What is a pagan?

Historically

'Pagan' was the term Christians used to designate all those who did not accept the God of The Bible. The Word 'pagan' is derived from the Latin Word for country dweller. The pagans were the Greek and Roman polytheists who followed the cults of Mithras, Venus, Apollo, Demeter, etc. Today, however, Christians generally reserve the appellation for those who belong to no religion or who belong to one of the New Age nature religions or non-Christian cults.

Modern Pagan Religions

Nowadays "pagan" refers to people who practice non-Abrahamic, but not necessarily nature-based religions.

The most common branch is Wicca, and they believe in doing NO HARM to anyone. They use mystical and metaphysical forms of "prayer" and "worship", like candles, incense, chants, dance, earth cycles, moon cycles, seasonal cycles, etc to try to influence things. Their motto is "If it harm none, do as you will." They believe that if they do bad things to others, it will come back to them multiplied by three (Rule of Three). They believe there are spiritual guides and forces that most human beings cannot see but are available to ask for assistance. There are lots of books available on Wicca. Devil worship is NOT a part of Wicca!! Devil worshippers are deviants from the Christian belief in hell and Satan. Wiccans do not believe in hell or heaven; those are Christian ideas. Real Wiccans are gentle, loving people who are very misunderstood by other religions. Some Wiccans practice alone, others belong to groups called "covens."

Modern pagans are called "Neo-pagans". Many modern "Christian" traditions come from pagan festivals. For example, Christmas trees and Easter bunnies and eggs. Halloween is also an ancient pagan tradition. When the Christians took over the society of the pagans, the pagans refused to stop practicing their traditions, so the Christians integrated those festivals into the "church year." Christmas coincides with the winter solstice, and Easter with the spring equinox. They are not actually the dates of anything having to do with Jesus, but it got the pagan people to come to church. Now there is renewed interest in the pagan religions, and more and more people are practicing them, largely due to rejection of the practices of those organized religions in which they have lost faith.