Paganism (from Latin paganus, meaning "country dweller", "rustic") is a blanket term, typically used to refer to religious traditions which are polytheistic or indigenous.
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.
Stephen A. McNallen (born October 15, 1948) is an influential Germanic Neopagan leader and writer. Born in Breckenridge, Texas, McNallen has been heavily involved in Ásatrú since the 1970s.
McNallen attended Midwestern University in Wichita Falls, Texas.[citation needed] After receiving a degree in political science and his officer commission as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army, McNallen went on to become an Airborne Ranger.[citation needed] McNallen was stationed in Germany for the latter part of his active service, which ended in 1976.[citation needed]
After his discharge from the Army, McNallen hitch-hiked across the Sahara Desert, and worked as an adventure journalist. In this capacity, he travelled to Northern India and Burma to report on the military conflicts in the region, and later travelled to Africa and Bosnia to report on the wars in those regions in the 1990s. McNallen's articles have appeared in Soldier of Fortune magazine, amongst others.
McNallen worked for six years as a junior high school teacher in Nevada County, teaching science and math as well as having worked briefly as a corrections officer in Stephens County, Texas in 1986-1987. From 1987-1996, McNallen was in the California Army National Guard.[citation needed]