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Paganism (or "Heathenism") is a catch-all term which has come to bundle together (by extension from its original classical meaning of a non- Christian religion) a very broad set of not necessarily compatible religious beliefs and practices that are usually, but not necessarily, characterized by polytheism and, less commonly, animism.1 Origins and meanings of the term
The Latin word paganus is often misrepresented as an adjective meaning " rural", "rustic" or "of the country". Paganus actually was a noun derived from the word pagus which originally meant 'something stuck in the ground as a landmark'. The root pag means "fixed" and is also the source of the words "page", "pale (stake)", and "pole", as well as "pact" and "peace". In later years it was metaphorically extended to 'rural district, village'. Later the noun paganus was coined to mean 'country dweller. villager' and was not meant as an insult at first. As the Roman Empire strengthened paganus came to mean 'civilian'. It was only after the Roman introduction of the aqueduct system of transporting water throughout the Roman cities that it began to have negative connotations, and did not actually become a slur until it was adopted by Middle English speaking Christians to refer to those who would not embrace Christianity.
Another definition:The word Pagan written as (ΤΑΝ) ΠΑΓΑΝ (Accusative) is the Doric Greek word for fountain or source. In Attic Greek it is written as (ΤΗΝ) ΠΗΓΗΝ. So the term paganus might be a direct relative of the Doric word pagan.
Christianity also became a major religion in the Roman army. Here pagani has meanings of non-combatant, pacifist, with attendant derision. From the widespread popularity of Christianity among slaves, the most numerous class in the Roman Empire, by contrast pagani acquired connotationIn logic and in some branches of semantics, connotation is more or less synonymous with intension''. Connotation is often contrasted with denotation which is more or less synonymous with extension''. See these articles for further information. In everydays of "uppity", "religious dissident" and so on to "heretic".
Certain scholarly fashions from the medieval period onwards, attempted to assert the value of sophisticated pagans such as AristotleAristotle ( Greek Αριστοτλης Aristotelēs) ( 384 BCE March 7, 322 BCE) was a Greek scientist and philosopher. Along with Plato, he is often considered to be one of the two most influential philo and PlatoFor the computing technology, see PLATO System. Plato ( Greek: Platon (c. 427 BC c. 347 BC) was an immensely influential classical Greek philosopher, student of Socrates, teacher of Aristotle, writer, and founder of the Academy in Athens. Plato, who is be and OvidFor other uses, see Ovid (disambiguation Publius Ovidius Naso ( March 20, 43 BC AD 17) Roman poet known to the English-speaking world as Ovid wrote on topics of love, abandoned women, and mythological transformations. Ovid wrote in elegiac couplets, with. This had some influence among upper class educated people but did little to counter a more general prejudiceFor "with(out) prejudice" in law, see Prejudice (law). Prejudice is, as the name implies, the process of "pre-judging" something. In general, it implies coming to a judgement on the subject before learning where the preponderance of the evidence actually.
2 Nature Religion
Many current Pagans in industrial societies base their beliefs and practices on a connection to Nature, and a divinity within all living things, but this may not hold true for all forms of Paganism, past or present. Some believe that there are many deities, while some believe that the combined subconcious spirit of all living things forms the universal deity. Paganism predates modern monotheismMonotheism is the belief in a single, universal, all-encompassing deity. Various forms of monotheism exist, including: Theism, a term that usually refers to the belief in a 'personal' god, that is, a single god with a distinctive personality, rather than, although its origins are lost in prehistory. Ancient paganism tended in many cases to be a deification of the political process, with "state divinities" assigned to various localities ( Athena in Athens, for example). Many ancient regimes would claim to be the representative on earth of these gods, and would depend on more or less elaborate bureaucracies of state-supported priests and scribes to lend public support to their claims. This is something it shares with more 'mainstream' religions, as can be seen in the history of the Catholic church, the Church of England and the ancient and current trends in Islam. In one well-established sense, paganism is the belief in any non- monotheistic religion, which would mean that the Pythagoreans of ancient Greece would not be considered pagan in that sense, since they were monotheist, but not in the Abrahamic tradition. In an extreme sense, and like the pejorative sense below, any belief, ritual or pastime not sanctioned by a religion accepted as orthodox by those doing the describing, such as Burning Man, Halloween, or even Christmas, can be described as pagan by the person or people who object to them.
