Paganism – Religion or Lifestyle?

Witchcraft and other magickal traditions can be a little trickier. In many cases, such as Wicca, witchcraft is practised within a tradition involving a belief in gods and goddesses and is therefore quite easy to consider a religion, but in some cases the practitioner believes that the magic comes from themselves tapping into a non-sentient force of nature, rather than an external, powerful deity. This, according to texts such as the Golden Bough, makes the practice of magic different to religion. In cases where magic practitioners believe that their magic comes from themselves and that there are no deities involved, I think there could well be a case for saying that witchcraft is not quite a religion. However, in my personal experience, most witches do invoke some kind of deity in their workings, and therefore fit the pattern of a religious believer.

I think some people in the UK may not consider Paganism a religion because our perceptions of religion tend to be influenced by those more familiar to us, especially the monotheistic religions such as Christianity, Judaism and Islam. All three of these religions differ from Paganism in that they have clearly laid out beliefs, codes and practises which have all been written down into a definitive text. The fact that Paganism differs from these religions does not, however, mean that it is not a religion – it is simply a religion of a different kind. And once you start looking at Paganism and these monotheistic beliefs closely and objectively, you start to find that they have plenty of parallels after all and aren’t all that different, fundamentally.

So what about “lifestyle” then? Is Paganism a “lifestyle?” I would say, absolutely yes! I would also say that all religions are a lifestyle, as to follow a religion, one must generally act according to those beliefs of that religion. In the same way that a Christian leads a Christian lifestyle by being a forgiving, generous and benevolent person and acts according to the Ten Commandments and other codes laid down in the Bible, Pagans follow a Pagan lifestyle by trying to be environmentally conscious  and respectful of the natural world and all its denizens – plants, animals and humans alike.

So can one live a “Pagan” lifestyle without being part of the “Pagan” religion? Certainly, to an extent. But just as I might call someone who follows the Christian ideals of loving one’s fellow man without being a Christian a Humanist (or just “nice decent person”), I would tend to call someone who respects nature and the earth without exactly worshipping it an “environmentalist” or even a “hippie.” In other words, all Pagans are (or should be) inherently environmentalists, but only some environmentalists are Pagans.