‘Gods are real’ Inside the secretive world of Scotland’s real-life witches
It’s the season of the witch, so what better time to find out about modern-day pagans. The problem is, though, that with so many negative rumours circulating about them, they are more than a little publicity shy. However, our Writer at Large tracked down the country’s most influential pagans for a chat Warning: contains adult content
THERE is a therapist who joined his first coven in Edinburgh. A Scottish Government data analyst who is a druid. A former solider who worships Odin. And an archaeologist who communes with the spirits of Orkney.
It is not everyday you get to talk to Scotland’s pagans. They are an understandably secretive bunch. Not because they are up to anything dodgy. Quite the reverse. They are a serious and quite gentle group of people. Rather, they have been on the receiving end of decades of suspicion and fear.
The media has painted them as crazies and creeps, and they’re still stained with the “Satanic Panic” of the 1980s when tabloids whipped up hysteria around modern-day paganism. Let’s be clear from the start: none worship Satan. Nor do they drink blood, have orgies, or sacrifice goats. If there’s any stereotype they conform to, it’s the “peace and love” hippy trope.
Beset by rumour, innuendo and mockery, it’s unusual for pagans to speak publicly. The Herald on Sunday, however, spent time this week with four of Scotland’s leading pagans for Halloween – or Samhain, as modern witches call the festival.
Paganism is on the rise. It’s currently impossible to say how many pagans there are in Britain but estimates vary from 56,000 to 250,000.
For the first time, the recent Scottish census provided a tick-box for paganism, so once those figures emerge we’ll know precisely how many people follow these ancient religions.
And it’s important to stress “religions”, not “religion”. Paganism is a catch-all term for a whole spectrum of beliefs ranging from Druidism and Wicca – a belief system like witchcraft – to the worship of Norse gods like Odin and Freya. Many pagans follow a sort of “pick and mix” approach, taking a soupçon of Wicca, a pinch of Druidism and a twist of other occult practices to craft their own individual faith.
To some, their beliefs may seem odd. But as pagans point out, in our society the dominant faith believes a man who died on a cross 2,000 years ago rose from the dead and is God. That’s not to say pagans are disrespectful of
Christianity. Quite the opposite, they revere all faiths. Some include elements of Christianity in their own worship. That’s why they would like a little more respect and understanding for themselves.
They are also a relatively open and honest bunch. As in all faiths, there are bad characters who use religion for their own unpleasant ends. However, pagans, unlike many other creeds, seem keen to discuss any wrongdoing. One pagan highlighted a Scottish coven where the “high priest” used his position to “sleep with women”. Nothing “criminal” happened, but the man was a predator. The coven disbanded.
‘Not much nudity’
PAGANISM’S best ambassador is Matt Cormack, a charming 31-year-old from Penicuik. As a kid, he loved supernatural TV shows like Buffy and Charmed. They piqued