Hail and welcome to the 2008 Pagan Pride Day celebration! Check us out on the web at www.milwaukeepaganpride.com. Check out the newly improved website. We have a new interface, and all our participation forms online.
Sunday, September 14th, 2008 from 1pm until 8pm. (Tenative)
Pagan Pride Day in Milwaukee is now entering its eighth year of observance as a community building and networking festival. Pagan Pride Day is an international celebration, observed in over 100 countries. Now in its ninth year, Pagan Pride has three core missions.
1. Provide Public Ritual
Our rituals mark the coming of the Autumnal Equinox, and are open and observable to all members of the Pagan community AND the public at large. They provide a place for us to network with each other, demonstrate our rituals to those who are curious, and present Paganism in an accurate context to the outside observer.
2. Food Drive & Charity Work
As members of a larger community, we feel it is our duty to serve those in most need. In 2003, Pagan Pride Day brought in over 12 tons (24,000 pounds) of food to donate to food pantries. We've risen over $10,000 dollars for local, national and international charities, and every year, we continue to find new ways of lending a helping hand. In Milwaukee, we contribute to the Hunger Task Force, and we select other charities to work with throughout the year.
3. Interaction with the Media
While it is important that we observe our Sabats and we serve our community, it is also important that we work to dispel common myths or disinformation about our people. While most people no longer believe that being a witch requires virgin sacrifices and the consumption of babies, there is still a large segment of the population who believes that Pagans are in league with the Devil and that we are anti-Christian. In 2005, Milwaukee Pagan Pride Day was the cover story of the Wauwatosa News-Times. The local media did a wonderful and indepth story of our festival and our ritual.
We demonstrate our true nature by example, and we invite local and national media to join us in painting a more accurate portrait of who we are. We work to educate people on our beliefs so they understand that Paganism pre-dates Christianity. That Satan is a construct within the Christian faith--not ours, and that we believe there is no one true path to divinity. That instead, there are many ways to the Divine, and we choose the path that is best suited for our needs. So while Christianity may work for much of mainstream America, for us, we choose a path less traveled.
Pagan Pride Day has evolved to include many other functions in many communities, including our own. In Milwaukee, we have a full marketplace including merchants, artisans, organizations, diviners, publishers, and more. Each year brings new people and energy, so you never know exactly what to expect until you arrive.
We also host a series of workshops on various topics of interest from the magical arts, uses of herbs, and crafting of ritual tools, to issues impacting daily life such as Pagan parenting, living in a sustainable way, and community building. Our workshops include a variety of formats from hands-on creation and crafting, story telling, round table discussion, and panel debate.
There will be many ritual opportunities this year. There will be the main ritual, marking the turning of the wheel of the year, and there will be other rituals including handfastings, child blessings, weddings, coming of age ceremonies, as needed for the community. People are encouraged to contact us if they would like to have access to ritual space and legal clergy to aid them.
It has been traditional at our festival to hold a raffle, to share some of the gifts that our merchants, artisans, and community members have bestowed upon us. We've had for raffle smaller tokens such as incense and candles, to magnificent swords, beautiful tarot decks, and sparkling jewelry.
Our Pagan Pride Day is continually evolving and growing based upon the needs and desires of the community it serves. We warmly invite you, your family, friends, and neighbors to join us on this magickal day!
