By Beacon Staff
As Broom Closet owner Lydia Gittings has said repeatedly over the years, pagans don’t worship the devil.
Their goal is not sinister, and not nearly as dramatic.
“We just like to have fun,” Gittings said.
“It’s kind of a hippie thing,” she said in a previous interview. “We believe in the spirit of the trees and stones, and it is very similar to Native American spirituality.”
Saturday’s seventh annual Pagan Fest in Dankwardt Park in Burlington was open to people of all beliefs. Gittings and her fellow volunteers made everyone feel welcome.
“We want to have it out in the open so the public can see that we’re your neighbors,” Gittings said.
The event celebrated the upcoming Autumn Equinox, which is a time of thanksgiving in the pagan tradition.
Photo By William Smith
Broom Closet owner and Pagan Fest organizer Lydia Gittings of Burlington welcomes those who formed a ritual circle Saturday in Dankwardt Park to kick off the seventh annual Pagan Fest.