Wiccans encircle an altar of fruit and bread as day turns to night in Central Park. The lush strains of a nearby performance of Puccini's "Turandot" blend with the prayers of an ancient Celtic harvest festival. Wicca is a modern reconstruction of the pre-Christian nature-based religions of Europe. "There is an exquisite, ecstatic sense of the sacred," said Phyllis Curott, lawyer, author and the priestess of the Temple of Ara. "You literally feel your heart open. Being in the circle is like being in the womb of the great Goddess."