Paganism flourishes in Utah
Pastor Dale Morgan
*Paganism flourishes in Utah*
Misperceptions, fear cause many to keep religion secret
By Devin Felix
Deseret Morning News
There are witches among us.
Tara Sudweeks Willgues, also known as the Rev. Heron, says there are as
many types of paganism as there are denominations of Christianity.
(Scott G. Winterton, Deseret Morning News)
Scott G. Winterton, Deseret Morning News
Tara Sudweeks Willgues, also known as the Rev. Heron, says there are as
many types of paganism as there are denominations of Christianity.
Witchcraft, also known as Wicca, is one of hundreds of pagan religions
followed around the world. And there are hundreds of Utah pagans.
For some the word "pagan" might bring to mind images of prehistoric
tribal people in remote village huts. While most pagan traditions are
based in the ancient past, most modern pagans present a much more
familiar picture. They hold jobs at offices or stores or call centers.
They send their children to public schools. They drive cars rather than
broomsticks.
Paganism is an umbrella term that describes a wide variety of traditions
and practices. There are as many "flavors" of paganism as there are
denominations of Christianity, if not more, says Tara Sudweeks Willgues,
also known as the Rev. Heron. Wicca, Asatru, Stregheria and Shamanism
are all types of paganism, just as Lutheranism, Methodism and
Catholicism are denominations of Christianity.
Misperceptions and fear cause many pagans to keep their choice of
religion hidden, especially in the workplace, says Maureen Duffy-Boose,
founder and president of the Covenant of Unitarian Universalist pagans,
a national pagan group.
"Even in our culture in 2007, the normal cultural response is that
pagans are weird," Duffy-Boose said. "I know people who have lost their
children because of this religion. I know people that have lost jobs. I
know one person who was actually evicted from her apartment."
Prejudice occurs because pagans have been the subject of "1,000 years of
negative propaganda," says Gretchen Faulk, founder of the Order of Our
Lady of Salt, a pagan group in Salt Lake City.
One woman, who asked not to be identified, says she lost her job as a
public school teacher when it was discovered she was Wiccan.
But Duffy-Boose and Faulk agree that such conflicts are rare, and most
Utahns are respectful of pagans. When conflicts do occur, discussion
usually leads to understanding, they say.
Followers participate in crystal well ceremony twice a month, at every
full moon and new moon. (Scott G. Winterton, Deseret Morning News)
Scott G. Winterton, Deseret Morning News
Followers participate in crystal well ceremony twice a month, at every
full moon and new moon.
"I feel like Utah is one of the most tolerant places of religious
diversity in the nation," Duffy-Boose says. "I believe this has to do
with how it was founded. The people who founded it knew what it was like
to be persecuted."
What draws a person to paganism? The answers are as diverse as pagans
themselves.
Many are attracted to paganism because it is a modern tradition with
roots in the past. Most types of paganism practiced today are considered
neo-paganism, because they're based on modern understanding of the past,
yet they're adapted to meet the needs of people today, Heron says.
Many pagans describe becoming dissatisfied with the religions of their
youth and feeling an instant connection to paganism when they discovered
it. That was the case with Kelly Richan, who practices Asatru, a
religion based in Norse traditions. Richan leads Eagle's Kindred, an
Asatru group in Ogden.
"When I first found the Kindred, I thought, 'I'm home,"' Richan says.
"It was a feeling of roots, a feeling of home. It made sense of
everything I was feeling."
Duffy-Boose said many people seek a religion in which feminine deity
play a significant role, and nearly all pagan religions honor both gods
and goddesses. That desire led Faulk to create the Order of Our Lady of
Salt nearly 12 years ago.
She was raised Christian, but as an adult she lost interest in the
notion of God the Father and was drawn more and more to the idea of
female deity. Eventually she began to practice Wicca, which emphasizes
the importance of both gods and goddesses.
The Order of Our Lady of Salt holds monthly Goddess Worship Services
that center on a specific goddess from one of the world's cultures.
Faulk and her group have worshipped figures from Norse, Greek, Roman and
Egyptian traditions, among many others.
Kelly Richan calls upon Frey, Scandinavian god of harvest, during a
September 2006 ritual at Murray Park. (Deseret Morning News archives)
Deseret Morning News archives
Kelly Richan calls upon Frey, Scandinavian god of harvest, during a
September 2006 ritual at Murray Park.
The group has also focused on revered female figures who aren't usually
seen as deity, but who "function as goddesses," Faulk says. Mary
Magdelene, the LDS Mother in Heaven and even Lady Liberty (the Statue of
Liberty) have all been the subject of worship services.
Another thing that draws people to paganism is the fact that it doesn't
try to dictate what its followers must believe or how they must behave,
Duffy-Boose says. There's no universally accepted doctrine, and diverse
ideas are welcomed.
Paganism lets its followers do their own "heavy lifting
philosophically," Heron says. There's no authoritative scripture such as
the Bible, so each person must determine what he or she believes and how
best to live ethically.
Even so, pagans are not completely without spiritual guidance. For
example, Asatru is guided by what it calls the Nine Noble Virtues, which
include courage, truth, hospitality and discipline. It's up to each
person to determine how to apply those virtues, Richan says.
People are also drawn to paganism who have a "deeply ecological bent to
their spirituality," Duffy-Boose says. To pagans, a grove of trees or a
dirt path is as sacred as any temple. Nearly all pagans consider it "a
sacred duty to sustain the Earth, to cherish and nourish it, to use our
resources to heal the damage we've done to the planet," she says.
Heron is the founder and spiritual leader of the Church of the Sacred
Circle, a Wiccan group that meets in a yurt in her back yard in West
Valley, where she leads a variety of Earth-based services and rituals.
One such ceremony is the crystal well ceremony, which she leads twice a
month, at every full moon and every new moon. The ceremony is designed
to "attune the self to the Earth," she says, and to "heal and balance."
Apple juice -- taking the place of mead -- is served during a pagan
ritual at Murray Park in September 2006. Pagans follow a variety of
traditions. (Deseret Morning News archives)
Deseret Morning News archives
Apple juice — taking the place of mead — is served during a pagan ritual
at Murray Park in September 2006. Pagans follow a variety of traditions.
In the candlelit shelter in her yard, a woman uses a mallet to strike
the side of a deep 2-foot-wide bowl, producing a clear tone. She then
runs the mallet along the bowl's edge, and the tone grows to a deep
drone. Other participants repeat the process on smaller bowls, producing
higher tones, until a chorus of resonating tones fills the space.
A woman lies face-up on the ground, and Heron begins to speak as the
harmony continues.
"Feel the warm embrace of the great mother," she says. "Feel yourself
putting down roots into the Earth. Feel them flowing downward like
water. They seek the warmth and life of the Earth."
She continues speaking, urging the woman to release her tension, to
release negative energy and welcome positive energy. The woman rises and
smiles, a man takes her place on the ground and the ceremony repeats.
Jeremy Appling, who participates in the crystal well ceremonies, says he
does so because of the way it connects him to the Earth.
"When you observe all the elements, you observe a really strong peace
inside of you," he says.
Every pagan group chooses what rituals carry the most meaning for them,
or they make up rituals of their own.
"It doesn't matter who made it up, or when," Duffy-Boose says. "It
works. It's sacred. It's spiritual. It gives honor to things that
deserve honor. It enlightens people. It assists people to live better
lives."