"The Wicker Man"- A Primer on Paganism

Witch Movie Opens This Weekend: Know Before You Go

Article source: ABC NEWS

Sept. 1, 2006 — Nicholas Cage and Ellen Burstyn — some serious star power for the remake of an odd, cultish (figuratively and literally) low-budget '70s British horror film — but that is what's opening this weekend at theaters nationwide.

The rough plot of "The Wicker Man" is a very Christian policeman who investigates a missing girl on a very remote island.
The locals are very secretive, and practice a very twisted version of pagan rituals — and I don't want to give away the end of the film, but suffice it to say that the policeman is in for a surprise.

The movie plays on a tension between Christianity and Paganism, throws in some sexually provocative scenes and, voila, you've got a "classic." Pagan, in Latin, means from the country or rural citizen, so before you get the idea that it is all about animal sacrifice and devil worship, realize that most indigenous religions are by definition pagan — the word doesn't carry any of those stereotypes in its definition.

Read the Complete Story!