Models and Mortals

The common misconception that people have about Pagans is that they are demon-worshiping, black-magic-working lunatics that run around nude at midnight, turning people they didn’t like into toads. Honestly, that sounds like some of the Frat parties I have been too, but we won’t name names.

But when you seriously break it down, Pagans aren’t like that at all. We are pretty normal. We are just like the rest of you who go to Wal*Mart at 3 AM and buy Doritos…or Mountain Dew…or vodka…depending on how the night has been going. We are fellow students, coworkers, and even family members. It isn’t like we run around with warts on our noses and green-tinted skin.

Have any of you ever watched Charmed? Probably. And most of you probably think of the “sisters three” when you hear Pagan or witch. Or you may even go back even farther to fairy tales of old hags luring children in to eat their guts or steal their beauty. Whatever the case, none of the crap you see on TV or hear in stories is even close to the truth.

So, what is Pagan? It is basically an umbrella term, much like Christianity. Christianity is the big dome and underneath it falls Catholicism, Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran, etc. With Pagan it is more like our raindrops are Wiccan, Buddhist, Asatru, and even things like Cherokee Mythology.

And as for the whole “demon worshiping” stories you hear…it is mostly bullshit. Most Pagans don’t believe in the devil as it is. And I find that most people start vicious rumors or are scared of new ideas because they don’t understand or want to even conceive of something like Paganism. But Paganism isn’t fresh to the scene. It has been around long before some of the oldest religions you read about.

We can’t snap our fingers and have instant wealth. We can’t throw some herbs into a boiling pot and become instantly beautiful (no matter how many people—Pagan or not—wish they could.) We are simply mortal people practicing the religion of our choosing.

What’s wrong with that?