What is Paganism?
Paganism is a very broad term that encompasses many belief systems that generally do not fall under the Christian, Jewish, Muslim, or other monotheistic believe systems. Many times they include polytheistic beliefs which is the worship, or belief, of more than one God or Goddess. It describes a group of contemporary religions based on a reverence for nature. These faiths draw on the traditional religions of indigenous peoples throughout the world.
Paganism is a very broad term that encompasses many belief systems that generally do not fall under the Christian, Jewish, Muslim, or other monotheistic believe systems. Many times they include polytheistic beliefs which is the worship, or belief, of more than one God or Goddess. It describes a group of contemporary religions based on a reverence for nature. These faiths draw on the traditional religions of indigenous peoples throughout the world.
- Paganism encompasses a diverse community.
- Wiccans, Druids, Shamans, Sacred Ecologists, Odinists and Heathens all make up parts of the Pagan community.
- Some groups concentrate on specific traditions or practices such as ecology, witchcraft, Celtic traditions or certain gods.
- Most Pagans share an ecological vision that comes from the Pagan belief in the organic vitality and spirituality of the natural world.
- Due to persecution and misrepresentation it is necessary to define what Pagans are not as well as what they are. Pagans are not sexual deviants, do not worship the devil, are not evil, do not practice 'black magic' and their practices do not involve harming people or animals.
Below are some things that came to mind by people that attended our first study group.
We started our very first study group by asking people “What words come to mind when you first hear the word Pagan?” These are the suggestions that people made:
Nature
Love
Healing
Individuality
Covens
Balance
Community
Lonely
Weirdos
Freaks
What words come to mind for you?
We started our very first study group by asking people “What words come to mind when you first hear the word Pagan?” These are the suggestions that people made:
Nature
Love
Healing
Individuality
Covens
Balance
Community
Lonely
Weirdos
Freaks
What words come to mind for you?