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What Does It Mean to Be Pagan? |
In short, it means believing in what you want and practicing your religion your way. Pagan, according to Merriam Webster’s dictionary, is, “an unconverted member of a people or nation who does not practice Christianity, Judaism, or Islam; especially a follower of a polytheistic religion (as in ancient Rome).” Merriam-Webster also defines a Pagan as, “one who has little or no religion and who delights in sensual pleasures and material goods: an irreligious or hedonistic person.” It’s a word that came about in the early 1300s as a way to insult and degrade people that aren’t Christian and is now used by us Pagans with pride. It’s like that old adage about turning a negative into a positive, except this took several hundred years instead of happening quickly.
Boy does that second definition sound like fun. Sounds like I’m doing it wrong. I work, write, have a spouse, bills, and 898,908,093 things to do, just like everyone else. Oh. Right. I also practice my own brand of Paganism.
Paganism, as the first definition suggests, is a set of religious beliefs that is outside of the Abrahamic faiths (Christianity, Judaism, and Islam). So, between all of the Native American cultures, African cultures, European cultures, Asian cultures, island cultures, and Australian cultures, there have got to be at least 100,000 pagan religions. One thing I’ve found in my many years of study, is that most Pagan religions teach their followers to have a reverence for nature and all things natural. Religion, at its core, is just a way for people to understand natural phenomena, and supernatural phenomena, like life cycles, tides, the weather, and the unexplainable. So it stands to reason that the oldest religions in the world have roots in nature.
In this article, we are only discussing a few of them so that you can get an idea of what paganism is, without being overwhelming. We will break things down into categories and show you some of the more widely known belief systems. Paganism is an umbrella term used to describe a great number of different belief systems that are vastly different. So, let’s begin categorizing so that you get an idea of just how different they can be.
Category 1: The Magick Practitioners- Don’t Mix Up Your Lights and Darks! A lot of pagans are practitioners of magick. I prefer to use the archaic spelling of the word magic to differentiate between someone doing card tricks and ritual magick or spell work as done by certain types of Pagans. There are several different Pagan religions that incorporate different spells and ritual magick and energy manipulation in the very essence of their teachings. Some of them are considered to be White or Light magick whilst others are Dark or Black magick. The biggest difference between the two is intent.
Wicca is where I started many years ago. Wicca is considered to be Neo-Pagan because it was started by Gerald Gardner in the 1950s and doesn’t adhere to just one pantheon of Gods and Goddesses. While there is no Wiccan Bible or a strict set of rules for Wiccans, there are some basic principles that Wiccans abide by. Do no harm, Karma is real, whatever energy you put out will come back to you, honor your ancestors, the Earth cycles should be celebrated, and respect others' beliefs. It was perfect for me at the time because of its very feminist undertones. There is a great reverence for women, the divine feminine and the God and Goddess. The magick performed by Wiccans is considered white magick because it is thought to be pure of heart, healing and for the good of the people it’s being done on. It works with the will of the person or people it’s being done on. That last part is key.
A beautiful example of a Black Magick practice is Anti-Cosmic Satanism. “This is not a religion for pedestrians. This is for a very small sliver of humanity,” says J. Shaden, Magus of the O.E.O. (Order Es Oblivion). “Imagine being born inside a prison. You’ve never seen the outside world. One day you get a letter telling you that not only are you a prisoner but that there is more out there than what you’ve seen and that you’ve been lied to your entire existence. That you’ve been oppressed all this time. People of my ilk yearn for freedom and revenge.” This is the metaphor that J. Shaden uses to describe the way that he and his fellow Anti-Cosmic Satanists feel about our existence on Earth and how we can ascend into something much greater. They use a lot of ritual magick and a lot of invoking of various deities for many reasons. Militant Nihilism, misanthropy and deep seeded hatred for the prison that the rest of us call creation are three major components of their practice. They do not ask permission. Anti-Cosmic Satanists do not depend on the will of the person or people that they are using magick on or for. They do not wait to have permission. They do EXACTLY as they will. They are rather lawless with their magick and do not believe in the same tenants as Wiccans or other white magick practitioners. Karma is not a consideration. They practice Magick in accordance to their will, not the subject of their spellwork. They have many deities and look to them as mentors and teachers. While there is a book called the “Satanic Bible,” it is not revered by Anti-Cosmic Satanists in the same way that Christians revere their Bible.
Category 2: The Pantheonic Pagans- Gods from Only One Region Please! In the Pagan community, there are a lot of different Gods and Goddesses that are worshiped or followed. Some people will only follow Gods and Goddesses that come from a certain region. For instance, there are people that only follow the Gods and Goddesses from Greece. Some only follow the Roman Gods and Goddesses. Others only follow the Norse, or the Celtic Gods and Goddesses. Each of these groups of Gods and Goddesses is called a Pantheon.
One of the most popular pantheons that I’m hearing about right now is the Norse Pantheon. I feel like Marvel movies and comics have a lot to do with that. Even though Marvel makes the Gods into superheroes and doesn’t really follow the stories of Asgard, they do use the names of some of the Norse Gods and Goddesses and their accessories. Back in the 1990s and early 2000s, I heard a lot more about the Greek pantheon because of movies like Hercules, 300, Clash of the Titans, and many others. This is not to say that pantheonic pagans are only studying certain Gods and Goddesses because of pop culture. I am only suggesting that the interest in these Gods and Goddesses was sparked for a number of people because of the movies and books. I am not suggesting that everyone who is a Pantheonic Pagan saw a movie and all of the sudden started exclusively praying to one set of Gods and Goddesses. There are plenty of Pantheonic pagans that have studied these Gods and Goddesses without ever having seen those movies. For many, it’s the pantheon that their families have followed for eons.
People who are pantheonic pagans don’t always practice magick. When they do, they often keep the magick of people in the region where their Gods and Goddesses originated. The Ashante people of Ghana, for instance, believe deeply in witchcraft but there is no evidence to suggest that they all are practitioners.
Category 3: The Eclectic Pagan- I’ll Take One Of Each Please! These Pagans treat spirituality like a buffet. They learn from deities from all different pantheons. In my experience these Pagans are curious and love to learn about all different cultures, and all different deities. They often have researched several different pantheons and follow the deities that they relate with most from various pantheons as their mentors. Sometimes this kind of Pagan will choose Gods and Goddesses that are strong in areas where they need help, in order to grow.
Some people may feel that it is cultural appropriation to worship or work with a deity that is not from your own culture. Others argue that each culture has the same deities but that they just have different names. As for me, I tend to stick with Celtic Gods and Goddesses because my family is from that part of Europe but I occasionally will work with Hecate, Persiphone or Lillith. It dependents on what I’m working on.
All in all, Paganism is about freedom. It’s about the freedom to believe and practice as you will. It can be dark. It can be light. It can be whatever you want it to be.
Boy does that second definition sound like fun. Sounds like I’m doing it wrong. I work, write, have a spouse, bills, and 898,908,093 things to do, just like everyone else. Oh. Right. I also practice my own brand of Paganism.
Paganism, as the first definition suggests, is a set of religious beliefs that is outside of the Abrahamic faiths (Christianity, Judaism, and Islam). So, between all of the Native American cultures, African cultures, European cultures, Asian cultures, island cultures, and Australian cultures, there have got to be at least 100,000 pagan religions. One thing I’ve found in my many years of study, is that most Pagan religions teach their followers to have a reverence for nature and all things natural. Religion, at its core, is just a way for people to understand natural phenomena, and supernatural phenomena, like life cycles, tides, the weather, and the unexplainable. So it stands to reason that the oldest religions in the world have roots in nature.
In this article, we are only discussing a few of them so that you can get an idea of what paganism is, without being overwhelming. We will break things down into categories and show you some of the more widely known belief systems. Paganism is an umbrella term used to describe a great number of different belief systems that are vastly different. So, let’s begin categorizing so that you get an idea of just how different they can be.
Category 1: The Magick Practitioners- Don’t Mix Up Your Lights and Darks! A lot of pagans are practitioners of magick. I prefer to use the archaic spelling of the word magic to differentiate between someone doing card tricks and ritual magick or spell work as done by certain types of Pagans. There are several different Pagan religions that incorporate different spells and ritual magick and energy manipulation in the very essence of their teachings. Some of them are considered to be White or Light magick whilst others are Dark or Black magick. The biggest difference between the two is intent.
Wicca is where I started many years ago. Wicca is considered to be Neo-Pagan because it was started by Gerald Gardner in the 1950s and doesn’t adhere to just one pantheon of Gods and Goddesses. While there is no Wiccan Bible or a strict set of rules for Wiccans, there are some basic principles that Wiccans abide by. Do no harm, Karma is real, whatever energy you put out will come back to you, honor your ancestors, the Earth cycles should be celebrated, and respect others' beliefs. It was perfect for me at the time because of its very feminist undertones. There is a great reverence for women, the divine feminine and the God and Goddess. The magick performed by Wiccans is considered white magick because it is thought to be pure of heart, healing and for the good of the people it’s being done on. It works with the will of the person or people it’s being done on. That last part is key.
A beautiful example of a Black Magick practice is Anti-Cosmic Satanism. “This is not a religion for pedestrians. This is for a very small sliver of humanity,” says J. Shaden, Magus of the O.E.O. (Order Es Oblivion). “Imagine being born inside a prison. You’ve never seen the outside world. One day you get a letter telling you that not only are you a prisoner but that there is more out there than what you’ve seen and that you’ve been lied to your entire existence. That you’ve been oppressed all this time. People of my ilk yearn for freedom and revenge.” This is the metaphor that J. Shaden uses to describe the way that he and his fellow Anti-Cosmic Satanists feel about our existence on Earth and how we can ascend into something much greater. They use a lot of ritual magick and a lot of invoking of various deities for many reasons. Militant Nihilism, misanthropy and deep seeded hatred for the prison that the rest of us call creation are three major components of their practice. They do not ask permission. Anti-Cosmic Satanists do not depend on the will of the person or people that they are using magick on or for. They do not wait to have permission. They do EXACTLY as they will. They are rather lawless with their magick and do not believe in the same tenants as Wiccans or other white magick practitioners. Karma is not a consideration. They practice Magick in accordance to their will, not the subject of their spellwork. They have many deities and look to them as mentors and teachers. While there is a book called the “Satanic Bible,” it is not revered by Anti-Cosmic Satanists in the same way that Christians revere their Bible.
Category 2: The Pantheonic Pagans- Gods from Only One Region Please! In the Pagan community, there are a lot of different Gods and Goddesses that are worshiped or followed. Some people will only follow Gods and Goddesses that come from a certain region. For instance, there are people that only follow the Gods and Goddesses from Greece. Some only follow the Roman Gods and Goddesses. Others only follow the Norse, or the Celtic Gods and Goddesses. Each of these groups of Gods and Goddesses is called a Pantheon.
One of the most popular pantheons that I’m hearing about right now is the Norse Pantheon. I feel like Marvel movies and comics have a lot to do with that. Even though Marvel makes the Gods into superheroes and doesn’t really follow the stories of Asgard, they do use the names of some of the Norse Gods and Goddesses and their accessories. Back in the 1990s and early 2000s, I heard a lot more about the Greek pantheon because of movies like Hercules, 300, Clash of the Titans, and many others. This is not to say that pantheonic pagans are only studying certain Gods and Goddesses because of pop culture. I am only suggesting that the interest in these Gods and Goddesses was sparked for a number of people because of the movies and books. I am not suggesting that everyone who is a Pantheonic Pagan saw a movie and all of the sudden started exclusively praying to one set of Gods and Goddesses. There are plenty of Pantheonic pagans that have studied these Gods and Goddesses without ever having seen those movies. For many, it’s the pantheon that their families have followed for eons.
People who are pantheonic pagans don’t always practice magick. When they do, they often keep the magick of people in the region where their Gods and Goddesses originated. The Ashante people of Ghana, for instance, believe deeply in witchcraft but there is no evidence to suggest that they all are practitioners.
Category 3: The Eclectic Pagan- I’ll Take One Of Each Please! These Pagans treat spirituality like a buffet. They learn from deities from all different pantheons. In my experience these Pagans are curious and love to learn about all different cultures, and all different deities. They often have researched several different pantheons and follow the deities that they relate with most from various pantheons as their mentors. Sometimes this kind of Pagan will choose Gods and Goddesses that are strong in areas where they need help, in order to grow.
Some people may feel that it is cultural appropriation to worship or work with a deity that is not from your own culture. Others argue that each culture has the same deities but that they just have different names. As for me, I tend to stick with Celtic Gods and Goddesses because my family is from that part of Europe but I occasionally will work with Hecate, Persiphone or Lillith. It dependents on what I’m working on.
All in all, Paganism is about freedom. It’s about the freedom to believe and practice as you will. It can be dark. It can be light. It can be whatever you want it to be.
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