Beliefs

Bewitched!

They don't ride broomsticks,

but modern Wiccans do try to conjure up help for the ailing

Copyright 1996 Southam Inc. The Ottawa Citizen

Article by Bob Harvey, Citizen, February 3, 1996

On Sunday mornings she's just another member of the congregation and a regular in the Sunday school. But once a month she gathers with other witches to talk about magic and casting spells.

"I'm a witch, and I'll call B.S. on anyone who dares link us with devil worship," she says. "If somebody has problems with the word 'witch,' then maybe they have to redefine it as something good."

Like Patterson, the Unitarian Church is redefining Wicca and other non-Christian nature religions as an important source of spirituality for its members. In a little-publicized move last June, the denomination accepted earth-centred traditions such as Wicca and native spirituality as one of its spiritual sources, along with Christianity, Judaism and other world religions.

"There are a number of women (in the church) who identify themselves as witches," says Rev. Brian Kopke, senior minister of the First Unitarian Congregation of Ottawa.

"It's important to be very clear this has nothing to do with the Disney version or the Shakespearean version. It is a way in which, using pagan sources, women own their own strength."It's a form of feminism, if you will. As Unitarians, we don't shy away from these things."

Last fall, Patterson helped establish a branch of the Covenant of Universalist Unitarian Pagans within the Ottawa church. It's the fifth in Canada and one of about 100 Unitarian pagan groups in North America. Typically, members gather in the church at the full moon, at Yule or some other occasion related to the passing of the seasons, and talk about shamanism, divination or some other topic related to earth-based spirituality.

The groups might also participate in rituals such as drawing an imaginary sacred circle around the participants, an altar and some object like a statue. Within the circle, they may call out to the elements of earth, air, fire and water, or listen to poetry or music as an aid to sharing or meditation.

They might also practice magic, says Rev. Lesley Phillips at the headquarters of the Covenant of Universalist Unitarian Pagans in Cambridge, Massachusetts. But one definition of a witch is one who "bends or shapes reality" and the magic is often something as simple as a prayer-like ritual directing the group's energies toward healing sickness in a member. Or it could be simply meditation that in some way transforms the mental state of the meditators.

Similar rituals are also practised by many of the denomination's women's spirituality groups, including the group in Ottawa. Often the only difference is that the groups are for women only, and generally centre on goddess spirituality.

Unitarians often describe their Church as a refuge for rebels and skeptics, because it has no doctrines, accepts all comers and criticizes no one's beliefs.

Some conservative critics have described the denomination as more of a new-age movement than a religion, but it's one of the few liberal churches that's growing, partly because of its social activism and an informality that appeals to families who want moral teachings for their children but don't want religion shoved down their throats.

Patterson says the church has given her and other witches and pagans some credibility by accepting their beliefs and rituals: "We are no longer a fringe group. We are now an integral part of the community."

Patterson, 33, is anything but a hag or crone, words the dictionary defines as "witch." If anything, she's an overachiever. She has three university degrees, is a reserve army officer, the leader of a software development team with Statistics Canada, the single mother of a five-year-old boy, and a leader of his Beaver group.

"Once people meet me, it's difficult to think I'm a devil-worshipper," she says. "It doesn't get more boring than this."

She was only eight years old when she told her parents she was a witch, just like some of her Scottish ancestors. To her, "witch" is simply a Saxon word for "wise woman." It also implies belief in several gods and goddesses, seeing plants and animals as connected to humans through a web of being, and celebrating seasonal rituals to mark the summer and winter solstice and other changes in nature.

Her main rule of ethics is "An ye harm none, do what you will." Patterson also casts spells, which she describes as repeating a kind of ritual prayer for people to be healed or for some event to
happen.

But trying to define witches is like "trying to herd cats," says Patterson. No two witches will have exactly the same beliefs.

Tracy Wilson, another member of the church's pagan group, also calls herself a Wiccan, but says she doesn't believe in any god or superior being. "I would relate to gods and goddesses as being personifications of aspects of the universe."

And when she casts a spell, perhaps for a friend who's having difficulty becoming pregnant, she believes she's sending her energies towards that person.

"My thoughts might reach her, help her reach a deeper physical level, and lots of times, her deeper thoughts can heal her," says Wilson.

Unlike Patterson, Wilson avoids the word "witch."

"The word is used to describe such a wide spectrum, from people who like to brew up herbal teas, to people involved in some really nasty stuff."

For her, that's one of the main benefits of joining the pagan group at the Unitarian church; the group is safe and without what she calls "the oddballs who call themselves pagans."

Wilson says her membership in the pagan group also helps her avoid a lot of arguments over the word "witch."

"When people ask you what religion you are, you can just say 'Unitarian.'