http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2005/10/30/news/local/1ea087e97b7848198\ 62570aa000f2927.txt
Siouxland Wiccans organize -- They're pagans, not Satanists By John Quinlan, Journal staff writer Gathered in a circle of worn chairs and couches in a Sioux City church basement on a pleasant Sunday evening, members of the congregation listen intently as their teacher leads a discussion of their beliefs. Their "magickal" beliefs. The Rev. Jacki Saemodarae is talking about the history and mythology of the faerie folk, the different kinds, from bogarts to goblins and gnomes, and their place in the astral realm. The casually dressed members of the predominantly female congregation ask questions and even joke about missing personal items that may have been taken by trickster goblins. And they talk about other, less ethereal creatures -- crickets and frogs and spiders and their place in the Wiccan world. "Never kill a frog. They are considered holy in the old religion," Saemodarae said. The same goes for spiders. They bring good luck. OK, this isn't your average Siouxland congregation. Saemodarae is one of six ordained ministers in Siouxland First Wiccan Congregation, a neo-pagan, earth-centered religion that was organized here in 2001 and formally incorporated in September 2002. The 10 official members and other interested Wiccans-to-be meet every Sunday in the basement of Unitarian Universalist Church on Jackson Street. In some parts of the country, they call themselves witches and warlocks, and they meet as a "coven," not a "congregation." Not so here. That would be sending out the wrong message -- that they're really Satanists in disguise -- and impede efforts at public acceptance, according to the Rev. Jeva Singh-Anand, a founding member of the congregation and current board secretary. And their magick isn't of the bewitched Samantha's nose-twitching variety, much as Singh-Anand said he would like to wish things into being by twitching his nose. It's just a question of semantics. Singh-Anand, a practicing Wiccan for 20 years, said he used the old names when he was younger and would be surprised when words like "witch" or "warlock" scared or angered non-Wiccans. "The thing is, I just didn't realize that we were talking about completely different things when we're using the same word," he said. They are not Satanists, he stressed. Like many other faiths -- Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism and animism, which is one form of Native American spirituality -- the Wiccans don't accept Jesus Christ as God. Consequently, they don't recognize Christ's nemesis, Satan, either. It's a contemporary pagan religion that emphasizes a balance in nature and reverence for the earth -- and its own nature-based deities, both male and female. There is no Church of Wicca. Practices vary from region to region; but the Wiccan lore, traditions, beliefs and customs, many of which date back to pre-Christian times, are remarkably similar from congregation to coven. Wicca is a reconstruction of what was widely believed to be the ur-religion of pre-Christian Europe, Sing-Anand said. It was founded in the early 1930s by Englishman Gerald Gardner and several associates. Wiccans strive to live in harmony with their community and environment through service, worship and magick, a different kind of "magick" than non-Wiccans might think. Glinda-good magick. "Magick is basically a way of kind of working with the energies of the universe," he said. "Let's say, if I were to do a magick working to make me more wealthy, part of it would actually involve planning out my career; and then the way it works is kind of like a prayer, you know. You pray for things to happen. You work for them and your deity kind of helps you ... opens doors for you." Wiccans revere a threefold Goddess, who embodies the feminine side of nature, and a twofold Horned God, who embodies the male aspect of things. With the goddess honored as the Mother of All, this prominence given to a female god proves particularly enticing to many women. One door Singh-Anand and the other members of the congregation have opened recently is the one taking them out of the closet and into the world as public members of a different kind of religion. When a girlfriend introduced Sing-Anand to Wicca 20 years ago, he realized Wiccan beliefs coincided with his own world outlook. And growing up in northern Germany, he had a very negative experience with Christian fundamentalism. Most Wiccans come from other religious backgrounds, he noted. He moved to the United States in 1982, earned a teaching degree at the University of Pittsburgh, taught in Guam, then picked up his master's degree at the University of South Dakota before accepting a new teaching job at Walthill, Neb., which brought him to Sioux City. He met his wife, the Wiccan Rev. Betsy Singh-Anand, at Starwood, a pagan festival in New York. He started the local church a little more than three years ago by offering classes on Wicca in the rented basement of Unitarian Church. Published announcements and word-of-mouth advertising drew curious citizens to the meetings. They started collecting money to pay for the meeting room rental and other necessities, and that led to the need for the 10 committed members to incorporate in order to open a bank account. A year later, they earned the coveted IRS Section 501(c)(3) certification that gave the church tax-exempt status, qualifying it as a federal charity. They even conduct weddings, called handfastings. Singh-Anand, who recently left teaching to do podcasting, served as the first board president, an honor now held by the Rev. Marie Yeska, a federal employee. Members come from all walks of life, nurses, craftsmen, people working in retail. They soon realized that though they had a right to exist as a religion, it didn't translate into reality until they reached out to other people in the community. Since then, they have been involved in fund-raising activities for various community organizations, building close bonds with many of them, such as the Crittenton Center, Humane Society and Girls Inc., Singh-Anand said. Members meet every Sunday for classes. They also meet on the full moons and on Wiccan holidays -- or on the closest weekend. Upcoming is one of their big holidays -- Samhain, also called Halloween. It is the Wiccan New Year. The Siouxland First Congregation celebrated the big day with a ceremony Saturday night in the church basement. The 31st wouldn't work because they couldn't deny their children that trick-or-treating experience. Following dinner and dressed in ceremonial robes, they formed in two circles for a ceremonial walk. They consecrated the ground and the people inside the circle. "A circle in a Wiccan ceremony is what we call sacred space," he said. The space is consecrated, then deconsecrated when the ceremony is finished, a ritual necessary by the less-permanent nature of Wiccan meeting places. "We work with the mysteries of life, death and rebirth because Samhain is to us a time where we kind of reflect on these things." The festivities include some of the traditional Halloween imagery, the skulls, goblins and pumpkins which have become part of American mythology, Singh-Anand said. And the sacrifice? "We're actually going to sacrifice pomegranates," he said, chuckling. "We're going to eat them. And the thing is when you cut the pomegranate, the juice, it's so red and so thick, it looks like blood." There's nothing like a little shock value, forcing you to look at a situation in a different way, he said. John Quinlan can be reached at (712) 293-4225 or [EMAIL PROTECTED] Nephilim's Paranormal Investigations - http://paranorm.cjb.net __________________________________ Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005 http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/98XolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Visit our Psychic/Paranormal message boards at http://www.skatemd.com/forums/index.php Arcade, Journals, Chats, Boards, Fun! Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/paranormal_stuff/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
