2003 Pagan Pride Celebration of the Autumnal Equinox

Community  Festival  & Mabon Circle

CELEBRATING SPIRITUAL DIVERSITY

WOW! A BIG CONGRATULATIONS to our resident Crone, Ms. Magi, for keeping an important community event alive and well!  

Based on the pattern of our first Pagan Pride event, the 'all paths' gathering on September 12, 2004, was a success.  Though Hurricane Ivan kept the turnout small, the fellowship and workshops were superb.  "Celebrating Spiritual Diversity" included a tremendous workshop on Shamanic healing by Bonnie McLean and her "3 of heart" colleagues. There were also two drum circles, a "burning green man" ritual, and children's activities.  A very-successful special circle-ceremony was designed by Faeron Collins for the closing circle, based upon a Megalithic stone circle in Ireland.   

The event opener on Saturday evening, SEPTEMBER 11, was also a great success.  Dr. Malcolm Donalson presented a lecture on the Goddess and the interactions of paganism and Christianity in the closing centuries of the Roman Empire; this was followed by a healing ritual facilitated by Deborah Merwin and Maidenheap, a local women's interfaith healing circle.

As with all our events, the activity was free and open to the public, but participants are asked to bring canned food offerings which will be divided as contributions to the regional food banks. 

For more information on Green Earth Fellowship events or this event, explore the other links on our web page, contact us directly (tprewitt@uwf.edu), or write the "Celebrating Spiritual Diversity" event organizer Magi (Rise.From.Ashes@att.net).

Recap of Pagan Pride 2003

Pagan Pride activities on September 20-21, 2003, were a success in spite of a heavy rainstorm during the setup for the closing circle.  The keynote speaker, Margaret Starbird (author of  The Woman With the Alabaster Jar: Mary Magdalen and the Holy Grail, The Goddess in the Gospels: Reclaiming the Sacred Feminine, and Magdalene's Lost Legacy: Symbolic Numbers and the Sacred Union in Christianity) provided a stimulating lecture and wonderful fellowship during the weekend.  Everyone also enjoyed music, crafts from a large number of vendors, and demonstrations from the Society for Creative Anachronism. The closing circle and Mabon celebration was held in the University Commons Auditorium.

Recap of Pagan Pride Week-end Celebration  
September 20 through 22, 2002:

The 2002 Pagan Pride Day event was sponsored by the UWF Green Earth Fellowship in association with regional pagan organizations.  Following is essential information on the 2002 Harvest week-end activities:

Canned Food Collection for Manna Food Bank: We requested food donations of a canned meat or fruit, or packet of beans.  We are happy to report that our contribution to the Manna Food Bank this year was 397 pounds, almost twice last year's contributions.

Saturday 1:00 PM  Keynote Speaker:  Ragnar,
        Runemaster of the Denali Institute of Northern Traditions--Ragnar offered a fine presentation on rune lore.  His philosophical perspective inspired all who attended, and established a standard for the kinds of speaker participation we want to maintain in future events.  For more information on Ragnar and the Denali Institute of Northern Traditions, go to his web site at:    http://www.runesbyragnar.com/index.html

Book Signing and Workshop Presentation: Kirios Museos and Kiria Gypsy
        This event was postponed until a later date.

Working in conjunction with regional pagan groups, the Fellowship of Isis, The Green Earth Fellowship, and the Green Man Family Reunion hosted a public celebration for the whole community.  We enjoyed a wide range of craft displays, demonstrations, vendors, workshop presentations, children’s craft area, music, tarot readings, and organized circle celebrations.  The Oak Grove fire circle was the central area of the festival and the location for plenary workshops on Pagan religion and Craft practices.  Vendors and displays were arranged around this central area.  Additional activities were coordinated in other campus areas.

Saturday 3:30 PM  Women’s Chanting Circle --  The Fellowship of Isis women's chanting circle included about 77 women aged 7 to 77.  The energy of the event was very high, and the supporting presence of men and women who observed produced a clear sense of reciprocity.  The central group of priestesses worked with all the interested women for a time before the circle, and the coordinated drumming and chanting of so many "rocked" the Goddess.

Saturday 7:30 PM (Center for Fine and Performing Arts Studio Theater) Labyrinth Dance
Lavonne French's choreography for four dancers was performed for a combined audience of Pagan Pride participants and people from the wider dance community.  The piece created a deep sense of serenity, aweing children who had been bursting with nervous energy as they entered the theater.  Watch for more powerful dance from Lavonne at our future events.

Saturday 9:30 PM  Open Drum Circle  --  Bird led a small group of men in a Sunday Morning drumming circle.  All who participated committed to building this event in future years.

Sunday 1:30 PM  Mabon Circle -- The Green Earth Fellowship collaborated with community participants in an informal Mabon Circle.

Note:  All Pagan Pride Day events are open to the General Public.  This is an ALCOHOL-FREE FAMILY EVENT.   Public participation is invited.  We will have registration gates at the Oak Grove entrances to assure security and provide information for newcomers.  Children under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian, and all minors participating in circles or workshops must have parental permission.  There will be news coverage of the event, but we plan to have no-photograph areas on the grounds and at the several organized Mabon circles.

Green Earth Fellowship is happy to report a great success for the 2001 Pagan Pride Day gathering, serving the Florida panhandle and surrounding areas.    The celebration was supported by the Green Man Family Reunion groups of Fort Walton Beach, Pensacola, and Mobile (Alabama), and members of the Bay Area Pagans of Panama City, Florida.  The main activities on Sunday, 23 September, included a small craft fair, performances, drumming, Tarot readings, a children's activity area, and a double-circle ritual to celebrate Mabon and offer memorial thoughts for those lost in the terrorist attacks of September 11.  The University of West Florida's beautiful Oak Grove offered, as usual, a perfect setting for the ritual..

The double-circle consisted of meditations, prayer offerings, inspirational readings, and a sharing ritual focused on those killed in the recent terrorist attacks.  The event included representatives of several pagan paths, including the Fellowship of Isis, several Wiccan circles, eclectic family circles, solitaries, and interested visitors.  Some non-pagan visitors observed from immediately outside the sacred space.  The ceremonies also included gift-giving associated with an initiation, and a crone-making celebration.

Also, during the week-end, a final hand-fasting ceremony was conducted as a private circle supported by a smaller group from the Pensacola community.

A total of 130 people visited the Oak Grove on Sunday, and 75 participated in the public ritual.  There were about 100 people on hand throughout the day, enjoying pot-luck food, the crafts, and fellowship.  We also collected 220 pounds in canned and non-perishable food contributions, delivered to Manna Food Bank.

Green Earth Fellowship owes thanks to the Student Activities office,  UWF campus security, and to the vendors who helped make the event successful and safe (tprewitt@uwf.edu).

For more information on continuing Pagan Pride activities, see the information available at the national organization sites of:

Cecylyna Dewr
Executive Director, International Pagan Pride Project
http://www.paganpride.org

Abby Willowroot
Goddess 2000 Project – “A Goddess On Every Block!”
http://www.goddess2000.org