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Pagan Pride Shown Every Witch-Way
RNEWS (Rochester, NY)
By Leah George / Sarah Freligh
Published Aug 28, 2004
In this tent, they were learning about a little candle magic. At this
table, they were selling wiccan artwork.
It was all part of the first Finger Lakes Pagan Pride Festival
Saturday at Canandaigua's Baker Park.
For many in attendance, the festival was an education.
"It's very interesting to see all the people," said Barbara Gandy, of
Penfield. "You can't pooh-pooh it, because you don't know enough
about it."
Heidi Gleber, the festival's coordinator, is a witch. She says
increasing public awareness and tolerance for this polytheistic,
earth-based religion is the point of festivals like this one.
"We're your neighbors and you deal with us every day," Gleber
said. "We're just regular people like everyone else."
While pagans talked to people about their beliefs inside the
festival, Christian protesters voiced theirs to people on the way
out.
"The Bible talks about sorcery and witchcraft, that it's an
abomination to God," said John Marcus, of Calvary Chapel. "They're
doing what they feel is right in their own eyes. I'm just here to
share the truth."
Gleber says casting spells is actually a pagan form of prayer. "The
most common spells will be for healing for healing the earth."
According to Gleber, legitimate pagan pride festivals are held in
public places and include open rituals meant to promote
community. "These pagans"--she gestured--"are collecting food to give
to a local food pantry."
The Canandaigua Salvation Army declined the donations, so the food
collected Saturday will go to St. Mary's Church.
"When we called St. Mary's and I spoke with the woman who heads up
the social ministries food cupboard, she said thank you, thank you
for thinking of us," Gleber said. "That's the reaction that I would
expect."
As far as Gleber's other expectation of having people know more about
her religion, Barbara Gandy and her husband say they're walking away
with just that.
"You hear a lot of, oh, they're scary and they're really not,"
Barbara Gandy said.
"They're just like us," she laughed.
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