About History Bookazine History of Paganism 4th Edition Back Issue

What's the difference between ‘pagan’ and ‘Pagan’? We use the first to describe the historical followers of ancient polytheistic and pantheistic religions, the pre-Christian Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, Celts and Norse and Anglo-Saxons. They and their religions existed, in some cases, centuries before the term came into use. It was meant to be an insult, a put-down, used deliberately to infer that those who practiced such faiths were old-fashioned and out of the regular flow of society. Then, in the 20th century, the term was reborn. Today’s Pagans have reappropriated it for their own use, to describe their practise of a collection of contemporary faiths rooted in those of yesteryear. This bookazine explores both, looking at the historical faiths of our ancestors and at how they have been revived today. It’s important to note that these pages focus on the European and Old World faiths that had a key influence on each other and on modern-day Paganism. Many poly- and pantheistic faiths from around the world, in particular those practised by peoples who were invaded and marginalised during the colonial era, were incorrectly classified as ‘pagan’ during the 18th and 19th centuries, resulting in decades of cultural appropriation of their sacred rites and symbols. Today, many indigenous communities around the world understandably don’t want their unique religions lumped in with other, unrelated ones beneath an umbrella term that’s far too large. For that reason, we’ll concentrate solely on the modern-day Paganism of the West, and the faiths from our shared historical heritage that inform and inspire many of its traditions.