Intro to Pagans and paganism

Hi folks,

This is my first blog.this is a good way to convey what you think about a topic, you can spread the knowlege.
well, lets get down to business...

Some of my friend have asked me to explain about wiccan religion, we will discuss it very soon,but
today's post is about pagans and paganism.

Definition:
It is believed that the word pagan had its origin from the latin word "paganus".
there can be different meaning for the word,
1. The word can refer to anyone who does not belong to main stream religion like christianity,islam,jews.
2. It can also mean a person who is rustic, country bumpkin,
3. It can also mean a satan worshipper
4. It can also mean a wiccan or witch.

Paganism is the oldest religion of the world or to say any religion older than christianity and jewism is paganism.So by this definition, wicca, buddhism, hinduism, shamanism, jainism,etc.. comes under paganism.

Pagans generally worship the goddess, they believe that goddess and god had a union to create this world.They dont have any specific bible to follow but they have to select their own path carefully.

Old paganic religions believed that sex is one way to come close to the creator, the climax they thought was the time people are closest to the supreme power(goddess),this was the one reason why christianity found it hard to accept and the paganism was doomed.there was a point in "da vinci code" authored by dan brown, that there used to be pagan temple, where priestess used to have union with devotees of the temple through some ritual.

Lets get to the main aspect of paganism...
Pagans believe that everything has spirit, and the four elements make up a living creature, these elements are fire, air, water, earth. There is a peculiarity about these elements, they also find their position in astrology, now this can't be coincident they surely have some deeper meaning.
pagans gave every natural force a diety to control it, and worshipped, these dieties to please these natural forces and thought that this would help them escape the fiery of the natural forces.
Gods played an important role in the day today life of a pagan, they used to perform lot of ritual to please these gods. However as the civilizations grew, gods changed position, some gods were thrown and new gods came into being, a good example would be overthrowing of the titans by zeus....also in hinduism, indra and other nature gods had greater power but lost it when the lord vishnu and lord shiva grew in power and the gods were positioned to suit the culture at that time without losing the trust of the vaishnavas and nayanmars.

Lets bust the myth:

1. Are pagans satan worshippers?
No actually, pagans are not satan worshippers, but the advent of other religions in the verge overthrow paganism, projected there gods to be satan, and them to be satan worshippers.

2. Is sex the central theme of paganism?
Yes and no, paganism's core is nature, earth, and fertility(you may say this is sex orientation, but its not, according to them lovemaking is good if u really love the person.

3. Do pagans do magic?
Most pagans are involved in some kind of magic.

4. Do they cast spell?
They do cast spell, but there are limitations to them they cannot help anyone without their concern, they cannot harm anything on the earth or heaven, the spells should not be selfish.(these are theories.....;-))

5. Can i become a pagan?
Yes anyone can become a pagan, but they should do some ground work to get into it.
the religion requires mental purity, integrity in thought, action and words and many more.however paganism is almost extinct, now we have neopaganism with the same central theme but with relaxation of many rules.

6. Can an atheist be a pagan?
Yes some atheist embrace themself with paganism, they dont have any god but they help others, help nature and follow the main theme of paganism omitting the god from it.


If u find anything wrong in this blog, you are welcome to correct, i believe in learning through mistakes.I am sorry if i hurt any religious feelings, but it was surely UNINTENTIONAL.

take care
blessed be.....