There was a lot of thought going on in my little old head concerning the first topic for this column. I used my tried and true W’s list, as I do whenever I undertake a writing project. You know… you learned it in junior high. Who, what, where, when, why?

Who do I want to reach? Why, Pagan parents, of course… but also Pagans who teach children, who interact with children, who are uncles and big sisters and cousins, next door neighbors and ice cream vendors and pizza delivery persons. In short, everyone whose life touches the precious spark of Divinity that is still undimmed in every child.

What do I want to accomplish? I want to stimulate people to grow in their own spirituality, become cognizant of the ways in which they teach children (and each other, actually) by their very words and actions, investigate their own faith in order to be better able to communicate it and share with others, and THINK about what is happening in the world around them in order to be able to process events in the light of responsible Pagan citizenship, thereby making our world a better place.

Where do I go to do this? I think the internet has become a terrific forum for reaching people in this Age of Information, and while I will always love the smell of newsprint, the feel of pages in a magazine, and the intoxicating aroma of binding glue, the fact remains that the net is here to stay, and I applaud the accessibility and broad range of information available there.

When? Hoo boy. Once a week… think I can find enough to talk about that often?

And finally, and perhaps most importantly, Why am I doing this? And why ‘Paganhood?’

Actually, the title started out as a joke. I asked a particularly witty and creative friend of mine for ideas for a column ‘from the perspective of a Pagan parent,’ and he shot it back in under a minute. (Which is how he swears he comes up with all his hilarious material, and I think now maybe I actually believe him.) It was bandied about for a time, and at first I thought it might be a little silly, what with Men In Tights jokes coming to mind and all that, but I decided to play with it, just for kicks, and looked up the movie Parenthood on http://www.imdb.com to see the title. There I noticed the tagline, “It could happen to you.” This time, another creative friend supplied the change to “It should happen to you,” and suddenly I realized there was more to this than just silliness.

I had asked myself, “What do you think is missing, out there, that would necessitate adding to the barrage of Pagan writings available at the click of a mouse?” And what started out as a quirky play on a movie title suddenly seemed to answer that question; I'd like to encourage Pagans to live out their spirituality, which is, in the end, the best way to teach our children. Paganhood, to me, carries the idea of parenting that is not divorced from our belief system. I think that, as Pagans, we are sometimes so concerned with not 'shoving our religion down the throats' of the people in our lives that we fail to communicate our spirituality at all. There are a lot of hurting people out there, and while I don't advocate proselytizing, I think that we forget sometimes how much of a difference we can make by letting the light of our spirituality shine on those around us. As a parent, I have a responsibility to expose my children to my own set of beliefs, while still encouraging them to find their own way; however, whether we are talking about raising our kids, ministering to friends in need, or just interacting with children and adults alike on a daily basis, it's my way of life in general, my mindset, my mode of functioning, and the kind of person I am that will be making the biggest impression on those people. My kids are going to get the important messages I want to impress upon them not because I repeat those messages to them, but because I live by them. The opposite is also true; if my words are contradicted by my actions, then the message is going to be lost. If I tell my kids that it's important for us to be wise stewards of our resources, yet don't recycle, what are they going to learn? If I hold up a code of conduct as an example, such as the 13 goals of a Witch, yet lose my temper and don't keep my words in good order, what message is going to really be internalized? This is something we all know, but I hope to remind myself and others, by having a mindset that is geared towards 'walking the walk,' that we are at all times, in all things, teaching our children how to live.

Paganhood also carries with it a sense of the responsibility we have as Pagans, whether in or out of the closet, to live a life that reflects well on us as community as a whole. In a society that is still tinged with ignorance and intolerance of anything that isn't 'mainstream,' like Paganism, I think it is important for us to realize that one of the best ways we can educate those around us on a grassroots level about our beliefs and lifestyle is to model the positive traits that our spirituality fosters within us. If I am a reliable, punctual, hard-working, honest employee, then my behavior reflects well on Pagans in general, and goes a long way towards dispensing with some of the negative stereotypes that are often applied to us. If I'm driving a car with a bumper sticker identifying me as Pagan, and I am courteous and law-abiding in my travels on the road, I make a positive statement, as well. Keeping ourselves mindful of the fact that we are all, whether we like it or not, representatives of the larger community, should cause us to exercise care in how we live our lives in the fishbowl of modern society.

In the weeks to come, I hope to share some musings on life in general, current events, social concerns, and the like, as viewed by someone who is a Pagan parent and believer in the truth that we are all interconnected, that we all share in the responsibility for nurturing each other and making our world a better place for our children... because they will soon be the stewards of this planet, and we may be returning again, to live in the world that they, in turn, have taken care of for us.