Ledes from the Land of Enchantment

Las Cruces Pagan Pride Day returns in time for the Samhain holiday on Saturday

LAS CRUCES – The annual Pagan Pride Day returns to Las Cruces Pioneer Women’s Park on Saturday October 30th as part of an international effort to educate and raise awareness of pagan beliefs.

Pagan religions are a set of nature-based beliefs that were practiced before Christianity and Judaism spread around the world. The Saturday event comes in time for the Samhain autumn break, which is celebrated on October 31st to mark the end of the harvest season.

Lora Jackson Legare, a Wiccan practitioner for over 30 years, is one of the organizers of this year’s event. She said the idea behind Pagan Pride Day was to create a safe place for practicing pagans to gather and circle together, and also for the wider community to learn about these often misconstrued belief systems.

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She explained that pagan religions Asatru (Scandinavian), Wicca (Celtic), ancient Greek and Roman gods and goddesses, Druids (Celtic), Sumerian (ancient Mesopotamia), kemetic orthodoxy (ancient Egypt), Santeria (African diaspora) and also these include those who identify as pagan rather than a particular group.

Jackson Legare said there will be a morning ritual at 10 a.m. on Saturday and a closing ritual at 2:30 p.m. During the day, participants can expect entertainment and information booths about various local groups. Druids; the Moon Sisters affiliated with the Unitarian Universalist Church of Las Cruces; Ardantane, a pagan retreat and learning center in Jemez Springs, and many others will be setting up stalls in the park.

“We try to reach as many people as possible so that people know that there is a community, that they can come to events like this, meet other people and maybe find someone they are comfortable with and with start your own ward, ”said Jackson Legare.

The celebrations began around 2007 in Las Cruces in Young Park, Jackson Legare said. It was later moved to the Pioneer Women’s Park. Like many events, Pagan Pride Day was canceled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year people are encouraged to wear face masks if they are not vaccinated.

In the past, between 300 and 700 people attended Pagan Pride Day. Not entirely sure what to expect this year as the pandemic is still ongoing.

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The event also collects lightly used or new winter clothing to donate to the Community of Hope. Toiletries that can be distributed to those in need in the Community of Hope are also encouraged.

“It’s a big part of our mission to let people know who we are and what we believe in,” she said. “We’re not that weird – or maybe we’re all weird.”

Leah Romero is the trend reporter for Las Cruces Sun-News and can be reached on Twitter at 575-418-3442, [email protected] or @rromero_leah.

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