This made her think the Pagan community at MSU needed a place to call their own.

Mendelsohn is the president of Green Spiral, a Pagan student organization meant to be a safe space for a collective group of people with different religious beliefs. Founded in 1997, Green Spiral went on hiatus in 2004, before Mendelsohn helped bring it back this semester.

Paganism is an umbrella term encompassing a multitude of nature-based religions, including: Wicca, Druidism, Shamanism, Hinduism and Shinto.

Some Green Spiral members are Christian or atheist, while Mendelsohn said she focuses more on Native American religions like Shamanism.

Growing up, Mendelsohn said she never felt she could relate to the religions of her parents. Having a Christian mother and Jewish father, she said neither religion felt right.

One component of Paganism is the idea that divinity is created out of the interconnectedness of life, and many Pagans have a general tendency to be polytheistic, believing in multiple deities.

“We kind of just provide a social outlet for people with Pagan beliefs,” said Gary Cox, Green Spiral’s treasurer and Web master. “If you look to nature for divinity — that is Paganism.”

A few years ago, his love for Japanese anime sparked an interest in Shinto, a traditional Japanese religion, Cox said. After researching it on the Internet, Cox said he found himself relating to many Shinto beliefs.

“If it wasn’t for the Internet, people wouldn’t be aware of all the religions out there,” he said. “It creates real spiritual diversity, and people can find what’s right for them.”

To encourage this diversity, Green Spiral hosts events and guest speakers meant to educate and expose members to different religious paths. Dawn Botke, owner of Triple Goddess Bookstore in Okemos, 2142 Hamilton Road, presented some of the history and theology behind tarot cards at last week’s meeting.

A tarot deck, which is made up of 78 cards in the suits air, earth, fire and water, is used by some Pagans to reflect what is happening in their subconscious, Botke said.

At this week’s meeting, Green Spiral will host author and Shaman practitioner Colleen Deatsman, who will lead the group on a Shaman journey.

The event is at 7:30 p.m. in the Tower Room of the Union.

Although she’s not actively participating in Shamanism, Felicia Anderson, Green Spiral’s community coordinator, said she wants to be able to look objectively at the belief system and understand it.

“Every religion has one basic component that is good,” she said.

“My goal in life is to find one good thing in each one, and follow that path.”

It wasn’t until recently that Anderson said she began identifying as Pagan — although she usually describes herself using the word “eclectic”.

“People have an image of me drinking blood in their heads, and that’s partially because not a lot of people embrace the word,” she said. “We’re not crazy.”

Mendelsohn said the group has encountered adversity in the past. At Sparticipation, a Christian group’s flier was posted over Green Spiral’s board, although Mendelsohn said she’s not sure what the person’s motives were. The former vice president of Green Spiral was forced to resign when their parents found out about their membership and accused them of being involved in a cult, she said.

Green Spiral hosts rituals for those interested, but Cox said they are interdenominational and don’t try to invoke deities.

Most rituals occur in line with the solstices and the cycles of nature. The point, Cox said, is to be able to connect with nature.

“We’re all on this earth, moving around the sun — there’s nothing more basic than that,” he said.