The Question of Public Ritual
Yrsa Seykolova
What do we have to hide? Honestly?
I'm not entirely stupid... I neither expect nor condone any sort of magic(k)al work to be committed in the middle of a public park.. . But when it comes down to it, what is keeping you from being public with your religious practice?
Fear? Shame? If either of these is an acceptable reason, please hang up your robes and go to back to church.
Otherwise, get out and be seen! We have every right to be public and ten times the reason of any other "mainstream" religious group!
For every "prayer at the flagpole" there should be a "honoring of the land spirits"...
For every "campus bible study" there should be a "pagan discussion group"...
For every "church picnic" there should be a "kindred feast"...
It's time, people! No more hiding in the shadows! No more whispers in the dark! No more blending in!
We are a vibrant, unique, and important part of society.. .time to act like it!
Should you be out there fishing for members? Trying to fill your ranks? Absolutely not. Proselytizing has no place in my religion.. . it really has no place in any religion, but that's a completely different topic.
Should you be public? Be seen doing whatever it is that you do religiously? Assuming it's all appropriate for the venue, absolutely! (It should be obvious that if you insist on skyclad ritual you're going to have to be a little more private, but I would hope that much would be obvious.) It doesn't have to be a major production, but BE SEEN!
Be proud!
If people are curious, hey... all the better. At the very least, it's a chance to educate the masses. If they're interested... if they've been wondering if there was anyone else who followed their path... then you've found someone to share with... and if they don't like it...they're free to walk away, aren't they?
Being safe does not mean being paranoid... but hiding away from the rest of the world is just going to condemn us to an early grave.
It's time for the pagan community to stand up and be counted... to quit sitting by quietly while more and more people fall through the cracks... to take advantage of the rights we, as Americans, are born with...
It's time to be an active religious community. Get out of the broom closet already!