If you enter the Esch Hurvis Center for Religious and Spiritual Life at 2 p.m. on a Saturday, you’ll find a small group nestled in the living room on various chairs and couches. The afternoon’s light shines through the bay windows while the smell of sage fills the air. The coffee table is littered with different sorts of cookies and mugs of tea while the members chat about classes, work, domestic animals and Paganism.
The word ‘Pagan’ may bring up several different images in your mind: crystals, witches, nature and maybe even the devil. Or Paganism may appear as a large and bold question mark to you, undefinable and unfamiliar. So, what exactly is Paganism?
Lawrence University’s Pagan Society coleader, senior Miranda Lawson, explained that Paganism itself is used as an umbrella term for any and all religions that aren’t Christianity, Islam or Judaism, and is usually accompanied by a belief in multiple gods. Lawson described how LU Pagan Society has a large interfaith focus, welcoming people from all sorts of faith backgrounds.
“When it comes to what Paganism means to each individual person in the club, it can be wildly different based on the individual,” Lawson said. “That’s part of what I treasure about it, is getting to understand how other people see the world.”
Getting involved in Paganism didn’t happen overnight for Lawson. It was a slow and curious process that started from being interested in nature and mythological stories as a child and transitioned to buying and using a deck of oracle cards as a first-year at Lawrence. From there, they began to do more research on Paganism and get more involved in the practice.
Lawson grew up in a Lutheran household and spoke about how although many may believe that the differences between Paganism and larger organized religions are numerous, they’re not as different as you may think. For example, many of the practices, like Christian pastors doing Communion, blessing foods or specific objects, the general feeling of community and reciting chants and songs, are all things that Christianity and Paganism share, Lawson said. Lawson’s practice leans more towards Hellenic Paganism, which involves primarily worshipping Greek gods. This shows up in different ways for them. For example, when they exercise, they think of Artemis (the goddess of chastity and hunting, among other things), and this helps them feel more confident by channeling Artemis’ strength and wildness.
So where does witchcraft come into play? Lawson described it this way: witchcraft is the nail, and your belief system is the hammer. Although witchcraft itself is not considered a religious practice, a lot of the time religion becomes intertwined as it provides certain tools for getting across what you want to do, Lawson explained. When it comes to Paganism, a lot of people practicing witchcraft may lean towards Paganism as it provides a clear connection to nature and natural elements of the world.
“There’s an idea that witches are some sort of mysterious force that usually means harm. Sometimes that can be the case,” Lawson said. “With witchcraft, a lot of the emphasis is on finding your own power or coming to terms with yourself and how you connect with everything around you.”
A large part of practicing witchcraft for Lawson is keeping a shadow work journal. This is adapted from Carl Jung’s idea of shadow work, which is a form of psychotherapy that focuses on embracing the parts of yourself that you have trouble facing, Lawson said. Regularly reflecting in a shadow work journal has helped them through difficulties like switching religions and going through college. Another way they practice witchcraft is by blessing their dorm room at the start of every new term or leaving out offerings for gods that they worship.
Lawson said that LU Pagan Society looks to uplift those who are searching for a community where they can learn and question things and always stay curious. The meetings aren’t always necessarily religious: they do activities involving tarot, celebrate Pagan holidays, have an annual Halloween bonfire, craft and go on nature walks. Mostly, the club is a place where those that are interested in Paganism can talk and discuss with others of like minds. Lawson described how, because Paganism is not a large, organized religion, there aren’t many places to go, making it a home-centered practice that revolves around a lot of your own research and experience. It’s a place for members to share about learning something new or starting a new part of their practices that they’ve never done before and then have other people give them advice on it or share what their experience was.
At the LU Pagan Society’s first meeting of Winter Term, a few members spoke about different instances that had felt particularly magical to them. One member shared how they had left an apple in their room over winter break, offering it to one of the deities that they worshipped. When they had come back for Winter Term, the apple was still perfectly intact.
“Magic is made to seem more complicated than how natural it feels,” they said. “Sometimes it isn’t big; it’s just an apple that doesn’t perish for a whole month.”
Lawson expressed that, although they sometimes experience moments of doubt, they do believe that science and magic can coexist. They view Paganism as a whole as a learning opportunity to keep understanding themselves and to keep understanding the world.
“I believe that there’s a lot of stuff out there that we don’t understand,” Lawson said. “Getting to have those moments of spirituality, where I really feel that connection to something beyond us, is really nice for me.”