 | | | | | | | | | | |  |  | | | | Paranormal: Pagan gathering seeks to erase mystery">2. Paranormal News | | | | | | | 
2. Paranormal News | News submitted by: MoonSeeker
By J.L. MILLER -
The pagans are coming to Dover.
On Sept. 15, pagans from Delaware and nearby states will descend on Legislative Mall for a public display of pride.
"You're not going to see sacrificing animals or naked orgies. We're not allowed to do that on Legislative Mall," Pagan Pride Day coordinator Tina Anderson said with a chuckle.
What visitors to Pagan Pride Day will see is a display of posters explaining paganism, along with workshops, speakers and children's activities.
The event is organized by pagans with a lowercase "p."
"It has nothing to do with the motorcycle gang," said Wendy Hawksley, another of the event's coordinators.
"Just like Islam, it's a misunderstood religion. We're hoping to change that," the Dover resident said.
Dover's Pagan Pride Day is affiliated with the Indianapolis-based Pagan Pride Project, a nonprofit organization that held 76 events worldwide last year.
A pagan, according to the Pagan Pride Project, is someone who calls himself or herself a pagan. Pagans generally honor or worship a deity or deities found in nature-based pre-Christian or tribal mythology.
Some practice a religion or spirituality based on shamanism or magical practices, while others create new religions based on past pagan religions or futuristic views of society.
Dover, more noted for NASCAR races than pagan gatherings, might seem an unlikely host for Pagan Pride Day.
The pagan community in Kent County is "larger than you would expect," said Diana Welch, whose Bell, Book and Candle shop on Loockerman Street is a magnet for pagans.
Although the store offers neither eye of newt nor toe of frog, it does sell cauldrons and wands - along with literature, incense and a selection of more conventional herbs and spices.
"When we opened up the shop, no one was more surprised than I at the response," Welch said.
Welch, a Christian and one of the co-sponsors of Pagan Pride Day, said she is supporting the event for a number of reasons.
"It's just a celebration of a lot of things - the fact that we have freedom of religion in this country," Welch said.
"I like to think of one big river, and we all drink out of different wells," she said.
Pagan Pride Day coordinators Anderson and Hawksley said they expect from 100 to 150 pagans to attend the event, which will be from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in front of Legislative Hall.
"We wouldn't be surprised if we got more, though," said Hawksley, adding that pagans from Philadelphia to Salisbury, Md., have expressed an interest in the event.
Anderson, a Magnolia resident, said pagans in Delaware "are coming out of the woodwork.''
"When I first moved here a couple of years ago, I knew a few people. Now I know about 30 or 40 [pagans] in Delaware. There's a larger group in Georgetown and a larger group in Newark," Anderson said.
Pagans throughout the world celebrate the harvest season, and the Dover event is tied to the season as well.
Admission is one food item or one pet food item to be donated to local food banks or the Kent County SPCA.
"The food drive that we're putting on is in relation to giving thanks for everything we have and sharing our bounty with others," Hawksley said.
The organizers said they hope Delaware's Pagan Pride Day will be met with tolerance.
"We don't want to convert people, we don't want to make them like us," Anderson said. "We expect people to question, but hopefully they'll do it with an open mind."
Reach J.L. Miller at 678-4271 or jlmiller@delawareonline.com.
http://www.delawareonline.com/newsjournal/local/2002/07/29pagangatherings.html
|
| | | | | | | |
| |
blocks-left.jpg
blocks-left.jpg
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
| |
Article Rating |
|
|
| |
|
| |
Average Score: 3
Votes: 1
|
|
|
| |
|
blocks-left.jpg
|
Online Stats: 
