Vancouver's pagan community is inviting Vancouverites to celebrate an alternative kind of Pride this year.
If you鈥檙e curious about, or already way into, crystals, incense, tarot cards, and your own connection to the divine, mark your Wheel of the Year for August 10, which is 麻豆传媒映画Pagan Pride Day.
麻豆传媒映画Pagan Pride Day. Photo courtesy 麻豆传媒映画Pagan Pride
Vancouver鈥檚 pagan community is holding a free, by donation, celebratory event at Trout Lake, open to people of all ages and spiritual backgrounds.
The event is also ahead of an important time of year for those who observe pagan traditions, the Autumn Equinox, a time of giving thanks in September.
Goldie Lundbek, one of the coordinators, told 麻豆传媒映画 the event was a harvest themed celebration, which offered the community a chance to learn about paganism and its many traditions.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a focal point for the various fractions of the community where we can get-together, communicate, celebrate and learn from each other,鈥� she explained.
鈥淏ecause we are bringing the community together we like to give back to the surrounding community. We honour the native land we are on and we ask every participant to bring a donation for the local food bank or animal shelter."
Lundbek said the event was also 鈥渃ommitted to dispelling myths surrounding Paganism.鈥�
Paganism is fairly broad and flexible in its definition, and can include traditions that involve nature, magic, pluralism, diversity, and The Goddess.
鈥淎 lot of people hear the word 鈥榩agan鈥� and they automatically think 鈥� devil, witch, heathen or scary,鈥� Lundbek said.
鈥淭he word has been taken out of context over years gone by. Pagan comes from the Latin word paganus, which just means 鈥榗ountry dweller.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 a term used to describe people who don鈥檛 have a certain style of religious beliefs.鈥�
She said pagans live respectfully of nature, humanity, and oneself. For Lundbek, being pagan simply means, 鈥渉onouring the seasons of the earth and respecting the earth.鈥�
鈥淚 don鈥檛 believe in forcing anything when it comes to nature,鈥� she said.
鈥淚 honour the seasons, I work with the seasons and I respect the earth. You take from the earth what you need and you give back to the earth what the earth needs.鈥�
She said an example of this was eating foods that grow naturally during the seasons.
Lundbek said while the pagan community in 麻豆传媒映画was growing each year, many people still felt a need to stay 鈥減rivate and quiet鈥� about their practices.
鈥淎 lot of people stay sheltered, we call it 鈥榮taying in the broom closet鈥� because of the stigma around the word pagan,鈥� she said.
She hoped Vancouverites would come out and support the pagan community without judgement.
"Everybody needs some support," Lundbek said.
She said the 21st annual Pagan Pride Day would be the group鈥檚 biggest event yet, with up to 47 vendors taking part.
鈥淲e have so many people this year who wanted to show what it is for them to be a pagan and to answer questions that we have so many workshops at some points of the day people will have to choose between two,鈥� Lundbek explained.
A stall at last year鈥檚 麻豆传媒映画Pagan Pride Day. Photo courtesy 麻豆传媒映画Pagan Pride
At the event, you will find information booths, vendors, live entertainment, free workshops, and an end-of-day Harvest Themed Ceremony. There will be tarot card readers, pranic healing, magic and meditation workshops and a whole lot more.
The event is in association with the International Pagan Pride Project, a non-profit organization, dedicated to 鈥渢he elimination of prejudice and religious discrimination through education, activism, charity and community.鈥�
Their events aim to reduce discrimination and "present the diversity and value that our paths bring to society."
Organizers emphasized that they "do not seek to convert but ask each person to Honour the Divine in the manner that best suits each individual.鈥�
When: Saturday, August 10, 2018 from 10 am to 5 pm
Where: Trout Lake/John Hendry Park 鈥撀�3300 Victoria Drive, Vancouver
Cost: Free with donation of 1 non-perishable food item
-- With files from Lindsay William-Ross
