Pagan and Proud in NYC
Sep. 26th, 2009 08:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
athenagreyToday was Pagan Pride Day in NYC.
At this very moment, I am pagan, proud, and have sore, tired feet.
This year, I made a point to celebrate the diversity of people who identify as pagan. Yes, there were gothlettes and little glitter witchlings of all stripes (primarily black and white). There were also authors and scholars. I saw Margot Adler walking about, and Donna Henes had a booth in the marketplace. I met some thoughtful Druids. There were witches in black, witches in cloaks, and witches in pressed jeans and seasonal-colored scarves, looking for the world like the suburbanites that they are. I saw familiar faces. Manhattan is huge, but the pagan community is close-knit. I've circled with many of these people before.
I was wandering around the marketplace, waiting for the friend I was meeting to arrive. I heard a singer in the main performance area doing a really excellent cover of a Wendy Rule song, so I went over to see who was singing. What a surprise, it was Wendy Rule herself! She was a last minute, surprise addition to the program. She was in NYC for Marion Weinstein's memorial service, and stayed around to play a set for Pagan Pride.
Closing ritual was especially beautiful this year. We worked a ritual for peace and harmony, for a world the way it should be. We danced the spiral dance. The power we raised was clear, slightly ragged, but STRONG. Although the season is autumn, we came together in summer's energy: primal, powerful, and raw.
At this very moment, I am pagan, proud, and have sore, tired feet.
This year, I made a point to celebrate the diversity of people who identify as pagan. Yes, there were gothlettes and little glitter witchlings of all stripes (primarily black and white). There were also authors and scholars. I saw Margot Adler walking about, and Donna Henes had a booth in the marketplace. I met some thoughtful Druids. There were witches in black, witches in cloaks, and witches in pressed jeans and seasonal-colored scarves, looking for the world like the suburbanites that they are. I saw familiar faces. Manhattan is huge, but the pagan community is close-knit. I've circled with many of these people before.
I was wandering around the marketplace, waiting for the friend I was meeting to arrive. I heard a singer in the main performance area doing a really excellent cover of a Wendy Rule song, so I went over to see who was singing. What a surprise, it was Wendy Rule herself! She was a last minute, surprise addition to the program. She was in NYC for Marion Weinstein's memorial service, and stayed around to play a set for Pagan Pride.
Closing ritual was especially beautiful this year. We worked a ritual for peace and harmony, for a world the way it should be. We danced the spiral dance. The power we raised was clear, slightly ragged, but STRONG. Although the season is autumn, we came together in summer's energy: primal, powerful, and raw.
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no subject
Date: 2009-09-27 10:53 am (UTC)*I saw Margot Adler walking about,
Name dropper! ;) How marvellous to be able to write a sentence such as this!
Your day sounds wonderful & full of connections.
no subject
Date: 2009-09-27 01:25 pm (UTC)It was a lovely day. We don't do an angst-filled pride rally in NYC. It's a day of music, ritual, classes and marketplace. And most of all, connections.