The Mysteries Of Wicca Religion With Druid Roots Quietly Practiced In Inland Northwest

They meet in a comfortable home on Spokane’s South Hill. Family photos line the walls. Beloved pets saunter through the kitchen investigating the heady aroma of baked casseroles and fresh bread. The final round of “Jeopardy” plays in the background.

The altar is in the basement. A stained glass pentacle stands in the center. The group members face east and cast a circle, invoking the gods to join them in this celebration of the waxing moon.

Students and schoolteachers, nurses and therapists, men and women. Hundreds of people all around us, quietly, usually anonymously, live out a belief system that celebrates nature and reveres the divine in all things. They practice a modern interpretation of an ancient religion with roots in the Celtic religion of the Druids. They believe in the law of love. And sometimes they are hated and feared for it. Why? It’s all in a name, and the name is Wicca - otherwise known as witchcraft.

“I’m as far out of the broom closet as I can be and living in the same town as my mother,” jokes Lisle, a Spokane Wiccan. Hannah, a fellow Wiccan, was recently promoted to priestess. When she told her mother the news, she replied “Well, I can’t exactly go to the Elks Club and tell people that, can I?”

The laughter fades as others tell of jobs lost and families torn apart. For that reason, many interviewed for this story were reluctant to use their last names.

The established professionals have the most to lose, but all feel the risk of living their religion openly.

“The problem is people identify Wicca with Satanism,” says Frank Flinn, a religious scholar and adjunct professor of religious studies at Washington University in St. Louis.

“This is absolutely false.

“The other charge against Wiccans is that they engage in orgies. False again. True, some do go ‘sky-clad’ (naked) at some circles, but they don’t engage in orgies.”

Flinn, a Roman Catholic and expert in comparative religions, has studied the Wiccan movement for over 20 years. He has attended numerous Wiccan ceremonies and says that the bad rap is undeserved.

“These are gentle people practicing an earth religion. I would not defend any religion that is anti-God. Wiccans are pre-Christian and post-Christian but not anti-Christian.”

Still, many associate the words “witchcraft” and “magic” with black arts and malevolent forces. Since members of Wicca insist they are not associated with either, why not just give up the old terminology for something a little more user friendly? Do they intend to associate themselves with the witch hunts of old?

Yes, says Joy Milos, associate professor of religious studies at Gonzaga University.

“For many, it’s a vindication for the thousands of women who were falsely condemned in the witch hunts, victims of religious and political plots,” Milos says.

Theodore, 50, a Spokane Wiccan priest, agrees.

“For hundreds of years both the Protestant and Catholic churches were consolidating their powers,” he says. “Also, physicians were licensed by the church and didn’t like the competition from the midwives, herbalists and healers. It was convenient to label those who did not believe as they did as witches.

“It was a campaign against the wise woman in particular. The fear and misperceptions from those times have carried over into the present.”

Yet even some of its members initially approached Wicca with uncertainty. Justin Harris, 24, a Spokane native, was introduced to the religion by his then girlfriend, now wife, Shannon. A mutual friend warned Justin that Shannon was a pagan.

“I wondered what that meant,” says Harris. “The only experience I had was through movies and TV. And that showed paganism as some sort of Satanic cult. I thought it must be something different because this person I was dating (Shannon) was normal and fun.”

He decided to see for himself, attending a circle, the Wiccan equivalent of a worship service. He liked what he found there.

“My parents raised me to be open to all beliefs. When I found Wicca, I felt something right inside, just like any Christian might feel inside toward Jesus Christ. The beliefs were non-discriminatory and non-hateful.

“The one phrase that drew me to it was “and it harm none, do what thou will.” This, in fact, is the Wiccan Rede, one that forbids the use of black or harmful magic. It is one of a very few laws in a religion that is both old and new, modern and ancient.

Wicca is a contemporary earth religion that falls under the broad category of neo-paganism. “Pagan” is another loaded word for many, conjuring up visions of unbridled hedonism. However, the Latin root word, paganus, means simply, country dweller. Prior to the rise of Christianity, earth religions were the religions of the people, most of whom lived in the country.

The basic tenet of earth religions is that a divine spirit is present in all things, animate and inanimate. Respecting and living in harmony with the earth is a fundamental goal.

Solstices and equinoxes are sacred occasions to Wiccans. Most celebrate rituals at the new and full moons as well as eight seasonal festivals known as Sabbats. Samhain, the Wiccan New Year sabbat, is known to most non-Wiccans as Halloween.

So what do Wiccans do? Their practices are as varied as their groups but include worship, celebration, casting spells and using magic for healing and self-awareness. Wiccans believe in the threefold law, that is, whatever a person puts out into the world is received back three times as powerfully.

“Celebrating the cycles of nature and becoming attuned to those cycles is a critical aspect of neo-paganism,” says Flinn. “Wiccans see the divine in a number of female and male divinities, gods and goddesses.” These gods and goddesses are all considered to be a part of the larger Divine.

It is the presence of a female deity that draws many to Wicca. Women, disillusioned with traditional, patriarchal religions, have been drawn to Goddess worship. For this reason, it is sometimes considered a feminist religion.

Tracie La Barre, 21, is a Wicca priestess in the Dianic sect, which focuses its worship around the goddess Diana.

“I call myself a women’s spiritualist, a goddess worshipper,” says La Barre. “That’s not to say that I don’t understand and honor the god aspect.

“But I go to what I’m drawn to. Goddess worship is only one aspect of paganism, and it’s not just for women.”

Harris agrees.

“Historically, it was the women who felt cut off and fought back and in doing so gave contemporary women more freedom,” Harris says. “Men today are looking at these women and thinking, ‘I’m missing something too.’ One of the paths is Wicca.”

It is a path that apparently feels right for an increasingly large number of people. The Institute for the Study of American Religion in Santa Barbara, Calif., recognizes neo-paganism as one of the fastest growing religions in the United States.

Stacee Kent, 18, one of the youngest members of the local Wiccan community, sums up the experience of many.

“This religion is my foundation, my passion and my strength,” says Kent. “Because of it, I look under every rock and stone and appreciate the spirit in even the smallest thing. The best way I can express my religion, my true life, is through the words of Jesus Christ: Love one another.”

Local Wiccans may be contacted via e-mail at spokanepagans@hotmail.com.