What Good is Paganism for Families?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Paganism has a reputation of being for teenagers and experimenting twenty-somethings, but I honestly feel like it's the best choice for a mother of three from the midwest as well!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paganfamilies\/2015\/04\/what-good-is-paganism-for-families\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Good is Paganism for Families?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Paganism has a reputation of being for teenagers and experimenting twenty-somethings, but I honestly feel like it's the best choice for a mother of three from the midwest as well!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paganfamilies\/2015\/04\/what-good-is-paganism-for-families\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pagan Families\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-04-09T10:00:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-04-09T02:57:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/309\/2015\/04\/shutterstock_104648267-1024x682.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"682\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Molly Khan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Molly Khan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paganfamilies\/2015\/04\/what-good-is-paganism-for-families\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paganfamilies\/2015\/04\/what-good-is-paganism-for-families\/\",\"name\":\"What Good is Paganism for Families?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paganfamilies\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-04-09T10:00:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-04-09T02:57:20+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paganfamilies\/#\/schema\/person\/ae0c23944e86082806e29eb6245a54d5\"},\"description\":\"Paganism has a reputation of being for teenagers and experimenting twenty-somethings, but I honestly feel like it's the best choice for a mother of three from the midwest as well!\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paganfamilies\/2015\/04\/what-good-is-paganism-for-families\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paganfamilies\/2015\/04\/what-good-is-paganism-for-families\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paganfamilies\/2015\/04\/what-good-is-paganism-for-families\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paganfamilies\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What Good is Paganism for Families?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paganfamilies\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paganfamilies\/\",\"name\":\"Pagan Families\",\"description\":\"Resources for Pagan Pregnancy and Birth\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paganfamilies\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paganfamilies\/#\/schema\/person\/ae0c23944e86082806e29eb6245a54d5\",\"name\":\"Molly Khan\",\"description\":\"Molly Khan is a writer, student, and mother of three from the Midwest prairie. She is a founding member and liturgist for Prairie Shadow Protogrove, ADF. She writes about her joys and struggles as a mother and a Heathen Druid, as well as her experiences raising children in an interfaith household at thepagangrove.blogspot.com.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/thepagangrove.blogspot.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paganfamilies\/author\/mollykhan\/\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What Good is Paganism for Families?","description":"Paganism has a reputation of being for teenagers and experimenting twenty-somethings, but I honestly feel like it's the best choice for a mother of three from the midwest as well!","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paganfamilies\/2015\/04\/what-good-is-paganism-for-families\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What Good is Paganism for Families?","og_description":"Paganism has a reputation of being for teenagers and experimenting twenty-somethings, but I honestly feel like it's the best choice for a mother of three from the midwest as well!","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paganfamilies\/2015\/04\/what-good-is-paganism-for-families\/","og_site_name":"Pagan Families","article_published_time":"2015-04-09T10:00:34+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-04-09T02:57:20+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":682,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/309\/2015\/04\/shutterstock_104648267-1024x682.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Molly Khan","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Molly Khan","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paganfamilies\/2015\/04\/what-good-is-paganism-for-families\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paganfamilies\/2015\/04\/what-good-is-paganism-for-families\/","name":"What Good is Paganism for Families?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paganfamilies\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-04-09T10:00:34+00:00","dateModified":"2015-04-09T02:57:20+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paganfamilies\/#\/schema\/person\/ae0c23944e86082806e29eb6245a54d5"},"description":"Paganism has a reputation of being for teenagers and experimenting twenty-somethings, but I honestly feel like it's the best choice for a mother of three from the midwest as well!","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paganfamilies\/2015\/04\/what-good-is-paganism-for-families\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paganfamilies\/2015\/04\/what-good-is-paganism-for-families\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paganfamilies\/2015\/04\/what-good-is-paganism-for-families\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paganfamilies\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What Good is Paganism for Families?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paganfamilies\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paganfamilies\/","name":"Pagan Families","description":"Resources for Pagan Pregnancy and Birth","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paganfamilies\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paganfamilies\/#\/schema\/person\/ae0c23944e86082806e29eb6245a54d5","name":"Molly Khan","description":"Molly Khan is a writer, student, and mother of three from the Midwest prairie. She is a founding member and liturgist for Prairie Shadow Protogrove, ADF. She writes about her joys and struggles as a mother and a Heathen Druid, as well as her experiences raising children in an interfaith household at thepagangrove.blogspot.com.","sameAs":["http:\/\/thepagangrove.blogspot.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paganfamilies\/author\/mollykhan\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paganfamilies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paganfamilies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paganfamilies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paganfamilies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1744"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paganfamilies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5260"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paganfamilies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5260\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paganfamilies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paganfamilies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paganfamilies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paganfamilies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

{"id":5260,"date":"2015-04-09T06:00:34","date_gmt":"2015-04-09T10:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/paganfamilies\/?p=5260"},"modified":"2015-04-08T22:57:20","modified_gmt":"2015-04-09T02:57:20","slug":"what-good-is-paganism-for-families","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paganfamilies\/2015\/04\/what-good-is-paganism-for-families\/","title":{"rendered":"What Good is Paganism for Families?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"shutterstock_104648267\"$ <\/a>For a large portion of the time I have been Pagan, I have also been a mother. \u00a0This surprises some people, both on- and off-line; Paganism has a reputation of being for teenagers and experimenting twenty-somethings. \u00a0While I\u2019m very glad those demographics can find something useful in my religion, I honestly feel like it\u2019s the best choice for a mother of three from the midwest, too!<\/p>\n

The best part about Paganism? \u00a0Most Pagans are not only open-minded about differences that much of society looks down on, but at least in my local community, they are actively supportive of those differences! \u00a0There are a few transgendered individuals who attend ritual regularly, and it\u2019s harder to find a straight person than someone who differs from that norm in some way at most gatherings; and this is not a bad thing! \u00a0It\u2019s something that is celebrated, each individual bringing themselves to the table with no expectations of conforming to a standard norm. \u00a0As someone who identifies as pansexual, being able to interact with others who are comfortable with my identity is amazing. \u00a0As a parent of children who may not fit into the cis heterosexual norm, it is incredibly comforting to know that they will have a spiritual community to support them whatever their future needs. \u00a0Not only that, but Paganism\u2019s encouragement of the leadership roles of women in a religious landscape largely dominated by the patriarchy is wonderful for all of my children; even my son. \u00a0Seeing all the women leaders of our local groups gives my daughters leadership role models, and my son role models for respecting women in power.<\/p>\n

My family is a pretty interesting mix of religions, cultures, and ideas. \u00a0My husband is an atheist, my in-laws are Muslim, my mother is a devout Evangelical Christian and my father identifies as Buddhist<\/a>. \u00a0The nice thing about Paganism? \u00a0My children aren\u2019t being indoctrinated, and aren\u2019t being told that anyone else is inherently wrong. \u00a0We frame ideas of religion as \u201cmommy believes..\u201d or \u201cgrandma believes..\u201d and that\u2019s okay<\/em>. \u00a0In my Pagan worldview, there\u2019s room for lots of different answers for lots of different people; and for children who are being exposed to lots of ideas that may conflict with one another, having that safe haven where it\u2019s okay to believe whatever you would like (outside of actively infringing on others\u2019 rights) is incredibly beneficial. \u00a0The High Priestess of the local Wiccan coven won\u2019t bar my daughter from attending if she prays to Allah with Grandma.<\/p>\n

The big benefit that my specific brand of Paganism (Heathenry) brings to the table is ancestor veneration. \u00a0I\u2019ve been reading recently about the benefits of children hearing stories about their past, of knowing their place in the world. \u00a0One of the practices most central to my tradition is the remembering of our ancestors, the telling of stories, the effort to incorporate those who are \u2018gone\u2019 as still being a big part of our lives. \u00a0Not only does this help my children to better know their place in the world \u2013 and thus to feel more confident and certain in themselves \u2013 but it also helps them immensely to have a relationship with death that is less frightening and more home-y. \u00a0My children were very sad to lose two great-grandparents in the span of a year, but it\u2019s not a taboo subject. \u00a0We talk about our memories, we tell stories, we visit their graves and leave gifts; and for my children, those grandparents are still very much a part of their lives.<\/p>\n

Finally, I want to say a few words about Paganism\u2019s treatment of this life we are currently living. \u00a0I was raised in a home that emphasized sin and guilt, that if you were enjoying something more than you loved and enjoyed God, you were doing it wrong. \u00a0Several times the phrase \u201cbe in the world, not of it\u201d was frequently spoken. \u00a0I feel like this really damaged my relationship with the world, one that I am still working on recovering from. \u00a0I am so glad that my children aren\u2019t being raised in this way \u2013 that they can come to know the world as a wonderful, awe-inspiring place without being made to feel ashamed for loving it. \u00a0Pagans celebrate the world, the cycles of life, the beauty of sexuality, the joy and pleasure that is inherent in much of nature. \u00a0I want my children to enjoy their lives, to learn to be happy the best that they can, and I feel like Paganism is a perfect conduit for teaching that.<\/p>\n

Photo courtesy of shutterstock.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"