A discourse is a paradigm, a collection of ideas, a linguistic frame of reference, a way of speaking about something.

Some pervasive Pagan discourses

• We are all incredibly oppressed ("the Burning Times")
• Tradition means something that has not changed since the beginning of time
• Folklore and folk customs come only from the countryside and have remained static for ever
• People who live in the country are automatically more connected to the earth
• Paganism means never having to say you're sorry (because we threw out the rule book)
• All men are bastards (and patriarchy is all their fault)
• All Pagan women are ball-breaking feminists who want to (re)introduce matriarchy
• The Great Mother Goddess was worshipped in the Stone Age throughout Old Europe
• Correspondences are like a magical telephone number for the gods (I actually heard someone say this)
• Wiccan ethics means an explanation of the Wiccan Rede
• Wiccan theology means an explanation of "The God and The Goddess" TM
• The main polarity of the cosmos is male + female

Links and references

• Things you'll never hear a Pagan say, Cardiff University Pagan Society