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what is 'pagan'?

The Black Whirlwind

Well-Known Member
I've been on this forum for five months now, and through all this time i have discussed and debated with many people, many of which have listed their religion as 'pagan'. I have no idea what there actual religion is, because pagan is scuh a broad generalization, with, as i understand it, has many denominations. So this is a question for all pagans and non-pagans; to you, what is paganism?
 

Jaymes

The cake is a lie
To me, paganism is any religion based on earth-worship. Gods and goddesses may or may not be applicable.
 

michel

Administrator Emeritus
Staff member
Strangely enough, I thought the overview that Rex provided from http://en.wikipedia.org a good one, but I thought I would look it up on the 'Etymology dictionary' - which points to a 'strange' (IMO) derivation for the word 'Pagan' ie :c.1375, from L.L. paganus "pagan," in classical L. "villager, rustic, civilian," from pagus "rural district," originally "district limited by markers," thus related to pangere "to fix, fasten," from PIE base *pag- "to fix" (see pact). Religious sense is often said to derive from conservative rural adherence to the old gods after the Christianization of Roman towns and cities; but the word in this sense predates that period in Church history, and it is more likely derived from the use of paganus in Roman military jargon for "civilian, incompetent soldier," which Christians (Tertullian, c.202; Augustine) picked up with the military imagery of the early Church (e.g. milites "soldier of Christ," etc.). Applied to modern pantheists and nature-worshippers from 1908. Paganism is attested from 1433. An amusing thought...............:rolleyes:
 

Mike182

Flaming Queer
i think that paganism and wicca are sometimes used as interchangable words

wicca is witchcraft, pagansim does not neccerserily have to involve this

but you are right, it is a very general term

i think that paganism is very umlike christianity and other major religions, because even though there are different denomination of christianity (catholic, lutheran, evangelical) they all believe in one central thing - christ

paganism on the other hand, is a very personalised religion, and one pagan's belief is completely different to the next pagan's belief - i guess what im trying to say is that its not a collectivfely organised religion, yet its structured and orderly

does my post make sense? i think ive confused myself :confused:

C_P
 

michel

Administrator Emeritus
Staff member
corrupt_preist said:
i think that paganism and wicca are sometimes used as interchangable words

wicca is witchcraft, pagansim does not neccerserily have to involve this

but you are right, it is a very general term

i think that paganism is very umlike christianity and other major religions, because even though there are different denomination of christianity (catholic, lutheran, evangelical) they all believe in one central thing - christ

paganism on the other hand, is a very personalised religion, and one pagan's belief is completely different to the next pagan's belief - i guess what im trying to say is that its not a collectivfely organised religion, yet its structured and orderly

does my post make sense? i think ive confused myself :confused:

C_P
Well, it made sense to me, I think you are quite right. Perhaps, the reason being that Pagans would have developed their ideas each in their 'group' or geographical location, at a time when travel wasn't really an option to the ordinary folk. I think it would be more surprising had pagans from all over the world ended up believing in Identical ideas.

Hey, now I'm the one confused; does that make sense?:D
 

Mike182

Flaming Queer
michel said:
Well, it made sense to me, I think you are quite right. Perhaps, the reason being that Pagans would have developed their ideas each in their 'group' or geographical location, at a time when travel wasn't really an option to the ordinary folk. I think it would be more surprising had pagans from all over the world ended up believing in Identical ideas.

Hey, now I'm the one confused; does that make sense?:D
paganism has its roots thousands of years before christ - so travel was deffinately limited at the start - so yes the 'local' groups were very important - still are im many cases today
 

DreamQuickBook

Active Member
TheJedi said:
I've been on this forum for five months now, and through all this time i have discussed and debated with many people, many of which have listed their religion as 'pagan'. I have no idea what there actual religion is, because pagan is scuh a broad generalization, with, as i understand it, has many denominations. So this is a question for all pagans and non-pagans; to you, what is paganism?

Paganism is a broad generalization; but not everyone belongs to a "tradition"; for them, they are just pagan, or heathen.
 

DreamQuickBook

Active Member
:) Heathen refers to the pagans of the Old North or Norse cultures. They are indo-European and resemble Hinduism more than Greek/Roman Paganism.
 

michel

Administrator Emeritus
Staff member
heathenO.E. hæðen "not Christian or Jewish," merged with O.N. heiðinn. Historically assumed to be from Goth. haiþno "gentile, heathen woman," used by Ulfilas in the first translation of the Bible into a Gmc. language (cf. Mark 7:26, for "Greek"); if so it could be a derivative of Goth. haiþi "dwelling on the heath," but this sense is not recorded. It may have been chosen on model of L. paganus (see pagan), or for resemblance to Gk. ethne (see gentile), or may in fact be a borrowing of that word, perhaps via Armenian hethanos. Like other words for exclusively Christian ideas (e.g. church) it would have come first into Gothic, then spread to other Gmc. languages. from:- http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=heathen&searchmode=none
Interesting ?:)
 

DreamQuickBook

Active Member
michel said:
heathen http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=heathen O.E. hæðen "not Christian or Jewish," merged with O.N. heiðinn. Historically assumed to be from Goth. haiþno "gentile, heathen woman," used by Ulfilas in the first translation of the Bible into a Gmc. language (cf. Mark 7:26, for "Greek"); if so it could be a derivative of Goth. haiþi "dwelling on the heath," but this sense is not recorded. It may have been chosen on model of L. paganus (see pagan), or for resemblance to Gk. ethne (see gentile), or may in fact be a borrowing of that word, perhaps via Armenian hethanos. Like other words for exclusively Christian ideas (e.g. church) it would have come first into Gothic, then spread to other Gmc. languages. http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=paynim from:- http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=heathen&searchmode=noneInteresting ?:)


One of many I have heard. Another is that it refers to the people who lived out on the Heath (farmland); like the Pagani (country folk) this was Christian Civilization's way of insulting the unbelievers and their native religions. However, now that paganism is on the rise, these names "heathen" and "pagan" have been taken up with pride; kind of a, "yeah? Take That!" retort. :)
 

Fluffy

A fool
To me, paganism is any religion which is not one of the following:

Christianity (including LDS and anything which some people argue over whether it is Christian or not)
Judaism
Islam
 

kreeden

Virus of the Mind
For me , Paganism is a way of viewing the world , more of a philosophy then a religion really . Don't see why there can't be Christian Pagans , or would that be Pagan Christians ? :)

As Michel's defination implies , it is a more relaxed outlook , more rural , more laid back . For excample , a Christian Pagan would be one who doesn't take the dogma of the churchs too seriously , but still believes in the Bible . But that is only my defination . :)
 

DreamQuickBook

Active Member
kreeden said:
For me , Paganism is a way of viewing the world , more of a philosophy then a religion really . Don't see why there can't be Christian Pagans , or would that be Pagan Christians ? :)

As Michel's defination implies , it is a more relaxed outlook , more rural , more laid back . For excample , a Christian Pagan would be one who doesn't take the dogma of the churchs too seriously , but still believes in the Bible . But that is only my defination . :)

Well, there are a lot of things that can be Pagan, but Christian isn't one of them lol.

Definitions of Pagan

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.

There are two subclasses of Pagan religions: Neo-pagan religions and Reconstructionist religions. Neo-pagan religions are modern religions. more or less based on historically Pagan religions. and may incorporate beliefs, ideas, and practices from more than one cultural tradition and from non-European or Abrahamic traditions (e.g., Judeo-Christian magical practices or chakra theory). Definitions of “Pagan” that describe Pagan religions as being earth-centric or nature-centric more closely describe many (but not all) Neo-pagan religions than they describe Pagan religions as a whole. Some Neo-pagan religions include Wicca, other Neo-pagan Witchcraft traditions, forms of Neo-pagan Druidry as ADF, Henge of Keltria, and OBOD [5], and Feri Tradition.
 

kreeden

Virus of the Mind
:) As I said , that was only my defination . I like it , so I'm keeping it .... see , I told you that I wasn't reasonable . lol
 

Duwayitheru

Member
corrupt_preist said:
i think that paganism and wicca are sometimes used as interchangable words

wicca is witchcraft, pagansim does not neccerserily have to involve this
Paganism and Wicca are not the same thing. A Wiccan is a pagan, but not all pagans are Wiccans. Wicca is its own religion, with its own set of beliefs, rules, etc.
Wicca does not also have to involve witchcraft. There are some people who use Wicca and witch to mean the same thing, but they don't have to be.
 

Terrywoodenpic

Oldest Heretic
I am sure that when the Early Christians went out to convert the world, they thought all non christians to be Pagans. Except for the Jews with whom they shared a God. But it did not stop them trying to convert them either.

Terry
_______________________________________
Blessed are the poor in spirit, the kingdom of heaven is theirs.
 

Quiddity

UndertheInfluenceofGiants
So pagans may not have rules. But it can if he/she or they choose to?
Do I got that right?

~Victor
 

DreamQuickBook

Active Member
Victor said:
So pagans may not have rules. But it can if he/she or they choose to?
Do I got that right?

~Victor

A "pagan" does not necessarily believe any one thing or another. However, most pagans belong to traditions. These traditions have their own cultures, ethics, mythologies, texts, ideas and world views. Those pagans that do not belong to a tradition, usually ascribe to a "philosophy", such as Stoicism or Hedonism. Those who do not have a philosophy, tend toward living by the dictates of their experience, the rules and ideas most likely follow from there.
 
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