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HEN I first meet Ryan, at a coffee shop in a mall, he’s wearing a pentacle symbol around his neck, as well as numerous rings. I ask him whether people look at him strangely, or think he’s into devil worship (which, FYI, Wicca has zilch to do with). He says that he only wears these things on certain occasions, certainly not day-today, because his profession would not look kindly on it. But there’s also another reason. “I don’t want people to know what I do,” he says. “The word ‘occult’ means hidden, secret. In traditional Wicca, we like our work to be somewhat hidden, not because it’s dodgy but because it’s sacred.”

Moira Chalklen and Leanne Middleton, whom I meet a few days after the soirée, are high to face demons you didn’t know you had. I have a bad temper and that’s one thing Wicca did for me — help me acknowledge that a temper is not always a bad thing; it’s good to have if someone’s ripping you off because you need to assert that power. You learn how to use that temper in a positive way. I call it ‘romancing the shadows’: learning what you don’t like about yourself and not getting rid of it but changing it to something positive.”

Middleton says Wicca has helped her to deal with a lot of insecurities about herself and that, through the whole initiation process, she “found herself”.

“I don’t care what people think,” she says about calling herself a witch. “People are more accepting of the term ‘Wiccan’ or ‘pagan’ and more wary of ‘witch’, but it’s just connotations. We are witches, and I will say that.”

Apparently when some people are initiated into the craft they can’t wait to start casting spells, which is understandable. But, according to Middleton, this is a typical newbie pitfall.

“Spells consume a lot of energy so you try to conserve that energy until you really need it. You can’t keep doing silly little spells every five minutes because the universe won’t grant them. You should only really ask for what you need, and only really under dire circumstances should you use it. Because you need to learn how to deal with issues with yourself instead of relying on magick.” LS