RootsofPaganism

Roots of Paganism

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Pagans were a title that the church deemed on the following people; such as Farmers, those who lived in the country in which they were also known as country dwellers. The Greeks, Roman and Egyptians were also called Pagan for worshipping their deities. Native American Indians were called Pagan as well.

The word “Witch” was not associated with Pagans at first. You will see the Greeks and Roman were labeled as Pagans, but never Witches. The word for Christian back then, is what we called today Catholic. That is why whenever Christianity is mention in the 15th, 16th, etc. centuries were really Catholic. Just like during those times it was known as “Rome” which today we say “Italy”. Titles have always changed throughout history.

Christianity was new and not that much was known to others since they kept a lot of their acts secret. However, the church wanted to spread their religion and it was not a good start for them.

Rome was a powerful, proud country with rulers that had brought the people out of poverty and into wealth. They honored their deities in their homes, streets and various public sacred areas. They feared no one and had no reason to. So when Christians had entered Rome with the set purpose to convert the Roman people, they needed permission. Rome had welcomed them with the understanding that they could talk to the people about their Christian faith.

However, the Christians didn’t just talk about their faith, they condemned and mocked the Roman’s belief in their deities. Telling them it was wrong. There is only one God. Their Gods didn’t really exist. Rome was furious and that is what incited them to kill the Christians.

Later when Rome had fallen, some people proclaim that the Gods were mad for allowing the Christians in and converting some of them. Of course Rome fell for many reasons, but to some they seem to think this was one of them.

After that period of time the word Pagan was attached to the farmers and anyone who was not Christian. Queen Elizabeth in the 15th century supported the act of Witchcraft were to be punishable by death. She did not start it, but she supported it. In the 16th century King James supported it as well.

In Europe many women and men were put to death that were all accused of Witchcraft. Many women had also chosen to die by going to cliffs and jumping off. They knew the only other way was to let them torture and then kill them, so they chose their own death. The numbers doesn’t compare to Salem’s, not even close.

Salem witchcraft hysteria began in part by some young girls claims. I say in part because the stories of Witchcraft in Europe had reached America and people were scared. It is very similar to when Aides were discovered in another country and America feared it before it even came. So if you have a wide spread fear of Witchcraft because of true acts that happened in Europe, several girls claims of witchcraft was a match that lit the gas in the air.

Some people truly believed them, but most did not. The church sent their people into Salem to try and determine whether or not these claims were true. The young girl’s hysteria began to grow and no one knew why. The church was not about to proclaim that they didn’t know what was wrong with the girls. That would have made the church look incompetent, since they had already proclaim that they knew all that went on in the world through their God. Not knowing would have also made it possible that they would lose their strong hold in the people’s beliefs in them. So to keep their foot hold and appearances they demanded that something needed to be done and they of course were strong enough to do it.

They sent others to Salem and pushed for them to discover the truth, but this time they had a book. The Malleus Maleficarum, in English it is "Hammer of the Witches.” A book written by a German Clergyman of the Church. It outlined how to tell if someone was a witch. Marks, behavior, etc. A mole could be deemed as a mark of being a witch. This book also gave detail instructions on torturing and killing Witches.The power to identify and rid the town of Salem from evil was intoxicating to the clergymen. Almost similar to being a big super hero. Except they were not. It didn’t take much proof to determine if someone was a Witch for them. All property that had belonged to a Witch was now property of the church.

People who did not like someone, could just accuse them openly of being a Witch and like that, they were arrested , tortured and killed. People today say that midwives were all accused of being a witch. That is not true. If you happened to be a midwife who delivered a still birth, then you were accused. Remember, people are always having babies and the only way to have them back then was with the assistance of a midwife.

Once the church had realized that enough was enough and the killings had to stop, they still needed to abolish Paganism without the killing.

So once again they would send people out to talk about Christianity and try to convert them. The conversion numbers were low. The next thing they tried was a scare tactic. They thought about how most of the Pagans were farmers and the life of those farmers. They knew how the lived, the way they dressed, tools they used for farming, things inside and outside of their homes. Farmers were basically poor people; they didn’t have the comfort of the average town person. After carefully thinking about this, they devised a plan and set it into motion.

A rumor with life threatening consequences towards the farmers. The church created a story how Pagans use their cauldrons to create potions. Cauldrons were used to cook in and that was all. How Pagans would dance around the fires naked with a beast with a pitchfork.

Everyone knew that Pagans always celebrated their holidays with a bonfire. Jumping over a bonfire was done during certain holidays. A tradition for luck was the act of jumping over a bonfire. Being naked was not accurate. Women were seen lifting their skirts and dresses, although they had good reason. No one wanted to risk catching themselves on fire when jumping over the flames. The beast with a pitchfork. All farmers had pitchforks so the correlation between their fable and the farmers connected in one way or another.

More Pagans then converted because no one wanted the Witch trials to return. Still, there were quite a few who didn’t wavier at all. The church knew if they were to start the killings again, it would make them look bad because by that time the laws had changed regarding Witchcraft. So another plan was set into motion.

The church decided to tell the Pagans that they could still celebrate their traditions but under the holiday names of the Christians. They were willing to place their holidays close to the same dates as the Pagans. They even based some of their holidays after the names of the Pagan ones. For instance, Easter is closely like Ostara.

They informed them that they could still celebrate with their traditions. Like the rabbit for Ostara/Easter, but of course they changed it to mean something different. The church did this for all the holidays. So the majority of them did convert over.

The problem was when they discovered that their traditions were being celebrated under the Christian God. Pagans knew they were betrayed. They had already converted and to try to change back would mean trouble, hence possibly being shun or death.

So the Pagans honored their traditions in secret. This is where the cloak comes in. It was to help conceal their identities and nothing more. All of this is HISTORY, no speculation, view points or guesses.

Pagans have always been given this title when you honor more than one deity and that deity is not the Christian one. Pagans have strong spiritual beliefs in various things and Gods. To some, Pagan is someone who simply is not Christian.

Paganism encompasses many spiritual cultures and never just one. A Pagan’s path is a spiritual one with many roots.

Notation on Wicca - Wicca came to America in the 50's. Three years later, Scientology came. Religions that started in the 19th century are considered new religions.

Paganism predates the 14th century, which is why it is very old.

Many Wiccans will claim that their religion is old, but it is not. There are no records, documentations, Historians, Researchers, Professors, Archaeologist, or any Scientist that have ever found Wicca prior of the 19th century.

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Click on the woman below to hear what she has to say. Then read the 5 pages

Q & A

Why do Wiccan's say that their religion is ancient and old?

They will say that because some of their ways are based off of the Pagan religion. That is why it can be similar in certain things that they do. However if you think about it, all religions have certain aspects that are based from the Pagan religion. So in truth some of the things they do are ancient Pagan practices, but the religion itself "wicca"is not ancient/old.

Here is another way to look at it. The birth of Wicca was in the 1950's. If a person was born in the 1950's, sure one may consider the person old, but not ancient.

Why do some Wiccans say they are Pagan and Wiccan?

I was born in the early 60's and so I have mentored for a few decades. I have always come across people claiming to be both and when I talk to them, they are unable to explain. Some are confused about Wicca and Pagan, so that is why they can't explain. Some have seen books that mesh the two together and so a New Age author is where they may have gotten the idea from. Then there are those who were misguided when learning from a coven or someone else. When I make the video for the end of this lesson; I will clarify this for everyone.

Although I am Pagan and this is a Pagan course; I will throughout this course explain the way Wicca does things relating to most of these topics. I'm not doing it to bash them, but I do it so all of you can see and know the difference between the two by the time this course is complete. I have ALWAYS been thankful for the people of Wicca who have brought our ways out into the public and made them realize that the practice of Witchcraft is not evil.

You mention that the Christian holidays were created closely to the Pagans. As a Witch is wrong to still celebrate christian holidays?

There is absolutely nothing wrong with celebrating both. Since they based it off the Pagan's holidays, for us it is having the joy of celebrating it twice. They may be honoring their Deity the one God but we can still honor ours and partake in the events. Most were ours anyways, even if the Christians put their own spin on it. You can do the same and put your own spin on it.

For instance, Christmas - when everyone is opening up gifts, decorating the tree, baking cookies, etc. Do you ask people what they are thinking and who they are honoring during this holiday? Of course not. They already have it in their heads and hearts that the holiday is for the birth of their God. You too can have it in your head and heart what it represents to you. Both can partake in the same exact events, like decorating the tree but the reason for each is different.

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