atheists, agnostics, and every non-Abrahamic religion.
Pagan religions are varied and vast.