Pagan

[Dr. Goodword]

• pagan •

Pronunciation: pay-gên • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun

Meaning: 1. A polytheistic person when contrasted with a monotheist, a heathen, non-Christian. 2. An atheist. 3. A hedonist.

Notes: This word may be used as a noun or an adjective, as in 'pagan ritual' or 'that ritual is pagan'. Pagan and heathen mean the same thing, but pagan usually refers to those nations that are more cultivated, such as the Greeks and Romans, and heathen to uncivilized idolaters, such as African tribes. We have several nouns to choose from: paganity, paganism, pagany, and the collective noun is pagandom. The diminutive adjective is paganish, and there is a verb, paganize.

In Play: The idea behind today's Good Word is "non-Christian": "Exotic ideas, like occult Nazism and pagan religions, continue to plague our political systems." But opportunities for creative metaphor abound: "Barbie Dahl's morning toilette resembles a pagan ritual of self-adoration."

Word History: This word came to English, via French, from post-classical Latin paganus "heathen", as opposed to Judeo-Christian. In classical Latin, it meant "rural, rustic", as opposed to urban, or "civilian, non-military". The meaning migrated from "rural" to "heathen" in post-classical Latin because idolatry lingered in rural districts longer than in urban districts. Paganus is based on pagus "country (district)" from the verb pangere "to fasten, fix, drive in". Pangere later came to mean "to write down, record". The meaning here shifted to "country, rural" due either to the habit of staking out a district or recording it in a register. Pangere also produced palus "stake", from which English took its pale "area of limitation", as 'beyond the pale', and palisade. It came directly from PIE pa(n)g- "to fasten", which we see in English fang, which meant "plunder, booty", a relative of German Fang "catch, grasp", as in Fangzahn "catch-tooth, fang". (PIE [p] became [f] in Germanic languages.) (Sue Gold is due our gratitude for her contribution of today's Good Word in a long series of suggestions she has sent us over the years.)

[George Kovac]

I have always liked the word “pagan.” First, it sounds great to the ear: simple and strong. Second, it has an oldfashionedness to it, suggesting undomesticated tribes in medieval Europe or ancient battles involving Greeks or Romans, and the kinds of pre-ballistic warfare involving pagans. Stories featuring pagans, like stories about dinosaurs or the solar system, spark the imagination of little boys when they are first old enough to select their own topics to read about.

Most of the time when I hear the word “pagan” used today, it seems to be a historical word, or at least one said with implied italics or overt irony if used in the present tense.

As an adult and avid follower of alphadictionary.com, I appreciate that “pagan” has a precise meaning that should be respected.

As a little boy growing up in Catholic school in Chicago, I was taught to pray from prayer books based on the official “Tridentine” liturgy first authorized in 1570. Thank god the Tridentine Mass was replaced in 1969 by the liturgical reforms of the Vatican Council, imposing a new liturgy infused with greater mansuetude. (For the footnoters among us, I note that in 2007 the then current pope re-authorized very limited use of some parts of the Tridentine liturgy in some circumstances, but that footnote is beside the point.)

For all the harshness of the Tridentine liturgy, at least it knew itself well and the proper order for everything else. The authorized prayers for Good Friday contained separate, sequenced petitions for the conversion of Protestants, Jews and pagans. While those petitions sound ugly to today’s ears (and have been subsequently rejected by the Catholic Church), I remember the one positive thing to be said for those erstwhile prayers: even a sixteenth century pope knew that Protestants and Jews were not pagans.

As a young adult, I had the misfortune of enduring (from someone very close to me who should have known better) an anti-Semitic lecture in which, among other things, he described Jews as “pagans.” The pedantic linguist in me wanted to object that he was misusing the word “pagan.” But instead, I listened to my better angels and went directly to the core of why his comments were unacceptable (and in fact unchristian!) and called out the rant for the ugliness that it was.

Why this long post about arcane matters of Catholic liturgy, history and personal background, all triggered by a Proustian memory of the smell of the word “pagan”? Well, it’s because words matter, and they matter in ways more immediately significant that technical discussions of usage and historical tracings of etymology. Words can be weapons, and we are hearing too much of that lately. And we need to call it for what it is.

[jfink68510]

Those polytheist people "contrasted with a monotheist" of your first definition, are not merely a negative: non-Christian nor non-monotheist; they have a set of Pagan (note capital, just like Buddhist, Hindu, or Jewish - you wouldn't write "jew" or "judaism" or "methodist", would you?) of well-developed Earth-centered religions and denominations - Gardnerian, Wiccan, Druid, Celtic, Heathen...

"Heathen", by the way, in Neo-Pagan circles who are trying to reclaim their indigenous pre-Christian faiths (rather than foreign Abrahamic desert monotheistic faiths originally imported from the Middle East and often imposed by fire and sword, albeit it often centuries ago) is mostly used to refer to persons whose religion centers around Scandinavian/Germanic pantheons and practices, who are NOT "uncivilized idolators", religions such as Asatru or Vanatru or others. In Iceland Norse Paganism is the fastest growing religion, and now comprises over 1% of the population.

Slain soldiers are now allowed to have symbols of their (legitimate) faiths on their tombstones in military cemeteries, such as a pentagram (Wicca), Thor's Hammer (Heathen), and others. Pagan worship is conducted on many military posts, Pagan chaplains operate in many prisons and hospitals...

So a little respect for the religions of others, please.
Joanna Fink

[MTC]

“(H)eathen [refers] to uncivilized idolaters, such as African tribes.”

Channel Kipling much?

[call_copse]

Boris Johnson would be proud (FYI he's a bit like the British Dotard, he recently recited Kipling in Burmese temple).

[George Kovac]

Kipling, Kipling... Pagans, Heathens, cultural arrogance....

When I was much younger, I saw the movie “The Man Who Would be King” and adored it for its adventure, drama, humor, confidence and the breathtaking scenery.

Many years later, I read an article about special effects in Hollywood movies, and the schism between those behind-the-camera artists who thought special effects should dazzle with their obvious fantasy (e.g., “Star Wars”) and those craftsmen who disdained such showiness and thought the best special effects were those that were deceptively naturalistic and of which the viewer might not even be aware. The author of the article listed “The Man Who Would be King” as an example of the latter. I was disheartened: As a youngster, I had believed that the cinematic temples, the rope bridge over the chasm, and the chasm itself were all “real” or had at least been built as tangible sets for the filming.

After reading the last several comments posted above about Pagans and Heathens, I acknowledge that there are substantive as well as technical reasons to object that the movie based on Kipling’s story was an artifice, the intentional presentation of a world other than as it actually existed, but which nevertheless delivers enormous satisfaction to its audience.

Perhaps Brits like Secretary Johnson should channel Beowulf instead of Kipling. Beowulf is as English as literature gets. The story hovers in a beautifully imagined space between Paganism and Christianity. But by the end of the tale, the narrative edges toward Christian triumphalism, so perhaps it would be best for the modern Brit to read Beowulf backwards.

Cheers.

[call_copse]

You always have an interesting spin George - I appreciate it anyhow

To be fair I love Kipling and don't necessarily think he is making an argument for colonialism in The Road to Mandalay. Whatever I think about BoJo he is actually educated and intelligent (so dissmilar to the dotard in that respect) and would understand that nuance. Where he is dotardesque is that he would go with a line super insulting to 'others' (other cultures, countries) but that certain Brits (middle England) would appreciate.

[Perry Lassiter]

I found it interesting that in the letters of CS Lewis, he several times speaks of paganism with considerable respect. He flat out says if he weren't Christian, he would likely be pagan.

This is the man to whom conservative Christians frequently point for his presentation standard theology. Yet he does not take all of the Bible literally, imho, because of his love for fantasy. From childhood he created a fantasyland with characters very real to him. So it is not surprising that he write the Narnia series in which he posits Christian theology in a fairy land. Likewise he has a science fiction series of trips to Mars and Venus, which ha e little science but great fantasy in them. He at several points praises paganism over other religions.

[Dr. Goodword]

As for the capitalization of pagan, we capitalize specific religions when referring to their specific creeds, Baptist, Methodist, Lutherans. Since pagan refers to "all others", and not a specific single creed, capitalization would be out of place.

[George Kovac]

Since pagan refers to "all others", and not a specific single creed, capitalization would be out of place.

Today's vandals and philistines would agree that is a capital idea.