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Fiona Horne is a witch, author, journalist, successful recording artist, and Australian television personality. Fiona has been a practicing witch for fourteen years, and came out of the broom closet in an interview for Australian Rolling Stone. In March 1998 Fiona published her first book Witch – A Personal Journey, a practical and personal exploration of contemporary Wicca, it is now a best seller, having been reprinted nine times. Her follow-up book titled Witch – A Magickal Year, released in Australia in October 1999 is another best seller.
Both Fiona’s books will be released as Witch – A Magickal Journey, published by Thorsons in Hardback, price £12.99, on 1st November 2000.

You can visit Fiona’s website on www.fionahorne.com

We e-mailed Fiona to ask her about her books, her life and her Craft.

In a few words, could you explain what witchcraft is?
Witchcraft is a nature worshipping, Goddess oriented, magickal and spiritual path – it’s also a lot of fun!

What inspired you to write a book about your personal experiences of Witchcraft?
At the time I had been practicing Witchcraft for 12 years and in a band for seven of those. My band was quite successful in Australia and America and often my esoteric interests would make themselves felt in the lyrics I wrote. In interviews I gradually started talking about my Witchcraft but it wasn’t until the band broke up three years ago that I really came out of the broom closet (so to speak!) and decided to write a book to answer everyone’s questions!

How do you feel the Craft differs in Australia to elsewhere in the world?
Well, for a start in the Southern Hemisphere we do pretty much everything to the opposite of those in the North. To us the sun appears to move in an anti-clockwise direction across the sky and we experience our seasons at opposite times to the North. All this affects the way we do magickal ritual and the times we celebrate the Sabbats (sacred festivals – there are 8 a year and relate to the turning of the seasons, agricultural and astronomical events.)

Also in Australia there seems to be a readiness to embrace new concepts, particularly amongst the young. In a recent government Census report Witchcraft has been acknowledged as being part of a new spiritual interest that is the fastest growing in Australia.

How many witches would you say there are in Australia?
The Census report estimated 8 thousand – given that my books have sold over 70,000 plus – I’d estimate quite a few more!

How did the Australian public react to you after you came out of the broom closet?
I have had a public profile as a performer and television personality for quite a while, so people were used to seeing me in the press talking about something! The transition to talking about Witchcraft was actually very smooth and I’m happy to say that I have not been ridiculed or ostracised – most seem very respectful and interested. I am now hosting my own prime time national television show, called PARTY! on a commercial network and there have been a couple of articles saying, “Who would have thought we’d see a Witch hosting primetime TV on one of the most conservative commercial networks?”!

And how did your family feel about it?
At first they didn’t take it seriously, but when my books came out and started to do so well they started to show some interest – particularly my mother. She has read my books and said she enjoyed them!

When did you become a witch, discover you were a witch, or do you feel you always were a witch?
I developed an interest in real Witchcraft in my late teens. Before that as a young Catholic at one stage I started to look into what I thought was witchcraft, but it was actually tacky Satanism and that was a rebellion against my Catholic upbringing (I was 12 at the time!).

But when I was older and starting to really think about who I was as a spiritual being and when I decided that the Catholic faith really wasn’t providing me with a sense of spiritual fulfillment– that’s when I was drawn to Witchcraft. Initially I was interested in Pagan practices – honouring and respecting our natural environment. This made sense to me as I relate very much to the Gaia hypothesis – that being that our planet and everything on it is interrelated as one enormous biosphere. To me heaven is here on earth and the natural world has always inspired a sense of awe and mystery in me. From looking into Paganism I discovered books about Witchcraft that took Paganism one step further by incorporating magickal ritual like spell casting.

Why do you think people are attracted to Witchcraft?
Witchcraft is a new spiritual path that is answering the questions that people are asking today – even though it has been around for a long time and burdened by negative stereotypes and misinformation, the current stage of development is very modern and quite cutting edge in the way it can be incorporated into everyday life.

There are also a lot of shows on television that draw people’s interest, like Charmed, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Sabrina the Teenage Witch. These shows portray Witchcraft in a sensational and exaggerated way, but from this people are sometimes compelled to find out about real Witchcraft.

Do you work to a set system of magick, or do you create your own spells and rituals?
I am fairly eclectic but I base my practices around Wicca – which is a tradition that has been documented for about 50 or 60 years – an Englishman, Gerald Gardner first wrote about it.

As I have been practising for about 14 years I am sufficiently experienced to create my own spells and rituals and I often find this more rewarding than doing ones created by others. In my books I encourage people to create their own magick as it is the feeling and passion that you imbue a spell or ritual with that truly makes it magickal.

What advice would you give to an individual who was drawn to the craft?
Take your time, don’t feel you have to know everything at once – the Craft is a Path and one you can travel for the rest of your life if you choose – always with new scenery to enjoy along the way!

It’s important to read a lot, research and educate yourself. Witchcraft differs to a lot of the established world religions in that there is no one book or doctrine, no one way of going about things. The individual tends to lead themselves, there are no gurus or ultimate authorities – you forge your own path – even if you are a member of a Coven and working with others, it’s still an intensely personal experience. I don’t see myself as a leader or even teacher – I just talk about what I know and if anyone can extract anything that is relevant or valuable to them than that’s wonderful.

One of the things I like best about Witchcraft is that it is so empowering at a deeply personal level for all the reasons I mentioned above.

And could you recommend a good book to read?
Obviously I’d have to say mine – Witch A Magickal Journey! Also the American, Phyllis Curott’s Book of Shadows (she visited London last year!) is excellent. Spiral Dance by American Starhawk, now in its 20 year anniversary edition, is a classic. Englishwoman Titania Hardie’s books are great fun for spells and ideas.

Gerald Gardner whom I mentioned above has a few titles still published – his Witchcraft Today written in the fifties is definitely interesting.

There are many many books worth reading – I think a newcomer should let themselves be drawn to what’s right for them.

What was the first book you read on the subject?
The Way of the Goddess by Ly Warren Clarke which has actually been recently re-released as Witchcraft in Theory and Practice by Llewellyn and I’d have to recommend this one too as an essential read. Ly is an Australian Witch and a powerful and charismatic figure.

As a spokesperson for contemporary Wicca, how does it feel to be following the footsteps of Gerald Gardner, Doreen Valiente, Stewart & Janet Farrer, and other pioneers of modern witchcraft?
I haven’t thought of it in that way before, funnily enough – it sounds very impressive put like that! Obviously all the above are inspiring and respected figures to me, but I honestly didn’t intend to end up promoting Witchcraft to this extent. In Australia I have been a performer and I guess media personality for the last ten years and as I described earlier I only started writing books when my band broke up. I still make the bulk of my living from doing TV, radio and singing but I feel compelled to speak up about Witchcraft to help dispel the negative stereotypes and encourage tolerance and acceptance.

I’m obviously meant to be doing this because things are going so well. I definitely relate to the idea that if doing something is like ‘pushing shit uphill’ than you shouldn’t be doing it and promoting Witchcraft is definitely full of momentum for me right now. But I’m not on a crusade!

Do you work as a solitary witch, or with a coven?
I have been solitary for most of the last 14 years – usually just because work means that I am always travelling and to be in a Coven you need to commit yourself to be somewhere in time and space fairly regularly which I haven’t been able to do. I think most Witches are solitary now though it’s likely that many will be drawn to join or create Covens.

What do you feel are the positive and negative points of coven working?
The positive is having people to learn from and develop with, also that magick that can be conjured up in a group can be quite extraordinary. A Coven is like a family and this can also be a negative – with personal politics and emotions coming into play, Witches are an individualistic lot! An effective and well run Coven is a lot of work usually more for certain individuals like perhaps the High Priestess and Priest if it’s an established traditional Coven, as they are the teachers and co-ordinators- although these roles can be shared with other sufficiently experienced Coven members.

Have you ever used the craft for personal gain?
Definitely yes, but not in a naïve way. By this I mean the Craft enriches and empowers me and my practices as a Witch help me get the most out of my life but I don’t do spells for specific gain, like money or power – I trust that those things come with honest effort and hard work.

Do you have a cat?
No I have two snakes! One is my familiar (magickal companion) Lulu, she joins me in ritual sometimes and is a four foot long python. My other is my pet, Sebastian and he is an eight foot long python and I just play with him!