About PagansPath.com
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Humble Beginnings
Pagan's Path started on October 2nd, 1996, as a small education website hosted on a personal AOL screen-name/website. It was a modest attempt to share information on commonly asked questions in AOL chat rooms. It was initially part of what my ex-husband and I called the SpringIce Education Network. The name was merely a representation of our union and commitment to the site; I as Spring and he as Ice. After 2 years of working on the initial articles; it was evident this was a lone commitment on my part. And the "SpringIce" was dropped and replaced with my name only. Thus the SpringIce Spiritual Network was the humble beginnings of what has become SpringWolf's PagansPath.com.
 
As the site expanded to include more education information than just what was being asked about in chat rooms, the demand for this information also expanded. One of the biggest requirements I had for the articles on the site; was to provide the resources used to write the articles. To give readers the ability to look up this information and expand their knowledge beyond my words on the page. It was also my way of showing this information wasn't just from some crazy woman's head.
 
As more articles were rolled out in this context, visitors increased their requests for more information and the popularity of the site grew as those requests were met. This expansion gave rise to an increased need for technical space and features that AOL simply could not handle.
 
PagansPath.com Officially Rolls Out
In March 1999 the official PagansPath.com domain was purchased and the site was officially rolled out on Ostara of that year. In February 2001 the PagansPath.net and PagansPath.org domains were purchased to eliminate some issues other sites were having with copycats and negative sites that were an attack on pagan beliefs and practices. Today, the .org and .net domains are parked on PagansPath.com.
 
A guest book was added in 2001. To be honest because other sites I visited at the time had one as well. It's sometimes nice to see what people have to say. Through comments, questions and suggestions it gave me ideas for topics and expansion of information.
 
That idea gave rise to a corresponding message board. A place where the topics listed on PagansPath.com could be discussed in further detail and through interaction with visitors and myself; as well as, between visitors. The Pagan's Path Message Board was established during the Mid-Summer festival on June 21, 2000.
 
PagansPath.com In 2006
I'm always amazed at the popularity of PagansPath.com. It has grown into something I never thought possible. The initial site had a total of 62,000+ visits on AOL. Through the initial roll out to August 2003, that number rose to 178,000+. At the time of this article (March 2009), our site statistics record an average of over 100 visitations a day. The average for a month exceeds 3,600; with an increase during some of the more popular Sabbats, such as Samhain and Yule.

The site is accessed from all over the world. The guestbook has seen signatures from all over the United States, Canada and Mexico. As well as Australia, New Zealand, Africa, all over Europe and even from the Middle East.
 
The biggest thrill for me however has been the personal contacts through the message board and especially through the emails I receive from the site. The site visits and emails come from people from all walks of life. Not just pagans. I'm often amazed at how many Christian and Jewish Ministers email me asking questions. Often times our discussions move into detailed correspondences about our beliefs and comparisons of how alike we all really are.
 
PagansPath.com Sponsor's Store
The Pagan's Path Gift Store
As with most things in 2006, the cost of keeping PagansPath.com has increased. As you can probably imagine, it takes a great deal of time, effort and expense to keep PagansPath.com up and running. Between the domain name registration, hosting services, and message board services the internet expenses are just part of the financial commitments. There's also lectures for adult groups and educational programs for children and community events. Book donations to libraries and soldiers serving over seas. Along with many other life changing events such as burials, weddings and paganings.
 
Through the years I've always received requests for PagansPath.com materials. Things like t-shirts; cups and so on where people could show off their support and pride at being pagan. I never gave these ideas much thought until 2006 when financial support for these efforts increased. At the encouragement of family and friends I sat down and started to think. Then one day The GreatSpirits dropped a gem in my lap. Songwynde, a regular on the PagansPath.com message board dropped a little suggestion about an online retail service. After a little research, a lot of thinking, designing, tossing out and re-creating graphics and images; the PagansPath.com sponsors store was born on April 1, 2006. Yeah..what better day than April Fool's day.
 
Each purchase helps support the continuing mission to Spread Tolerance Through Education. Each item purchased provides a contribution to PagansPath.com and helps cover the internet expenses and services associated with these efforts. From T-shirts for children and adults, cups and mugs, mouse pads and magikal Grimoires; these products sponsor PagansPath.com.
 
PagansPath.com Moves Forward
There are always a lot of plans in the works for expansion. Adding articles on the site, expanding services, adding lectures and classes and even building a community center. I'm a strong believer that everything happens in it's right time and place. Time and the blessings of The GreatSpirits will bring these ideas into reality.
 
In late 2007 the planning for Spring's Haven, LLC began. The legal filings were submitted to Federal and State organizations in March, 2008. The company was registered as a Limited Liability Corporation (LLC) on March 21, 2008 in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
 
Spring's Haven is first and foremost a spiritual center for education. It is focused on understanding spirituality to bring about tolerance and peace. Our goal is to facilitate holistic spiritual awareness, enlightenment, wellness and self empowerment through education and celebration.
 
The Center is a non-member organization. Individuals participate because they want to share in hope, community and friendship with other spiritual beings. We offer worship services, adult education classes in spiritual philosophy and practice, healthy living, Reiki healing, leadership training and a thriving spiritual community. The Center also offers services in spiritual healing, divination and spiritual direction and counseling.
 
PagansPath.com 11th Birthday
On the 11th birthday of PagansPath.com, it's interesting to look back over the growth and changes of the site. Today on our birthday the site claims 405,380 visitors and climbing. 90 people per day visit the site from places like Australia, New Zealand, Africa, India, all over Europe and even from the Middle East.
 
In 2009 the site went social and joined Facebook and Twitter through my business site Spring's Haven. The popularity was more than I expected and requests came for me to join the social networking in person. So I went social in January 2010.
 
With the increased popularity in these social networking sites, the message board for PagansPath.com has slowly come to a crawl. Growth brings about change and sometimes old things slowly fade. But the site continues, new articles are added and the emails, tweets and Facebook contacts keep coming.
 
You can follow us on Twitter and Facebook for daily messages, announcements, schedules,or just to chat. Or follow SpringsHaven for a Daily Tarot Meditation Card drawing & corresponding message. You can even look back over our daily drawing archive.
 
Follow us on Twitter:
 
Spring'sHaven @
twitter.com/springshaven
 
LadySpringWolf @
twitter.com/ladyspringwolf
Follow us on Facebook:
 
Spring'sHaven @
facebook.com/springshaven
 
LadySpringWolf @
facebook.com/ladyspringwolf