They were separated by a few feet physically, but they were worlds apart spiritually.
About 300 people, some in robes and carrying torches, turned out Monday night for a witch's ritual celebrating the Celtic New Year known as Samhain. Another 100 people carrying Bibles and picket signs with verses on them turned out to counter the gathering.
The Coalition of Wiccan Clergy held the ritual at City-County Plaza to dispel myths about witches, and to unite witches of the area, said Dixie Deerman, high priestess of Coven Oldenwilde, a local circle of witches from Western North Carolina.
Deerman, a 32-year-old registered nurse, said she thought the two hours of chanting, singing, and fellowship accomplished that goal.
"Most everybody here feels good about it," she said as the group began to disperse. "It was important to dispel a lot of the misinformation."
Deerman and her husband, Steven Rasmussen, who is a high priest with the coven, say the local coven meets at sacred times to ensure the continuation of a troubled planet. She has said they are "tree huggers, watchers of tides, people who listen to the wisdom of the wind."
During Monday's ceremony, for which the group obtained a city parade permit, Deerman wore a black robe and led the group in recognizing the "four elements" -- earth, air, fire and water, and "the four directions".
Witches with torches stood at the north, south, east and west points of the gathering.
Some wore masks, others large hats. Many carried staffs. Some played drums or triangles. One man played a wooden flute.
"We try for tolerance of other people. We ask the same of them," Deerman chanted as she passed through the inside of [the] circle the group formed. "Bless those who are ignorant of our faith."
As Deerman passed inside the circle, a group of people, many from Trinity Baptist Bible College in Asheville, sang "Amazing Grace" and "Jesus Loves Me."
Many said the witches are on a slippery slope leading to satan worship.
Steve Alexander, 31, of Sylva, said he's not ignorant of the witches' faith. He said he knows exactly what it stands for -- and what it doesn't.
"God says it, in his word, that Satan is the ruler of the world, but God is the ruler of Satan," he said, clutching a faded King James Bible, given to him March 7, 1975, the day he devoted his life to Christ.
"Anything that is not of God is of Satan," he said.
But Maria Hurley, a 30-year-old witch from Ft. Bragg, said the church-goers are wrong. Wearing a black robe and holding a torch on the south side of the gathering, Hurley said she doesn't worship Satan.
"I don't like people to assume stuff about the wicca," she said, using the Anglo-Saxon root of the word witch. "I'm not a devil-worshiper. We're not baby-killers. We don't harm anyone."
"Satan, I rebuke you," Keith Owen, 39, of Lexington, N.C. shouted to the witches as they began to weave a giant web of rope, symbolizing their unity.
About a third of the 300 appeared to have shown up out of curiosity. But by the end of the evening, many had joined hands with the group.
Police Chief Will Annarino said 10 patrol officers were instructed to keep the two groups separate to avod incidents.
None were reported, although a few members of the witches' group and the Christian groups sparred verbally.
Clutching a Bible, Brad Lindsey, 19, of Taylors, S.C., got close to the face of Clover Markert, 18, of Asheville.
"One second after you die, where will you be?" he asked her.
"I'll be dead, in the ground. It's all over then," she replied.
Lisa and Tony Stepp came from Spartanburg, S.C. to see what it was all about. Lisa Stepp was raised Southern Baptist, and said she's never heard of a witch's ritual, but she was trying to stay open-minded.
"As Christians, you're not supposed to judge," she said.
Martha Mayes, 56, of North Augusta, S.C., and her friend Bobbie Comparoni, 64, of Michigan, were in town to see the Biltmore Estate, when they were driving by and saw the gathering.
"I'm appalled," Mayes said. "This is the land of Billy Graham... It's enough to make you cry."
A group of witches from North and South Carolina will gather on City-County Plaza the night before Halloween to celebrate the Celtic new year, but local ministers say they don't see much cause for celebration.
The Coalition of Wiccan Clergy will hold a public witches' ritual from 7 to 9 p.m. Monday to dispel the myths that have marked witches for centuries, according to local witch Dixie Deerman of Asheville. The gathering will celebrate the Celtic new year known as Samhain.
"They meet at sacred times to do spells to ensure the continuation of a very troubled planet," Deerman said. "Witches are tree huggers, watchers of tides, people who listen to the wisdom of the wind."
Organizers have obtained city permits for their ritual, which city officials are considering a parade.
Asheville police Detective Scott Lunsford, a juvenile crime detective who is trained in the occult, said Wicca is considered "white witchcraft." Believers of Wicca, who worship nature, believe if they do something wrong to someone it will come back to them, Lunsford said.
Local clergymen are skeptical, at best.
"They have the liberty to do this, but we sure don't like it as a Christian community," said the Rev. Wendell Runion, pastor of Parkway Baptist Church in east Asheville.
"That's definitely Satanic, influenced by Satan," Runion said.
The Rev. Pete Peery of Asheville's First Presbyterian Church said he disagrees with the faith of those in the witches' ritual, but believes they have a constitutional right to express themselves.
The Rev. Ralph Sexton of Trinity Baptist Church said the country is free and people can believe whatever they want. "But as a believer in the Bible, I believe the ritual is a negative," he said.
"There is only one true, living God. And he is a jealous God that wants me to worship him because only he is the creator of the sun, the moon and nature. Anything not for God is against God," Sexton said.
Deerman, who said she is a registered nurse, said witches, a misunderstood group, are ordinary people living and working throughout the world.
Recent repeals of anti-witchcraft laws have enabled witches to lead their lives more freely, she said. "But there are still some of us who have not gone public. They feel misunderstood and feared by a majority of the public."
The witches will gather at 7 p.m. on South Lexington Avenue and will cross Biltmore Avenue around 7:30. They will walk across Pack Square to City County Plaza, where the ceremony will take place.
Deerman, who is high priestess of Coven Oldenwilde, said the witches will form a circle, join hands and call the powers of the four directions. Wiccan leaders will lead everyone in a simple chant while weaving a web of cotton rope through their hands.
When the web is completed, all will dance the perimeter of the circle, spinning the web.
With this rite, Deerman said, the witches hope to symbolize the contiuation of their strong bonds within the community. They will link hands and end the ritual with a spiral dance.
For witches, magic is an art, Deerman said. It is never used to gain power over anyone, or to manipulate, injure or control another.
Staff writer Glenn O'Neal contributed to this report.
NOTE: An extract from the "Frequently Asked Questions" portion of our press packet was printed alongside this article.
Dixie Deerman's a nurse, a mom, a wife -- and a witch.
As I talk with her on the phone, she's warm, open, friendly and down-to-earth: It's like talking over a cup of coffee with someone you like, but maybe don't know that well yet, or chatting with that person who always sits in the seat next to you on the bus on the way home from work.
Except in this case, I might not be talking to her if it weren't for the fact that she's a Wiccan witch. And after listening to her tale of "coming out" as a witch, it seems fair to add that Dixie Deerman is a courageous woman.
"I was adopted and raised in a fundamentalist Christian family," Deerman explains, "and never really felt comfortable with (Christianity), never really felt good about it for myself. I have always been a bit psychic, and when I was 13, it was as if someone told me, 'you're a witch.' It was that clear. So I 'came out'. It was Texas, and I was 13! It was hard, but it wasn't a (choice) for me. It was something I had to do."
If her story sounds to you like an adolescent's momentary romaniticism, think again. The 32-year-old Deerman, whose husband Steve Rasmussen is also a witch, has been practicing witchcraft ever since. And this Monday, the couple, along with other Wiccan witches from the area, will hold Asheville's first public ritual. The purpose: to make their presence in the community known, and to clear up misconceptions about "the Craft."
"The repeal of anti-witchcraft laws in England and in this country have made it easier for witches to practice magic," says Deerman. "But there is still persecution -- (witches) being fired from jobs, having their children taken away from them once they 'come out', because other people don't understand, and they fear what they don't understand. And every Halloween, there are still these stories that get cooked up of witches kidnapping children, stories connecting witches with Satanic ritual. It's very frustrating, because that's not what we're about."
What is Wicca about?
It's a pagan folk-religion based on individualized worship of both Goddess and God (in most cases, many gods and goddesses), celebrating and respecting the sanctity of nature and incorporating the practice of magic.
There are approximately 500 Wiccans living in the Carolinas and Tennessee who get together regularly. But since many witches choose to practice privately, the witch population is probably significantly higher, according to Deerman.
"A lot (of witches) practice secretly, because they fear persecution of various kinds," she explains, taking a moment to clear up a couple of misunderstandings that have led to such persecution.
"We don't fly on brooms, and we don't worship the devil, and we are not a cult," she notes. "We do cast spells -- largely healing spells for people or for the earth. For example, we might cast a spell asking for a good harvest, or to heal the plantet in some way. But we believe that any energy (from a spell) that we send out comes back to us three times over, so we are extremely careful about energies we send out. This is not 'black magic'."
Indeed, the planned happenings for Monday's gathering sound peaceful and -- while they may seem weird to some -- far from "spooky."
"We're going to meet and center ourselves as a group, then walk up to City/County Plaza and, as a group, weave a web of undyed cotton rope that will be a kind of dream-catcher, which everyone will hold as a symbol of our bonds to and as a community. We will be dancing, and there will be music and drumming. When the web is completed, we will talk about what Wicca is, and what it is we do," Deerman says. "We are inviting people to come and experience it, and learn from it. We hope there won't be any kind of trouble. This is a ritual of affirmation and information, and we hope people will respect that."
Asheville's first public witch ritual gets going at 7 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 30, behind Habitat for Humanity on S. Lexington Avenue, arriving at City/County Plaza at 7:30. Everyone is invited to watch and/or participate. The rite is free, but any canned goods donated will be given to Food Not Bombs. To find out more about Wicca, contact Covenant of the Goddess, P.O. Box 1226, Berkeley, CA 94701.
NOTE: This appeared the week following the rite. Notice they say Christians "worshiped"; they were protesting.
On the night before Halloween, a discordant mix of religious revivals took place at City/County Plaza, as the clapping, dancing, web-weaving, chanting, running and singing of witches mixed with the singing, praying and soul-saving entreaties of Christians.
"I just wish they would realize that Jesus Christ has more to offer these people than Satan does," said Tim Hyatt of Georgetown Baptist Church. "We're here to represent Jesus Christ. Satan can give you the whole world, but if you lose your soul, what have you gained?" he said, repeating the Bible.
But Paul, a witch, categorically denied that the ritual had any relationship with the Prince of Darkness.
"It's just fun," he said as he stood dressed in a black robe and a black pointed hat. "It'll be an annual event. It's about love. It's for people promoting white magic."
At the mere suggestion of the allegations that he and his fellow Wiccan practitioners might be in cahoots with the goat-legged one, Paul asked, "Are you sure you're with Mountain Xpress?" before proceeding to "magically" extract two glowing red blobs from behind my ears.
Some of the roughly 400 ritual watchers joined in, while others remained passive observers or continued to pass out leaflets decrying the event.
The handouts contained numerous Bible passages warning against the evils of witchcraft, such as Leviticus 20:6, which states, "And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people," or this from Exodus 22:18: "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live."
A solitary witch stood apart from the great circle, holding a torch, giving off light which actually enabled one man to read aloud from his scripture, much to her delight.
But almost everyone who came to the Wiccan ceremony seemed motivated mainly by curiosity.
"I just like this kind of stuff," one woman said. "I was just interested," said another.
"I really didn't know what to expect," Hyatt said. "It makes me realize that there is a heaven and a hell. If there's one soul saved tonight, it will be worth it."
The witches say they'll be back. So do the Christians. I guess that means the media will be, too. Happy Holidays, whatever you believe.
ASHEVILLE, N.C., Oct. 26 (UPI) -- A witches religious ceremony planned forthe Asheville, N.C., town square on Halloween eve, is expected to bepeaceful,but extra police are being assigned Thursday to avoid confrontations withChristian conservatives who may object to the ceremony.
Dixie Deerman, who heads the circle of Wiccans in the Asheville area, toldUnited Press International the religious rite would celebrate the Celtic newyear and is intended to educate residents about the true nature of witches.
"We want for people to be less afraid," Deerman said. "We are no threatandwe have a wonderful alternative religion."
The term Wicca forms the Anglo-Saxon root of the word witch, hencepractitioners of the religion are called witches, but Deerman said they donotmatch most people's concept.
Deerman said 30 witches would take part in the ceremony, but as many as200others from across North and South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginiaplan to attend.
The event was escalating so quickly that Deerman feared city officials andpolice might pull permits she had obtained for Monday night to use the grassypark in the town square that is located across the street from the AshevillePolice Department.
The ceremony was expected to be peaceful, but extra police will monitortheevent to prevent any confrontation between participants and conservativeChristians in the strong "Bible Belt" community.
Rev. Ralph Sexton of the Trinity Baptist Church contended the ritualitselfwas negative.
"There is only one, true living God, and He is a jealous God who wants metoworship only him," Sexton said. "Anything not for God is against God," headded.
"They have the liberty to do this, but we sure don't like it as aChristiancommunity," added the Rev. Wendell Runion, pastor of Parkway Baptist ChurchinEast Asheville, who called the ceremony "satanic."
According to Deerman, she will lead a simple chant during Monday'sceremonywhile other participants weave a web of cotton rope. Once the web iscomplete,the witches will dance around the perimeter in a rite known as "the circle ofspinning web" in which they symbolize the continuity of their bonds withinthecommunity.
The witches conducting the main religious rite, including Deerman'shusbandSteven Rasmussen, a high priest and the only male in the ceremony, will wearblack capes for the service.
"Black, not because we are dark or evil, but because our ancestors wereforced to wear black in order to blend into the night so they could avoidpersecution," Deerman said.
Four torches positioned in each direction -- north, south, east and west -- will be lit to symbolize the four primary elements -- earth, fire, air andwater.
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