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Open my eyes to sub-genres of religion. I only know the main ones (Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Sihk, etc.) So what is "Wicca" and what is "Heathen"? And everything else in between?

I'm pretty sure that if some kind person in the know opens my mind, I could find something that suits me. I have a very loose definition that I put to Wicca- someone that believes in spiritual forces and a form of white witchcraft- but I'm convinced I am out of date with that one.

I don't want to come across as an unitelligent and ignorant fool. Bear in mind I am just 13 years old, and many people who claim to be Wicca probably don't know that much either (a group of very irritating girls at school as my basis). I want to learn about these things to widen my knowledge of the world, so don't hate me for wanting to be educated.

Heathen is indeed a Norse/Germanic form of pagan. Odin and Loki and such. Usually, a Heathen is a reconstructionist; someone who tries to rebuild a pre-Christian religion based on historical sources. Though I have run into some Nordic neo-pagan types that are pretty much identical to the average ecclectic neo-pagan just with Norse names for thier deities instead of Celtic names.

As to the Wicca thing, many people that say they are wiccans are a sort of neo-pagan that basically fits your own definition TS. I've heard them refered to as Neo-wiccans and ecclectic neo-Pagans.

There are also many more types of Pagan and other non-Abrahamic religions out there. I know some folks that practice a native Peruvian religion. There's also Santeria and Voudou, Buddhism, Hellenistic reconstructionism, and many many more.

Heathen can also be meant as an insult. When it's used in a derogatory context it's generally someone from an Abrahamic religion calling someone outside of their religion a 'heathen', often used in conjunction with 'barbaric'.

i know that the word Pagan comes from the Latin root Paganus, which meant folk-religion, and reffered to all minority religions in the Roman Empire (which were typically countryside wytches, bt also included Christianity and Judaism before the rise of Christianity in the Dark Ages). since christianity then became the state religion of the empire, all non-christian religions were reffered to as Paganus. however, Pagan has taken on the meaning of specifically earth-based religions since then, except in the case of most christian churches, who continue to lable everyone not christian as Pagan, and reffering to that word as meaning satanic, devil-worship.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but 'pagan' isn't always an insult, right?

Actually, I think the term 'pagan' is rarely used as an insult anymore, it's more a descriptive term now-a-days.

Of course, the same could be said of heathen as well.

Correct. Pagan means believing in more than one god. Some people can mean it as an insult, but not to me. If they tried I would probably laugh. Same as heathen. Heathen means ignorant, barbarian, godless, uncultured, irreligous, etc. But more modern meanings have made it more of a religious view.

Cool. ^^ I didn't even think it was an insult until I saw 'ignorant', and that it was used in most churches to refer to devil worship. O_o