The term Pagan is a Middle English word derived from the Late Latin paganus – a civilian or country dweller. When the term was first coined, it implied someone who was a rube, a hick, a hillbilly. Over the years, it gained a more spiritual connotation. To someone who followed one of the major religions of the time, Catholicism, Christianity or Islam, a pagan was someone who ascribed to no religion. The Christians considered the Muslims to be pagans, the Muslims considered the Christians to be the same, and the Catholics considered everyone else, Christian, Muslim or other, to be pagan.

These newer monotheistic religions took hold in the cities first and slowly trickled outwards to more rural people, so there was also an implication of foolishness or superstition attached to being a pagan. If a person was a pagan, chances were they still celebrated holidays associated with the planting and growth of their crops and herds, and as new calendars were introduced, they probably even celebrated the New Year on the ‘wrong’ day (hence April Fool’s Day). They were also probably the last people who heard about fashion changes (hence the pointy hats and robes attributed to witches).

Over the past few decades, Pagan, this time with a capital P, has once again been making an appearance. It no longer refers to someone who is a country dweller, or someone who is not a member of the religion of the majority, instead, it indicates someone who has a religion outside that which is most commonly accepted. If a hundred Pagans gather in the same vicinity, they will likely all have their own interpretation of what Pagan means. It can be a follower of a polytheistic religion, similar to the ancient Greeks or Romans - but there are monotheistic or duotheistic Pagans. It can be someone who has a reverence for nature and organic systems - but there are utilitarian and urban Pagans as well. It can be someone who strives to reconstruct ancient cultural forms of worship in the modern age – or it could be someone who integrates those ancient concepts into symbols of technology and culture that have only existed in the past twenty years. Today, Pagans come in all ages, races, cultural backgrounds, political parties, genders, economic brackets and locales.

There is still a lot of confusion as to what a Pagan actually is, and it seems like Pagan is better defined by what it is not instead of what it is. The most generic, generally accepted definition for Pagan is that it is an umbrella term for religions and belief systems that are not Catholic, Christian, Jewish or Muslim. Some feel that Buddhism and Hinduism are not Pagan while others feel they are. Some consider Satanism to be a form of Paganism, others consider it an offshoot of Christianity. Some of the African Diasporic faiths could be Pagan in nature, but some are closer in form and practice to Catholicism. There is a rising tide of people who consider themselves Catholic, Christian or Jewish Pagans, and there are probably even Muslim Pagans out there as well.

In many Pagan communities, both online and offline, there is a general outcry about newcomers to Paganism making assumptions about Paganism. Experienced members will often make it a point to wave the ‘umbrella term’ emphatically, and some members will assume the newcomer is clueless or is attempting to be problematic. Others still will argue against any attempts at generalizing or labeling a person’s religion this or that. Most defend their points of view by saying they are trying to dispel misconceptions and eliminate misunderstandings. Oftentimes, the refusal to pin a definition on the term causes greater muddying of the concept behind it and does absolutely nothing to shed light on the heart of what Paganism actually is. There are also some difficulties that come with the territory of being part of something one cannot effectively define or explain.

One of the greatest problems American Pagans face is exercising the right to freedom of religion. How can an American Pagan know if their religious rights are being infringed on if they cannot concisely pin down what their religion is? The Bill of Rights does not protect the interests of umbrella terms. An atheist can protest the addition of In God We Trust to the national currency, or the insistence upon repeating the Pledge of Allegiance in grade school – but the average Pagan may hit an obstacle when they try to insist, “No Pagan worships the God being referred to by the money or Pledge”. Inevitably, some other Pagan will stand up and say, “Well, I’m a Christo/Catholo/Jewish Pagan and I do worship that God, so it does not offend me”. Asking an employer for a religious holiday off from work can turn into a convoluted mess. “Boss, I need to have Hallowe’en off, because it’s a traditional holiday for me”. The boss may reply, “Well, I’m a Kemetic Reconstructionist Pagan, and you don’t see me taking some children’s day off, do you?”

The problems faced by Pagans are similar to those faced by people working in government agencies and various institutions where there is a need for political correctness, especially with the new trends and emphasis on diversity. How can an employer hope to comply with guidelines for religious respect and tolerance when some of their employees’ religions may not be well known and defy any attempt to classify or define? With Paganism, especially, because of long-held association with witchcraft and negative stereotypes, there have been stories about Pagans who have been denied services such as being able to adopt children, or having to hide symbols of their religion from governmental or institutional representatives. In May of 2005, a judge barred a divorced couple from exposing their child to Wicca[1], which was both parent’s religion. In 2007 in a well-publicized case, a Wiccan soldier killed in service was finally allowed the right to have a pentagram, a symbol of Wicca, emblazoned on his memorial marker. The big difference between being ‘Wiccan’ and being merely ‘Pagan’ is that Wicca, while being under the Pagan umbrella, is more well-defined than ‘Pagan’, and can be quantified by authoritative agencies and institutions. Pagan organizations that might be qualified to receive tax-exempt status as churches are denied on a regular basis because they cannot explicitly describe their beliefs enough to qualify as being religious in nature.

Unlike the ‘Big 4’ religions (Catholicism, Christianity, Islam & Judaism), Paganism does not have a unified ruling body. There is no centralized clergy, no Pope, and no centralized sacred document. What Paganism does have is thousands of individuals practicing and living their religions in their own ways. It is therefore largely the individuals’ responsibility to define ‘Pagan’ for those who are not Pagan, and even for Pagans who believe differently while still being Pagan. The best way to go about this is also left up to the individual to decide.