Eric Peterson, left, and Mance Grady provide music for the equinox circle, a ritual observance of the first day of autumn.

The Providence Journal / John Freidah

PAWTUCKET — These are the rites of autumn, performed by the witches of Rhode Island:

Drums and song, the invocation of the elements, a calling to the god and goddess, and the symbolic joining — with the Freudian insertion of a sword into a chalice — of male and female energies.

Happy Pagan Thanksgiving! Several hundred people celebrated the event yesterday in a festival of magic, runes and free enterprise, under a grove of oak in Slater Memorial Park.

Roll your eyes if you must, but a seminar on speaking with the dead drew 40 believers. And just about every one claimed a past run-in with a ghost.

For the rest of you: Happy autumnal equinox, the first day of fall!

In Pagan traditions closely identified with the earth, the equinox is a holiday. “It’s a time to celebrate all we have been given in the past year,” says Lorna Steele, the high priestess of the celebration, who led an equinox circle ritual last evening.

Oh, sure, there’s some scientific stuff behind the equinox, too; something about the direct rays of the sun passing the equator on the way south, toward the winter solstice, Dec. 22. Pagans make a more noble interpretation. “The equinox is the balance between night and day, when they are of equal value,” says Steele. And as a time for harvest, the fall equinox is a time for Pagans to take stock of their personal aims for the year. What did they reap from their goals?

Pagans are hard to pigeonhole because the name is an umbrella for many different beliefs. Some, such as Steele, of Barrington, are Wiccan, practicing a nature-based religion that uses the five-sided star, the pentagram, as a symbol. (The five points stand for fire, earth, air, water and spirit, if you’re wondering.)

Some Pagans follow Druid, Celtic or Native American traditions. Others borrow bits from pre-Christian religions to fashion a faith that works for them. Pagans say a lot of contemporary traditions — Halloween costumes, Christmas trees, maypole dances and fall harvest festivals — began as Pagan rituals.

Some Pagans believe the god and goddess invoked last night are actual entities, the way Christians believe in a rational God who is interested in what they’re doing down here. Others believe the god and goddess are symbols for the divinity in all life. “It does vary from person to person,” says Cynthia Caton, a 42-year-old executive assistant from Cumberland. “There are days I just don’t know, and there are days when I feel the divine. I don’t have to define it. It’s life-nourishing.”

And, no, Pagans don’t worship Satan. They don’t believe in the devil, Steele said.

And, no, they don’t sacrifice animals.

They don’t dance nude. At least not in Slater Park.

And, yes, certainly, they’re capitalists. Yesterday, you could pay a Pagan medium to read your palm, your cards or your seashells. Merchants sold crystals, incense, books of magic spells, silver jewelry, and coffin nails, 13 for $2.

Some of the attendees wore heavy black robes that seemed more fitting for winter solstice than the 75-degree equinox. Others dressed like Robin Hood, as if they had taken a wrong turn on the way to King Richard’s Faire.

Billed as a Pagan Pride event, this was a mellow affair. The Pawtucket police officer on detail reported a peaceful, polite pack of Pagans.

Speakers conducted seminars throughout the day. A highlight was “Talking with the Dead,” led by Cat Tyrson, a ghost chaser, age 44, from West Greenwich, and Heather Anderson, 37, from North Smithfield. “I’m just a witch and a medium,” she explains. They run a company together called Triad Paranormal. “We do paranormal investigations,” says Tyrson, a big, boisterous man with an entertaining wham-bang style of speaking, like a John Madden of the spirit world. Their company offers “spirit removal,” among other services.

“What do we know about energy?” Tyrson asked his class. “Energy cannot die. What are we? We’re energy.” (You can see where this is going.) “What’s the most powerful drug in the world? Adrenaline!” If someone were about to die violently, what’s their body pumping out? Adrenaline. “That puts a lot more energy into the air!” Hence, ghosts.

Tips to talk to the dead: meditate. Then look for signs: a certain song on the radio, an image popping into your head, your dreams. Remember, signs are subtle. And you must believe. “There’s no logic to any of this,” Anderson warned.

Quickly, the three kinds of ghosts:

Orbs. Little white spots; easy to photograph. Take 30 pictures of anything, chances are you’ll snap a passing orb.

Ectoplasm. Looks like smoke.

Apparition. The image something leaves behind when it dies.

From the audience, Tonichia Tavares, 42, of Attleboro, told of her own ghost encounter, then complained about her “spirit guide.”

“My guide tripped me out,” she said. “He looks like Shrek!” Later she explained what she learned at the seminar: “That these experiences are very common. People just don’t talk about them because they don’t want anyone to think they’re crazy.”

Tyrson ran through the Q&A:

Q. Can ghosts follow you?

Short answer, yes.

Q. Are spirits “geographically-based?”

Yes. Benefit Street in Providence has more ghosts per mile than any other street in America.

Q: What do ghosts do in their spare time?

“They attend workshops on how to talk to the living,” Tyrson said. He laughed. “What do they do? Really, I don’t know. I’ll make a deal with ya, when I get there I’ll come back and tell you.”

marsenau@projo.com