John, yes I would say there are 'pagans' and 'Pagans'.

I think of myself as pagan with a small p, much in the same way I might equally identify with being christian with a small c. Ie: my usage is more 'descriptive' of a general approach to appreciating nature than any formal religious practice. But my own small p usage, is itself descended from the formal adoption of the term in modern times, by religous Pagans.

The term 'pagan' initially was a derogatory one, meaning non-Christian peasant or similar. But it has been 'retrieved' so to speak in modern times, and now in common usage when capitalised refers to a group of relatively formal nature reverencing religions - which while not nevessarily being identical to pre-Christian religion - nevertheless draw their inspiration from what we may know of them.

"The Goddess", in neo-Pagan theology would more or less equate with 'Mother Earth', or Lovelock's concept of Gaia. In Wiccan terms She would be described as 'The Lady', wherein the various different expressions of feminine deity world-over, are understood to reside within a triplicity, which is at the same time One.