In a world where differences between religious groups are often stressed, too few of us realise how many similarities there are between Christian beliefs and Paganism. Though many of us are aware of the pagan roots of some Christian tradi\u00c2\u00adtions, such as the Yule log and holly, there are deeper rooted similarities than these Christmas trimmings. History has too many examples of conflicts over real or imagined reli\u00c2\u00adgious differences; so a greater under\u00c2\u00adstanding of each other\u2019s religion might bring a heightened sympathy between us.<\/p>\n
The Neo-Pagan religions have many names, including Paganism, Asatru, Wicca, Witchcraft, and Druid\u00c2\u00adism. While Paganism stresses a bond with nature and an acknow\u00c2\u00adledgement of the natural cycle of life in the world, there is no one tenet of faith that all followers acknowledge as central to their religion.<\/p>\n
The word \u201cpagan\u201d\u009d has a long and confused history. In the first centuries Anno Domini (also known as the Common Era), a Pagan was someone who did not believe in the Abrahamic religions. The Latin word \u201cpaganus\u201d\u009d means countryman, and it is easy to see the link between this and the Pagan religion, which is often de-scribed as being that of country-folk.<\/p>\n
Paganism celebrates the cycle of the year, and there is no central reli\u00c2\u00adgious text; so it would have been accessible to peasants who could not read. Its emphasis on the changes that ordinary people could see around them in the trees and earth would have made sense to them.<\/p>\n