Pagan religions

[RajputMaster24]

Dear Friends, can you give me a list of pagan religions. What are some pagan religions?

 

[buddhist]

Buddhism is often considered a pagan religion to many.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

Dear Friends, can you give me a list of pagan religions. What are some pagan religions?

Any religion that pre-dates Judaism, Christianity, and Islam is considered pagan. Hinduism existed way before Judaism, from what I gather and Buddhism before Christianity. African religions are considered pagan religions.

Other definition of pagan religions are those in Europe. There are popular pagan religions and those are too many to list but then you have religions that are not religions in and of themselves but are considered pagan because they predate modern religions in that area.

In other words, what do you mean by pagan?

 

[vaguelyhumanoid]

Traditional/recon/revivalist:
Celtic polytheism
Heathenry
Hellenism
Kemeticism
Rodnovery (Slavic paganism)
Tengriism

Modern:
Neo-Druidry
Feri
"Goddess movement"
Wicca
arguably Thelema

Unbroken traditional ways:
Candomble
Hinduism
Santeria
Shinto
Vodou
the countless indigenous religions of the Americas which I don't want to lump together as being one path, but are too numerous and often nameless to list

 

[Quintessence]

Oh boy. I don't know that I'd even want to attempt making a list. Because Paganisms are, by the by, not particularly organized, drawing lines of what constitutes "a" Pagan religion is more than a little challenging. One can slice the pie any number of ways. For example, do I call Druidry "a" Pagan religion, in spite of the fact that there are several different Druidic organizations, each with some non-trivial differences? Do we list out every single Wiccan coven as "a" Pagan religion, given each coven is pretty much an autonomous unit? And then, do we call each solitary Wiccan practice "a" Pagan religion, unto itself?

I have to ask - for what purpose do you seek this list?

 

[VioletVortex]

Nordic:

Heathenry (traditional)
Odinism (new movement)
Asatru (new movement)

Germanic:

Heathenry (traditional)
Wotanism (new movemmet)

Celtic:

Druidy (traditional)
Wicca (a new movement that has little to do with actual Druidy)

Hellenic:

Roman Polytheism
Greek Polytheism

Other religions considered Pagan:

Native American polytheism
African animsim
Voodoo
Hinduism (arguably)
Satanism


My list is incomplete, and I don't have much knowledge of non-European Paganism. "Paganism" generally refers to European based religions, whereas other varieties of Paganism are generally called "indigenous religions".

 

[Quintessence]

Celtic:

Druidy (traditional)
Wicca (a new movement that has little to do with actual Druidy)

Not quite - the history of Wicca and Druidry is intertwined considering the lead founders of both knew each other and were inspired by each other. Not something I knew myself until fairly recently, but that's probably neither here nor there with respect to this thread.

 

[VioletVortex]

Not quite - the history of Wicca and Druidry is intertwined considering the lead founders of both knew each other and were inspired by each other. Not something I knew myself until fairly recently, but that's probably neither here nor there with respect to this thread.

Wicca stems from Druidry, but it's sort of a mainstream form of it. (As far as my knowledge goes, I don't know that much about Celtic Paganism.)

 

[Quintessence]

Wicca stems from Druidry, but it's sort of a mainstream form of it. (As far as my knowledge goes, I don't know that much about Celtic Paganism.)

I don't know if we want to go into a history lesson of the movements; there are a few good works out there that cover that anyway. Having studied a fair bit of it, Druidry isn't precisely "Celtic Paganism." It depends on which Druidry one is talking about; from the perspective of groups like OBOD, Druidry need not be explicitly Pagan at all, though tends to have a Celtic bent to it. Then groups like ADF are broadly Indo-European. And the fraternal Druidry that predates all the contemporary Pagan forms of Druidry was... well... basically Christian. It's complicated. Messier than Wicca's history, that's for sure... heh.

Those layers of complexity is part of why I get baffled by the question. I mean, do I just say Druidry, or do I mention all the different traditions? Where do you draw lines? I've become less and less of a drawing lines sort of person as I've ripened.

 

[The Emperor of Mankind]

Wotanism (new movemmet)

Just to be clear, Wotanism is a synonym for the racist, white supermacist, cultural purist elements of Heathenry; WOTAN is an acronym for 'Will of the Aryan Nation'. That's how you can tell it apart from the likes of Odinism.

 

[The Emperor of Mankind]

Any religion that pre-dates Judaism, Christianity, and Islam is considered pagan. Hinduism existed way before Judaism, from what I gather and Buddhism before Christianity. African religions are considered pagan religions.

Other definition of pagan religions are those in Europe. There are popular pagan religions and those are too many to list but then you have religions that are not religions in and of themselves but are considered pagan because they predate modern religions in that area.

In other words, what do you mean by pagan?

I suspect it matters less to Pagans how their religion is defined in relation to other faiths compared to how it's defined through what it is. Generally speaking, Pagan religions are nature-centric, they're grounded in the here-and-now and tend to view gods, spirits or other divinities as immanent and a part of the natural world.

Buddhism is often considered a pagan religion to many.

I don't believe Buddhism is a Pagan religion because it's not nature-oriented and is basically just as escapist as the likes of Christianity & Islam.

 

[buddhist]

I don't believe Buddhism is a Pagan religion because it's not nature-oriented and is basically just as escapist as the likes of Christianity & Islam.

I think you might be surprised ... I find Buddhism to be very nature-oriented, probably the most nature-oriented of all of the major world religions. I wouldn't call it escapist either, but realist.

 

[VioletVortex]

Just to be clear, Wotanism is a synonym for the racist, white supermacist, cultural purist elements of Heathenry; WOTAN is an acronym for 'Will of the Aryan Nation'. That's how you can tell it apart from the likes of Odinism.

Wotan is the German word for Odin... National Socialists prefer to call themselves Wotanists as they see it as the root of Germanic and Norse Paganism. I don't like the term as I don't like it's Nazi connotations.

Wotan was turned into an acronym by some Nazi group. The religion was founded by National Socialists, so they took Wotan and attached that meaning to it. Wotan is still the original German name of Odin.

 

[The Emperor of Mankind]

Wotan is the German word for Odin... National Socialists prefer to call themselves Wotanists as they see it as the root of Germanic and Norse Paganism. I don't like the term as I don't like it's Nazi connotations.

Wotan was turned into an acronym by some Nazi group. The religion was founded by National Socialists, so they took Wotan and attached that meaning to it. Wotan is still the original German name of Odin.

Yeah but say 'Wotanism' these days and I suspect you'll immediately have to follow up with 'not the folkish variety'.

 

[GoodbyeDave]

The term paganus in Latin meant first "a countryman", then "a civilian", and then "a layman, someone not of our group". The Christians adopted it to mean a non-Christian: in other words, some-one worshiping the gods of Greece, Egypt, the Celts, etc. So we use it for any similar religion today, such as the indigenous religions of Africa, China, Japan, etc. Then we have restored paganism, like the modern worship of the gods of Greece or the Germanic peoples, which had been stamped out by Christian and Muslim persecution.

It doesn't really make sense to talk of pagan religions, since they are not separate in the way that Islam and Christianity are. A Muslim can't worship in a church, nor a Christian in a mosque, but I could worship with Chinese, Japanese, or Africans. The fact that I worship my gods, doesn't mean that I can't worship theirs.

In the USA, "pagan" usually means what scholars would call "neopaganism": modern religions which try to recapture the spirit of ancient European paganism (sometimes without knowing much about it), like Wicca and Druidry. Since all other pagans are polytheist and some Wiccans aren't even theist at all, they can be regarded as pagans by courtesy.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

The term paganus in Latin meant first "a countryman", then "a civilian", and then "a layman, someone not of our group". The Christians adopted it to mean a non-Christian: in other words, some-one worshiping the gods of Greece, Egypt, the Celts, etc. So we use it for any similar religion today, such as the indigenous religions of Africa, China, Japan, etc. Then we have restored paganism, like the modern worship of the gods of Greece or the Germanic peoples, which had been stamped out by Christian and Muslim persecution.

It doesn't really make sense to talk of pagan religions, since they are not separate in the way that Islam and Christianity are. A Muslim can't worship in a church, nor a Christian in a mosque, but I could worship with Chinese, Japanese, or Africans. The fact that I worship my gods, doesn't mean that I can't worship theirs.

In the USA, "pagan" usually means what scholars would call "neopaganism": modern religions which try to recapture the spirit of ancient European paganism (sometimes without knowing much about it), like Wicca and Druidry. Since all other pagans are polytheist and some Wiccans aren't even theist at all, they can be regarded as pagans by courtesy.

Good post. I'm glad to read there is indigenous in there as well. Paganism has a plethora of different paths (for lack of better words). Most pagan "religions" I've come across don't refer to themselves as pagans but by the culture and nationality they are from. Could it be just a U.S. thing to refer to oneself as pagan or do some cultures use the word while others do not?

 

[Unveiled Artist]

I don't believe Buddhism is a Pagan religion because it's not nature-oriented and is basically just as escapist as the likes of Christianity & Islam.

I was reading this again. I agree with the first part. Actually, it depends on the school of Buddhism. Ten Tai believes that even plants and animals have a Buddha nature. While Therevada doesn't have it at all. I think it's individual preference to incorporate nature reverence in Buddhist practice. It's not a contradiction as long as it doesn't become an attachment distracting oneself from liberation of the mind.

 

[GoodbyeDave]

Most pagan "religions" I've come across don't refer to themselves as pagans but by the culture and nationality they are from. Could it be just a U.S. thing to refer to oneself as pagan or do some cultures use the word while others do not?

Truly pagan countries don't have a specific word for religion, simply because they don't have multiple religions. Latin, Ancient Greek, Chinese all lack such a word: the Chinese for "What is your religion?" is something like "What do you worship?" It's a similar thing that they don't have a name for that worship: "Hinduism" is an English word based on the Persian word "Hindi", which just means an Indian!

Because of Christian prejudice, the term "pagan" became derogatory and had to be reclaimed in the last century. Even today, English-speaking Africans may be reluctant to refer to themselves a pagans. The non-derogatory use certainly exists in modern French, as well as in English.

 

[Quintessence]

Most pagan "religions" I've come across don't refer to themselves as pagans but by the culture and nationality they are from. Could it be just a U.S. thing to refer to oneself as pagan or do some cultures use the word while others do not?

Well, what we mean by "Pagan" with respect to this DIR tends to refer specifically to a Western, new religious movement aimed at reviving and reconstructing aspects of historical Western Paganisms. We started applying the term that way, thus it's not too surprising when other religious movements don't use that vocabulary. Extending the usage of the term "Paganisms" outside of the newer religious movement is... well, it's doable, but it makes the term even more problematically imprecise. But considering how imprecise it already is... eh... six of one, half dozen of other.

 

[Aupmanyav]

I wouldn't call it escapist either, but realist.

Yes, Buddhism is in no way escapist. It asks one to meet his/her problems head-on.