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What Does It Mean To Be A Pagan?
- Thread starter Rival
- Start date
To be perfectly honest, I do not find the term to be particularly useful and tend to view it with disdain
Given this is what 90% of Pagans prefer to call themselves, I see little issue.
Have you any comment on the nature of these traditions or how you view them?
OK.
No, simply because I have no idea to which traditions you're referring.
Were I to rely on Wikipedia, I would learn:
During and after the Middle Ages, the term paganism was applied to any non-Christian religion, and the term presumed a belief in false gods. The origin of the application of the term "pagan" to polytheism is debated. In the 19th century, paganism was adopted as a self-descriptor by members of various artistic groups inspired by the ancient world. In the 20th century, it came to be applied as a self-descriptor by practitioners of modern paganism, modern pagan movements and Polytheistic reconstructionists. Modern pagan traditions often incorporate beliefs or practices, such as nature worship, that are different from those of the largest world religions.
Contemporary knowledge of old pagan religions and beliefs comes from several sources, including anthropological field research records, the evidence of archaeological artifacts, and the historical accounts of ancient writers regarding cultures known to Classical antiquity. Most modern pagan religions existing today express a worldview that is pantheistic, panentheistic, polytheistic, or animistic, but some are monotheistic.
If you tell me that you're a pagan, I'll take you at your word, but I'll know absolutely nothing about you save for the fact that you're neither an atheist or agnostic.
I should also confess that I'll probably view your choice of label as, in part, an affectation -- an attempt to communicate "I'm different and cool." I recognize that this may well be an uninformed presumption.
I'm sorry you think this way, but that's not how it's seen nowadays. Many Pagans are old enough to have grown up with it and see it as a meaningful religious label. As a 28 year old, I'm long outgrown the 'cool' phase. I can find no other label and as I'm on a forum I need a label so people know how to communicate with me based on my religious beliefs on a religious forum. I follow a mainly Celtic spiritual path, being British, and know of no other, 'proper' name for such. Some people like 'Druid' but I am such a novice as to make that label hubristic. 'Celtic spiritual tradition' sounds too up its own arse to me.
And yet you chose the word Hæþen, replete with ash and thorn. Whatever ...
Seriously?
I study Old and Middle English and you think I'm trying to be cool? I have translated Middle English poetry for my ex-boyfriend and it took hours of study. So thanks.
I'm spelling the word correctly.
Wow.
I'm sorry but that was a heck of a misjudgement on your part, not to mention a disturbing take on the English language, its history and etymology.
Believe it or not, many Pagans do take a delight in their heritage, including language, culture, imagery, texts and Gods. Who are you to tell us we're being silly and trying to act 'cool'? Some of us have spent years of our lives trying to get in touch with ancient practices that were destroyed. So thanks for taking another swipe at us.
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I know. I was actually complementing your sense of style. The point was that you lament that you "can find no other label" despite having found and cleverly communicated another label.
@Rival, I attempted to honestly address the OP. Take offense if you wish.
I find pagan and polytheist are used very interchangeably in the modern day. I might actually agree with Jay (did I really just type that) that the term pagan isn't super useful. This doesn't mean I have a problem with the term, but if someone tells me they are pagan I'm simply going to think they are a polytheist and not gain much info from the term. I don't see it with disdain like Jay seems to though.
In relation to the "cool" phase - this unfortunate stereotype of folks interested in contemporary Paganism is so pervasive it was actually studied by academia to see if there was actually any merit to it. Berger's work (for those not in the know, Berger is kind of THE scholar studying demographic trends in Paganism) focused on teenagers in particular because they are the most stereotyped for coming to Paganism or Witchcraft as a "fad." I remember when reading it I expected there to be at least some truth to the "cool" and "fad" notion, but... there really wasn't. Turned out that these teens were actually quite serious about investigating religious and spiritual matters and taking their endeavor seriously. I probably shouldn't have been as surprised as I was, considering how my own path within contemporary Paganism went when I was only a bit older than the teenage stage, but still. This scholar's work was based on samples of a few decades ago, so it's hard to say if their findings would still hold true in the present era of twitch tok and instablam.
The book, for anyone who wants to look into it directly: Teenage Witches: Magical Youth and the Search for Self. By Helen A. Berger and Douglas Ezzy
The book, for anyone who wants to look into it directly: Teenage Witches: Magical Youth and the Search for Self. By Helen A. Berger and Douglas Ezzy
Fair enough.
The term has been taken back by the people for whom it was used as a term of offence by Christians. Modern people have done the same with the word 'queer' in my lifetime. Pagan is certainly a broad term and I agree too vague to be meaningful at times, but I would submit that culturally it still has muster and is used by a large enough group of people who are comfortable with the vagueness of it for the vagueness itself to actually... have become meaningful? Because the traditions are so diverse but we prefer to see ourselves as a group rather than tribally separated, it can be useful. 'Christian' is useful despite there being multiple, vastly different kinds.
May I ask why you choose to label yourself as "heathen" rather than "pagan"?
I prefer the English word to the Latin word, because Old and Middle English are the language I study, plus being an English speaker it comes more natively to me. Pagan has wider currency, though.
To add, one of the big things I did when I learned of the existence of contemporary Paganism was dive hard in to research mode, and that included examining much of the academic scholarship on the movement (that's how I came across the book mentioned earlier). So my understanding of what contemporary Paganism is was shaped mostly by reading these sorts of anthropological studies, though I was also certainly referencing products created directly by contemporary Pagans themselves. Studying the academic literature was helpful because it shed light on the historical origins of the movement and I think that helps define what it is better than some other approaches.
For example, it's observed that contemporary Paganism was countercultural as it sprung up alongside feminism, environmentalism, and the spiritual-but-not-religious countercultures of the time. You can see the influence of the environmental movement in the nature-centered orientation of much of contemporary Paganism - the worship of nature itself. You can see the influence of feminism in the female-affirming and goddess-worshiping components of contemporary Paganism. You can see the influence of spiritual-but-not-religious in the disdain Paganism tends to have for organization and dogmatism, as well as the adoption of various spiritual practices ranging fro divination to meditation. Some other influences on the development of contemporary Paganism include the rise in awareness of Eastern religions around that same time too, bringing in ideas like reincarnation, karma, chakras, and yoga. Also, it perhaps goes without saying that the most significant foundation of contemporary Paganism is historical Paganisms - indigenous polytheist religions that predated the rise of Abrahamic monotheisms. But the roots of that go back to the very rise of anthropology as a field of study, where nascent modern Paganism was gestating into an egg, so to speak.
Sorry... there's a lot when you look at the historical roots so each of those bits could be discussed at length in several pages (and has been in the Pagan studies scholarship). The point is it helps "get" what contemporary Paganism is.
For example, it's observed that contemporary Paganism was countercultural as it sprung up alongside feminism, environmentalism, and the spiritual-but-not-religious countercultures of the time. You can see the influence of the environmental movement in the nature-centered orientation of much of contemporary Paganism - the worship of nature itself. You can see the influence of feminism in the female-affirming and goddess-worshiping components of contemporary Paganism. You can see the influence of spiritual-but-not-religious in the disdain Paganism tends to have for organization and dogmatism, as well as the adoption of various spiritual practices ranging fro divination to meditation. Some other influences on the development of contemporary Paganism include the rise in awareness of Eastern religions around that same time too, bringing in ideas like reincarnation, karma, chakras, and yoga. Also, it perhaps goes without saying that the most significant foundation of contemporary Paganism is historical Paganisms - indigenous polytheist religions that predated the rise of Abrahamic monotheisms. But the roots of that go back to the very rise of anthropology as a field of study, where nascent modern Paganism was gestating into an egg, so to speak.
Sorry... there's a lot when you look at the historical roots so each of those bits could be discussed at length in several pages (and has been in the Pagan studies scholarship). The point is it helps "get" what contemporary Paganism is.
I would appreciate a thread where you wrote those pages.
Viker
Your beloved eccentric Auntie Cristal
Middle English: from Latin paganus ‘villager, rustic’, from pagus ‘country district’. Latin paganus also meant ‘civilian’, becoming, in Christian Latin, ‘heathen’ (i.e. one not enrolled in the army of Christ).
Pagan and heathen are nearly synonymous. I consider myself both, or at least heathen. It fits, I enjoy the rich heritage and it just makes sense to me. I've taken from my environment and experiences what I need in order to convey to others about myself and to further enrich my life.
In the modern sense I am a polytheist and autotheist. Meaning I see myself in the gods of yore and I see them still functioning in the world around me. I truly wish to join them. I choose not to give them proper names. This keeps me from appropriating away from other legitimate neopagan groups that may not wish to associate with my darker inclinations . If I hadn't been brought up Christian (fundamentalist, Baptist/Evangelical) I would likely not sympathize with darker cultural undertones. One should be able to see it's impact on my life. I see all of it as a natural progression.
So I am pagan, definitely heathen and diabolist. Not all pagans/heathens choose or even agree at all with that last label I attach to myself. I can't seem to find anything else to describe me other than a nearly bland and vague (dark) polytheist. But that label could work, too.
Pagan and heathen are nearly synonymous. I consider myself both, or at least heathen. It fits, I enjoy the rich heritage and it just makes sense to me. I've taken from my environment and experiences what I need in order to convey to others about myself and to further enrich my life.
In the modern sense I am a polytheist and autotheist. Meaning I see myself in the gods of yore and I see them still functioning in the world around me. I truly wish to join them. I choose not to give them proper names. This keeps me from appropriating away from other legitimate neopagan groups that may not wish to associate with my darker inclinations . If I hadn't been brought up Christian (fundamentalist, Baptist/Evangelical) I would likely not sympathize with darker cultural undertones. One should be able to see it's impact on my life. I see all of it as a natural progression.
So I am pagan, definitely heathen and diabolist. Not all pagans/heathens choose or even agree at all with that last label I attach to myself. I can't seem to find anything else to describe me other than a nearly bland and vague (dark) polytheist. But that label could work, too.
It's a broad term. The only common grounds I can think of is polytheism. I'd love to say it's associated with the practice of magic, or gods of ancient cultures, but those aren't always the case either. I don't see "Paganism" as a religion, where one specific principle could define it (like Christianity could be said to be one who believes in Jesus Christ), it's too ambiguous of a label to consider it that. I've even seen some self proclaimed "monotheistic pagans" on this forum.
It depends on whether you are using the term as a proper noun (capital P) or a common noun. I make a hard distinction between them.
For example, I and many others would consider me a pagan, but I’m not a Pagan.
All Pagans are pagan, but not all pagans are Pagan.
Capital P, this time.