With the lights turned down low, Fox Valley Pagan Unity Council member Penny Goody led a group of people seated in a large circle through a guided meditation filled with imagery of nature. Some of the participants were sitting up and some of them were lying on their backs, but they all had their eyes closed as they listened intently to Goody’s words. When the meditation concluded, hand drummers provided music for the participants to dance to as the ceremony closed.

The ceremony celebrated the coming of Ostara, a pagan holiday recognizing the spring equinox, when the energies of the world shift to spring. 

“I think (paganism) is about being a witch and worshipping nature; it’s not evil, it’s just I don’t believe in paganism,” said Jenny Langfitt, a university employee and non-denominational Christian.

Not surprisingly, subjects like paganism are often misconstrued and in turn fall victim to stereotypes.

Shane Dvorjac, president of the Religious Studies Student Club, said that the club’s motivation for putting on this event, as with most of its events, is education.

The RSSC, in cooperation with the Fox Valley Pagan Unity Council, set out to clear up some of the misconceptions and dispel some of the myths about the religion by organizing a paganism conference March 8.

The conference began with a series of short lectures on subjects ranging from historical perspectives on paganism to contemporary pagan culture to traditional pagan holidays and ceremonial tools. With PowerPoint presentations and comprehensive speeches, the professional air of the lecture section was interrupted only briefly by Goody entering stage right wearing a Glenda the Good Witch costume.

“We are hoping to give students the opportunity to understand religions that they may not come across in their everyday lives so they can appreciate the diversity that exists when it comes to religion,” Dvorjac said.

RSSC member Melissa Jensen said that after attending a fall equinox gathering hosted by the FoxPUC in September of last year, she got the idea for last Thursday’s event.

“I was talking about the event for at least a week and was very surprised by how little is commonly known about paganism, even among some religious studies majors,” Jensen said. “After realizing this, I thought it would be great for Religious Studies Club to host an event to provide information and dispel stereotypes about paganism.”

Neo-paganism is under-examined, often misunderstood and, unfortunately, a tempting target for those who disapprove of non-mainstream religious practice, said Dr. John Baumann of the UW-Oshkosh religious studies department.

“Neo-paganism is a viable world religion, according to the 1993 Parliament of World Religion, and the Religious Studies Student Club thought it would be educational as well as interesting to bring some local representatives from the Fox Valley Pagan Unity Council to campus to discuss pagan ideas and practice, and to present a demonstration of a common ritual,” Baumann said.

While there are a great deal of differences between paganism and more mainstream religions, there also exist many similarities.

“(Pagans) are (part of) a very old religion, spanning back centuries upon centuries, and they have held onto their origins much more than some religions,” Dvorjac said.  “They are fairly individualistic when it comes to their practices, but I guess if I had to compare them to any other religion that I am familiar with, I would say that they are similar to Buddhism in some aspects.  Both religions are pantheistic, meaning that God is in everything so they respect everything that exists in the universe or in nature.”

In listening to the lectures and experiencing the rituals, an outsider to the religion almost certainly picks up on a strong individualism within the culture.

“I find it admirable how much they have held on to their ancient practices and not deviated to fit into mainstream Western culture,” Dvorjac said.

Oshkosh student Jeremy Long, 24, has been practicing Wicca, a form of paganism, since he was 17 years old. Long said he was drawn to the religion for its beauty, harmony and respect for all things.

“I like (paganism) because I can have a spiritual experience anywhere,” said Long. “Once an aspect of my spirituality doesn’t suit me anymore, I can move onto something else that will.”

Source

• Munson, Ben. Pagan council speaks to end stereotypes. (2007, March 15). The Advance Titan, WI. Retrieved March 15, 2007.

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