Arizona retiree says, ‘My witchery is my faith’

KINGMAN, Ariz. -- Halloween is party time for witches, too.

So says one Kingman woman who, with some of her bewitching associates, talked about their lifestyle and beliefs last week.

Joanie, who asked that her last name not be used, said she and other witches are looking forward to Halloween, which she calls "Samhain" (sounds like "sow-when").

"It's our new year. It's the beginning of the new year for us. It's the end of what we call the wheel of our year," she said.

"Samhain to us is when the veil between the worlds are at the thinnest. It's when you can call your ancestors, when you can honor the dead, when you can have more contact with the netherworlds and the other beings that are out there."

Some prefer to be called Wiccans or pagans, and then there's Joanie.

"I am a witch," Joanie said emphatically. "My witchery is my faith. I grew up in this."

The 54-year-old retiree said her commitment to witchcraft and healing is planted in her family roots in Pennsylvania.

"I come from a family of healers," she said. "I heal people with herbs and I also can heal animals."

Howard, 43, another member of the craft, was brought to witchery by a quest for spirituality.

"In my mid-20s, I was introduced to witchcraft. And up until my mid-20s, I had been searching for a spiritual guide or something, and I could never fit in," the soft-spoken Kingman man said. "I tried different churches. I tried different religions. I went to a Baptist church and the Church of Christ and different things, and I could never fit in."

He found his comfort zone in witchery.

"Witchcraft is a form of religion to me, and I use it to help others, heal others and try to better everybody around me," Howard said. "I would love to stress the point that witchcraft is not evil. It's not about I'm going to put a hex on you to hurt you. It's about the beauty of nature."

Howard and Joanie and another pagan, Shelly, prefer use of their first names only, or an alternate name, for fear that public recognition could cost them a job or other hardships.

Shelly, 40, said the practice of witchcraft is widespread.

"The pagan culture is extremely huge in this community," Shelly said, noting that she knows at least 200 witches in the Kingman area.

Joanie said she and other witches she knows do not appreciate how they're portrayed on television and in movies.

"We are not bewitched. We don't tweak our nose," Joanie said. "I am not charmed and I don't blow smoke out my fingers."

So what will they be doing at their party on Halloween?

"We will be eating, drinking and being merry," Shelly said. "No alcohol by the way. I've got children."