March 23, 2024

 

Valley Pagan community celebrates Samhain.


While many Valley residents may attribute their urge to dress up and eat sweets to Halloween, Agnostics will gather today to mark Samhain (pronounced “sa-win”), the Celtic harvest festival. Jen Plastini has been an Agnostic since the age of 12 and believes the faith is still misunderstood nearly four decades later. “Individuals fake displeasure at me, and my Christian colleagues worry I’ll get lost,” she said of the faith, which incorporates Wicca and Druidry among its beliefs and worships a variety of supernatural beings or goddesses, as well as nature.

The 49-year-old Milton resident stated that she, like other Agnostics, does not believe in Satan and does not cast spells to harm others. “In my life, I try to imitate doing no harm,” Plastini remarked. “It has to do with genuinely focusing on the Earth and really focusing on one another,” says the author. Richard Shellehamer, a Sunbury resident of 40 years, has been a practicing Agnostic since the age of 14. “Polytheism always sounded fantastic to me,” he said of the belief in multiple gods.

In addition, as Plastini, he debates the Agnostic religion’s view of villain love. “Every Agnostic and witch I’ve encountered don’t recognize the presence of that drug,” said Shellehamer, who was lured to Urglaawe, a small Agnostic gathering stirred by the Pennsylvania Dutch people group and accepting people of all nationalities.

“I approached it with confidence, echoing the tales,” he stated. Alyssa Fuller, of Muncy, said her Native American ancestors drew her to Agnosticism because of its connection to nature. “It’s my otherworldly adventure,” she remarked, adding that she believes in the Christian god as well. Plastini was allowed to choose whether or not to continue performing the Roman Catholic confidence when he was about ten years old in western New York. “None of my family’s rigid beliefs had an impact on me,” she explained. “I needed to be a special stepped area server (in the Catholic church), but they wouldn’t let me since young women aren’t permitted to serve.”

At the age of 12, she discovered that Agnosticism was a religion she could accept when reading books about black magic. Nature’s Otherworldly Domain is a gathering where like-minded profound searchers meet once a week for recuperation and spell work, intending to assist others in need and what Plastini considers to be supplication. When she relocated to Pennsylvania eight years ago, she brought the gathering with her.

“The mending circle is connected to raising energy and sending it out to whoever needs it,” she explained. Plastini, who is a certified Reiki master educator and runs her business out of her house, feels compelled to help people. Doug Shannon, her significant other, is clearly not an Agnostic. “He has no idea what he accepts,” she explained. Agnostics celebrate eight times a year, with Samhain being one of Plastini’s favorites. “We’ll enjoy a nice feast and remember friends and family who have passed away,” Plastini said of the annual tradition. “It’s widely acknowledged that the veil between the living and the dead is unusually thin this season.”

When she was 12, she researched books about black magic and decided that Agnosticism was a religion she could accept. Nature’s Otherworldly Domain is a weekly gathering of like-minded profound searchers for rest and spell work, intending to support others in need and what Plastini calls supplication. She brought the gathering with her when she moved to Pennsylvania eight years ago.

Shellehamer will also gather with the Agnostic people group to commemorate today by sharing a feast and telling stories. “It’s kind of a Thanksgiving-style,” he explained, describing what drew him to this certainty. “It all comes down to the perspective of the local locality.” This gathering has a stronger hold on me.

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