Pagan religion | History, Types, beliefs, worship &More

What is pagan religion means

Paganism or pagan religion is a term that covers a great number of spiritual and religious beliefs, It was originally a pejorative and derogatory term for polytheism, implying its inferiority. And someone who follows one of these beliefs is known as a Pagan.

Some of those in ancient times, who are called Pagans today, believed there was not just one god but a number of gods and goddesses the term Pagan religion was applied to any unfamiliar religion, and the term presumed a belief in false gods.

Pagan religion history:

Everyone in the ancient world, except for Jews, was “pagan” that is, they believed in many gods. These gods whether the state gods of Rome, the local municipal gods, the family gods, the gods of forests, mountains, streams, and meadows were active in the world, involved with humans on every level.

Types of paganism:

Modern Paganism, or neopaganism, includes reconstructed religions such as Roman Polytheistic Reconstructionism, Hellenism, Slavic Native Faith, Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism, or heathenry, as well as modern eclectic traditions such as Wicca and its many offshoots, Neo-Druidism, and Discordianism.

What are the beliefs of a Pagan religion?

Not all pagans were strictly polytheists. Throughout history, many of them believed in a supreme deity. (However, most such pagans believed in a class of subordinate gods/daimons see henotheism or divine emanations.) To Christians, the most important distinction was whether or not someone worshipped the one true God.

The recognition of the divine in nature is at the heart of Pagan religious belief. Pagans are deeply aware of the natural world and see the power of the divine in the ongoing cycle of life and death. Most Pagans are eco-friendly, seeking to live in a way that minimizes harm to the natural environment.

How did pagans worship?

As Pagans have no public buildings specifically set aside for worship, and most believe that religious ceremonies are best conducted out of doors, rituals often take place in woods or caves, on hilltops, or along the seashore. … Pagans do not believe that they are set above, or apart from, the rest of nature.

What is a pagan ritual?

Pagans worship the divine in many different forms, through feminine as well as masculine imagery and also as without gender. The most important and widely recognized of these are the God and Goddess (or pantheons of God and Goddesses) whose annual cycle of procreation, giving birth, and dying defines the Pagan year.

Pagan religious rituals commonly focus on honoring a deity or deities; observing natural cycles, such as seasonal changes or the waxing and waning of the moon.
Also, Ritual sacrifice was an integral part of the ancient Graeco-Roman religion and was regarded as an indication of whether a person was pagan or Christian.

Pagan religion holidays:

They represent the most common celebrations in Wiccan-influenced forms of Neopaganism, especially in contemporary Witchcraft groups.

Winter Solstice (Yule).
Imbolc (Candlemas).
Spring Equinox (Ostara).
Beltane (May Eve).
Summer Solstice (Litha).
Lughnasadh (Lammas).
Autumn Equinox (Mabon).
Samhain (Hallowe’en).

What is modern-day Pagan religion?

Pagan religion today grew from the new outlooks of the Renaissance period (1500) and the Reformation (the 1600s), through the revival of Druidry and folk custom in Europe, the witchhunts of the 19th Century, and the explosion of interest in world religions in the sixties and seventies.

also known as Contemporary Paganism and Neopaganism, is a collective term for new religious movements influenced by or derived from the various historical pagan religious beliefs of pre-modern peoples.

World Religions

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