When thinking of religion, we often only consider Christianity, Judaism and Islam.

In regards to alternative faiths, we tend to limit ourselves to Hinduism and Scientology.

Religions that fall outside of the Abrahamic umbrella are what qualify as “pagan.”

The term was originally created to describe all those who practiced religions contrary to Christianity, yet today the word applies to any religion outside of the mainstream.

In keeping with my desire to learn about different cultural groups and their ways of living, I met with Zachary Vaudo, the president of the University’s Pagan Student Association.

I was pleasantly surprised to note the lack of pentagrams and black nail polish that the media has trained me to expect from those who consider themselves pagans. Instead, Zak was great to talk to and happy to answer all of my questions.

To me, the most interesting aspect of paganism is the fact that it’s so fluid. People are constantly changing, and pagans allow their beliefs to change as they do.

Growing up Roman Catholic, I was constantly struck by the limitations that come along with practicing it.

And while there are stereotypes that go along with Christians, Jews and Muslims (out of touch with modern life, cheap and terrorists, respectively) there are deeper preconceived notions that people have about the pagan community.

The modern view of pagans comes from TV shows such as “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Charmed” and “Hex,” all of which link paganism with Wiccanism (a practice which includes the ritual use of magic). Although Wiccans are considered to be pagans, they are merely one of the many groups that paganism encompasses.

The meetings of the Pagan Student Association don’t include animal sacrifice, deviant sex, Satan worship or dancing naked around a fire.

Instead they discuss the differences in their faiths and explore various ways of spiritual connections in much the way that political groups talk about different positions on issues and ways to resolve them.

Paganism as a whole is akin to the United States in that it is the melting pot of spirituality. It takes aspects of all types of faiths to create something tailor-made to each practitioner – this is vastly different than all other religions, which require its followers to alter themselves and their beliefs.

This allows them to form political opinions based on personal beliefs without using an old, outdated book to substantiate them.

For a country founded by people searching for a place to freely practice religion, we still have a long way to go before we openly accept paganism.

A major reason why we are so far from achieving this is that the majority of people fail to fully understand paganism and its beliefs.

Ignorance like that is what causes people to ban the Harry Potter books from schools and view Hot Topic stores as the epicenter of disaffected youths with alternative beliefs.

Pagans simply are people who search for their own answers to life and the universe. They feel connected to the earth and focus less on the afterlife and more on their lives as they live them.

The hippie in me thinks this seems like an ideal way of life: following a personal code of morals and allowing your faith to change as you do.

Political beliefs can change as people go through life, so why not religious beliefs?

For anybody interested in exploring alternative spiritualities, Athens Pagan Pride Day is October 24, and the local pagan community will be celebrating in Bishop Park.

-Megan Otto is a page designer for The Red & Black. She will be profiling a different cultural group every week. E-mail motto@randb.com if you have a group you would like her to cover.