Get Festive... But Do it Right
Tuesday May 6, 2008
Spring has finally arrived, and that can only mean one thing... festival time! Unfortunately, there are folks out there who don't really understand proper festival etiquette. These are the people who should end up on YouTube under "Pagans Behaving Badly" -- and you know who they are. They get sloppy drunk, they don't help with anything, they try to have sex with anything that has a pulse, and then they whine about how much the event sucks. I think the worst example I've ever seen of Really Bad Pagan Behavior was at a public Mabon ceremony I attended years ago. There were a group of people who all arrived late, didn't bring anything to contribute to the potluck, complained the whole time about the food that was there, and then got mad when they were asked to please be quiet during ritual. They stomped off in a huff and left the gathering, and the collective sigh of relief was palpable. It was just plain rudeness, and unfortunately, it does happen.
If you look on the 2008 Wiccan Calendar, you'll see that it's filling up rapidly with seasonal events. That means it's a good time to take a minute and review something really important: Pagan and Wiccan Festival Etiquette. If you've never been to a public event, and you're thinking about attending one (or if you've been to one and think you might need a reminder on how to behave in public), you should take a peek. After all, you want to be invited back next year, right?
Ever been a witness to Pagans Behaving Badly at a festival? Share your stories about people who came out to a public Pagan event but left their manners at home!
If you look on the 2008 Wiccan Calendar, you'll see that it's filling up rapidly with seasonal events. That means it's a good time to take a minute and review something really important: Pagan and Wiccan Festival Etiquette. If you've never been to a public event, and you're thinking about attending one (or if you've been to one and think you might need a reminder on how to behave in public), you should take a peek. After all, you want to be invited back next year, right?
Ever been a witness to Pagans Behaving Badly at a festival? Share your stories about people who came out to a public Pagan event but left their manners at home!
Comments
Is there a website that has a database of locally based pagan groups? I’d love to attend a festival but I have no idea how to get in touch with local groups.
To Ross
I’m not sure where you are but you can always try Witchvox and meetup.com to find local groups and gatherings.
Patti, I’ll have to email you, but if you want to update the calendar… www.freespiritgathering.org has at least 3 pagan events left this year and have already scheduled Beltane for next year.
We have a group of Pagans that are *active* in everything that goes on in our small pagan community. They always make a fuss, always try to tell others how to do things “right”, and ALWAYS make people uncomfortable. They put down everyone who isn’t in their particular group, find fault with anyone who leads any other group and just generally make an ass of themselves. We’ve tried not including them, we’ve tried discussing appropriate behaviour and protocols, it just goes in one ear and out the other.