Witches in Westwood
By Jeannie Quirus
Oct. 30, 2002 9:00 p.m.
For most people, Halloween means dressing up in ghoulish
costumes and parading around town in search of candy.
And the definition of a witch for many conjures up images of the
Wicked Witch of the West, Samantha on “Bewitched” or
the mostly good, sometimes dark Willow on “Buffy the Vampire
Slayer.”
But for those who believe in Paganism and Wicca, these modern
views are not the correct way to define Halloween nor witchcraft in
general.
Samantha Crowe, a third-year art and philosophy student, who
wished to use her Pagan name for religious reasons, says Paganism
means “not denying that there is a much older spirituality to
our world than the Judeo-Christian beliefs say.”
“There are different traditions to Paganism, and Wicca is
merely a part of it as, for example, Methodists are a part of
Christianity,” Crowe said.
Bronwyn Stewart, a second-year botany student, who also wished
to use her religious name, says Paganism is about being in touch
with one’s ancestry, the earth and other women.
Both students agree one of the biggest misconceptions about
their Wiccan religion is people thinking they are Satanists or
devil-worshippers or that they practice dark magic.
Crowe said she has been given dirty looks from strangers for
wearing a pentacle around her neck.
Despite such response, Crowe says one of the reasons she became
Wiccan was because the religion allows for the “empowerment
of the feminine (that) is always there but denied.”
Crowe also says the Wiccan concept of the cosmic eternity of all
things attracted her to the religion as well.
Samhain, what Wiccans call Halloween, is an important holiday
marking the beginning of the new year in the Celtic calendar, and
is observed through various rituals.
“(Samhain) is the closing of the summer as well as a day
to commune with and remember the dearly departed,” Stewart
said.
“I am going to make a (broom),” she said.
Brooms are significant because in the past, witches could use
them for their rituals and pass them off as household items to
prevent being charged with witchcraft.
Other common Wiccan rituals performed for Samhain include making
potions with incense and oils, meditating and praying to the
spiritual world.
“Samhain, after all, is a day in which mythically the door
to the spiritual world is supposed to be open,” Stewart said,
“(It’s) a day to remember not just those who have gone,
but honor life.”
Paganism, as well as Wicca, has existed for centuries, far
before Judeo-Christian beliefs began to emerge.
In ancient times, the pagans believed Samhain was a day when
mythical creatures, including fairies and witches, wandered among
the living, according to the Encyclopedia of Wicca and
Witchcraft.
Christians changed Samhain so it would be the day when hallows,
or saints, roamed about, instead of witches, which were looked down
upon by the church. This gave rise to the word Halloween, from
“All Hallow’s Eve,” which came from
“Hallowmass.”
UCLA history professor Teofilo Ruiz teaches a course on
mysticism, heresy and witchcraft.
“I do not do research on the topic of witchcraft,”
Ruiz said, “but I teach a course that includes the period of
the witch craze, when people believed there was an international
conspiracy of witches.”
Ruiz said that classes on witchcraft appeal to students because
“people, not just students, in general are always fascinated
by an alternate historical class and the contrast between science
and escape from the real world.”
