The Wake

Even with all of our intricately pompous systems of government and technological advancements, certain aspects of human nature remain stubbornly primitive. Take, for example, our fear of and disdain for the unknown. The Wiccan Church of Minnesota is in every way as valid a religious organization as Hillel or Bethlehem Covenant; however, because most people know little about the Pagan tradition, they assume paganism to be something funny at best, or something very dangerous at worst. On April 14th I attended WiC-CoN, an event hosted by The Wiccan Church of Minnesota, and had the privilege to gain a small amount of understanding about this oft disrespected religious path.

By the variety of attendees and their relatively typical dress, it looked as though I may have been at the State Fair, with an ever-so-slight increase of tie dye, jangly jewelry, and the occasional kilt. However, every religion has its eccentrics, whose unapologetic personalities make for good stories.

Riding the city bus on my way to the event, a man with at least four layers of brightly colored hats sat down next to me. Upon discovering that I was, like him, on my way to the WiC-CoN event, he firmly shook my hand, and continued to hold it as he complimented my aura. Upon arriving at the Sabathani community center, he took the elevator to the third floor, but told me that he sensed I needed to be on the second. Heeding his advice, I proceed to the second floor to find the registration table – and so my investigation into the Pagan community began.

The festival consisted of a vendor room, a series of various performers and musicians and a variety of seminars. Seminars covered a wide-range of topics, from “Pride and Prejudice: Confronting the Shadow of Intolerance,” and “Granny NicBurn’s Which Culture,” to “Belly Dancing 101,” and “Real Estate and Mortgages For You.” I attended “Eros, Psyche, and Archetype: The Science of Reunion with the Divine,” led by Dr. Todd.

Todd, a Will Ferrell look-alike, spoke easily and the seminar took an informal turn as people occasionally made jokes and obscure references to which everybody in the room would respond with warm laughter. The type of person who makes everyone he is speaking with feel important, Todd explained his belief that “what we project is what we attract,” meaning the attitudes with which we enter an experience determine what we get out of it. Attributing this phenomenon to energy forces beyond our physical body, he went on to urge us to recognize that as human beings, we are all animated by the same energy. “Boundaries, cultural stereotypes, are meaningless,” exclaims Todd, “Every boundary we place around each other does two things: it interferes with our ability to interact with one another … and it becomes a battle line.”

Todd familiarized me with the basic concepts of Paganism. “Paganism is seeing all that is alive as a part of the divine,” he explains, “God is integrated into everything. This is why pagans tend to be environmentalists and animal rights activists – because to us, destroying the environment is destroying the divine.” The theology behind Wicca is as peaceful and loving as that behind any other religion, in fact, most Pagans do not even believe in an “evil” higher power, but think of all things, good and bad, as a part of the cycle of life.

Like the seminars, the vendor tables were a mottled set. Many booths offered specifically Wicca-related goods, such as books and various tools to be used in ceremonies. Other booths, such as the Pampered Chef booth and a booth where two confused Russians sold matreshka dolls and fur hats, seemed somewhat arbitrary. One notable booth consisted of a woman and two beautiful golden retrievers; this team offered visitors lessons in part-life regression and in better communication with pets. Another notable booth addressed the issue of Pagans being forbidden from placing their symbol, “an interlaced, five pointed star within a circle,” on graves of Pagan military veterans. “The Veteran Affair’s refusal to allow the Wiccan Pentacle as a recognized religious symbol is a direct violation of the US constitution and is a flagrant case of religious discrimination,” proclaims the UM Pagan Alliance’s pamphlet.

The ignorance and fear of Pagans may stem from the fact that many differ in specific beliefs, making Paganism as a whole sometimes difficult for outsiders to understand. Some Pagans believe in multiple deities, some in just one; some believe in reincarnation, some in other forms of afterlife, and some believe that this is the only life we get. Modern or “Neo” Paganism stems from many early nature-centered religions around the world, and the beliefs of individual Pagans are a unique tapestry of pre-Christian European, African, Asian, and/ or Native American beliefs. All pagans are united in a desire to celebrate the sacredness in all of nature and in all fellow human beings, a desire which, frankly speaking, modern day Christianity, Judaism and Islam are, at times, lacking.