Are they all the same thing?
What are the differences if they are not?
Do they all believe in Gods/Goddesses or can there be Atheist Pagans/Wiccans/Druids?
Thank you for your time.
1. No
2. "Paganism" is an umbrella term for Prue-Christian beliefs in Europe mainly. Druidism is the religion of the ancient Celts, Wicca is a modern fantasy dreamed up by someone 70 years ago or so.
3. I don't know. Paganism covers a wide range of beliefs, most would have gods but I guess not entirely necessary. Wicca is so wish-washy it could be anything, and I don't remember if the Celts had actual "gods" in that sense or more forces of nature.
Note that little is known of real Druidism. Modern Druidism is a re-invention, with the emphasis on "invention".
A pagan is any non-Judeo-Christian, although people who describe themselves as pagan are generally pagans.NS(Hindus, for example, are not Judeo-Christian, but generally do not self-identify with the term)
Wicca and Druidry are two separate religions within neopaganism.
Yes, you can be an atheist pagan.
No, you cannot be an atheist Wiccan.
I'm not sure what the Druids think on the matter. Druids are generally polytheists, but they are also a highly eclectic bunch.
Paganism cannot be summarized, since it is a large collection of unique religions.
Wicca is a modern, polytheistic religion with ritual generally centered upon a patron god and goddess. It stresses polarity and balance, as well as responsibility for one's own actions. Wiccans see the physical and spiritual worlds as being intimately connected. Wicca is an esoteric religion, with the real truths of it being learned through experience, rather than through instruction. The various practices of Wicca are to help people find those experiences and lessons. Wicca has no prophet and no holy books.
Druidry is a modern faith most influenced by ancient Celtic culture, beliefs and practices but also draws upon additional sources as well. (The faith of ancient Druids is only partially understood because they left no religious writings)
Of course they're not the same thing!
Paganism is a category of a religion. Paganism is to Wicca what Abrahamic Religions are to Christianity - the category of theistic religion in which they fit. Of course, Paganism is not strictly theistic so it's a bit more general than Abrahamic but I think you get the general idea.
Druidry is (from druid network.org) working to create a harmonious balance between nature and all the things in it, deities and spirits. It can be polytheistic or atheistic, I think - some people see the deities and spirits as more metaphorical than physical.
Wicca is very similar, but not quite the same. Different Gods, usually embodied by the generic Goddess and God unless the practitioner has a specific deity they've chosen. Most pantheons are regarded as real by Wiccans, whereas I think Druids have a specific one for themselves. As with druid, some Wiccans regard the Goddess and the God as more symbols or metaphorical beings than physical beings, but it's less common. They also have different holy days and such.
Sorry for the vague information - I hope I helped
What are the differences if they are not?
Paganism is a category of religions, mostly defined by being non-Abrahamic (not Christian, Jewis, Muslim etc)
Druidism (or druid) is one type of pagan religion that draws its inspiration from Prue-Christian Celtic religion, philosophy and practice.
Wicca is a specific pagan religion that was established in the 1940s that similarly draws on Prue-Christian European practices and worships a male and female deity.
There is much similarity between Druidry and Wicca... they celebrate the same holiday cycle and overall have a similar bent towards nature and Prue-Christian European religion, but they are different in the way that they practice, the specific teachings they follow, the way they view deity and the rituals they perform.
Do they all believe in Gods/Goddesses or can there be Atheist Pagans/Wiccans/Druids?
No, there can be atheists pagans. Druids and Wiccans can also be atheist, but much of the teachings one encounters will be filtered through a theistic lens, so to understand the religions, one must first understand and come to terms with ones own concept of deity.
Most pagan religions are not orthodoxys... that means they don't dictate what you must believe in order to be X. They are usually orthopraxys, meaning that it is more about what you DO... HOW you worship and celebrate rather then your specific and very personal understanding of the divine. Pagans (including Wiccans and druids) are generally encouraged to think for themselves, develop personal relationships with whatever deity or divine energy moves them and to follow their own unique path and understanding. Many modern pagans are scholars in their own right... especially druids who value sholarship highly.
-Scarlet
Paganism is a category of religions. Per dictionary definition, it's anything non-Abrahamic (so, anything not Christianity, Islam, or Judaism) - however, by common usage, it's referring primarily to either Prue-Christian European religions, or modern non-Christian religions (which, in many cases, draw inspiration from Prue-Christian religions). There are a number of non-European-based Pagan religions too, mind you, they just tend not to be too common.
Wicca is a religion credited to Gerald Gardner in the 1940s. Most folks say he created it, drawing from a number of sources, though northwestern European (English, German, etc) folk beliefs factor heavily into it.
Druidism is a tough beast, because it can mean several things. First, the beliefs of the ancient Celts and the druid priestly/intelligentsia caste. Attempts to rebuild/revitalize that in modern times is typically called Celtic Reconstructionism (CR). There's something also called Noe-Druidism, that's the modern Druid organizations such as ADF or Keltria, they're a bit more lax with the source material, aiming more for "inspired by the ancient Celts" as opposed to "based on the ancient Celts." And, finally, there's a number of secular fraternal/cultural organizations, mostly in the UK that call themselves Druids (or Bards).
Pagans *can* be atheists...but I'm not sure I really see the point. (Just my opinion on the matter.) Traditionally, Wicca has a specific pair of deities, which may or may not be shared by the Celts - however, Traditional Wicca is exceptionally close-lipped on the exact identity of the deities in question, so I can't say one way or the other. Neo-Wicca/non-Traditional Wicca tends to be a bit more lax on deity selection, so it's entirely possible that non-Trad Wiccans use Celtic deities. On the flip side, most CR practitioners are going to follow specifically Celtic deities, while some Noe-Druids adopt from a more pan-Indo-European selection.
There are very good answers here. But - What is your definition of God? This may sound strange but people?s ideas of ?God? can have as many variations as there are people.
Questions about Paganism, Druidism and Wicca?
