What is Paganism?

You have probably read about paganism in the Da Vinci Code or the Lost Symbol, or Angels and Demons. The way Dan Brown has written about it, I am sure all of us Dan Brown fans would love to know more about the paganism symbols and what they mean. So let's see whats it all about.
PaganismThe term 'pagan' and 'paganism' have been derived from the Latin word paganus which means "country dweller". There is no one particular definition of paganism. Some define paganism as involvement of anyone in any religious practices which are not related to Christianity. Jews and Muslims on the other hand call all those religious practices not related to their religion, as paganism. While, some others define paganism as any religious practice outside Christian, Judaism, Hinduism and Buddhist practices. Some may also define paganism as one without any religion.
However, one common definition that some people accept is that, paganism is the authentic religion of the ancient Greece and Rome and its surrounding areas. The pagans are polytheistic which means that they have faith in more than one God and Goddesses. As Christianity became more and more powerful in the Medieval times, pagans came to be referred to those who did not belong to this faith, did not practice this religion. Before talking about the paganism symbols, let us first know about the history of paganism.

History of Paganism
There was a time when people used to worship nature on a much larger scale than they do now. It was believed that everything, i.e., forests, sea, trees and all other aspects of nature, were Gods and Goddesses. Thus, religion that time was polytheistic or a religion with many Gods and Goddesses. With the passage of time, as the civilizations began to develop, even the number of Gods started growing. The old Gods remained, but they were modified according to the changing times. These Gods played an important role in man's life in the society. They influenced everything, from laws to the general household works in the society.