What is paganism? My boyfriend said he is pagan?

[Anonymous]

What is paganism? My boyfriend said he is pagan? Is that something like satanism?

[journeyman1126]

I think it depends, on where you're asking about. Pagans used to be strictly the Roman and Greek believers in all of their gods. Neopagans, the most commonly thought of when we think pagan, are generally non Christians, that are typically polytheists and closely connected to the earth.

Native Americans believe(d) in various flavors of paganism. When Christianity spread west, many were "converted" and later "encouraged" through schools to learn the White Man's ways - usually strongly "encouraged" to no longer speak their native tongue. The One True God is jealous, and I guess he tells his followers to ensure He's the only game in town, as often as possible. But that's beside the point.

Spirits in the form of the animals - coyotes, foxes, bears, buffalo, and in some places the trees, fish, and rock were and are still a part of the spirit world of many tribes.

Druids in the UK were deeply connected to the Earth and many of our customs, including Christmas, comes from them. It used to be the Winter Solstice celebration. Maypole dances come from them.

The Norse gods and the Greek gods are pagan, because many of them control the physical world. Zeus and Thor share thunder, for example.

Here's a few links:

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[thtdiablo]

"Pagan" can mean a lot and the fact that he did not specify shows quite clearly that he actually doesn't know much about it... I think he just tries to be "cool", so you might as well let him know that you don't think it's cool and he'll come back from his little trip to awesomeness...

[Asker]

btw he is greek, just wanted to know if its something only for greeks... ? :S

[thtdiablo]

Ah sorry, I did not specify what paganism is :/ It's worshipping the old gods like Zeus, Hermes, etc. for the Greeks, Wotan/Odin, Thor/Donar for the Norse/Germanic tribes or Baal for the old Persian tribes. Animism like what the American natives had before is also considered pagan.

[zombiefood]

link

All about paganism.

[NotSoGrimReaper]

Pagan is an umbrella term for old polytheistic religions. For instance I am pagan I worship Odin and all of the Norse gods and goddesses. However if there was one pagan religion that worries me it is the Greek one simply for the stories of what the gods do to the mortals they interact with.

[TsubasaCorrupted]

Paganism is nothing like satanism. Paganism is a blanket term for religions that are not Abrahamic, like Jewish, Muslim or Christian. You have Roman pagans, Celtic, belgic, pictish, Germanic etc.

[Anonymous]

Basically he believes in more than one god