The United States of America began as various cultures who came and resided here. Since then, those numbers grew along with the number of religions.
Paganism, or some form of it, has existed long before the birth of America. However, there are still many stigmas attached to the religion.
“There are always the stereotypes and myths that need dispelling,” said Kern County Pagan Pride board member and Cal State-Bakersfield student Jenn Williams, 33.
“I’ve had a handful of people assume that I’m promiscuous,” continued Williams. “Or they joke that they don’t want to come to one of my ‘baby barbecues,’ and I’ve had a couple of old ladies give me the bird when they read my Pagan bumper stickers.”
People still believe that witches engage in “orgies” and perform “baby sacrifices,” said Williams.
However, Williams is actually surprised by the low number of criticisms she has received because of the way her religion is portrayed by the media.
In fact, her biggest obstacle has been getting non-traditional holidays off from work.
“I’ll work Christmas, I tell them. Just give me the solstice off,” said Williams. “They don’t get that. They think I’m trying to pull one over on them.”
Along with the solstice, Williams celebrates Samhain (Halloween), Mayday, and KCPP events that involve food drives for charity.
Besides being a part of KCPP, Williams is also a CSUB student double majoring in history and art.
“I would like to be an illustrator,” said Williams.
However, Williams feels fortunate to have a family who accepts and supports her decisions about her religion despite the fact that she was raised Catholic.
“I think the big thing is that I live my religion and not just believe in it,” said Williams. “So, I strive to do good in the world, and my family sees and understands that.”
Not only do Pagans believe in multiple gods, goddesses or deities, their mission focuses upon education, activism, charity and community.
According to Williams, she deviated from Catholicism at the age of 9.
“I was already discontented with the church, but more so with the incongruities between what I was taught what we were supposed to believe and how we were supposed to act, and what I saw fellow Christians doing.”
She has remained a Pagan since she was 16. “I haven’t wavered since. It still feels like home.”
Also, according to Williams, hereditary traits held by her family were not acknowledged by the church.
“We could sometimes see spirits or had visions of the future,” said Williams.
Although Williams can sometimes see and hear spirits, visions of the future have become less frequent with age.
“I’ve never been disciplined enough to really cultivate them and control them,” explained Williams.”But I do have dreams of the future, and I can often detect spirits and the like.”
Her grandmother, however, once avoided a car accident by insisting that her husband move over into the furthermost left lane. By the time they reached the top of a bridge, an accident occurred in the furthermost right lane.
“My grandmother has visions and (she’s) a psychic sniffer; she can smell stuff before it happens, sometimes,” said Williams. “We are all pretty intuitive.”
Williams believes that the main goals of religions are the same; the only difference is how they go about achieving those goals.
According to Williams, “It’s hard once you get to know somebody and find out how much like you he or she is. How can you still insist that this person is evil because of his or her religion?”