what is the pagan religion all about?

Question

thats all, i just want to know about it.

Answer 1

That's "Religions" not "religion"

& They are Indigenous European (& other "old world" areas) "Earth worshiping" religions.

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Answer 2

Pagan is an umbrella term that covers just about every religion but the Abrihamic ones (Christian Jew, and Muslim.)

Pagan religions include

Hindu,
Astrau
Druidry,
Celtic Paganism.
Wicca
Druidcraft,
Santeria
Vodoun
Hoodoo
and most of the religions of the indigenous tribes of the world. thousands in all. and probably a good many that i missed...Greek and roman pre Christian religions come to mind as well as Egyptian ones.

and even then every Pagan will have a different belief about what their religion stands for.

ask about the individual religions. because many of us have very different beliefs.

for example i am a Celtic Pagan. Animal Sacrifice is something that i have no use for.

but someone that practices Santeria would sacrifice animals on a fairly regular basis ...however that would depend on which spirits they follow.

Answer 3

There is no single Pagan religion. Many religions are Pagan, in that from the Christian viewpoint, any non-Christian religion is Pagan. Mormons, believing in more than one god can be considered Pagan, as can Hindus and many others.

Perhaps you mean the Neo-Pagan movement, but this too includes a wide array of religions, from Wicca (which like Christianity, is a group of religions in itself), to the reconstructionist movements, and others.

Generally though, Neo-Pagans have a reverence for the Earth. They may believe in multiple gods and goddesses. They tend to be more liberal than fundamentalist Christians. They tend to wish to understand their religion and don't consider having Pagan parents enough to call oneself a Pagan. They tend to believe that they are all priests and priestesses, which is a divergence from the faiths of old.

They do not generally accept Christianity, though there are some "Christian Wiccans". Some do respect the teachings of Christ though. They are generally peace-loving and anti-war. They tend to observe seasonal celebrations rather than weekly ones. They tend to believe that our lives are echoes of the seasons and cycles that occur naturally.

If you wish to know more about a specific Pagan path, email me and I'll try to help.

Answer 4

Best thing for you to do is to start reading to get a variety of perspectives. That's the best thing to get yourself the basics of magic and paganism. Here are a few sites to get you started:

http://www.witchvox.com
http://www.twpt.com
http://www.chaosmatrix.org
http://www.davensjournal.com
http://www.rendingtheveil.com
http://www.irreality.net
http://www.spiralnature.com
http://www.thegreenwolf.com/links.html

As for books, here are my top three favorites for beginners:

"21st Century Wicca" by Jennifer Hunter - the most grounded intro to Wicca I've found
"Contemporary Paganism" by Graham Harvey - a basic overview of some of the more common neopagan religions
"The Four Powers: Magical Practice for Beginners of All Ages" by Nicholas Graham - takes an even broader view of neopaganism, ceremonial magic, shamanism, occultism, and others

You can find other books reviewed at http://lupabitch.wordpress.com

Finally, get out and talk to people--there's nothing that can replace that. Go to http://groups.yahoo.com and http://www.meetup.com and put the name of the nearest city and the word "pagan" in the search engine to find online groups of local pagans. Also, the various pagan and magic-themed communities at http://www.livejournal.com are a good resource as well. Meet folks online, then when you're comfortable check out some of the public events in your area.

Answer 5

Paganism isn't a religion. It's an umbrella term for literally thousands of religions and belief sets. Basically anything that isn't Christian, Muslim or Jewish is considered pagan.

Answer 6

That's a hard thing to answer.
It varies greatly. It's not "one" doctrine. I'm Heathen and I "disagree" with a lot of other trads "doctrine". I respect it. But I don't agree with it or believe it. We are not all "earth based" we all don't worship the moon. We don't all believe in The God and Goddess because some of us are what we call hard polytheist. We vary is beliefs and practices and even holidays. Its a very diverse thing.
Mainly it's the Reconstruction of the religions pre Christianity. That's as simple as I can get but it doesn't cover it.

Answer 7

So many misconceptions, so little time and I need sleep.
Good luck on your personal path, I wish you well and try Google.com and once you have a basis and have made an effort perhaps someone will answer more specific questions.

Answer 8

everyone else has answered so well, but I think you need to be more specific to get a clearer answer, what branch of paganism do you want to know about?

Answer 9

yep. that's right, you gotta be specific. hell, i am not sure what pagan is myself. i thought it was devil worshiping sacrificing live animals and such. maybe it would be smart to do a search on the web and study about and write another question if you still need to. guess you are thinking of joining those funny people.

Answer 10

Sun and moon worship. Druids, Stonehenge (Wiltshire UK) etc