What is Paganism?
The word Pagan originated from the Latin word “paganus”; meaning “rural”, and or, “dwelling within country life.” The origin of the word is from old Europe. People who lived in the cities were city dwellers. The people who lived in the country, or farmers, were called Pagans. It is much like the terms urban and rural today. The word Pagan was pretty much benign back then. It didn’t get its sinister reputation until after Christianity took dominance in the cities of Eastern Europe, and which is when the farmers began to be thought of as the others or sinners. The Pagans, or country dwellers, were slow to catch on to that newfangled Christian stuff. They felt, why break what is fixed? Being Pagan, in those days kept humans close to Nature and the land. They were in harmony with the harvest and the planting and their natural ways of life?
Today's Pagan Beliefs
Then there were the festivals and the old gods. They were the Ancestral gods, both feminine and masculine, that they were close and attached to for generations. Eventually, through the centuries, the Abrahamic religions took conquest over the minds of society, and the old gods and the old Pagan ways were observed by only a few in the shadows.
People today who are Pagan, practice what is referred to as “Earth-Based religions. These are religions that do not fall under the category of any of the Abrahamic religions (Jewish, Christian or Islam).
Today’s Pagans have reclaimed the name. They are those who are closest to Nature. Those who follow the rhythms of the Universe. Those who believe Nature knows best. And, most of all, we believe that the Universal Powers speak and communicate, to those who are willing to listen, by way meditation, being in tuned, and by way of Nature and the spiritual world.
Paganism, in general is not a religion. It is more often referred to as a spirituality. It is instinctive, intuitive and primal, so, in its purest form, it is not man made or organized. In this I mean it is what anyone would practice if they were born on a deserted island with no knowledge of religion. It is simply one’s unadulterated love for the environment that one inhabits. Paganism, like Christianity, is an umbrella term for certain spiritual affiliations. For example, a Christian could be a Protestant, Catholic, Baptist etc. A Pagan could be a Wiccan, Eclectic Witch, Metaphysical Spiritualist, Taoist, Hermetic, Shaman, Alchemist, Kemetic etc.
To some, who practice African Traditional Religions, it is unacceptable to be referred to as Pagan. To others it is just fine, because it does describe their practice. As Pagans, we believe in magick, however every Pagan may not practice magick. Some may just attend rituals. Some may just pay homage to the rhythms of Nature and the Universe. And, to these Pagans, that is magick enough.
Most Pagans believe in Polytheism, animism, and the duality of Goddess and or God (Lady and Lord.) And, they pay homage throughout the seasons. While many are connected to covens and circles, and have Priests and Priestesses, most believe that they have a direct connection between themselves and to the Most-High, and feel they are their own spiritual leaders.