By Anita Stiefel
Witchcraft is possibly the most misunderstood religious sect in America, and at no time is it more evident than at Halloween, said a local Wiccan minister.
"We're trying to overcome 1,200 years of bad publicity," said Rob, an ordained and registered minister in DeKalb County, who asked that his last name not be published out of fear it might have a negative impact on his family or job.
"There are some many stereotypes about witches that are so wrong," he said. "We're not evil. We don't worship the devil - that's preposterous, because we don't believe in Satan or in hell. Sure, there are people out there worshiping the devil who call themselves witches, but there are people out there molesting children who call themselves Christians."
Rob said morals, ethics and responsibility of self keep those who believe in the Wicca - the religion of witches - from doing evil.
"Our number one rule is Harm None,'" he explained. "We do believe in evil in the sense that it is evil to not be responsible for ourselves, to participate in lying, cheating, thieving and hurting ourselves or others. We take responsibility for our own evil, instead of blaming it on the devil. Like Christians, we believe You reap what you sow.'"
Other misconceptions about witchcraft are equally ridiculous, he said.
"We don't practice black magic, and we don't believe we have supernatural powers,: he explained, "but we do believe in the power of positive thinking and positive action."
"As far as casting spells, that can be viewed as our equivalent to prayer. Many religions throughout the world have ceremony and chanting - Buddhists, Native Americans, even Christians. Chanting is equal to praying the Rosary. Benedictine monks chant."
Rob said also contrary to popular belief, witchcraft forbids the sacrifice of animals.
"Animal sacrifice is abhorrent to us," he explained. "Anyone who does that is not Wiccan. I wouldn't want someone who does that around me any more than the average church-goer would."
Wiccans and Christians have many idealogies in common, Rob said.
"There is great wisdom to be found in the Bible," he said. "Many parts of Christianity are admirable, just as parts of Buddhism and other religions of the world."
"In Christianity, you try to be more Christ-like, and I am glad Christians have that identifier for goodness. In the Wicca, we seek to achieve harmony with the Earth," he said. "We believe God created Earth and everything on it, and, therefore, God is in everything. You can see evidence of God all around us. As opposed to believing God is there and I am here, I feel God is in me, in everything."
"We believe in a central God, a supreme being, but part of God is male and part is female," he explained. "This is evidenced in nature - in humans, in animals, in the plant kingdom, down to the smallest insect. Life stems from the union of male and female."
"We espouse reincarnation, because it is also evidenced in the Earth, with the cycle of crops and plants," he said. "The harvest is over, but will come again. The flowers are dead, the trees are losing their leaves, but they'll be back next spring. We term it as the will of life.'"
Rob said the Wicca, which existed long before Christianity, is based on ancient Celtic beliefs.
"Back then it was a religion of the country people, the farmers of old Ireland and Scotland, because it had to do with crops and animals, with harvest time and planting," he said.
"In converting the pagans to Christianity, they found it was easier to place Christian holidays on top of pagan ones. They let them keep their gods and goddesses by making them saints."
Wiccans celebrate eight "Sabbats," or holy days each year, starting with Yule in December on the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. "This is a celebration of the return of the sun, because from that day forward, the days will start getting longer again," Rob explained.
Imbolc, on Feb. 2, began as a celebration of the lactating of the sheep, and meant that spring was just around the corner, he said.
"March 21 is Ostara, a celebration of life on the verge of starting all over again, which in early times began using symbols of the rabbit, for fertility, and the egg, for reproduction - sound familiar?" Rob said.
Beltaine, on May 1, is a celebration of sacred marriage and acknowledgment of the union of man and woman to create life.
Summer solstice, the longest day of the year, is celebrated in June.
Lammas, on Aug. 2, and the autumn equinox are the celebrations of harvest.
Witches celebrate Samhain at the end of October. Samhain is the Celtic word for "summer's end."
"It is an honoring of ancestors past," Rob said. "One of our traditions is to leave cakes and candies on the graves of loved ones - which is where trick-or-treating originated. We decorate graves with flowers, not for the dead, but in their honor."
Modern Halloween, in contrast, has become a time of spookiness, and the negative association of the word "witch" with black cats, monsters and ghosts is one reason witches prefer to be called Wiccans.
"Personally I prefer Wiccan because of all the misinformation," Rob said. "Around here, if you're not worshiping the Christian God, you're evil, and that's that, end of discussion. I respect other people's religions, and I try to learn about them. I would love to have a dialogue here to get rid of the misconceptions about our religion."
"DeKalb County is no stranger to witchcraft - you'd be surprised how many of us there are," he said. "We don't have services on Sunday and Wednesday night, but we have gatherings about once a month. We sing, we dance, we pray, we focus on achieving balance in our lives."
"We want peace. We want to be able to live and work with each other in harmony. We gathered and prayed about the Klan situation, for example."
"We're just like everybody else. I work, I pay taxes, and I vote - I voted dry," Rob said.
"If people think it's scary to have witches out there, they should know there are witches out there who are pretty scared of them, because they don't understand what we're really all about."
The Times Journal