Paganism

Paganism (from Latin pāgānus 'rural, rustic', later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism,[1] or ethnic religions other than Judaism.

In the time of the Roman Empire, individuals fell into the pagan class either because they were increasingly rural and provincial relative to the Christian population, or because they were not milites Christi (soldiers of Christ).

[9][10] Contemporary knowledge of old pagan religions and beliefs comes from several sources, including anthropological field research records, the evidence of archaeological artifacts, and the historical accounts of ancient writers regarding cultures known to Classical antiquity.

Itself deriving from classical Latin pagus which originally meant 'region delimited by markers', paganus had also come to mean 'of or relating to the countryside', 'country dweller', 'villager'; by extension, 'rustic', 'unlearned', 'yokel', 'bumpkin'; in Roman military jargon, 'non-combatant', 'civilian', 'unskilled soldier'.

[24] In addition to infidel and heretic, it was used as one of several pejorative Christian counterparts to goy (גוי / נכרי) as used in Judaism, and to kafir (كافر, 'unbeliever') and mushrik (مشرك, 'idolater') as in Islam.

The influential Archbishop of Constantinople Gregory of Nazianzus, for example, took offence at imperial efforts to suppress Hellenic culture (especially concerning spoken and written Greek) and he openly criticized the emperor.

[36] Owing to the history of its nomenclature, paganism traditionally encompasses the collective pre- and non-Christian cultures in and around the classical world; including those of the Greco-Roman, Celtic, Germanic, and Slavic tribes.

[40] However, modern parlance of folklorists and contemporary pagans in particular has extended the original four millennia scope used by early Christians to include similar religious traditions stretching far into prehistory.

[41] Paganism came to be equated by Christians with a sense of hedonism, representing those who are sensual, materialistic, self-indulgent, unconcerned with the future, and uninterested in more mainstream religions.

"[43] In sharp contrast, Swinburne the poet would comment on this same theme: "Thou hast conquered, O pale Galilean; the world has grown grey from thy breath; We have drunken of things Lethean, and fed on the fullness of death.

"[47] In addition, Petts notes how various spiritual, religious, and metaphysical ideas branded as "pagan" from diverse cultures were studied in opposition to Abrahamism in early anthropology, a binary he links to ethnocentrism and colonialism.

Modern historians define paganism instead as the aggregate of cult acts, set within a civic rather than a national context, without a written creed or sense of orthodoxy.

It is surprising to remember that this peninsula of rock, so near the heart of the Levant from which Christianity springs, should have been baptised three whole centuries after the arrival of St. Augustine in far-away Kent.

The region's mountainous terrain allowed the Maniots to evade the Eastern Roman Empire's Christianization efforts, thus preserving pagan traditions, which coincided with significant years in the life of Gemistos Plethon.

[69] Although Harran lost its capital status under the Abbasid Caliphate, it continued to flourish, particularly during the reign of Harun al-Rashid (786–809), when its university became a key center for translation and intellectual activity.

[70] The local religion, blending elements of Mesopotamian paganism and Neoplatonism, persisted into the 10th century, though periodic decrees enforced conversions to Islam, especially under Al-Ma'mun in 830.

Gemistus Plethon, who was from Mistras (near the Mani Peninsula—where paganism had endured until the 12th century) encouraged the Medici, descendants of the Maniot Latriani dynasty, to found the Neoplatonic Academy in Florence, helping to spark the Renaissance.

In addition Julius Pomponius Laetus (student of Pletho) established the Roman academy which secretly celebrated the Natale di Roma, a festival linked to the foundation of Rome, and the birthday of Romulus.

I'd rather beA Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;Or hear old Triton blow his wreathèd horn.In Italy, with the fall of the Papal States the process of Italian unification fostered anti-clerical sentiment among the intelligentsia.

A mysterious document published in Krur in 1929, attributed to orientalist Leone Caetani, suggested that Italy's World War I victory and the rise of fascism were influenced by Etruscan-Roman rites.

[96] With the growth and spread of large, pagan gatherings and festivals in the 1980s, public varieties of Wicca continued to further diversify into additional, eclectic sub-denominations, often heavily influenced by the New Age and counter-culture movements.

By the late 1960s, a renewed "operational" interest in pagan Roman traditions emerged from youth circles around Evola, particularly concerning the experience of the Gruppo di Ur.

[98] Evola's writings incorporated concepts from outside classical Roman religion, such as Buddhism, Hinduism, sexual magic, and private ritual nudity.

This period saw the rise of the Gruppo dei Dioscuri in cities like Rome, Naples, and Messina, which published a series of four booklets, including titles such as L'Impeto della vera cultura and Rivoluzione Tradizionale e Sovversione, before fading from public view.

In 1984, the Gruppo Arx revived Messina's Dioscuri activities, and Reghini's Pythagorean Association briefly resurfaced in Calabria and Sicily from 1984 to 1988, publishing Yghìeia.

One prominent figure was actor Roberto Corbiletto, who died in a mysterious fire in 1999.The 1980s and 1990s also saw an increasing interest in serious academic research and reconstructionist pagan traditions.

In the 2000s, Associazione Tradizionale Pietas began reconstructing temples across Italy and sought legal recognition from the state, drawing inspiration from similar groups like YSEE in Greece.

The divide is over numerous issues such as the importance of accurate orthopraxy according to ancient sources available, the use and concept of magic, which calendar to use and which holidays to observe, as well as the use of the term pagan itself.

[109] Many of the revivals, Wicca and Neo-Druidism in particular, have their roots in 19th century Romanticism and retain noticeable elements of occultism or Theosophy that were current then, setting them apart from historical rural (paganus) folk religion.

[110] There are a number of neopagan authors who have examined the relation of the 20th-century movements of polytheistic revival with historical polytheism on one hand and contemporary traditions of folk religion on the other.