Living spirits

Paganism is a collection of ancient beliefs rather than a single religion. Although a great deal of knowledge about past religious activity must have been lost over the millennia, a huge amount of research and investigation has been carried out in an attempt to understand ancient rites.

Paganism is polytheistic – there are many gods – and includes a variety of ancient religions whose broad underlying theme is of faith based on nature, which sees the world as a complete entity of interdependent parts. The different pagan 'houses' share one characteristic: followers may choose which paths to take, according to the dictum: if it does no harm, then it is permissible.

There are more than a dozen pagan houses in existence today, from Norse-based Asatru and Celtic Reconstructionism to Druidry, Egyptian-based Kemeticism and the chaos of Discordianism. Alternatively many modern pagans prefer to worship in a singular way, following their own personal path.

Fran Hingston talks about her pagan beliefs.