FORGET cauldrons, black cats and pointy witch hats.
The modern Pagan apparently prefers a Beatles sing-a-long around camp fire and perhaps a spot of maypole dancing.
Indeed, it was the tired old Hollywood image of a warty old woman demonically cackling around a bubbling cauldron which inspired Pagan Pride founder Esme Knight to set the record straight.
Pagan Pride is an annual event held in Nottingham – with this year's set to take place in August.
The 36-year-old Mansfield Road chef is passionate about Paganism, having felt a strong connection to nature and the Earth as a child.
She said: "My parents are from a Christian background, like so many, but I always had really strong connections with nature and the changing of the seasons.
"The way the earth changes throughout the year is a beautiful thing and I am a part of that.
"It was only when I looked into it more, as I got older, that I realised it had a name.
"But Paganism isn't just one thing or the other. It is a path that is very special and specific to the individual.
"Yes, there are Wiccans or 'witches' but that's not all there is to it.
"People following Paganism may feel drawn to the druid path or the fairies path.
"I have chosen the Shamanic path and feel drawn most strongly to fire within nature which is why I wear a dragon around my neck as a symbol of that."
Esme, who used to sell candles, incense and Pagan paraphernalia at Nottingham's indoor Victoria Centre market, hopes that the Pagan Pride parade and festival will help people to understand what Paganism is.
She said: "Most people don't know what Paganism is. Then they sit down and talk to you and realise they share a lot of common beliefs with you.
"Mainly, being a Pagan is about the concept of Karma, tolerance and keeping positive.
"We normally look to the moon for guidance or just go outside and feel it in the air and the earth.
"Then we meet up, have fun and make merry - it can be anything from a party to sitting around a campsite with a guitar and singing anything from Metallica to Beatles."
Esme set up Pagan Pride in 2009 as a way to meet other Pagans. She organised a picnic-style gathering at the Forest Recreation ground and was surprised that 80 people turned up.
She said: "People really warmed to the idea of it, so I spoke to Nottingham City Council about what we wanted to and asked how to do it and it just snow balled from there.
"We held it in The Arboretum for the first time in 2010 and around 600 people showed up.
"Then last year around 1,500 attended the festival and 500 people came to the march."
Are you organising a community event? Get in touch: newsdesk@nottinghampost.com
