If you've ever come across the question on a website, or asked in chat, "What does it mean to be pagan?" chances are you've gotten the same text book answer about it being an earth-oriented religion which balances both male and female energies. But when you ask those who live this path what it means to means to choose paganism as a lifestyle, a completely different answer emerges.
As you begin to listen, you find descriptions of a beautiful path of self-discovery and respect for all life. "What being pagan means to me is that I am being true to MYSELF!" writes Briarmoon, one of the members of January's Forum. "I do not have to stop questioning and exploring because it isn't right to do so. ...I have opinions that are valuable (to me if to no one else), and I have no remorse about perusing this Path. I am FREE!!!"
Her views were echoed by Jade Graywynd. "I feel an incredible sense of freedom proclaiming myself a pagan."
For Artemis, a female practitioner, the freedom was more personal to her as a woman. "I think what appealed first and foremost to me about Wicca/paganism was the value of women in the life cycle," she writes. "Women were not just a womb, they were the creators, takers, and nurturers of life. I immediately felt a sense of being valued, respected, and connected to all living creatures. In my Wiccan/pagan beliefs it was not a hindrance to be a woman, but a blessing."
"It is the only belief system that makes sense to me as a whole," adds Rowan Raven Feather. "I have studied most other religions of the world but none of them spoke to my soul."
Graelan Wintertide built on this idea. "For me its a process of finding where I fit into Life," he writes. "Being pagan to me means that I don't follow anyone else's path but my own. Rather than being led by scriptures and preachers, I find my teachers in the Wild, in the cycles of Nature, and in the spirit realm."
And perhaps that is one of the greatest gifts that being pagan gives to us, the ability to find the path we know as home. Many of the participants in January's forum spoke of a connection they feel towards Nature, and how their beliefs and religion deepened that connection.
"As a child, I had always felt a kinship with Nature," Artemis shared, "and now look back on things I did intuitively and realize how even back then I knew of my connection. However, as many do, I lost that connection for many years and now seek to reestablish the bond I have with the world I live in."
Even in our varying philosophies of what we believe, there were remarkable similarities. Where Jade Graywynd works with, "Earth-Air-Fire-Water rather than specific gods or goddesses from a pantheon," Anne Raventree sees, "the belief systems of past and present, and associated deities, as pools of energy "up there" that we can tap into at will." For Graelan Wintertide, "it's almost like being a part of a spiritual ecosystem. Just like animals and plants have their own niche and are kept in balance by the natural laws around them, I believe that I interact with Life in much the same manner."
The common ground of January's discussion was the personal empowerment that being pagan gives each of us, and the connection we feel with Nature and Life, regardless of how we interpret that connection. But more than anything, we're pagan because it adds something to our lives. From Jade Graywynd's, "incredible sense of freedom," to Rowan Raven Feather's sense that her existence is a, "rich tapestry of life," being pagan adds something that we can find nowhere else. Perhaps it was Artemis who said it best. "I forgot how empowering it is to be a joyful being, and being Wiccan/pagan allows me to rediscover something new and wonderful every day."