What is a Pagan? Christian Magic/Witchcraft Religion Islamic Judaism Dying and reborn God Magic/Witchcraft Pagan cultural influences Religion Islamic Judaism Allah “no other Gods” Historical (paleo) Pagans European Indigenous/Slavic Middle Eastern Indian Eastern Polytheistic Shamanism Polytheistic/tribal Hindu Taoism Mystical/Rationalist Zoroastrian Buddhism Buddhism Monotheistic Shinto State-based/cultic Christianity Early Christian Gnostic Christianity Mystical Judaism (Cabbala) Greek, Roman, Egyptian Magical Traditions Folk Traditions Middle Ages European Occult Traditions Renaissance/Reformation Formal/High/Ritual/Demonic Cunning/Folk/Witch 1700s Secret Societies Masons Surviving Folk Traditions Traditionalist practices (non-Gardnarian) Spiritualism Romanticism CAW/Green Egg/Otter Zell 1800s Golden Dawn Rosicrucian Theosophy Naturalist movement Z Budapest/Starhawk/Adler 1900s Aleister Crowley Gerald Gardner Doreen Valiente Druid reconstructionist ©2007 ED McGrady

Ways to define “Pagan” Nature worship (worship of the immanent divine) and humanism Paganism includes: A number of both male and female Gods Magical practice Ritual efficacy (i.e. stuff works) Corprospirituality (divine spark) The Gods and humans as co-dependent and related The immanent divine, as opposed to a transcendent divine Veneration of nature, or even veneration as a behavior itself

Etymologies Pagan: “villager, rustic: civilian non-militant” vs. “soldier, one in the army” - Tertullian coined the term in 202 in De Corona Militis (Militis = “enrolled soldiers” of Christ) A “rural rustic” with left over old religious habits has largely been discredited as Pagan religion was still the law when the word was coined Witch: (wicca, wytch) derived from (OE) wiccan -> weg? (awake) Proposals that it derives from “wita” (OE wise) are not terribly strong Witch: (wic, wice, wyc) - Teutonic wik (IE wei) - to bend Not very clear how it was actually applied, often referred to as “wise” Heathen: Perhaps the correct term, meaning “not one of the book religions” but has a pejorative connotation

Exercise - Spiritual Journey Take a piece of blank paper Draw a line on it Put a mark at the beginning of the line Put a mark at the end With the end representing death, and the beginning representing birth, put a mark where you think you are now Now put marks at the following points: Where you first thought of yourself as religious Where you first thought of yourself as a spiritual being Where you first began to question or doubt what you had been told about religion Where you first found out about magic and the “occult” Where you thought about earth-centered religions Now think about some new milestones, and mark those down What would you want to experience? When? What do you want to change? When? What do you want to do? When? Now answer the following questions: What are the key questions, events, or beliefs that led me to where I am? What am I interested in exploring now? What am I doing here in this class? How does it advance my goals? What do I expect to become in the end?