7 Myths about Paganism

I just listened to a great episode on BBC History Extra Podcast on paganism!

While we are on the topic, let me bust for you five myths about paganism!

Myth 1: The word “pagan” means rural and rustic people. No, it seems to be based on the word “Pagano” which means something more like “panopoly” of people and places.

Myth 2: Ancient pagans worshiped multiple gods. Well, yes, most of the time, but there were certain types of pagan monotheism in terms of only worshipping one God, or all gods were an expression of the one and same divine reality. You could call that summodeism or something like that. But there is a taxonomy of monotheisms.

Myth 3: Ancient pagans were all bloodthirsty and violent. Again, sometimes, ancient pagan cultures did practice human sacrifice or other violent rituals, but not all of them did. Many ancient pagan cultures were peaceful and had sophisticated ethical and moral systems.

Myth 4: Ancient paganism was completely eradicated by Christianity. While Christianity did become the dominant religion in many parts of the world, it did not completely eradicate pagan beliefs and practices. Many pagan traditions continued to survive and evolve alongside Christianity, and some have experienced a revival in modern times.

Myth 5: The date for Christmas is based on the pagan festival of Saturnalia. In short, no. In Christian tradition, the incarnation, i.e., the conception of Jesus took place on 25 March. Nine months later is … 25 December!

Myth 6: Paganism was the major influence on Christianity. This is complex because Christianity did participate in the Greco-Roman world of language, literature, and religious tenets. But the major influences on Christianity were Jewish. The idea that Christianity was a rip-off of dying and rising gods, a parody of Egyptian deities, was based on Mithraism, is false.

Myth 7: Paganism was an inclusive and pro-women religion. Again, not quite. There could be feminist cults and worship of goddesses and the like. But the idea that paganism was a pro-woman, anti-patriarchal, inclusive religion in touch with the sacred feminine is nonsense.

The really funny thing is how our memory of paganism is thoroughly Christianized. Check out two scenes from the 1997 Disney movie Hercules. The opening song is called Gospel Truth and the climax of the story is Hercules acting as a quasi-Christ effectively performing what is known as the fish-hook theory of the atonement by tricking the Devil/Hades to let him sacrifice himself to save his girlfriend, but Hades fails because Hercules is, guess what, a god!