Central New Jersey Pagan Pride, Part III

There were several groups taking part at CNJPP that I wanted to share with you, for various reasons.  I hope you'll run through them all - most are locally based, but some have national equivalents, or are doing things with national impact!  I was glad to try to be introduced to them all!

First up, were the Happy Squirrel Scouts, the SpiralScouts group for Central NJ.  If you aren't familiar with SpiralScouts International, it is a program for both boys and girls, open to all faiths. SpiralScouts " thrives on child-directed activities based on a globally-oriented philosophy of religious tolerance and interfaith cooperation, personal responsibility, and ecological education and conservation, in order to help our children learn to grow into strong, competent members of society and citizens of the world."  On Saturday, the Happy Squirrel Scouts were out, providing activities for all the kids in attendance.  Looked like a ton of fun going on there!

Next up, is the Garden State Pagan Alliance!  There page has been set up to promote networking between Pagans in the state of NJ.  People are encouraged to share their local news and events and connect with other Pagans from throughout the state.  This is a great page to join if you are in NJ, and the folks involved are truly some of the most friendly and open that I've had the pleasure to have met!

And then we have the Tri State Pagans, who you can find via facebook or at their main site at Yahoo groups.  This group is open to anyone in the New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania areas and comes together online for great discussions as well as in person for support and volunteer opportunities in both Pagan and non-Pagan events.  At the CNJPP event, they were sponsoring a Pagan Troop Donation Drive.  They collected an amazing 175 items for the troops!  


Now here is where, of course, I hit you guys up, lol!  There are many things the troops are in need of, both mundane and spiritual.  Here is a quick list of the spiritual items needed: 

Pagan Spiritual Medallions - 

• Pentacles 

• Ankhs 

• Awen symbols 

• Thor's Hammers 

• Sun symbols 

• Moon symbols 

• Goddess and/or God symbols 

• Green Man/Woman symbols 

• Wheel of the Year symbols

Other items - 

• Pagan Music, Meditation: CDs & DVDs  

• Crystals 

• Small God and Goddess statues 

• Pagan Books (No nudity) 

• Incense 

• Oils 

• Herbs 

• Small Wands 

• Small travel chalices 

• Altar cloths

If you are interested in learning about what other items are being collected or if you are interested in donating to the troops, head over to the Tri State Pagan page, or contact me and I will hook you up with more details.  If you saw the recent article about troops being punished for not attending a Christian concert, you can probably imagine how well received a show of support from fellow Pagans would be from our Pagan troops!


Tomorrow, we are on to the awesome vendors I met, then Friday I'll be sharing my workshop notes!