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A marble statue of Jupiter, king of the Roman gods. Paganism (from Latin pāgānus 'rural', 'rustic', later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, [1] or ethnic religions other than Judaism.
The Triumph of Christianity over Paganism, a painting by Gustave Doré (1899). Paganism is commonly used to refer to various religions that existed during Antiquity and the Middle Ages, such as the Greco-Roman religions of the Roman Empire, including the Roman imperial cult, the various mystery religions, religious philosophies such as Neoplatonism and Gnosticism, and more localized ethnic ...
In the modern pagan movement of Heathenry there are a number of holidays celebrated by different groups and individuals. The most widely observed are based on ancient Germanic practices described in historical accounts or folk practices; however, some adherents also incorporate innovations from the 20th and 21st centuries.
This feast may represent a Christian adaptation of the pagan feast Cervulus, integrating it with the donkey in the nativity story. [2] In connection with the biblical stories, the celebration was first observed in the 11th century, inspired by the pseudo-Augustinian Sermo contra Judaeos c. 6th century.
The Wheel of the Year in the Northern Hemisphere.Some Pagans in the Southern Hemisphere advance these dates six months to coincide with their own seasons.. The Wheel of the Year is an annual cycle of seasonal festivals, observed by a range of modern pagans, marking the year's chief solar events (solstices and equinoxes) and the midpoints between them.
The modern English noun Yule descends from Old English ġēol, earlier geoh(h)ol, geh(h)ol, and geóla, sometimes plural. [1] The Old English ġēol or ġēohol and ġēola or ġēoli indicate the 12-day festival of "Yule" (later: "Christmastide"), the latter indicating the month of "Yule", whereby ǣrra ġēola referred to the period before the Yule festival (December) and æftera ġēola ...
Shamrocks - clover-like plants with three leaves - were, according to legend, used by St Patrick to explain the Holy Trinity to the pagan Irish. ... While not a legal holiday, the day is widely ...
Walpurgis Night (/ v æ l ˈ p ʊər ɡ ɪ s, v ɑː l-,-ˈ p ɜːr-/), [3] [4] an abbreviation of Saint Walpurgis Night (from the German Sankt-Walpurgisnacht [zaŋkt valˈpʊʁɡɪsˌnaxt]), also known as Saint Walpurga's Eve (alternatively spelled Saint Walburga's Eve) and Walpurgisnacht, is the eve of the Christian feast day of Saint Walpurga, an 8th-century abbess in Francia, and is ...