The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO

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October 14, 2006

Pagan Pride Day seeks to dispel myths

By Greg Grisolano

news@joplinglobe.com

There were no pointed hats, boiling caldrons or black cats to speak of at the fifth annual Pagan Pride Day held Saturday in Landreth Park.

While those images have long been symbols in pop culture of witchcraft, event coordinator P.J. Graham said the regional event was meant to serve as a way to educate the public on the true nature of some pagan faiths.

"We just want to put ourselves out there and let people see what we're really about, rather than the perceptions they've been given through Hollywood or other venues," said Graham, 34, of Pittsburg, Kan. The event's location alternates between Joplin and Pittsburg.

Skip Tarrant, a co-organizer of the event, said he agreed that there are a lot of misconceptions surrounding paganism.

"Watch any episode of 'Charmed' and pretty much everything they do, we don't do," said Tarrant, 63, of Galena, Kan.

While some among the crowd of 50 adults wore black capes, most were simply dressed in jeans or khaki slacks, with T-shirts and jackets.

The International Pagan Pride Project, a nonprofit organization based in Indianapolis, Ind., sponsors several such events worldwide. The Joplin-Pittsburg event is only one of more than 100 similar activities that will be held this fall. Typically, the event must fall within a two-week window between the Fall Equinox and Halloween, two important holidays for most pagans.

On its Web site, the group defines a pagan as someone who identifies himself or herself as a pagan and whose beliefs fit into one or more of a variety of pre-Christian, aboriginal or tribal religions, including Wicca, shamanism, druidism or the sacred feminine.

Activities during the day included a lecture on druids, pot-luck lunch, a workshop on circle-casting, altar displays and a workshop on Poi, a traditional dance art that involves spinning weighted objects or fire around their bodies. The event concluded with a harvest ritual, where participants gathered in a circle and listened to chants and prayers.

For Tarrant, the event was an opportunity for people to talk with "real-life pagans."

Several people took advantage of that opportunity throughout the day, including three students from Missouri Southern State University.

Daine Willis said curiosity caused him and his friends to stop by the park shelter on their way to Fred G. Hughes Stadium.

"We were curious to see how they got into it," said Willis, 18 of Joplin. "We kind of just wanted to see what their beliefs are."

Tarrant said there was one protester during the first year of the event, but since then, the community has been, if not supportive, at least indifferent.

"Generally, there hasn't been much reaction," he said. "We've made contact with quite a few folks in the area who didn't know there were other pagans in the area."

Graham said another goal of the event is to develop a network for pagans.

"So many pagans are solitary; they practice by themselves," she said.

As part of the harvest theme, the group collected nonperishable food items for the Boys and Girls Club of Southwest Missouri, and candles and other personal items for pagan soldiers deployed overseas.

Wiccan spell

Skip Tarrant said he has been a practicing Wiccan for 32 years. During a workshop at Pagan Pride Day, he shared a spell for cleansing a house's psychic energy.

"Before I moved a stick of furniture in, I would go through and do a physical house cleaning, and then I would go through and do a ritual purification."

Tarrant said this technique is perfect for novices or nonpracticing Wiccans because it requires no words or rituals.

Skip's cleansing ritual for new houses:

Requires: One cutting board, one earthenware bowl, some salt (preferably sea salt) and rubbing alcohol.

Place the bowl on the cutting board. Combine salt and rubbing alcohol into the bowl. Light the mixture on fire, and carry it into every room in the house.

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