What is Paganism?

Paganism is a term which, from a western perspective, has come to suggest a broad set of spiritual or religious beliefs and practices of natural or polytheistic religions. The term can be defined broadly, to encompass many or most of the faith traditions outside the Abrahamic monotheistic group of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

This group may include polytheism, duotheism, shamanism, animism and druidism. The term is also used to describe earth-based Native American religions and mythologies, though few Native Americans call themselves or their cultures "pagan" they are in fact according to the simplest of definitions. Historically, the term "pagan" has usually had pejorative connotations among westerners, comparable to heathen, infidel, and mushrik and kafir in Islam. In modern times, though, the words "pagan" or "paganism" have become widely and openly used by some practitioners of certain spiritual paths outside the Abrahamic and Dharmic religious mainstream to describe their beliefs, practices, and organized movements.

What is a Pagan?

A Pagan (from Latin Paganus, meaning "a country dweller" or "civilian") was one of a people or community observing a polytheistic religion, as the ancient Celts, Romans, Egyptians and Greeks. Today they are one of any of the people or communities observing the religious beliefs and practices of the ancient Pagan communities or those constructing their own variant of them.

Why Were Pagans Considered Country Dwellers?

From its earliest beginnings, Christianity spread much more quickly in major urban areas (like Antioch, Alexandria, Corinth, Rome) than in the countryside, and soon the word for "country dweller" became synonymous with someone who was "not Christian," giving rise to the modern meaning of "pagan."

Aren't Pagans Satanic and Destined for Hell?

Pagans do not believe in the abrahamaic based concepts of Satan, Lucifer, The Devil, Hades or Hell. These concepts are abrahamaic in nature and were derived from scarce fragments of Judaic and Christian writings. Often the public's definition of Satanic peoples are those that follow Satan. This means that they believe in and follow the darker aspects of the Christian writings regarding Satan. This makes them Christian based and not a follower of any Pagan religion. Please note that not all Satanists regard Satan as a "dark angel" but some see the concept more as a metaphor. These are not included in the common definition of a Satanic person.

Do Pagans Practice Human Sacrifice?

Not any more than many other religions have in their infancy. Vikings, Celts, Romans, Greeks, Aztecs, Incans, Mayans, Egyptians, Chinese, Japanese, Mongolian, Cretans, Jews, Christians (Salem Witch Burnings, Spanish Inquisition) have in their earliest of years practiced human sacrifice. But in today's world none of these religions whether of abrahamic or Pagan decent practice human sacrifice. However, this is not to say that some do not take the blame for such crimes committed by others.

Modern Classifications of Pagans

Paleo-Paganism: A retronym coined to contrast with "neopaganism", denoting a Pagan culture that has not been disrupted by other cultures. The term applies to Hinduism, Shinto, pre-Migration period Germanic Paganism as described by Tacitus, Celtic Polytheism as described by Julius Caesar, and the Greek and Roman religion.

Meso-Paganism: A group, which is, or has been, significantly influenced by monotheistic, dualistic, or nontheistic worldviews, but has been able to maintain an independence of religious practices. This includes Native Americans and Australian Aborigine Bushmen, Viking Age Norse Paganism, Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism, Theosophy, Spiritualism, as well as Sikhism, and the many Afro-Diasporatic faiths like Haitian Vodou, and Santería.

Neo-Paganism: An attempt by modern people to reconnect with nature, pre-Christian religions, or other nature-based spiritual paths. This definition includes such religions as Slavianstvo, Ásatrú, Neo-Druidism and Wicca.