Columbia Pagans discuss Samhain

Various groups hope to change conceptions of Pagans through education.

By Gregory Zajac

Published Oct. 27, 2009

With Halloween less than a week away, several Pagan organizations sponsored an event Sunday afternoon designed to better educate people about Paganism and how Pagans observe it.

"In the general public when I say the word, witch, they think of the media stereotype and the literature stereotype," said Rose Wise, high priestess of the Ozark Avalon Church of Nature. "The first one is the green faced old woman with warts, and who goes around doing evil, and is very scary. So we're definitely not that kind of a witch."

Mid-Missouri Pagan Pride coordinator Victoria Chance said a Pagan is generally referred to as a person who practices an earth-centered religion or a person who practices a religion that does not fall under Judaism, Christianity or Islam. But Chance said this definition doesn't necessarily include religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism.

Mid-Missouri Pagan Pride, a sponsor of the event, and other groups hope through education to promote understanding of their beliefs and to dispel popular stereotypes of Pagans.

"Education leads to tolerance, because the more people know about us and what we're doing, the less afraid of us they'll be, and the less fear they have of us, the more tolerant they will be and accepting of us," Chance said.

The discussion, held at the Friends Reading Room of the Daniel Boone Regional Library, covered several Pagan topics, from leprechauns to female empowerment, but centered around Samhain, the ancient Pagan forerunner to today's Halloween.

Steven Galbreath, also known as Uthyr SpiritBear, Columbia resident and a high priest of Wicca, said the holiday is an integral part of being a witch.

"Most Pagan traditions practice a seasonal rotation of eight holidays throughout the year, and you really sort of can't be a witch without celebrating Halloween," Galbreath said.

For Pagans, Samhain is a celebration of the end of summer, the beginning of a new year, and the choice season to practice divination and necromancy.

"Because we do believe the veil between the worlds is very thin at that time, it's an excellent time to communicate with your beloved dead," Wise said.

Galbreath identified the origins of Samhain and most of its customs as Pagan and pre-Christian.

"Regardless of people who believe that it was all started in America by the candy companies in order to sell more candy, there really is a good historical basis for the celebration of Halloween at this time of year," Galbreath said.

Although several Pagan groups are located in Missouri, no organization exists on campus since Sacred Ways, an MU student organization, disappeared in 2006 due to lack of participation.

Lisa Kimble, junior and a co-coordinator of Mid-Missouri Pagan Pride, is trying to resurrect the student group, with the help of five other students. The new group, called Spirit Earth, is pending approval. Kimble said she is trying to create the group to offer new experiences to students.

"I believe that there should be a place for people who are curious to go and get knowledge about other paths because sometimes people have just been presented one pathway in life, and it's never really spoken to them," Kimble said.

A number of religious organizations on campus have also expressed willingness to organize an event to help promote religious unity with Spirit Earth, Kimble said. She did not provide the names of the other organizations, but said it was organized with the MU Multicultural center.

She said though some groups are reaching out, not everyone on campus has been so supportive.

"With any new group starting anywhere there will be opposition, especially when people hold a lot of pre-conceived notions," Kimble said.