What is Paganism and Neo-Paganism?

Paganism is a hard to define term, but generally tends to refer to the historical religions of pre-Christian Europe and the Near East. Neo-Paganism is a modern religious movement inspired by these historical religions. On this site, I use neopaganism and paganism interchangeably unless specified.

I'd argue that, since most modern paganism is in part influenced by Wicca, it is also influenced by Western esotericism. Gerald Gardner, the founder of Wicca, explicitly borrowed ideas and rituals from Aleister Crowley and Freemasonry. I'm unsure if scholars of the subject would agree with me though.

Many pagans also practice witchcraft.

• Wicca
• Hellenic (Greek) Polytheism
• Kemetic (Egyptian) Polytheism
• Heathenry
• ...many others, of course.