Reflections is a weekly spotlight on faith within the campus community through intimate student interviews.
"To me, the Divine is both the mother and the father," said Lynne Shultz, a 24 year-old Pagan student at Tthe University of Memphis.
Lynne said she identifies with the Druidic tradition of Paganism which has its roots in ancient Ireland.
Lynne is a part of a growing movement of people seeking to return to the pre-Christian days of European religious beliefs. Pagans believe in the divinity of Earth and nature.
The symbol of the faith is the pentacle, a five-pointed star enclosed in a circle, with the points of the star standing for the elements of earth, fire, air and water; the fifth point representing the Divine.
Modern neo-paganism has evolved from the women's liberation and environmentalist movements of this century.
While there are no organized Pagan religious organizations, independent estimates suggest as many as one million people are part of the neo-pagan movement in the United States.
For Lynne, Paganism means living conscientiously knowing the Divine is innate in creation -- that is, that all things in creation are Divine.
Many pagans break down one god into several aspects of the Divine.
"When I am in need of a particular thing, I choose the god that has been placed over that area of life," Lynne said. "Praying to a specific god helps me to personalize the Divine and to avoid seeing god as some unreachable being."
Lynne is often confronted with misconceptions people have about her faith. A co-worker recently confronted one of Lynne's Pagan friends, asking the friend to hide her pentacle necklace from view.
Meanwhile, the co-worker herself was wearing a rather prominent cross. Lynne explained that many Christians think Pagans worship Satan, who is a figure in the Christian religion but has nothing to do with the Pagan faith.
"Evil is the work of mankind," Lynne said. "The Divine is a power unlike any other it is neither good nor evil."
Even though Lynne believes the world would be a better place if everyone were Pagan, she also believes diversity of faith is enriching to mankind.
"There is no future in stagnation,"she said. "Intellectual conflict can be a great tool of learning and can lead to the conception of powerful new ideas. Jesus, for example, was born into a world of conflict between Jews and Romans."
Lynne is certainly doing her share in contributing to this diversity of faith by interacting with people of all creeds within The U of M community.
Through her time and effort ,she is able to change people's stereotypes about Paganism.
By doing so, Lynne Shultz is helping to pave the way for greater religious acceptance for people of all beliefs, regardless of how unpopular those beliefs are with the majority of religions.
