Sunday I attended the ninth annual Madison Area Pagan Pride Day. The event, which is open to the public, is a wonderful opportunity for area pagans to meet like-minded people, sing, dance and listen to poetry. It’s also a good time to stock up on candles, smudge sticks, crystals and goddess statues, which is exactly what I did.

People were dressed casually with the occasional person wearing adorable little horns on their heads or renaissance attire. For the most part people were in jeans and a t-shirt despite what most people think of when they hear about a pagan gathering. FYI: No one was skyclad, everyone was fully dressed as was required.

The event started at 11:30 a.m. with an opening ritual. Workshops began at 1:00 p.m. These workshops included information on tarot cards, Reiki and Chakra Meditation, Herbalism and Intuition and a session for pagan men.

This event also was for those who may not be pagan but are interested in paganism or have family and friends who are pagans. Informational workshops for the curious covered topics such as Historical Inaccuracies in Wicca and Correllian Wicca.

Selena Fox, high priestess of Circle Sanctuary in Barneveld, Wis. held a workshop on Pagan Rights and the Veteran Pentacle Quest. This has been a hot topic among pagans especially after the death of Sgt. Patrick Stewart who died in Afghanistan while serving his country but is denied a grave marker with a pentacle on it. According to the MAPPD pamphlet, “The quest for the US Department of Veterans Affairs to permit the use of the Pentacle on it grave markers for the deceased veterans has been going on for more than nine years… and it’s the longest and most widely publicized Pagan religious freedom battle and it is still in process.”

Earlier that day my own congregation and one of the sponsors, Prairie Unitarian Universalist Society, had singer/songwriter and “everyday Goddess” Celia Farran perform and gave a discussion on pagans in the military titled "I’m an American Too." She also gave a concert at the festival. I spent the morning at Prairie in a 20 minute spirit circle where all the children gathered together for a session before the start of their religious education classes. I taught the children at Prairie about the pentacle, its meaning and stereotypes. As a Youth Religious Education Coordinator I am always pleasantly surprised with my children. When I asked the preschoolers if they thought witches were bad their response was “No! Witches aren’t bad!” Ahhh…if everyone thought like this we’d be in a better place and the pentacle being on grave markers wouldn’t be an issue.

I’ll admit I bypassed the free workshops to make my rounds to all the vendors. I wanted to have a psychic reading. Tarot, palm, astrology, I don’t discriminate. I take them with a grain a salt but I’ll admit I am addicted to them. Mimosa, the bookstore and gift shop located on 260 West Gilman Street, Madison, was a sponsor of the event and had a psychic ready to tell us our future. As soon as I sat down the woman mentioned something about my past so dead on I began crying. This prompted her to say, "Let’s take a walk." She then told me I would have a child in 4 months. I would have two children, both girls. She then said, “They’re going to have very dark brown hair and eyes, is your husband dark?” I laughed and said, “Well, he’s Indian, he’s going to be disappointed that they won’t be blonde haired blue-eyed girls." I have a bet with my husband. If this prediction is true he’ll start to believe in astrology, if not I have to give it up.

Temple of Diana, a national feminist Dianic Wiccan Organization; Madison Pagan Unity Council; Circle Sanctuary; Fox Valley Pagan Unity Council, Inc.; and the Spiritual Enlightenment Awareness Centers of Wisconsin also sponsored the event.