Orlando Pagan event seeks interviewer or onsite coverage

Press Relase: 2011 Orlando Pagan Pride Day
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Orlando’s Third Annual Pagan Pride Day on Saturday, October 8th, 2011 at the First Unitarian Church of Orlando

(Orlando, September 22, 2011): Mystic Grove, First Unitarian Church of Orlando’s Pagan affiliate group, is pleased to announce that they will be once again hosting Orlando’s Pagan Pride Day. This is the third year that Mystic Grove has coordinated and hosted the event. Orlando’s Pagan Pride Day celebration is scheduled for Saturday, October 8th. All activities will be held on First Unitarian Church of Orlando’s grounds from 10:00 am until 5:00 PM. The First Unitarian Church is located at 801 E. Robinson Street, at the between Altaloma and Hampton.

This year’s event follows the theme “Web of Life” as a metaphor for how we are all inter-connected. As part of Orlando’s Pagan Pride celebration, there will be a public ritual entitled “Sacred Connections,” led by The Pagan Place Temple from Palm Bay in Brevard County. Pagan Place will also present an overview of ritual structure for those wishing to learn more, prior to start.

Pagan Pride Day is an international celebration of pride in the various earth-based religious traditions. The first Pagan Pride Day took place 13 years ago and has grown from a few local events to an international project. This year's event is one of 132 worldwide in conjunction with the Pagan Pride Project. Pagan Pride Day is part of The Pagan Pride Project, which was founded in 1997, as a non-profit organization whose aims are to promote understanding of Paganism, support various charities and bring Pagan communities closer together. The Pagan Pride Project’s mission is to foster pride in Pagan identity through education, activism, charity and community.

Most pagans celebrate the harvest in some way and choose to give back to the community with donations to various charities. In keeping with this tradition, Orlando’s committee has selected two charities for support; namely Second Harvest Food Bank and R.A.I.N. Second Harvest is a private, nonprofit organization that collects and distributes donated food to more than 500 nonprofit partner agencies in six Central Florida counties. Pagan Pride Day’s organizing committee members have asked all attendees to bring non-perishable food items for collection and donation to the Second Harvest after the event. Rescuing Animals In Need (R.A.I.N.) is a non-profit No-Kill organization located in Central Florida and they will be on-site collecting pet foods and items for their fostered animals, as well as providing information about their charity to attendees. Mystic Grove will also be collecting soft-cover books about all forms of books covering metaphysical and Pagan topics for distribution to incarcerated Pagans in Orange County. All those who donate goods or money toward any of the supported charities will receive a raffle ticket to win items donated by participating vendors.

The day will feature multiple vendors, local groups and speakers, as well as an open Bardic Circle for performers. Topics this year include:
 Orlando’s headliner is Kryja, author of Rupert Tales. Kryja will lead us on an interactive journey through the Wheel of the Year.
 An overview of Druid practices lead by Amber SkySpirit a clergy member from Ár nDraíocht Féin (ADF), which is a is an international Druid fellowship devoted to creating a public tradition of Neo-pagan Druidry.
 Dikki-Jo Mullen, a well-known reader and astrologer, as well as writer from The Witches Almanac series published by Llewellyn Worldwide, will be presenting her topic “Astrology for Witches”
 Jennifer Todd, author of the soon to be published book “Just Breathe: Reflections, Inspirations, and Guidance for Living All the Days of Your Life” will be giving a talk about the Chakras
 Sherri McLaughlin, from the Secret Centre will be covering Aleister Crowley and Thelema
 Oracle, founder the Pagan Place Temple in Palm Bay, will be discussing the “Empowerment of Self”

Orlando Pagan Pride Day’s committee has been working toward providing a fun, family-friendly environment to help educate the greater community about what Paganism is and dispel any misconceptions about Pagan practices.

About Mystic Grove
The Mystic Grove is an affinity group within the First Unitarian Church of Orlando. Mystic Grove (MG) is made up of Pagans from many different paths and traditions as well as those people best defined as free spirits. MG is not a coven or closed circle – all are welcome to attend. All of their gatherings, events and rituals at the First Unitarian Church of Orlando, which are often free and open to all persons interested in learning more about Paganism. Mystic Grove also holds crafting circles and Paganism 101 classes. To learn more about Mystic Grove, please visit their Facebook page at: http://www.facebook.com/mystic.grove

About Orlando Pagan Pride
The committee is made up of volunteers within the community. Orlando’s local coordinator is Lesley Horwarth, who is also a member of The Mystic Grove. If you would like to contact Lesley for an interview or arrange to be on site for the day of the event, please contact her at [email protected] If you are have published an article about the event, please send a copy of the release to Lesley, as well as Sarit Jaela ([email protected]). Sarit has been handling the marketing efforts for this year’s events. Please feel free to visit our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/OrlandoPaganPride

web: http://www.facebook.com/OrlandoPaganPride
email: [email protected]