Pagan Faiths and Religions

If you haven't figured it out yet, I consider myself Pagan, though I do not follow any specific religious order just as many Christians have not stepped foot inside a church except on wedding and funeral occasions. One of the things that I get asked most frequently is: "What exactly does being Pagan mean?" Of course, just as asking someone what it means to be Christian, there is not a concise anwer that is accepted by everyone. But here is mine in a round about way.

By definition, according to the Illustrated Oxford Dictionary printed in 1998 (ISBN 0-7894-3557-8) pagan is:

n. 1.) a person not subscribing to any of the main religions of the world. 2.) a person following a polytheistic or pantheistic religion. 3.) a hedonist

adj. 1a.) of or relating to or associated with pagans. 1b.) irreligious. 2.) identifying divinity or spirituality in nature; pantheistic.

Or in other words, a pagan is someone who is does not follow either the Christian, Jewish or Moslem religions. There is also an argument over the word "paganus" from which the word pagan is derived from Latin. It seems that when Latin was actually spoken outside of churches, the word was used to refer to either "civilians" as opposed to "military" persons, or as a reference to people living outside the cities (ie: country folk). Neither of these uses would have implied any denigration.

However, this does nothing to explain what it means to be pagan. Before I get into all that, though, let me give a very short list of what is NOT pagan:

Satanism, or Devil Worship: Quite frankly, Satan (also referred to as Lucifer) is a creation of the three main world religions. He is used as the counter-balance in the moral tales of these religions to God's innate goodness. Therefore, if Pagans are those who do not follow these three religions, we are NOT Satanic since the worship of one requires the belief in the other.

I would also list "witch," "sorcerer," and "magician" in this category, personally. Yes, witchcraft is closely associated by most people (including other Pagans) with most pagan religions. It is not a requirement of them, however. I split witchcraft away from the faith of Paganism. Witchcraft is a learned skill, and can be performed as long as there is a belief in a God or Gods. It is the different higher beings that we believe in that makes the distinction between Pagan or non-Pagan.

Now that that is done, let's actually talk about what it means to be Pagan. First and foremost, Pagan religions, in general, are much more focused on "faith" rather than structured religious ceremony. I don't have to go to a certain building in order to get in touch with my god. Secondly, the vast majority of Pagan religions have their roots firmly planted in pre-Christian faith. In a very real sense, what is taught in schools as Greek and Roman "mythologies" are in fact courses teaching those two Pagan religions.

For me, at least, Paganism is simply a reliance on my inner feeling that 1.) there is a "higher being" than man, possibly more than one, and 2.) none of the three dominate religions of the world coincide adequately with what I feel to be true. It is nothing more than that, though nothing less either. It is just a different way that I look at my personal faith (which I am convinced that everyone has). I don't know which is "right" and which is "wrong" in the big picture, I only know what is right for me.

Before anyone goes off thinking that by definition "pagan" only covers such things as ancient mythologies or such belief systems such as Wicca, Druid, Thelema and a host of other sects whose names you have never heard of, let me give you a couple more that also fall under the definition as "pagan." Hinduism and Buddhism are also by definition "pagan" religions. Why do I bring this up? Because it is easy to discount pagans as a couple thousand (or even a couple hundred thousand) isolated wackos when only speaking of Wicca or followers of Greek and Roman mythologies. It is much harder to discount the 2.4 billion followers of these two religions in such a way.