Pagan Pride!

I was lucky enough to find the time this year to attend the Pagan Pride parade in Nottingham. joining approximately 1500 like minded people, some familiar, some new faces (all friendly) in a peaceful march across the city to demonstrate and celebrate the diversity of those who identify as pagan.

The thing that struck me most about all the people I met on the day was the total acceptance of other belief systems. There were witches, shamans, druids, wiccans all marching  together with no tensions and no attempt to elevate any one path over another. Such acceptance is humbling but it does make me wonder why the world at large struggles with diversity so much. If people as different as those under the pagan umbrella can respect and rejoice in each others faiths, why is it so hard for other religion to do it? Something to think about...

It was wonderful to see such a variety of people turn out and to have the confidence to express themselves so publicly. All ages were represented (some adorably cute little witchlets!) and people were comfortable enough with their differing sexualities to dress in a manner that embraced the principle of out and proud. It warms my heart to spend time with people who reject the idea of bigotry and discrimination and accept people for who they are. And it was brilliant to see some of the non pagans watching the event and cheering us on. The parade really got the message across, it was all about pride and truly I did feel proud to be one with such an amazing group of people, united in our mission to share our beliefs, if only for a short while.

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