Green Man Blog

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San Diego's Pagan Pride Day was held on September 12, 2009 in beautiful Balboa Park. An estimated 550-650 people were in attendance.

It featured rituals by three different groups - Coast Oak Grove, ADF (the Druids); Pagan House; and Witches of the Indigo Path.

There were classes offered on various topics, such as Basic Candle Magick, the Tools of the Witch, and Faeries and the Elements. There were lectures, dancing by the Shimmy Sisters, and music by Danyavaad, Talia Morales and Sheela-na-Gig.

The kids were even there, represented by Spiral Scouts International SunWave circle (a program for boys & girls of minority faiths, developed on Pagan beliefs). www.spiralscouts.org

There were food and information booths, and of course, the vendors!! Many beautiful items were offered for sale by a variety of vendors. So many pagan pretties for sale, so hard to resist! Of course I came home with a few witchy goodies.

In keeping with the spirit of giving back to the community, donations were taken for Mama's Kitchen www.mamaskitchen.org and the San Diego Humane Society and SPCA www.sdhumane.org.

A scholarship was awarded to a deserving member of the Pagan community. To help raise funds, a door prize drawing was held. Many great items were donated for the drawing, including three t-shirts designed by Rob Juszak and donated by Green Man T Shirts.

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What is Pagan Pride Day?

Pagan Pride Day is an annual, world-wide event that takes place anytime roughly between mid-August to mid-October. According to the Pagan Pride website (www.paganpride.org), "the mission of the Pagan Pride Project is to foster pride in Pagan identity through education, activism, charity and community".

A Pagan Pride celebration has three main activities:

1. Public Ritual - a public gathering where Pagans can network with each other and celebrate an Autumn Equinox ritual.
2. Food Drive - A food drive or other charitable activity. This is so Pagans may share their harvest with others in need, and also to make a clear statement to those who have misconceptions about Paganism, that Pagans are ethical people who are strongly called to be socially responsible. Not so different from other religions!
3. Press Releases - Pagan Pride Day is all about educating the community about what Paganism is (and isn't). Press releases and media coverage help to bring Paganism into the public eye.

Depending on the area, the event may be a full festival, with merchant booths, musical acts, book-signings, workshops and lectures on a variety of subjects, children's activities, and more.

And what exactly, you might ask, is a Pagan?

Well, to quote the Pagan Pride website:

"A Pagan or NeoPagan is someone who self-identifies as a Pagan, and whose spiritual or religious practice or belief fits into one or more of the following categories:

*Honoring, revering, or worshipping a Deity or Deities found in pre-Christian, classical, aboriginal, or tribal mythology; and/or
*Practicing religion or spirituality based upon shamanism, shamanic, or magickal practices; and/or
*Creating new religion based on past Pagan religions and/or futuristic views of society, community, and/or ecology:
*Focusing religious or spiritual attention primarily on the Divine Feminine; and/or
*Practicing religion that focuses on earth-based spirituality."

So basically (and very simplistically) most Pagans honor the earth, are polytheistic (having more than one God) and see both male and female as being Divine (God and Goddess). Many practice magick (magick with a "k" to distinguish it from stage magic). Paganism includes Wicca, Witchcraft, Druidism, Asatru, Shamanism, Voudoun, Santeria, Native American practices, Goddess Worship, and many more! And some simply identify as just "Pagan".

The first Pagan Pride Day was held on September 19, 1998 and has grown from 17 celebrations in the United States and one in Canada to a multitude of world-wide events. The first Pagan Pride day in San Diego, CA was held on September 20, 2003 with about 200 people attending. Attendance last year, in 2008, was estimated to be close to 500. This year San Diego Pagan Pride will be celebrated on September 12 at Balboa Park, starting at 9 a.m. and going until around 5:30 p.m. The website for San Diego is www.sdpaganpride.org and has a map, directions and a schedule.

Check out the main website at (www.paganpride.org), to see if there is a celebration near you!



www.sdpaganpride.org