No flying broomsticks for these present-day witches

Published: Friday, October 30, 1998

Friday, October 30, 1998

CRAFT: Pagan Circle at UCLA dissipates myths

on misunderstood religion

By Celeste Christie

This is my personal statement. I do not speak for all Pagans. To speak for all of us would, in fact, be impossible, given the diversity of our group.

I'm a witch. And before you assume that this automatically means that I wear a conical black hat, have warts on my nose, cackle maniacally and make blood sacrifices to Satan, let's get things straight: I don't wear a conical black hat - never have. I have nothing against conical black hats, but they just aren't that fashionable. I don't have warts on my nose. I don't have green skin. I'm not a hag. My hair's red, not black. I rarely cackle, and when I do, it is not maniacal. I happen to be sane. And last, but most certainly not least, I don't sacrifice goats to Satan - or anyone for that matter. In fact, I cringe at the sight of road kill, just like everyone else, and hate seeing lizards lose their tails. I don't kill living things; it's against my nature and my religion.

Now that we've gotten what I'm not out of the way - here's what I am. A witch is a bender, a shaper of reality, a person with the ability to change the world around her. That ability is due to the presence of the divine in all people, animals, plants and things. A witch understands the divine power within them and uses that power to change their lives and the world around them for the better.

A witch is a healer, a psychic, a keeper of mysteries, a teacher, a counselor, an example and completely, entirely human. He or she is a human being who, through following the craft, is continually learning the secrets of life by looking at the wonderful, wide world around her.

A witch is a lover of nature, a child at heart and no stranger to wonder. A witch finds ecstasy in everyday life and finds everyday life sacred.

A witch is a follower of witchcraft. Witchcraft is the religion of the Ancient Ones; a religion that preceded Christianity yet still survives, found anew in one's heart. It lies deep within all of us, buried in the archetypes of our subconscious, in our inherent polarities and similarities.

Witchcraft sees God as dual, in the forms of the Goddess and the God, and tripartite, as Son, Father, Spirit, and Maiden, Mother, Crone. The God and the Goddess are held in reverence, yet not separate from human beings, as all beings are One.

Nature, as part of everyone and everything, and as the material representation of the God and Goddess, is to be revered and dealt with as we take care of ourselves and others.

There are, however, no commandments in witchcraft, only personal responsibility, reinforced by karma. The Wiccan Rede, which states that we can do as we wish as long as we do not harm or manipulate others or ourselves, is the only law.

Witchcraft holds true the idea of reincarnation, as witnessed in nature. Our holidays celebrate that all life is part of the cycle of birth, death and rebirth. Rebirth is not a punishment; life is not suffering. Life, the Earth - these are rewards, to be cherished and experienced to the fullest.

So how did I come to the conclusion that witchcraft was my personal path? I had been Christian before. Raised by atheist parents, religion was considered silly in my family, especially Christianity. It didn't take long, however, for the spiritual side in me to surface. I went to Sunday school with my friends, hoping it would strike me, but it never did. Where was the magic, the miracles?

I was agnostic through Catholic high school, which I attended not because I was forced to but because I was searching for spirituality.

Then senior year, I went on a religious retreat with my classmates and "found God," or so they say, which seems silly - as if he was always there. It was a profoundly religious experience, realizing that the divine is there and loves us. I thought I was Christian. I liked the ideas of service and love for one's neighbor, I liked the giving and loving Jesus, but could not make peace with the sexist content and the severity of the God of the Old Testament. I stopped praying. I stopped believing that Jesus was there.

All my life I had been drawn to mythology, especially goddesses. So when I stumbled into an IRC chat channel called paganplace, I was definitely curious. Asking questions led to more questions, to more questions, and so on. I started realizing that what I was studying, researching, reading about, was what I had always believed. Like most witches, pagans or Wiccans will tell you, it felt like coming home, like discovering a part of you that had always been hidden beneath the surface through years of society's conditioning. I found the love and acceptance I had been looking for, and the ideas that Christianity could not accept. I found the goddess, not just the god.

After studying for some months, I cast my first circle and celebrated Mabon. For the first time, I felt the magic I wanted in my life.

On Samhain I initiated myself. Still a solitary practitioner of the craft a year later, I felt that the campus needed a strong community, just as I needed to feel I wasn't alone.

I founded Pagan Circle, based on two principles. First, we strive to educate the general UCLA community about Paganism and Wicca, to counterbalance harmful public misconceptions by providing truthful and accurate information about the Pagan community. Secondly, we aim to provide campus Pagans, Wiccans and all other interested students with a nurturing community in which they can explore, learn, celebrate, create friendships, and meet like-minded individuals in the greater Los Angeles Area. We do this by hosting weekly discussion meetings, arranging field trips to local Pagan shops and events, and designing workshops and events that teach people to explore their environment, themselves, and their spirituality.

At first, I thought that there were only about five Pagans on campus. Pagan Circle keeps growing, and I now realize that there are more of us than I thought.

Pagans, Witches, Wiccans and others are everywhere. We are normal people, hold jobs, raise families, have friendships, get married (or handfasted).

We are just starting to break through the barriers of hate and misinformation and be recognized as who we are: normal people with a different way of looking at the world.

The U.S. government recognizes us as a religion.

Army chaplains are taught how to serve the religious needs of Wiccans.

Groups everywhere are fighting for our religious rights.

Witchcraft is growing, filling the abyss created by the patriarchal religions that have ruled the world for so long, and revealing the goddess and the wonder of the world to men and women everywhere.

I'm glad to be a part of it.

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