What is a Pagan?

Chapter Three

The thought came to me to go visit John, my artist friend who lived way out in the country. Both he and his wife and two girls are really good artists .. doing very fine detail work .. realism and nature with a great depth of emotions they have poured into their creations. I didn’t know why I needed to talk with John .. but in my anxiousness over my destroyed tree of knowledge .. I was keeping my mind open to see what the Universe was going to teach me. We are standing there outside looking through the woods around his home .. and I was describing to him how my world had a major shift. In the course of conversation .. I used the word, “Pagan” .. and John replied .. “Yes, I’m a country dweller!”

I did not respond to John .. only continuing our discussion .. but I had never heard anyone ever connect the two ideas .. “pagan and country dweller” .. I was determined to look it up when I got back home. Sure enough .. “country dweller” is a definition of a “Pagan”. In my world .. all those who talked about Pagan beliefs .. connected them to the worship of many Gods. Time has a way of helping us figure things out.

How much do these ideas resonate with you?

”Pagans believe that nature is sacred and that the natural cycles of birth, growth and death observed in the world around us carry profoundly spiritual meanings. Human beings are seen as part of nature, along with other animals, trees, stones, plants and everything else that is of this earth.”

”The Latin word paganus (pagan), which originally meant “a country district or community,” could take on a more general sense as “a place with fixed boundaries.” From this early meaning, paganus evolved to mean civilian as opposed to military. Its application by Christians to those who were not of their faith has been explained variously. Some scholars derive its Christian usage based on the association of pagans with the countryside, while others see Christians using the term for the civilians as opposed to “soldiers of Christ.” Only in the 4th century do the words pagan and paganism (paganismus) emerge with the general meaning of “non-Christian.” Some scholars dispute the pejorative nature of the term at this date, but non-Christians were increasingly attacked by hostile 4th-century Christian writers. Because of this enmity and due to the misleading denigration of non-Christians as pagans, some modern scholars have refused to use the term pagan or paganism in their works. Others, however, view its usage as justified, especially given the hostility of late Roman Christians to non-believers.”

https://oxfordre.com/classics/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-4648

To help us understand the above paragraph .. it is important to understand the context in which it is written. Imagine a time when only the higher levels of society were able to read or write .. a time when most of the common working class people could not even write their own name.

By Kim Traynor - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18616664

Portrait of King James I of England (1566-1625), found in the collection of National Museum Stockholm. 
(Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

The picture above is Edinburgh Castle in Scotland. This is where King James of the King James Bible lived. All too often we view images or read stories .. and do not understand the political structure or social dynamic that was the reality for the time. The KJV Bible was written in the Early Modern English dialect. The King would have schools where his version of history would be taught, churches where his religion would be shared, medical institutions, where their style of medical care would be practiced, and a military with uniforms and weapons of their time. In an economic cast system .. every individual would have access to medical care, tools, religious practice, and education for them and their families. This would also include a system of trade, taxation, and accounting services. Dignitaries and their families would not be in the business of housekeeping and cleaning services. These things would be the work of a servant class.

How do you feed all these people?? Without food .. people starve and die .. so sections of land are given to those who are skilled at growing food .. but that is not going to happen on a large scale .. close to the Castle. The further you are from the Castle and it’s System of Government .. the greater your style of primitive living and much lower literacy rate. Those people living remotely .. would practice their system of agriculture .. probably have a basic vocabulary .. but not be able to read, write, or do high level math. They would look to the signs of Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter .. to determine when to plant and harvest. They would be familiar with the medicinal plants growing in the forests and fields. They would use primitive methods of wind and water for powering mill-stones that would grind their flour. Their clothing would be tattered and worn and their hands callused .. and probably not be wearing shoes. They would be living outside the Castle City Limits .. and be referred to as Pagans .. country dwellers!

The Pagans would not be wearing their tattered clothing to the Castle Church to listen to the words of the King James Bible. To the Pagan .. the “Book of Nature” was the language of God. The forests, fields, and all Nature the temple of worship.

It is a miracle that a seed can be put into the earth .. that life can spring forth .. to feed a nation’s army! The “Book of Nature” is full of ENERGY .. from the wind in the sails, to the flowing rivers, to the warm fires of every home’s hearth, metaphorically even the stones speak! The hand of the Pagan steadied the plow that plied the earth, felt the heat of the sun as it began and ended every day, tasted the water that quenched the thirst of every tongue, was cooled by the wind that drove the chaff away from his harvested grain .. so what advantage was there .. to sit at the feet of the King’s Wise Men .. to hear a strange story about someone walking on water, changing it into wine, and feeding 5,000 people with a child’s lunch?? To the Pagan it would be an unreasonable laughable story.

To those who had learned to read and write King James English .. the Pagan was lost .. some were declared witches and burned at the stake for using natural herbs as a medicine. Pagans were declared pantheistic heathens having many gods .. when in truth the Pagan did not bow down to every rock and tree .. but respectfully saw the handiwork of an Almighty Creative Energy in everything .. the unfolding butterfly, fragrant flower, and fruitful tree. The “Book of Nature” is written in a living language .. and it is up to us to learn about it .. as a little child .. in wonder and amazement. In the same way a hunter can look at the footprint of the deer and determine how fresh it is and other things .. the Pagan is literate in the Book of Nature! Our first parents were planted in a garden where they could learn about life. Our first parents were Pagans .. country dwellers. The city dweller knows the name of the streets .. the country dweller knows where different trees grow.

It is a big undertaking to make a move .. depending upon your possessions .. some you throw away, others you give away, but movement requires energy.

Below is a link to a PDF file .. about 13 pages of information about what is a Pagan, Humanist, and what their relationship is with the Natural World. I think it will surprise you how much you are already in agreement. Here are a couple quotes from that file.

”A brief overview of the history of Paganism The term Pagan comes from the Latin paganus which refers to those who lived in the country. When Christianity began to grow in the Roman Empire, it did so at first primarily in the cities. The people who lived in the country and who continued to believe in “the old ways” came to be known as pagans. Pagans have been broadly defined as anyone involved in any religious act, practice, or ceremony which is not Christian. Jews and Muslims also use the term to refer to anyone outside their religion.

Some define paganism as a religion outside of Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Islam, and Buddhism; others simply define it as being without a religion. Paganism, however, often is not identified as a traditional religion per se because it does not have any official doctrine; however, it has some common characteristics within its variety of traditions. One of the common beliefs is the divine presence in nature and the reverence for the natural order in life.

In the strictest sense, paganism refers to the authentic religions of ancient Greece and Rome and the surrounding areas. The pagans usually had a polytheistic belief in many gods but only one, which represents the chief god and supreme godhead, is chosen to worship.”

https://americanhumanist.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/paganism.pdf

About the Honey Locust Tree.

I want to thank my readers for following along .. sharing this experience with me. I hope it proves enlightening and helps to unlock your own life story.