Note : This has been excerpted from the Agora.

The definition we use, at the moment, is that a Pagan follows a religion that has its primary roots in Europe, North Africa, the Near East or the Americas, in which the Divine is worshipped under a variety of aspects, each of which require separate attention and devotion, whether they represent fully distinct beings, or not ...

Word set one : The historical aspect of the religion

1. Paleopaganism :
   
   

   The Paganism of a society that has never been primarily non-pagan.




2. Mesopaganism :
   
   

   The Paganism of a now mostly non-pagan society, that maintains continuity with a paleopagan past, though non-pagan elements may have crept in from the outside society.




3. Pagan Reconstructionism :
   
   

   The attempted recreation, in full or approximation, of a Pagan faith, when historical continuity is lost.




4. Neopaganism :
   
   

   Paganism that arose after non-pagan religions became dominant in the region of its origin. Wholly separate from the religion of the non-pagan interlude.




5. Demipaganism :
   
   

   Old pagan elements are restored to a heritage that has become non-pagan, being given a new context in the process of restoration.




6. Pagan Revisionism :
   
   

   Pagan elements, originating after the rise of non-paganism in the region of origin, are grafted onto a non-pagan religious base.

Word set two : The plurality of the Divine

1. Full Paganism :
   
   

   Multiple deities are believed in, who are fully distinct beings, with all elements of non-paganism fully rejected.




2. Non-paganism :
   
   

   Only one deity is believed in, of whom only one aspect need be worshipped.




3. Monalatrous Paganism :
   
   

   One deity is worshipped, but with multiple aspects, each of which requires attention of its own.




4. Adorational Paganism :
   
   

   There is a clearly supreme diety, and lesser divinities which live under its authority. Like angels, perhaps, but with far more freedom of individual action, God being viewed as being more remote and detached from events, than the lesser gods who are part of His creation.

(This page is located on The Almond Jar, the homepage of the Shrine of the Sleeping Gods).