Paganism

Overview
Some of those in ancient times, who are called Pagans today, believed there was not just one god but a number of gods and goddesses.  The stories from Greek mythology are famous examples from a pagan religion. Pagans usually focus on spirituality and nature, rather than on doctrines and dogma. Not all pagans are polytheists (belief in more than one god). Some of them are monotheists (belief in only one god).

Name
The word pagan (with a lowercase p) is often used to describe anyone who holds religious beliefs that differ from the main world religions. A similar term is heathen.

Today
Nowadays, Pagan (with an uppercase P) often refers to people who follow Neo-Pagan religions that honour the Earth. The best known Neo-Pagan religion is Wicca. Another well-known neo-pagan faith is Druidism, but there are many other Neo-Pagan religions with different beliefs.

Examples
 Wicca
 Asatru
 Tenrikyo
 Druidism
 Tengrism
 Kemetism
 Greek religion
 Baltic paganism
 Dodekatheism
 Slavic paganism
 Finnish paganism
 Germanic paganism
 Ancient Meitei paganism
 Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism

Surviving religions of earlier cultures
Enough has survived of the ancient religions of cultures from pre-modern Africa, South America, New Guinea and Japan to give us quite a clear picture. Since African slaves were taken to both South America and the United States, it is no surprise that their beliefs and practices still survive. Not, of course, as the main religion, but they do survive. Murphy, Joseph M. 1988. Santería: an African religion in America. Boston: Beacon Press. ISBN 0-394-72369-4
 Thomson, Robert Farris 1983. Flash of the spirit: African & Afro-American art & philosophy. New York: Random House/Vintage. ISBN 0-394-72369-4
 Mason, Michael Atwood 2002. Living santería: rituals and experiences in a Afro-Cuban religion.. Washington: Smithsonian Institution. ISBN 1-58834-077-5
 Canizares, Raul 1993. Walking with the night: the Afro-Cuban world of santería. Rochester VT: Destiny. ISBN 0-89281-366-0
 Gonzáles-Whippler, Migene 1982. The santería experience. NY: Original Publications. ISBN 0-942272-15-3 Gleeson, Judith 1992. Oya: in praise of an African goddess. New YorK: HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-250461-4
 Cabrera, Lydia 1954. El Monte. Havana, Cuba. ISBN 959-705409-4 (Source book, in Spanish: various reprints exist)
 Cabrera, Lydia 1959. La sociedad secreta Abakua: narrada por viejos adeptos. (Source book, in Spanish: various reprints exist).
 Feraudy Espino, Heriberto 1993. Yoruba: un acercamiento a nuestras raices. 1993. La Habana: Editora Politica. ISBN 959-01-0040-6
 Métraux, Alfred 1959. Voodoo in Haiti. New York: Schoken.

In a similar way, but much less well documented, are the ancient religions of other groups such as the Ainu in Japan, the tribes in New Guinea, the many tribes in Amazonia, and the fractured remnants of traditional religions in African countries.Huet, Michael 1994. Africa dances. Text by Claude Savary. London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-54195-7

Characteristics
All these groups have one thing in common: they are not part of farming revolution which happened in the Middle East, and which spread quickly to Eurasia. The religions which started there are called the religions of the book because their original beliefs were written down. Of course, writing was one of the original inventions of a settled people, one able to invest time and energy into activities which would be far more difficult for more traditional peoples.

Related pages
 Taoism
 Sikhism
 Buddhism
 Christianity
 Agnosticism
 Abrahamic religions

Other websites

 Usenet newsgroup for Pagans
 The Witches Voice, a networking and education site

References


Category:Religion