The word pagan comes from the Latin paganus whose meaning is “villager.” It is a term that refers to those people who believe in various gods, are idolaters and polytheists . The religious used this term to indicate those people who had not been baptized.

The word pagan began to be used at the beginning of the fourth century and was used by those who considered that they should point to the non-religious or those people who did not believe in religion or in the sacred scriptures. In this sense, the so-called “pagans” performed worship rituals and worshiped several gods at the same time; these actions were rejected by the Christians and Jews since, according to their beliefs, they were actions contrary to the laws of God.

At present, several ancient beliefs are defined as pagan, whose fundamental pillar is the following:

• • Polytheism : is the belief in the existence of several gods gathered in a pantheon and arranged in hierarchical order from highest to lowest.
  • Pantheism : it is the doctrine that establishes God as a fundamental pillar. Everything that surrounds us, what we are, where we are and what we have is God.
  • Animism : is the belief that both animate and inanimate objects have a spirit.

As time passes, many of those rituals that were previously considered pagan, are currently performed and even practiced within many religions, in other cases they are the fundamental basis of the culture of many countries in the world.

Neopaganism

It is a movement which seeks to bring together all the religions and beliefs that have polytheism as their main belief . This movement or group is based on four main aspects, namely: traditional witchcraft, pagan reconstructionism, Wicca and syncretism and its origins date back to the 20th century, based on witchcraft and basing its most important symbol on the pentacle.

Examples of pagan actions

1. Birthday celebration
2. Chopping a cake during the birthday.
3. Celebrate Christmas.
4. Worship other gods such as the god of earth, water, among others.
5. The celebration of the Day of the Dead in Mexico.
6. The celebration of April Fools Day.
7. The dancing devils of yare in Venezuela.
8. Worship the sun god.
9. The celebration of carnival for many religions today is considered a pagan act that goes against their principles and beliefs.