Meet Jessica Renard | Sex Therapist and Pagan

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jessica Renard and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jessica, what is the most important factor behind your success?
We both attended the Mystic South event in 2023, and attended some sessions where people were looking for guidance around being Pagan and navigating mental health, or figuring out how to address their spiritual wounds. We noticed limitations in regards to finding a Pagan-affirming therapist – where would people search for this? We came up with the idea of PATH – Pagan Affirming Therapy and Healthcare as a solution to those who are wanting to find someone to work with that supports their spiritual identity when it may differ from the societal or cultural norm where they live. We believe that this will succeed because we all want to find a place where we belong, aren’t thought of as strange, or have to give a long preamble to try and explain ourselves or our ways of being. Especially in a strong, predominantly Christian environment, we have had several people remark at what a good idea it was, and how happy they are to have a resource where they can look for practitioners to affirm their identities as well as refer friends to who are also looking for something similar. We have heard from practitioners who are a part of pagan communities that this also supports them in being able to share that they offer this kind of affirming service, as well as feeling accepted and belonging themselves. In addition, this is a way to unite these practitioners for support and community.

What should our readers know about your business?
One of the first challenges was to identify a name that was as inclusive as possible, as we were not looking to meet the needs of just one small group, but rather to identify clinicians who would provide affirming care for anyone who identifies as outside of the expected faiths of their social and cultural surroundings. These are often lumped together under the classification of “other”, but have historically been referred to pejoratively as “heathen” etc. We settled on the term “pagan” for two reasons. First, that it is fairly widely used as an umbrella term for some nature-based spiritualities (though it suffers from a Western bias and can feel exclusionary to indigenous spiritualities). Second, and more importantly, we looked at the origins of the word “pagan”. The word originates in the Latin, and was used until the middle ages to refer to “the religion of the peasantry” or countryside, i.e. a person not subscribing to the major, recognized, or dominant religion of the cities or ruling classes. To us, it is a broad umbrella term referring to any practices outside the major or recognized religion of a given community, and those who feel that the identity applies to them. Admittedly, it also made a nice acronym – Pagan Affirming Therapy & Healthcare – PATH!

It took a bit for us to get things together since we both identify as neurodivergent and have a lot of responsibilities outside of PATH, so it was really a work of love. I’m not sure that we’ve even made any money at this point! Our goal is to meet the needs of the community, so we have kept costs low, focusing on populating our referral list and bringing in just enough to cover overhead.

From July 2023, we worked to create the technical back end of PATH and launched in March of 2024. We (as of the beginning of October 2024) have 23 professionals in our directory! We’re also looking at working on a book talking about Pagan practices and therapy. Each of us took turns doing more when one of us had too much going on, and of course we give ourselves a lot of grace when working, since this is supposed to be a passion project, not a Sisyphean task. More than anything, we want to get word out about the directory so that other Pagans or non-Christians can find support and help from professionals who can affirm their identities.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
First, I would purchase some clue town books, since I love incorporating puzzles or goals into my activities. One of my favorite first dates was doing a clue town book through Oakland Cemetery, which was a lot of fun, and you got to see more of the cemetery than you would to just walk around. They also have clue town books for Decatur Square, Emory University Piedmont Park and more – 15 books for around Atlanta!

I’m also a big National Park book stamp collector, so I would have to recommend going by the Chattahoochee River NRA for some great hikes in nature, the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site – which includes the museum, the church he preached at, and his boyhood home available to tour, or the Jimmy Carter National Historic Site in Plains, Ga where you have to see his boyhood home, the school that was transformed into the museum, and of course take a picture with the giant peanut just outside of town!

If you’re able to get down to Savannah, I loved the tour of Bonaventure Cemetery as well as the American Prohibition Museum. I also have to give a shout out to the Goodwill Outlet store in Savannah where you can buy clothes and things by the pound! Great for finding some great hidden treasures!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
The idea for this organization was born when we both attended the Mystic South Conference and talked about our passion for meeting the needs of our communities. Mystic South is a large esoteric/pagan/witchcraft/occult conference that takes place in Atlanta, each summer and features a wide range of workshops, some rituals, dance and a marketplace. It is a gathering that reflects and embraces the diversity of peoples and of religious practices, both past and present, that make-up our region. Their commitment to diversity is found in the exceptional presentations and workshops at the conference, as well as in the faces, voices and spirits of those present. It is always an incredible event, warm and welcoming to all, and since discovering it we are determined to be there every year!

Website: https://www.paganaffirming.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adminpagan

Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/company/path-adminpagan

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/adminpagan

Other: https://www.jessicarenard.com