I am a witch. I do not worship Satan; I am not interested in Satan. Satan was invented by the Christians. Satanism is a form of Christianity. I am not a Christian. I don't go to church on Sunday. Jesus is NOT my savior. He was simply a holy man who lived 2,000 years ago. I am not afraid of going to Hell because I don't believe in Hell any more than I believe in Satan. I believe in reincarnation; that I will come back to this world or another and live out another life. I am not evil. Telling people I am a "good witch" or asking me if I am a good witch implies that there are evil witches. There are evil people in the world, and there are people who chose to work with the forces of nature in a way that harms others; those people are NOT witches. The central law of being a witch is: "if it harms none, do as you will." Please don't ask me about sacrificing cats or desecrating churches. I love my cats. And I don't go into churches or synagogues unless a friend from that religion invites me to some special occasion. And if I DO enter a church, I am not struck by lightning. And if a Christian or a Jew or a Buddhist came to a pagan ritual, our gods would not strike them dead either. Isn't that something to think about?

Wearing a pentacle is no different than wearing a cross, crucifix, or Star of David. If you want me to take off the symbol of MY religion (and Wicca is a religion, protected by the same First Amendment rights as other religions) because it's offensive, you need to make everyone of every religion do that. The five points of the star signify the four elements of Earth, Air, Fire & Water, and the fifth point is Spirit; encircled by the World. How that can offend anyone boggles my little pagan mind. An image of a tortured, dying man is more offensive, yet thousands of people openly wear crucifixes every day. Also, don't ask me if I'm in a "coven" in that half-horrified, half-fascinated tone of voice. If I want to talk about my coven, I will bring it up. If I am a solitary practitioner, I have no coven to discuss. In any case, our rituals have candles, food, drink, poetry, dancing...yes, there is a knife but it only cuts the air, not anyone's flesh. I don't drink blood. I am not some kind of vampire. I wear black because it keeps negativity away and because it looks better on me than orange and purple polka dots.

If you want to ask me something related to MY religion, ask me when the next full moon is. Or the next blue moon. Or what a blue moon IS. Ask me about herbs. Crystals. Healing. Even ask me to make you a love potion. But I don't cast spells on other people and I won't cast a spell on you to make you prettier, thinner, more desirable. And I won't cast a spell on your quarry to make him/her love you. Trust me, you don't want that, you don't want the karma that involves, and neither do I! That's a form of manipulation, taking away someone's power, infringing on their free will. Not nice at all. And I also won't cast a binding spell to make someone STOP doing something to you. Spell work is about co-creation.

A witch works with universal energy, with the gods, to tilt the engine of probability somewhat. Need money? Don't try to ensorcel your boss to give you a raise. Simply ask the universe to increase the flow of abundance in your direction. That infringes on NO ONE's free will. One last thing: giving me a book about the Burning Times is like giving a book on the Holocaust to a Jewish person. It's not funny and is rude. Yes, I do go to Salem, but not because any of those poor executed people were witches (I think the jury is still out on some of them), but because there's cool pagan shops there. If there were cool pagan shops in a town called East Cowflop, I'd go there.

Please don't try to make me ashamed of who I worship and what I am. Please don't try to convert me or "save" me. Don't throw holy water on me. Don't leave little pamphlets on my desk or windshield. I don't need to be saved. Witches are proud of the fact that we don't recruit people to become witches. We simply ARE, and those around us see how we think, how we act, and our inner peace, and only when someone says "how do I become a witch?" do we take them into the fold with us. I will NEVER leave a religious tract with anyone. I don't have one, unless you count this letter. I am not asking you to convert. I am only asking you to understand. If you don't want to understand, just leave me alone.

Sierra Champion