The Search for Peace in Times of Chaos—Volume here are many witches who are not Wiccans Some are Pagans, but some consider themselves something else entirely Therefore, Pagan is an umbrella term that includes many different spiritual belief systems Wicca is just one of many Think of it this way: Christian = Lutheran or Methodist or Episcopalian, etc Pagan = Wiccan or Dianic or Eclectic Witchcraft, etc But there are things that most or all of the Pagan communities agree on: Paganism is a religion of nature, in other words Pagans revere Nature They not worship nature Pagans see the divine as immanent in the whole of life and the universe; in every tree, plant, animal and object, man and woman Most Pagans are ecofriendly, seeking to live in a way that minimizes harm to the natural environment Unlike the patriarchal religions (Christianity, Islam, Judaism) the divine is female as well as male and therefore there is a Goddess as well as a God These deities are within us, as well as without us (immanent); they are us Having said that, god and goddess are split from the Great Spirit or Akashka which probably equates to the God of the patriarchal religions The Goddess represents all that is female and the God represents all that is male But because nature is seen as female the Goddess has a wider meaning Often called Mother Earth or she is seen as the creatrix and sustainer of life, the mother of us all which makes all the creatures on the planet our siblings There are sub-groups of named gods and goddesses called , drawn from the distant past Ancient Pagans would have worshiped one or a small number of gods and goddesses, whilst often recognizing the validity of other people’s deities The concept of an overall, un-named Goddess and God, the sum totals of all the others, appears to be a recent one but individual named deities represent particular human qualities or archetypes and are often used as a focus for celebrations and spiritual rites