Editing Modern paganism (section)

===Propagation===
Based upon her study of the pagan community in the United States, the sociologist [[Margot Adler]] noted that it is rare for pagan groups to [[proselytize]] to gain new converts to their faiths. Instead, she argued that "in most cases," converts first become interested in the movement through "word of mouth, a discussion between friends, a lecture, a book, an article or a Web site." She went on to put forward the idea that this typically confirmed "some original, private experience, so that the most common experience of those who have named themselves pagan is something like 'I finally found a group that has the same religious perceptions I always had.{{' "}}{{Sfn|Adler|2006|p=13}} A practicing Wiccan herself, Adler used her own conversion to paganism as a case study, remarking that as a child she had taken a great interest in the [[Greek gods|gods and goddesses of ancient Greece]], and had performed her own devised rituals in dedication to them. When she eventually came across the Wiccan religion many years later, she then found that it confirmed her earlier childhood experiences, and that "I never converted in the accepted sense. I simply accepted, reaffirmed, and extended a very old experience".{{Sfn|Adler|2006|pp=15–19}}

[[File:Heathen altar.png|thumb|220px|A simple pagan altar]]

Folklorist [[Sabina Magliocco]] supported this idea, noting that a great many of those Californian pagans whom she interviewed claimed that they had been greatly interested in [[mythology]] and [[folklore]] as children, imagining a world of "enchanted nature and magical transformations, filled with lords and ladies, witches and wizards, and humble but often wise peasants". Magliocco noted that it was this world that pagans "strive to re-create in some measure".{{Sfn|Magliocco|2004|pp=40, 55}} Further support for Adler's ideas came from American Wiccan priestess [[Judy Harrow]], who noted that among her comrades, there was a feeling that "you don't ''become'' pagan, you discover that you always were".{{Sfn|Harrow|1996|p=12}} They have also been supported by Pagan studies scholar Graham Harvey.{{Sfn|Harvey|2007|p=1-2}}

Many pagans in North America encounter the movement through their involvement in other hobbies; particularly popular with US pagans are "golden age-type" pastimes such as the [[Society for Creative Anachronism]] (SCA), ''[[Star Trek]]'' fandom, ''[[Doctor Who]]'' fandom and comic book fandom. Other ways in which many North American pagans have gotten involved with the movement are through political or ecological activism, such as vegetarian groups, health food stores, or feminist university courses.{{Sfn|Rabinovitch|1996|p=76-77}}

Adler went on to note that from those she interviewed and surveyed in the US she could identify a number of common factors that led to people getting involved in paganism: the beauty, vision and imagination that was found within their beliefs and rituals, a sense of intellectual satisfaction and personal growth that they imparted, their support for environmentalism or feminism, and a sense of freedom.{{Sfn|Adler|2006|pp=20–21}}