Bewitching beliefs: Pagan parents battle stereotypes By Kelly Kennedy Special to The Denver Post Sunday, July 07, 2002 - A six-year-old rushes past riding a broom. "Great, you're here to do a story about pagans, and my son's riding a broom," says Michele Bigwood with a laugh. Things are not as they appear today. Conner, 6, is pretending to ride a horse. Today it's just a game he's playing, but the broom represents one of the many stereotypes Bigwood's children will have to face as they grow up pagan in a majority-Christian country. Teaching them how will be among her biggest challenges. Bigwood is one of a growing number of parents faced with teaching their children pagan morals at the same time they address issues of religious bigotry. Chain bookstores stock pagan parenting books, Yahoo! Groups reports 100 pagan parenting lists, and a pagan scouting program that began 18 months ago has 48 charters throughout the United States and Canada, including several in Colorado. Still, paganism is a quiet movement. People don't quickly forget in 17th-century America, women and men accused of witchcraft were burned at the stake. More recently, Rep. Robert Barr, R-Ga., submitted a bill that opposed the Pentagon's decision to allow pagan rituals on U.S. military bases - a position then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush supported, saying Wicca isn't a religion. Closer to home, a Colorado Springs middle-school principal pulled eight girls out of class in 1999 and lectured them about "casting spells" on their classmates. "Pagan" is a word used to describe several Earth-based religions - such as Wicca, Druidism or Norse - that arose as an outgrowth of the environmental movement in the 1960s and '70s. Adherents say they are trying to re-create the religions of the ancient Greeks and Celts, who followed moon and sun cycles as well as worshipping male and female aspects of deity. The HarperCollins Dictionary of Religion estimates more than 100,000 people in the United States and Canada considered themselves neo-pagan in 1995. At least 900 people showed up for the Pagan Night Out festival in Denver's City Park last year. And with the advent of the Internet, Wicca may be the fastest-growing religion in the United States, according to the Institute for Study of American Religion in Santa Barbara, Calif. For decades, pagan parents chose not to talk about their faith with anyone, even their children. "There are tons and tons of us in what we call the broom closet," said Amy Harper, Arvada mother of Mars, 4, and Alora, 1. "I've been told that my religion is evil and that I'm going to hell. I think it makes people feel uncomfortable, so I don't usually bring it up." Pagans also believe social service agencies will take their children away, she says, and in several recent divorce cases, one parent has tried to gain custody of their children on the grounds the other parent is pagan. In recent years, judges have ruled that parents have the right to religious freedom unless they are harming their children. "Generally, people think pagan is OK, but if you tell them you're a witch, they think black magic and spells," Harper said. "They just don't understand." "Pagans are worried about the negative perceptions and historic misinformation by other churches," said Pete Davis, founder of the pagan scouting group SpiralScouts and father of four. "If you're not with Jesus, you're against him, so you must be Satanists. "But it's changing. I joined the Interfaith Council of Washington state 12 years ago. They were convinced we were baby-eating devil worshippers. I've done a lot of education. After about six years, I was elected president by a unanimous vote." Brenda Brasher, Assistant Professor in Religion at Mount Union College in Alliance, Ohio, has studied Wiccan covens in California and believes they suffer from guilt by association. "They're pretty peaceful people," she said. "The whole idea of Satanists and devil worshippers is like the underside of Christianity. It has nothing to do with this pagan movement." Some pagan practices continue to make mainstream Americans squeamish, however. At the Bigwood home, as in many Pagan households, the children are taught not to be ashamed of their bodies. BreeAnna, 3, gleefully runs around the house and the backyard in just a T-shirt. Bigwood is trying to teach her to respect other people's comfort levels so she understands that going without clothing is not always appropriate. "We don't teach our children that things are impossible," Bigwood said. "We don't teach them there are no such things as ghosts. Pagan kids tend to be open-minded, so they might talk about telepathy or reincarnation. But if my kid goes to school and says, 'I talk to my dead grandfather,' not only is the school going to recommend professional help and medication, but the kids are going to label him a freak." For that reason, Bigwood chose home schooling. Madhbh Falkner, an employee at Denver's Herbs and Arts metaphysical store, said she teaches her son, Navlin, 3, to worship in a way different than other kids learn. "He loves blowing out candles and being smudged with sage," she said. "And instead of church, we'll go to the mountains or the park. That's a beautiful thing about this: Working in your garden is like an act of worship." Rowan Mo'r said her 11- and 14-year-old sons have a different understanding of the power of words from other kids. "I'm a lot less tolerant of name-calling than many parents," she said. "They know not to put harmful things out there." She also would rather find a natural remedy than go to the doctor. "My youngest would much rather go to the doctor and get cherry syrup, but he chokes down my concoctions," she said, laughing. She also teaches them the following basics: "You may do as you will, but harm none. Whatever you put out into the universe, you'll get it back three times. That means three times as many blessings, but if I harm someone, I'll suffer that evil three times." All contents Copyright 2002 The Denver Post or other copyright holders. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed for any commercial purpose.