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SARAH ANNE PERRY
\ rl\agans do not worship Satan. They don't sacrifice ani-
l I mals, they don't wear hooded capes, and they don't
\ hang with Harry Potter. Stigma and misconceptions
r K make many people reluctant to learn about some of the
\ N world's oldest religions.
y "They're seeing it as an evil, negative thing, not that this
is something organic that so many things have derived from,"
says Lonnie Stewart, who shares the earth-centric beliefs of
Native Americans.
Yet there are more Pagans around than you might expect.
They're not as visible as St. Joe's schoolkids, but there are
enough here in Athens for a club, a garden and an annual
festival.
WHAT'S A PAGAN?
Paganism is a big world. It encompasses several indigenous
faiths, known as paths. Wicca, Druidism, Heathenry, Shamanism
and Hellenism are all Pagan paths drawn from ancient religions
around the world. Many are polytheistic or pantheistic, though
some Pagans choose not to worship a godhead at all. The most
commonly worshipped deity is the Goddess, popularly depicted
as Mother Nature but also celebrated in other forms. Pagan
beliefs about the afterlife vary, but the idea of sin and salva
tion is a non sequitur in a "live and let live" class of religions.
People turn Pagan for different reasons. For Dianic witch
Katy Sozaeva, it began as curiosity about herbalism and tarot.
For Eclectic Lachele Foley, it was fascination with a New
Orleans witch. Others, like Stewart, turn to alternative worship
after feeling rejected or put off by mainstream religion.
Paganism is pretty DIY. Followers of the various paths freely
modify and combine various pieces of them to create their own
religions, meaning nary a pair of Pagans believes the same
thing. One thing everyone agrees on, though, is a belief in and
respect for the divine in nature.
"I always like the concept of Mother Nature as a manifesta
tion of the Goddess," says Kristina, a Wiccan with an interest
in Shamanism who did not want to her last name printed.
(Many Pagans fear retribution for their beliefs from bosses and
landlords and do not want their full names or photos of their
faces made public.)
"Any time I go out in the middle of the woods, a good
distance from any road, I can feel the energy coming from
everything, almost as if the woods are buzzing," she says. "Or
the way you feel standing in the sunshine, and it just seems
to engulf you. To me, it's just a comforting feeling, like a hug
from your mom."
Stereotypes about sacrificial pyres and magic wands may
not be accurate, but the moon mania is for real. The High
Days, the eight major festivals commonly celebrated by Pagans,
revolve around the lunar cycle. The Spring Equinox, Samhain
and Yule are precursors to the Christian holidays Easter,
Halloween and Christmas.
Many Pagans practice witchcraft, but it's not the kind J.K.
Rowling writes about. Some view prayer as a form of magic, as
they do herbal medicine. Many trust palm and tarot readers,
and others, like Martha Dickinson, think it's "a lot of hooey."
Like magic, worship has a variable meaning to Pagans. To
Stewart, it means acknowledging her surroundings.
"When you're worshipping, it means that you're saying, 'This
has value, and this is why I'm giving it my attention,"' she
says. "In that sense, every breath, every sunrise, every raindrop
is something of worth and something of value. So pretty much
everything should be an act of worship."
Sozaeva doesn't perform rituals but tries to live in harmony
with nature and those around her. She lives by the Witches'
Rede???"An it harm none, do as thou wilt." Another key tenet
of Wicca is the Rule of Three, which states that whatever
energy a person puts into the world, positive or negative, will
return to him or her three times. Many Pagans outside Wicca
are mindful of a similar concept of cosmic justice.
"You have to take responsibility for your actions," says
Dickinson, who practices American folk magic. "You have to
try to be a better person, because it will come back on you if
you're not. It makes you want to do better with people, and it
makes you want to help stray animals. It makes you more posi
tive in general, I think."
Dickinson is rare in the Pagan community???she's politically
conservative. She says her volunteer work with Republican
and tea party groups has given her the opportunity to educate
people who might otherwise know nothing about the hedge
magic she practices.
HOW TO GET STARTED
Most Pagans start out with Wicca, Foley says. Many books
and resources are available for fledgling Wiccans, but many
find themselves drawn to other paths in time. Foley considers
herself an Eclectic, meaning she draws from the various paths
at whim and gets to create her rituals as she goes along.
"It's kind of like being an artist, but within a religious con
text," she says. "So you have some way that you want to com
municate with nature or a deity or deities or whatever, and you
[ask], 'What is it that I want to say? What do I want to bring
about?' And you sort of make up something that expresses that
in the real world."
Foley, like many American Pagans and most in Athens, is
a solitary, meaning she practices her faith outside of a coven
or other structured group. Whereas some Pagans worship in
temples with high priests and priestesses, she performs her
own rituals as her busy work schedule allows.
Solitude is the only choice for many Pagans. Even if one
manages to find others in his or her area, there is little likeli
hood their faiths will perfectly align. And even in areas with
many Pagans, Sozaeva says, covens can fall victim to power-
mongering and legalism. Proselytizing is uncommon among
Pagans, so they may have more trouble finding one another
than locating a church with a marquee out front.
Instead, several communities exist to bring Pagans together
online, offering tips for performing rituals, casting spells and
following ancient religion in the modern world. There is even
an international organization that advocates for Pagans' rights
and religious freedom, the Lady Liberty League.
Still, local Pagans find fellowship in Athens Area Pagans, an
organization Foley started. The group meets weekly for dinner
and tends the Lyndon House Arts Center herb garden. It also
hosts several psychic fairs each year to raise money for Athens
Pagan Pride Day, an annual event held to celebrate Paganism
and educate the public about it.
Stewart chose to raise her children in another faith com
munity, the Universalist Unitarian Fellowship. She wants to
expose them to as many belief systems as possible while teach
ing them tolerance.
"It's not my place to tell them what to believe," she says.
"It's my job to impart to them the critical thinking skills
needed to analyze all available data and make their own deci
sion based on what they feel is right."
Paganism isn't a back-pocket religion???it's a lifestyle.
Respect for nature and awareness of one's actions carry over
into practitioners' professional and political concerns. Stewart
is a vegetarian due to her concern for nature, and Sozaeva
votes with Mother Nature in mind.
"It's no coincidence that natural disasters are increasing,"
she says. "After all, how would you react if someone started
cutting into you and stealing your blood and the minerals
from your bones? It'Ll just become worse until we realize that
we don't own the earth. We're just borrowing it from future
generations."
On the rare occasion that their religious choices come up in
conversation, Athens Pagans say, they usually encounter more
curiosity than hostility. Stewart, however, has experienced an
unexpected type of prejudice.
"When I wore my pentagram, a lot of people thought it was
a Star of David," she says. "It was funny that I'd get as much
of a negative reaction from people thinking it was a Star of
David as from people who knew what it was."
Sarah Anne Perry
JULY 17, 2013 ??? FLAGPOLE.COM 7