Since according to everyone else the terms pagan and heathen are not correct?

I am Heathen (capitalised) and anybody who claims otherwise, calls me names and is rude to me because of it, can be a heathen himself. (not capitalised).

While "pagan" can't be capitalised, because it's a collective noun that doesn't describe anything in particular, Heathen capitalised is a specific name for a follower of a specific path.

Non-capitalised "heathen" is a word that the uneducated fundies can still use as an insult, af that's what floats their boat.

The other names for the our path are: Norse polytheism, Forn Sed, Forn Sidhr, Elder Troth, Asetro, Vor tru...

answer: I'll continue to use Heathen. Some of my kindred use Asatrur. I've seen some of those that attack the term as being insulting and try to correct them that there is a pagan path that embraces the term and is claiming it as something positive. I add the term Reconstruct to signal that I'm part of a more conservative branch of Heathenism and don't add other pantheons or outside magical systems in with my Heathenism.

Much like the term witch in the pagan community years ago.

If someone really doesn't know much about the various communities, I use the term pagan. Sometimes it's frustrating when we all get lumped into the same definition. Wiccans aren't Heathens but we're all pagans.

I use Pagan since most people shudder when I say witch. There isn't a copyright on pagan or heathen. They are pretty broad in definition and do not really pertain to a specific group or people or religions. There really isn't a copyright on the word Wicca either but some get pretty upset if you call yourself one and you are not in their tradition. But labels don't matter. I call myself whatever I feel like at the moment.

Personally I will continue to call myself a Pagan regardless of what anyone else says. What do I care? They can take their definitions and shove it in the brown location. lol. I have actually gotten really tired of people telling me that Pagan and Heathen are derogatory words for people who do not know Christ, or whatever lol. Personally I look at it kind of like the N word. African-Americans took it back and made it something most of them use in every day language.

I think the problem is that many of us learned in high school history classes that the terms "pagan" and "heathen" were originally used to refer to any group of non-Christians.

Some of us fail to realize that the terms have changed meaning and are now used to refer to polytheistic religions that revere nature. In fact, I had the same problem when I first came here.

I am so tired of hearing the bullsh*t mumbo-jumbo on this topic already from people who "think" they know, or worse yet, pretend to "know" what the word heathen means and how it is "offensive, so listen up...and when your done, STFU.

Heithinn comes from the Old Norse word heiðinn which we use as an adjective to describe Heithni ideals...

Heithni comes from the Old Norse word heiðni which is a word that was used in elder times to describe the pre-Christian religion of the Northern European peoples...

or as a noun to describe those who live by the ethics and world-view of Heithni.

If you dont like it, tough, go read "A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic" by Geir T. Zoega and look the meaning up yourself.

Heathen is derived from Old Norse and literally means 'the heath' and Pagan is derived from Latin for something like 'Country' I think... so how can that mean 'non-christian'? People are so funny about things, I don't understand it. Surely people can understand that we just believe in the religion of the old country-folk

"Pagan" actually comes from a Latin word meaning "rural" or "civilian" - it was a sort of insult leveled by Christians, the "soldiers of Christ," against non-Christian "civilians." So technically, it IS derogatory, although it's a time-honored tradition to take a slur and make it one's own, thereby taking away its power as an insult. I think it's perfectly fine for "pagans" to refer to themselves as such today, although they ought to know from whence the term derives.

The origins of the word "heathen" are less clear, but it may ultimately derive from the Gothic haiþi, which meant "dwelling on the heath" - possibly a reference to the old rites.

I say the people who see Pagan and Heathen as insulting are just insulting them self. I'm going to continue to call myself Pagan and Proud.

If we stick with the two terms I think it may sink into their heads that we are not insulting ourselves. Maybe my expectations are too high though =/

If all else fails, we can call ourselves the Others and the Other Others. ;)

I am pagan and I practice shamanism...but shamanism isn't specifically related to any one religion. I don't try to catagorise myself or anyone around me...I am a person who dislikes labels of any type.

Collectively...pagans have many many types of beliefs..the term pagan just means a person who believes in more than one god. Since that is a simple explanation..then that's the one I use.