A cool breeze swept through the Davis Arboretum as ribbons of sunlight slipped through the looming trees.
The laughter of small children and the smell of burning incense holistically created an ethereal connection between man and nature.
The celebration of Pagan Pride Day Saturday, Sept. 28, went off without a hitch as a community communed with nature.
The celebration was intended to promote an understanding of paganism, stomp out negative stereotypes associated with it and to bring the community closer together.
The event was organized by The Church of the Spiral Tree, a non-profit, ecumenical pagan church.
Dotted along the side of the Arboretum were independent and local vendors selling their homemade wares.
Charlotte Baker, horticulturist and owner of Night Shade, was one of the many vendors selling wares at the celebration.
Baker's stall was decorated with handmade jewelry and trinkets. Also laid out among her wares were pillows.
Their soft and dark, swirling shades of blues with stars were reminiscent of Vincent Van Gogh's "Starry Night."
"These little pillows are full of mugwort," Baker said. "That's a commonly used magical herb I grew myself. Sleeping on a pillow of mugwort is supposed to induce dreams of prophecy. I don't know if it has ever induced any dreams of prophecy with me, but it's made me dream some pretty wacky stuff."
Another stall representing Karma/Medusa's Lair was run by Kathryn Lane, co-owner of Karma and Medusa's Lair in Auburn.
Karma/Medusa's Lair is Auburn's only holistic healing center and organic concepts hair salon.
Their goal is to bring alternative healing methods to Auburn. They make almost all of their own organic hair products.
"Most organic products are crazy expensive, but not at our shop," Lane said. "Larger businesses are actually at a disadvantage to us. We are actually caring for our consumers. We are not poisoning our consumers. They're toxic, we're not. We are not trying to kill off our customers."
Lane also spoke about the potentially dangerous ingredients that other companies put into their products.
"The FDA stopped regulating the hair and beauty industry back in 1938, so there is no one who is testing our products," Lane said. "The FDA will test individual ingredients, but they don't test them as a whole. There is something that is called the 'Deadly Dozen,' the 12 most toxic ingredients in our hair and beauty products. These things are linked to learning disabilities, cancer, allergies, birth defects and infertility. All of our products are made in-house and overseen by a master herbalist."
Scheduled throughout the day were classes including dowsing, working with animal spirits, numerology and rootwork.
People were welcome to come and go as they pleased.
Charlotte Nicole Dyer, junior in visual arts, sat in the grass sketching Auburn's local "Wizzard" as he gave tarot card readings.
"I think (the event) has been really informative for a lot of people so far," Dyer said. "I like the idea of the classes they are doing. I like that they are keeping it on a level where anybody can come into it and get information."
Robert Von Allman, volunteer and member of The Church of the Spiral Tree, commented on students who fear they would try to be converted to paganism by going to Pagan Pride Day.
"We discourage people from doing that," Allman said. "We don't (convert people). There is not a single person that I've said, 'hey, you know, Athena's the way. You know, if you just pray to Athena, your hunts will be better, your test scores will be better, your cat will be better.' I don't do that and I have never done that."
Linda Kerr, organizer of the event and founder of The Church of the Spiral Tree, said students who don't always subscribe the their belief system still come for fun.
"Oh yeah, that's the point of us doing a public event like this," Kerr said. "The public can come here and sit in on any of the classes and go to the ritual. It's open to everybody and if they don't like it, then whatever; as long as they sit there and they are respectful."
Dyer said many people don't understand what the event is actually like.
"I think that a lot of people have the presupposition that something like this would be all preachy and kind of convertive, but it seems to be very welcoming and accepting of all types," Dyer said. "I haven't really caught any flak from anybody since I've been here and everybody has been super welcoming.
"So I don't see why anybody would be too opposed to maybe coming and walking around for a little bit and seeing what all is up here. It's a wonderful Saturday to be out in nature."
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