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Many pagans and pagan traditions attempt to incorporate elements of historical religions, cultures and mythologies into their beliefs and practices, often emphasizing the age of their sources.

Thus, Wicca in particular is sometimes referred to by its proponents as " The Old Religion ", a term popularised by Margaret Murray in the 1920s, while Germanic neopaganism is referred to in some of its varieties as Forn Sed (" Old Custom ").

Such emphasis on the antiquity of religious tradition is not exclusive to modern paganism, and is found in many other religions.

For example the terms Purana, Sanatana Dharma, and the emphasis on the antiquity of the Ancient Egyptian sources of the Hellenistic Mystery religions.