pagan actually means "country folk" and refers to all "old" earth based religions. not to be confused with wicca, that really pisses pagans off.
Paganism is the ancestral religion of the whole of humanity. It remains active throughout much of the world today, both in complex civilisations such as Japan and India, and in less complex tribal societies world-wide. It was the outlook of the European religions of classical antiquity - Persia, Egypt, Greece and Rome - as well as of their "barbarian" neighbours on the northern fringes.
The Pagan outlook can be seen as threefold. Its adherents venerate Nature and worship many deities, both goddesses and gods
One of the main precepts of paganism is acceptance of other faiths. However,it lacks for the most part a "turn the other cheek" philosophy. This willingness to enter into debate and to defend ones beliefs is often not appreciated by those who adhere to other religious faiths.This freqently results in a degree of irritation.Eventually most pagans get used to the flip comments and ignore them, but occasionally can lead to comments like those listed below.
you know what pagans used to do to christians? well, I'm a traditionalist...
do YOU know what CHRISTIANS used to do to pagans? well, I'm a realist - gloomy
hahaha, aye, ever since "the wicker man" the flame of vengance has been burning brightly.. but no, seriously, it's lovely of you to quote yet another incidence of genocide which organised religious faith has been responsible for.But I do feel the need to point out that known evidence suggests that at some point in distant history there was an outbreak of religious lunacy in the U.K, but the christians were'nt just burning pagans, they seem to have been merrily burning each other as well. (tori)