Pagan

Monday, 29 October 2012

SHIT PEOPLE SAY TO: Pagans, Neopagans, Wiccans, Witches, etc.

Irish Pagan Culture: Witchcraft, Wicca, Druidry

Witchcraft, Pagan & Wiccan: How To Cast A Spell

Witchcraft, Pagan & Wiccan: So You Want To Be Wiccan

Pagan Pride 2012 - A day in the life of the festival

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Acropolis of Athens
The Acropolis of Athens or Citadel of Athens is the best known acropolis (Gr. akros, akron, edge, extremity + polis, city, pl. acropoleis) in the world. Although there are many other acropoleis in Greece, the significance of the Acropolis of Athens is such that it is commonly known as The Acropolis without qualification. The Acropolis was formally proclaimed as the pre-eminent monument on the European Cultural Heritage list of monuments on 26 March 2007. The Acropolis is a flat-topped rock that rises above sea level in the city of Athens, with a surface area of about 3 hectares. It was also known as Cecropia, after the legendary serpent-man, Cecrops, the first Athenian king.
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Alexandria
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Antioch
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Australia
{{Infobox country
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Carthage
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Greece
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Iceland
:
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Lithuania
Lithuania (, U.S. usually ; ), officially the Republic of Lithuania () is a country in Northern Europe, the southernmost of the three Baltic states. Situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, it shares borders with Latvia to the north, Belarus to the southeast, Poland, and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad to the southwest.
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Parthenon
The Parthenon (Ancient Greek: ) is a temple in the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, dedicated to the Greek goddess Athena, whom the people of Athens considered their protector. Its construction began in 447 BCE and was completed in 438 BCE, although decorations of the Parthenon continued until 431 BCE. It is the most important surviving building of Classical Greece, generally considered to be the culmination of the development of the Doric order. Its decorative sculptures are considered some of the high points of Greek art. The Parthenon is regarded as an enduring symbol of Ancient Greece and of Athenian democracy and one of the world's greatest cultural monuments. The Greek Ministry of Culture is currently carrying out a programme of selective restoration and reconstruction to ensure the stability of the partially ruined structure.
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Rome
Rome (; , ; ) is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . In 2006 the population of the metropolitan area was estimated by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development to have a population of 3.7 million.
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Ahl-e Haqq
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Alaric I
Alaric I (Alareiks in the original Gothic) was likely born about 370 on an island named Peuce (the Fir) at the mouth of the Danube in present day Romania. King of the Visigoths from 395–410, Alaric was the first Germanic leader to take the city of Rome. Having originally desired to settle his people in the Roman Empire, he finally sacked the city, marking the decline of imperial power in the west.
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Alexander Afanasyev
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Augustine of Hippo
: For other uses, see Augustine, Augustinus and Saint Augustine.
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Balts
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Barbarian
A barbarian is an uncivilized person. The word is often used pejoratively, either in a general reference to a member of a nation or ethnos, typically a tribal society as seen by an urban civilization either viewed as inferior, or admired as a noble savage. In idiomatic or figurative usage, a "barbarian" may also be an individual reference to a brutal, cruel, warlike, insensitive person.
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Brothers Grimm
The Brothers Grimm ( or '), Jacob (4 January 1785 – 20 September 1863) and Wilhelm Grimm''' (24 February 1786 – 16 December 1859), were German academics best known for publishing collections of folk tales and fairy tales, which became popular. Jacob also did academic work in linguistics, related to how the sounds in words shift over time (Grimm's law), and together they wrote a German dictionary.
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Buddhism
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Edward Gibbon
Edward Gibbon (April 27, 1737 January 16, 1794) was an English historian and Member of Parliament. His most important work, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, was published in six volumes between 1776 and 1788. The Decline and Fall is known for the quality and irony of its prose, its use of primary sources, and its open denigration of organised religion.
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Elias Lönnrot
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G. K. Chesterton
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Hadrian
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Historical Jesus
The term Historical Jesus refers to scholarly reconstructions of the 1st-century figure Jesus of Nazareth. These reconstructions are based upon historical methods including critical analysis of gospel texts as the primary source for his biography, along with consideration of the historical and cultural context in which he lived.
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Hypatia
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Isaac Bonewits
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Jacob Grimm
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Jean Seznec
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Joseph Jacobs
Joseph Jacobs (29 August 1854 - 30 January 1916) was folklorist, literary critic and historian. His works included contributions to the Jewish Encyclopaedia, translations of European works, and critical editions of early English literature. Jacobs wrote for journals and books on the subject of folklore and produced a popular series of fairy tales.
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Julius Caesar
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Jørgen Moe
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List of Pagans
This is a list of historical individuals notable for their Pagan religion (as opposed to Abrahamic religions), and modern individuals who self-describe as adherents of some form of Paganism or Neopaganism.
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Lithuanians
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Mandaeism
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Manichaeanism
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Manichaeism
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Martin Hengel
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Mazdak
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Paul of Tarsus
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Philip Melanchthon
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Pontius Pilate
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Samaritan
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Swinburne
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Tacitus
Publius (or Gaius) Cornelius Tacitus (AD 56 – AD 117) was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors. These two works span the history of the Roman Empire from the death of Augustus in AD 14 to (presumably) the death of emperor Domitian in AD 96. There are enormous lacunae in the surviving texts, including one four books long in the Annals.
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Tertullian
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Theodosius I
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Ulfilas
:Wulfila is also a spider genus (Anyphaenidae)
http://wn.com/Ulfilas
Vainakh mythology
The Vainakh people of the North Caucasus include the modern Chechens and Ingush, who are today predominantly Muslim in religion. Nevertheless, their folklore has preserved a substantial amount of information about their pre-Islamic pagan beliefs. Vainakh practiced their own pagan religion, which was a mixture of different cults, including animism and polytheism, familial-ancestral and agrarian and funereal cults. Nakh peoples worshiped trees and believed that those are the abode of invisible spirits. Vainakhs developed many rituals to serve particular trees, pear tree held a special place in the faith of Vainakhs.
http://wn.com/Vainakh_mythology

The Pagans (Part 1)

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published: 06 Oct 2006

Pagan Born

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published: 24 Jun 2008

SHIT PEOPLE SAY TO: Pagans, Neopagans, Wiccans, Witches, etc.

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published: 11 Feb 2012

The Pagan Path - A Short Documentary

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published: 26 Jan 2011

Facts about Paganism

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published: 19 May 2008

Irish Pagan Culture: Witchcraft, Wicca, Druidry

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published: 13 May 2012

Jesus The Pagan

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published: 28 Aug 2008

Omnia - Pagan Folk Lore

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published: 10 Jan 2012

Witchcraft, Pagan & Wiccan: How To Cast A Spell

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published: 29 Aug 2012

Witchcraft, Pagan & Wiccan: So You Want To Be Wiccan

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published: 15 Apr 2011

The Old Ways: A Pagan Trip Back in Time

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published: 24 Aug 2012

Pagan Pride 2012 - A day in the life of the festival

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published: 07 Aug 2012

London Olympic Stadium is a PAGAN ALTAR set up for OCCULT OPENING CEREMONY

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published: 03 Jul 2012

The Christmas Conspiracy: The Pagan Origins Of Christmas

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published: 06 Sep 2008

‘YEKPARE’ (monolithic)

"Yekpare" is a storyteller which narrates the 8500 year story of Istanbul. The story embra...

published: 15 Jun 2010

Author: nerdworking

Florence and the Machine "DOG DAYS ARE OVER" Music Video

In “Dog Days Are Over”, directed by Georgie Greville and Geremy Jasper of LEGS, and edited...

published: 10 Mar 2010

Author: LEGS MEDIA

Comic Sans

A short documentary about the font Comic Sans. Created for a video production course and i...

published: 17 Oct 2008

Author: Anita Brown

Black Black Hills - "The Celebration"

We've just Written, Directed & Produced this Short Film/Music Promo for Black Black Hills’...

published: 25 Jul 2011

Author: Blac Ionica

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White House

Photo: WN / Yolanda Leyba

Virgin for sale: Website auctions off virginity of college student for $780,000 (Video)

The Examiner

26 Oct 2012

Related topics virgin auctionvirginity auction Advertisement A 20 year-old Brazilian student has sold her virginity for the sum of $780,000 through an online auction on a website simply called Virgins...

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Photo: AP / Themba Hadebe

Mine workers sing a dance during a memorial service at the Lonmin Platinum Mine near Rustenburg, South Africa, Thursday, Aug. 23, 2012. Police shot and killed 34 striking miners and wounded 78 others last week. Demands for higher wages spread to at least two other mines, raising fears of further protests at more South African mines that provide most of the world's platinum.

News Flash: Gandhi Just Murdered in South Africa

WorldNews.com

29 Oct 2012

Article by WN.com Correspondent Dallas Darling. Yesterday while protesting with striking mine workers in South Africa, Mohandas Gandhi was gunned down by heavily armed security forces. Gandhi, who...

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Photo: US Navy / MCS2 Justin Ailes

Hurricane Sandy makes landfall at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, October 24, 2012.

Slow-moving Hurricane Sandy marches toward East Coast

CNBC

27 Oct 2012

MIAMI (Reuters) - Hurricane Sandy pulled away from the Bahamas on Saturday after killing at least 41 people in the Caribbean, beginning a slow march toward the U.S. East Coast where it threatens to...

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Photo: AP / Robert F. Bukaty

In this May 6, 2012 file photo, Gov. Paul LePage speaks at the Maine Republican Convention in Augusta, Maine. LePage met with representatives from two Jewish groups on Friday, July 13, 2012, following comments he has made comparing the Internal Revenue Service to the Gestapo

The New Gestapo Politics

WorldNews.com

28 Oct 2012

Article by WN.com Correspondent Dallas Darling Even though Maine's Governor, Paul LePage, apologized for making comments for comparing the Affordable Health Care Act and Internal Revenue Service (IRS)...

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Photo: AP / Khin Maung Win

A Rakhine refugee lies on a bed under medical treatment at Sittwe hospital in Sittwe, Rakhine State, western Myanmar, Friday, Oct. 26, 2012.

Burma: HRW satellite images 'show Rakhine destruction'

BBC News

27 Oct 2012

A human rights group has released pictures showing what appears to be the destruction of a western Burmese district riven by ethnic unrest. Human Rights Watch says more than 800 buildings and...

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Giants finish off World Series sweep of Tigers 29 Oct 2012

Tulsa World DETROIT - Finally pressed in the World Series, the San Francisco Giants finished off a most unexpected and stunning sweep. Marco Scutaro delivered one more key hit this October, hitting a go-ahead single with two outs in the 10th inning that lifted the Giants over the Detroit Tigers 4-3 in Game 4 on...(size: 3.9Kb)

Mark Purdy: Hard to believe it's over and the Giants are champions again 29 Oct 2012

The Miami Herald DETROIT -- Excuse me. Did all of that really just happen? Apparently it did. I see the Giants on the field, celebrating. I see Angel Pagan in center field, dropping to his knees in celebration. I see Marco Scutaro, the second baseman, making the sign of the cross. I see a dogpile on the pitchers'...(size: 3.7Kb)

Tigers' reliever Phil Coke: 'Don't think we won't be back' 29 Oct 2012

Detroit Free Press Phil Coke struck out the side in the 9th inning, before taking the loss in the 10th inning of Game 4 of the World Series. Coke gave up a single to Ryan Theriot to right-center. A sacrifice bunt moved Brandon Crawford to second. Coke struck out Angel Pagan for the second out of the inning, before...(size: 2.2Kb)

Sweet relief: Romo caps 'pen heroics with flourish 29 Oct 2012

MLB DETROIT -- On a night that was filled with drama, Giants closer Sergio Romo did what he could to make sure there was as little as possible at the end. Romo struck out Tigers center fielder Austin Jackson to open the bottom of the 10th inning at Comerica Park. Then he struck out pinch-hitter Don...(size: 7.5Kb)

The Giants Era 29 Oct 2012

Wall Street Journal By BRIAN COSTA Enlarge Image Close DETROIT—Baseball isn't a sport that lends itself to dynasties these days. There is too much parity throughout the game. There is too much randomness to its postseason. But the San Francisco Giants are in the midst of one of the greatest eras any team has seen...(size: 5.0Kb)

Giants celebrate Series title for 'unique group' 29 Oct 2012

MLB DETROIT -- Even with a three-game lead in this World Series, Giants players were finding it hard to breathe as they waited for Sergio Romo to offer up his next pitch to Miguel Cabrera. Barry Zito, simultaneously pulling for his team to finish the job in Game 4 while also staying mentally focused...(size: 4.8Kb)

Hall of Fame stocks up after Giants' Series win 29 Oct 2012

MLB Hall of Fame executive Brad Horn and Gregor Blanco pose with Blanco's Cooperstown-bound glove. (Hall of Fame) DETROIT -- Left fielder Gregor Blanco had to think for a minute in the middle of the Giants' rowdy clubhouse celebration in the wee hours Sunday after his club's World Series sweep...(size: 3.2Kb)

Giants sweep to second World Series title in three years - San Francisco Giants - ... 29 Oct 2012

Sacramento Bee DETROIT – Over the last few months, they started to call him "Blockbuster," the journeyman infielder who arrived with the Giants so quietly at midseason, before they ran away with the division and into the playoffs, and caught fire when it mattered most. On Sunday night, Marco Scutaro came up...(size: 4.9Kb)

Giants complete sweep, World Series champions 29 Oct 2012

The News Tribune Sergio Romo closes it out by throwing a called third strike past Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera. The final score is Giants 4, Tigers 3 in 10 innings. San Francisco finishes a four-game sweep of the Detroit Tigers in the World Series for its second championship in three years. See you next year!...(size: 8.8Kb)

San Francisco 4, Detroit 3 (10 innings): Tigers fail to prevent sweep by Giants 29 Oct 2012

Detroit Free Press Joe DiMaggio was in the air. His name this night was Marco Scutaro, who right now might be bigger in San Francisco than native son DiMaggio. Jack Morris was in the air. His name this night was Ryan Theriot, a career National Leaguer beating the American League at its own designated-hitter game and...(size: 7.6Kb)

Giants beat Tigers, 4-3, in 10 innings for World Series sweep 29 Oct 2012

Lower Hudson Online DETROIT - Marco Scutaro singled home the tiebreaking run in the 10th inning, and...(size: 0.5Kb)

World Series loss leaves Detroit Tigers disappointed but resolute 29 Oct 2012

Detroit news By Ted Kulfan The Detroit News Comments Detroit â They won't have another chance, not together, not with this group. This Tigers roster will get broken up, it was going to regardless of whether or not they had won this World Series. Getting swept in four games by the San Francisco Giants will only...(size: 11.7Kb)

Giants beat Tigers 4-3 in 10 innings for sweep 29 Oct 2012

Herald Tribune DETROIT - Smart pitching. Clutch hitting. Sharp fielding. Plus an MVP Panda. Enlarge Sergio Romo kisses Marco Scutaro as they are sprayed with champagne in the locker room as San Francisco Giants celebrate after the Giants defeated the Detroit Tigers, 4-3, in Game 4 of baseball's World Series...(size: 14.5Kb)

timeline:
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"Pagan" and "Heathen" redirect here. For other usages, see Pagan (disambiguation) and Heathen (disambiguation)

Not to be confused with Pagani.

Sculpture of the goddess Venus of Arles, late 1st century BCE.

Paganism (from Latin paganus, meaning "country dweller", "rustic"^[1]) is a blanket term, typically used to refer to religious traditions which are polytheistic or indigenous.

Isis holding a sistrum and an oinochoe. (Roman artwork from the Hadrian period (117–138 CE).)

It is primarily used in a historical context, referring to Greco-Roman polytheism as well as the polytheistic traditions of Europe and North Africa before Christianization. In a wider sense, extended to contemporary religions, it includes most of the Eastern religions and the indigenous traditions of the Americas, Central Asia, Australia and Africa; as well as non-Abrahamic folk religion in general. More narrow definitions will not include any of the world religions and restrict the term to local or rural currents not organized as civil religions. Characteristic of Pagan traditions is the absence of proselytism and the presence of a living mythology, which informs religious practice.

Ethnologists often avoid the term "paganism," with its uncertain and varied meanings, in referring to traditional or historic faiths, preferring more precise categories such as polytheism, shamanism, pantheism, or animism.

In the late 20th century, "Paganism", or "Neopaganism", became widely used in reference to adherents of various New Religious Movements including Wicca.^[2] As such, various modern scholars have begun to apply the term to three groups of separate faiths: Historical Polytheism (such as Celtic polytheism, Norse Paganism, and Hellenic Polytheistic Reconstructionism also called Hellenismos), Folk/ethnic/Indigenous religions (such as Chinese folk religion and African traditional religion), and Neopaganism (such as Wicca and Germanic Neopaganism).

1 Etymology
- 1.1 Pagan
- 1.2 Heathen
2 Terminology
3 Historical Paganism
4 Pagan survivals in folklore
5 Early Modern period
6 Romanticism
7 Contemporary Paganism
- 7.1 Demographics
8 See also
9 References
- 9.1 Notes
- 9.2 Bibliography

Etymology [link]

Reconstruction of the Parthenon, on the Acropolis of Athens, Greece.

The Parthenon in Nashville's Centennial Park is a full-scale copy of the original Greek Parthenon.

Pagan [link]

The term pagan is from the Latin paganus, an adjective originally meaning "rural", "rustic" or "of the country." As a noun, paganus was used to mean "country dweller, villager."^[3] The semantic development of post-classical Latin paganus in the sense "non-Christian, heathen" is unclear. The dating of this sense is controversial, but the 4th century seems most plausible. An earlier example has been suggested in Tertullian De Corona Militis xi, "Apud hunc [sc. Christum] tam miles est paganus fidelis quam paganus est miles infidelis," but here the word paganus may be interpreted in the sense "civilian" rather than "heathen". There are three main explanations of the development:

(i) The older sense of classical Latin pāgānus is "of the country, rustic" (also as noun). It has been argued that the transferred use reflects the fact that the ancient idolatry lingered on in the rural villages and hamlets after Christianity had been accepted in the towns and cities of the Roman Empire;^[4] cf. Orosius Histories 1. Prol. "Ex locorum agrestium compitis et pagis pagani vocantur." From its earliest beginnings, Christianity spread much more quickly in major urban areas (like Antioch, Alexandria, Carthage, Corinth, Rome) than in the countryside (in fact, the early church was almost entirely urban^{[citation needed]}), and soon the word for "country dweller" became synonymous with someone who was "not a Christian," giving rise to the modern meaning of "pagan." This may, in part, have had to do with the closeness to nature of rural people, who may have been more resistant to the new ideas of Christianity than those who lived in major urban centers and were cut off from the cycles of nature and the forms of spirituality associated with them. However, it may have also resulted from early Christian missionaries focusing their efforts within major population centers (e.g., St. Paul), rather than throughout an expansive, yet sparsely populated, countryside (hence, the Latin term suggesting "uneducated country folk") until a bit later on.
(ii) The more common meaning of classical Latin pāgānus is "civilian, non-militant" (adjective and noun). Christians called themselves mīlitēs, "enrolled soldiers" of Christ, members of his militant church, and applied to non-Christians the term applied by soldiers to all who were "not enrolled in the army".^{[clarification needed]}
(iii) The sense "heathen" arose from an interpretation of paganus as denoting a person who was outside a particular group or community, hence "not of the city" or "rural"; cf. Orosius Histories 1. Prol. "ui alieni a civitate dei..pagani vocantur." See C. Mohrmann, Vigiliae Christianae 6 (1952) 9ff.

—Oxford English Dictionary, (online) 2nd Edition (1989)

The post-classical Latin paganismus gave rise to both paganism and to its synonym paynimry.^[5] Paynimry may be used of paganism, its practises, and pagans,^[6] as well as for the domain or realm of pagans.^[7]

"Peasant" is a cognate, via Old French paisent. ^[8]^[9]

In their origins, these usages derived from pagus, "province, countryside", cognate to Greek πάγος "rocky hill", and, even earlier, "something stuck in the ground", as a landmark: the Proto-Indo-European root *pag- means "fixed" and is also the source of the words page, pale (stake), and pole, as well as pact and peace.

While pagan is attested in English from the 14th century, there is no evidence that the term paganism was in use in English before the 17th century. The OED instances Edward Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776): "The divisions of Christianity suspended the ruin of Paganism." The term was not a neologism, however, as paganismus was already used by Augustine.^[10]

Less than twenty years after the last vestiges of Paganism were crushed with great severity by the emperor Theodosius I^[11] Rome was seized by Alaric in 410. This led to murmuring that the gods of Paganism had taken greater care of the city than that of the Christian God, inspiring St Augustine to write The City of God, alternative title "De Civitate Dei contra Paganos: The City of God against the Pagans", in which he claimed that whilst the great 'city of Man' had fallen, Christians were ultimately citizens of the 'city of God.'^[12]

Heathen [link]

Heathen is from Old English hæðen "not Christian or Jewish" (c.f. Old Norse heiðinn). Historically, the term was probably influenced by Gothic haiþi "dwelling on the heath", appearing as haiþno in Ulfilas' bible as "gentile woman" (translating the "Hellene" in Mark 7:26). This translation was probably influenced by Latin paganus, "country dweller", or it was chosen because of its similarity to the Greek ἐθνικός ethnikos, "gentile". It has even been suggested that Gothic haiþi is not related to "heath" at all, but rather a loan from Armenian hethanos, itself loaned from Greek ἔθνος ethnos.

Terminology [link]

Further information: Idolatry, Polytheism, and Ethnic religion

Both "pagan" and "heathen" have historically been used as a pejorative by adherents of monotheistic religions (such as Judaism, Christianity and Islam) to indicate a disbeliever in their religion; although in modern times it is not always used as a pejorative.^[13] "Paganism" frequently refers to the religions of classical antiquity, most notably Greek mythology or Roman religion; and can be used neutrally or admiringly by those who refer to those complexes of belief. However, until the rise of Romanticism and the general acceptance of freedom of religion in Western civilization, "paganism" was almost always used disparagingly of heterodox beliefs falling outside the established political framework of the Christian Church.

Hypatia of Alexandria, philosopher, mathematician and astronomer, a pagan killed by a Christian mob in March 415 CE.

"Pagan" came to be equated with a Christianized sense of "epicurean" to signify a person who is sensual, materialistic, self-indulgent, unconcerned with the future and uninterested in sophisticated religion. The word was usually used in this worldly and stereotypical sense, particularly among those who were drawing attention to what they perceived as being the limitations of Paganism. Thus G. K. Chesterton wrote: "The Pagan set out, with admirable sense, to enjoy himself. By the end of his civilization he had discovered that a man cannot enjoy himself and continue to enjoy anything else." 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."^[14]

Christianity itself has been perceived at times as a form of polytheism by followers of the other Abrahamic religions^[15]^[16] because of the Christian doctrine of the Trinity (which at first glance appears indistinguishable from Tritheism,^[17] though this is variously condemned as heresy or apostasy by the main Christian denominations) or the celebration of Pagan feast days^[18] and other practices – through a process described as "baptizing"^[19] or "christianization". Even between Christians there have been similar charges of idolatry levelled, especially by Protestants,^[20]^[21] towards the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches for their veneration of the saints and images.

Historical Paganism [link]

Further information: Prehistoric religion and Polytheism

In the Christian perspective the term has been used historically to encompass all non–Abrahamic religions.^[22]^[23] The term pagan is a Christian adaptation of the "gentile" of Judaism, and as such has an inherent Abrahamic bias, and pejorative connotations among monotheists,^[24] comparable to heathen and infidel. Words such as kafir (كافر) and mushrik (مشرك) are similarly used by Muslims. Peter Brown observes:

The adoption of paganus by Latin Christians as an all-embracing, pejorative term for polytheists represents an unforeseen and singularly long-lasting victory, within a religious group, of a word of Latin slang originally devoid of religious meaning. The evolution occurred only in the Latin west, and in connection with the Latin church. Elsewhere, "Hellene " or "gentile" (ethnikos) remained the word for "pagan"; and paganos continued as a purely secular term, with overtones of the inferior and the commonplace.^[25]

Bronze Age to Early Iron Age [link]

Classical Antiquity [link]

Main articles: Religion in ancient Greece, Ancient Roman religion, Hellenistic religion, Roman imperial cult, and Mystery religion

Ludwig Feuerbach (1833) defines "Paganism" (Heidentum) in the context of classical antiquity as "the unity of religion and politics, of spirit and nature, of god and man",^[26] qualified by the observation that "man" in the Pagan view is always defined by ethnicity, i.e. Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Jew, etc., so that each Pagan tradition is also a national tradition. Feuerbach goes on to postulate that the emergence of monotheism and thus the end of the Pagan period was a development which naturally grew out of Hellenistic philosophy due to the contradiction inherent in the ethnic nature of Pagan tradition and the universality of human spirituality (Geist), finally resulting in the emergence of a religion with a universalist scope in the form of Christianity.^[27]

Late Antiquity [link]

Further information: Origins of Christianity, Decline of Hellenistic paganism, Magic in the Greco-Roman world, and Hellenic philosophy and Christianity

The developments of Late Antiquity in the religious thought in the far-flung Roman Empire needs to be addressed separately, as this is the context in which Early Christianity itself developed as one of several monotheistic cults, and it was in this period that the concept of "pagan" developed in the first place. Christianity as it emerged out of Second Temple Judaism (or Hellenistic Judaism) stood in competition with other religions advocating "pagan monotheism", including Neoplatonism, Mithraism, Gnosticism, Manichaeanism, and the cult of Dionysus.^[28]

Dionysus in particular exhibits significant parallels with Christ, so that numerous scholars have concluded that the recasting of Jesus the wandering rabbi into the image of Christ the Logos, the divine saviour, reflects the cult of Dionysus directly. They point to the symbolism of wine and the importance it held in the mythology surrounding both Dionysus and Jesus Christ;^[29]^[30] Wick argues that the use of wine symbolism in the Gospel of John, including the story of the Marriage at Cana at which Jesus turns water into wine, was intended to show Jesus as superior to Dionysus.^[31] The scene in The Bacchae wherein Dionysus appears before King Pentheus on charges of claiming divinity is compared to the New Testament scene of Jesus being interrogated by Pontius Pilate.^[31]^[32]^[33]

For these reasons, it is difficult if not impossible to draw a clear line between "Christianity" and "Paganism" for the period of the 3rd to 4th centuries when Christianity was in its formative phase. Only with the emergence of Orthodox Christianity as reflected in the Apostle's Creed and the final decline of Hellenistic paganism by the 6th century does "Paganism" become a concept clearly distinct from Christianity.

Ethnic religions of pre-Christian Europe [link]

Further information: Christianization

(as opposed to Abrahamic religion)

Pagan survivals in folklore [link]

Further information: Folklore

In addition, folklore that is not any longer perceived as holding any religious significance can in some instances be traced to pre-Christian or pre-Islamic origins. In Europe, this is particularly the case with the various customs of Carnival or Fasnacht and the Yule traditions surrounding Santa Claus/Sinterklaas. By contrast, the Christmas tree in spite of frequent association with Thor's Oak cannot be shown to be an innovation predating the Early Modern period.

Early Modern period [link]

Interest in pagan traditions was revived in the Renaissance, at first in Renaissance magic as a revival of Greco-Roman magic. In the 17th century, description of paganism turned from the theological aspect to the ethnological, and a religion began to be understood as part of the ethnic identity of a people, and the study of the religions of "primitive" peoples triggered questions as to the ultimate historical origin of religion. Thus, Nicolas Fabri de Peiresc saw the pagan religions of Africa of his day as relicts that were in principle capable of shedding light on the historical Paganism of Classical Antiquity.^[34]

Romanticism [link]

Paganism re-surfaces as a topic of fascination in 18th to 19th century Romanticism, in particular in the context of the literary Celtic and Viking revivals, which portrayed historical Celtic and Germanic polytheists as noble savages.

The 19th century also saw much scholarly interest in the reconstruction of pagan mythology from folklore or fairy tales. This was notably attempted by the Brothers Grimm, especially Jacob Grimm in his Teutonic Mythology, and Elias Lönnrot with the compilation of the Kalevala. The work of the Brothers Grimm influenced other collectors, both inspiring them to collect tales and leading them to similarly believe that the fairy tales of a country were particularly representative of it, to the neglect of cross-cultural influence. Among those influenced were the Russian Alexander Afanasyev, the Norwegians Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe, and the Englishman Joseph Jacobs.^[35]

Romanticist interest in non-classical antiquity coincided with the rise of Romantic nationalism and the rise of the nation state in the context of the 1848 revolutions, leading to the creation of national epics and national myths for the various newly formed states. Pagan or folkloristic topics were also common in the Musical nationalism of the period.

Contemporary Paganism [link]

Main article: Neopaganism

Romuvan priestess conducting a ceremony in Lithuania. Romuva is the Neopagan revival of the ethnic religion of the Lithuanians and the Balts.

Pagan handfasting ceremony at Avebury (Beltane 2005).

Contemporary Paganism, or Neopaganism, includes reconstructed religions such as Hellenic polytheism, Slavic neopaganism (i.e. Slavianstvo, including Rodnovery), Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism, or Germanic religious reconstructionism, as well as modern eclectic traditions such as Discordianism, Wicca and its many offshoots.

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.

The hammer Mjöllnir is one of the primary symbols of Germanic Neopaganism. Pendants of the Mjöllnir are commonly worn amongst Germanic Neopagans.

Neopaganism in the United States accounts for roughly a third of all contemporary Pagans worldwide, and for some 0.2% of US population, figuring as the sixth largest non-Christian denomination in the US, after Judaism (1.4%), Islam (0.6%), Buddhism (0.5%), Hinduism (0.3%) and Unitarian Universalism (0.3%).^[36]

In Iceland, the members of Ásatrúarfélagið account for 0.4% of the total population,^[37] which is just over a thousand people. In Lithuania, many people practice Romuva, a revived version of the pre-Christian religion of that country. Lithuania was among the last areas of Europe to be Christianized.

There are a number of Pagan authors who have examined the relation of the 20th-century movements of polytheistic revival with historical polytheism on one hand and contemporary traditions of indigenous folk religion on the other. Isaac Bonewits introduces a terminology to make this distinction,^[38]

Paleopaganism: A retronym coined to contrast with "Neopaganism", "original polytheistic, nature-centered faiths", such as the pre-Hellenistic Greek and pre-imperial Roman religion, pre-Migration period Germanic paganism as described by Tacitus, or Celtic polytheism as described by Julius Caesar. Among extant "major religions", Bonewits would count as Paleopagan Hinduism as it stood prior to the Islamic invasions of India, Shintoism and Taoism.
Mesopaganism: A group, which is, or has been, significantly influenced by monotheistic, dualistic, or nontheistic worldviews, but has been able to maintain an independence of religious practices. This group includes aboriginal Americans as well as Australian aborigines, Viking Age Norse paganism and New Age spirituality. Influences include: Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism, Theosophy, Spiritualism, and the many Afro-Diasporic faiths like Haitian Vodou, Santería and Espiritu religion. Isaac Bonewits includes British Traditional Wicca in this subdivision.
Neopaganism: A movement by modern people to revive nature-worshipping, pre-Christian religions, or other nature-based spiritual paths. This definition may include groups such as Neo-druidism and Wicca at the other.

Prudence Jones and Nigel Pennick in their A History of Pagan Europe (1995) classify "pagan religions" as characterized by the following traits:

polytheism: Pagan religions recognise a plurality of divine beings, which may or may not be considered aspects of an underlying unity (the soft and hard polytheism distinction)
"nature-based": Pagan religions have a concept of the divinity of Nature, which they view as a manifestation of the divine, not as the "fallen" creation found in Dualistic cosmology.
"sacred feminine": Pagan religions recognize "the female divine principle", identified as "the Goddess" (as opposed to individual goddesses) besides or in place of the male divine principle as expressed in the Abrahamic God.^[39]

In modern times, "Heathen" and "Heathenry" are increasingly used to refer to those branches of Paganism inspired by the pre-Christian religions of the Germanic, Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon peoples. (Ref: http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/paganism/subdivisions/heathenry_1.shtml)

Demographics [link]

Paganism has been previously defined broadly, to encompass many or most of the faith traditions outside the Abrahamic religions.

The term has also been used more narrowly,^[40]^[41]^[42] however, to refer only to religions outside the very large group of so-called Axial Age faiths that encompass both the Abrahamic religions and the chief Indian religions. Under this narrower definition, which differs from that historically used by many^[43]^[44] (though by no means all^[45]^[46]) Christians and other Westerners, contemporary Paganism is a smaller and more marginal numerical phenomenon. According to Encyclopædia Britannica estimates (as of 2005), adherents of Chinese folk religion account for some 6.3% of world population, and adherents of tribal religions ("ethnoreligionists") for another 4.0%. The number of adherents of neopaganism is insignificant in comparison, amounting to 0.02% of world population at the most, or some 0.4% of the "ethnoreligious" population.

References [link]

Notes [link]

^ http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_/pagan.html
^ "A Basic Introduction to Paganism", BBC, retrieved 19 May 2007.
^ Word History
^ Watts, Alan W. "Nature, Man and Woman", 1991, Vintage Books, p. 25.
^ OED etymology for paynim: < Anglo-Norman paenisme, painisme, paienime, painnim, peinibvgnb, bjkbyh ikbh where is the pegacorn me, paenime, etc., and Old French paienime, paienisme heathen lands (c1150–74), heathen religion (1160) < post-classical Latin paganismus (see PAGANISM n.), probably influenced by Old French paien (see PAYEN n.).
^ OED entry for 'paynimry'.
^ http://www.lexic.us/definition-of/paynimry
^ Matson, Wallace I. (2012). Grand Theories and Everyday Beliefs: Science, Philosophy, and Their Histories. Oxford University Press. p. 137. ISBN 978-0-19-981269-1. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=x9iunvf5ezUC&pg=PA137&dq=peasant+cognate+pagan&hl=en&sa=X&ei=I5siT-mJDM2Y8gPv06CrBw&ved=0CEoQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=peasant%20cognate%20pagan&f=false.
^ Harry Thurston Peck, Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquity, 1897; "pagus"
^ Divers. Quaest. 83. Augustine makes clear that, in his time, paganus was the term in Vulgar Latin synonymous to educated gentilis "gentile".
^ "Theodosius I", The Catholic Encyclopedia, 1912
^ "The City of God", Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite DVD, 2003.
^ Baggini, Julian (25 March 2012). "Atheists, please read my heathen manifesto". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/mar/25/atheists-please-read-heathen-manifesto. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
^ 'Hymn to Proserpine'
^ Jewish Encyclopedia
^ Shirk
^ Chapman, John (1912). "Tritheists", The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved 17 May 2011.
^ Christianised calendar
^ The Pope, The Emperor and the Persian Leader
^ 'Philip Melanchthon 'Apologia Confessionis Augustanae'
^ Jean Seznec 'The Survival of the Pagan Gods'
^ "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Paganism". 21 November 2009. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11388a.htm. Retrieved 17 August 2010. "Paganism, in the broadest sense includes all religions other than the true one revealed by God, and, in a narrower sense, all except Christianity, Judaism, and Mohammedanism. The term is also used as the equivalent of Polytheism."
^ – Robinson, B.A (2000). "What do "Paganism" & "Pagan" mean?" at religioustolerance.org
^ "Pagan", Encyclopædia Britannica 11th Edition, 1911, retrieved 22 May 2007.[1]
^ Peter Brown, in Glen Warren Bowersock, Peter Robert Lamont Brown, Oleg Grabar, eds., Late Antiquity: a guide to the postclassical world, 1999, s.v. "Pagan".
^ c.f. the civil, natural and mythical theologies of Marcus Terentius Varro
^ Ludwig Feuerbach, Geschichte der neueren Philosophie (1833), Introduction, §1 (Paganism, Philosophy, Religion, Christianity) Das Wesen des Heidentums war die Einheit von Religion und Politik, Geist und Natur, Gott und Mensch. Aber der Mensch im Heidentum war nicht der Mensch schlechtweg, sondern der nationell bestimmte Mensch: der Grieche, der Römer, der Ägyptier, der Jude, folglich auch sein Gott ein nationell bestimmtes, besonderes, dem Wesen oder Gotte anderer Völker entgegengesetztes Wesen — ein Wesen also im Widerspruch mit dem Geiste, welcher das Wesen der Menschheit und als ihr Wesen die allgemeine Einheit aller Völker und Menschen ist. Die Aufhebung dieses Widerspruchs im Heidentum war die heidnische Philosophie; denn sie riß den Menschen heraus aus seiner nationellen Abgeschlossenheit und Selbstgenügsamkeit, erhob ihn über die Borniertheit des Volksdünkels und Volksglaubens, versetzte ihn auf den kosmopolitischen Standpunkt.
^ E. Kessler, Dionysian Monotheism in Nea Paphos, Cyprus "two monotheistic religions, Dionysian and Christian, existed contemporaneously in Nea Paphos during the 4th century C.E. [...] the particular iconography of Hermes and Dionysos in the panel of the Epiphany of Dionysos [...] represents the culmination of a Pagan iconographic tradition in which an infant divinity is seated on the lap of another divine figure; this Pagan motif was appropriated by early Christian artists and developed into the standardized icon of the Virgin and Child. Thus the mosaic helps to substantiate the existence of Pagan monotheism." Biblical Studies on the Web
^ Pausanias, Description of Greece 6. 26. 1 - 2
^ Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae 2. 34a
^ ^a ^b Wick, Peter (2004). "Jesus gegen Dionysos? Ein Beitrag zur Kontextualisierung des Johannesevangeliums". Biblica (Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute) 85 (2): 179–198. http://www.bsw.org/?l=71851&a=Comm06.html. Retrieved 2007-10-10.
^ Studies in Early Christology, by Martin Hengel, 2005, p.331 (ISBN 0567042804)
^ Powell, Barry B., Classical Myth Second ed. With new translations of ancient texts by Herbert M. Howe. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1998.
^ "It would be a great pleasure to make the comparison with what survives to us of ancient Paganism in our old books, in order to have better [grasped] their spirit." Peter N. Miller, History of Religion Becomes Ethnology: Some Evidence from Peiresc's Africa Journal of the History of Ideas 67.4 (2006) 675–696.[2]
^ Jack Zipes, The Great Fairy Tale Tradition: From Straparola and Basile to the Brothers Grimm, p 846, ISBN 0-393-97636-X
^ ARIS 2001 figures.
^ Statistics Iceland – Statistics >> Population >> Religious organisations
^ "Defining Paganism: Paleo-, Meso-, and Neo-" (Version 2.5.1) 1979, 2007 c.e., Isaac Bonewits
^ Jones, Prudence; Pennick, Nigel (1995). A History of Pagan Europe. Page 2. Routledge.
^ Meanings of the terms Pagan and Paganism
^ Eisenstadt, S.N., 1983, Transcendental Visions – Other-Worldliness – and Its Transformations: Some More Comments on L. Dumont. Religion13:1–17, at p. 3.
^ Michael York, Paganism as Root-Religion, The Pomegranate, 6:1 (2004), pp. 11–18 (distinguishing the main streams of developed religion as gnostic, dharmic, Abrahamic and pagan).
^ Catholic Encyclopaedia (1917 edition) on paganism
^ Hindu rites at a famous Catholic shrine shocks many Catholics
^ David Scott, Christian Responses to Buddhism in Pre-Medieval Times, Numen, Vol. 32, No. 1 (Jul., 1985), pp. 88–100
^ Audrius Beinorius, Buddhism in the Early European Imagination: A Historical Perspective, ACTA ORIENTALIA VILNENSIA 6:2 (2005), pp. 7–22

Bibliography [link]

Robert, P. & Scott, N., (1995) "A History of Pagan Europe". New York, Barnes & Noble Books, ISBN 0-7607-1210-7.
York, Michael Pagan Theology: Paganism as a World Religion NYU Press (2003), ISBN 0-8147-9708-3.

Look up pagan or heathen in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Paganism

v t e Paganism (Historical Polytheism and Neopaganism)

Main concepts	Animism · Pantheism · Polytheism · Shamanism

Historical Polytheism	Ancient Near Eastern: Assyro-Babylonian · Egyptian · Canaanite · Indo-European: Vedic · Armenian · Greek (Hero cult · Eleusinian Mysteries) · Roman · Celtic · Germanic · Scythian · Finnish-Estonian · Mesoamerican: Aztec · Maya · Olmec

Folk religion	Eurasian Shamanism · Hindu · Christian · Chinese · Japanese · Native American · Pacific

Myth and ritual	Ancestor worship · Animal worship · Ethos · Folklore · Magic and religion · Myth and ritual · Mythology · Orthopraxy · Religion and mythology · Ritual · Sacrifice (Animal · Human) · Sorcery · Tradition · Virtue · Witchcraft

Christianization	Christianity and Paganism · Christianized myths and imagery · Christianised calendar · Constantinian shift · Hellenistic religion · Iconoclasm · Neoplatonism · Religio licita · Roman imperial cult · Virtuous pagan

Neopagan movements	Reconstructionism (Baltic [ Dievturība · Romuva ] · Celtic [ Senistrognata · Druidry ] · Finnish · Estonian · Germanic [ Ariosophy · Forn Siðr · Odinism · Theodism · Urglaawe ] · Greek · Semitic · Kemetism · Roman · Slavic) · Contemporary Witchcraft (Wicca · Stregheria · Cochranianism · Feri) / European Congress of Ethnic Religions

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East Asian	Confucianism Shinto Taoism Zen Hoa Hao Cao Dai

Recent	Cheondoism Discordianism Eckankar I-Kuan Tao Neopaganism New Age New Thought Raëlism Rastafari Scientology Seicho-no-Ie Tenrikyo Thelema Unification Church Unitarian Universalism Wicca

Indigenous	African Afro-American Indigenous Australian Chinese Finnish-Estonian Gurung Javanese Native American Philippine Tibetan (Bön) Polynesian

Ancient religions

Prehistoric	Paleolithic

Near East	Egyptian Mesopotamian Semitic

Indo-European	Celtic Germanic Greek Gnosticism Neoplatonism Illyro-Thracian Mithraism Roman Slavic Vedic Hinduism

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Pagan Altar
Pagan Altar - live in 2009 at Metal Merchants Festival in Oslo, Norway Pagan Altar - live in 2009 at Metal Merchants Festival in Oslo, Norway
Background information
Origin	Brockley, England
Genres	Doom metal, NWOBHM
Years active	1978–1982 2004–present
Website	paganaltar.com
Members
Terry Jones Alan Jones Dean Alexander Vince Hempstead William Gallagher
Past members
Trevor Portch Mark Elliott John Mizrahi Glenn Robinson Les Moody Pete Dobbins Andy Green Ian Winters Diccon Harper Marcus Cella Luke Hunter

Pagan Altar is a doom metal band from England.

1 Biography
2 Line-up
3 Discography
4 References
5 External links

Biography [link]

Pagan Altar was formed in 1976 by Alan and Terry Jones Alongside Witchfinder General, they are one of the few NWOBHM bands to play doom metal.^[1]

Their gigs are characterised by moody, epic and heavy music interpreted with highly visual stage aspect which accented their interest for occult themes. Pagan Altar's only release from that era was independent, self-released, self-titled cassette which was in later years bootlegged. Despite no label interest in the late 70's and early 80's, the timelessness of their music kept Pagan Altar's music alive over two decades. .It was finally officially re-released on Oracle Records in 1998 and titled "Volume 1".

Mid-first decade of the 21st century, the group had reformed to re-record an album of material written, but never released during their original tenure as a band. That album, "Lords of Hypocrisy", has been met with an incredible reception from fans of doom both old and new, this was followed by a third full length, named "Mythical and Magical"

Pagan Altar are back on the road after 5 years to record their new album "Never Quite Dead" with there very own purpose built recording studio for the album in Terry's back garden. With new members behind Alan and Terry to form the backbone of the Pagan Altar live sound. Joining them is Vince Hempstead on Guitars, Dean Alexander on drums and their latest edition, William Gallagher on Bass.

Line-up [link]

Terry Jones - vocals
Alan Jones - guitar
Vince Hempstead - guitar
Dean Alexander - Drums
William Gallagher - Bass guitar

Discography [link]

Albums [link]

Volume 1 CD (1998)
The Lords Of Hypocrisy CD (2004)
Mythical & Magical CD (2006)

Never Quite Dead CD (2012)

EP [link]

The Time Lord (2004) and re released special edition (2012)

SINGLES [link]

"Pagan Altar/Jex Thoth, Split single" (2007)
"Pagan Altar/Mirror of Deception, Split single" (2011)

Demo [link]

Pagan Altar (1982)

References [link]

^ Pagan Altar at BNR Metal

External links [link]

http://wn.com/Pagan_Altar

This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pagan_Altar

This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.

"Christmas Song" redirects here. For the Mannheim Steamroller album, see Christmas Song (album). For songs of the Christmas season, see Christmas music. For the different song of the same title by Gilbert O'Sullivan, see Gilbert O'Sullivan discography.

"The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You)"
Single by The King Cole Trio
B-side	"In the Cool of Evening" (Capitol 311) "Laguna Mood" (Capitol 15201) "(All I Want for Christmas Is) My Two Front Teeth" (Capitol F90036; Capitol F2955) "The Little Boy that Santa Claus Forgot" (Capitol 3561)
Released	November 1946 (1946-11) November 1953 (1953-11)
Format	10-inch, 7-inch
Recorded	August 19, 1946 (1946-08-19) August 26, 1953 (1953-08-26)
Genre	Christmas, Jazz, Pop
Length	3:10 (1946 recording) 3:12 (1953 recording)
Label	Capitol 311 (1946) Capitol 15201 (1948) Capitol F90036 (1953) Capitol F2955 (1954) Capitol 3561 (1956)
Writer(s)	Mel Tormé, Bob Wells

"The Christmas Song" (commonly subtitled "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire" or, as it was originally subtitled, "Merry Christmas to You") is a classic Christmas song written in 1944 by musician, composer, and vocalist Mel Tormé (aka The Velvet Fog), and Bob Wells. According to Tormé, the song was written during a blistering hot summer. In an effort to "stay cool by thinking cool", the most-performed (according to BMI) Christmas song was born.

"I saw a spiral pad on his piano with four lines written in pencil", Tormé recalled. "They started, "Chestnuts roasting..., Jack Frost nipping..., Yuletide carols..., Folks dressed up like Eskimos.' Bob (Wells, co-writer) didn't think he was writing a song lyric. He said he thought if he could immerse himself in winter he could cool off. Forty minutes later that song was written. I wrote all the music and some of the lyrics."

The Nat King Cole Trio first recorded the song early in 1946. At Cole's behest – and over the objections of his label, Capitol Records – a second recording was made the same year utilizing a small string section, this version becoming a massive hit on both the pop and R&B charts. Cole again recorded the song in 1953, using the same arrangement with a full orchestra arranged and conducted by Nelson Riddle, and once more in 1961, in a stereophonic version with orchestra conducted by Ralph Carmichael. Nat King Cole's 1961 version is generally regarded as definitive, and in 2004 was the most loved seasonal song with women aged 30–49,^[1] while Cole's original 1946 recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1974.^[2] Mel Tormé recorded the song himself in 1954, and again in 1961, 1966 and 1992.

1 The Nat King Cole recordings
2 Selective list of notable recordings
3 Parodies
4 Footnotes
5 External links

The Nat King Cole recordings [link]

First recording: Recorded at WMCA Radio Studios, New York City, June 14, 1946. Label credit: The King Cole Trio (Nat King Cole, vocal-pianist; Oscar Moore, guitarist; Johnny Miller, bassist). Not issued until 1989, when it was (accidentally) included on the various-artists compilation Billboard Greatest Christmas Hits (1935–1954) Rhino R1 70637(LP) / R2 70637(CD).

Second recording: Recorded at WMCA Radio Studios, New York City, August 19, 1946. First record issue. Label credit: The King Cole Trio with String Choir (Nat King Cole, vocal-pianist, Oscar Moore, guitarist; Johnny Miller, bassist; Charlie Grean, conductor of 4 string players, a harpist and a drummer) Lacquer disc master #981. Issued November 1946 as Capitol 311 (78rpm). This is featured on a CD called The Holiday Album, which has 1940s Christmas songs recorded by Cole and Bing Crosby. In 2005 Capitol restored and re-released it for the 25 bit re-mastered Cole album "The Christmas Song", which also contains tracks from his 1960 and 1963 holiday albums.

Third recording: Recorded at Capitol Studios, Hollywood, August 24, 1953. This was the song,s first magnetic tape recording. Label credit: The King Cole Trio with String Choir (Actual artists: Nat King Cole, vocal; Nelson Riddle, orchestra conductor) Master #11726, take 11. Issued November 1953 as the "new" Capitol 90036(78rpm) / F90036(45rpm) (Capitol first issued 90036 in 1950 with the second recording). Correct label credit issued on October 18, 1954 as Capitol 2955(78rpm) / F2955(45rpm). Label credit: Nat "King" Cole with Orchestra Conducted by Nelson Riddle. This recording is available on the 1990 CD Cole, Christmas and Kids, as well as the various-artists compilation Casey Kasem Presents All Time Christmas Favorites. It was also included, along with both 1946 recordings, on the 1991 Mosaic Records box set The Complete Capitol Recordings of the Nat King Cole Trio.

Fourth recording: Recorded at Capitol Studios, New York City, March 30, 1961. This rendition, the first recorded in stereo, is widely played on radio stations during the Christmas season, and is probably the most famous version of this song. Label credit: Nat King Cole (Nat King Cole, vocal; Charles Grean and Pete Rugolo, orchestration; Ralph Carmichael, orchestra conductor). The instrumental arrangement is nearly identical with the 1953 version, but the vocals are much deeper and more focused. Originally done for The Nat King Cole Story (a 1961 LP devoted to stereo re-recordings of Cole's earlier hits), this recording was later appended to a reissue of Cole's 1960 holiday album The Magic of Christmas. Retitled The Christmas Song, the album was issued in 1963 as Capitol W-1967(mono) / SW-1967(stereo) and today is in print on compact disc. This recording of "The Christmas Song" is also available on numerous compilation albums. Some are Capitol pop standards Christmas compilations while others are broader-based. It's available on WCBS-FM's Ultimate Christmas Album Volume 3, for example.

There were several covers of Nat Cole's original record in the 1940s. The first of these was said to be by Dick Haymes on the Decca label, but his was released first – not recorded first. The first cover of "The Christmas Song" was performed by pop tenor and bandleader Eddy Howard on Majestic. Howard was a big Cole fan, and also covered Nat's versions of "I Want to Thank Your Folks" and "I Love You for Sentimental Reasons", among others.

Selective list of notable recordings [link]

	"The Christmas Song" by CeCe Peniston noicon Peniston recorded the composition for the Merry Arizona II: Desert Stars Shine at Christmas compilation in 1996.
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

"The Christmas Song" has been covered by numerous artists from a wide variety of genres, including:

Aaliyah
Trace Adkins
Christina Aguilera (#18 in US, #22 in Canada)
Clay Aiken
Herb Alpert
Thomas Anders
India.Arie and Stevie Wonder (winner of the Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals in 2003)
Aska
Babyface
Tony Bennett
Polly Bergen (who sang the song on the December 14, 1957 airing of her NBC variety show, The Polly Bergen Show)^[3]
Justin Bieber and Usher (#58 in US, #59 in Canada)
Michael Bolton
Toni Braxton
Garth Brooks
James Brown
Les Brown and his Orchestra (with Doris Day on lead vocal)
Michael Bublé (his version, bearing close similarities to Celine Dion's recording of the song, reached #6 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart in December 2003.)
Kenny Burrell
The Canadian Brass (from their 1985 Christmas album A Canadian Brass Christmas)
The Carpenters (from their 1978 Christmas album Christmas Portrait)
Celtic Woman
Charice
Chicago
Christmas Who? (a SpongeBob Christmas special. SpongeBob and Patrick in a Christmas song sing as a lyric "...chestnuts roasting and burns in the third degree" before the ending of their song.)
Charlotte Church
Rosemary Clooney
Natalie Cole
Bing Crosby
Danny Davis and the Nashville Brass (1970)
Sammy Davis, Jr.
Doris Day (from her 1964 Christmas album The Doris Day Christmas Album)
Gavin DeGraw
Celine Dion
Vanessa Doofenshmirtz (voiced by Olivia Olson on the album Phineas and Ferb Holiday Favorites)
Bob Dylan
Gloria Estefan
Connie Francis
Aretha Franklin
Judy Garland, who sang the song in a duet with its composer, Mel Torme, on a Christmas-themed episode of her television show in December 1963.
Amy Grant (from her 1983 Christmas album A Christmas Album)
Josh Groban (from his 2007 holiday album, Noël)
Robert Goulet
Hampton String Quartet
Eddie Higgins
Hootie and the Blowfish
Whitney Houston
Ramon "RJ" Jacinto (from his 1988 Christmas album Pasko Na Naman)
The Jackson 5
Alan Jackson (from his 2007 Christmas album Let It Be Christmas)
Joni James (from her 1956 Merry Christmas from Joni). Joni's version alters the lyric: "I'm offering this simple phrase, for kids from one to ninety-two" to "... kids from one to ninety-one".
Al Jarreau
Joe
Wynonna Judd
Peggy Lee
Damien Leith (from a special limited Christmas edition of his 2007 album Where We Land)
The Lettermen
Lovedrug
Aimee Mann (from her 2006 album One More Drifter in the Snow)
Johnny Mathis
Martina McBride
Reba McEntire
Brian McKnight
*NSYNC
Ricky Nelson (on the episode of TV's The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet titled "A Busy Christmas")
Aaron Neville
New Kids on the Block
Des O'Connor (from a Tesco Christmas advert)
Alexander O'Neal
Olivia Olson (from a 2010 Christmas album Phineas and Ferb: Holiday Favourites)
The Partridge Family (from their 1971 Christmas album A Partridge Family Christmas Card)
Les Paul
CeCe Peniston (from the 1996 Christmas album Merry Arizona II: Desert Stars Shine at Christmas)
LeAnn Rimes (on her first holiday album What a Wonderful World)
Raven-Symoné
Smokey Robinson and The Miracles (from their 1963 Christmas album Christmas with The Miracles)
Linda Ronstadt (from her 2000 Christmas album A Merry Little Christmas)
SWV
Diane Schuur (nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Female in 1990)
Neil Sedaka (from his 2008 first-ever holiday album, The Miracle of Christmas)
Jessica Simpson
Frank Sinatra (including two recordings: a virtual duet with Nat King Cole, and an actual duet with Bing Crosby)
Tom Smith (of the Editors) and Agnes Obel (on the 2011 Smith and Burrows album, Funny Looking Angels)
George Strait
Donna Summer
Demi Lovato
The Supremes (remained unreleased until their 1965 Christmas album, Merry Christmas, was re-released in 1999 with additional tracks)
Kim Taeyeon (of the South Korean pop group Girls' Generation)
Take 6
James Taylor
Team Rocket (voiced by Rachael Lillis, Eric Stewart and Maddie Blaustein on the album Pokémon Christmas Bash)
The Temptations
Mel Tormé – recorded by the writer four times (1954, 1961, 1966 and finally in 1992 as part of his album "Christmas Songs")
Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons
Luther Vandross
Andy Williams
Stevie Wonder (from his 1967 Christmas album Someday at Christmas)
Dwight Yoakam
Ascap entry for song showing numerous other covers

Parodies [link]

The title of The Simpsons episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire" is a parody of the song.
Bob Rivers parodied the song with his 2000 album, and the title track from said album, "Chipmunks Roasting On an Open Fire".
Stan Freberg's "Green Chri$tma$" includes several snippets of holiday songs. One segment begins with a sincere-sounding "Chestnuts roasting..." and quickly segués into a mock 1950s radio or TV ad, for a brand of chestnuts, being described as if they were toothpaste or cigarettes.
Twisted Sister parodied the song in his 2006 album A Twisted Christmas.

Footnotes [link]

^ Edison Media Research: What We Learned From Testing Christmas Music in 2004 Retrieved November 29, 2011
^ Grammy Hall of Fame Retrieved November 29, 2011
^ "The Polly Bergen Show". Classic Television Archives. http://ctva.biz/US/MusicVariety/PollyBergenShow.htm. Retrieved January 9, 2011.

External links [link]

Mark Evanier on Tormé and "The Christmas Song"

CeCe Peniston singles

1990s

"Finally" (1991) "I Like It" (1991) "We Got a Love Thang" (1992) "Keep On Walkin'" (1992) "Inside That I Cried" (1992) "Crazy Love" (1992) "Searchin'" (1993) "I'm in the Mood" (1993) "I Will Be Received" (1994) "I'm Not Over You" (1994) "Hit by Love" (1994) "Keep Givin' Me Your Love" (1995) "Movin' On" (1996) "Before I Lay" (1996) "Finally '97" (1997) "Somebody Else's Guy" (1998) "I Know You Want Me" (1998) "Nobody Else (1998) "He Loves Me 2" (1999)

Other songs:	"Kickin' Da Blues" (1991) "Female Preacher" (1991) "Goody Goody" (1993) "Don't Forget the Love" (1994) "How I Got Over" (1995) "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" (1995) "Precious Memories" (1995) "Oh Happy Day" (1995) "All That I Need" (1996) "The Christmas Song" (1996) "What a Wonderful World" (1997) "When I'm with You" (1998) "Keep It Real" (1998)

2000s

"Lifetime to Love" (2000) "My Boo" (2001) "Reminiscin" (2001) "For My Baby" (2003) "Eternal Lover" (2004) "Deeper Love" (2005) "You Are the Universe (DJ Hasebe Remix)" (2006) "I'm Feelin' U" (2007) "Shame Shame Shame" (2007) "Still I" (2007) "Finally '08" (2008) "Above Horizons" (2009)

Other songs:	"I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)" (200?) "Runnin' Away" (2003) "I Think About Him" (2003) "There You'll Be" (2005) "I Like" (2005) "Last Dance" (2008)

2010s

"In Love with a DJ" (2010) "Stoopid!" (2011) "Keep On Flossing" (2011) "Finally '11" (2011) "Celebrate" (2012)

Other songs:	"Make Me Say Oh" (2011)

v t e Christina Aguilera singles

Discography Songs

Christina Aguilera	"Genie in a Bottle" "What a Girl Wants" "I Turn to You" "Come On Over Baby (All I Want Is You)"

Mi Reflejo	"Pero Me Acuerdo de Ti" "Falsas Esperanzas"

My Kind of Christmas	"The Christmas Song"

Stripped	"Dirrty" "Beautiful" "Fighter" "Can't Hold Us Down" "The Voice Within"

Back to Basics	"Ain't No Other Man" "Hurt" "Candyman" "Slow Down Baby" "Oh Mother"

Keeps Gettin' Better: A Decade of Hits	"Keeps Gettin' Better"

Bionic	"Not Myself Tonight" "Woohoo" "You Lost Me"

Featured singles	"Nobody Wants to Be Lonely" "What's Going On" "El Último Adiós" "Tilt Ya Head Back" "A Song for You" "Somos Novios (It's Impossible)" "Tell Me" "Moves Like Jagger"

Soundtrack singles	"Reflection" "Lady Marmalade" "Car Wash" "Casa de Mi Padre"

Other songs	"Si No Te Hubiera Conocido" "Walk Away" "Hello (Follow Your Own Star)" "Lift Me Up" "Bionic" "I Hate Boys" "Express" "Show Me How You Burlesque" "Castle Walls"

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This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Christmas_Song

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