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More often than not nature is trying to kill you. I think the original nature reverence was fear not awe. The ancients considered civilisation and being out of the state of nature their greatest achievement. They wanted to control nature, not have it control them.
I don't agree with the characterization here - doesn't have to be an either-or and the gods not revolving around human wants and needs doesn't mean they're actively trying to kill humans either (I don't find this to be the case). The lack of domestication of our ancestors made them much more salient of their dependency on powers greater than themselves. This evokes humility and a sense of subservience, awe and a sense of smallness, fear and a sense of dependency... lots of things. If nothing else, Paganisms acknowledge the complexity of relationships between humanity and the greater powers upon which it depends for its existence and that spans the whole spectrum of human emotions. Those powers can include the machinations of civilization, which becomes yet another higher power humans depend on. Gods being connected to things like agriculture, law, patrons of specific cities, and so on seems to reflect that.
Dang I love this. An awesome take, can't believe I hadn't realized it before.
For me, and I do not profess to speak for anyone else but me, Pagan simply means "Not of the Big Three"
Interestingly Jews make up a small portion of the world's religious. There are more Buddhists and other Dharmics.
Yes, interesting on the verge of laughable when one considers that Pew puts Judaism at roughly 0.2% of the religious world.
Control nature? Hardly. Mostly the ancients wanted to appease the gods who they presumed controlled nature.
Yes, but from a certain perspective these two may one and the same
It's basically an umbrella term for the revival of various indigenous religions (not only European), and various new religious movements allegedly based on historical practices (like Wicca). In a broader sense of the term, it's every traditional religion outside of the Abrahamic religions. One can be a monotheist of sorts as a Pagan, but the line is crossed when one denies that other Gods and Spirits exist that may be worshipped.
I have the opposite viewpoint. I think civilization was a mistake, especially mass society as we have now. It's alienating and we've forgotten that we're part of nature, in a great chain of life. I have a very world-affirming viewpoint. I reject asceticism and Gnostic dualism, whereas I used to agree with those things.
What's interesting about this is that which theologies are included in Paganism is somewhat muddied and controversial. Most of the scholarly stuff I poked around in back in the day more or less insisted upon polytheism as a requirement for Paganism and excluded both monotheism and non-theism from its auspices. Part of this was to help Paganism have a more coherent delineation and to respect the movement's roots as a counterculture inspired by polytheisms of antiquity, so I understand where these scholars were coming from on this. However, in practice Pagan theology is as fluid as it is in Hinduism, where what you believe about the divine is less important than other features.
To me it means a person who doesn't believe in Bible God and is not loyal to Bible God.
This would be a definition of 'pagan' with a lower case 'p.'
As I said back in post #19, I make a distinction between 'Pagan' with a capital 'P' and 'pagan' with a lower case 'p.'
What does it mean to culturally still have muster? And is this "too vague" attribute "meaningful at times" or simply convenient (if not necessary)? With apologies in advance, what you describe sounds very much like the New Age counterculture of the sixties weaned on D&D and Harry Potter.
On the ground, 'Pagan' still has a meaning to people. It evokes idea of nature worship, multiple Gods and a rejection of Christianity. Shamanism and Wicca are two of the fastest growing religions in my country, so I think it's fair to say that at this point most people have been exposed to it since at least the 60s and possibly further back. So culturally it has muster, it means something.
It's necessarily vague as Paganism can be a vague concept. It's a good generalised term to broadly fit people who are not Abrahamic and who follow, generally, ancient and reconstructed religious paths. I think this thread can demonstrate that meaning holds some sway. Terms like 'Druid' and 'Kemetic' can be more nuanced. But some Pagans don't want nuance and prefer the eclectic and syncretistic nature of many paths, for which the vague, non-nuanced 'Pagan' works quite well if they want to repudiate specific paths because they follow many.
It would depend on which Pagan paths you are interested in. If you wanted primary texts I'd advise various Egyptian 'Books of the Dead', or the Eddas, for example. I wouldn't really be recommending books though (I know this isn't the answer you're looking for), because most if not all of these paths were not book based and were and are based on praxis. In that vein if you asked seriously I'd be much more likely to recommend systems of divination, such as runestones or oracle cards, sticks or some other method. The cards are good because they explain a lot about individual aspects of the faith, Gods, trees, animals, rites, etc. I'd say I've learned more from the cards than from books. I'd recommend trying to communicate through prayer, creating an altar, making offerings and so on. I found that when I became a Pagan years ago, I tried books but found myself gravitating away from them in favour of ritual. As @Quintessence has pointed out, what's in people's heads is not so much a bother, but what they do.
Yes, this has a huge hand in it. Pagans tend to be very active on such issues, especially as a rejection of Christianity etc. I'm surprised few have raised this. I'm much more conservative, but this ought to be mentioned. Pagan culture exists and it is pretty strong. I just think it's invisible or kooky to many people who can't take it seriously for some reason.