Witchcraft expert publishes WaPo piece claiming 'dangerous' Christians are harassing wiccan festivals

The Washington Post published an article from religion and witchcraft journalist Heather Greene detailing how "aggressive and even dangerous" Christian protesters have been harassing gatherings of witches and wiccans across the United States this year.

In her piece, Greene – who has authored books about witchcraft, including her latest, "Lights, Camera, Withcraft: A Critical History of Witches in American Film and Television" – wrote about these "unwelcome guests" that have been annoying witchcraft groups since pandemic restrictions have ended. 

"As widespread immunity and milder coronavirus strains have spread across the United States, pagans and witches, like their neighbors, have begun to gather more freely this summer at annual community events after two years of relative isolation. So have some unwelcome guests," she reported. 

Describing these Christians as a nuisance to witches and occultists just trying to have their fun, she continued, "Street preachers and Christian protesters have long been a fixture of Earth-based religions’ gatherings as they try to distract and deter people from enjoying what are typically outdoor festivals and ritual gatherings."

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Though it’s worse "this year," Greene added, "But this year, some attendees say, these opponents of witchcraft and paganism have become more aggressive and even dangerous."

The author quoted Starr RavenHawk, "an elder and priestess of the New York City Wiccan Family Temple and organizer of WitchsFest USA," who observed "’30 [evangelists] this year’" outside of her July festival. 

RavenHawk mentioned to Greene that seeing the occasional Christian "disrupter" at these events was routine, but now "the groups that have appeared this year ‘aren’t just protesting.’ She added, ‘They are collectively at war with us. They made that clear.’"

Describing their "war" tactics, RavenHawk said "the evangelists and street preachers walked through WitchsFest, holding up signs and preaching through amplifiers. By the day’s end, their presence had caused class cancellations and vendor closings."

As Greene reported, these wiccans and witches don’t have "formal networks of houses of worship and often living far from fellow practitioners" so they "depend heavily on assemblies with names such as Pagan Pride and Between the Worlds to share information and camaraderie." 

"While some are held inside conference centers or in hotel ballrooms, summer events tend to be visible and hard to secure," Greene added.

And when these summer events are secured, Christian preachers make a scene. "In 2016, Nashville Pagan Pride Day was visited by street preachers Quentin Deckard, Marvin Heiman and Tim Baptist, who marched through the event with signs, Bibles and a bullhorn. In 2017, the Keys of David church protested Philadelphia Pagan Pride Day," the author reported.  

Greene mentioned that Christians show up at indoor conventions too. "Indoor events aren’t entirely immune. In 2018 and 2019, members of TFP Student Action, a division of American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property, were joined by Catholics in New Orleans to protest HexFest, held annually at the Bourbon Orleans Hotel."

She recounted their tactics of placing religious fliers under hotel doors informed attendees, which read: "Your only hope is to accept defeat and surrender your life to One who created you."

As Greene noted, "Many pagan events are not held in public spaces for this reason, although that has been changing over the past 10 years as occult practices have found more acceptance in the public eye."

She returned to RavenHawk’s perspective, which was that the police seem to be siding with the witches’ alleged Christian harassers. During one recent incident, "RavenHawk called the police as she has done in past years. But, for the first time, the cops did nothing, she said."

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According to her, "In past years, officers would relocate the preachers to the far side of Astor Place, where they would continue without the use of speakers, which require a permit." Though "This year, the Christian groups were allowed to remain at the festival with their sound amplification. According to RavenHawk, the officers called the preaching ‘freedom of speech.’"

The witch claimed "[The officers] treated us as if we were invading the Christians’ space, as if they had more rights than we do. [The preachers] were loud, and they were carrying on. Of course it was disruptive."

RavenHawk told Greene, she is "tired of turning the other cheek" and is looking for legal recourse so they may have their events in peace. 

Greene mentioned how the witch "called Lady Liberty League, a pagan civil rights organization based in Wisconsin, for legal advice and support." In a statement, the group’s co-founder Rev. Selena Fox maintained, "The United States is founded on religious freedom for all. Safe gathering and the right to practice our faith is as much our right as it is anyone else’s."

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