Association Of Smith Pagans Aims to Educate

March 12, 2009

Author: Chrysanthe Peteros

Source: The Smith College Sophian

http://media.www.smithsophian.com/media/storage/paper587/news/2009/03/12/Features/Association.Of.Smith.Pagans.Aims.To.Educate-3670080.shtml

Here on Smith campus, students often try to educate themselves about diverse socio-cultural groups. Paganism, however, seems to be a topic that has escaped many, perhaps reflecting the public's general perception of this minority religion as completely mystifying.

Smith has its own Association of Smith Pagans (ASP), with a very familiar structure and set of practices. Much like any other organization on campus, the group has weekly meetings - each Sunday in the Campus Center - as well as regular events. This March, ASP will host a full moon ritual and Ostara, a Wiccan festival of the spring equinox in which participants welcome the warmth and light of the season.

Many of these rituals are open for all to attend, and the group is accepting to all denominations of pagans. "Paganism is any non-Abrahamic faith of European or Near Eastern origin, [with a] wide variety and amalgamation of rituals, pantheons and worldviews," says ASP Chair Kayleigh Bohémier '09.

See also: Paganism, Civic, Campus