Festival celebrates the autumnal equinox

MILFORD — The northeastern Pa. Pagan Fellowship is sponsoring a three-day family weekend, the Fall Fellowship Frolic 2007, on Sept. 21-23, at Camp Netimus in Dingman Township. In a world where daily news is often dominated by the violence of Muslims, Christians and Jews against one another, these religions still share one God. Most religious worshippers around the world worship the same basic diety — except for the pagans. The Random House Dictionary has three definitions of the word “pagan”: a people or community observing a polytheistic religion, as the ancient Romans and Greeks; a person who is not a Christian, Jew, or Muslim; an irreligious or hedonistic person.” The last definition and resulting stereotypes are a big problem, Frolic organizer Jennifer Transue admits. “We are sort of a disjointed outcast group ... We’re not evil people. We have just beliefs,” she said. Pagans aren’t that easy to classify. Many different philosophies share the pagan umbrella. Transue, for example, calls herself an eclectic Wiccan, with some interest in Native American Shamanism. “I’m not a Shaman, but I’ve studied it,” she added. Some things are basic. “We are people who believe in the natural turn of the seasons,” she said. A photographer and graphic designer from Dallas, Transue said she wants people at this first-ever gathering of its kind in northeastern Pa. to get a feeling for their own community. “We wanted to bring our type of people together, to show them there are others. We need this time to get together and get to know each other better,” she said. The festival’s timing coincides with the autumnal equinox, which is the pagan holiday, Mabon. According to the Pagan Fellowship’s Web site, the weekend will offer “camping opportunities, food, vendors, workshops, a Harvest Feast, music, ritual, a drumming circle, and more.” There won’t be any people in black robes stirring steaming cauldrons. “That’s only in the movies,” Transue said. She said about 100 reservations have already come in for the three-day event and the frolic will also be open to day-pass visitors. The cost is $35 for adults. For more information about the event, visit the Web site at www.nepapaganfellowship.org/frolic.html.