Links between holiday traditions and pagan culture are well established – and occasionally celebrated – but there are also a lot of misconceptions about paganism that make the word itself a bit taboo. Paganism isn't something to be feared or shunned. In Latin, "pagan" was simply the word for villager or civilian. Religious connotations that developed during the Middle Ages made pagans into heathens rather than outsiders. With all that in mind, there continues to be a pervasive presence of paganism in the modern world.
