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Last night, I led my coven through a guided meditation for our full moon ritual.  After much consideration and considering the astrological configuration (sun in Libra, Moon in Aries) for this full moon, I somehow fell upon the idea of making the focus of the ritual be about the third pillar of the Witches' Pyramid, "To Dare."  In the traditions I've seen, that pillar is usually associated with the element of water, whereas Libra and Aries are an air sign and fire sign respectively.

My idea for the ritual is to consider how Libra's energy toward finding harmony and balance can actually become a source of blocking the need o push on and face the unknown and the fears that surround it in an act of daring.  The meditation suggested that Aries's impulsiveness and impression could provide the necessary contrast and catalyst to push past and delve into the depths of daring.

After we finished the mediation, I realized that I had placed the setting of this meditation in a stone edifice (a high tower with a great room at the top).  The stone provided us with a link to the element of Earth, the missing fourth.  And the element was providing the foundation and stability for the working, as is its nature.

I laughed as I realized that without even planning it, I had created a nicely balance meditation in which all the elements were present and invoked in the work we were doing.  Pretty good, considering I don't actually work much with the elements in my personal practice.

Happy Yule![1]

The winter solstice -- that point where the sun's rays are least direct on the Northern Hemisphere -- officially takes place tomorrow morning at 5:30 UTC.  For those of us in the Eastern time zone (UTC -5:00), that translates to tonight/tomorrow morning at 12:30am.

The winter solstice marks the longest night of the year and the triumphant return of the light, longer days, and warmth.  To some Pagans and Wiccans, it represents the rebirth of the sun god.  Yule brings a sense of rejoicing, the darkest time following Samhain has is about to pass and the half-year reign of the underworld will begin to wane and give way to the brightness and warmth that is vital to our survival.

However, I think it's important to remember as we begin to pass back into more light that we need the time of darkness to survive as well.  After all, the growing season and bountiful harvest rely on the gestational period of the dark winter months, just as our own psyches require downtime and decreased activity.

Yule marks the rebirth of light into a fragile, not entirely ready form, but it's a birth that takes place thanks to the things that have been rejuvenated and seething in the darkness.  And while that fragile light shall grow stronger and eventually overcome the darkness for its time of reign, it will also be nourished by the waning darkness and the slumber it encourages.

So let the light shine in this quiet time, not as a brilliant force to be reckoned with, but as a comforting glimmer and a promise of what is to come.

Note:
[1]  Or for any readers who are in the Southern Hemisphere, happy Litha/Summer Solstice.  I hope you will indulge me in the rest of this post, however, as I focus on the mysteries I am currently experiencing/working with.

The other day, Steve Hayes brought the book, "Shades of Faith:  Minority Voices in Paganism" to my attention.  As I've been highly interested in the intersectionality between various minority groups, discovering a book that discusses minority people within my own religious community came as a terrific boon.

In her introduction, editor Crystal Blanton describes her own experience as a Black[1] Wiccan High Priestess thus:

I am accustomed to being who I am among those who are different.  I am also accustomed to seeing the world a little differently because my experiences in the world are different.  I am used to being the one that people have turned to when they wanted to ask a question about cultures outside of their own.  This has become a part of what I recognize as a gift the Gods have graced me with; and like the pattern of my life, I have found a path to purpose in being the minority within the minority.

Ms. Blanton acknowledges that some minority people within Paganism have felt alienated within the Pagan community, and I hope that some of the essays within this analogy will provide examples of such experiences.  I am hoping that as a Pagan community builder, I can find ways in which to make my own community more inclusive by discovering needs and issues that I may not have considered before.  After all, I agree with Ms. Blanton's assessment of how a diversity of voices only strengthens us:

The voice of differences add in an element of harmony to the collective voices of any path or movement.  We are in the human and social movement of spiritual understanding; Black, White, Hispanic, Native or other.  Together we harmonize on a frequency that is powerful enough to manifest divinity on earth and bring spiritual rest to so much collective suffering and pain.  I am honored to be the black key on the piano.

Note:
[1]  This is the description that Ms. Blanton chose for herself.  As such, I felt it fitting to use her own terminology.

Emilyperson left a great comment on Friday's post:

I'm curious, when you first started hanging around Pagans, was there a lot of jargon that confused your young Christian self? I wouldn't expect you to have been familiar with things like different deities, symbols, and procedures, but does the slang tend to be as far from mainstream American slang as the fundamentalists'?

To be honest, I can't say as I recall much about my early exposure to Paganism.  It would be hard for me to evaluate how I handled the introduction to Pagan, Wiccan, and psychic concepts and terminology thirteen years ago.  So rather than trying to remember, I'm going to just take a look at how I perceive such jargon now, how it relates to Wicca, Paganism, and psychic phenomena/practices, and try to guess how an "outsider" or "newbie" might perceive and experience an encounter with such terminology.[1]

I think that Pagan, Wiccan, and psychic jargon can be just as offbeat and unusual as fundamentalist Christian jargon.  And to be frank, there is a lot of it, due to the great diversity of practices and beliefs that falls under those collective umbrellas (each one is pretty broad and contains great diversity in its own right).

However, I also think that the jargon isn't quite as central to the Pagan/Wiccan/psychic identities.  You can learn a lot about all of those things without coming into contact with terms like "chakras," "arcana," "ardanes," and "visualization."  You can learn a lot of the basics and get a lot of information before delving into such technical, specialized terms.

Compare this to fundamentalist and even evangelical Christianity, where the first step involves being "born again," which is a jargon-y term.  In reality, I think fundamentalist jargon and one's knowledge of it is often used as part of the fundamentalist identity and a way to prove oneself part of the "in crowd."

This brings me up to my second point, in which I think the religio-magical movements I'm now a part of tend to be far better at presenting our jargon to "outsiders" in an accessible way.  This is done both through personal conversations and the constantly growing introductory literature available.

I think this can at least partly be attributed to the fact that these are relatively new movements and that many of the adherents are still converts rather than people who were raised by Pagan parents[2].  As such, they are religious movements that are more geared towards welcoming new members and making everything understandable and accessible, even to the point of often anticipating what terms may be unfamiliar to the "uninitiated."

Fundamentalists, on the other hand, tend to be more insular and seem to just expect everyone to automatically know what it means to be "born again," "sanctified," or "demonically oppressed."

Notes:
[1]  It would be awesome if any "newbies" and "outsiders" would pipe up in comments and offer their thoughts.

[2]  This certainly isn't universal.  I do know a growing number of second-generation Pagans and a few third-generation Pagans.  However, I think we converts outnumber them considerably.

Sunday evening, I went to Wegman's to pick up a salad for Monday's lunch as well as sodas and snacks for the week.  Derek, the cashier who rang me up, inquired about where I had my face painted (I was done up like Tigger), and I told him it was at the annual psychic fair at Psychic's Thyme.  He asked me about that and then asked if I believed in ghosts.  I simply smiled and said, "Well, I sorta have to, seeing as I'm a medium."  I think that answer rather surprised him, as he started babbling a bit.  He mostly started talking about the "Paranormal Activity" movies.

This is something I've noticed with some people.  While they are fascinated by movies and tales of the paranormal, they really get uncomfortable around those of us who are (or claim to be, if my more skeptical readers prefer) "the real deal."  I'm not sure whether it's because they find the idea of spirits frightening[1] and therefore find a spooky, controllable fantasy more appealing than if they were to consider it a reality they do not understand.  Or maybe it's for some other reason.

Of course, in reality, communicating with spirits isn't nearly as interesting or titillating as the stuff they put in Paranormal Activity or similar movies.  In a lot of ways, spirit communication is quite ordinary and unremarkable.  Granted, it's touching in its own way, but in a very different way than the normal thrills.

Spirit communication is ultimately about connection with our greater spiritual comity.  In Saturday's post, I spoke of the ancestors as a source of wisdom and the creators of the world we inherited.  Spirit communication is an opportunity to connect with those predecessors -- though more recently passed loved ones are the most likely to connect with us this way and maintain that sense of continuity and community.  It's a way to remember them, honor them, and learn just a bit more from them.

But then, I'm not sure everyone values that the same.

Notes:
[1]  To be honest, I'm more inclined to find them annoying, especially on those occasions where they show up in every day life.  After about the third time I look behind myself to see if the presence I'm feeling is connected to a physical body in a public space, I start to worry that the other people are starting to think I'm weird.[2]

[2]  In fairness, they'd be right...

While I do not consider myself Wiccan and I'm certainly not an Initiate of Gardnerian Wicca or any of it's close relatives, my own understanding of witchcraft has been strongly influenced by the thoughts and writings of various such Initiates, including the public writers of Gerald Gardner himself.

Gardner presented a piece of writing in his books which he referred to as "The Myth of the Goddess."[1]  He indicated that it was one of the -- if not THE -- central myths of the form of witchcraft he taught.  It also happens to be one of my favorite myths.  As it features the god of the witches as Death himself, I thought it appropriate to post it the day before Samhain.

Now, G. (the Witch Goddess) had never loved, but she would solve all the Mysteries, even the Mystery of Death; and so she journeyed to the Nether Lands.

The Guardians of the Portals challenged her, "Strip off thy garments, lay aside thy jewels; for naught may ye bring with ye into this our land."

So she laid down her garments and her jewels, and was bound , as are all who enter the Realms of Death the Mighty One.

Such was her beauty that Death himself knelt and kissed her feet, saying, "Blessed be thy feet that have brought the in these ways.  Abide with me, let me but place my cold hand on thy heart."

She replied, "I love thee not.  Why dost thou cause all things that I love and take delight in to fade and die?"

"Lady," replied Death, "'tis Age and Fate, against which I am helpless.  Age causes all things to wither; but when men die at the end of time I give them rest and peace, and strength so that they may return.  But thou, thou art lovely.  Return not; abide with me."

But she answered, "I love thee not."

Then Death said, "An thou received not my hand on thy heart, thou must receive Death's scourge."

"It is Fate; better so," she said, and she knelt; and Death scourged her, and she cried, "I feel the pangs of love."

And Death said, "Blessed be," and gave her the Fivefold Kiss, saying, "Thus only may ye attain to joy and knowledge."

And he taught her all the Mysteries.  And they loved and were one, and he taught her all the Magics.

For there are three great events in the life of man; Love, Death, and Resurrection in a new body; and Magic controls them all.  For to fulfil love you must return again at the same time and place as the loved one, and you must remember and love them again.  But to be reborn you must die, and be ready for a new body; and to die you must be born; and without love you may not be born.  And these be all the Magics.

Notes:
[1] At least that's the name he used for it in Witchcraft Today.  In The Meaning of Witchcraft, he renamed it to "The Magical Legend of the Witches."

As Samhain approaches, my thoughts turn to the ancestors and the realms of the underworld.  As a witch whose practice tends to be highly shamanistic in nature, I'm quite familiar with these realms and spend a bit of time exploring them and drawing on the wisdom of their inhabitants.

Some of my friends -- including Pagans who tend to focus on the brighter side of the divine and upper- and mid-world beings occasionally ask me about my interest in the darker places of our spiritual cosmos.  They find the underworld realms a frightening and daunting place.  And there wariness is not unwarranted.  The underworld can be a strange chaotic, and troubling place.  After all, half-formed and malformed things live their, including our own shadows.  As a witch, I'm thankful that I have guardians, guides, and other allies to walk with me in such places.

But just as I wouldn't amputate an arm just because because it's broken or is suffering from pain, the troubling aspects of the underworld are not sufficient reason for me to ignore it.  There is great power and wisdom waiting there.

In addition to everything else it is,[1] it is the home of the ancestors, those who have gone before us, built up the world we lived in, and even gave us our lives.  These are the ones who have set the stage we now walk upon and helped form the person we would become as we walked on them.  The ability to visit them, thank them, and learn from their experiences is cherished.

The fact that we come from the ancestors who inhabit the underworld is also one of the things that makes the underworld the home of all potential.  It is the place where dark -- as in unrevealed and unformed -- forces exist, waiting to be given shape, form, and purpose.  As a shamanistic witch, I seek to seek out and explore these potentials that lay in the underworld so that I may draw them out and pull them into something in this realm.  It is the realm which provides the source material for new beginnings.

Notes:
[1]  Indeed, trying to describe everything that can be found in the underworld (or mid-world or upper world, for that matter) is not something I can do in a thousand blog posts, let alone this single post.

(This was written at the request of a friend.  May she find them helpful.)

Ancient Lord,

Receive my loved one who has passed beyond this world.  Guide him to a place of honor in the Land of the Ancestors, so that he may find the peace he deserves.  Grant him rest that he might prepare for the next great adventure that waits him.

So mote it be.

Lady of Tears,

Grant me comfort now as I mourn the passing of my loved one.  Let me remember and cherish the love that we shared, the love that now fuels my sorrow.  In my grief let my memories of him, his trials, and his triumphs burn bright that I might give testimony to his life and deeds..  Let him live forever in my heart, where age and infirmity cannot touch him.

So mote it be.

Blessed Lady,

I know that all acts of love and pleasure are your worship.  Therefore, please help me this day to be more loving.  Help me to recognize those opportunities to bring smiles the faces of others.  Grant me the wisdom and strength that I might be a delight and source of joy for those around me.  Grant me gratitude that i might treasure my own blessings, and generosity that I might share them with others.

In this way, let your worship grow in my heart and overflow into my life and the world around me.

So mote it be.

A little over a year ago, I joined efforts with a small group of people to form a new coven.  We came to name our coven The Wick, inspired by the song we play in the background while we prepare ourselves for ritual.  (I hope the songwriter doesn't mind.)  Tonight, we led our first public ritual at Psychic's Thyme as a way to connect with and give back to our greater community.  It was a wonderful experience, and had several people participate with us.

While highly enjoyable and well worth it, planning and leading public rituals takes a bit of work.  Our coven spent the past few business meetings working out details and revising our normal ritual structure to account for working with a larger group and people unfamiliar with the way we do things.  (We use a very different method for casting a circle, for example.)

Tonight, I was given an incredible reminder why that effort is so worthwhile in the long run.  My friend, Cari, attended tonight's ritual an brought her two stepsons, ages nine and eleven.  In a conversation on Facebook, Cari had the following to say (quoted here with permission) about the experience:

On no the whole group was amazing and VERY informative, and patient with my boys. They will never forget tonight and you all I have to thank. Please pass it on to your other members. Colin is now making his own Alter now.

I can think of no greater praise or reward than to know that the work that my coven-mates and I put into tonight's ritual helped excite two young boys and even inspire one of them to start working on his own altar.  I don't know where they're spiritual journeys will lead these boys in the long run, but knowing that our efforts have helped move them along that path in any way is a great joy.  It's the sort of thing that makes me want to do more such rituals in the futures.

May the gods be praised.  And may the gods be served.  And may those around us prosper as a result.

The picture in this blog show's the coven's basic altar set-up.  The song "We Are the Wick" can be found on Castalia's second CD, Hidden.

Tonight while doing laundry and packing for my trip to Erie, I spent some time listening to Episode 22 of the Inciting A Riot podcast.  Fire Lyte is an intelligent, funny, and charming podcaster and I highly recommend you check out both his podcast and his blog.  For my own post, however, I want to focus on the segment of Episode 22 where Fire Lyte talks about work and the closet.

Fire Lyte makes the sound observation that different jobs allow for different levels of being open about one's spirituality and sexuality.  I know that as  software engineer, I'm in a position of great comfort.  An old coworker once summed up the engineers' situations when he commented that he once overheard a conversation between two managers discussing the engineering department on a previous job.  The older manager told his junior, "They're a weird lot.  But they get the job done, so leave them alone."  My own experience has verified the truth of that mentality, that most people in charge of engineers are willing to overlook just about any "personality quirk" as long as the person in question proves themselves an invaluable resource.  As such, I can be relatively open about both my sexuality and my spirituality without worrying about my job.  Someone who is in a teaching position or -- to go back to Fire Lyte's example -- who is working for children in a governmental capacity may not be so lucky.  To them, an alternate spirituality or sexuality could be a liability to them.

Fire Lyte's advice on the matter is to be conscious of this, both when making decisions about how out to be in their current job or in deciding what job opportunities to pursue.  This is certainly sound advice from an individual perspective, and I support the idea that an individual's first concern should be his or her own well-being.  Principles don't matter as much when you can't afford to buy food.

However, the down-side to that advice is that it does tend to reinforce the status quo rather than challenge it.  And as an idealist, this is one area where I certainly would like to see the status quo challenged and eventually broken.  To accomplish that, someone somewhere -- quite probably a lot of soemones in a lot of different somewheres -- are going to have to push their luck and take risks.

Part of the problem, as Fire Lyte noted, is that people have all these strange ideas about Pagans (and gay people), and that if you happen to be the only person that your employer or others know that is Pagan (or gay), then you have an uphill battle to fight, and one that your employer or others in power may not be willing to let you fight.

The problem is, there's ultimately only one permanent solution to that scenario:  Pagans (and gay people) need to become more visible.  As long as we stay hidden because it's easier, then people will remain unconfronted with and uninformed about us.  As I said, we only reinforce the status quo.

This doesn't mean that I think everyone should run out and tell their boss, their neighbors, or anyone else that they are Pagan (or gay).  I don't think everyone should slap a pentacle or pride flag on their desk at work, their car, or their living room window (my landlord made me take mine down due to a lease violation).  I may be an idealist, but I'm not a moron.  But there are those of us who can take risks -- and there are different levels of risk that different people can take -- that would go a long way.

There are those of us in jobs where we are secure, either due to the nature of the job or the fact that we are invaluable to our employer.  And I'd encourage those who have been at their job for five years or more (yes, such loyal employees still do exist, though they're rare) to think about how they might have the job security to push the boundaries a little.  Because the only way we can gain more visibility and more understanding is to be more visible.

I'll also note that the advantage of having been at a job for a long time before coming out is that you're an established person.  Rather than being an unknown individual who is a "weird Pagan," you become a known hard worker who happens to be a "weird Pagan."  And ultimately, I think that's what we need.  We need to be seen as full individuals.

As I said, there are different levels of risk.  This most directly translates into different levels of being "out."  "Coming out" at work can be something as simple as telling a couple of trusted coworkers (or even a trusted manager) in confidence.  The whole office doesn't necessarily need to know, and even the increased awareness of one or two people can have positive and radical results in the long term.  I'm reminded of the job I had in Ithaca.  During the four years I was there, I kept a picture of my boyfriend on my desk.  The only two people who commented on it the entire time I was there originally assumed it was a picture of my brother.  I politely informed them each that the handsome man was my boyfriend.  The one said nothing more, while the other became a better friend.  I'm not sure what anyone else in the office made of the picture.  For all I know, the others still assumed he was my brother, and I was content to let them assume that.

In the end, each person must make their own choices when it comes to the closet(s) and how "out" they want to be at work, in their community, or in other aspect of their lives.  Each person must decide what level of risk he or she is willing to take, and I would not dream of dictating such important choices to others.  Bu I would encourage everyone to consider again what level of risk they might be willing to live with if it means a long-term improvement for all Pagans (and/or gay people).

While checking up on Pax's blog today, I discovered Project Pagan Enough, a new movement started by Pagan blogger Fire Lyte.  Fire Lyte offers the following explanation for his reasons for launching this movement:

It has become quite obvious over the past few years that the pagan community likes to talk the big game of being tolerant and inclusive of all peoples, but seems to lack that tolerance when the person in question dresses well or is attractive or is otherwise garbed in a cloak of 'mainstream.' This intolerance seems to be derived from a standpoint that we, as the pagan community, believe we are ridiculed or ostracized by the mainstream, thus people that look mainstream must be our enemy.

While I certainly agree with Fire Lyte's observations, I'd note that I've seen the reverse in many instances too.  I've seen more than one "mainstream" Pagan criticize others for being "too goth" or "too SCA" or "too" many other things.  Unfortunately, one of the universal truths is that no matter what we look like or how we choose to act, we humans tend to be critical and of judgmental towards those who look and behave differently.  And while it would be nice to believe that those of us who have felt the sting of criticism and judgment wouldn't dream of inflicting those experiences on others, my own experiences and observations have taught me that this is a pleasant fiction that does not match with our unpleasant reality.

With that in mind, I choose to align my blog with principles of the Pagan Enough Project:

• You are pagan enough, despite how you look, act, smell, dress, believe, or are.
• You recognize that others are pagan enough despite their appearance, smell, manner of dress, belief, practice, or other aspect.
• You recognize that you can have an academic debate on the finer points of belief or practice, but that it does not take away from someone else's level of being pagan.
• You welcome, befriend, and encourage others in the pagan community despite their appearance, dress, or other physical or superficial characteristic.
• You promise to treat members of other faiths, despite the faith, with honest-to-goodness fairness, equality, and grace, not judging them or their faith based on the actions of fringe members of their same faith.

I hereby declare that my priority is in following the path laid out for me by my own gods rather than attempting to direct others in the path they are meant to follow.  Finding the path others are to follow is for those people and their gods (if applicable) to work out.  While I may offer insight and advice, I shall offer no more than that.  And I choose to bless those who choose other healthy and beautiful (recognizing that beauty is in the eye of the beholder) ways of expressing their spirituality rather than trying to force them to meet my standards.

I figured it was time for another video.  I took a break from ethics because I wanted to talk about personal power and silence.



Personally, I think that we as a society tend to forget that personal power comes from those deep recesses inside ourselves that usually get drowned out by the noise of the world around us and even that of the more active parts of our conscious mind.  By starting the journey from a place of silence (or by plunging into such a place), I think we have a much higher rate of success.

I also couldn't resist putting in a bit of a plug for Psychic's Thyme and mentioning the fantastic Ostara ritual held there last night.

Pax wrote an excellent post about the tension between Liberation and Escapism on his blog yesterday.  I highly recommend it.  One of the things that he talks about is the tendency for some Pagans to get so focused on the mystical and magical aspects of the Pagan traditions and tend to remain rooted in reality as well.  Pax shares his own past experiences along those lines:

Even though I could see and perceive and experience the many ways in which the practice of my spirituality and faith as a Witch were leading me to greater personal strength and a deeper understanding of myself and a healthier relationship with the world around me... at the same time I was not dealing with the mundane issues at work in my life, like dissatisfaction with work and living in a bad housing situation and so many of the other planes of stability as Thorn has labeled them in her writing and teaching.... so even as I pursued the Liberation of my self and spirit, I was also using that pursuit as an Escape rather than confronting those things that I was seeking escape from!

I offered my own thoughts on the matter with the following comment:

Excellent points, Pax. I'd add that I strongly believe that an essential part of making sure my spirituality is rooted in reality is making sure that my spirituality manifests itself in my everyday reality. I'm reminded of closing of my own coven's ritual, where we affirm that we have walked with the Divine and now seek to carry the Divine blessings we have received into the world with us.

To me, that's a very practical thing. Did the ritual increase my sense of Oneness with everyone and the interconnectedness of all of us? Then I'm going to be looking for opportunities to build and strengthen relationship with others. Did the ritual leave me with a sense of greater perspective and inner strength? Then I'm going to look for those areas in my life that are challenging to me and those obstacles with a fresh eye, looking for how I can overcome or change them.

For those interested, the quote I'm referencing from the ritual my coven uses is as follows:

We have walked with the Stars, Sun, and Moon. Together we now bring Love, Power, and Balance to our Earth Home.

The more I think about Pax's post and my response, the more I'm reminded of one of my own criticisms of certain streams of Pagan thought.  I feel strongly that far too often, Pagans tend to make too much out of the distinction between the "spiritual," the "magical," and the so-called "mundane."  In reality, there is only one reality, which is multi-faceted, tightly interrelated, and tightly interdependent.  And I think it's that failure to see that the "spiritual," "magical," and "mundane" all inhabit the same space that often leads to the escapism issues Pax is talking about.

Of course, I think a related issue is the tendency of some to seek "spiritual experiences" as an end in themselves.  Don't get me wrong, I love spiritual experiences as much as the next person, and I have my fair share.  I channel a goddess on a semi-regular basis, participate in monthly rituals, and am even attending a seance tonight, where this is a better-than-average chance that I will receive at least one message to give to at least one person.

But the nature of the universe demands that such experience spill over into all of that reality in some way.  Each legitimate spiritual experience by it's very nature should manifest itself in my life and the lives of others around me in some tangible, practical way.  And if that's not happening, it behooves me to ask why it's not happening, and why I'm having or seeking out those experiences if nothing's ever coming from it.

The Campus Chatter blog over at ABC news reports that Syracuse University has appointed Mary Hudson as Pagan chaplain for the campus.  This is a somewhat historic event, as the blogger explains:

That makes Hudson, 50, the second pagan chaplain appointed at a U.S. college. The only other known school to have a pagan chaplain is the University of Southern Maine.  Internationally there are a few in Canada, Australia, and the UK.

I find this good news and take some comfort and pride that this appointment took place not only in my state of residence, but at a university a mere hour from me.  And it sounds like Hudson is ready to hit the ground running.

Hudson said education is her primary goal.  "This involves both education of non-pagans as well as helping student pagans find their spiritual path," she added.  "That can mean something different to each student."

Both community education and helping students who are already on a Pagan path or are considering one are both noble goals.  I wish Ms. Hudson the best as she pursues both goals.

In addition, I'd like to applaud the Campus Chatter blogger for writing a thoroughly positive article, without falling into the trap of looking for "balanced" input from highly critical spokespeople from conservative Christians circles, a practice that Jason Pitzl-Waters has often noted is common among some journalists.

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• Pagan for Chaplain at Syracuse U. (blogs.abcnews.com)