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First Pagan festival to take place on campus
by Kara Robinson
Exchange Staff
On Saturday, May 3rd, Franklin Pierce University will be hosting its first ever Pagan spring festival known as Beltane.
Collaborating groups
Interfaith Campus Ministries, the new student organized Pagan Meetings &
Greetings, and Community Service helped in putting together the event in
order to bring a new perspective and break stereotypes about the old and
Neo-Pagan religions.
Troy Otramba, a student participating in the event, said,
"Pagans are a group that has been misunderstood to be evil spell-casters. By
doing this, it could bring a stronger religious tolerance and a new bit of
culture to the school."
Bill Beardsley, director of Interfaith Ministries said,
"It's good that this group was able to make this event happen. It was time
that something like this was brought to campus."
In the pagan faiths, Beltane is one of the eight
Sabbats, which is one of the major eight holidays celebrated. The Pagan year
is split into two parts: winter and summer seasons. It's the beginning of
the summer season when this festival comes along. Beltane is a spring and
fertility festival, a time to celebrate the life returning to the world
after the long cold winter. This is the type of ritual that will be taking
place on campus. To accommodate for everything necessary, the site for the
ceremony was the softball field by the sophomore and junior housing.
During the festival the tradition of "Maying" will take
place, when people gather together flowers and go to find and cut a maypole
to be used in a dance. The maypole is a tall pole usually cut from a fallen
tree that's erected in the middle of the festival space. Ribbons are tied
around the pole and the participants dance around it, interweaving the
colorful ribbons to symbolize unity. Fires are lit and purification rituals
are performed. There's dancing and prayers of good will for all who take
part.
High Priestess Lyrion ApTower who will be conducting the ritual with her husband said, "We want to show the community that people called witches or who practice Wicca and other pagan faiths are people with integrity, that they are like everyone else."
During the ritual the four
elemental corners are represented fire, water, air, and earth. These
elements are called to help with aid in the ritual about to be done. The
corners are there to represent the space that the people use to invoke these
elements. Prayers for a warm and good spring are enacted and then the
choosing of the stag and maiden are done. One chosen boy and one chosen girl
will play the roles of the stag and the maiden, to represent the masculine
and feminine balance of the religion. These two participants then enact a
chase around one of the bel-fires. Then the fertility rite and the powers
that were called would then be present. Gamers, story telling, and sharing
food will take place afterward.
The Pagan Meetings and Greetings group is run by
students of similar pagan faiths who wanted a way of expressing their
beliefs on campus while inviting guests to see what they're about.
For more information about Beltane, look
for the Pagans Meetings & Greetings group on Facebook headed by Tarrah
Oktavec or contact Mary Beth Farmer in the Community Service office or Bill
Beardsley. The event is campus wide by invite and those who wish to bring
guests can.
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