Pagan Pride Day?

H/t to Kendall Harmon and T19

Okay, I have to admit that I am not a fan of anything that appends the word "Pride" to a cause, a celebration, or a parade. This particular "Pagan Pride Day" occurred in Nanaimo last weekend. Nanimo is located in Vancouver Island, and otherwise looks like a nice place to visit.

Except for this:

If you click on the poster, you might notice the image of a cross (following the "N" in the word "Pagan").

I guess the cross is there to attract christian pagans, pagan christians, christopagans, or some other oppressed group that our progressive church has not yet won over. I wonder if they will borrow a page from T.E.c.  road signs and use "The Pagan Church Welcomes You" as a motto.

They do appear to be a welcoming "church." You can even join them and drink the witches' brew available at the Temple of the Green Cauldron in Nanimo. As they say,

"This is a great time to come out, meet and greet and ask questions. Bring along your tarot, runes or whatever you like for a witches show and tell!"

Sorry that I missed it.

A browse through the temple's web pages will either raise a smile or a groan as you read,

"The Temple of The Green Cauldron is authorized by the Province of British Columbia through our parent organization the Congregationalist Wiccan Association of British Columbia, to perform legal marriages."

I had to read more...

"Temple marriages and handfastings are religious ceremonies in the Wiccan faith, and are performed by ordained Clergy."

Handfasting? Is that just during Lent?

"The Temple of The Green Cauldron supports the right of all loving couples to be legally wed, in accordance with the laws of Canada, regardless of gender or sexual orientation."

This is beginning to sound very familiar.

"Please book well in advance and request additional information from info at greencauldron.org
There is no fee charged for handfastings, but a minimum donation of $50 is encouraged.
Travel expenses from Nanaimo and return are the responsibility of the couple."

They must have read the tea leaves because they knew what my next question would be,

"The CWABC on Polyamorous Marriage

The CWABC, as a Wiccan religious organization, supports as an article of faith, as stated in the Charge of the Goddess, that “all acts of love and pleasure” are the Goddess’ rituals.

To us this means that any form of love or sexuality that is non-abusive, and non-coercive, between consenting adults, is acceptable and even desirable. This includes, but is not limited to, relationships that are heterosexual or homosexual, relationships that are monogamous or polyamorous, and relationships that are alternative or conventional.

We have some clergy in T.E.c. who would love this! I wonder how much it would cost to ship a couple of our consenting Episcopal bishops to Vancouver Island for some CPE?

Our clergy can, and will, perform any kind of Pagan-oriented or Pagan-multifaith marriage ceremony within the bounds of the law. However, the law currently forbids legally recognized clergy from presiding over any ceremony that bears any sort of resemblance to a wedding between more than two partners. For this reason, and only this reason, our religious representatives, as recognized by the Province of British Columbia, cannot perform polyamorous handfastings, or even handfastings between two people when one of the parties involved is still legally married to someone else.

Can't they come up with an incantation to get that law changed?

If we are approached to perform such a ceremony, we will refer the interested parties to clergy within our Church, or to qualified individuals within the Pagan community, who do not have legal marrying credentials from the Province of British Columbia."

Sounds a bit like the same sex blessing advice being handed out by certain Episcopal priests and bishops as a "generous pastoral response" to same sex couples. The unspoken promise of T.E.c. is similar, "We will find a way to bless whatever it is you want blessed."
I have faith that this false teaching, like those forthcoming false liturgies for same sex blessings in the Episcopal church, will ultimately fail. The further we stray from the faith of our fathers, the more similarities we find between us and the pagan religions. I seem to recall a whole lot of O.T. stories about what happens when we start worshipping sacred poles and such. I pray that people will open their hearts to Jesus and close their ears to the wiccan's call.

Oops, I have to run and feed Pyewacket...

I just wonder if tarot cards can tell them what I think about the cross on that poster?