Due to last weeks article and current issues I'm dealing with (waiting to hear back from both Dictionary.com and Merriam-Webster Online + running the info booth at Newaygo County Pagan Pride Day) I've decided to write an article about being Pagan. What does it really mean to be Pagan? Many people have different ideas on what it means to be Pagan and I will attempt to explain my definition from my own scholarly point of view (if you disagree feel free to leave a comment explaining where you disagree or how you would define it).
What is Pagan? A Pagan is one who adheres to Paganism and Paganism is a general term for a religious archetype no different than Shamanism, Buddhism, Hinduism or Judeo-Christian. Within each of these archetypes there are different "sects." For example, Buddhism has Mahayana and Theravada; Judeo-Christian has Judaism, Muslim, Christian (and within Christian there are Catholics, Baptists, Protestants, Lutheran, etc etc); and Shamanism has various "sects" as well, like those of the Native Americans. Paganism has many sects just like the others, such as, Asatru (Nordic), Druid, Celtic, Gaelic, Greek, Roman and so forth. Pagans even encompasses Neo-Pagans, or those who believe in the Pagan ideals but don't necessarily follow any particular sect, deities, or community (very similar to the Non-Denominational Christianity). From my knowledge of American Pagans, most would lump themselves into this Neo-Pagan category due to a lack of knowledge on what it means to be Pagan (and the reason for this article).
Now Paganism is the second oldest religious archetype (the first being Shamanism) and has it's roots deep in history. The type of religion that Paganism is (with the exception of some Neo-Pagans) is polytheistic. "Poly" meaning many and "theism" means the belief in a deity. Therefore, traditional Pagan religions believed in many gods or more than one. The opposite of this would be monotheism, or the belief in one god, and that can be seen in any of the Judeo-Christian religions.
The gods of paganism have been labeled many things by other religions, but what are the facts? Well, most Pagan gods are the personification of nature and/or emotions. For example, Aphrodite is the Goddess of Love or Aries the God of War. In nature, the God and Goddess Dianus and Diana are viewed to be the representation of the Earth, Male and Female Polarities, and/or the Sun and the Moon. This is also why the original God of the Woods was a deer (in order to help the original hunters) and as man settled down he became a bull in order to still meet man's needs as a farmer. For more information on how these "mythologies" and gods were attributed their different natural attributes look to my earlier article where I explain the myth creating process (The Myth Making Process).
Due to man's fondness of travel, the deities of many religions have been at war for thousands of years. Christianity's Satan is a "rip-off" of Pagan Gods, not necessarily due to lack of talent, but because the Christian faith would like to convince people that Christianity is the right religion and Paganism the wrong. This is why Satan is often represented with horns and calves legs (such as Pan), a trident (like that of Poseidon), and the color red (such as Sett). This is believed to create Satan as the direct opposite of good (Satan literally translates to "Adversary"). The only problem with this is that no matter how creepy or frightening some of the Pagan Gods may appear, none of them are evil. In fact, there is no evil deity in any of the Pagan Religions (any of the main ones I'm aware of that is).
So where do these signs of Satan worship come from? Well I already explained that other religions (especially Christianity) wanted people to accept their religion as the correct religion and thus the "evil" role of Paganism was born. Pagans historically would meet under the moon in the nude and fornicate in honor or worship to their Deities' gift of life. This has created the title of Pagans being "sensual," but is far from the truth (many Pagans today practice family friendly rituals). Pagans are also often said to give offerings, such as cutting a goat's throat. All religions throughout history have given offerings to Gods (even Christianity) and this was a representation of the times and not the religions themselves. No where is it stated that a Pagan must sacrifice to a God.
Early I stated that Paganism is the second oldest religious archetype (next to Shamanism). Paganism has been around for possibly as long as 10,000 years (if not longer)! Paganism found it's start from Folk-Religion. Folk-Religion is a structure of beliefs adhered to by local inhabitants of an area. A lot of "witchcraft" started out as man's attempt at keeping a relationship with the Earth in order to live in harmony. Farmers who had a "green thumb" would often study nature, the stars, and sun to figure out how to best grow their plants. Travelers (and sailors) would study the stars in order to know where they were going and many could "read the sky" for knowledge of oncoming weather changes. Medicine men would use various herbs to cure and prevent illnesses and injuries. Alchemists (the forefathers of Science) attempted to study the planet in order to alter metals and stones for the betterment of humanity. The myths and folk-lore that surrounds Paganism were due to an unscientific community attempting to explain why certain things (especially bad luck) happened. All of these things were passed down from generation to generation orally and were rarely recorded. Christianity (and all of the Judeo-Christian religions) is actual unique in the sense that from it's very beginning there was scripture to follow.
Folk-Religion, and Paganism, is a religion that evolves around nature. Due to this, Pagans tend to honor natural events as much as they can (such as Equinoxes, Full Moons, and Seasons). Pagans tend to have a natural love for the Earth and prefer to use all-natural products. They also prefer to give back to the Earth and focus more on a spiritual relationship instead of a physical. This is the exact opposite of materialism (as stated by some dictionaries). Pagans follow their beliefs everyday, they live them, and don't just practice them on sacred days. They attempt to live a life as spiritual as possible and therefore are very religious, even if they don't tend to congregate on a normal basis like other religions.
Finally, Paganism is far from a rare religion. Pagans do not have a need to convert or outwardly express their belief system. Therefore most Pagans go unnoticed. When Judaism was created, majority of Europe was Pagan. Almost every scholar, politician, and philosopher believed in a pagan religion. This means that historically Pagans were very civilized, knowledgeable, and often times wealthy (and actually most Christians in the time of it's inception were the opposite, they were poor and unschooled... even some of, if not all, the apostles were illiterate).
I hope you have enjoyed Paganism 101 and hopefully now whether you're a Pagan or otherwise you will be informed when addressing the matter. As I have stated before, it is up to the Pagan community to tell others what being Pagan means, and not let others decide what it is for them. Knowledge is power, so empower yourself. Much love as always and I hope the Harvest finds you all in good spirits!
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He doesn't use it as "non-denominational", rather almost all modern denominations would be considered sub-sets of "neo-Paganism".
He uses a historical three tiered system for classifying paganism through the ages. Under his system, the pagans of ancient pre-christian Europe were Paleo-Pagans, the victorian-era quasi-pagan groups, like the masons were Meso-Pagans, and the Neo-Pagans are part of a modern attempt to revive the best parts of the Paleo-Pagan religion that started around the time of Gerald Gardener.
In closing, I would also object to the gross generalization that American pagans are ignorant of pagan history.
First, I would like to say that Pagan_hunter is correct. I have read about Gerald Gardener and the definitions he has shared. However, the issue I have with defining paganism in that manner is it assumes that at one point in time Paganism ceased to have followers, and I don't believe this to be true. There have been plenty of recorded witch hunts and other persecutions during these supposed inactive times. Pagans were forced to hide their beliefs and therefore were not in the media a whole lot.
Now Miss Willow, it means a lot to me that you appreciate what you read here. I am in the process of self-publishing my first book right now. I have an illustrator drawing pictures for it and I'm attempting to save the money to pay for the printing of the book. I hope to have some copies out after the new year. I am forced to self-publish because my writings are considered too controversial for mainstream media and have been turned down by publishers and agents (they claim they have no need for my subject). So hopefully I will have a book out in the near future and I of course will share it's release date on here.
Once again, thank you both for your time and intelligent responses.
you said:
"it assumes that at one point in time Paganism ceased to have followers, and I don't believe this to be true."
The validity of this statement depends on how you define "Paganism" and "followers".
"Paganism" originally referred to any non-abrahamic religion. Obviously many such religions have survived continuously since antiquity.
However, let us throw out that definition of "Paganism" and instead use the one more commonly used today which is something like "The religions of pre-Christian Europe"
Secondly, "followers" could take on several different definitions. The most broad would be something like "a person who observes Pagan traditions". By this definition Paganism certianly has had a continuous stream of followers because many Pagan traditions (Yule and Ostara come to mind) were absorbed into Christianity. Still more traditions like May Day and wicker man survived as local customs.
However, let us restrict the definition to something like "A person who considers themselves to be a member of a Pagan religion" [as defined above]
If we use these definitions for "followers of Paganism" then there definitely was a period the early centuries CE until roughly the late 19th century where none existed.
(most meso-pagans considered themselves to be Christians and thought of their Pagan groups as more philosophical than religious)
what about all the evidence to the contrary of what I'm saying?
As for the witch hunts and the inquisition, it has been widely established that these were mostly used as political tools to crush opposition to the church. And by opposition, I don't mean worshiping Pan and Diana, I mean something more like insisting that the earth travels around the sun.
There were also many tragic cases recorded where superstitious clergymen put women to death using things like birthmarks and the presence of black cats as "proof" that they were witches.
If people were being caught making offerings to Cernunous on Samhain, the clergy certianly would have written it down in the "court" (I use the term VERY loosely) records. No one ever did. I urge you not to take my word for this and go pick up one of the many books on the subject.
What about the supposed "fam-trad" witches, dozens of authors among them? I'm afraid its simply never panned out when investigated. Every time someone has claimed to have had ancient Pagan traditions passed down their family tree through the dark ages it has turned out to be either an outright lie, or nothing more than a campfire story their great uncle told.
and sadly, all the notions of a European "witch-cult" surviving through the middle ages cited these "fam-trad" stories as their source material. Several prominent scholars have looked for it and there is simply no evidence that Pagan religions survived into the dark ages in tact.
Bonewits has a clever saying that goes something like:
"The only REAL fam-trad witches are twenty-somethings who grew up going to Wicca Sabbats with their parents"
P.S. To those Pagan Americans, I did not mean to insinuate that all American Pagans or even a majority of them did not know the history of Paganism, I was explaining that the majority of Pagan Americans that I have had the honor of meeting seemed to have a lack of knowledge on the subject.