In its earliest variation, it is believed that the term "pagan" was derived from the Latin word paganus that literally meant rural. This term was later used by early Christians to describe those that lived in rural communities that followed a polytheistic way of life. Rural areas were set apart from the hustle and bustle of big-city life, and often relied on the surrounding community for survival.
A community is a group of people who share something in common, and are often defined by the strengths of connections that bind them. This is also one way to define kinship. The other way to define kinship, is blood relation, or family. For many, being a part of a community is like being a part of kinship or a family.
Why do I tell you this? Because I am a part of a family. Not by blood, but by something deeper: a common interest. We are joined together by bonds that are stronger than blood. I am also a part of a community; a community of pagans who strive to make our world a better place to live. A world that we can be proud to leave to our children. When a group of friends and I set out for a little witchy road trip to visit our partners at Mystic Rebel in Claresholm, I heard that a member of my kin-family was stranded in Calgary and was desperately looking for a ride to Lethbridge. My group and I decided to drop everything and rush to the aid of our stranded family member. An hour out of the way is nothing, when someone needs our help.
I have been on the receiving end of such assistance countless times. I have been retrieved when I am stranded hours away from home. I have been gifted time, food, money, energy; things that I will never be able to pay back. The feeling of gratitude I've felt has been unparalleled. I accepted help, sometimes with some coaxing, because that is what it means to be a part of a community, to have kinship.
Providing the grace of unconditional love, support, and help is something that is missing in today’s society. We have been conditioned to put stipulations on our assistance; to look for provisions when someone offers a hand.
This is not the way that humanity once operated. There was once a time when community and kinship were of the utmost importance. In times past, support was freely provided, and help was gratefully accepted.
As our group set off to drive the extra hour to provide that support to our stranded kin, I was filled with an overwhelming feeling of gratitude once again. This time, not because I was being provided something that I wouldn’t be able to return, but that I was in a position to be able to provide that grace to someone else.
Community is one of the values on which SAPA is founded. Not just the act of creating a community, and providing a space for our members to connect and learn from each other, but providing the support to our members, and to add a bit of collectivism to our Western culture.
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