Well.. Who or What is "Pagan"?

Answer 1

It usually refers to someone who believes in some form of pantheon of gods. It comes from the Latin word "pagano," meaning villager. The Catholic Church came up with the term as a derogatory word to insult these people and gain support to persecute them.

Answer 2

*sigh* Here we go again
Ok TECHNICALLY the word pagan was formed as an insult for anyone who wasn't Christian. It any faith that isn't Islamic, Jewish, or Christian. That being said, lets all keep in mind that "Christian" was orginally meant as derogitory, but the word has obviously evolved over time, much like many old words.

Now, pagan also refers to the neo-pagan movement that began in...hmm don't qoute this but the late 1700's I think with Asatru and early 1900's with Wicca. From that, many other paths in paganism have evolved. There is also a pretty healthy Reconstrionalist movement who actually prefer not to be called "pagan" and ESPECIALLY not "neo-pagan".
Honestly it's complicated. If you aren't in the pagan community its just not going to make sense to you. Hel, a lot of pagans get lost in the terminology. But to keep it simple:
Pagans are those who choose to follow the old ways of pre-christian civilizations through either personal interpretation or recontruction. These include but are NOT limited to:
Wicca
Asatru (Norse)
Kemetic (Egyptian)
Hellenistic (Greek)
Romano (Roman)
Sumerian
Native American Shaamanism
Celtic Reconstructionalist
Druid
Eclectic and many, many more.

Answer 3

Oh dear, look at those first three answers.

Pagan is Latin for "foreigner".

What it has come to mean in modern America, and probably other parts of the world, is someone whose spirituality is tied to deities of older cultures like ancient Greece, Norse, Egyptian, Celtic and others cultures. Usually the person is not, by bloodline, very close to this sort of worship but feels drawn to it nonetheless. Some of these religions have a very high regard for nature (in fact I would say the majority of them do).

Some pagans do practice ritual magic or other such things.

They do not pray to plants or animals, but do have a very high and deep respect for them.

The do sacrifice living things...like vegetables...sometimes. Blood offerings are condemned but probably do happen.

Some have taken 'pagan' to mean someone who is not a Christian, Muslim, Jew, Hindu, Buddhist, Atheist, or Agnostic. The term 'heathen' is applied similarly. It has also been used to describe someone who is a polytheist (which would lump the Hindus in there as well). In the broadest sense it has been used describe someone who is not of ones own religion. None of these are correct.

Answer 4

Definition 1. Anyone not Christian.
2. Anyone not following a "Book" religion.
3. Polytheists (more than one Deity)
4. Someone who is "close to the earth," ecological in their religion.
5. People Against Goodness And Normalcy (The Dragnet P. A. G. A. N. definition)

Answer 5

Paganism is a very vague term that refers to one of many polytheistic and/or earth based religions, many of which are older than the Abrahamic religions.

A Pagan is a follower of one of those religions.

Answer 6

The term 'pagan' arose when the christian authorities realised they couldn't simply brand everyone who wasn't christian or muslim as a heretic anymore.

As such, 'Pagan' covers a wide range of different belief structures - including Druidism, Wicca, Shamanism, Voodun, and so forth.

Nowadays, the term is often used to describe localised religions, where the community has an individual belief system.


Note; the examples i provided are all spiritualist in nature, even if they are referred to as 'pagan' - infact 'Shamanism' could infact be used instead of the term 'pagan' to describe the various religions, as Shamanism is technically the oldest religion we have.

Answer 7

Pagan was a term for those who do not believe in God or practice Christianity. Similar to "Gentile." Today, though, it is probably used for secular/non-Christian cultures i.e. Christmas was originated from a pagan culture/religion

Answer 8

Pagan is a word that pretty much meant "rube" or "hillbilly". It was first coined as an insult toward non-Christians. Technically it still means any non-Christian. But, people have reclaimed the word and use it to describe any one of many religions that worship pre-Christian gods and goddesses.

Answer 9

"pagan" is a term loosely applied to all religions not based on yahweh. in a more modern sense it refers to the earth-based polytheistic religions such as wicca, asatru, etc. in which many of the followers are practitioners of magick. however, not all pagans are polytheistic and not all of them are practitioners of magick. We each follow our own path and therefore there are many different belief structures among us.

Answer 10

pa·gan (pgn) KEY

NOUN:

One who is not a Christian, Muslim, or Jew, especially a worshiper of a polytheistic religion.
One who has no religion.
A non-Christian.
A hedonist.
A Neo-Pagan.
ADJECTIVE:

Not Christian, Muslim, or Jewish.
Professing no religion; heathen.
Neo-Pagan.