A few weeks ago on September 29th, we had the opportunity to attend New York's Pagan Pride Day (NYCPPD) celebrations. This event is held each year at the same location for the most part - in Battery Park at the southern most tip of Manhattan.
A month prior we attended Philadelphia's Pagan Pride and held a discussion panel regarding inclusive Heathenry (which turned out great!) and so this time around we decided to sign up to host a lecture-style workshop at NYCPPD.
Our workshop was entitled: "Pagan in the Extreme!: Addressing Extremist Elements in Modern Pagan Practice through the Lens of Germanic Paganism" (Yeah, we know... it's a mouthful!) which delved into the rise of extremism and extremist appropriation of Heathen practice and symbolism; eventually tying in and relating it toward the larger pagan community where we addressed some of the bigotries that exist not only upon the pagan community at large, but within it as well such as intolerance between pagan practices, and especially "Former Faith Bashing" that presents itself and pagans who do so negatively.
After a 20 minute lecture, we opened our Q&A that provided us with some very good insight into how other reconstructionist faiths and pagan beliefs experience bigotries and especially the ways in which they may actively work toward social and spiritual betterment.
After our workshop which totaled at exactly one hour, we opened our merchandise and information table that we shared together with NYC Heathens, a local Heathen social group. We were so thankful for the turn out of support by many who attended the workshop and who forwarded their friends, families, and colleagues to our table for further discussion.
Through our workshop and interactions we've had that day, we feel extremely confident in our ability to represent ourselves before future assemblies in order to further our mission and get the word out on the Heathen faith that stands without hate.
