You might often hear priests proclaim someone a pagan or call certain customs and traditions pagan. But what does pagan actually mean?
In the most general sense, paganism is any ethnic religion that does not worship a certain god but instead worships Nature and its various manifestations. From this point of view, it includes almost all nature religions which were formed naturally, without the interference of prophets or different kinds of philosophies.
Such a wide interpretation of paganism allows for the inclusion of nearly all pre-Christian religions in Europe, including ancient Greek philosophy, as well as the ethnic religions such as Hinduism, Shintoism and Shamanism which are widespread nowadays.
Paganism in a more narrow aspect can be seen as a term defining an ancient Slavic religion. Some of its rituals have been preserved to the modern day. And as a result of their reconstruction, today we see the creation of artificial religious, Gnostic and philosophical movements which can also be found under the term "Neopaganism".
Initially the idea of paganism had no particular connotation but after the processes of Christianization it was loaded with a negative tinge.
Today the term pagan has a neutral connotation. The term "heathen" has also been similarly used.
Pagans and pagan religions are in general polytheistic, based on mythology and consist of numerous cults - ones worshiping the phallus, natural forces, the earth and more.
