What is a Pagan?

By the Pagan Pride Project

from http://paganpride.org/who/who.html.  Used with permission, and with thanks. 

What is a Pagan?

The following definition is for the purposes of the Pagan Pride Project. Others may define themselves or their group in different ways, and that's OK. Some groups that fit the categories we list may not call themselves Pagan, and that's ok too - that's why we say that first and foremost the definition of a Pagan is someone who self-identifies as a Pagan. But the following was created in order to have a functional definition to help educate the public about the spiritual paths we cover:

Definition:

A Pagan or NeoPagan is someone who self-identifies as a Pagan, and whose spiritual or religious practice or belief fits into one or more of the following categories:

• • Honoring, revering, or worshipping a Deity or Deities found in pre-Christian, classical, aboriginal, or tribal mythology; and/or

  • Practicing religion or spirituality based upon shamanism, shamanic, or magickal practices; and/or

  • Creating new religion based on past Pagan religions and/or futuristic views of society, community, and/or ecology;

  • Focusing religious or spiritual attention primarily on the Divine Feminine; and/or

  • Practicing religion that focuses on earth based spirituality.