Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Pagan
Five Ways to Show Your Pagan Pride Without a Festival

Five Ways to Show Your Pagan Pride Without a Festival

Last updated on: September 15, 2020 at 2:59 am by Irene Glasse

Five Ways to Show Your Pagan Pride Without a Festival 2020-09-15T02:59:51+00:00 Irene Glasse

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

credit: Robert Orofino

For the last five years, September has had one specific focus for me – the Pagan Pride Day festival. Like many CUUPS chapters, my own chapter hosts an annual Pagan Pride Day in Frederick, MD. I have had the honor being the lead organizer since our inception. We have been fortunate – our festival has expanded year after year and been the focus of a good deal of joy, excitement, spiritual connection, learning and growing. It feels so strange to experience a September without a Pagan Pride Day festival and honoring the disappointment and grief around that loss is healthy.

However, the priorities that are at the root of why we have Pagan Pride festivals in the first place are not dependent on a festival. Pagan Pride Day exists to raise resources for charities and in so doing, to act as outreach on behalf of a frequently misunderstood faith path. To this day, Pagans can face job discrimination, housing challenges, harassment, familial strife and more simply due to their adherence to a less common belief system. Many of us awkwardly attend the office Christmas party because we fear ‘outing’ ourselves at work and facing a threat to our livelihood. We wish to educate, to expand the conversation, to reduce discrimination, and to present the value that our paths bring to our culture at large (without proselytizing, of course – you do you, boo). Vendors, workshops, performances, drum circles and socialization are fun, but the reason we have Pagan Pride Day is pretty serious: we still need to.

So, here are five ways to carry the Pagan Pride banner in a year without a festival.

One: Donate to Charity

Last year, the Frederick Pagan Pride Day raised 1,635 pounds of food for The Frederick Food Bank and another 257 pounds of pet food and other supplies for the Adoption Center at Frederick County Animal Control.

1,635 pounds of food for The Frederick Food Bank

257 pounds of pet food and supplies for the Adoption Center at the Frederick County Animal Control

We are just one festival. The last time the entire donation for all Pagan Prides was tabulated was 2013 to the best of my knowledge. That year, Pagan Pride festivals raised over 39,000 pounds of food and many of our festivals have only grown since then. I worry about the dearth of donations this September in this year without a festival. Our communities remain in need. The next time you are at the grocery store, pick up some extra shelf stable food. Here’s a great list of what to donate to your local food bank and what to avoid. Animal shelters often have specific need lists – look up your local shelter and see what donations they are asking for. Spending an extra $10 this grocery run could help feed a family AND care for some fur friends.

Two: Support Pagan Artisans and Vendors

We are blessed to have an entire community of artists, musicians, creators, divinators and vendors of all sorts who support the Pagan path. For many of them, this year is utterly crushing – they rely on the festival circuit to make ends meet. Consider purchasing a Pagan Pride goodie of some sort. Most of our vendors have websites, Instagram accounts, Facebook pages, Etsy pages and other great ways to browse their wares and place an order. If your finances are tight, promote the vendors you love. Lift them up on social media. Share out their posts and talk about why you like them. Your local Pagan Pride Day website should have a list of vendors from last year (or the year that ended up not happening). If not, here’s a link to ours.

Three: Connect with Community

Despite the pandemic and the necessary physical distancing that goes with it, a lot of Pagan organizations and festivals are still offering content online. One of the silver linings of everything going online is that geography is no barrier to interacting with Pagan communities all over the world. There are some virtual Pagan Pride events posted on The Official Pagan Pride Project Facebook page right here. There are also regular classes, workshops, rituals, and more from all sorts of wonderful Pagan groups. Find a class or ritual that sounds interesting and jump in.

Four: Educate

If you are out of the Broom Closet, consider offering an opportunity for conversation through your social media account. Open the floor to questions. This is the text I used for my own ‘open session’ post – feel free to adapt it for your own uses:

“This upcoming Saturday would have been the Frederick Pagan Pride Day, a festival that I have organized for the last five years. One of the values and priorities of Pagan Pride Days is outreach – we are not even 20 years away from Pagan beliefs being a consideration in child custody hearings. A PPD chooses a publicly accessible venue specifically to help correct harmful stereotypes about Pagans. So, in the spirit of Pagan Pride, if you have any questions about Pagan beliefs and practices, I invite you to ask. You can post here or message me and I will do my best to answer.”

If you are firmly rooted in your path, you might consider offering a free class or workshop of your own. Do you know tarot really well? Are you an amazing Kitchen Witch? Do you have a strong devotional relationship with a pantheon or deity? How about magickal gardening? All of these and more would make wonderful topics for a free video lecture or blog post.

Five: Show your colors – literally

Put on your festival t-shirt or other pagan threads and take a selfie. Post it online with the hashtags #paganpride2020 and #whatpaganslooklike or #whatwitcheslooklike and celebrate your pride. Visibility and representation matter. You never know when your random post will help someone who is seeking or needs connection.

Frederick Pagan Pride Day organizers Jeff and Irene

Happy Pride, y’all. Wash your hands, wear your masks, and maybe next year we can get together to whoop it up at a festival.

About Irene Glasse

Irene Glasse is a Mystic Witch based in Western Maryland. She offers readings, healings, pastoral counseling services, magickal and ritual work, guided study and more both in person and remotely. You can learn more about her at www.glassewitchcottage.com You can read more about the author here.

Previous Post

September 11, 2020

Wheel of the Year: Fall Equinox

Next Post

September 16, 2020 Ritual: Perfection, We All Strive For It, But Should We?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Current Events CUUPS Press Release Interfaith liturgy Media Review podcast Religious Education Seasonal Reflection Spiritual Practice Summary Uncategorized

Select a Month July 2026 June 2026 April 2026 January 2026 December 2025 October 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 February 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz