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Posted on 10/05/2003 9:45:59 AM PDT by narses
The scent of blueberry incense wafts through the kitchen. Tall sticks of the incense, meant to ward off unwanted influences, burn in front of a statue of Thor on the stove.
It is the Thursday before a threatened hurricane, and the Schaffers, practicing Wiccans or witches, are appealing to the Norse weather god for protection for the town of Laurel.
Later, as their son Collin watches and participates, Athena and her husband, Keith Schaffer, light four thick candles _ one green, one red, one yellow, one blue _ to represent earth, fire, air and water. They place the candles on the periphery of the round kitchen table, which they use as an altar.
The Schaffers, a witch and two wizards, live a faith that is entwined in their day-to-day lives.
Witchcraft, as a personal spirituality, is based on ancient nature religions. Wiccans, like all pagans, worship many gods and goddesses, revere the earth, value ritual and believe in reincarnation.
The highest law of Wicca, Keith Schaffer says, is "Harm none, do as you will."
The slender yellow candle the Schaffers light in the center of the table represents spirit. It stands before a statue of the goddess Diana. In a tiny cauldron, Keith lights a piece of charcoal and pours oil over it.
Bringing out their ceremonial swords, called athames, Athena and Keith use them to draw an invisible sacred circle around the table, "cutting the veil" between the natural and spiritual worlds. Raising and kissing the swords, they pay homage to the gods in all four directions of the earth as they draw Diana down into the circle.
They are spellcasting.
Athena cries during the spellcasting because she feels the presence of the goddess Diana so strongly.
To cast a spell once the circle is drawn, a participant writes a request on a slip of paper. The paper is lit on fire and, while burning, is placed into the tiny cauldron with the charcoal. The process of burning sends the request out to the universe.
The Schaffers request protection for Laurel against the hurricane.
Spellcasting is the Wiccan equivalent to Christian prayer, Athena Schaffer says.
"Instead of kneeling and praying, we have a whole ritual that gets us into a state of prayer," she explains.
In the middle of the spellcasting, a neighbor knocks on the door to tell Athena, who is vice president of her neighborhood association, that her wallet was stolen from her car. After assuring the woman that she will spread the word of the crime, the robe-and-crown-clad Athena returns to the spell-casting circle.
"Nothing is coincidence," says Keith as the family writes a spell that the neighborhood be safe from crime. The slip of paper burns vigorously, a sign that the request has been well-received by the gods.
"We believe that everything we do, good or bad, comes back to us three times. So we do good," Keith says. He emphasizes that Wiccans, contrary to stereotypes about witches, focus on the good.
"Our personal crusade is to help as many people and animals as possible," Athena says. Athena volunteers with SPCA and the Partnership for Animal Welfare (PAW). Neighbors, she says, come to her when an animal needs to be saved, such as the neighbor who called when a starling was caught under her stove.
The Schaffers are part of a coven, or community of witches, called the American Chapter of the Sherwood Coven.
And they are not alone, says Sterling Gallagher, owner of The Crystal Fox, a New Age store on Main Street, who estimates there are more than 1,000 Wiccans living in Laurel.
"A fair section would prefer privacy," he said. Athena Schaffer is "very proud, open and outgoing," but "for every person like that there are more that are fairly subdued."
"We don't hide away things," Athena says. "We're very open."
"We work with a number of pantheons: Norse, Egyptian, Greek, Celtic ..." Athena wrote in an e-mail. "There's a saying in Wicca that there are 'many paths to the Summerland' (our term for heaven or the afterlife); no one spiritual path works for everyone.
"Every form of spirituality, whether it's ours, Christian, Buddhist, Jewish, whatever, is valid if it helps its members achieve connection with God and helps make them a better person."
Locally, the Schaffers are in a coven that consists of their family "and some close friends who participate with us," Athena explained.
"It's nothing sinister," she said. "We get together and pray." While some groups go naked, or "skyclad," around a bonfire at midnight, her coven doesn't, she explained.
She had gathered a group of students of Wicca around her, but had to disband them.
"Everything we told them not to do, like conjure demons from a book called the Necronomicon, they did and wanted me to un-do," she wrote in an e-mail.
Self-empowerment, the importance of the feminine (the goddess) and the opportunity to creatively self-express attract people to Wicca, shop-owner Gallagher said. He hastened to add that Wiccans are highly individual, and can not easily be labeled.
Of the three, the chief attraction to Wicca he sees is the importance of the feminine.
Both Schaffers have served as regional directors of the Witches Anti-Discrimination Lobby, recently renamed the Alternate Religious Education Network (AREN). AREN is a national organization that works for pagan unity.
Athena, a professional writer, is on the staff of Gothic Beauty magazine, and under contract as a stringer for Billboard magazine, Amusement Business and Hollywood Reporter. She is also writing a book about ravens and crows in legends and beliefs.
As a self-described "Goth," her long black hair is washed through with a mulberry-purple dye and her eyes are heavily outlined in black and purple. She wears a long purple dress, a heavy moonstone necklace and a tall pair of black combat boots that buckle up the side.
She is deliberate about her appearance. "Every time I step out the door, I represent Gothic Beauty magazine," she explained.
More importantly, her Gothic appearance forces people to confront their own preconceptions about how a person "ought to look."
"We look at the person inside," she said. "People are people."
Keith agreed. "We have to look deeper than the cover of the book," he said.
Gothic, Athena explained, is the state of "liking anything to do with darkness." Wicca, she said, "blends with the nocturnal lifestyle" characteristic of Goths.
Despite her Gothic dress, Athena exudes earth-mother warmth.
"I have neighbors at my door all the time," Athena said, commenting that her unusual dress may save her from being overwhelmed by people.
She and Keith homeschool Collin, a self-confident boy of almost 11.
Each member of the family wears a pentagram, the points of which represent the elements fire, earth, water and air, with the fifth point symbolizing spirit. Collin has his own small crystal ball _ in red, his favorite color _ and tarot cards. His mother's crystal ball is blue.
"You don't see pictures in it," she explained. "You use it as a focal point and see pictures in your mind."
Keith and Athena both grew up exposed to Wicca. Though raised Catholic, Keith had a Wiccan grandmother who "transmitted ethical values about right and wrong and some herbalism." At age 12, he became a Wiccan.
Athena was raised until the age of 9 by a Wiccan great-grandmother before being reclaimed by her mother and stepfather, who "threw her into" Catholic school.
After being married by a justice of the peace, the couple united in a handfast, or Wiccan wedding ceremony, under a willow tree.
Keith, a Unix programmer by day, applies spiritual principles to his home-based business, helping other people find the right fit for their own home-based businesses.
The Schaffers take condemnation of their Wiccan beliefs in stride.
"If someone gets verbally confrontational in a public situation, we just ignore them or walk away," Athena wrote. "If someone tries to harm my family or property, we will defend ourselves like any other" people.
"I will love my fellow man and hope that the God/ess will allow them to grow in maturity to some day understand what their issue is," she said.
E-mail Diane Reynolds at dreynolds@patuxent.com.
Because of Darren and Samantha Stevens.
We have pagans in the military - some where I serve. Good troops, good people. But you can generally tell the Wiccans from the wierdos - and there's a lot of the latter. You can feel comfortable around the real pagans. Thye have a decent work ethic which is refreshing to see.
My kind of witch!
Passing on the faith means more than throwing kids into a Catholic school. Parents must learn the faith before they can pass it on. Sad.
BS is just BS!
Read the childrens' reviews of the ouija board game at Amazon.com.
Maybe there is something to this occult stuff...
You messed up.
You misheard her.
She said she was into Santana.
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