Pagan or Holstein ?
Some Modern Pagan Folk Love To Point Out That The Term "Pagan" Came From A Roman Derogatory Term.
The Term Pagan is widely used today, it's been generalized to mean anyone who is a Polytheist or in some cases just isn't Christian, or Jewish. From the Pantheons of the Celts, Norse and Germanic, or Old Roman , Greek or even Wiccans, all of their followers are “Pagan” by modern standards.
The origin of Pagan is a Latin term Paganus, meaning country dweller, and was the equivalent to calling someone a “redneck,” or “Hillbilly” in modern standards. I personally do not care, or feel offended by it, but many folks today are. This may be because of the modern definition, and similarly negative connotation.
Most “Pagan” folk today are Norse Germanic, so would it be more appropriate to use a word more aligned with our history, and in a root of our language?
For the Norse Germanic folk, there is a far more appropriate term, and that is Holstein.
This is not to be confused with Skogarmaor, or ùtlagi, which both denote being outcast from their tribe, and braking laws or oaths. While the term Holstein, suggests that a forest dweller is willing and desires to be independent of the populous and are not outcast.
Just something to ponder…. 🤷🏼♂️
I agree, and the term Pagan doesn't offend me personally, but we all know there are quite a few people who find the "Romanized" terms offensive. 🤷🏼♂️
I ran across the term Holstein and it's etymology as I was researching the history of the residents of Schleswig-Holstein. Which by the way is a fascinating piece of history. They are genetically the same people going back to at least 25,000 years, and are possibly the same group that carved the Venus of Hohle Fels. A carved figurine that dates back to 35,000 to 40,000 years.
Another "odd" fact, there is a pocket of people who lived in the Danube valley on the Black Sea, that were linguistically and genetically the same as the Schleswig Holstein people going back to 5,100 - 3,700 BC. While being entirely surrounded by Celtic tribes. 2 pockets of "corded ware" culture people separated by a thousand miles, and completely surrounded by funnel beaker and bell beaker cultures of the Pre- Celtic tribes.
"Holstein" just makes me think of cows 🐄
Calling yourself something that brings cattle to mind is probably not ideal