Pagan Pride Day!

I went to the New York City Pagan Pride Day with Myrkr, today. I always look forward to the New York City Pagan Pride Day, held on or around the fall sabbat of Mabon, this year September 26. (There was a Yule event last year, but I didn't get a chance to go, and I don't know whether or not they'll do it again this year.) It was a lot of fun. I know very few pagans personally, and none that live near me. I, like a lot of pagans, lack the physical community of like-minded people, let alone co-religionists that members of larger religions enjoy and take for granted. For all I know, nobody at PPD was Kemetic, but it didn't matter. I was surrounded by people who love the old gods, no matter the land onto which they descended. (Or for that matter, new-old gods, too!) My interest in magic might also help me, in contrast to less magically-inclined pagans.

Pagan Pride Day is one of the very few events I could feel completely at ease, and yet be among strangers. Or people I didn't know, but strangers. Myr and I have gone enough times that Dawn, a kitchen witch and owner of Cucina Aurora (Specializing in recipes, cooking tools, spice mixes and olive oils that are both magically tasteful and magically tasty. Link here: ) remembered us from last year. When we went to her stall last year, we felt like she was inviting us to her Italian home, with plenty of mangia, mangia, mangia. (Eat, eat, eat!) Their olive oils are wonderful, and their garlic dip mix is tasty when mixed with cream cheese to make dip, or even sprinkled on buttered toast, as Myr has shown me.

This year was also fun, in addition to visiting Cucina Aurora again. There were the vendors and the musicians, and the workshops. I visited Highwinds Farm and stocked up on jasmine tea and rose hips for myself, as well as found some St. John's Wort for my cousin. I picked up frankincense and myrrh to burn for the Gods sometime, a burning bowl for the resins, stick incense (frankincense, myrrh, Frankincense AND Myrrh, Cedar wood, and Sandalwood) and a free wooden incense stick holder. I hope Thoth and Hathor enjoy their smell. My only complaint about the event as a whole, is that for reasons I'm not aware of, the workshops and musicians were on a mixed-up schedule, and the ritual at the end wound up getting pushed back late enough that Myr and I, unfortunately, couldn't participate.

I entered a raffle and got a nice little Pagan Goodie Bag with small samples of incense, a small candle, and lots of coupons and cards. The local OTO and the Aiwass Study Group, among others, had tables. The Aiwass group had a big picture of Aleister Crowley with the face cut out so people can take pictures. When it gets emailed to me, I'll put it up.

We went to a very informative workshop on Voodoo, though it did have a problem, which I'll let Myrkr talk about here, as I can't yet organize my thoughts sufficiently to express my own opinion on it, save that I basically agree with Myrkr. I think this event might give me one or two additional blog posts here. About time I updated!

Myrkr's post: http://myrkr.wordpress.com/2009/09/26/pagan-pride-day-2009/

Cucina Aurora (Myrkr links to them, but they deserve the additional word-of-"mouth"):

http://www.cucinaaurora.com/

Highwinds Farm Inc.: http://www.midtel.net/~highwind/

Edit: I haven't gotten my photo. :(