The Daily Egyptian is published by the students of SIU at Carbondale. Except during vacations and exam weeks, The Daily Egyptian is published Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and TWThF during the summer semester."

Pagans celebrate second Full Moon event

Candles barely illuminated the eleven figures circled around the small altar Friday night. Clad in a black velvet cloak, Heather Button, a graduate student in linguistics, led the ritual.

Participants faced the north, south, east and west honoring gods and goddesses and asked them for their presence. The second full moon event was underway, the Collegiate Association of Pagan Students away from the lunar glow of nature honored gods and goddesses inside the Students Center .

They crowded in their circle to worship Seshat and Thoth, a God and Goddess, strange to the average tongue but worthy of praise and adoration.

Seshat, the Goddess of details, invented writing and remembers everything. Thoth, the god of the moon and wisdom, taught men the ways of writing and the calendar, is her husband.

In the dark emptiness of the Illinois Room within Student Center, the students helped participants focus positive energy in order to achieve academic success and other goals.

"We're all students. We all have the same struggle, but we're in this together," Button said.

This event started with calling the gods and goddesses to the circle and asking them for their blessings. An Egyptian theme was utilized because of SIUC's location in a region commonly known as "Little Egypt."

River rocks were passed around the circle so participants could focus positive energy into them. Button said the talismans reminded the members of the academic successes in their past and the successes they could achieve in the future.

Participants sprinkled water from a palm branch onto each other as a gesture of well-wishing.

At the end of the ritual the energy was "grounded," which means the excess energy was put back into the earth.

Button said students had been trying to initiate a pagan Registered Student Organization on campus for a couple years, but just this last spring they became recognized by the University as the Collegiate Association of Pagan Students. CAPS has approximately 30 members.

"There were other faith-based RSOs on campus, and we felt that pagan students needed a voice," Button said. "This is our opportunity to worship on campus."

Minta Elsman, the CAPS public relations officer, said starting the RSO has not been easy, but it is off to a great start. Elsman has been a pagan for six years and said she enjoys it because there is no centralized dogma.

"I was drawn to it because it allows me to grow and develop spiritually and to question my beliefs constantly and reevaluate them," Elsman said.

After years of looking for a religion, Button said becoming a pagan was like finding the right light.

Elsman said she wants students and the public to know that all of the events hosted by CAPS are open to the public.

"Anyone who is interested in learning more, or about various religions is welcome to come to an event," she said.

For more information about CAPS write to collegepagans@yahoo.com

 

 

[Macro error: Can't include because the file is larger than 32767 characters.]

Today's News | Sports | Voices - Editorial | Letters
Newsbriefs | pulse - Arts & Entertainment | Calendar | Photo Staff
Apts & Rentals | Photo Personals | Live DE NewsCam | Classified Ads