Returning from a “Litha” (Summer Solstice) celebration, the smiles among this small group are bright and truly joyful, the bows are deep and sincere, hands and foreheads are kissed, the robes are long, simple and usually pale. They have met, celebrated and are now going their separate ways before the next convocation.

An ordinary church group heading home after services? Hardly.

The greeting is “Blessed Be,” taken from a common ritual incantation to their Goddess, the Queen of Creation; “Beloved Goddess, grant that we/may now and ever Blessed Be.”

For a group of once-outlawed “heretics” whose spiritual ancestors – and, in many cases, their literal ancestors - were tortured and burned alive, they seem inordinately joyful. Not merely happy, but filled with a spiritual ecstasy that the major religions customarily claim for themselves and their saints. These people are serene, content and filled with the spirit, truly passionate in their worship, but still circumspect in the practice of their often misunderstood religion.

These are practitioners of The Old Religion, Wicca (pronounced “wich-a” or “wee-cha,” from the proto-Anglican word for “wise”).

They are Witches, Pagans of predominantly British, Celtic, Gaelic, Cymric and Norse traditions, once fugitives before the wrath of the Christian onslaught to convert their conquered territories to their religion. These Wise Ones are already making plans for marking the end of summer and the approaching harvest with rituals both solemn and joyous.

In Yellow Springs, a coven of five women ranging in age from 22 to 60 meet for drinks after work. On September 21st, they will gather in a small grove to chant, dance and offer thanks to the Goddess for the upcoming harvest.

In late July, on the outskirts of Dayton, one Sabbat celebration is further enhanced by a “handfasting,” a Pagan wedding, this one to be performed by Mater Bellum (literally, “Sweet Mother”) a remarkably young and strikingly beautiful witch with long blue-black hair, a vestige of her Cherokee heritage, and deep, lustrous grey-green eyes, souvenirs of a Celtic ancestor. She seems far too young to have acquired her apparent status.

“She has an old soul,” explained the bride-to-be, “ancient.”

As all religions tend to “borrow” from each other - Zen meditative techniques have been incorporated into Christian prayer, Pagan holidays have been absorbed into the Christian calendar - so have this couple opted for rings, unusual but not unheard of, as well as the traditional bindings, a convention of their parent culture that they make their own; the rings are silver, simple, and adorned only with a small encircled pentacle.

Nor are Pagan weddings without their own sense of humor; the term “hand-fasting” means just that; during the ceremony their hands are tied, lightly and ritually bound, and they pass the day in this manner, joined at the wrists, for the remainder of the day, as a reminder of the ties that will bind them for the rest of their lives.           

“These are the last vestiges of a matriarchal religion from a matrilineal society,” explains one middle-aged witch from Springfield. “There was a time, long before the advent of patriarchal societies, when the world was understood to be inherently female. The concept of Mother Earth, of Mother Nature, still survives with us; it is not men who bring forth life, it is women. As heretical as it seems in the face of most modern religions, it is real and logically undeniable. The power of creation, of bringing forth life, is a female power and it is Her power that that we celebrate.”

Celebrate indeed; Pagans generally recognize 21 holidays a year; eight major, Imbolc (February 2nd), Ostara (Vernal Equinox), Beltaine (May 1st), Litha (Summer Solstice), Lugnasadh (pronounced “luna-sa,”August 2nd), Mabon (Autumnal Equinox), Samhain (pronounced “sa-VAIN,” October 31st) and Yule (Winter Solstice) with minor celebrations at full or new moons, depending on how the particular group - a “coven” of three or more - or an individual reckons their calendar. While some prefer the full moon for outside rituals, others, herbalists in particular, tend to mark the new moon, planting time, as the beginning of the month. A full moon falling on a major holiday is considered particularly auspicious.

While most major creeds tend to be patriarchal, Wicca is possibly the last Goddess-oriented religion. Men are comparatively rare, though not unwelcome, both as practitioners and as priests, and many of another group, gathered for a Lugnasadh feast in early August, seemed deferential to one of the older men, a long-haired, middle–aged Tipp City witch whose thick grey beard makes him a bit like a younger version of Santa Claus. When asked, he dismissed it, describing himself as “just a humble country Druid” and explained, “we have many rituals but few ceremonies. Our rituals are basically ornate prayers; in Christianity, the pastor or vicar leads the service. In Wicca, we are all active participants, each contributing his and her own energy to the prayer.” This is the third celebration he has attended today.

The religious principles are fairly straightforward, explains a Priestess from the Cincinnati area. “If, as most religions claim, we are made in the image of God, then there must be a male and a female, a God and a Goddess, whose functions are reflected in their creations. It is the work of the Goddess to create, to bring forth life, where the tasks of the God are to protect and to destroy. He brings death as She brings life, and thusly is the universe kept in balance.”

When asked how their religious views are accepted in the community at large, the tone turns somber.

“It’s not easy. Most Christians don’t know the difference between Witchcraft and Satanism and don’t care to learn. We are an ancient animistic religion totally separate from Christianity. Satanism is a reaction to the Judeo-Christian tradition, designed to horrify their believers and indulge the basest desires of its participants. The fact that they have stolen many of our symbols (such as the pentagram, which the Satanists invert as they do the crucifix) and the accoutrements of our rituals is sad, and it’s even sadder that fundamentalists of many religions don’t take the time to really learn about what they think they hate. They’ve just been indoctrinated.”

“I find most of them barely tolerant,” admits a young Fairborn witch. “Even amidst all the anti-Islamic furor since 9/11, the Muslims are merely treated as heretics, non-believers. They’re not expressly condemned in the Bible, as witches are, which led to many of the Medieval witch hunts and those of the Renaissance and early American history. King Saul’s own admission is that he consulted the Witch of Endor to summon the spirit of the prophet Samuel, who reportedly predicted Saul's looming demise. The subsequent purges and burnings could just be revenge or hypocrisy.”

“It’s not easy, being Wiccan here on the buckle of the Bible Belt,” another sighed. “The Christian propaganda is overwhelming. Our celebrations are held, if not in secret, then definitely discreetly. I can’t imagine what some of my co-workers would think if they knew I was Pagan.”

While styles of worship differ greatly, the object of worship is generally the same, observed an older witch from the Columbus area. “Lacking a power structure, each individual is free to seek the Goddess in her - or his - own way. Rituals have been written and published, but they are no more valid or powerful than prayers composed by any other practitioner. It’s not the words; it’s the sentiment, the love and sincerity, behind them.” She claims to have been practicing for “almost 40 years, this life,” and explains that “most organized religions gather in these imposing and ornate buildings to worship a God who is, theoretically, everywhere. We gather in our groves, in the midst of the bounty of the Goddess and her creations, and we know She is among us. We feel her power and She feels our prayers.”

Asked if there were other major differences between Wicca and the more “conventional” religions, she replied “the hierarchy and the bureaucracy. We don’t have them. It’s a Gnostic experience, where every believer has the opportunity to connect directly to deity, to touch and be touched by the Goddess.”

Lacking a formal hierarchy, the question arises as to how basic beliefs, policies and rules are created, communicated and enforced. With the loose structure of “the Craft,” several practitioners were asked about the basic beliefs, customs and “commandments.”

“The basic belief is that all that is was created by the Goddess, that she is protected by the God, and that She imbued all living things with a spirit. All that is, is alive; as alive as we are, and we are part of the entirety of creation,” explained a young priest who asked to be identified only as “Dan.”

“Our guiding principle is simple and pure,” added another. “That it harm none, do as thou wilt. Let this be the whole of thy law.”

And what of consequences for “harm” to someone or something?

“The Threefold Law of Return,” they answer in unison.

Dan continues, “it’s a karmic principle; we believe that whatever an individual does, be it good or evil, will be returned upon them times three, and it’s not even the fear of repercussions that motivates most Wiccans; it’s the promise of joyful rewards for good deeds well done.”

In late September, they will all welcome the arrival of autumn by celebrating Mabon, the Autumnal Equinox, in homes, yards and groves throughout the region, the country and the world. Though they do not prostheletize or evangelize, their numbers seem to be growing, and much of their wisdom and influence on Western culture is only now coming to the fore.

Among these, the enduring notion of Mother Earth and Mother Nature as female deities; the custom of “knocking on wood,” derives from the Druid belief that one could communicate with, and be blessed by, the spirit of a tree – the oak was particularly sacred to the Druids - by touching it. The practice of bringing “an apple for the teacher” is a remnant of the upcoming Mabon celebration, where part of the ritual involves cutting an apple horizontally to reveal the star – the pentacle - within then presenting it as a gift to the “Wise.”

For further information, consider the following sources: “Coven Craft,” by Amber K, a book on Wiccan practices for groups of three or more, and Scott Cunningham’s “Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner” or any one of a number of websites.

---