Monday, October 06, 2003

By Linda Wilson Fuoco, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

The sweet scent of incense and the rhythmic, repetitive beat of drums filled the air as more than 400 people gathered in North Park yesterday to celebrate the harvest and to promote tolerance and understanding.

Erica Thompson, of Glenshaw, tries out a Celtic frame drum during a workshop at the Greater Pittsburgh Pagan Pride Day at North Park Lodge in McCandless yesterday. (Martha Rial, Post-Gazette)

There was dancing and chanting and chatting as women with long, flower-adorned hair and flowing gauzy dresses mixed and mingled with people wearing a wide array of wardrobe choices. Many women and a few men wore long black robes. A good percentage of people wore blue jeans and T-shirts. A few dressed in well-tailored outfits suitable for a business office or a PTA meeting.

Many had pentagrams -- five-pointed stars surrounded by a circle -- on their clothing and jewelry, for this is an important symbol in their religion.

This was, for the most part, a gathering of witches -- witches as in people who practice the Wicca religion, not the broom-flying, caldron-stirring crones of television and movie fame.

The witches gathered together for the second annual Greater Pittsburgh Pagan Pride Day.

On the previous weekend, witches all over the world had gathered as part of an international celebration of the harvest, said Amy Mokricky, of Mt. Lebanon. The worldwide event is planned on or near the autumnal equinox, which is also "the second harvest holiday," said Mokricky, who was co-coordinator of the event with Shari Baughman, of Oakmont.

	Kali, left, uses henna to create a pentacle on Cathy Regush, of Shadyside, during a workshop on ritual body art. (Martha Rial, Post-Gazette)

If the drums, pentagrams and robes would be considered off-beat by many people, other elements of Pagan Pride Day were remarkably mainstream.

The celebrants were encouraged to take nonperishable food items to the event. Last year, they donated more than 500 pounds of food to the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank.

They also took pet food and pet toys for The Ferret Hide-E-Hole Shelter in Mount Oliver and the Animal Friends shelter in the Strip District.

The Central Blood Bank was on hand to collect contributions of another kind. Last year, Pagans donated 23 units of blood.

These witches are practitioners of the ancient religion of Wicca. Mokricky and others at the event said that this is a pre-Christian religion. Some Wiccans base their beliefs on the practices of Druids and Celtic-based beliefs. Other roots are Irish, English, French or Italian.

These are not devil-worshippers, for Wiccans don't believe in the devil. The devil, they say, is part of the Christian belief system.

The worldwide Pagan Pride event is described as "celebration of the harvest -- promoting awareness, tolerance and understanding for earth religions of all paths and traditions."

What could be described as the witches' mission statement says: "We wish only to reduce discrimination against us ... while emphasizing that we do not seek converts but ask that each person honor the Divine in the manner that seems best for him."

Some witches said they have been ostracized by their families, evicted by landlords and fired from their jobs because of their beliefs.

Keturah E. Wasler, of East Liberty, said she believed she was fired from her government job because of her beliefs.

Wasler, who said she is a high priestess, has a degree in accounting and is ready to begin testing for the certified public accountant designation. She is working as a retail clerk while seeking an accounting position.

"I was born a witch," Wasler said, "and some people accept that. Then there are family members who are afraid to eat my cooking."

While Wasler readily provides her full name, many witches won't, because they fear reprisals. The 28-page program lists participants with names like Pa Nite Owl, Boudica, Iris Dragonfly, and Kali and Lucien.

Kali and Lucien, operators of the Hocus Pocus Parlour of the Occult in Oakland, led the two-hour seminar on Ritual Body Art. Wasler used their paints, herb powders and oils to paint a love symbol on her own hand and a water symbol on the cheek of the man sitting next to her.

"Body art has been used since ancient times," Kali said, by long-ago warriors and current day gang members.

"The pin-striped suits that people wear to work are a form of body art," she said. "They are meant to indicate power."

Tattoos and body piercings are other examples of body art, she said.

Lucien passed out a sheet that gave symbols for peace, purification, strength, unity, happiness, wealth and many other characteristics that witches might aspire to.

Some applied their body art with paint that will wash off before they have to report to their day jobs. The bolder witches painted symbols with henna that will be visible for up to a month.

Other seminar topics included "Reptiles as Familiars -- Working With Reptile Energy," "The Modern Practice of Roman Paganism," "Psychometry" -- better known as extrasensory perception -- and "Haunted Houses." There also was a Middle Eastern dance workshop.

There were two separate drum seminars, as well as vendors selling lotions, potions, jewelry and clothing items. The sign over the food booth said there were drinks, cookies, cake and sandWITCHES.

Upcoming events of interest to witches include the fourth annual Three Rivers Pagan Initiative Witches Ball on Oct. 17 and the Solstice Social on Feb. 6. Both will be held at the Friends Meeting House in Oakland.

For further information, visit www.pittsburghpaganpride.org or call 412-802-0788.

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