How We Pray: “Self-Reflection Brought Me to My Faith.”
Wicca: Part four of a semester-long series about student spirituality
Click above to watch Amber Dame describe her group's rituals.
On Sundays, they gather in Marsh Chapel for communal worship. Several times a day, they pray facing Mecca in a room at the George Sherman Union. On Fridays and Saturdays, they meet in Hillel House on Bay State Road, and when the seasons change, they celebrate on the lawn behind Marsh Plaza. They are the hundreds of students involved in spiritual life at Boston University, the former Methodist seminary that is now home to 29 religious groups that include students of all races, nationalities, and beliefs.
This semester, BU Today is talking to students about how and why prayer is a part of their daily lives on campus. The members of Nemeton, the University’s Wiccan alliance, hold weekly discussion groups on Mondays at 7 p.m. in Room 425 of the College of Arts and Sciences, 725 Commonwealth Ave. Their rituals are held in Robinson Chapel, in the basement of Marsh Chapel. The group celebrates the sabbats, or eight major festivals commemorating the changing seasons, with open circles, and holds open circles for some new and full moons. The next major sabbat is Samhain, marking the end of the harvest season, on October 31.
In the slide show above, Amber Dame (SED’09), a copresident and member of Nemeton’s executive board, discusses how her group’s rituals represent a way to show gratitude.
Click here to see part one of the series, “Judaism: ‘Something Clicked, and Something Changed.’” Click here to see part two, “Islam: ‘Faith Is What Connects Me to My Creator.’” Click here to see part three, “Catholicism: ‘I Want My Life to Be a Prayer.’”
Edward A. Brown can be reached at ebrown@bu.edu. Jessica Ullian can be reached at jullian@bu.edu.