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A FEARLESS non-conformist from Burton has married her sweetheart on the scariest day of the year — Halloweʼen.
Maggie Venables tied the knot with Dave Dominic in the open air theatre at the Sherwood Forest Visitors’ Centre, in Nottinghamshire.
She wore a mediaeval-style wedding dress while he donned a Knights Templar’s garb at a wedding conducted by High Priestess Beccie Morris.
They plighted their troth on a day most of us would avoid like the plague because they are Pagans, members of an ancient belief system which has at its heart the recognition of the divine in nature.
While communing with flora and fauna in Robin Hood’s old haunts, the pair observed traditions which would have been at the centrepiece of weddings many moons ago, such as stepping over a broomstick and having their hands tied with ribbons.
The fact that their nuptials were conducted on Hallowe’en, or Samhain — pronounced ‘sow’inn’ in Paganism — mattered not one jot.
“It’s our New Year,” said Mr Dominic, 53. “The hours of daylight and night time are equal. That means we are the closest we can get to our lost ones.
“It was very poignant to us. With us both being in our fifties we have lost a few people and it’s nice to be able to celebrate with our lost ones.” His wife, 52, said: “It was magical and fantastic. Everybody had a wonderful time. It’s so appropriate and so real and it feels so good.”
Although Mr Dominic has been a devotee of Paganism for the best part of 40 years, Mrs Venables, formerly of Stapenhill, is a relatively recent convert. Mr Dominic said: “The Pagan faith is indigenous to this country. It was the first faith and we can take it back 9,000 years. It’s been around a lot longer than Christianity.
“I was lucky in that my parents let me choose my own religion, so I looked at them all and I found that the Pagan faith seemed the best way to go. It makes a lot more sense than the others.”
The newlyweds, who live together in Hucknall, near Nottingham, met at a Mind, Body and Spirit festival in the city at Easter this year, or Ostara, as Pagans call it.
Many Pagans are environmentally friendly and strive to live in a way that minimises harm to the natural world.
Mrs Venables should feel at home in the belief as it strongly emphasises equality of the sexes, with women playing a major role in the movement and goddess worship featuring in most of its ceremonies.
Hallowe’en is no fright for Pagan bride 
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