Pagans find a place in Open Grove Society
The Open Grove Society is a new student organization on campus that caters to pagans, said Andrew Dunn, Blanchard junior and society coordinator.
There are three characteristics that usually define pagans, Dunn said. Pagans usually respect both a god and a goddess, respect mysticism, and believe that the only evil is harming others unless it is for survival.
Literally, pagan means non-Christian, Dunn said. They are practitioners of a nature-based pre-Christian religion.
"Pagans have a close relationship to nature," Dunn. "The earth is considered to be our mother."
Examples of pagans are wiccans and druids, Dunn said.
"Wiccan is a nature-based religion that came to the forefront in the 1960s and '70s," he said. "They respect magic and mysticism. They are often associated with witchcraft, but really they are not associated with Satan."
Druids practice the Celtic style of paganism, Dunn said.
Paganism is very individualistic, Dunn said. Practitioners often incorporate other religions into their own practices.
"It is not a practicing group," he said. "We do not practice magic as a group. We do that individually on our own time."
Dunn said the society was formed so pagans could support each other.
"So we could learn from each other, socialize, and support each other," he said.
Dunn said pagans need support because their religion is often misunderstood.
"We want people to know that we're a positive religion," he said. "We only practice positive or healing magic. We're not negative in any way, we want people to understand that."
Both students and non-students with an open mind are welcome in the society, Dunn said.
"Pagans tend to be a very open-minded and friendly group," he said. "We'll accept anyone with an open mind. We don't want anyone to try to convert us."
Dunn said the society has had problems with people who do not understand what paganism is.
"We've had people taking down our posters," he said. "We have had problems with people who are closed-minded and don't know what we are about."
The society hopes to have a positive relationship with the other religious organizations on campus, Dunn said.
"We want to make sure that we're on good terms with all the other religious groups," he said.
The society, which hopes to be a registered student organization next year, meets every other Thursday at 8 p.m. in Anspach 157. The next meeting will be Thursday.
