It’s easy to forget that what are now considered mere myths and stories used to be regarded as the founding tenets of religious worship. There are still however groups that believe our world is supported by the giant tree Yggdrasil; that the sun’s soul is Bennu, a self-regenerating bird; and that lightning is the instrument Zeus uses to make his will known.
These people are called Pagans. Derived from “paganus,” the Latin equivalent to “country folks,” the term pagan was first used by Roman Catholics to describe faiths other than their own. Nowadays the label encompasses groups whose faith differs from the main world religions, according to Scarlet Jory, a co-ordinator and teacher at the Crescent Moon.
Jory founded the Crescent Moon, a school of magic and Paganism, while studying Latin at Concordia in 1995.
Faced with a career choice which became obsolete midway during her studies – the Quebec ministry of education changed the curriculum, replacing Latin courses with Spanish and German – Jory turned to prayer for guidance.
“I asked the divine to show me what I should be doing with my life, give me some direction,” she said. “And that night, I had this interesting dream. I was standing in the middle of this giant glowing library and there was a woman dressed in white with a blindfold and a veil over her eyes.”
“She had this big, big book. She opened the book up on her lap and she pointed to me. In it was a whole curriculum of study for an alternate spiritual practice – which is what the Crescent Moon is now,” she said.
Another popular Pagan location in Montreal is called Le Mélange Magique, a store filled with magic artifacts and Pagan products.
The mood inside Mélange is different from that of any other store. A cat passes by, undisturbed by the presence of customers, to find refuge in a corner close to
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