GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) -- It wasn't long ago that most pagans preferred to keep their beliefs secret, afraid that others mistakenly would believe they were devil worshippers.
"That is so far from the truth," said Jennifer Suttorp, director of Sanctuary of the Winds, a Grand Rapids group that meets each month to worship and teach the basics of earth-based religions.
"We don't sacrifice animals. We don't sacrifice babies or virgins. We have a great respect for life and the earth."
Pagans see the divine in every tree, plant, human, animal and object, and live attuned to the cycles of nature, she told The Grand Rapids Press for a story Monday.
Some practice a religion or a spirituality based on shamanism -- or magical practices -- while others create religions based on past pagan religions or futuristic views of society.
One of eight holy days for many pagans is Mabon, the autumn equinox that signifies the harvest. Hundreds of people turned out Sunday at Riverside Park to celebrate Mabon during the Grand Rapids Pagan Pride Day festival.
The event's goal was to foster pride in pagan identity through education, activism, charity and community -- and to show others that pagans are regular people.
"We're saying, we're here, we believe differently than you do, but it doesn't mean our faith is any less valid than yours," said Suttorp, the festival's coordinator.
The free, daylong event featured a pagan ceremony, a drumming circle and workshops that included the history of Wicca, meditation and Viking storytelling.
Wiccans are pagans who practice a form of witchcraft.
Visitors could also peruse about 20 booths featuring jewelry; herbs used for cooking, aromatherapy and rituals; and books on astrology and witchcraft.
Susan Siedler drove from Battle Creek to sell her handmade jewelry. The mother of two children said she searched a long time for a spirituality that she felt comfortable with before choosing paganism.
"It's not easy. You want people to tell you what to do and what to believe, but I had a hard time with that," she said. "This is what feels right to me."
Siedler shares her spirituality with her children, ages 9 and 12, but only to a point.
"My daughter really wants a pentacle," she said, describing the five-pointed-star often mistaken for a Satanic symbol. "But I just don't think she's ready to have to deal with the questions."
Diane Meas, 37, a Kentwood mother of three and a Wiccan, also attended the event.
"I don't think a lot of people realize it's a way of life," she said.
Meas encourages her children to pursue any religion that interests them. She said her 18-year-old daughter has rejected Wicca while her two younger children went to vacation Bible school this summer and enjoyed putting up a nativity scene at Christmas.
"Too many kids grow up believing what their parents believe because their parents believe it," Meas said. "I think they have to come up with their own path."