So what is Paganism? Well that's a hard thing to answer. There was never really a religion called Paganism. Before Christians came to power, Pagans had no religion at all. At least not in the way one would think of religion today. They didn't have an organized system of beliefs in which they were asked to commit themselves to. There was no authority structure (except diplomatic). There was no forced commitment to a particular group of people or set of ideas, except maybe to their families. Of course these people didn't call themselves pagans. Pagan is a name invented by the Christians. It was what they called anyone who didn't believe such as them. Other names used were hellene, gentile, and heathen.
Not all pagans are polytheistic. Many do believe in a Supreme deity (however most believe in a class of subordinate gods as well). Those who believe in a supreme deity don't view it as the Christians do. They see it as equal parts male and female and see different times of day or seasons of the year as being more masculine or feminine. For example, the Sun has more masculine energy and the Moon more feminine energy. However we need both to survive.
The most important thing to the Christians was whether or not someone believed in the One True God. Those who did not, whether polytheist, monotheist or atheist, where outsiders to the church, and thus Pagan. The Christian's fear and ignorance led to situations such as the burning times in Europe and witch trials all over the world.
Paganism cannot be referred to as strictly "pre-Christian" however as not all historical traditions were pre-Christian. Wicca, for example, is fairly new. Only coming about in the 1950's. Although when Christianity was first rising to power, they incorporated many pagan traditions and beliefs into their practice to try and ease individuals' transitions. Just about everything we know today has pagan roots. From the days of the week to the months to how we celebrate holidays. The word month actually means "moon cycle." A great example of this is Christmas. This is a holiday celebrated all over the world. It has become extremely commercialized. Now if Christmas was viewed and celebrated as the Christians believed it would be completely different. We wouldn't decorate trees or hang stockings or garland. We wouldn't have huge feasts or Yule logs or even believe in Santa Claus. These are all pagan traditions used to celebrate Yule, or the winter solstice even.
This is only one example however. As this article is about Paganism as a whole I will not go into further detail. Early pagan traditions included Greco-Roman, Celtic, Germanic and Slavic tribes. Paganism is not a thing of the past. There are many "new-age" religions, beliefs and practices still in use today. So I guess the word "Paganism" can be described as any action or belief that is not Christian based. Nothing against Christians. Don't get me wrong. I believe that everyone has the right to believe what they want. No one truly knows what happens after death, if anything at all. So all we can do is go about our day, doing what we do, and believing whatever helps us sleep better at night. Technically all of our ancestors were pagan before Christianity came to power. So maybe try and become one with your pagan roots and take a walk in the woods. Listen to the trees and animals. They may have some important advice for you.
